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Evil takes the form of addictive green mucus that slithers through the darkened streets and sewers of the ancient city of Exag. Can a band of battle-hardened outsiders convince the xenophobic residents of Exag that they have come to help or will they too fall victim to the many insidious forces arrayed against the backward population of this mysterious city?
Welcome to Exag is a log of my group’s navigation of the Seeds of Sehan campaign arc. The intent is to provide an entertaining read while providing the were-cabbages with a DM’s view of their hard work. All feedback and comments are welcome, so feel free to add to this thread if you have a question or a comment you would like to share.
The game is played Thursday evenings, so you should expect weekly updates to this thread.
Spoiler Warning
This log will contain details of the Seeds of Sehan campaign arc (Dungeon 145-147). If you plan on playing through this arc, you should not read these posts. Seriously, stop now.
General Changes to the Arc
Since my campaign is based in Archendale in the Forgotten Realms instead of in Greyhawk, I needed to make a few changes.
Exag is located in the northern portion of the Stormhorns, just south of the Anauroch desert in northwestern Fareun. The Mounds of Dawn are the Stonelands at the base of the Stormhorns. The people of Exag are decedents of the ancient civilizations of the region, an offshoot of the Bedine that found refuge behind the ancient walls of Exag rather than wander the desert with their brethren. The Crafters remain a mysterious and ancient race and may be Netheril wizards, the Sharns (the ancient race that imprisoned the phaerimms after the destruction of Netheril) or some other, as yet undiscovered race.
The Perrenland Embassy is instead a Zhent outpost. The Zhentarim have placed a small stronghold outside Exag’s walls, ostensibly to provide needed services for those in Exag but also working to spread to the faith of Bane among the desperate and downtrodden citizens of Exag. The Zhents also clandestinely support the activities of Bantar Zherall and his gang at the Ruined Temple (area 9), hoping to glean the secrets of the Crafters.
Party Details
The Company of the Silver Wolf consists of:
Brundun (Human fighter 8): A “sword and board” tank that relishes close combat.
Feydryn (Aassimar cleric of Mystra 3/wizard 3/ mystic theurge 1): a serious but pleasant woman, the group’s supporting caster and primary healer
Urgoth (Dwarf rogue 8): A sly tactician with a love of poisons
Fuget (Half giant cleric of Tempus 7): A heavily armed and armored battle-mad cleric that focuses on combat and buff spells, healing others only in emergencies.
Judas (Human Warlock 7): Unpredictable, aloof and power-hungry, Judas is the party’s “loose cannon”.
Morgan LeBanc, Knight of the Harvest (Human paladin 6 of Chauntea): A beautiful and kind woman with budding feelings for Brundun (Brundun’s cohort).
The players have known each other and played together for decades but are still prone to making errors and bad assumptions. They have a sense of paranoia that sometimes borders on the unreasonable but are generally sound tacticians. A few struggle with “rollplay” versus “roleplay”, but all in all they are a good group.
Given the many diverse opinions at the table, I found it is best if I provide clear direction to the players; too much mystery or too many loose threads grinds the game to a halt. Also, altruism is a rare thing among the players; virtually all of their characters in all campaigns we have played tend to have a mercenary outlook. Thus rewards and motivations are centered on concrete rewards: treasure or favors to be claimed later.
Brief History
The party has successfully completed Fiendish Footprints (Dungeon #122), The Forsaken Arch (Dungeon #120) and Ill Made Graves (Dungeon #133). The date is 20 Ches, 1373DR. The party is preparing to resume their activities after passing the harsh Dalelands winter in rented rooms in Archenbridge. Using funds and favors gleaned from their previous successes, the party pooled their resources and began the construction of a small keep in the Thunder Peaks overlooking Deepingdale just outside Archendale. This undertaking has left them with just enough money to fund an expedition to replenish their coffers and return to their new keep to see the final phases of its construction.
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The Company Sets Out
A street urchin wearing the uniform of the Message Dispatch met the party as they returned to Archenbridge after inspecting the site where construction would soon begin on their permanent residence. The young boy handed Brundun a sealed envelope and indicated that he was to wait for a reply. The letter inside was written on quality vellum with a neat and exacting hand. Apparently one Viktor Thornflower, valet to Orlamm Starbottom requested their presence in the Guildhouse, booth #14 at midday tomorrow to discuss a proposition. Neither Thornflower nor Starbottom were familiar names but the quality paper on which the note was written spoke of wealth and the party’s concern over their dwindling gold supply left no doubt that they would agree to the meeting. Having received his answer, the lad dashed off toward the city center, unaware that Urgoth was carefully shadowing him in hopes of learning more about the mysterious origins of the letter.
The dwarf rejoined his companions at their temporary residence in the city a bit later in the day, saying only that the youngster went back to the Message Dispatch house, probably to transmit their response to an older, more experienced and better dressed messenger capable of passing into the wealthier sections of the city without raising the ire of the guards that see to it that common riffraff like beggars and adventurers do not trouble the homes of the wealthy. The party’s spirits were high that evening with the thoughts of returning to life on the road and the wealth their new patron might bring. Especially encouraging to them was that the meeting was to be held at the Guildhouse, a curious and quite costly tavern with no common room. The place instead consisted of small “booths” that were in reality small private meeting rooms in which those that wanted to discuss matters privately could do so as long as desired, receiving victuals and other services provided by the discreet staff of the place.
The next day, the party met at the Guidlhouse slightly before the appointed time. They were directed to their booth by the pleasent staff, and waited only a few minutes before Viktor Thornflower arrived. His appearance did nothing but reinforce the belief that there was money to be made in whatever he proposed, for his tailored, fashionable clothing, well-groomed pencil thin mustache and general demeanor spoke of refinement and even formal training. Viktor thanked the party for meeting him and got immediately to his point.
Orlamm Starbottom, his employer, is an aging gnome wizard of some reputation in Archendale. His beloved daughter, Abby Starbottom, has for several years lived in the city of Exag, a remote and backward place at the edge of the Anauroch. During their last communication, Abby indicated to her father that her adopted city was in crisis; fell things stalked the shadowed streets at night and the population, driven to desperation by the conditions there, had turned to drugs to help them forget their troubles. She fears that the people of Exag, especially the children she loves so dearly, will only suffer further if the situation continues to deteriorate. To that end, she has requested that her father locate a band of adventurers willing to travel to the remote location and put things aright, restoring hope to the beleaguered city. Orlamm had heard about the group’s recent successes from a friend of his and requested that the Company of the Silver Wolf take this commission on his behalf.
The party of course wanted to negotiate payment for their services, and apparently Orlamm sources had explained that this group of adventurers would only act if sufficiently enticed for Viktor was prepared to offer a magical ring that enhanced the power of healing (Ring of Mystic Healing, MIC) and a choker-style necklace that aided in one’s defense (a Torc of Displacement, MIC). Viktor displayed the items to the group in a finely carved box he produced from within his robes, and the warlock was able to clandestinely determine that the items radiated the appropriate magical auras.
When Viktor had finished, everyone exchanged looks but their acceptance of the offer was a forgone conclusion; they would travel to Exag and do what they could to resolve the problems there. Viktor seemed very pleased at their acceptance of the offer and provided them a reasonably detailed map of the western Dalelands that included details on how to reach Exag once they were in the vicinity of the Stonelands. He then bade them good day and left the party to their planning. As he closed the booth door, he could hear Feydryn, a student of both history and architecture, explaining the many mysteries surrounding the ancient city of Exag. Her information only piqued their desire to see the city and the rest of the afternoon was spent planning and obtaining the things they would need for a journey of some 400 miles.
The Company of the Silver Wolf set out soon after daybreak the next morning. The cold, clear spring day drew clouds of breath from their mounts as they rode northward through Archendale. The Thunder Peaks were still deep with snow and thus the Thunder Gap was almost certainly still too difficult to pass, forcing the group to take a northern and then western route through Archendale, Deepingdale and then to the Moonsea Ride which would guide them into the Stonelands at the base of the Stormhorns. For two full days and most of the third, they rode through the relatively tame Dalelands, encountering few travelers in this rather out of the way portion of the Dales.
This changed however, as they dismounted at the end of their third day. The party planned to camp in the shadow of the Blood Horn, the tall red colored mountain at the northern edge of the Thunder Peaks. Perhaps it was the rapidly fading light as the sun sank behind the mountain, setting its peak afire and drawing the eye upward or perhaps it was complacency brought on by days of riding through peaceful Deepingdale, but the party did not see a small group of ogres sitting quietly among the rocks on the low hillside nearby.
As a unit they stood up, great two-handed swords in their hands. Their leader stepped forward and shouted in broken Common to the group. These lands were under the sway of mighty Thraxata and all those passing through must pay a toll in gold or blood. Urgoth had heard tales of Thraxata, a dragon of considerable power that made the Blood Horn his lair and whispered as much to the group. The ogres’ calm demeanors and disciplined approach gave the party pause and Feydryn chose to negotiate with them rather than risk the wrath of a dragon.
Sadly for her, her bluff that she bore a message for Thraxata and thus must pass unhindered through his lands met with disbelief, even from the dimwitted ogres. In an attempt to prove the veracity of the tale, she produced a scroll and waved it about energetically, indicating it contained the message for the dragon. Intrigued, the ogre leader moved his group along the face of the hillside and closer to the group, insisting that he be told the message. Feydryn feigned disappointment and then agreed, and begun to unfurl the scroll. Something in her approach or perhaps a painful lesson in the ogre chieftain’s past told him that that action was anything but benign. With a roar, he ordered his group to attack, and the ogres bounded down the hill and into the party. Miraculously, the ogre chieftan resisted Feydryn’s subsequent Charm Monster spell. Enraged beyond all reason, he too raced down the hillside and into the party.
Morgan mounted Rosebud, her sturdy warhorse, and charged off into the ogres, slashing one with her scythe and drawing two ogres away from the rest of the group. The ogre chieftain displayed all of his barbarian might, charging the unprepared Fuget, dealing an astounding 55 hit points of damage in a single critical blow of his large greatsword. The melee then broke down into several individual battles with Feydryn blasting the ogre chieftain twice with lightning bolts and the flying warlock pounding him with bursts of crackling dark energy. Urgoth was able to hold the attention of two ogres as he tumbled and dodged between them, harrying them with his rapier and Morgan, despite her apparent danger, smote both ogres that tried to pull her from her horse, killing them with relative ease and little injury to herself. Meanwhile, Brundun protected the grievously wounded Fuget and allowed him to get behind the lines of battle to heal himself. The ogre chieftain was not finished yet however, and willingly turned his back on Brundun to reach Feydryn and put an end to her continual strokes of lightning that were decimating his followers. The hulking brute shrugged off the otherwise severe wound he received from Brundun as he broke off from combat, and smote Feydryn to the ground in a single blow. She lay unconscious, bleeding gouts of red blood from a jagged tear that led from her collarbone to her naval.
Looking about, the chieftain saw the last of his followers fall and knew that his only hope lay in reaching the safety of the forest some distance away. He took another blast from the flying warlock, who mocked him from above, certain he was safe from reprisal. The great ogre had other plans, and took advantage of the disarray caused by Feydryn’s terrible wounds to hurl his blade 40 feet into the air at the luckless warlock. The blow, despite all of its disadvantages, was true, and the spinning greatsword tore a ragged gash through the warlock’s torso and his pride, nearly claiming his life. The Chieftain then began to lumber toward the forest, hoping to escape in the deep trees that lay some distance away. The desperately injured warlock proved the swifter however and slew the fleeing ogre with a bolt of energy. His great form crashed through saplings as he fell, snapping them like twigs and then skidded to a halt.
Morgan brought Feydryn back from the edge of death while the others searched through the bodies to see if the ogres carried anything of use. What they found deeply disturbed them, for the ogres wore well-stitched armor, quality belts, pouches and other accessories and carried well-maintained greatswords of reputable make. Each also had a fair amount of coins on their person, bright, shiny gold coins that looked far more like wages paid than dingy bent coins taken from some weaker foe. With more than a few glances up at the Blood Horn, the party moved off again in the failing light, hoping to put as much distance between themselves and the mountain as possible. Realizing they could not travel in the dark, they set up a camp just inside the forest and did not light fire, hoping to maintain as low a profile and pass the night in peace.
Lich-Loved, looking forward to reading your journal :).
Wonderful start! You have a lucid, vibrant style, and the (largely unscripted) lead in shows panache and creativity. I too look forward to reading more.
Lich-Loved, I've just had a look at the adventures your group has already run through, and this brings to mind a question. Did the group begin at level 6, or have you just abbreviated the party's background to its most recent exploits?
Thanks!
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Lich-Loved, I've just had a look at the adventures your group has already run through, and this brings to mind a question. Did the group begin at level 6, or have you just abbreviated the party's background to its most recent exploits?
Thanks!
The group started at level 5. I am a big fan of starting at 1-3, but the group was pretty frustrated; the previous 2 or 3 games under other DM's ended in TPKs around level 8-10, so they didn't really want to "climb the hill" all over again. So far they have done really well and though there has been two deaths (one completely my fault on the first night of the game and one just terribly bad judgement on the part of the player) they are having a great time.
I have been ruinning the game since Jan 22 2007, so it takes them around a month (4 sessions) to finish a Dungeon module.
I have been ruinning the game since Jan 22 2007, so it takes them around a month (4 sessions) to finish a Dungeon module.
And even though you continue to ruin it, they still play? Now that's a good group. Gluttons for punishment. ;)
Sorry. I couldn't resist.|
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I have been ruinning the game since Jan 22 2007, so it takes them around a month (4 sessions) to finish a Dungeon module.And even though you continue to ruin it, they still play? Now that's a good group. Gluttons for punishment. ;)
Sorry. I couldn't resist.
Grrr... With the advent of spell-checking on the fly, my spelling has become terrible. I need to proofread if I am going to post directly from the editor without using a word processor.
*mutter*
Just in case you missed it elsewhere, but still wanted to include some of it, here's a link to some edits, errata and notes that you might find helpful.
Good gaming,
GGG
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Welcome to Exag
The party camped beneath the soaring trees of the Semberholme, their tents huddled together to be as inconspicuous as possible. They lit no fire and doubled the watch, but the night passed without incident. After a cold breakfast, the group moved out, eyeing the Blood Horn warily throughout the day until other mountains at last hid it from view. As the days passed, the concern over meeting the “dragon of the Blood Horn” diminished and the party made good time over open lands of western Mistledale, eventually striking the Moonsea Ride and taking up a western course toward Tilver’s Gap, a large pass through the southern and norther branches of the Thunder Peaks. The road was empty save for the small caravan of some ambitious Dalelands’ merchant setting out a bit ahead of the trading season. The weather remained cool throughout the day and was uncomfortably cold at night, but nothing a combination of magic and warm clothes could not overcome.
The days passed in this fashion until they rode through Tilver’s Gap and entered the northern plains of Cormyr. A day’s ride beyond the Gap, they came upon a hastily constructed fort surrounding a small temporary outpost. Feydryn recognized the pennants flying over the place as belonging to the Purple Knights of Cormyr, the elite fighting organization of that beleaguered kingdom. The Knights asked their business on the road and when it was clear they were not Zhent agents or obvious enemies to the Crown of Cormyr and that they intended to pass by into the Anauroch, the Purple Knights allowed the party to continue with a strict warning not to attempt to enter the ruins of Tilverton nor disturb the wizards’ tower that rose some distance away. The group readily agreed to this request, especially when they heard that the bustling city was no more, destroyed by some mysterious magic. A single Knight followed them at a discreet distance to be certain the group remained true to their word, but his vigilance, while understandable, was not needed. Passing over a low rise, the group saw that the city of Tilverton lay wreathed in thick shadow, the ruins of buildings occasionally resolving themselves as the shadowstuff eddied and swirled through the city. Feydryn identified the flag of Waterdeep hanging motionless above the obviously magical stone tower that maintained watch over the dusky ruins, and though there was much speculation concerning the possible cause of the calamity that claimed Tilverton and the presence of powerful Waterhavian wizards, the party did as they were bid and did not linger in the area to attempt to learn more.
After this experience, the journey returned to one of dull monotony as the vibrant spring of the Dalelands fell to the unending brown of the shattered lands beyond Tilverton. The Moonsea Ride changed from a reasonably maintained road into a rough cart path that became progressively worse as they rode into the Stonelands, a place of shattered boulders, rough, craggy hills and stunted trees. South and west of them rose the mighty Stormhorns, towering, sharp-edged and still thick with snow while the endless dune sea of The Sword, the southernmost portion of the vast Anauroch desert, rolled into the blistering horizon to their north. The map to Exag became invaluable as the party attempted to locate the nearly unmarked southern path that would lead them through the Stonelands to Exag. Eventually they came upon the right place and turned into the rising foothills of the Stormhorns, encountering the remains of campsites and other signs that this desolate place was not empty of life. Despite seeing distant campfires that night, the party faced no resistance and passed through the dangerous land unhindered. The next morning they spent clambering up a narrow switchback trail that deposited them at atop a broad plateau that rose slightly to the north. About a half mile from where they stood rose a large, fortified manor and beyond that, the fabled city of Exag. Behind these were the imposing peaks of the Stormhorns, glistening with snow against a deep blue sky. It seemed they had come to the end of the world.
After a moment’s pause, the group rode forward noting with concern that the fortified manor in front of the red walls of city flew the flag of the Zhenterim. The party gave the manor a wide birth, recalling their previous trouble with the Zhents, and did their best to ignore the stares given them by the guards that lifted thick shutters to peer at them as they passed. Despite the scrutiny of the guards, their attention was drawn toward the impressive red clay walls that ringed the city, the three red pyramids that dominated the crumbling architecture of the surrounding buildings and the crowd of citizens that gathered in small knots to watch their approach. It was only as they passed through the walls themselves that Urgosh realized that the gates had long since been removed from their hinges and while the walls were almost laughably thin, appeared supernaturally strong and virtually unweathered after enduring thousands of years of sand and wind. As the group entered the cobblestone plaza, their presence caused a ripple like that of a stone thrown into a pond. Some of the citizens fled the plaza, lifting children and vanishing in the shadows among the dull clay buildings, others peered out from behind battered shutters and still others formed into a unsteady mob that slowly approached the group, their rough, clay stained clothing and weathered complexions speaking volumes about the difficulty of life in this remote and failing city.
The mob surrounded the party, who remained silent and mounted on their warhorses, unsure of what to expect. A moment of silence passed with the crowd staring at the newcomers and the party returning those stares and sharing looks of concern between themselves. No one spoke. The citizens of Exag were the first to break the tension, somehow deciding unanimously to begin shouting and clamoring all at once. Their words were in a tongue foreign to everyone in the group, though one nearest Judas began to demand food in halting, thickly accented Common. When it seemed that Common was the language the party understood, most of the crowd took up the demand for food, with the party trying to politely refuse their requests. One of the bolder female residents made an attempt to unfasten a buckle on Feydryn’s saddlebag and had her hand slapped away only at the last moment. Suddenly Judas called forth a number of rations from his magical backpack and began hurling them away, over the heads of the crowd. A virtual riot broke out as the crowd surged in the direction of the thrown food and scrabbled in the dust to gather what they could. While this had the effect of breaking the crowd apart, it also proved the newcomers had food, a good deal of it, and other citizens poured from their hiding places to join the fray. A fistfight broke out and a general din rose over the square as word spread that there was food to be had for the taking. Amidst this chaos, a younger member of the city offered to take the group to a place of safety in exchange for food. Brundun agreed to the request and the party rode through the gaps in the crowd toward the edge of the plaza. While Brundun explained that they wished to speak with Abby Starbottom, the others maintained a close watch on the crowd, which had doubled in size and was motioning in their direction. While this was occurring, Urgoth noticed that someone, it was much too far away to tell anything else, stood atop the huge ziggurat that dominated the far end of the plaza, gazing down at the crowd. Moments later, the figure turned impassively away and vanished from sight.
After haggling on price, their guide collected his fee and led them across the plaza to a nondescript clay building, indicating that Abby could be found inside. The crowd followed them at a short distance and it looked like there would be more trouble, but the large, bearded proprietor of the place met the party at the door and spoke to the crowd in a their native tongue, admonishing them for their behavior and sending most away. Despite this, the man, who introduced himself as Ahmed Hassan, warned that they had no safe place to keep horses and that someone should remain outside to ensure that the horses were not inadvertently allowed to wander where they might become “lost”. Morgan volunteered to stay with the animals and Judas agreed to keep her company while the rest of the group entered the clay building.
The interior of the place was dimly lit and relatively free of the dun-colored dust that seemed to permeate every aspect of the city. Now that the party was closer to him, they could see that Hassan was not a native of Exag, being noticeably taller and broader at the shoulder than those in the crowd. He explained that he ran the only guesthouse in Exag and though he was a foreigner, had lived there long enough to be respected by the people. He cautioned the party that outsiders were not welcome in Exag, especially during desperate times like these, and that the citizens, while generally content to avoid strangers, might take advantage of anyone that appeared to be weak to claim what goods they had, especially food, which was in such short supply that even his guesthouse could offer nothing for them save a thin wheat gruel. He asked them their purpose in visiting Exag and Brundun explained that they sought Abby Starbottom. Since she was a resident at the Guesthouse, Hassan left immediately to fetch her, pleased that friends of Abby’s had come to visit. Abby and Hassan entered the common room together, with Hassan explaining to her what had happened in the plaza.
Abby turned out to be a pleasant if idealistic gnome and when the party indicated they were in Exag at the request of her father, Hassan drew tankards of watery ale and joined the group at the only table in the place to discuss the issues Exag faced. Abby indicated that a new drug, called by the locals “Green Welcome” had swept through the city over the last month, sapping the will of the people to work their rooftop gardens and leaving the children she loved so much to go hungry. The drug was an effective aphrodisiac, a euphoric and provided a boost in confidence and strength, but it seemed to her that it held its users in a vice-like grip if used with any regularity. If this were not bad enough, people have begun to disappear, simply vanishing in the night without a trace. She expressed her fear that some fell beast was stalking the streets at night and preying upon the already weakened citizens. The discussion lasted some time, with both Abbey and Hassan responding with concern to the party’s many questions. During this exchange, an emaciated woman in clay-smeared clothing entered the place. Speaking in a language the party did not know she offered them, almost begged them, to try the mucusy green substance she offered them. Brundun seemed tempted to purchase the drug, nominally to allow one of the more skilled members test it, but decided against it given the disapproving looks he received from the other party members and unpleasant explanation he would have to give Morgan if she discovered his use of the substance. Hassan and Abby let the young woman plead for a few minutes before ordering her out into the street and then resumed their conversation with the group.
Abby and Hassan explained a bit about Exag’s history, the Crafters, the people’s faith of in the Crafters’ works, and their many strict customs and fanatical views regarding anything made by the Crafters. The party was expressly told not to approach the Crafter structures or tamper with them in any way on pain of death. Urgoth asked about the silhouetted figure atop the ziggurat and learned that he was Banafar Thragyeb, the leader of the Crafter faith and undisputed and uncaring dictator of Exag. Abby explained that he saw himself as the protector of the Crafter artifacts in the city and little else. It was clear to everyone that she did not like Banafar but Abby would only say that he has thus far done nothing about the plague of Green Welcome or moved to help his people in any way. She did speak kindly of “Mother” Innaria, an older woman charged with “protecting the people”, though she did not further illuminate what this meant, which was especially curious since the party learned that there were no city guards to ensure order or otherwise protect the common man. The party speculated about the source of Green Welcome, the potential involvement of the Zhenterim in the disappearances or the drug’s manufacture and mused that it was certainly possible for the citizens to feel as if Exag and the Crafters defenses were the last bastion of safety in a world overrun by demons given the blasted landscape of the Stonelands and the Anauroch to the north and savage peaks of the Stormhorns to the south. When talk returned again to Green Welcome and where it may be found, Abby directed them to Pan’Phar Thrissek, a local fortune teller and guide as the “official” source of the drug; where others may only sporadically have some to sell, he is always well supplied with Green Welcome though he charges a premium for this availability.
After further discussion, the party asked Abby to introduce them to Mother Innaria while Hassan found a local elder willing to allow the party to stable their horses in an unused building in exchange for food. Brudun explained the plan to Morgan, leaving her to guide the horses to whatever shelter Hassan could locate. Meanwhile, the party set off with Abby across the city to Mother Innaria’s tower. Along the way, they were able to get a glimpse of life in Exag: the small rooftop gardens, the crumbling upper stories of buildings, piles of rubble that were once shops or homes and the occasional waif slumped openly against some clay wall, an empty glass vile still clutched in hand. Mother Innaria’s home proved less grand than anticipated, consisting of a leaning, multi-story clay tower that was covered in foul-smelling skins. A group of young toughs stood vigil outside and refused to allow the group to enter until Abby vouched for their presence. The locals moved aside hesitantly, subjecting the party to hostile glares as they passed through them and entered the tower.
Mother Innaria proved to be friendly and helpful, though her Common was at times difficult to understand. She could offer no insight into the source or use of Green Welcome and claimed she was powerless to stop the drug’s spread. This thinking upset Feydryn, who felt that the “protector of the people” should be able to use her position to halt the drug use in the city. Mother Innaria then explained what Abby would not, describing her important role in the city as the one named to sacrifice herself and call forth the wrath of the Crafters if the city’s existence was threatened. Other than this responsibility she had no power to set policy in the city and her pleadings to those she found using the drug largely fell on deaf ears. After a few more minutes of small talk, the party left Mother Innaria’s residence and parted ways with Abby. She directed them toward Pan’Phar’s shop, the Mystic Eye, a short distance away and then returned to the Guesthouse to speak with Hassan.
The party traveled to the Mystic Eye and met a man leaving the shop as they were about to enter. It was clear he too was a foreigner for his clothes were of better though simple make and he seemed in fine physical shape compared to the typical citizen. He was paused on the threshold, speaking to someone inside the shop in a gently accented Common the party could not place, thanking the person inside for his guidance and wisdom. As he turned to go, he briefly bowed to the party before vanishing among the twisting alleys nearby. Urgoth did his best to get a look at the man’s face to remember his features in case they met him again, but they did not halt the man or question him. Instead, the entered the small, curio-filled shop only to find the place empty. The heady aroma of some exotic incense filled the cramped room making the place seem larger than it was. A beaded curtain at the back of the shop parted and a young, attractive dark-haired woman pleasantly asked their business. Brundun requested a fortune telling and the young woman ask everyone to take a seat before disappearing behind the beaded curtain once again. An older man with a thin beard and mustache and a symbolic eye tattooed on his forehead soon joined them, introducing himself as Pan’Phar Thrissek and bowing low. He called into the back room for tea for his honored guests and set about plying his trade, which was part stage show and part savvy assessment of his customer’s coin purse. Throughout this process, he waved a short carved staff tipped with a rat’s skull, treating it as if it were an extension of his arm. He named a price of fifty gold coins for the fortune, and Brundun willingly paid the soothsayer, surrendering the palm of his right hand into both of Pan’Phar’s for a careful examination. Pan’Phar unexpectedly spit into his palm and smeared it about, seemingly able to derive special meaning from what he was seeing in the mixture of mud, spittle and lines. He then had Brundun place his palm on a small crystal ball on the table as he stared into the depths of the thing for some time. While he was thus engaged, Judas exercised his ability to detect magic and found that Pan’Phar’s “magic” crystal ball was completely mundane, though two of the rings Pan’Phar wore were magical as was the curious rat skull-tipped staff. Pan‘Phar came out of his “trance” and proclaimed that Brundun would have the love a dark-haired woman that rode a proud white horse and that he would have many children. Everyone present new that this was a reference to Morgan LeBanc, whom Pan’Phar had undoubtedly heard about at some point during the day and who was conspicuously absent from this meeting and thus a fine target for his chicanery. Brundun seemed unconvinced by the reading but before he could find the best way to bring up their real reason for their visit, Judas blurted out that Pan’Phar was a fake and that the crystal ball was in fact not magical, though his rings and staff were.
The room was quiet for several moments and then Pan’Phar dropped his act and looked seriously at the group. Waving his staff about, he asked them their real purpose in visiting him. Brundun explained that they were there to talk about Green Welcome, to make a business proposition with him for its distribution elsewhere. Pan’Pahr’s reaction was not one they expected, for he told them that he was actually quite tired of the sordid business and though he admitted to being the main supplier for the drug, he no longer wanted to distribute it. He confessed that he was at one time the only supplier, having made a deal with those that made it to distribute it in the city. However, his partners have recently decided to distribute it themselves, selling to others directly and cutting out his profit. Now that there is no money to be made and the drug may be hurting the citizens, he wishes to be free of the business altogether. In fact, he insinuated that for some compensation, he would halt immediately and divulge what he knew of those who make it; if the party was so inclined, they could deliver a little retribution for his supplier’s unscrupulous business practices. Brundun readily paid the 250 gold coins Pan’Phar requested and in turn the party learned that a small group of gnomes were manufacturing the drug from a laboratory in the city sewers. He could tell them no more, for he had never visited the place and was even unable to tell them how to enter the sewers, for they were made ages ago and have never been maintained.
Armed with this information, they party left the Mystic Eye and began their return trip to the Guesthouse, mulling over what they learned and wracking their brains to determine if they had seen any sewer access points. As they did this, they passed through a series of twisting alleyways between crumbling buildings, halting when they heard shouts and cries from somewhere ahead. They raced to a small courtyard formed by a cluster of buildings and saw a small group of citizens staring at a flopping, writhing thing of flesh and slimy green veins; in its hand was a broken bottle of Green Welcome. Horrified at this transformation, the citizens looked on as it gurgled disgustingly, slapped the cobblestones with mucus-covered, clawed hands and then lurched onto its two ropy feet. The crowd immediately stopped shouting and looked on impassively as the creature, now a horrible cross between slime, plant and man, shambled through their ranks and moved down the alley toward the party. Urgoth, Brundun, and Judas were overcome with feelings of mild euphoria and allowed the creature to advance to them unopposed while Fuget and Feydryn looked on, unwilling to attack it for fear they may provoke it. Brundun shifted his position to move away from the thing, seemingly disinterested in attacking it and expressing concern for the peasants that milled about in the courtyard. As he moved away, the creature lashed out with terrible strength, injuring Brundun and infecting the wound with the slime that seemed to ooze from every pour of its disgusting body. The blow brought Brundun out of his revere and he attacked the creature in return, but its thick, fibrous hide proved too difficult to penetrate with his sword. Feydryn fought off the feelings of calm that descended over her each time she looked into its eyes and she blasted the thing with magic missiles, but the plant-thing seemed unaware who was hurting it and it continued to try to vent its fury on Brundun. Soon even Feydryn and Fuget were overcome by the feelings of peace, and Brundun was forced to fight the terrible creature alone, eyes locked on the ground for fear of its calming gaze. Fuget and Feydryn healed his wounds, but no one could be roused to take more aggressive action.
Brundun’s staunch resistance prevented the creature from progressing further down the alleyway but eventually he was overwhelmed by feelings of peace and let his scimitar dangle to his side. Inexplicably, the slimy creature turned away from Brundun and shambled back toward the crowd, disemboweling a peasant that did not move out of its way as it approached. The creature then lumbered out of the courtyard as peasants and the party looked on, all feelings of horror suppressed by the creature’s comforting aura of calm. Eventually these feelings passed, and the party ran down the remainder of the alley to the courtyard. The victim was a young boy, no more than 15years old, and the powerful claws of the creature had cut him down effortlessly. His mother wept over his torn body, but as Brundun and the others reached the alleyway, the boy’s gory body twitched and his exposed entrails began to writhe with green tendrils and slime. The crowd gasped again as the green shoots brought spasmodic life to the body but Brundun had seen enough. He slashed his scimitar down and took the boy’s head from his body as his mother looked on in shock and horror. Upon seeing this, Fuget neutralized the poison in Brundun’s body and the group stood side by side with the citizens of Exag and looked down at the body of the boy, trying to devise a plan to go after the plant thing that was making its way toward the center of the city.
DM’s Notes:
Although things have thus far gone as planned, and my players are really enjoying the story, I had a number of problems with information supplied in the module.There is no mention of the location of sewer access points beyond the secret one in the “Great Pyramid” (which I take to be the central ziggurat, since no building is identified as such). This all but precluded the use of the “Drug Deal” encounter, since if the party followed the spriggan after the deal, I had no way of leading the party to the sewers. Sure, I could have used a manhole I suppose, but such a thing seemed oddly out of place in Exag to me. Surely the spriggan would not attempt to use the secret door in the ziggurat’s base during daylight hours so the event would have to be run at night if at all. I have decided to run this encounter only if my party cannot use their Find the Path capability to locate the entrance during the evening. A little more definition on this would have been helpful.
The description at the opening of Chapter One is inaccurate; the plaza is not dominated by a cistern fed by an aqueduct, that feature is in the northern part of the city and thus not visible as the party enters Exag. Also, The two-page panoramic view of the city in the backdrop article does not show the ziggurat to be a red-clay Crafter construct although it is described as such elsewhere.
Probably most troubling is that the “Horrible Plant Thing” encounter could cause a number of very unexpected events if the DM is not careful. A creature of that power could easily drop or kill every villager near it in no time, spawning many Children of Sehan. Its damage is enough to drop the average commoner with a single blow and infect its victim with poison but a single blow is not typically enough to kill a commoner, so unless the creature rends it’s foes to certain death, the villagers will arise en mass as Children of Sehan. A little bit of care on part of the DM to ensure villagers are truly dead (so the poison has no effect) would be well advised. I also suggest not running the Child of Sehan as truly confused (per the spell) but instead roleplay this aspect of its behavior so you get exactly the right amount of information to the party without risking a plague of slimy green plants. Let the party see how tough it is and see the effects of the poison on their own or a commoner, just so they get the importance of the issue, but do not let it randomly destroy everyone it encounters because it is “confused”.
The biggest problem I have with this encounter though is that the Child of Sehan is supposed to make its way out to the cairn (detailed in the second part of the arc) if allowed to roam free. Both Feydryn and Fuget chose to let the Child approach. Even though they could have attacked it, they instead hoped to follow it, believing the Child to be seeking the sewer entrance. While my choice to make the sewers harder to find certainly encouraged the party to let the Child wander, even if the DM makes the sewers quite easy to find, the issue remains that the party may want to simply follow the creature, especially if they cannot take violent actions against it (everyone in my group ended up Calm after a few rounds of combat and was content to let the thing roam with them in tow. Only by killing a villager and allowing the Calm Emotions effect to expire could I motivate the players to try and kill it before it did more harm “on its way to the sewers”). I thought about letting the group follow the thing to the cairn now, but that seems to really throw the adventure into chaos, so I believe it is critical that the group slay the Child before it leaves the city. Have the “confused” plant thing stick around until it is slain, or you may be on to the second part of the arc before Pan’Phar has had a chance to reach the cultists; a bad thing IMHO.
I can't recall, but I do believe that there was more than one well/christen in the city and one was near the gate. The aquaduct christen is still the biggest though. As for the city artwork, that almost never matches exactly, but I thought this was the closest in relation to map that I had seen.
Originally the Children of Sehan were relatively plain monsters compared to the rending, commune hippies they became in final version of "Vile Addiction" -and kudos to the editor who built them that way. Sehan was still a laid back, herb-friendly hippy god, and all but his "dudeness" was more a style thing than a mechanic thing. His "followers," previously named 'metamophosed ones' (AKA the 'werecabbages'), were basically shambling mounds with some out of date ranch dressing and fast healing (see below).
Metamorphosed One: hp 60; fast healing 10; use all other statistics of a shambling mound, Monster Manual 222.[/i]
Mostly they were so plain because to do otherwise would have meant us blowing our word counts, as the beasties can appear in every episode and we figured that their stat block would have to show up in each.
So the calming gaze while very cool wasn't not in the plan originally (once again thanks to editor in charge of the change over). For the most part the creature is confused like you said, more so than the spell which really only portrays confusion as part of a battle. So for the first few hours it probably wonders about not really knowing where it is. Remember this stuff (Green Welcome) is the "tainted scource" of the true sehan elixir, which the cultists use in very small doses where it has an effect similar to XTC and certain psychodelic mushrooms.
As for the characters wandering off to the necropolis - honestly, you could let them. The adventures only fall the way they do because of the magazine's format. An enterprising DM could just use the scaling info and rearrange the three adventures whichever way the story goes. For instance: The characters bust in on Pan'Phar guns ablazing and kill him. After the fight they find out about Annapuma. A little investigation leads to the Dread Pagoda where the yak spy has already (in this version) shipped a breeding sample of Sehan having done some behind the scenes things prior to the character's visit. Likewise if the characters follow the Children out the necropolis. Annapuma has already figured out where the true source came from and secured some for testing. You'll have to scale "Spawn of Sehan" down to 8th-level of course. After that adventure the PCs then are faced with a decision as to whether to follow Annapuma north or to save the city from the Rakeri and company. If they go north to the Dread Pagoda that scenario becomes a 9th-level adventure and "Vile Addiction" becomes a 10th-level one. Now the characters return to Exag nearly overrun by Children of Sehan "led" by the advanced version found in the pagoda's Chamber of Answers replaced in the last advenure and saved for now.
Obviously the order it is in has little connectors that lead you one adventure to the next, but for the most part they are in and of themselves minor and changable. One of the great things about the whole Sehan Arc (in my opinion) is the fact that it is so modular. Each chapter has its unique villain (spriggan, cultists, and yak folk) with their own motives and their own connection to the real antagonist - Sehan - which itself has no motive beyond simple survival instinct.
Great story so far.
BMC3
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I can't recall, but I do believe that there was more than one well/christen in the city and one was near the gate. The aqueduct christen is still the biggest though. As for the city artwork, that almost never matches exactly, but I thought this was the closest in relation to map that I had seen.
It just didn't appear on the city map of Exag 'tis all and certainly the aqueduct doesn't run into the central plaza. It's a small point, I am just trying to be thorough.
As for the city artwork, that almost never matches exactly, but I thought this was the closest in relation to map that I had seen.
Yes, very right. I almost didn't add this, but since I made my own set of handouts for this game, the picture I showed the players of Exag did not match the description and they thought perhaps there was a third Crafter building not shown on the two-page spread. It is a very minor point and the artwork is great. I would file this under "thorough to the point of anal-retentiveness".
As for the characters wandering off to the necropolis - honestly, you could let them. The adventures only fall the way they do because of the magazine's format. An enterprising DM could just use the scaling info and rearrange the three adventures whichever way the story goes.
Agreed. I want to run them "in order", and I merely wanted other DM's to be aware that this possibility could arise. Your points about the modularity of the modules are very true but for an unprepared DM, this could be problematic.
For the most part the creature is confused like you said, more so than the spell which really only portrays confusion as part of a battle. So for the first few hours it probably wonders about not really knowing where it is. Remember this stuff (Green Welcome) is the "tainted scource" of the true sehan elixir, which the cultists use in very small doses where it has an effect similar to XTC and certain psychodelic mushrooms.
The Child of Sehan as written is very cool (my group was quite impressed) but I completely agree that the DM needs to run the encounter in more of a roleplay fashion than "per the Confusion spell" as the module indicates. This allows freedom to direct the Child to reveal whatever the DM wants: it could head to the cairn to provide interested DMs with a way to jump into the second module, it could go to the sewers, allowing the players to follow it and thus locate the spriggans if they failed to follow up with Pan'Phar (or killed him before he could be more helpful) or it could kill villagers, allowing the party to slay it and perhaps regain some of the trust they may have lost by being too curious about the Crafter's architecture.
Nothing I have found thus far has been in any way a hindrance to running the game and we are really enjoying it. Next week, the players enter the sewers! Apotheosis Apparatus here they come! evil grin
Next week, the players enter the sewers! Apotheosis Apparatus here they come! evil grin
Steve will be ever so happy (and insufferable ;) ). The Apparatus was a touch he came up with for Tom's already cool script (Tom, by the way, has a knack for creating really dynamic dungeon environments). From what I've read the Apparatus encounter is becoming one of those iconic dungeon bits that folks just love to talk about.
-BMC3
Insufferable?!
Lich-Loved, looking soooooooo forward to hearing how things go in the sewers. :)
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Into the Sewers
The peasants in the courtyard stood stunned as they looked down at the slain boy. Then his mother began to weep, silently at first but slowly working herself into a frenzy. She began shouting at Brundun and striking him with her fists in her despair, her friends and neighbors joining in the shouting and wailing, some apparently blaming Brundun for the death and others just as fervently trying to halt the attack. Their exotic tongue added to the confusion of the scene, which seemed a cyclone within which Brundun stood stoically and accepted the mother’s abuse. Feydryn pulled Brundun away from the grasping hands of the mother even as her friends tore her free of the fighter and attempted to comfort her. It seemed that the more rational family members felt Brundun did only what he had to do though they shot the party resentful looks as they slowly guided the grieving woman from the area. Another citizen brought a rough blanket and covered the boy’s body. The few remaining peasants wanted no help as they gathered the boy’s broken body and carried it away. In moments, the courtyard was silent, with no sign of the terror and tragedy that took place there save for the occasional dripping of slime and the pool of dark red blood at Brundun’s feet.
As soon as the crowd dispersed, the party set off after the plant creature, following a trail of slime droplets and dazed onlookers toward the city gate. As they entered the northern end of the plaza, they spotted the slimy plant thing exiting the city gates. They followed it at a discrete distance, but the creature never turned on them, wandering out into the hills and into the rapidly fading light. Deciding that they could not allow it to roam free or chance its return to the city after nightfall, the party decided to attack it before they lost it in the coming darkness. Knowing that its gaze caused an unwanted serenity but unsure how far away they had to be to remain from being affected, Judas, Urgoth, Fuget and Feydryn halted atop a hill and let the creature wander for some distance below them as Brundun hurried to catch up to it. Just as Brundun was about to strike, those on the hilltop let loose a barrage of magic and crossbow bolts, dealing tremendous damage to the creature. It turned on them then, though Brundun was able to land a single blow before he succumbed to the creature’s gaze. While the creature flailed ineffectually at Brundun, a second barrage of magic and finally a third destroyed the horrible plant creature. Urgoth joined Brundun beside the creature’s corpse and collected a small vial’s worth of the mucusy slime that still oozed from its rapidly decaying flesh. They returned to Exag celebrating their victory, unaware that their choice of attack location allowed them almost no margin of error from the plant’s gaze attack.
Once inside Exag’s red clay walls, the party lost no time in looking for the sewer entrance. With no solid leads, Urgoth activated his magic boots and a Find the Path spell guided them from the gates to the hidden sewer entrance at the northwestern corner of the ziggurat. Urgoth noted the door’s location but the party passed by the temple base with a wide margin, carefully avoiding the place to appease the many citizens that watched their activities closely. Once they were back in the Guesthouse they shared a quick quiet word; they would tell Hassan they would spend the night with Morgan in the makeshift stables Hassan found for them and then venture out after dark to actually enter the pyramid. Hassan and Abby thought their idea of seeing Morgan was a good one and did not question them further, agreeing to speak with them again in the morning.
It was well after midnight when the party slipped out of the stables, which were located to the east of the ziggurat in an abandoned shell of a home. They traveled north through the city then west through the fields of the city park and finally turned south toward the central pyramid itself. Along the away, they spotted a number of citizens propped against walls, oblivious to their presence and appearing to be under the influence of Green Welcome. They also encountered a number of citizens sitting together and talking quietly; such conversations halted though when the character’s came by and only resumed after the party was followed a short distance to ensure they meant no harm. Eventually they ducked into the rows of tightly packed houses north of the great pyramid and then, as planned, Fuget cast a Silence spell and the party rapidly moved passed the last few buildings and to the edge of the pyramid. Urgoth opened the secret door after a few moments of searching and the party ducked inside. They followed a sloping passage downward for a short distance and then halted as their passage terminated in a vertical shaft, leading below.
Urgoth climbed down the ladder and found himself in a stench-filled sewer system crowded with garbage. He swept the area with his darkvision and then motioned the others to join him. Feydryn produced a continual torch from her backpack, providing everyone with a little feeble light. Once everyone had descended the ladder, Urgosh moved out to check what appeared to be a sturdy grate blocking access to the sewers proper while everyone else crowded around a slimy, glistening hole that sloped steeply downward from the corner of the sewer in which they entered. Finding nothing, Urgosh returned to the group and after a quick analysis, declared that the small hole in the corner of the wall looked to be hand worked. A foul smell, like concentrated sewage wafted up from the hole, discouraging further progress. However, Brundun noted that the hole was large enough to allow gnomes to pass through it, and thus had to be investigated. Once again Urgosh led the way, this time secured by a rope held by Fuget and Brundun. The narrow passage was slick with moisture and perhaps slime, dropping twenty or more feet into a large, high-ceiling cavern. The dwarf could see that the center of the room was piled high with a mound of garbage while rivulets of slimy water trickled down and formed pools on the uneven floor before winding their way toward the central garbage heap. The cavern had a number of exits, hinting at other chambers beyond this one.
Once below, Urgosh called for the others to descend and one by one they squeezed down the slick tunnel and into the chamber below. Once the group gathered in this lower chamber, Urgosh led them toward a pile of rubble and what might have been a collapsed wall of the sewer above, but before he could reach the place, the mound of garbage shuddered and lurched forward, revealing itself to be a massive squat creature with tentacles for arms, an eerily glowing hide and a huge, gaping maw. Two of the thing’s tentacles slammed Brundun savagely and then lifted him off the floor. Other tentacles bashed and then entwined Urgosh and Judas. The horrible creature bellowed “Intruders! Me eat intruders!” as it waved the helpless characters about. Judas blasted the creature with a bolt of dark energy and Fuget braved the sweep of its mighty tentacles to reach the critically wounded Brundun. He managed to get close enough to the dying fighter to cast a quickened Cure Critical Wounds spell and a Cure Critical Wounds spell but was horrified to find his healing energy leaking to the creature as well, sealing its wounds and further strengthening the beast. Urgosh wiggled free of the thing’s grasp and Feydryn blasted it with magical missiles but the creature seemed relentless. It continued to crush Judas and Brundun and then slammed and entangled Feydryn as well. The battle raged for some time, with Judas surrendering all hope of escape. Instead he attacked again and again, sending bolts of magical energy at the creature even as the tentacle around him wound tighter and tighter. Brundun was unable to do anything, fighting futilely with all of his strength to free himself. Despite the grimness of the situation, Judas’ magical blasts were taking their toll as were Fuget’s constant axe strokes and the precise and terrible blows Urgoth landed whenever he found an opportunity to slip his rapier into the horrible creature’s thick hide. With a last gasp, Judas succumbed to the foul beast’s inexorable grip and his ribs crunched audibly as he went limp in the thing’s grasp. Brundun was holding onto consciousness though he was again fading and Feydryn was very near collapse when Fuget landed a telling axe blow that ruined some vital internal organ inside the creature and it collapsed back into its garbage pile, its tentacles uncoiling slowly from the helpless characters as it perished. Fuget raced to Judas’ side, but the hearty warlock seemed to be recovering some color to his face now that he was not in the thing’s grasp. After gathering their wits, the clerics used wands and spells to restore the party to full health.
The party knew now that whoever or whatever lived in these caverns would know they were coming. They drew their weapons, seated their shields and pressed onward into a small, seemingly empty chamber. As Urgosh rounded the chamber’s far bend, however, he saw a wooden stake and three rope leashes. At the end of the leashes were three animals Urgosh immediately identified as rust monsters. Brundun and Fuget pushed back from the creatures in terror, certain their fine magical arms and armor would fall prey to the destructive creatures. This retreat came too late, for the creatures undoubtedly smelled the party’s great smorgasbord of metal and one by one they snapped their restraining leashes and raced toward the group. Urgosh fought them with his bow, tumbling and weaving among them to set up clear shots while Judas and Feydryn assaulted them with magic. The battle was soon over, though one rust monster was able to reach Urgosh’s magical mithril armor with one of its waving, frond-like antenna. The magical armor resisted the corroding touch of the creature, and Judas struck the thing with a bolt of energy, tossing it hard against the far cavern wall, ensuring it would be of no further concern.
After this short but intense battle, the party knew they faced clever and determined foes, for the rust monsters, restrained as they were, were a clear sign that the caverns were far more than a deep and stinking pit beneath the ancient sewers. As this realization dawned on them, the party immediately checked behind them for an ambush and looked warily at the tunnel ahead, certain that they would soon be facing the gnomes that called this set of caverns home.
Awesome, Lich-Loved! My playtest group for Vile Addiction was a near TPK as well when they encountered the lifeleech otyugh. The first guy down the narrow passage to that chamber foolishly went right up to the "garbage heap" and got himself grappled immediately. The rest of the group got clobbered trying to help him. Everyone but the druid who had wildshaped into a bird got killed. The druid managed to summon enough creatures to finally kill the creature.
Good stuff! Keep it coming.
Very cool indeed. I'm a big fan of the tough "warning" encounter in games where the characters need to proceed with lots of caution rather than both swords blazing.
Matt
Lich-Loved, anything new to post? Can't wait to read more.
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OMG! I just stumbled on this thread. AWESOME!
I am clad someone liked the rusties, as I got a lot of eMails that the just don't fit into the dungeon.
Lich-loved - If you are interested, I have some more infos about the flood...oh well, here it is. IIRC not all that info was printed:
THE BIG BANG
This cave holds great potential for disaster. The rock gnomes have unwittingly built their dangerously unstable machinery against a wall that is only a thin barrier between this cave and an underground connection between the Blashikmund River and Lake Quag. A battle in this room has the potential of setting off a ticking time bomb that would open up the wall and flood this cave and many parts of the rest of the caverns.
Malfunctioning Machinery and Flood Hazard (CR 8): The machinery in the southeast corner of the cave is a very fragile collection of interconnected pressure tubes, spinning gears, vats, and steam filled cylinders that only the rock gnomes seem to the know how to operate or know the purpose of. If they are jostled roughly, the parts begin to malfunction and eventually the whole thing explodes 2d4+2 rounds after the malfunction begins. Any creatures in the cave within 30 feet of the squares the machinery occupies take 6d6 points of damage from the explosion, Ref DC 20 for half. The damage is half fire and half piercing and slashing from machinery shrapnel.
Making matters worse, the wall behind the machinery crumbles. As it does, water starts flooding into the room, eventually pressing through the submersed tunnel connecting 8 and 8a into the rest of the hideout and water from the nearby Blashikmund River gushes into the cave flooding it. Each PC must succeed on a DC 15 Swim or Strength check each round to resist being swept away in the fast moving water taking 1d6 points of lethal damage as they are pummelled against the cave floor and walls or 1d3 non-lethal if successful.
In 4 rounds, area 8a is completely submerged in water and in 1 minute most of area 8, 9, and 10 are also filled with water. Creatures caught in the flood are at risk of being swept away via the shortest route to the chasm at area 11, which presents its own perils.
See Water Dangers and Drowning on page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information about being swept away in fast moving water.
AREA 4:
This encounter we cut out of the manuscript, to save words and because it seemed too dangerous. But if your players should have a light time in the dungeon, passing throug this area a second time could initiat this one:
4. The Metalmaster (EL 5)
This part of the sewers is identical to the one you came through while entering the caves. However, the iron grate here is broken, giving way to the tunnels behind. Dried slime is everywhere in the floor. It looks like a snail wandered through the tunnels here, but no creature is to be seen now.
Very observant pcs might notice (Spot Check, DC 20) that among all the filth and garbage not a single piece of metal is to be found. The Metalmaster has been here before.
Like in room 1, this tunnel leads deep into the still intact parts of Exag’s sewers and what might be found there (apart from the metalmaster) if the pcs go there is up to the DM.
Creature: The dry slime has been left by a Metalmaster (see below) which came here a few weeks ago. This monster is intendet to give the DM another challenge to throw at the pcs if their exploits in the Spriggan hideout have been too easy. When they come back, or any time you as the DM deems it necessary, the Metalmaster might slither into the caves in search of metal.
Metalmaster: CR 5; Large Magical Beast; HD 6d10+27; hp 60; Init +2; Spd 20 ft.; AC 14, touch 7, flat-footed 14; Base Atk +6; Grp +14; Atk +9 melee (2d6+6, bite); Full Atk +9 melee (2d6+6, bite); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft.; SA attraction, magnetism, metal storm, repelling aura, telekinesis; SQ darkvision 90 ft., detect metal, fast healing 1; AL CE; SV Fort +9, Ref +3, Will +3; Str 19, Dex 6, Con 18, Int 6, Wis 13, Cha 11
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Improved initiative, Toughness
Languages: Undercommon (although they are not brilliant conversionalists)
Detect Metal (Ex): A metalmaster automatically senses the presence of any metal (minimum 1 pound) within 60feet. The exact location is not revealed, but the metalmaster can take a move action to note the direction in which the metal lies. When it comes within 5 feet of metal the creature knows its location.
Fast Healing (Su): A metalmaster heals 1 point of damage each round, so long as it has at least 1 point remaining.
Magnetism (Su): A metalmaster can create magical fields of magnetic energy. Once per round as a free action, it can create one of the folloeing effects (caster level 12th). The save DCs for these abilities are Charisma-based, and its magnetism has an effective Strength score of 25.
A metalmaster’s magnetism affects only metallic creatures, creatures wearing metal armor, or creatures carrying metal weapons or shields. Creatures carrying metal objects can simply drop them to avoid the effect. The metalmaster’s magnetism affects the dropped objects just as it would any other unattended item. Each of these abilities functions continuosly until the metalmaster’s next turn unless otherwise noted. Any creature that enters the area of the magnetism is subject to its effects.
Attraction (Su): All metallic creatures and objects within 60feet of the metalmaster are entangled and dragged closer to it. This ability functions like a bull rush (check modifier +11), except that it doesnot provoke attack of opportunity, and targets that loose the opposed check move toward the metalmaster instead of away from it. The metalmaster does not move if it loses the opposed Strength check.
Metal Storm (Su): A metalmaster can turn the shards of metal clinging to its body into a whirling storm of razors. This effect reduces its natural armor bonus by 4, but each other creature within 20 feet takes 4d6 points of slashing damage (Reflex DC 20 half). This effect lasts for 12 rounds.
Repelling Aura (Su): All metallic creatures and objects within 60 feet of the metalmaster are pushed backward. This ability functions like attraction (see above), except that the affected creatures are not entangled, and they move away from the metalmaster rather than toward it. While using this ability, the metalmaster gains a +8 deflection bonus to AC against attacks by weapons that have metal components.
Telekinesis (Su): A metalmaster can affect one creature or object within 60 feet as if using a telekinesis spell (DC 14). It’s effective Strength si 25 (+7 bonus) for the purpose of any opposed checks required in conjunction with this ability. If the metalmaster chooses the violent thust function of the telekinesis spell, the effects are resolved immediately and to not last beyonf its turn. Lost Empires of Faerûn, p.184
The West wall has a great hole in it; about 10ft. above the ground (see detail on map) with a lot of rubble in front of it. The ceiling has height of about 15ft. The hole has been made by the spriggans, in order to get the construct to the city above one day. However, as the spriggans broke through they encountered a Metalmaster (see room 4) and after a tough fight, in which 4 spriggans died, the Metalmaster was, with the Otyughs help, beaten back. The rotting remnants of the two Spriggans still lie with the rubble at the west wall, the Otyugh has not yet eaten them…
AREA 11:
The spriggans use the crevasse to dispose of corpses. So if you need them to find some special equipment or other stuff, this might be the place to find a wetched (right word) dead person.
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Spriggans!
After dispatching the rust monsters, the party remained in the room while Urgoth crept ahead to peer into the next chamber. This room had a low entrance and ceiling that would make it difficult for the party to navigate. He could see sleeping pallets and the edge of a faintly glowing pool on the far side of the chamber but felt it too risky to allow the party to follow him into the cramped space. Thus he led the party back into the room that held the otyugh in search of another entrance into the room.
Once back in this large cave, Urgoth led the party to a side cave stacked with grotesque bodies that were part gnome and part animal. A careful examination of the entrance to this chamber revealed small bits of falling rock and Urgosh quickly warned the others away, for the small bits of falling stone were indicative of rockworms, a termite-like worm that nested in solid stone, greatly weakening its structure. While the rest of the group remained behind, Urgoth carefully entered the unsafe tunnel that led to the stinking room. Finding no means to move toward the room with the glowing pool, he focused his attention on the mold-covered bodies. He prodded the nearest with his rapier, sending forth a cloud of choking spores. His strong resistance to poisons prevented him from suffering ill effects from the poisonous spores and he backed away, unwilling to risk further harm to investigate the corpses. Once he rejoined the party, Judas stepped to the edge of the unsafe tunnel and used his ability to detect magic to search the pile of bodies for anything of use. A single magical aura shone forth from inside the pile of bodies, but given the risk, the party decided to return to this place after the tunnels were secured so they can focus on dealing with the poisonous mold.
Urgoth next turned to a narrow, twisting tunnel leading in the direction they wished to go. The tunnel would be a tight squeeze for everyone and would force them to approach the chamber they spotted earlier in single file, a move everyone considered too risky after a few moments quiet conversation in the otyugh’s chamber. Faced with no other alternative, Urgoth led the party back through the rust monster’s cave and into the cavern with the low ceiling.
This long chamber had a very low roof, forcing everyone to duck and shuffle to make progress. The party no sooner entered this low-ceiling area than the inhabitants of the cave sprung an ambush. Small, orange-haired gnomes wielding sharp swords sprang out of the darkness, from behind jutting stonework and from narrow tunnels elsewhere in the room. They worked together very well, tumbling and dodging among the cramped, larger folk, using the party’s awkward height and the low ceiling to maximum effect. The cramped conditions made the use of magic to fight the foes very difficult and the situation was only made worse when two of the creatures used the small tunnels to circle behind the party. These two grew to large size and began hacking away at Judas, the only party member that remained in the rust monster’s cavern and thus the only party member not trapped under the low ceiling.
The battle was long and gruesome but the party eventually prevailed, though Brundun and Feydryn very nearly perished in the fighting, finding themselves continually flanked by the vicious rogues. After the fighting ended, the party retreated back to the rust monster’s cave to allow Feydryn and Fuget to heal their many wounds. Once they felt they were ready, the party reentered the low cavern, stepping over the bodies of their many foes. Fuget moved to inspect a narrow tunnel on the far side of the cave while Judas investigated the glowing pool. Urgoth rifled the sleeping pallets for treasure while the others stood guard in the main party of the chamber. Judas had just noted that the glowing water was lit by light from an underwater cave when a gnome hiding in the narrow cavern Fuget was examining viciously attacked him. A second battle broke out, with more gnomes coming from the large tunnel to the south. The leader of this bunch was quite skilled and used his skill and size to his advantage, but everyone was used to their tactics now and was no longer hampered by cramped conditions. Although Fuget suffered a grievous wound, the party readily dispatched this second wave of spriggans. They turned their back on the glowing pool and entered the cavern where this second wave of gnomes must have been hiding. As they attempted to heal their wounds, another gnome with a dire weasel pet slipped into he chamber and attacked them. After their initial surprise, the party mounted a strong defense. Fearing for his life, this spriggan raced down a narrow winding tunnel and vanished; the party hesitated to follow him for fear of another ambush.
After more healing, the party set off single file through yet another cramped tunnel. This one twisted and turned as it descended, eventually terminating in a narrow cliff. A small rope bridge spanned a chasm that fell off into the darkness. On the far side of the gorge, Urgoth noted yet another small passage. However, his attention was focused on the two boulders that flanked the bridge on the far side of the cavern. He suspected that this last spriggan was laying in wait for the party and after a moment’s planning, he set off alone across the bridge as his friends looked on.
Urgoth proceeded carefully, his eyes fixed on the boulders ahead. Suddenly the area behind the boulder on his right flared as if a fire had been lit and the spriggan leapt from his hiding spot. The evil gnome hurled a ball of fire and struck the ropes securing the bridge, which burst into flames and collapsed. To everyone’s horror, Urgoth vanished from sight, plummeting down the cavern with a cry. Judas’ darkvision allowed him to watch the dwarf’s fall and he assured his companions that the dwarf was safe, having managed to grasp the far side of the collapsing bridge and thus had swung rather than fallen into the blackness. He was undoubtedly hurt, but was likely still alive, if he could be rescued.
Judas flew out across the cavern to try and spot the spriggan, who had ducked back down behind the rocks on the far side of the chasm. Brundun sipped a potion of flying and carried Feydryn aloft, aiming for the small tunnel on the far side of the place that looked to be the gnome’s only escape. When Brundun and Feydren landed on the far side of the chasm, Brundun stalked toward the gnome, forcing him to retreat away from his escape tunnel. Feydryn blasted him with magic missiles and Judas pummeled him with dark energy; it seemed as if the foul creature was cornered. Sensing the gnome’s desperation, Brundun decided to close in for the kill, but rather than negotiate the cramped area behind the boulders, he decided to fly around the collapsed bridge supports and boulders to reach the gnome from behind, using his ability to fly to fully engage the spriggan over the chasm. The killing blow went astray however, giving the spriggan a final chance. He deftly avoided the oncoming Brundun, tumbled passed the startled Feydryn and vanished into the small tunnel. Brundun attempted to pursue, but even with his ability to fly, the cramped tunnel prevented easy movement and the lucky spriggan rapidly outdistanced the heavily armored fighter.
Brundun gave up the pursuit and descended into the dark chasm, following Urgoth’s calls for rescue. The dwarf was soon rescued and the party retreated to the gnome’s cavern complex to heal and search the chests they had spotted during the fighting.
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Hi there!
Great stuff! I really enjoy reading how other pcs make it through the dungeon.
My players also flew over the chasm and this was reason enough for me to let Rakeri blow his whistle to agitate the bat swarm at the celing of the chasm, which gave my flying pcs a much harder time to travers the chasm, and Rakeri some more time to shoot at them.
Anyway, I hope you find some of the infos above helpful and I hope even more, that Rakeri gives them a much harder fight the next time.
Can't wait to read more...
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Apotheosis Apparatus
With the escape of the last spriggan, the party warily returned to the main caves and discussed their next step. After a brief discussion they decided that they did not want to remain in the tunnels any longer than they had to given the number of bodies present and the fact that the dangerous gnome leader was still on the loose. Judas hid himself in the narrow tunnel on the near side of the chasm to watch for the spriggan’s return while the others searched the lair quickly but thoroughly. Working as a team, they found a chest with several potions, a high-quality short sword, a magic ring (which Feydryn identified as a ring of the ram) and a smattering of gold and platinum coins. They also found an odd sealed chest that Urgoth guessed to be waterproof that contained a label in a language no one recognized, though Feydryn noted the language was the same as that in a book they found earlier.
Feydryn cast a comprehend languages spell and determined the chest was labeled “Laboratory”. While Urgoth carefully examined and then opened the chest, Feydryn read through the journal. The chest contained four sealed jars of an oily green liquid, similar to but certainly different from Green Welcome. Feydryn then read the highlights of the journal to everyone and they learned a great deal about the spriggan leader, his motivations for coming to Exag, his goals and most importantly, that a cult of sorts had arisen in a nearby cairn that worshiped a being called Sehan, which was the source of the strange green fluid that the spriggans were turning into Green Welcome in a laboratory under the sewers. It was clear to all that the lab was located through the underwater tunnel and the party quickly prepared to pass through the pool.
Brundun (who paradoxically was the best swimmer in the party even in his armor) entered the pool first and determined that what they thought was a long underwater tunnel was in fact only a short passage that immediately led to a room on the other side of the wall. Satisfied the party would not need magic to pass through the pool, Urgoth was nominated to lead the party into the lab. He moved into the adjoining room carefully and quietly with the rest of the group behind him. The lab room was filled with the coughs and grinding of machinery and had a sour, metallic smell. Four gnomes in white lab coats worked on bizarre puffing machinery that lined the walls or at sturdy tables that held bubbling retorts and tubing; they were absorbed enough in their work that they did not notice the stealthy dwarf peering at them from the pool’s edge.
Urgoth managed to slip out of the water without drawing their attention and had just enough time to draw his rapier before Brundun came lumbering up in a shower of water and making enough noise that the gnomes could hear him over the clanking of their weird machinery. The startled gnomes backed away from the strangers in terror, huddling in a cluster against the far wall of the lab as more and more humans entered the lab. For their part, the party was unsure of the gnomes’ intentions and clustered near the edge of the pool, staring at the many strange and wondrous sights in the room. This standoff might have continued for some time if not for Fuget, who climbed out of the pool and passed through his friends to stand in front of a large glass cylinder mounted on a tripod. With incredible speed, the mechanical apparatus animated, its metallic, tentacle-like arms bashed Fuget and in the blink of an eye lifted him high overhead to deposit him inside the thing’s transparent central chamber, which frothed with a ugly-looking green liquid. Fuget (who had stowed his shield and large battleaxe before attempting to pass through the underwater tunnel) beat futilely on the thing’s metallic lid with his meaty fists, searching for an escape. And to make matters worse, the green foam inside the chamber proved to be highly toxic, the poison already weakening the trapped cleric. The lab gnomes yelled in fright and huddled closer together, pushing away from the stomping equipment as it began to move toward the party in an effort to complete some alien program. Urgoth’s rapier scratched ineffectually at the machine’s metallic skin while the others fumbled for weapons and shields that had been stored to allow easy passage underwater. Only Judas was able to respond effectively, blasting the thing with dark energy.
As the machine waded into the party, one metallic tentacle scooped Fuget out and threw him to the floor while the other deftly grasped Urgoth and managed to drop him into the poisonous glass chamber. By this time, Feydryn had made it out of the pool and began pounding the machine with magic missiles from her powerful wand while Brundun hacked feebly at the machine’s limbs. Judas poured his magic at it but still it continued onward, tentacles flailing, bashing machinery and party members alike. In fact, the rampaging machine had damaged some critical control valve on the large and noisy lab machine against the far wall of the chamber, causing the fragile equipment to shudder and squeal as it broke apart. With a roar, the crushed machine exploded, sending a wave of fire and flying parts throughout the room. Urgoth who was trapped inside at the time, was spared by the thick glass walls of the poison chamber, though many hunks of metal embedded themselves in the glass only inches from his face. The rest of the party was not so lucky, suffering terribly in the blast. The lab gnomes and Judas were particularly badly hurt and bright red blood mixed with slick green liquids on the floor as the battle raged. In the smoky aftermath of the blast, Brundun finally found his footing and began to hack at the contraption but any happiness he experienced was taken when he glanced toward the smoking pile of wreckage that used to be a machine and saw that the explosion cracked the far wall of the room and a strong stream of water was jetting into the lab from some underground source. Even as he looked on, a piece of the wall gave way and more water sprayed into the room.
The apparatus seemed not to care however, and continued on with its task, casting Urgoth out of its internal chamber and scooping Feydryn up to deposit her inside. Despite its relentlessness, the machine was badly damaged and wobbled about as it thrashed anyone near it with its long metallic arms. Feydryn called upon the power of the ring of the ram she recently claimed and aimed the strongest blast she could upward toward the iris-like door that kept her held in the chamber. The blast was indeed tremendous, but the metallic door hardly seemed buckled though the chamber’s glass was pitted and cracked. Judas followed with a blast of his own though it was Urgoth that managed to strike the destroying blow, his rapier tip finding a weak point in the glass and punching through, just missing Feydryn inside. Green poison arced from the chamber and then the grass cracked and shattered, spilling Feydryn out in a wave of poison as the machine collapsed upon itself.
As soon as Feydryn was free, the group herded the terrified gnomes out of the chamber, into the spreading pool and through the underwater passage. Urgoth found the highest point in the caves and led the party there as a great torrent of water bubbled out of the underwater cave and went racing down the narrow passages and toward the chasm. Weakened, battered and bleeding, the party was in no position to help themselves, let alone their gnomish prisoners, all of who suffered grievously in the blast in the lab. The party limped back to the rust monster’s chambers and collapsed there, using their remaining healing spells to heal what damage they could. The poison had taken its toll, however, and the party decided to remain in the caverns to rest, secure in the thought that the spriggan that escaped would be unable to reach them through the raging torrent that now filled the tunnel back into these caves. While they rested, they learned that the gnomes were kidnapped from their shop in Cormyr several months ago and wanted only to return to their homes and families. The party kept the gnomes under guard as they rested, more for the gnomes’ safety than out of fear of the gnomes themselves.
As dawn broke somewhere above them, the party stirred and Fuget and Feydryn undid the worst of the poison’s effects. Feydryn identified the potions they found and learned more of the magical sword they discovered on one of the spriggan bodies. With the benefit of a neutralize poison spell, Judas returned to the room containing the piled, fungus-covered humanoid/animal bodies and sorted through the corpses until he found the source of the magic aura he spotted when he first examined the pile. It proved to be a ring, which Feydryn identified to be a ring of evasion. Fuget healed the gnomes until they were strong enough to travel and then the party made ready to leave the sewers. Feydryn pointed out that it was daylight above and they could not exit via the ziggurat because they would surely be seen. Urgoth and Brundun wanted to find their way out through the sewers, but it was clear that their gnome charges would be a liability in any fighting. Unwilling to see them perish, the group decided to wait in the rust monster chamber until they knew it to be nightfall above and then return the way they came.
With ample use of magic and a great deal of caution, the party was able to successfully slip out of the central pyramid and return to the streets of Exag. Brundun went to check on Morgan in their makeshift stables while the rest of the group led the bewildered gnomes to Hassan’s Guesthouse where they woke the proprietor and Abby and regaled them with tales of their exploits. They learned that in their absence, a number of plant creatures shambled out of the city, causing mayhem and destruction in their wake. They also learned that Pan’Phar Thrissek was seen following the plant creatures into the hills. It would seem that the creatures were walking in the same general direction as the creature they followed and slew. The party shared a look, knowing now that the plant creatures were probably heading for the cairn they read about in the leader’s journal, following some inner drive to join the cult that made that place their home. The news that Pan’Phar followed one of the creatures into the hills mystified them and they speculated what the cagey fortuneteller was planning.
Good synopsis, Lich-Loved. Sounds like things went about the same for your players as it did for mine.
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** spoiler omitted **
I wonder...did the same editor handle both modules or is the answer more sinister? Perhaps you and Pett share Demogorgon's primary physical trait? Hint: if you happen to keep seeing Pett's face near yours while shaving, you may want to investigate this furthur; he may be secretly plotting to kill you. The word on these boards is that he is pretty ruthless...
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I like the way you handled the flood!
It's more easy for the pcs and surely they earned a rest after the last couple of encounters.
Great job!
Thanks. There is a time for beating on the characters and a time to give them a small break. The Apparatus beat them up pretty badly, especially with the explosion, so i decided to go easier on them with the flood. I am still struggling when to run the modules as written and when to make them tougher since I have 5 players rather than 4. Some of the fightes were certainly easier for them (Bilgor's especially) than they should have been. I will make some changes to increase the difficulty in the cairn; I don't want them to think that the Pagoda (when they l;earn about it of course) is going to be at all easy. I want to let them know the deeper they get into this thing the harder it is going to be to survive. Hopefully that will bash some caution into their heads. Something tells me they will need it.
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Dunno if anyone is reading this journal, but if you are, we are due for another installlment tomorrow. However, the group will not play this Thursday, July 12th, because of scheduling conflicts. I wil be running a side quest for those players that can make it. I am thinking what mischief I can brew up in Exag beyond the obvious. All suggestions welcome!
Dunno if anyone is reading this journal, but if you are, we are due for another installlment tomorrow. However, the group will not play this Thursday, July 12th, because of scheduling conflicts. I wil be running a side quest for those players that can make it. I am thinking what mischief I can brew up in Exag beyond the obvious. All suggestions welcome!
Well not to plug my stuff too much but if you have access to it "The Menagerie" (Dungeon 126) is a pretty easy fix. It's quick (a night's worth), fun, and probably a good change of pace from the horror that the party will be getting for the next few weeks. It was created for 6th level characters, but the format allows for some pretty easy conversions. You might need to tweak the setting a bit, but beyond that you should be golden. Here's a link to more Menagerie stuff.
Hope that helps
Matt
Yep! That's a good one. Plus, did you know it one an award at Origins 2005? ;)
Yep! That's a good one. Plus, did you know it one an award at Origins 2005? ;)
Do you mean to say it even beat out submissions by such well-known authors as Mike Kortes and Nick Logue? ::shock and awe!!!::
I did not know that, I did not know that.
The Great Carnak ;)
Yep! That's a good one. Plus, did you know it one an award at Origins 2005? ;)Do you mean to say it even beat out submissions by such well-known authors as Mike Kortes and Nick Logue? ::shock and awe!!!::
I did not know that, I did not know that.
The Great Carnak ;)
:)
A Chaotic End
Thus we come to the end of the tale of the Company of the Silver Wolf, the core of which lies as bloated, tentacled carcasses decaying on a nameless hillside outside of Exag..
::Rises from chair and extends hand to sky:: Yes!!! Or uh, I mean, sorry... It's all Steve's fault I tell you! ::points viciously at Steve:: (That's for ratting me out on the whole 'brass golem near-TPK debacle' ;) ).
Sorry to here about the set back but truth be told that how my last Call of Cthulhu game ended as well so in that regard I guess the adventure works. If your group continues on, might I suggest having the new trio of chaos beasts (if they survived - thought it sounds as if they didn't) return and giving them some of the same mannerisms and tactics as their original forms (purely on instinct, perhaps they even parrot these character's catch-lines). Another option might have the characters return as full-blown (and still recognizable) children of Sehan (who really knows what that goop does anyway) still sporting some of their equipment. Heck if you get as far as the Dread Pagoda have one (or all three of them glooped together) as the abomination.
I have to say though that the company's end in that encounter comes as a surprise to me as well. Given how slow chaos beasts are I would not have counted them as any more than strange bread crumbs on the trail to Steve's well-constructed cairn. Still, stranger things have happened.
Good luck,
Matt
Who feels quite sorry that more characters don't survive long enough to be killed by the inhabitants of the Dread Pagoda. :(
Lich-Loved, you've illustrated the perfect example of overconfident players and crappy roles that turn challenging yet non-fatal encounters into TPKs. Sometimes no matter what you do to drop hints and foreshadowing of dangerous & possibly deadly encounters players will still merrily march on to certain doom, supremely confident in their own abilities. It's unfortunate that it brought a halt to the game so early into the 2nd adventure.
So, what's happening with the group? Are they continuing on with the adventure? Or is it stalled?
Matt, it's really not too bad down here under the bus. Now I know what it's like ;).
What a strange turn of events, Lich-loved! But as has already been noted, (as in life) the unexpected often happens. And I'm glad that you stuck to your guns and let the party deal with the ramifications. After all, adventuring wouldn't contain much adventure if there were no risk.
In any event, I hope you carry on with this journal, whatever form the party and its future adventures take. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading thus far!
Interestingly my session went similarly, though a few things happened differently. Out of curiousity do you feel that the encounter with the Spriggans could have gone better than you had happen? For my part it seems like you sprang the trap well and gave the pcs a good run for their money.
One thing I found to be devastating in effect was reducing the scale as advised to 5 as opposed to 10 per square, as well as emphasizing the narrowness and smallness of some areas as you did. The darkness also had a strong effect, as I had most areas dark. One of my players said that it was exciting but that it was also harrowing and disturbing.
However it was the crevasse that surprised me--I wonder if every party playing this has had at least one person fall into it.
I made use of Spriggan "shatter" spell like powers to destroy sources of light btw. Thus the only light was a sort of eerie green glow in some of the inhabited areas.
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Out of curiousity do you feel that the encounter with the Spriggans could have gone better than you had happen? For my part it seems like you sprang the trap well and gave the pcs a good run for their money.
I do not think it could have gone better, the party was cramped (I used the rules for Squeezing), flanked and outnumbered. The 5' scale is a must, however or it provides too many options for the characters.
I made use of Spriggan "shatter" spell like powers to destroy sources of light btw. Thus the only light was a sort of eerie green glow in some of the inhabited areas.
My group uses Light spells on (magic) shields and weapons, making that tactic useless. Even wth reasonable lighting, the caverns were creepy and tensions high.
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So, what's happening with the group? Are they continuing on with the adventure?
I am sorry I didn't respond to this question when you asked it, Steve. I have been busy putting the game back together.
After the three characters were lost to the chaos beasts, we had a long talk about what to do next. Judas' player was ready to make a new character (the Warlock can be a bit repetitive... see monster, blast monster, repeat...) and the others obviously needed new characters as well. After some indecision and a bit of playing onward toward the cairn, Brundun decided he had had enough; the place was creepy and the monsters alien and horrible. Knowing that they were leaving the core issues unresolved but feeling good about themselves for ridding Exag of its problems, Brundun and Morgan decided to return to Archendale and claim their reward. They buried the bodies of their friends, claimed their equipment to pass on to their heirs and mournfully returned to the Dalelands. Once there, Brundun and Morgan moved into their recently-completed citadel and spent two months braving the strong storms rolling down the Thunder Peaks, made the place home and carried out their duties regarding their dead comrades. During these two months, Brundun also recruited new members to the Company of the Silver Wolf:
Zaga (Human druid 9): A mysterious woman with an agenda of her own
Talazar (Human diviner 5/warweaver 4): A hyper-intelligent mage focused on party buffs
Garus (Aasimar cleric of Tymora 8): a staunch adventurer spreading the word of the Luck Goddess and relying upon her favors while on a quest to fashion a sun sword as a gift to his father.
Norstalk (Human scout 9): A savvy scout and archer from the North
I advanced the game time two months, to 15 Kythorn 1373DR and we resumed play. The new Company was quickly called upon by Orlamm Starbottom himself (Brundun remained silent on the losses to the group after Exag was freed from Sehan's grip) to address the problems at Graymalkin Academy (The Fall of Graymalkin Academy, Dungeon 140), the upscale school of magic in Archenbridge. Inside they met Turk (Half-orc barbarian 9), the school's man-at-arms and melee instructor (i.e. combat-casting lab instructor :> ). Turk is played by an old friend and regular gamer who recently returned from out of state to rejoin our group, bringing the party to 6 full time players and one cohort (sheesh...).
After (barely) surviving the horrors in the Academy (what a tale that would be, and no, I haven't the time to tell you properly), the congealing Company returned to the Citadel of the Silver Wolf only to find two factions camped out on the plain in front of the Citadel. Brundun, now Lord Brundun, had to deal with a vile emissary from the Storm Lord (a giant living in the Thunder Peaks that demanded tribute from the young Lord) and meet with a company of archers from Deepingdale that called upon the upstart Lord to track and dispose of raiders that have been coming from the Thunder Peaks to slaughter innocents and steal children from Deepingdale. Brundun held court in his Citadel, eventually sending the giant's emissary away empty handed and agreeing to look into the raiding problem, bemoaning his new position as Lord and the petitions he must entertain.
And thus the Company of the Silver Wolf has set off into the Thunder Peaks and into The Coming Storm (Dungeon 136) while the guards and retainers at the Citadel prepare for war against the Storm Lord's minions by overseeing the construction of a curtain wall, guard towers and gatehouse in front of the Citadel. Meanwhile, far to the west in the Stormhorns, unfinished business festers in fetid green pools and in the minds of the dangerous and mysterious yakfolk ...
Something tells me that they may be returning to the cairn and when they do, my narritive here will begin again *evil grin*
One thing I am really enjoying is that I'm seeing another DM making free use of the Dungeon Magazine adventures he likes best to flesh out his campaign. I liked "Graymalkin Academy" too, very well thought out and easily inserted into any campaign.
It is interesting that your pcs were shaken and horrified enough that they aren't immediately thinking of going back. This will make it all the more horrific when they encounter that awful green stuff again. Now are the yak folk pursuing the same aims entirely as per the adventure or are you inserting them into your local political/military situation?