Due to the Ebilness of Work and a mounting shortage of players for today's scheduled game session, it was necessary to skip today's scheduled dose of carnage and mayhem.
Next week the 9th should see our regularly scheduled Slaughtergarde dungeon crawl resume its initial stages. The player characters and many mini-onions (sadly now Named) are now in the opening moments of the Slaughtergarde Armory, and at least one antagonist rather easily saw the gnoll come flying down to spatter all over the floor, let alone hearing the butchery echoing down the long tunnel above from the outside world.
Will they die a horrible death, suffering in their overconfidence, ever eager to press onward for more XP and swag? Or shall they beat a hasty retreat and once more repeat the series of beat-downs incurred with the mayhem in the Slaughtgarde Temple?
Only Tharizdun knows for sure...
NO!
And I was so looking forward to the expected carnage. Simply the way of things I suppose. Just means that you must unleash double the sticky ended fates in store for our Hero-snacks. In case you read this first, I got that oh so lovely email...
Crew 2, 7th Session.
Once more a band of drinking buddies and childhood chums gathered in the bowels of the earth of the Valley of Obelisks - in this case, continuing to persecute, pillage and plunder hapless gnolls and giantfolk.
We had 6 players with a 7th showing up late in the session this day. Two were former players in the Age of Worms campaign run by Sir Al of N.
So, once the fighter/rogue successfully bypassed (and reset) the pit trap, while the aspiring mystic theurge-item crafter raised and latched the portcullis, they then proceeded to ensure that all of their drinking buddies were present while the rest went back outside to stand watch, take a nap or otherwise make themselves unavailable.
The elevator room they found to be guarded by a 168 hp hill giant and the half-fiend ogre fighter 1 from a different chamber, tasked to guard duty here after losing a wager with the patrolling gnolls.
The fight was brutal, resulting in massive poundings on many characters. The hillbilly druid with his dire jackal companion was messily splattered all over the wall by the hill giant (who had previously crushed, but not killed, the 'big dawg'). Said hill giant was swinging 9 point Power Attacks with his big honkin' greatclub for all it was worth, whiffing until the dawg got unlucky and his druid buddy even less lucky still. Welcome back to the game my friend - and dig up that lovely jerk of a draconic bloodlined sorceror with a fire fetish while you're at it please. ^^ Which he did, of course.
They did of course butcher and loot the giant and the half-demon ogre, although they withdrew to camp the night atop the elevator formerly guarded by the blind mountain troll. A few die rolls on my end determined that the gnoll patrols found the carcasses and proceeded to initiate alterations in the defenses of the Armoury.
The next day they proceeded to bash entry holes into all 4 elevator shafts, after which they discerned what the amulets they found do with the fire arches... oops. At least they should have a clean path of retreat down such a shaft should the time come...
Proceeding up the southwestern elevator, they turned left from the top, only to run into the juvenile fang dragon and his groupie tieflings. The dragon, having just raised his Shield spell, proceeded over the course of the fight to thoroughly maul several characters.
At one point, both the soon-to-be mystic theurge/item crafter and the Favored Soul of Kord were at -9 hit points (the latter had just stabilized). A particularly gruesome display of literal firepower by the red dragon bloodlined sorceror rienacted the Jesse Ventura death scene from Predator, fragging a tiefling rogue 3 in a single smoking spray of viscera (15d8 fire damage to a 19 hp rogue will do that). Sir Al of N made short work of the other rogue, and a decent Scorching Ray by the tiefling wizard put the 3rd wizard of the party at 0 hp in one shot. Sadly, the planetouched mage died a horrible burning death the next round.
Needless to say, they stabilized the fang dragon, healed each other up and headed back to town for a couple of weeks to get another 2k gp each for selling off yet another dragon (including the 7th player, the long-absent Ebil Yoda, who contributed the Tenser's Floating Disc spells that greatly aided in rapidly extricating the dragon back to town for sale).
Returning once more, they proceeded without opposition - justifiably raising some concern by Sir Al of N - into the southwest quadrant of the Armoury, went the other way and spotted 2 gnoll barbarians lounging around playing with thier greataxes.
The carnage was a sight to behold. Mage # 1 tossed a Web into the room, successfully entrapping both barbarians, both gnoll soldiers and the female gnoll cleric. Mage #2 tossed in a Fireball, incinerating the Web while capitolizing on the bonus damage from the Web spell. Mage #3 ... also tossed in a Fireball, frying the gnoll barbarians like so much doggie sausage on a VERY hot plate and nearly doing in both the cleric and the soldiers. (The cleric's saving throws had gone well, amazingly enough.) A few rounds later, the gnoll cleric while successful in sounding the alarm, died horribly as TWO flaming spheres rolled down the stairway and through her, turning her into a charcoal briquette in short order.
I am proud of them for such well orchestrated carnage. It will be something to see when they actually start doing this with a purpose...
Considering that Allen is the only Forum-Vocal member of Crew 2, I don't we'll see much in character posting. Allen has a particular disdain for that sort of thing, but perhaps we can persuade him.
Too bad he isn't playing the evil Hobbit Chef. That would be an IC post that would be an absolute joy to read. I can just picture it now.
Oh and Turin, with Allen accusing you of being overly harsh with the Fireballs, direct him to recall the Three Faces of Evil that takes place at a similar level for the characters. As you are both using somewhat modified modules...I don't see much issue. And personally, Whispering Cairn and The Three Faces of Evil are some of the harshest low level adventures I have ever seen. Then again, this time the Killer GM is on the receiving end.
You know what they say Turin, "Turnabout is fair play."
Oh, and just for Allen's benefit, I will wholeheartedly grant Turin access to any CoC D20 monsters he should desire. Mwhahaahah!
Sir Charles, I have acquired the tome in question. Coupled with the excellent revisions the kind-souled gentlecritters at Paizo are cooking up in Pathfinder, Crew 2 is in for some rough times ahead...
Turin:
Looking forward to reading about the cruise.
By the way; I hear that a certain Paizo Module, ** spoiler omitted **
Sir Charles, I did ineed note your eager anticipation of such otherwordly awfulness this module presents. Interesting is it not that the third 'Yuan-Ti Fortress' module likewise posited a similarly 'greater than 5 over APL' antagonist at the end?
Partially owing to friends moving away from my area, my spending on published adventures over the past few years has been restricted to Dungeon Magazine and then Pathfinder; J3 is the first one for a while which may tempt me to stray into 32-page territory. My knowledge of such publications is, therefore, strictly sketchy at best and I have no idea if the Yuan-ti modules or Paizo's 'J' modules are designed to be played in series (thus 'meritting' a particular Big Bad Challenge at the end).Sir Charles, I did ineed note your eager anticipation of such otherwordly awfulness this module presents. Interesting is it not that the third 'Yuan-Ti Fortress' module likewise posited a similarly 'greater than 5 over APL' antagonist at the end?Turin:
Looking forward to reading about the cruise.
By the way; I hear that a certain Paizo Module, ** spoiler omitted **
The end baddie is a CR 16 for an 8th level party, to give you an idea - and another big bad pops out a few rounds after the group dispatches him that is a CR 11 or so. It is at best going to be a hairy fight for 8th level scrubs...
Sir Yasha, in case you missed it, I have acquired the CoC d20 tome, and Sir Charles is dutifully informative of other 'updates' on critters cthulhuvian as he comes across them. Of course, this second band of heroes is racking up a body count all on its own - and they've only just begun the Slaughtergarde Armoury.
Time will tell if they survive to take these characters to the Savage Tide itself. Perhaps Mr O will pay their relations a visit back in Sasserine to get that ball rolling... hmmm... possibilities...
Turin:
I, too, am currently giving some thought to the matter of Crew #2; are they likely (if they survive) to have made it to somewhere in the region of 6th or 7th level by the end of Slaughtergarde?
I would agree with that estimate, placing them on track to begin Savage Tide directly en route to the Isle of Dread itself. I merely need stage the welcoming scenes 'just so'...
Due to a clerical error the GM has been sacked.
Due to another clerical error the GM's players have all been sacked.
Now we shall resume our second crew's regularly scheduled campaign, noting that today's session is the 10th (TENTH), not the 8th as previously recorded.
And the characters' various baggage-carrying creatures shall probably be found to have mysteriously become llamas - at which point, the players shall have to be sacked once again...along with the GM, who shall thenceforth be called Bob ...Hi Bob
23rd February 2008, Crew 2, Session 10: “Today is a Good Day to Die”, Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde, Conclusion.
“The vermin, having successfully incinerated the gnoll cleric with its pair of Flaming Spheres, saw Agent J and Ebil Mark withdraw from the complex to take the place of Da Pimp’s minions outside with the carriage.”
“Da Pimp along with his five (5) named elven warriors joined Sir Al of N’s nefarious archer Nameless, the NE red-dragon bloodline human sorceror Xavier Meravanchi, the NE cloistered cleric/wizard of Boccob, the wizard Larz Drinkin and the Favored Soul of Kord in the aftermath of barbecued dawg hair just moments before. The vermin moved further up the hallway leading from the fang dragon’s former lair, generally staying in a clump. Xavier Meravanchi and Larz Drinkin were up at the front rank along with one of Da Pimp’s spear-elves, the rest of the party spread along the rest of the hallway, with Nameless and the hireling archer bringing up the rear of the party at the corner of the hallway where the elevator promised an escape route with but a short delay of wait with an amulet about the neck. All the characters at this point had such an amulet, so they were confident of their ability to deal with what the defenders responding to the alarm could bring to bear against them. They could not know that the flaming spheres were dispelled in short order by way of a scroll from one of the four clerics responding to the alarm.”
“They of course could not anticipate that the female troll mercenary would emerge first, hewing Xavier Meravanchi down with a single swing of her enchanted Greatsword.” “From behind her two troglodyte barbarians, slimily frothing at their fanged mouths, skittered forward to engage the spear-elf, whiffing mightily. Two troglodyte soldiers positioned themselves on the western side of the stair way, two troglodyte thugs moved to the troll’s right flank, 3 female gnoll clerics lined up behind the troglodyte soldiers while the troglodyte cleric positioned itself near the soldiers. In the chamber beneath, the mezzoloth concluded its terms of service with the gnoll blackguard in the service of a particular gnollish demon lord, and they shared a chuckle.”
“Larz under benefit of invisibility moved forward and administered a potion down the gullet of the fallen fiery Meravanchi, whilst the Favored Soul of Kord moved into position to act in assistance to the sorely pressed spear-elf. Nameless drilled two arrows into the troglodyte barbarian standing over the now-conscious Meravanchi, who finished him off with a critically-placed Combustion spell. Other actions I cannot recall were taken, and then it came time for the she-troll to act.”
“The she-troll hacked down the Favored Soul of Kord in one mighty blow, cleaving him in twain along with the spear-elf in a single mighty sweep of her blade. On the back-swing she cleaved through both Larz and the crawling Meravanchi, slaying them both in a second mighty swipe of that gore-slicked blade. Altogether, in 12 seconds of glorious slaughter, she slew 3 of the 6 heroes as well as the trio of summoned shocker lizards brought forth by Da Pimp. The heroes had managed to dispatch all but the she-troll, the two troglodyte rogues (being throttled to death in a scroll-cast Evard’s Black Tentacles courtesy of the soon-to-be mystic theurge item-crafter) and the horrifying arrival of the mezzoloth in the rear ranks of the party.”
“Said mezzoloth had teleported in a scant 20’ from the elf warrior-archer and Nameless, charged the archer on the next round scoring a critical hit that reduced said elf to 2 hp. On the mezzoloth’s third round of action, it centered a cloudkill on the floor at its feet, outright slaying all the remaining elven warriors in Da Pimp’s employ. At this point, the she-troll was operating under the duress of a 5-point Ray of Enfeeblement, contentedly regenerating in the chamber with the gnoll blackguard (who hacked off the two stirges that had latched onto her before they could suck any blood from her), waiting for the black tentacles to expire before once more sallying forth to kill more intruders. Nameless seemed rather distraught at the almost-negligible efficacy of his formidable arrows against the yugoloth, noting from a comment by Da Pimp that blessed, holy or sacred arms would be required to dispatch the fiend with fullest efficacy.”
“In short order, the theurge dimensioned door out of the complex to depart the surface environs of the Slaughtergarde Armoury whilst Nameless used his one-shot Teleportation item to extricate himself and Da Pimp from certain death in either direction. My minions easily collected the corpses of the fallen and all their loot.”
“Upon returning to town, selling off what swag they had, spending a ten-day crafting many magical items and recruiting the only 3 sorry bastiches left in town willing to sign on with a group that seems certain to get everyone they employ dead with no burial – the 3 new aspiring heroes joined the 3 surviving heroes and once again went against the defenders of the armoury, totaling 2 weeks’ time between when they fled and when they returned.”
“Scouring the complex, they eventually arrive at the massive vaulted chamber within which the single remaining Abyssal gate was active. Since they could make out the gnoll blackguard’s chanting beyond the four portals ahead of them, many spells that greatly bolstered their capabilities are cast, sacred oils are applied to weapons, potions are ingested and then they pop open one of the four bronze doors. Ahead they see the familiar mezzoloth, although they cannot perceive whom is chanting within the chamber beyond.”
“The new fighter immediately moved in, remaining a scant distance outside of the reach of the vicious trident wielded by the daemon. Behind him traipsed the theurge, Da Pimp, Sir Al of N’s new cleric – the elf archer seeming to have concluded that he could outlive the demoniac threats poised to bring him low should they get the opportunity – and Agent J’s formidable fighter. Da Pimp sent a flock of summoned stirges over the balcony railing, poised to glomm onto any suitable victim they could sink their probosci into. Joyously, the mezzoloth latched its infamous cloudkill upon itself, promptly slaying Da Pimp with its poisonous vapor and saturating Sir Al of N’s body with lethal toxins, held in abeyance solely by the grace of poison-delaying magic. Only Sir M’s and Agent J’s robust fortitudes held off the lethal fog for the next 18 long seconds.”
“During the ensuing struggle, the vermin drive the mezzoloth onto its back, its trident forgotten, the balcony silenced by a mis-aimed magical spell, it teleported itself into the hallway outside, its killing vapors instantly slaying the red tunic-wearing warlock and nearly killing the theurge as well. The gnoll blackguard, its chant to bring a hezrou through from the Abyss ruined by the unknowingly well-timed silence, moved to engage those who would dare interfere – and paid for it with his miserable life.”
Since the 2nd of January 2008, Slaughtergarde claimed a grand total of 5 hench-elves and 10 player characters. Only Sir Red of Neck and Sir Al of N have escaped character deaths unscathed, largely due to rear-echelon deployments. A rather excellent body count for the Diet-RP sub-genre of the game. ^^
I recognize that my complaints will generate little sympathy, given my past experiences as a GM; but the final chapter of Slaughtergard was over the top. Even with 6-7 characters in tow (several were 6th level), we could not handle an adventure written for FOUR 5th level characters. The Mezzoloth was absolutely brutal, ignoring most damage, and killing multiple characters with an (effectively) 10th level spell ability (Cloudkill). Turin without fail power attacked on every conceivable option, to deadly effect. Even I didn't do this with the bad guys at level 5! :P
Given what we were likely to face, I opted to go with my previously mentioned cleric. I did not believe that my archer PC would survive, nor be able to help anyone else stay alive either. I knew the healing and other spells would likely come in handy in the final encounter(s) in Slaughtergard, and they certainly did. During the 2nd encounter with the Mezzoloth, I (my new cleric) Failed his saving throw TWICE against the Cloudkill which would have killed my archer (who had an equal Fortitude save) twice over. My previously cast Delay Poison was the only thing that kept me alive. Lord Red of Neck's wonderful scroll of Neutralize Poison was able to save me and thwarted certain death in the aftermath.
On the whole, I enjoyed Slaughtergard immensely. A very fun and creative jaunt. It was however too deadly, for a larger then normal, and well equipped group of players. Yes, in hindsight, we could have done some things differently, but there's not much you can do to stop giants and trolls who power attack and hit almost EVERY time, doing 35+ HP damage per hit. My main regret, is that I was not the GM, screwing the players with this adventure.
I recognize that my complaints will generate little sympathy, given my past experiences as a GM; but the final chapter of Slaughtergard was over the top. Even with 6-7 characters in tow (several were 6th level), we could not handle an adventure written for FOUR 5th level characters. The Mezzoloth was absolutely brutal, ignoring most damage, and killing multiple characters with an (effectively) 10th level spell ability (Cloudkill). Turin without fail power attacked on every conceivable option, to deadly effect. Even I didn't do this with the bad guys at level 5! :P
Given what we were likely to face, I opted to go with my previously mentioned cleric. I did not believe that my archer PC would survive, nor be able to help anyone else stay alive either. I knew the healing and other spells would likely come in handy in the final encounter(s) in Slaughtergard, and they certainly did. During the 2nd encounter with the Mezzoloth, I (my new cleric) Failed his saving throw TWICE against the Cloudkill which would have killed my archer (who had an equal Fortitude save) twice over. My previously cast Delay Poison was the only thing that kept me alive. Lord Red of Neck's wonderful scroll of Neutralize Poison was able to save me and thwarted certain death in the aftermath.
On the whole, I enjoyed Slaughtergard immensely. A very fun and creative jaunt. It was however too deadly, for a larger then normal, and well equipped group of players. Yes, in hindsight, we could have done some things differently, but there's not much you can do to stop giants and trolls who power attack and hit almost EVERY time, doing 35+ HP damage per hit. My main regret, is that I was not the GM, screwing the players with this adventure.
Bold emphasis mine.
A quick question Sir Al of N - is this your hobbit chef with skillet and short sword (filet knife)? Or a regular human cleric?
Welcome to the Savage Tide gentlecritters! <weg>
Just think - the she-troll, the trio of juvenile dragons and a few other ... extras shall come back around at some point for a violent reunion with the one character that survived the entirety of Slaughtergarde without dying or retiring and any poor slobs lingering around...
Yes, it is the hobbit. I didn't end up making him a cleric of Yondella, so he didn't have the shortsword... unless there's some way I can work that into his religion (I wanted the luck and travel domains that only Farlanghn has, but didn't want the quarterstaff to be my weapon of choice).
A bit of a stretch to get that troll onto an island that is several THOUSAND miles to the south, don't you think? That said, I wanted to see the slayer of three PCs live to fight another day. It's too bad Ebil Mark wasn't along to die along with the rest... oh well. And unless the said dragons have a way to speed up time or age faster, then they better opt for a lower level group of adventurers to go after...
One factor in my decision to go with the cleric was the "defection" of the Player of the favored soul, following his character's demise yesterday. I deemed that having a second cleric in tow for the final encounter was a necessity. That particular player's ill-timed (mid-game) departure yesterday certainly had adverse implications for the rest of us players in the final encounter.
Allen:
If Turin is running short of ideas to get a troll to an island, several thousand miles distant, or excuses to advance the dragons to keep them challenging, he has stalwart allies he can call upon for ideas...
I was sad to see the ranger go. Does this mean that he is unlkely to be seen again, or is he likely to be hanging around as a back-up character? And at what point (for posterity) are you going to start a campaign journal? I would hope that this is definitely going to become one of the more memorable Savage Tide Campaigns to feature on these boards, and what resources recording the players' views will you have to draw upon to tell the story to your children in years to come, if someone does not keep a 'character's record' now?
I'm sure Turin has ample fodder to negate the need for said troll & dragons. However, given what the Savage Tide is likely to offer, I'd probably opt for the troll over most of those.
The Ranger sadly won't be doing much of anything. I experienced a brain lapse during the combat and incorrectly applied a CON bonus (to saves & HP) from a False Life Spell (which DOESN'T raise my CON score), mistakenly thinking that it was a Bears' Endurance spell. Hence the Ranger in hindsight failed his Fort Save, and was KILLED by the Cloudkill from the ridiculous Mezzoloth... My attention was called to it this morning in a rare moment of thoughtfulness. I'm in the process of e-mail'ing Turin with the news.
I have always found the idea of a player campaign journal unpalatable. I may attempt to do so to humour you and a few others. If so, I'll inject my brand of humor into it (which is probably better reserved for another GM with far less talent than Turin.) Admitedly, a journal for "the Cook" is probably more feasible than for the Ranger. Notwithstanding this group's talents, most continue (Jay, George, & Red of Neck, the exceptions) to play in a non-coordinated fashion, which is causing more deaths than we would otherwise see--The heavy-handed nature of Slaughtergard notwithstanding.
Allen:
If Turin is running short of ideas to get a troll to an island, several thousand miles distant, or excuses to advance the dragons to keep them challenging, he has stalwart allies he can call upon for ideas...
I was sad to see the ranger go. Does this mean that he is unlkely to be seen again, or is he likely to be hanging around as a back-up character? And at what point (for posterity) are you going to start a campaign journal? I would hope that this is definitely going to become one of the more memorable Savage Tide Campaigns to feature on these boards, and what resources recording the players' views will you have to draw upon to tell the story to your children in years to come, if someone does not keep a 'character's record' now?
I'm sure Turin has ample fodder to negate the need for said troll & dragons. However, given what the Savage Tide is likely to offer, I'd probably opt for the troll over most of those.
The Ranger sadly won't be doing much of anything. I experienced a brain lapse during the combat and incorrectly applied a CON bonus (to saves & HP) from a False Life Spell (which DOESN'T raise my CON score), mistakenly thinking that it was a Bears' Endurance spell. Hence the Ranger in hindsight failed his Fort Save, and was KILLED by the Cloudkill from the ridiculous Mezzoloth... My attention was called to it this morning in a rare moment of thoughtfulness. I'm in the process of e-mail'ing Turin with the news.
I have always found the idea of a player campaign journal unpalatable. I may attempt to do so to humour you and a few others. If so, I'll inject my brand of humor into it (which is probably better reserved for another GM with far less talent than Turin.) Admitedly, a journal for "the Cook" is probably more feasible than for the Ranger. Notwithstanding this group's talents, most continue (Jay, George, & Red of Neck, the exceptions) to play in a non-coordinated fashion, which is causing more deaths than we would otherwise...
I am overjoyed to hear that the Ranger died, bringing the death count to 6 characters and 5 henchmen for a single session. I shall presume that Da Pimp purloined your one-use teleport item in some fashion or another, thus affecting his escape from Slaughtergarde to return (and die) later in the second encounter with the mezzoloth.
Just to put my character's demise in perspective Turin, this is the FIRST character death I have suffered SINCE the year 2004 (the sarcastic wizard you killed with the Kython). In the time since my most prior character death, I have been a player in three different campaigns (levels 1-8, 1-12, and 5-10 respectively) and survived all three without a single PC death. Additionally, I was not killed in the campaign preceding the 2004 campaign either. Thus, I've been pretty fortunate in keeping my rear end alive for a long while. I've gotten used to "surviving" and I'm finding the alternative is immensely disagreeable.
I was only two encounters from finishing Slaughtergard with the elf archer, likely retiring him in favor of the "Cook" anyway. That what makes it even more the pisser. Though if given the Insane amount of gold that Turin is prepared to give each of us for selling off the arches from Slaughtergard, then I might have kept the archer after all. I feel reasonably confident in saying that I, George, and Rodgers were pretty much the ones that got us through this campaign thus far. It sucks to get so close, and then have it all go out the window because of one blown saving throw... thanks to Dave Noonan and his overpowered Mezzoloth...
Bigger parties tend to end up lower levels... Might there have been something in their bag of tricks that a party with characters one or two levels higher could have used in dealing with a mezzoloth?
Hard to say, but perhaps. I wasn't privy to the spells selected by the spell casters, but all knowing that we were in the final dungeon areas of an adventure that involved Evil Outsiders, I think that some of the players might have been well advised to select a few spells with that in mind, and didn't. At my time of death, I was at FULL hit points.
I met up with the player of the red dragon bloodlined sorceror last night to watch the Spiderwick Chronicles. In speaking of character deaths, he remarked that I am a "player character mass murderer and serial killer". The former because of the half-dozen PC's who fell over dead plus their 5 henchmen, the latter I am presuming because I've fragged his characters two sessions running.
I have to confess that I am not quite sure how to take such a thing as a GM... hrmmmm...
In about 2 hours Crew 2 will sail into the Sea Wyvern's Wake...
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Sweet! My crew set sail next week. They're 6th level with plenty of cash, so I reckon it'll be a cakewalk for a while. I'll lul them into a false sense of security before a night of Aliens-inspired assaults :-)
My first thought was that if they find Rowyn she'll be sending fiendish beasties in the direction of the passengers faster than you can say "Don't split up the party."
Roll on extra sneakiness from Crew 2!
1st March 2008, 11th Session for Crew 2: “Sea Wyvern’s Wake” – 1st Session
The second band of scurrilous scalawags, celebrating the 2nd night of festivities of the Wormfood Gathering (meaning, they were not stripped of all worldly possessions and marched out of civilized territory at spear and spell point), watched the parade of convicts, debtors and the impoverished march through Sasserine on its trip north from Cauldron before it swings north and west into the foothills of the Hellfurnace Mountains. The big festival of the night was just after the major political marriage, celebrating the union of Vanthus Vanderboren and Rowyn Kellani, uniting two of the noble families of Sasserine.
During the feast, Vanthus distributed scribed and translated copies of his mother’s journal detailing her previous trip to the Isle of Dread and the colony of Farshore, then made his pitch. In exchange for a full share of the profits from the colony’s expedition out and the first return trip with valuable cargo – spices, exotic animals and lumber, even precious metals such as silver and gold – the group would lend its talents to crewing the 2nd ship. He also described the horror of finding out about his sister’s malicious murder of his parents and cleaning out of the family vaults, nearly bankrupting the Vandeboren estate. The expedition would, if successful, restore to wealth and glory the Vanderboren name, especially with the union with the formidable Kellani family – enough to ursurp the scandalous Meravanchi from their perch atop the political food chain in Sasserine.
Vanthus’ flagship, the Blue Nixie, would be commanded by himself and his wife, along with the semi-capable assistance of the Jade Ravens adventuring group and the crew of that ship along with colonists. Given the appeal of escaping the prospects of being rounded up and exiled at either this year’s or next year’s Wormfood Gathering, getting applicants is not the hard part – screening them is.
The second ship was brought into port earlier in the day, commanded by the somewhat renowned Captain Axe and a skeleton crew, along with the player characters and a few more colonists. This ship is the Sea Wyvern, unarmed at present save for the spells and arms of the characters, crew and captain. The characters made their first introductions to the good Captain Axe at the end of the dinner, agreeably making clear a desire to leave the following morning.
3 of the characters elected to shack up at Da Pimp’s family estate before he bade them farewell, while the other three took advantage of Vanthus’ hospitality for the evening prior to embarking on the Sea Wyvern the morn to come. At 3 of the morning however, all was not quiet or well.
Sir Al of N, playing a human cleric of no specific gawd now rather than the more appealing hobbit chef packing an oversized filet knife and cast iron skillet, rolled the highest, noting a distant shriek of agony, the breaking of glass and the rending of flesh. Rousing Da Pimp and the Ebil M, they geared up before looking out the 2nd story window.
At the Vanderboren estate, the Listen checks were not nearly so high, resulting in their awaking to much closer incidental arson and deliberate scenes of carnivorous carnage. The first thing they see, once geared up, peering out the window, are several mutated humanoids devouring their several dawgs alive.
As Sir Al of N rode passenger on Ebil M’s broom of flying, Da Pimp flew out of the window on his miniature flying carpet, flying over the city, watching it rapidly descend into savage anarchy, people, animals and pets being dragged down and devoured alive, fires blooming up as lanterns and other sources of illumination are knocked over by the savage mutants in their ferocious cannibalism en route to the Vanderboren Manor.
Our heroes made careful escape to the ships, passing through the Noble District en route to the wharf where the Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern were moored. They encountered the some times still twitching, unrecognizable fresh carcasses of several of the city’s nobility, taking quick action on those cases to retrieve the gore-covered signet rings for themselves. In one instance, two signet rings from two different noble houses were retrieved from the same location – it seems the two were in a tryst when they were pounced upon and masticated alive. The signet rings retrieved by the party are: Islaran, Lorchester, Taskerhill, Arabani, Lidu, Dracktus and Knowlern. Only Meravanchi, Vanderboren and Kellani remain unclaimed, with no known survivors of the Meravanchi family save for the elder of that clan out in distant Farshore.
Sir Red of Neck made time to purloin some baubles on his way to the ships, while Baron Morose, Agent J, Da Pimp, Sir Al of N and Ebil M made their way more directly to the Sea Wyvern. En route they rescued a total of one centaur, 3 elves and 4 humans. After depositing these poor sods on the ship, Da Pimp flew back to his family compound – only to find that the help had mutated, hounded his 5 relations into a cul de sac and were feasting on them in the manner more commonly ascribed to those who have come into an unexpected bounty after years of privation. He snatched up his grandfather’s long-dormant ancestral relic longsword and fled to the ships. Similar scenes would await any of the other characters had they similarly endeavored to rescue their own families, friends or relations in town.
Upon arriving at the Sea Wyvern, they quickly boarded, with Da Pimp dragging aboard the gondola the elves and 3 humans were attempting to escape a horrible death in when he encountered them. As Sir Red of Neck was bringing up the rear, Da Pimp summoned a trio of ghouls behind him – which bought him about six seconds of time as the howling, slavering pack of mutated humans collided with the ghouls, feeding on them in a hideous frenzy. Sir Red of Neck used a combination of his new magic baubles to briefly cross the water, then hop 60’ atop the main deck and collapse in a winded heap, unconscious woman on his shoulder. Captain Axe, at the helm of the Wyvern, merely shook his head ruefully observing Sir Red of Neck’s last-ditch escape from the decimated city of Sasserine.
The Blue Nixie and Sea Wyvern set sail in the wee hours of the morning, the back drop beside and behind them an apocalyptic abattoir of savagery, billowing plumes of flame from collapsing roofs and howling fury as thousands of mutants poured over the curtain wall, hacking down then devouring the outnumbered defenders manning the last bastion of Sasserine. The occasional flare of a fireball or lightning bolt briefly illuminating scenes of shark-mouthed men and women devouring their own children, or similarly mutated packs of ferocious hounds brutally savaging unidentifiable persons in an orgy of hamstringing and disemboweling. The rancid stench of burning flesh and worse wafted across the waters of the harbor as the caravels made their way through the shattered harbor gates of Sasserine, eager to be rid of the unexpected brutality behind them.
13 days later they made port at the still-lax small port town of Fort Blackwell. After cursory boarding inspections, they are permitted into the harbor for the night, to take on fresh provender and water. Captain Axe, satisfied that the unexpected additional crew – almost all of whom are attractive younger women – actually had a clue when it comes to crewing a ship, went ashore to secure suits of sharkskin body armor for the lot of his crew – a considerable expense at 75 gp per suit. The rest went ashore for some leave. Baron Morose earned himself a bottle of ‘The Green Man’, a reasonably formidable malt blend whiskey. Ebil M acquired a half-dozen bottles for his character as well. The others wisely made offerings at the shrines to Procam, Osprem and even Xerbo in attempt to ensure safe travels on the long voyage to the Isle of Dread. After a night ashore, they returned once more to the sea.
Another 9 days later, they weighed anchor at the mouth of the Havekihu River to draw fresh water, fish and otherwise relax and refresh for a half-day before once more resuming the journey. After a good day, just a half hour later, a thick bank of fog billowed out of the cooling humidity of the evening, forcing the ships to weigh anchor once more for the night after Vanthus ordered a stop for the night.
Six hours later, the ship shudders, then lists to port. Ebil M, peering over the railing of the crow’s next, spots what amounts to being a giant aquatic booger sliming up the port railing of the ship, dropping a lightning bolt into it from his Runestaff of Power and rather adequately sounding the alarm. After a few more rounds, several fireballs, summoned ghouls and thrown weapons dispatched the ooze in a slurry of charcoal-crispy ash that was quickly washed off the deck. The desiccated corpses within the ooze were reburied at sea on the spot after a brief ceremony by Captain Axe.
Another 2 weeks pass uneventfully before they draw up to the closest spot on the shore that permits disembarking to explore the famed ruins of Tamoachan. The characters, largely bored out of their greedy little minds after 36 days at sea with only a single night of shore leave, eagerly snatched up the tattered map passed to them from Vanthus and made their way to the dilapidated ziggurat looming out of the vibrant foliage an hour inland, eager for the prospect of swag.
At the entryway, they noted the two passageways that had not collapsed, and failed to notice Tchechiwhani lazing within the shade of the crumbled southernmost entryway. Baron Morose, centaur fighter extraordinaire, is on point, Agent J behind, with Sir Al of N and Sir Red of Neck bringing up the rear on the ground while Ebil M and Da Pimp floated around in the air 20 to 40 yards overhead, cloaked in magical invisibility while flying on their pet methods of air propulsion.
As it turns out, Tchechiwhani is a Behirilisk, a nightmare hybrid of the more traditional behir with the petrifying gaze of a basilisk. Agent J first transmogrified from a creature of flesh to an ornament of stone. Next to become a lawn ornament was Baron Morose, joining Agent J temporarily as a potential bird bath. Beating the creature to within 2 hit points of 0, Sir Red of Neck once more proved to have powers of persuasion that convinced the creature to return their burly comrades to flesh in exchange for its miserable life. Naturally, the behirilisk agreed heartily, informed them of the creepy fire bat room down the one tunnel and the ‘weird noisy place’ down the other tunnel and rapidly departed to lick its wounds.
The characters made their way cautiously through Mictlan’s Portal, quickly shuddering off the necromantic bad mojo of the massive archway before entering the chamber depicting almost precisely the ruined city around the ziggurat the characters have entered. After the requisite time passed, the roaring curtain of fire sprung up from the southern wall and marched steadily to the northern wall, scorching and baking several of the characters, driving them into the narrow passageway to the east. Baron Morose’s centaur fighter found the going a tad … uncomfortable.
The session ended with a scuffle with the will-o-wisp Tlanextli, diplomatized into cooperation by a second natural-20 die roll from Sir Red of Neck’s hot-rolling die after liberal doses of electricity were doled out to him, Baron Morose and Agent J.
The next session is due to take place on the 15th of March, two Saturdays hence, the 12th of this crew’s campaign.
Sweet! My crew set sail next week. They're 6th level with plenty of cash, so I reckon it'll be a cakewalk for a while. I'll lul them into a false sense of security before a night of Aliens-inspired assaults :-)
** spoiler omitted **
Roll on extra sneakiness from Crew 2!
As usual, most excellent to hear from you again Sir Carbonrundum. And by all means, decapitate the lot of your players - nothing like heaping helpings of Humble Pie to get them that rude awakening after letting themselves be lulled into a false sense of security...
Turin the Mad wrote:
Sir Al of N, playing a human cleric of no specific gawd now rather than the more appealing hobbit chef packing an oversized filet knife and cast iron skillet...
Turin, I had several reasons for this. The main reason was the Halfling character's background, which was centered around "Going to sea to seek his fortune so he could marry his sweetheart." Had I played the halfling, I would have had 150,000 gold pieces before I even set foot on a ship. That translates into the Halfling cook turns his horse around and returns to his village/shire and is likely the wealthiest hobbit in the entire shire. In a nutshell, the 150,000 g.p. award made playing the hobbit for the duration of the campaign incompatible from an RP/story point of view. Second, I had the cleric I used yesterday and last Saturday from Capt. Jose Munkamunk's game in 2004 before I went with the Half-Ogre "Jaws". This gave me a chance to continue with a previously used character. Third, I found it more preferable to go with a PC with an 18 Strength score, as opposed to the halfling's significantly less strength score... All in all, I like the halfling character, but the huge unexpected pay out from last week more or less changed the direction I ended up going. For what it was worth, I'd have been equally happy with the 'mere 6,000 gp pittance' that we initially received. But I'm content with where things stand now as well.
Turin the Mad wrote:
Sir Al of N, playing a human cleric of no specific gawd now rather than the more appealing hobbit chef packing an oversized filet knife and cast iron skillet...Turin, I had several reasons for this. The main reason was the Halfling character's background, which was centered around "Going to sea to seek his fortune so he could marry his sweetheart." Had I played the halfling, I would have had 150,000 gold pieces before I even set foot on a ship. That translates into the Halfling cook turns his horse around and returns to his village/shire and is likely the wealthiest hobbit in the entire shire. In a nutshell, the 150,000 g.p. award made playing the hobbit for the duration of the campaign incompatible from an RP/story point of view. Second, I had the cleric I used yesterday and last Saturday from Capt. Jose Munkamunk's game in 2004 before I went with the Half-Ogre "Jaws". This gave me a chance to continue with a previously used character. Third, I found it more preferable to go with a PC with an 18 Strength score, as opposed to the halfling's significantly less strength score... All in all, I like the halfling character, but the huge unexpected pay out from last week more or less changed the direction I ended up going. For what it was worth, I'd have been equally happy with the 'mere 6,000 gp pittance' that we initially received. But I'm content with where things stand now as well.
As things went this past session, your hobbit's entire family within the boundaries of Sasserine or its immediate environs would have been devoured like so many meat snacks at an NFL tail gate party. The hobbit would have had the particularly poignant motivator of "blood-splattered revenge" upon whomever it is that detonated the Shadow Pearl which virtually obliterated Sasserine from around you. ^_^
In the spirit of the thread, and in light of this news:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_en_ot/obit_gygax
it seems fitting to do two things.
First, a salute to all those who are not players in the campaign to receive a salute from me to you (in no particular order):
Yasha0006, Charles Evans 25, carborundum, meomwt, arctaris, PH Dungeon, Pygon, Brent, Sharoth, Thomas Austin, Drakli - plus all the lurkers. If it wasn't for posters on campaign threads, so much would be lost.
Second, a tally of character deaths since this campaign's inception:
3 in TiNH (deathbug snacks)
1 in the Sinister Spire (Da Pimp)
11 player characters, and 5 henchmen in Slaughtergarde, of which only 5 player character deaths were in the Laboratory and Temple - all the rest were at the receiving end of a troll fighter's greatsword and a mezzoloth's cloudkill.
3 dawgs at the beginning of Sea Wyvern's Wake.
2 petrifications at the entrance to Tamoachan.
Grand total so far for crew 2 is 17 actual or effective character deaths plus henchmen and dawgs.
Man...apparently I just happen to return at the right time. Just as Crew 1 gets into a heap of trouble and Crew 2 is starting on the good stuff.
Good luck Crew 2, may fair seas and winds avail you not.
I forgot to add 15,650 NPCs to the death tally in the wake of Sasserine effectively ceasing to be as a city... my bad. ^_^
Yes...don't forget that little part Turin.
I wonder how much XP 15,650 CR 1/2s (even CR 1/3rds) are worth to Lavinia ... hrm ...
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I wonder how much XP 15,650 CR 1/2s (even CR 1/3rds) are worth to Lavinia ... hrm ...
Don't forget the wild animals of the city - all those stray dogs, cats, vermin, and exotic pets are gonna have to add up to something eventually. ;)
Although, since the savage ones killed one another, do they count for XP purposes? Or is it just the transformation she'd get XP for? Hmm. Perhaps a bit of both. Conquest XP or somesuch. (To war, lads! Stomp 'eir heads inna ground an' we all level!)
I wonder how much XP 15,650 CR 1/2s (even CR 1/3rds) are worth to Lavinia ... hrm ...Don't forget the wild animals of the city - all those stray dogs, cats, vermin, and exotic pets are gonna have to add up to something eventually. ;)
Although, since the savage ones killed one another, do they count for XP purposes? Or is it just the transformation she'd get XP for? Hmm. Perhaps a bit of both. Conquest XP or somesuch. (To war, lads! Stomp 'eir heads inna ground an' we all level!)
I'd say just the transformation she'd get the XP for. She didn't direct the mutated ones to whack everything else - but that's why she'd get the entire city population. Let's call it ... oh, 25k CR 1/2's when all is said and done.
Lavinia's gonna be awesome from all that XP...
I don't know what level Lavinia is in this instance, but if she was level 4 and if you continue the formulas for figuring out XP to the extremes these require, she would get over 2.5 million XP just for 15,650 CR 1/2 people I believeI wonder how much XP 15,650 CR 1/2s (even CR 1/3rds) are worth to Lavinia ... hrm ...Don't forget the wild animals of the city - all those stray dogs, cats, vermin, and exotic pets are gonna have to add up to something eventually. ;)
Although, since the savage ones killed one another, do they count for XP purposes? Or is it just the transformation she'd get XP for? Hmm. Perhaps a bit of both. Conquest XP or somesuch. (To war, lads! Stomp 'eir heads inna ground an' we all level!)
I'd say just the transformation she'd get the XP for. She didn't direct the mutated ones to whack everything else - but that's why she'd get the entire city population. Let's call it ... oh, 25k CR 1/2's when all is said and done.
Lavinia's gonna be awesome from all that XP...
Let us say for the sake of arguement that Lavinia is 7th level when she sets off the Shadow Pearl, garnering the 25,000 CR 1/2 xp awards with an ad-hoc 75% XP hit for "very easy". At 25 xp per NPC that is ... 625,000 experience points. If we further halve that, this translates into 312,500 xp plus a bare minimum of 21,000 xp for being 7th level brings her total xp to 333,500 xp, placing her at 26th level.
Halving it again (156,250 xp) totals her xp at 177,250 xp - 19th level.
I'll figure which one of these to work with for crew 2...
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Let us say for the sake of arguement that Lavinia is 7th level when she sets off the Shadow Pearl, garnering the 25,000 CR 1/2 xp awards with an ad-hoc 75% XP hit for "very easy". At 25 xp per NPC that is ... 625,000 experience points. If we further halve that, this translates into 312,500 xp plus a bare minimum of 21,000 xp for being 7th level brings her total xp to 333,500 xp, placing her at 26th level.
Halving it again (156,250 xp) totals her xp at 177,250 xp - 19th level.
I'll figure which one of these to work with for crew 2...
Either way, they're going to have a battle royale if and when they get in a fight with her, since she'll likely continue gaining XP as they go... They might eventually catch up, some day far from now...
Thoughts on her class/level progression?
Let us say for the sake of arguement that Lavinia is 7th level when she sets off the Shadow Pearl, garnering the 25,000 CR 1/2 xp awards with an ad-hoc 75% XP hit for "very easy". At 25 xp per NPC that is ... 625,000 experience points. If we further halve that, this translates into 312,500 xp plus a bare minimum of 21,000 xp for being 7th level brings her total xp to 333,500 xp, placing her at 26th level.
Halving it again (156,250 xp) totals her xp at 177,250 xp - 19th level.
I'll figure which one of these to work with for crew 2...
Either way, they're going to have a battle royale if and when they get in a fight with her, since she'll likely continue gaining XP as they go... They might eventually catch up, some day far from now...
Thoughts on her class/level progression?
Sirs Kassil and Charles: Yes, that is the idea. I've found that Vanthus' statblock folded like a cheap tent when the group is savvy and ballsy (as crew 1 was at the time of the assault on Farshore). Lavinia now, is in a prime position to become a REAL threat to crew 2, despite their numerical advantage. This last is what has greatly contributed to both crew's relative success in a "vanilla" encounter - it is only when they encounter those who have reinforcements on tap that trouble really crops up for them...
I don't know what level Lavinia is in this instance, but if she was level 4 and if you continue the formulas for figuring out XP to the extremes these require, she would get over 2.5 million XP just for 15,650 CR 1/2 people I believe
Allow me to be the voice of reason before Turin gets any more rash ideas. The DMG states that you can ONLY advance ONE (1) level per encounter. So Ms. Lavinia is now a 5th level puke instead of a 4th level puke. Turin will have to resort to other ways of creating an epic level villain for us to deal with.
In the spirit of the thread, and in light of this news:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_en_ot/obit_gygax
it seems fitting to do two things.
First, a salute to all those who are not players in the campaign to receive a salute from me to you (in no particular order):
Yasha0006, Charles Evans 25, carborundum, meomwt, arctaris, PH Dungeon, Pygon, Brent, Sharoth, Thomas Austin, Drakli - plus all the lurkers. If it wasn't for posters on campaign threads, so much would be lost.
Second, a tally of character deaths since this campaign's inception:
3 in TiNH (deathbug snacks)
1 in the Sinister Spire (Da Pimp)
11 player characters, and 5 henchmen in Slaughtergarde, of which only 5 player character deaths were in the Laboratory and Temple - all the rest were at the receiving end of a troll fighter's greatsword and a mezzoloth's cloudkill.
3 dawgs at the beginning of Sea Wyvern's Wake.
2 petrifications at the entrance to Tamoachan.Grand total so far for crew 2 is 17 actual or effective character deaths plus henchmen and dawgs.
I'll equally extend my salutes to those who post on this thread and previously on the Killer GM/Age of Worms thread.
At the risk of again appearing to play spoiler, I think that Turin is perhaps slightly inflating his total kills here:P
The Three characters who died (listed above) as 'Deathbug Snacks' were in the SUNDAY Savage Tide Group, and should NOT be carried over into our group, even if the players in question changed venue. Not my fault those clowns got eaten by insects. This likewise includes the 1 fatality by the Pimp in the Spire. Kindly leave those deaths in the campaign where they occurred:)