I was originaly running about 10 months behind on these games. It's supposed to get run every week, but obviously that doesn't always happen. The current entries are running about 8 months behind. so there's LOTS more material I need to get to, from the introduction of Gres Grekis to the return of HumTum.
Yeah, the Advanced GameMaster's Guide is the best. Everyone should buy a copy, and thank publisher and writer for creating it, and beg for another one. Promise to pre-order it if that's what it takes.
Silphium exists in most of my games, as it really used to exist, and it solves a lot of social problems in D&D.
And my blog is there to be slobbered on. :D However, out of loyalty Paizo remains the sole place you'll find the campaign journal, even if I post pictures of Mhyssi and talk about elements of Kor Kammor at the blog, the action all happens here.
First off awesome, awesome, awesome.
Thanks! for the record, I love your avatar and name. Subtle, but awesome.
::blushes:: Thanks, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Ladies of Negotiable Affection.
With the avatar when I saw the first character sketch/ body study of the Teifling that was when I knew that I would have to run one the very next time I play D&D.
They were shocked, and one of the reasons they were was that they know how rare upper level healing spells (like <I>regenerate</I>) are in Kor Kammor. If it's 4th level or less it's everywhere, but those spells *aren't* on the universal spell list for any class in Kor kammor.
So do you have a list you use on which spells are restricted or is it more a case of deciding when it comes up?
The Twin could have been, as it happens she wasn't this time. But the player got extra nervous, since I *could* stick her with a child without removing her from the game, since she has two bodies. (A fact I had not overlooked, as will be seen later on).
I was wondering on this point, because if a character does become pregnant unless they want to lose the child there certainly would be a great deal of risk. Although would you have a heal spell heal the fetus as well???
If that was the case a support class could adventure for quite sometime without that much risk in terms of bodily harm.
Have you tackled this issue before? And how did you handle it if you have.
As for pregnancy, it's a risk but not as great a one as you might think. First of all, the game world has vast supplies of silphium, a real-world ancient contraceptive. All the female characters take it regularly, which is a big help. Also, since a <I>remove disease</I> handles anything but magic disease, and removes it even from a host, VD is fairly rare (and easily fixed by adventurers if found, though poorer folks often must suffer if they get it).
That was a cool bit of information on the Silphium. I had not heard of this before.
Okay I had to back up a little bit because I forgot to mention before that I thought the character of Yelloweyes was an incredibly cool concept. A race of beings who are the result of University wizards feeling randy. That and her ability to be a house cat was way to cool. I was very sad to see her die off.
I am guessing that the player of Auriji thought it would be cool but realized during the course of play that an action character is more fun to play for them.
Now on to Mhyssi; wow she is sauntering in a vaguley downward direction. I can see her potential to go truely evil in her pursuit of power. I say pursuit because it seems that as she gains confidence she is finding that she likes being able to determine her own destiney as well as to a small extent controlling others. I see the control starting to seep out in her desire of wanting to free the sex slaves. Its a noble desire for sure but with a personl path like this it would be very easy for her to continue to toss her morales to the side in order to accomplish her goals.
That was just a guess of course.
On a completely personal note; for me of all the characters in the group Mhyssi is the one that induced the most lust/protective desire.
I also found it very cool that Daronelle was interested in Voronex. Nothing heals self esteem faster than to be with someone who finds you interesting.
Intimacy will either heal you or hurt you but rarely leaves you unchanged. :)
Okay rambled way to much. Thank you for the time you are putting in so I can view your world.
We eagerly await more of your campaign, and more of the slobbering too :)
ROFL. I concur Doctor Jones, although I do believe the slobbering is a side effect of the campaign rather than the primary effect.
---ponders for a moment---
Then again, if the good doctor is implying that we are waiting on her to do the slobbering... j/k :)
BTW Dungeon Grrrl, be sure to give a hullo to Lilith, she posted this past weekend on your LJ. I'd be willing to bet at least a few of us have meandered over there from here...
Okay specifically for this lost entry. Seeing the farmer fly backwards in to the mine and then hearing the last slurp of his life going away. Errr I mean his death scream. Very cinematic.
I also love that the villianess was unveiled and her henchmen were appropriately garbed. Permanently affixed metal phallus'. I honestly was surprised some of the male members of the party didn't panic as well as the twins. :) And mangletooth with his head still twisted to one side. I laughed in real life over that one, received a few stares from co-workers.
I am looking forward to the next entry with baited breath.
::blushes:: Thanks, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Ladies of Negotiable Affection.
Who doesn't?
So do you have a list you use on which spells are restricted or is it more a case of deciding when it comes up?
There's a list. In pencil. ON a very worn legal pad, that I really have to type up someday.
Have you tackled this issue before? And how did you handle it if you have.
Yes, we have. for note, healign affects both mother and child (if a paladins steed is close enough for one spell to get two people, a fetus definitely is!). However, there's is a DC 15 Massive Damage Fort save to avoid miscarrage. It's 50 hp in one attack in the first trimester, 40 in the second, and 30 in the third.
BTW Dungeon Grrrl, be sure to give a hullo to Lilith, she posted this past weekend on your LJ. I'd be willing to bet at least a few of us have meandered over there from here...
I know! I am soooo pleased! I think there's been some traffic the other way, too!
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Black Days of Kor Kammor
Game 16
It takes more than a day for the Heralds to track down an entrance into the mines, through a series of natural caves low in the mountain from which a spring runs. There is much difficult climbing even once within, and there is the distant smell of wet decay, suggesting bodies are rotting in the river. The farther in they go, the stronger the smell gets. Also, once they are around the first two turns of the caves, there is no light at all.
This results in a debate. Voronex and the Twins can see with darkvision, and Auriji proves able enough moving in total darkness (combination of Blind-Fighting and good d20 rolls), but even Daronelle has difficulty with no light, and Jurien and Mhyssi are constantly barking their shins in total black. The Twins don't want to be spotted, and argue any light is too great a risk. Daronelle and Jurien argue their falling and curing is making enough noise to echo down the corridor and give them away in any case, and with no light they are close to useless in a fight. As the rotting flesh smell is getting stronger even as they just stand around and argue in forced whispers, they feel combat at SOME point is inevitable. Finally, the group agrees a few candles worth of shadowed illumination is better than no light at all. They pull three candles out of their packs, and Daronelle lights one with a tindertwig.
Revealing the cavern they are in is crawling with undead gnolls, creeping silently along the walls and ceiling.
With a howl, the gnoll-corpses fling themselves down on the Heralds in the surprise round. All the Heralds are flat-footed, though the Twins do receive special DM permission to scream in total panic as a free action as a pack of undead gnolls with spiked phalluses built into their armor leaps out at them. However, even flat-footed, Auriji is not about to let the gnolls attack without hurting them. As she has Combat Reflexes, she can make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed, and Majah Gada is always in hand, a reach weapon that happens to cover every line of attack the gnoll-corpses are rushing along, especially those undead leaping down from above. As we allow the longspear to trip in our games (to soup-up it's usefulness), Auriji throws a trip at every one of six attacking gnolls-corpses. She succeeds five times, forcing the gnoll-dead to the ground. As they were charging, their actions are wasted with them left prone. A single gnoll-dead beats Auriji's trip, and she is forced to drop Majah Gada. The sole gnoll-corpse standing bites Lyssa as a charge, and in addition to a horrific critical hit, it paralyzes her.
As the first regular round of combat begins, a waive of nausea overcomes the Heralds. The gnoll-dead are the source of the horrid stench of wet decomposition they smelled, and now it is overpowering. Voronex actually fails a Fortitude save, as do Juiren and Ryssa, and all three are sickened. Mhyssi is unaffected, and Daronelle and Auiji resist the effect. Auriji wins initiative, and quickdraws Phrit Fi, her punch dagger, and assaults the standing ghoul, Power Attacking for all she is worth. She even spends an Action Point to double the value of her Power Attack. Her attacks all hit, and she manages to destroy the gnoll-corpse in a single round of attacks. She then flips Phrit Fi to bury itself point-down in the foul corpse, and uses Quickdraw again (it's a free action) to kick Majah Gada back to her hands.
Mhyssi goes next, and throws a turn at the creatures. To the group's horror she manages a maximum turn, but does not affect a single gnoll-dead. Mhyssi realizes the entire cave complex has been desecrated, and all undead have high levels of turn resistence here. Her efforts are a waste. She whips out her greatsword from her charm bracelet.
The undead gnolls leap to their feet, but in doing so all draw attacks of opportunity from Auriji again, and she stabs 4 of 5 remaining foes wounding them. Mhyssi also gets one AoO, and slashes at the one Auriji misses. Then, the dead gnolls get attacks. Mhyssi is bitten twice, and Auriji once. Auriji has to save vs paralysis, but Mhyssi does not. Auriji succeeds, and is still up, though the gnolls are mostly inside her spear's range now. Jurien is also bitten, and instantly paralyzed.
Daronelle grabs Juiren and dashes outside the main circle of fighting. Ryssa leaps to Lyssa's defense, and tries to trip a gnoll-dead with her whip, but fails. Lastly Voronex goes, positioning himself to catch three wounded ghoul corpses. They are injured badly by his fire, but a secondary effect also occurs. The cave is revealed to be full of stirge guano, which burns easily. The cone of flame breath lights up vast piles of it, and the fire begins to spread quickly. Daronelle and Juiren are caught in the spreading fire, and take 1d6. But as the fire intensifies, that damage will grow.
Auriji suddenly can't easily get far enough away from ghouls to use Maha Gada without getting into a fire. Ignoring the d6 of burn damage, she tumbles into a small fire and stabs a ghoul-dead that is already burned and slashed and drops it, leaving 4. Mhyssi decides she'll need her spells later and just slashes at another wounded one, damaging it further. The ghouls are dripping wet (having swum just moments before climbing onto the walls and ceiling) and ignore the guano fire damage for now. Three focus on Auriji, tearing at her with long claws and snapping their long yellow fangs at her flesh, but they do little damage. One tries to grapple Mhyssi, thrusting its hips at her as it does so. She runs it through, but discovers that while these undead don't have Improved Grab, their lack of pain receptors allows them to continue a grapple even if they take an AoO, and it successfully grabs her.
Six more ghoul-dead rush into the far end of the corridor, also dripping wet. They rush through the slowly spreading guano fire to attack. Voronex and Ryssa take multiple hits, and must constantly save vs paralysis.
Daronelle gets Jurien into the river, standing waist-deep in the water to put out flames that had begun to lick at the hem of his tunic. In doing so, she fails a Reflex save (rolled a 1), and drops the only lit candle in the room. The cave is thrown into shadowed darkness, the only light the dozens of tiny fires flickering. Auriji shouts for light, and fights on anyway, but misses even with her Blind Fighting reroll. Realizing no else is likely to be able to, Mhyssi beats a grapple check (!) And using an action point summons up a <i>light</I>, throwing green-and-gold rays of illumination through the cave.
Gnoll-dead bite and claw, the 10 of them trying to surround the Heralds. Voronex can't risk another fire breath attack, and knows undead are immune to cold and Strength drains. Instead he wreaths himself in a fire aura, and tackles the ghoul between Ryssa and the river. He bares it into the spreading guano fire, and manages to do some burn damage through its wet fur. Ryssa gives herself <I>darkvision</I> and hauls Lyssa into the water by Daronelle.
Auriji intentionally cuts herself off from the Heralds, raging and screaming at the gnoll-dead. Able to see them again, she hammers at a wounded one and drops it, Cleaves into another wounded one and drops it, and stabs a third. Mhyssi is no longer convinced this battle can be won without spellfire, and opens up. She uses <I>whirling blade</I> to throw her greatsword at five of the gnolll-dead who line up, then begins to retreat to the river herself.
The ghouls surround Auriji and Voronex, biting and clawing but unable to paralyze them (they have the two best Fortitude saves in the party). Three gnoll-corpses slip into the river, where they show they have Swim rates and, since they need not breath, can shoot back and forth through the water with only ripples to reveal their location. Daronelle is pulled under by grapples,a nd ryssa must use both arms to keep either Lyssa or Juiren from sliding below the surface and drowingin.
Auriji throws caution to the win, and fights in a purely offensive style. She allows herself to get flanked so she can use Maja Gada on the ones about to bring down Voronex, then takes 5-foot steps in a fighting retreat so she can keep her foes in Majah Gada's reach.
Daronelle slashes and stabs, but can;t break free of 3 gnoll undead in the water, beneath the surface. Knowing how deadly underwater fighting can get, Mhyssi begins using <I>magic missile</I> anytime she gets even a flicker of a gnoll-corpse under the water, spending Action Points for Sudden Maximize each time to hurt them fast. She actually burns higher-level spells for more <I>magic missiles</I> once she runs out of 1st level sorcerer spells. She kills one Auriji and Voronex had wounded, then another on pure magic missile damage. Daronelle manages to escape from the third, but is BADLY battered.
Auriji is a bloody mess, actually kept up largely by Voronex's vigor aura. She and he finish off another Gnolls, and then rush to the river. And as they do so, *another* group of 4 undead gnolls swim in, remaining below the surface.
The Heralds are now all standing waist-deep in the river, as the dead water gnolls swim around them. The walls and ceiling are alight with burning stirge-guano, the flickering red illumination of which battle Mhyssi's green-and-gold <i>light</I> spell. No patch of ground isn't doing 2d6 fire damage a round, but the gnoll-dead can fight from below the surface of the water. All the heralds are damaged, three are sickened, and two are paralyzed. Voronex sparks two sunrods to life, dropping one to illuminate the gnolls from the bottoms of the river.
As their shadows are cast up onto the surface, the gnolls rush in, trying to bring down Auriji. She spies their approach, and skewers one. Daronelle jumps a second, just to draw its attacks. The gnoll-dead try to slip backl away from their hit-and-swim raid, but Ryssa nails them all with a <I>glitterdust</I> (action point for Still Spell). So the dark water no longer lends them cover. Voronex jumps on the one Daronelle is wrestling with, and Auriji throws Maja Gada at another, drawing Phrit Fi for close-in water fighting.
A few desperate round of hammer-and tongs fighting pass, with the Heralds grimly stabbing and slashing for their lives. When only one gnoll remains, it suddenly turns and tried to flee. Auriji grapples *it*, and is them paralyzed, while holding it. Before it can wriggle free, Mhyssi decapatates it. Voronex grabs a dead gnoll, and turns to flee back out of the cavern. But as he flies to the bend of the cave system, he hears marching feet. More undead, a patrol of them, are headed into the cave system, blocking their escape. Most herlads and single-digit hit points, the healer can;t mvoe, and Mhyssi the sorcerer is out of offensive spells.
Without hesitation, Mhyssi grabs Juiren, and tells daronelle to find them an escape deeper in. The Heralds rush down the river, only to find it flows out of solid rock.
Ryssa: "Since we can't survive another fight, we can safely assume there's air within swimming range."
Voronex (puzzled): "Why's that?"
Ryssa: "Because if there isn't, we're all going to drown."
Auriji: "Right!" (Grabs Juiren, dives into the underground river)
End Game 16
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Great session!
You seem to have a lot of grappling going on in your games, Are you all that good with the clunky grapple rules or do you use modifications and/or house rules?
I love the ending, I was thinking metagaming, 'We'll we are wounded and the DM wouldn't throw another tough fight at us yet ..." I love that the response was if not we are dead. Uber cool!
Great session!
You seem to have a lot of grappling going on in your games, Are you all that good with the clunky grapple rules or do you use modifications and/or house rules?
I love the ending, I was thinking metagaming, 'We'll we are wounded and the DM wouldn't throw another tough fight at us yet ..." I love that the response was if not we are dead. Uber cool!
You can ask both of my crews if they ever make the mistake of thinking a GM won't slaughter them all given a decent chance. Dungeon Grrrl's player group is gutsy though, they earn their XP!
Without hesitation, Mhyssi grabs Juiren, and tells daronelle to find them an escape deeper in. The Heralds rush down the river, only to find it flows out of solid rock.
Ryssa: "Since we can't survive another fight, we can safely assume there's air within swimming range."
Voronex (puzzled): "Why's that?"
Ryssa: "Because if there isn't, we're all going to drown."
Auriji: "Right!" (Grabs Juiren, dives into the underground river)
I love that part, it reminds me of the scene in the 13th Warrior when the are trying to escape the caves of the Wendoe.
Another awesome fight scene, I love the Undead Gnolls crawling along the walls and ceiling to sneak up on the party. All the while the party is argueing over the merits of lighting candles.
ROFLMAO
I love that so much. I had to read it rhough twice.
Thanks for the latest update I look forward to seeing more of the story.
Negotiable Affection,
I was thinking the exact same thing! That scene from the 13th Warrior popped into my mind while reading the post.
Oh and Dungeon Grrrl! Bat Guano! I have always prided myself on having a serious attention to 'dungeon dressing' in my games and with trying to make it act as it really would IRL, but I have never thought about having little guano fires! Well done!
Negotiable Affection,
I was thinking the exact same thing! That scene from the 13th Warrior popped into my mind while reading the post.
Oh and Dungeon Grrrl! Bat Guano! I have always prided myself on having a serious attention to 'dungeon dressing' in my games and with trying to make it act as it really would IRL, but I have never thought about having little guano fires! Well done!
Thanks!
And it's *stirge* guanno. Very important, among other things because I can then decide how it works without anyone knowing better. ;D
Stirge Guano!
You're right! That is even better...makes me really start thinking about what it would be like if you accidentally stumbled into a Red Dragon's impromptu 'privy'. *That* would be extremely flammable!
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Stirge Guano!
You're right! That is even better...makes me really start thinking about what it would be like if you accidentally stumbled into a Red Dragon's impromptu 'privy'. *That* would be extremely flammable!
That would bring the flaming bag of crap on the front doorstep to a whole new level...
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Well said Phalazar! One of the frightening things for a GM to worry about then is the characters getting their hands on what could be the equivalent of Nitroglycerin. That would be bad...
Then again...if the Dragon Guano was just as volatile as Nitroglycerin, then it could be interesting...
PC: I run.
GM: You move faster than walking?
PC: Yeah...?
GM: Roll a Special Saving throw...you need a Natural 12+.
PC: Okay...? *Rolls d20* 10. Uh...
GM: Oh! Er...BOOM! I guess.
PC: WHA!?
GM: That...er..Guano that you were carrying....
PC: Yeah....?
GM: It...uh...blew up.
PC: Oh.
No idea what kinda damage it would do though...I believe about 1 oz. of Nitro is the equivalent of 4 sticks of dynamite in explosive power or so...
Ahh...explosive musings of the twisted mind...
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As Promised!!
Black Days of Kor Kammor
Game 17
The group swims hard and fast through the black waters of the underground river, desperately hoping they'll find air before their breath gives out. They must make Swim checks, and take damage from each failure as the turbulent currents bump them against rocks or twist their limbs. They do find a small opening, but it is just inches high. Each Herald, in turn, sucks up one or two gasps of air, and then dives back down. The long river has many such small air pockets, but none allow for more that half their heads to break surface, and the air is rarely fresh. Soon, endurance becomes an issue, as does cold.
Voronex and Auriji are able to make every con check called for, but Daronelle and Juiren, as well as the twins, begin to struggle. Juiren becomes fatigued, but manages to brace himself in a small pocket of air and cast <I>minor restoration</i> to renew himself. The Twins take turns being in front of each other, each finding the path of least effort for the other. But Daronelle simply falls to exhaustion, and is nearly wisked away down river. Auriji manages to sense her rushing past, and grabs her. Not long after, just before Daronelle would drown, the Heralds come up in a larger cavern, and drag themselves out of the water. They are alive, and seem not to be followed. But this place is clearly a feeding warren for the undead, as bloody bones lay scattered everywhere. They are alive, but far from safe.
Voronex brings forth the undead gnoll body he hauled throughout the long swim, for the priests and healers to examine. This is clearly no common zombies, but a gnoll filled with black power to be a flesh-eating, self-willed undead of some power. Given it's stench and paralytic bite, the Twins quickly dub it a gnoul, a gnoll turned into a ghoul. Mhyssi and Juiren are both concerned, since the power to create unique, self-willed undead is the sign of a powerful necromancer. Agdrenel is either more skilled in true death magic than most vampires, or she has a necromancer working for her. They find this disturbing.
The Twins look at the spiked leather armor phallus on the gnoul, and ask why the fact a Vampire can make Undead is what the clerics find disturbing?!
Daronelle and Juiren only know about Agdrenel from stories. Auriji was dead last time they faced her. Mhyssi and Voronex want her destroyed, but with his Wisdom fully restored Voronex now has doubts. There is no sunlight here to defeat her, and she only approaches near the cave mouth at night. She is far less vulnerable than she was on the ship, and they never really knew how powerful she was then, since they avoided actually fighting her. Her presence here, with the undead gnolls, can not be a coincidence. She must be looking for the Heralds, and her intentions cannot be good.
Mhyssi doesn't care. She's full of rage about what Aaston did to her that she swore not to reveal. Her Brand of Metroba is throbbing in constant pleasure/pain in the presence of so much undead energy. Mhyssi wants to hurt something, and decides its better to take her wrath out on the undead than risk attacking her friends. She tells Voronex she refuses to leave without taking on Agdrenel, and for her sake, he acquiesces. Mhyssi realizes he's only agreeing for her, and in a moment of tenderness all too rare recently, kisses his cheek.
Auriji doesn't care if they attack or not, but now that they have decided to do so wants it done quickly. The element of surprise is one of their only advantages, and they may not even have it anymore given the encounters further back in the mountain. The gnouls may or may not report regularly, and given she has magic powers Agdrenel may have scryed out their purpose. The heralds' best chance is to press on as fast as possible, by the barbarian woman's reckoning, and hope they can catch the vampress unawares.
If that seems impossible, Auriji warns this may be a suicide mission with no upside. Ryssa and Lyssa opine, for the first time ever, that if there is no likely hope of success, they will NOT follow Mhyssi and Voronex into a deathtrap. Auriji will follow her blood-brother. Juiren will follow Mhyssi. Daronelle will follow Juiren. The Twins shrug, warning they're not kidding about fleeing if things go bad, but for now they continue on with the rest of the team.
Daronelle is instructed to try to find a path that heads up and in, toward Agdrenel's mine entrance encampment, but if at all possible avoids areas heavily traveled by the gnouls. The scout gamely sets out to try to find such a path, and soon discovers areas with higher build-ups of stirge guano have fewer signs of the undead horrors. She leads the Heralds, there being no question now of not carrying a light. Behind Daronelle is Rysaa, then Voronex, Juiren, Lyssa, Mhyssi, the Auriji. The Twins both have everburning torches, and Aurtiji carries an actual fire torch.
Though the caverns they go, moving deeper into the mountain. The tunnels of rough, natural passageways cut through larger natural caves, across raging underground rivers, and past stagnant pools. The water carved these caves long ago, though Voronex is bothered by the patterns. There are no stalactites or stalagmites, and the water seems not to have always gone the route of least resistance.
The air remains foul with guano but breathable, and periodically a gust suggests they are following the winds toward Agdrenel. Voronex also notices some bore holes in the floor, old but clearly made a test-bores for dwarven miners. He manages to examine one while the rest of the group argues about whether or not to climb a 45-degree incline filled with dribbling water, slime, and mushrooms. The bore holes are very old, but also incredibly smooth. He determines they must have been made by adamantine drills, or magic–either of which means the dwarves were looking for some ore of great value.
Meanwhile, Mhyssi and Auriji argue to climb the dangerous shaft, as it seems to be the largest air shaft up. The twins, Daronelle and Juiren fear the climb is too dangerous. As the debate comes to a head, Mhyssi suggests the climb is less dangerous than being in the mines too long, and ends with "Right, Voronex?"
The malformed dwarf was paying no attention, and doesn't want to admit he was examining ancient dwarven mine marks, so he shrugs noncommittaly. The while group takes that as a reluctant agreement with Mhyssi, and decide to take the hard climb.
When Voronex looks up at the shaft, he is horrified by what he suggested, but now can't explain why without revealing the bore mark, which his instincts tell him not to do.
(Aside, the player had no idea why he was keeping it a secret, and marked it down to racial dwarf greed. The other players were okay with that, if curious. The whole thing had been handled by passing notes, and the player really hadn't realized what he was agreeing to.) Worse, his wings can't work in the twisting, jagged, tight passage.
The climb is slow and treacherous. Auriji and Daronelle lead the way, each wedging pitons (not hammering them) to which ropes are looped. The rest of the group climb along behind. The angle is not too steep, but the drippling water (that originally cut the passage anyway) makes the sides slick, and slimes and molds worsen that situation. Even so, the mushrooms show where there are little ledges, and the group manages to climb up 500 feet before a serious problem strikes.
One of the mushrooms screams.
The shreiker lets loose a horrid cry, and its fellow fungus take up its refrain. Auriji instinctively kills the shrieker near her, but the damage is done. The distant sound of wings comes from above. Mhyssi is the only oen to make the dungeoneering check to realize what's coming, and yells "Down, now!"
But it's too late. A flock of stirge swarm onto the Heralds of Dawn.
Ryssa is hit immediately, and loses so much Con she falls unconscious. She falls free, and her rope pulls at Daronelle, who has to brace herself to stay upright. Voronex is also hit by several, though Auriji is missed by all the attacks. The heralds start to climb up, hoping to find a ledge. Voronex puts u0p a fire aura, forcing the stirges to take fire damage every time they bite in. No one stirge stays hooked on for long, but the flock keeps replacing those that flee the burning targets.
Over a few rounds, things go from bad to worse. Lyssa passed out from con loss, and Juiren doesn't have three rounds to cast a <I>lesser restoration</I>. Mhyssi nails one with spells, but has very little left for the day. Voronex is hit time and again, but constantly takes very little Con damage, and continues to climb. Then, the sounds of climbers below them echoes up, and the heralds realize the shriekers have alerted the gnouls. A squad is climbing up at them.
Then, the green slime begins to drip down on them. It's acidic burns sear flesh and metal, but the stirges seem to have evolved a natural immunity. Juiren and Mhyssi pass out, and Auriji is left hauling them up by brute strength. Daronelle and voronex must carry Lyssa and Ryssa, and the gnouls are clearly gaining. Voronex actually fills a stirge to blood-capacity, and is still up and kicking. As the green slime begins to pool on the largest ledge they must get past, Voronex asks Auriji if she can carry Lyssa as well, and the barbarian gamely claims she can. She now climbs the slick walls whiles hauling a ripe with three unconscious comrades, making Str and Climb checks *every round* while Voronex begins to hammer at the large ledge from below it.
He makes a Knowledge (architecture and engineering) check to aid his own Knowledge (dungeoneering) check, and hammers at the ledge. He can *just* slam past the hardness of the stone (which is halved as a result of his skill checks), and must take many rounds to do much damage.
Auriji keeps climbing, and Daronelle is forced to follow her. The stirge focus on Voronex, because he's making the most noise, but none can stay on his burning body long. After many rounds, the girls manage to get to the top of the shaft, and look down, they can just see Voronex, engulfed in his own flame, constantly bitten at by stirges, no more than a hundred feet above the oncoming patrol of a dozen gnouls, hammering as a ledge of green slime trying to burn his face off. Daronelle turns to try to revive Juiren, while Auriji prepares to rope to help her leap down to fight to the death with her blood brother.
Then, Voronex cracks the ledge. The next round, he breaks it. And a long strip of stone, filled with green slimes, collapses onto the gnoul patrol. Not a single gnoul makes its Climb check, and the full squad slip free and fall down the hundreds of feet of shaft, as green slime burns their dead flesh. The huge cacophony attracts the stirge flock, which flies down after them.
Voronex climbs up, and joins the other Heralds. They stagger away, using potions to bring Juiren and Mhyssi around, then tapping any healing those two have left. When Voronex finds an old bunk-room, concealed in cunning stonework, once used by dwarven mines ages ago, the group decide they must risk bedding down. Auriji takes first watch, but never rouses anyone else. She simple makes Con checks all night, and then uses her last lesser restoration potion to remove her own fatigue.
Everyone in this group gains a level.
End game 17
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Likewise. I'm still very impressed, both with your skills and those of your players. At least 3 times during that session I thought to myself, "Well... now they're dead. No way are they getting out of that." And I'm guessing that should the players (and their characters) ever give up hope, you would have little compunction about slaughtering them. :D Bravo.
Once again I find myself sitting on edge, waiting for the next installment. I'm sure that by now Agdrenel is quite aware of their presence in her layer (even if she is not aware of their exact location). And like the characters I too am wondering if the vampire is working alone, or with some other powerful necromancer.
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I'm getting a great Khazad-dum/Moria-meets-Night-of-the-Living-Dead vibe from this adventure - a classic dungeon crawl with a definite dark twist to it. It's also very interesting to see the twins starting to pull away from the main group a bit and look at their own interests first. The group dynamics are really interesting to watch, especially in regards to how particular pairings/triads/etc form among the members of the group and what it does in terms of their behavior.
(And I too was more disturbed by Ye Olde Codpiece of Doom than the fact that it was an undead ghoul wearing it, so I can definitely sympathize with the twins on that count. ;))
I finally read my way through the whole thing so far, and all I can say is wow. You, and your players, are amazing. I was sure they were done for at that part with the stirges, until Voronex cracked the ledge. Again, I say you are an amazing DM. I like how the whole dungeon was set up, how the Stirge Guano gently hinted at the upcoming encounter, and how it was flammable. Not to mention the Shrieker Fungus. I swear, I used to think that it was the most useless monster in the entire MM, but I stand corrected. I take off my figurative hat to you, DG.
Awesome story Dungeon_grrrl;
I was positive that the party had it when the green slime started to drip down on to them from the ledge.
How many hit points of Damage did Voronex take? That is one tough Dwarf.
Although I have to admit after reading this last section I was left feeling a little bit sad. Because now I have to wait again for the next installment.
Keep up the good work. :)
Wonderful! Thank you again for posting, what an incredibly fun game this sounds like and a great story to be retold!
Honestly I had forgotten about some of these details before I dug up the notes, so it was fun for me to retell, too!
DG your still one hell of a storyteller.
[BLUSH] Thanks, Phally![/BLUSH]
Likewise. I'm still very impressed, both with your skills and those of your players. At least 3 times during that session I thought to myself, "Well... now they're dead. No way are they getting out of that." And I'm guessing that should the players (and their characters) ever give up hope, you would have little compunction about slaughtering them. :D Bravo.
I have done the TPK. Heck, I'v done a TPK to *this* group of players (though not in this campaign). When I do pull that off, I either respectfully end the game (often with a round-rboin storytelling session allowing players to help me decide how everything turned out), or we pick up with new characters. I once ran a game we called "Bastards & Brothers" because *every* character was a secondary relative of a character from the TPK earlier in the campaign, each looking for revenge on the villain who killed their original characters.
The group dynamics are really interesting to watch, especially in regards to how particular pairings/triads/etc form among the members of the group and what it does in terms of their behavior.
I think that's my favorite part of this group too. That, and watching them escape Certain Doom (tm) again and again.
Not to mention the Shrieker Fungus. I swear, I used to think that it was the most useless monster in the entire MM, but I stand corrected. I take off my figurative hat to you, DG.
Thanks!
Yeah, I have used shriekers more than once to create sudden, massive battles with reinforcements coming on the bad guy's side every few minutes. They're useless by themselves, but GREAT as an esxcuse fot eh heroes to suddenly realize they're in trouble!
How many hit points of Damage did Voronex take? That is one tough Dwarf.
I don't know exactly, because we didn't keep track of that in the game notes, but it was a whole heck of a lot of damage. It's worth noting that Voronex is a dragonfire adept, and the DC of their main ability (breath weapon) is based on Con. Therefore, Voronex maxed his Con as a starting character, bought it up every time he could, and took Con items as treasure or custom-ordered items whenever possible. He also rolled really, really well for hit point.
I -think- that at this point he had about a 22 Con, and a total of 94 or 96 hp as an 8th level character. I -know- he had more than 100 by the time of game 19, since he had leveled and we commented on him being the first person to crest 100 hp.
Okay, since you all had to wait so long for the last one, I brewed a fresh pot of tea and cranked this out before I go collapse in my futon.
Black Days of Kor Kammor
Game 18
The Heralds awaken to discover Auriji has watched over them throughout the night – if their break occurred at night. With no timekeeping experience, Auriji can't tell them how long they've slept, and no one is sure how long the previous day lasted. A full day at least has passed since they entered the caverns, as the spellcasters are able to prepare their spells, but whether it's been 24 hours or 31 or 46 1/2 no one is sure.
There is a brief row over Auriji staying up without letting anyone else take watch. Juiren suggests it was irresponsible of her to risk falling asleep from exhaustion, which would have ut them all at risk. Auriji asks him first, how was she to decide how long the watch had been, and how would he have tracked time if shed woken him, what experience he has with situations were falling asleep means death (as is always the case for her people when making long runs through her native jungle, often punctuated by hiding for hours from dinosaurs), and why is he wasting energy complaining about something they have already done successfully, when there is so much deadly work ywt to be done he could save his energy for?
The Twins declare Auriji the victor of that exchange, and Daronelle takes a moment to cheer up her cousin, and explain to him how to pick his battles with more care. Voronex makes sure everyone is fully healed (they aren't, but Juiren fixes that), checks the bunkroom for anything of use (finding nothing but the mine's dwarven name, so ancient he doesn't recognize it), and asks if everyone is ready, as it may be more than a day before they have even this much safety again. Everyone is ready. Except for Mhyssi.
She's still praying.
Because her player wrote down her prayer, I have it in my notes. Remembering that she worships Hyarl, a neutral giantish god of war, here is the devotion made by Mhyssi in the depths of Guttek Khir, the ancient Blood Mine of the dwarves.
Blade of My Heart, Father of my Wrath,
I did not ask to be your servant, nor did those who trained me ever desire me to become an instrument of your will above their own. But I have served you faithfully always, and I thank you for the blessings you have given me. I glory in the arts of war you reveal to me, and lust heartily for your favor and greater enigmas.
I find myself surrounded on all side, and at all times, by my enemies, but I cannot wage war against them. Our forces are not an army, and the field of conflict is not that of war. Those with me are not your agents, and it is not your way to protect. But hear me, oh terrible lord. Grant me the power to bring these, my friends, from this horror I have convinced them to follow me into. Allow me, the power to bring Voronex, Lyssa, Ryssa, Daronelle and Auriji out to the sky again and I swear,
On my soul I swear,
I shall fight a mighty war in your honor, and raise your banners over the skulls of a host of enemy generals. And with the spoils of that victory, i shall build a school where we shall elevate the ways of war to an art to challenge even the powers of the archmages.
Hear my plea, divine commander, and know that if you answer them I shall dedicate myself to becoming the mightiest of all your stewards, and training all my line to follow your laws forever, to the last drop of our blood.
So I, Mhyssiveren Heart-of-War, vow.
As the other heralds watch, Mhyssi draws herself up from her devotions. While most of the heralds are 9th, Mhyssi has kept her 2-level lead, and is now 11th. More importasntly, she now casts spells as a 6th level battle-sorcerer, giving her access to 3rd level spells. She takes sound lance (spell compendium), but always refers to it as Hyarl's Battle Drum Additionally, moved by her prayer, Hyarl gives her access to the cleric spell spiritual charger (from Heroes of Battle).
As if all that weren't enough she takes Practiced Spellcaster, causing her to *cast* sorcerer spells at 11th level, unlike before when her caster level was just 7th. He eyes flash gold and green, and everyone realizes Mhyssi isn't the same girl who collapsed in this room the night before.
Not exactly fresh, but restored compared to the fights and trials of the previous day, the Heralds head out from the old bunkroom. Voronex takes with him a sigil he cut off one of the old chairs, as it should let him identify the dwarf clan that build Guttek Khir if he can ever get to a dwarven city again, and examine the clan archives. He's concerned that a whole clan of dwarves may have been forgotten, and wants to restore their name if he can.
Daronelle leads the group again upward and inward, toward Agdrenel. Soon they find the temperature cooling, and the air current picking up. They also find less and less stirge guano, and theorize the stirges stick to the lower, warmer caverns.
Not half an hour later, they come across a group of 6 gnouls, though this time the Heralds arent surprised. Mhyssi gets initiative, and hurls her sound lance at the lead gnoul. As undead have crap Fort saves, and sound lance specifies it injures objects the gnoul takes full damage from 10d8 (more than 60 hp, as I recall), and it blows apart.
As the gnouls rush in, Voronex catches them all in a fire breath, badly damaging them. Auriji manages to charge one, but then get paralyzed. The Twins take up positions around Juiren, and use whips to trip any attacker. Daronelle dashes back and forth to weaken some, but Mhyssi lets rip a scorching ray (now getting three rays!) and Voronex breaths again, and suddenly the fight is over. Auriji recovers, and the heralds find that prepared and rested they are much more able to deal with the gnouls. After a few minutes Auriji recovers, and the Heralds press on.
The twins realize the corridor they are going through used to be trapped, but the traps havent been functional for centuries. Even so, it worries everyone. First, what was being guarded? Second, if there were deadly traps, *and* stirges *and* slimes and spores, why is there no sign of *any* previous adventurers. Mhyssi suggests that maybe the cave dwellers waste nothing– flesh, bone and metal are all eaten or absorbed by *something.*
A skittering, black scorpion the size of a horse comes at the heroes from a side-corridor. It takes many solid hits, but ultimately can't get past Aujir's longspear and Vornoex's breath, with Mhyssi and Daronelle lending support.
Just after, the Heralds hear another gnoul patrol, but the Twins hear it so far in advance the Heralds actually manage to hide themselves, hide the scorpion corpse, dowse their lights and let the gnouls pass. The gnouls are rushing and sniffing, clearly searching for something. Even Auriji admits, the element of surprise is likely gone. She does, however, take some trophies off the scorpion.
While hiding, Voronex spots an old dwarven sigil warning of plague next to one for "decay" or "disrepair." V shares this the others, who focus on the plague rune. As plague would explain why dwarves lost contact with the mine, most Heralds become convinced that's what happened, but V and Mhyssi are neither one convinced. If it was just plague, why the other sigil?
Mhyssi happens to notice a conceal passage as they move on (elven senses and all), and the group agrees to try it. This leads to some more finished passages, with less sign of fungus or dust, but the air is still and hot. Even so it seems undisturbed by gnoul prints, and the heralds decide to take it for as far as they can.
As they enter a large domed room of statues with swords and 70-foot free-standing columns topped with grotesque figures, they heralds stop to detect for magic. The statues seem obvious guardians, but there's no sign they can, or ever have, moved. Convinced, the heralds move across, only to have the column figures swoop donw on them. It's a gargoyle attack!
The horned horrors swoop down on the group and immediately try grabbing Juiren and the twins to fly up and then drop them. Juiren is scouped up, but the Twins both manage to wriggle free with Escape Artist checks. As Juiren is dropped Mhyssi throws a feather fall on him, and thus becomes the primary target of the gargoyles. Auriji leaps to her defense, while Voronex takes to the air. When a gargoyle is wounded it tries to escape, but Daronelle begins leaping about and picking off the badly injured foes. After a few rounds of combat, it becomes clear to the gargoyles they are losing, and they all swoop high and begin screeching.
Voronex goes after them, and Mhyssi throws magic missiles, but the screeching is not just a sound of fear. From one of the side corridors an ancient, Huge delver shambles forth. It's hide is studded with bones and leather, almost like decorative piercings, and its color is dark brown to almost black. The roars a battle-cry in Terran, and makes right for Auriji.
Suddenly, the herald have their hands full. Mhyssi swings her sword at it, but the blade dissolves immedaitely against its corrosive hide. Auriji does better, scoring a hit, but is slamed and then burning with acid herself. The twins try grease, but the delver just eats a layer of the floor and is on slid footing again. Voronex moves to strafe it, but the gargoyles can now focus on him while the other heralds are busy, and swarm him.
Mhyssi hits it with a spiritual charger (socring a crit!) and then summons a spiritual weapons which is a force effect, and does not dissolve. Auriji slings Maja Gada onto her back, and picks up two gargoyle claws from dead foes, and attacks with them. Even as improvised weapons, she does decent damage. Daronelle makes strafing runs, losing a short sword to its acid, but quickly drawing a spare.
But this is an old beast, and it has many, many hit points. Soon Juiren is spending all his time healing daronelle and Auriji, while Lyssa and Ryssa turn to assisting Voronex. V defeats the last gargoyles with the Twin's help, just as Auriji rage goes down and she collapses. Juiren keeps her alive, but daronelle goes down the next round. Fearing he can't kill the thing with fire before it kills his friends. He yells for the heralds to move to a given section of the room, then flies to a column. With a massive Strength check (action point and a heck of a roll) he tips the free-standing, 70-foot-tall column over. He just misses, but his a second column, and that one slams squarely on the delver. The delver screams, and dissolves the column. Auriji, up again, gets all the rest of the Heralds to tip a third column, which also smashes the delver.
Then, the Twins see the floor is cracked, and the delver's acid is seeping into the cracks. They yell a warning to Mhyssi...
But it's too late. The floor collapses, and Heralds, Delver, and a few tons of rock plummet into the depths of Guttek Khir.
Mhyssi throws another feather fall on Auriji, and gets one on herself. The Twins have feather tokens they use. Voronex swoops down to grab Juiren and Daronelle...
But misses Juiren.
The young healer, already injured, falls to his death, just as the ceiling caves in. Rocks pummel the surviving heralds, and many pass out. The survivors must struggle in choking dust and a rain of debris to move the survivors to safety. Voronex manages to get everyone to a side-cavern and sees Juiren's body. He heads for it, but the whole 100-foot shaft collsapes. Juiren's body is crushed, and lost forever. Voronex is stunned speechless, unable to think of any way to undo what he just saw.
Mhyssi struggles to her feet, blood streaming from a wound on her forehead, then collapses into terrible wracking tears. She suddenly realizes, only now, she forgot to include Juiren in her prayer to Hyarl.
End game 18
Wow. That is a great session. I had a feeling that one of them would die, and had I read the prayer more carefully, I would have known which. I love how the delver collapsed the floor.
Poor Jurien.
First off , thank you for the bonus round. :)
My jaw hit the floor when Juiren died. I am still looking for the fillings from a couple molars.
The prayer was incredible, thats better than most real world prayers I have heard. That also was an incredible coincidence that the one person not mentioned in the prayer was he one time bed mate Juiren. That player is incredibly good. I am speculating this moment could be a turning point for her. For good or Ill.
Thank you again.
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Arrggg!!! Just lost a post to a misclicked mouse button. I hate when that happens. Well, I'll try to recap what I said before. First off, I am still impressed (and still sitting on the edge of my seat). I'm sure that Jurien's death will hit the characters hard (especially Mhyssi) but to tell the truth I haven't been able to build up a bond with either Jurian or Daronelle as of yet through these readings.
One other thing that I would like to say is that I really love the unique locations you have chosen for your battles. First was the stirge guano inferno cavern, then the acid slime mine chute with stirges and gnouls, and now finally the delver cavern with its columns and cracked floor. Are you pulling any of this material from published products or is this dwarven mine something you have created from whole cloth? If it is something that you have created then perhaps you could share some notes on it with us. I'd especially love to see a map.
Usually DMing is a you-set-'em-up-they-knock-'em-down relationship. But every now and then, as when a player writes you a note in which she lists all but one character in a prayer, the relationship goes the other way. That's when great DMs shine.
Good stuff, DG.
Mike
I second Chimpman's! idea. If there is any info to be shared, please do so!
All I can say though is wow! That was two incredible sessions Dungeon Grrrl. Of all the skills you seem to possess, the fact you can make a long-time GM like me stare vacantly at something you've just done (in awe, mind you) still amazes me. Don't lose your momentum now! It looks like your journal is picking up yet more addicts!
I am stealing the gnoul for my home campaign. The PCs will hate it.
>:D
That is all.
You are very mean.
AND STOP USING MY AVATAR!!! :D
So, I've been asked a lot of questions about how much I planned Juiren's death. Here is the answer.
A little.
Juiren was always supposed to be a temporary character, since the player didn't figure on being free to game with us for more than a couple of weeks. He and I had discussed early that eventually either Juiren the healer would decide adventuring wasn't for him (he's just barely a young adult after all, with no real offensive powers), or I would introduce a town that really needed a healer, and he'd feel a divine calling.
The problem developed that neither of those made sense to the player anymore. Juiren had come to believe he was an important part of the Heralds (saving heroes' lives will do that) and the player couldn't see Juiren going quietly into retirement. So we talked, and agreed Juiren would enmd up putting himself at risk by refusing to heal himself if he though others needed it more. Heal checks could keep him from looking seriously wounded so Mhyssi wouldn't think to heal him. Thus, we set him up, together to get killed.
And then, I got Mhyssi's prayer, and noticed he wasn't in it.
Did I skew who decided to attack Juiren? Sure, a little. Not so much it broke verisimilitude, but any smart foe could see a healer was a rank 1 target. Then, Voronex played into my needs by deciding to knock over giant pillars *without* architecture & engineering checks (which would have reveal the weakness of the floor), and I knew Juiren was ready to die, so...
<cue Taps>
And then, the wounded and lost heralds had to face the lower levels of Guttek Khir *without* a healer.
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I've done similar things to players. We had a GURPS game using the WOD books they had put out at the time. Some of the players were worried about the Garou that was stalking them but I actually heard 2 of them tell the rest not to worry I'd never do anything that would let a player die... So, sad. It WAS a horror game after all. So, they were have watches during the night and one of the players decided to do it solo sitting in a car... He never knew what hit him. By the time the surprise was over he was being torn to pieces by the werewolf. :)
The shocked silence in the room for the next 5 minutes was awesome and for some strange reason they got a lot more cautious after that... go figure.
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I've done similar things to players. We had a GURPS game using the WOD books they had put out at the time. Some of the players were worried about the Garou that was stalking them but I actually heard 2 of them tell the rest not to worry I'd never do anything that would let a player die... So, sad. It WAS a horror game after all. So, they were have watches during the night and one of the players decided to do it solo sitting in a car... He never knew what hit him. By the time the surprise was over he was being torn to pieces by the werewolf. :)
The shocked silence in the room for the next 5 minutes was awesome and for some strange reason they got a lot more cautious after that... go figure.
Victory!
I'm with Patrick Walsh on that one Phalazar, Victory! Whether intended or not, nothing can be a greater failing in a game than your players thinking that you are too soft to kill them.
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yep after that and a few more devious plots I had them afraid to go into cellars if the stairs were open to someone behind them...soda machines.. (after 1 player got critted by it when it bit down on him while getting his soda out.)and ferns if you can believe it.
...or anytime Conan's soundtrack came on the stereo.
Soda machines and ferns...? You have a fiendishly clever mind indeed, good Phalazar!