|
A few disclaimers before I go into this story. Having heard the argument that our table top hobby is an old folks game instead of the instant satisfaction the online games give or card games kids are now playing, I have in fact reached out to our community using online sites, visited colleges and our local military base to bring in a new younger crowd to my gaming table. Locally, we have no gaming store. The closest one is in Atlanta, GA. I have learned in my last three sessions, younger players are easier to get into trouble faster than the seasoned veteran players. Veteran adventurers are more aware of the dangers the game brings and that death can happen at any time. This may sound like a no brainer, but it does make for an interesting night. This post will be in a few parts and will contain spoilers. Please do not read this post if you are interested in playing the module. This is just an account of our home game.
Enter the players. I will call them by their first names to protect the guilty.
Amy (age 30) playing the elven rogue named Aurora. Some of you might know her as the Natural 20s girl at PaizoCon if you saw any of the pictures from the event. Amy is my wife and has only played the Beta playtest in her lifetime. This is only her third game. She enjoys gaming but doesn’t like to play for long periods of time. She is a real girly-girl. Her style of game is more hack and slash. She likes to sneak and loves bling. Think she passed up a magical sword of a gold amulet once in another game.
Josh( age 20) took the pregen Seltyiel from the back of the Second Darkness campaign. A lawful evil half elf fighter looking to kill his two fathers. He said his choice was due to the fact the picture “looked cool”. I am starting to think Wayne Reynolds could draw a care bear and people would want to play it. Josh is new to the game. “No Josh, first level fighters do not summon a flaming bat.”
Toni ( age 23) playing a half orc cleric of Iomedae name Rite. He has played for 3 years and actually created an intense and colorful background which encompassed 4 extra pages to his character sheet. Cool, I gave him a bonus item for his efforts. Though I like motive for characters, it is not required. Some players are not as creative as others. I do however like to reward those who go the extra mile. A one-shot item like a scroll or potion does not over balance the game and helps reward interest in your campaign.
Daniel(age20) playing the pregen paladin of Iomedae named Seelah . He is so new to gaming I had to explain the difference between a d20 and a d10. Still no problem. The time you take help new players learn the basics helps them fit into your gaming group. Daniel is a fire fighter and did not have time to read the Beta before the game started.
Kyle(age 25) Kyle has a master in mathematics and is really quirky, but creative. He didn’t have time to create a character so he took the pregen Valeros, a human fighter. Kyle says he had played before, like second edition. He impressed me as a deep thinker and my be the puzzle solver of the group.
And lastly Russ (age 16) who has really bad A.D.D and reminds me of a Halfling buzzing high on a case of energy drinks. Russ is goofy and a teenager and knows everything. Russ took the pregen Lem, the gnome bard, once again because Wayne Reynolds makes everything look cool. Russ doesn’t have a clue how to play, he just wants to find adventure. From experience I know Russ is going to have a hard time adjusting to life as a bard.
Personal note: I met Eva, another artist at PiazoCon and she is very beautiful, but I think if Wayne and Eva got in a self portrait shootout, and people had to pick which portrait they would like to play, they would still pick Wayne over Eva. Wayne is just that good. Eva has the better accent. Erik Mona had mentioned Wayne got his inspiration for his goblins , featured on Pathfinder #1 while making faces with his sponge in the shower. Creativity happens in the strangest places. Scary thought. Anyway, I digress… on with the game.
|
|
Creating an adventuring group
The module starts in the town of Falcons Hollow, but how do the players become a close knit adventuring group? Not every table you sit down to will be 4-6 people who have known each other before. Mostly never, and personality types can cause problems. People come sit down to your table from every corner of society, with different backgrounds, philosophies and points of view. What they all have in common is they want to sit and enjoy a good adventure filled with heroic deeds, challenging villains and wondrous treasure. The first evening, the gathering or mustering of characters is a pivotal point in a campaign. Players left to their own devices generally are untrusting of other characters in first contact. As a GM, I feel its necessary to tie the players in some way. To give reason to be meeting each other and help give focus to the story instead of each other. After a while, positive roleplaying will emerge out of the story telling and the players will become immersed into a surreal world.
Finding the common thread
Looking over the characters, their alignments and classes, I see a real division in play styles, the holy types, and the barfighting, rough and tumble types. At this point, Aurora is not with the group, Amy had family issues to tend to and told me to start without her.
Only Rite the cleric has any back story at this point so I start with him. Rite receives word from Lady Cirthana, the head priestess in Falcon’s Hollow, a summons to meet discreetly at her temple mentioning the church there has not been welcomed as she had hoped for when they first settled the area. She mentions the locals seem reluctant and fear the lumber consortium may be holding their pay if they are caught attending the services. Take the paladin Seelah with you in case there is trouble on the road. This sets the motive for group one.
Group two starts in Oldfen at the Silver Bulette but more so running from it and the town of Oldfen due to some misunderstanding about the quality of ale, a price and the questionable heritage of the owner’s parents. Needless to say, after a few broken pieces of furnature and bruised faces. Valeros, Lem and Seltyeil rush off to Falcon’s Hollow to avoid persuit of guard that would never follow them. This gives them more a sense of companionship than individuality. Once the watch came in to clear out the bar, all three of the players tried to talk, plead and eventually fled. The banter started early on setting blame on Lem’s failed attempt to pick pocket a barmaid or Seltyeil’s hot headed temper. Valeros was sitting a little too close and was caught in a sucker punch. In the end of the brawl, they were sike sibling brothers. Group two was on their way to Falcon’s Hollow.
The road to Falcon’s Hollow
Along the dirt road they meet each other, exchange glances but do not really talk. With opposing alignments, working class versus religious cast differences, no one wanted to speak. There is nothing like a common enemy to break the ice with.
I wanted to tie in the D1 Crown of the Kobold King module early on. I wanted to establish familiarity to the denizens of the Darkwood forest. I set an encounter on the road, a sign written in draconic under a tree saying “pink skins here”. Waist high bushes to either side of the road. One Kobold FTR2 trapper with net and javlin in the tree. Two kobold WAR1 ambushers from the left side of the road. Spot check DC12 to notice a pattern of rocks on the ground in the form of an “X” in front of the sign. It seemed simple enough.
“Initiative”
Lem rushed up to read the sign, stopping right on the “X”. Lem had about just enough time to learn the language was draconic by his bard knowledge before a net fell over him. Then it occurred to me. The group had not real ranged attacks. Most were melee types. The ambushers met them in the road and were quickly dispatched by Seltyeil and Valeros. The kobold in the tree though got a crit on the Seelah and it looked grim if not for my D6’s rolling 2’s. I rolled a balance check for the kobold in the tree to see if he would fall out any time he took a standard action or was hit. The cleric picked up a rock from the road and killed the tree kobold. Lem managed to unentangle himself after the fight.
Rite offered to heal the wounded. Lem was just glad to be free of the net. Seelah managed with Valeros to find all the kobolds gear, cleared the sign from the road and they talked the rest of the evening by campfire about Iomedae, Falcon’s Hollow and the fact they were glad to be away from Oldfen.
Next post, we start the module…