I apologize if this is a little long, and hope that this is the correct place. The first session was a little impromptu, and I was somewhat unprepared. The night’s gaming session was scheduled to be a wrap up of the last mission in the D&D Adventure Systems’s Ravenloft board game. The plan was to start the night playing a little bit of Munchkin, and then finish up Ravenloft. We had a player who ended up not being able to attend, and choosing to wait for them to finish Ravenloft we opted to play some Pathfinder (the missing player does not roleplay).
The group consists of five players, two of which are new to roleplaying. The remainder have played roleplaying games for years. In addition to the five players, I would be GMing. I have played RPGs for years (beginning with 2E) but haven’t had the opportunity to GM for a decade. The whole group is new to Pathfinder in general, I GMed three of them through the Beginner Box recently. We would be playing Crypt of the Everflame using the beginner box ruleset to help introduce the new players.
Group Makeup:
Cleric - Beginner Box pregen ran by one of the veteran players. He had played this character during the Blackfang adventure.
Barbarian - The Amiri beginner box pregen available from the Beginner Box forums, also ran by one of the veteran players. He had played a fighter during the Blackfang adventure.
Druid - I pregenerated a druid using the additional classes available for download from the beginner box forums. This would be ran by the third veteran player. He had played the rogue during the Blackfang adventure. The druid plays with a panther animal companion.
Rogue - The beginner box pregen rogue was played by a player completely new to roleplaying.
Paladin - I created a version of Seelah, played by a new player (had only played a session or two of 2E prior to this).
For the safety of other players and GMs, I’ve put the remainder of this post under a spoiler tag. I would ask that anyone responding to this post, who would give details that the players may not know about, do the same. Casien...if you’re reading this thread, do so with caution (though my post gives no information you haven’t already discovered).
Play begins in town, with the mayor providing his speech. Given two new players, and the whole group’s newness to Pathfinder, I explain that while the Mayor is playing up the dangers of the Crypt, they know from past reports that the adventure is relatively mundane and that people from the town tend to mess with the coming of age heroes (something usually only found out through skill checks/roleplay). They set out of town right away. Due to the short notice of playing this module (I had read it, but not prepared) I didn’t have a hand out of the map. I showed the group the map and the Barbarian and Druid made Knowledge (nature) checks as play progressed to determine their ability to follow it (no Survival skill in BB).
Play continued without incident up to the fight with the illusory orcs. They managed to overcome the orcs without much problem, and figured out during play that they were likely part of the townsfolk testing the group. The barbarian took a good hit from one of the orcs, but beyond that they overcame the challenge handily. Thinking they might be able to find who cast the illusion, they scouted around but didn’t catch the culprit...though they did smell the traces of pipe smoke.
They chose to continue on, and play proceeded to the first night encounter. As they setup camp, they all heard the wolves howling. They choose to set watch rotations, though the rogue decided that she was tired and didn’t want to participate in watch...the group decided that letting the rogue sleep as opposed to rifle through their belongings while they slept was fine with them. I prolonged the time frame of the wolves arrival here...which unintentionally worked out in the groups favor. The barbarian got first watch, and as time slipped by I played out the howling getting closer and louder. He was constantly moving, scouting the edges of the fire. I let his watch pass without incident. He woke the druid. As his watch progressed, the howling stopped abruptly and I had the lone wolf make an appearance. This was the part I unintentionally setup...he managed a successful wild empathy check to make the wolf leave the area. Encounter resolved, the rest of the night passed without incident.
Finding the body by the lake proved to be an unexpected experience. The group spotted it from a distance, and a few of them chose to investigate. The rogue searched the body and discovered the sword and gold. She was happy to provide the sword to the group, but decided that she would try and hide the pouch of gold. Not having Sleight of Hand, I improvised with a Bluff check. As she stated her intent, the group said “Seriously? With all of us standing around you?” So it happens that she blew her roll, and every other party member was able to use Perception to notice her attempt. The cleric’s statement, “Go ahead and keep the sword, but I think the paladin should carry the gold.”
Upon realization that it was a body, the cleric, paladin, and druid decided that they needed to provide a proper “rest” for the body. Beyond the religious aspects of burial, the cleric’s reasoning for doing so is that “This might be a test by the elders, just like the orcs.” There was a bit of debate on whether they should bury the body, or create a pyre and burn it. A successful Knowledge (religion) check by the Cleric noted that while the area traditionally buried their dead, those who perished in the wilderness would sometimes have a funeral pyre built if there was no viable means to creating a grave. The three decided that they should bury the body, the rogue reluctantly helped and the barbarian was just ready to move on.
They then proceeded on, and found their way to the “valley” or gorge, or whatever it is supposed to be. Here I will say that, much like the handout, my unpreparedness showed. I read the information describing the valley, and showed them the map from the module. The artwork on the map doesn't’ really match the description (or follow up text) in my opinion. It looks like the group has to go down into the gorge and then climb up out of it. The text (which I overlooked during play) explains the Crypt is located at the bottom. So the group proceeds to take it very slowly down into the gorge. The barbarian botches a roll and slides down into the valley, taking some damage and eliminating his second roll. The paladin and the rogue go their first roll without incident. The druid fails miserably and falls down into the gorge, suffering heavy damage and the dexterity penalty. The cleric follows, with no issue...and stops to heal the druid along the way. The rest of the group proceeds up out of the gorge (again my confusion) without issue while the druid fails again...the cleric ends up helping him get to the top.
Upon arriving at the Crypt, they locate the slain horses and ponies and cautiously search the area. They locate the bags with pillows as well as the skeleton under the horse. The cleric, upon first seeing the sight, tries to “disbelieve” thinking that this may be an illusion by the elders. Resolved to the fact that this was real, the group choose to continue on their mission...albeit a little uneasy. They manage to get the doors to the crypt open, the rogue steps in at first, using stealth after entering. She doesn’t go too far in, and instead goes back out to describe the scene within. The cleric and the paladin take the forefront and the group slowly files in...at which point the cleric states loudly, “Hello?” Arise the skeletons.
During the ensuing combat, the skeletons managed to knock the cleric unconscious (who was at the front of the party) before the barbarian drags him back and takes his place at the front, allowing the druid to heal him. They get through this encounter otherwise unscathed, though the damage reduction of the skeletons definitely challenged the group who was all using slashing weapons. The now conscious cleric’s channel energy managed to end the last three.
The group choose to enter the maze room, and proceeded to wander aimlessly around this room for the remainder of the play session. The barbarian was the first to trip a pit trap, and for a good long time the group was comfortable leaving him in the pit to find his own way out while they explored (much to his displeasure). The rogue began to slowly move around looking for the remaining traps, but it was proceeding slowly. They did find the first switch, and after activating it and hearing it click into place, and a grating sound coming from the door determined that this would be needed to unlock the door which was firmly shut. By this time, they got the barbarian out of the pit (but the druid was in another). The paladin was assisting in the efforts to get the druid out of the pit, the cleric was hanging out at the first switch, the rogue was looking for traps, and the barbarian decided he would do what barbarians do best...bash stuff. Catching me completely off-guard, he decided he was going to try and destroy the door. Asking what it was made of, I decided upon stone. I used the PRD’s “Additional Rules” section to find the hardness and hp value of stone...and went with a three inch door (I’ve now found the section on doors that say stone doors are usually four inches thick”. The barbarian went to town and after quite some time did manage to break the door down.
The session ended at this point, and since then the barbarian, cleric, and paladin have expressed a bit of unease as to whether breaking the door down was really the best approach. They are a bit concerned that they’ll need the door as a barrier later...or that, being a crypt and all, destroying part of it was a bad idea.
A few of the things that I was surprised about over the course of play was how well the player who using the rogue took to playing the character. She at first asked what the “CN” meant for alignment. A brief explanation and she took to playing the rogue rather well (the attempt at hiding the gold from the dead body by the lake a good, if not failed, example). She was also pushing to get on with it at times, like the whole process was costing her precious time that could be better spent doing things that would make her more money. The cleric, however, took a big turn of opinions as the game progressed. He went from thinking “Oh, the elders are messing us...” to “That Mayor set us up! His statement that ‘Some of us might not return’ is true. He must send people here every year in hopes that some of them get turned into undead to further his evil schemes.” He is determined to complete the mission, and return to town to find the mayor brought to justice. It should be interesting to see how this all plays out...