To preface, apologies if there is a thread like this already. I didn't notice one, but thought I would add a disclaimer just in case.
Perhaps it is just my group, I doubt this, but some of our party's favorite moments came from random encounters. So, I started this thread as a place for us to share those moments spawn inside jokes, boutes of sniggering, and shouts of Huzzah!(These can come from anything, not just Random Encounters.)
The stories make a bit more sense if you know the players, so here we go.
Nozomu(Noz): Player, halfing-monk, has participated in four PnP sessions. Knows the player-centric rules better than I do.
Keziah(K): Player, half-orc-fighter, heard rumors of D&D, thinks it would be fun to kill things.
Angela: Player, half-elf-druid, wonders if D&D is like Zelda?
A slim woman and a half-orc approach the gates of the Stag Lord's fort, leading a string horses. As the watchmen challenge them, the half-orc displays a silver pendant and demands entrance. Following orders, the guards demand the pass-word. There follows from the half-orc an explosion of expletives, threats of what Kessel is going to do to the poor guard, and insults to the manhood of a person who hides from a pair women behind a wall. (Intimidate check to open the gate and pass the buck to one of the bosses: Success)
In the commotion a halfing silently slips over the rear wall of the fort.
As the lieutenants and general bandits gather in the courtyard to see just what is going on, the one bandit on watch wise enough to actually keep a lookout swears loudly and calls down, "TROLLS! FOUR @#$# TROLLS!" As four of the creatures emerge from the wood, howling for blood...
But how this come about? To explain, let us go back to the beginning...
After slaying the bandits at Oleg's, the three companions enters their first hex to begin exploring. All was well, until I discovered, like many of you, that the Stolen Lands: Random Encounters Table was designed to reduce characters to gibbering blobs of terror when asked to enter the wilderness. I rolled four trolls. Yes, 'tis true that horrible things can happen to you.
Not wishing to inflict untimely death, for K and A this was their first time playing. I asked for perception checks. The druid rolled very high and spotted the trolls before they saw her.
GM: You see four large, green humanoids on a nearby hill. One is noticeably larger than the others and appears female.
Angela: Would I know what these are?
GM: Knowledge nature check
A: *Rolls over 15*
GM: These are trolls. You know that trolls are vicious, perpetually hungry killing machines that eat everything that moves, though some say they have a preference for elves. They are very difficult to kill, as only fire or acid can permanently wound them. Normally solitary, sometimes females will sometimes band together when raising children.
A: Since I'm new to this, would my character think she could beat them?
GM: No. She would likely run quietly in terror.
A: Hey guys, there be a mother troll with three of her little ones. I propose running.
Everyone(Myself included): Agreed.
Now this was not the last time the party would encounter these trolls. Sometime later, I once again rolled for a random encounter and got trolls. Intrigued, I rolled for numbers. Again, four. The encounter with the players went much as before, though with Noz giving me slightly suspicious glances.
After exploring most of what lay between Oleg's and the Stag Lord's, I once again rolled for trolls, though this time I forgo numbers for simply saying that once again they spotted the family of trolls. This time obviously following their trail. Having learned about the Stag Lord from Kessel and her bandits, the players hit upon an ingenious idea...
K: I hate these trolls. They're following us, and we're lunch if we try to stop them. I signed on to KILL things. Not run in terror like a little elf girl.
A: I'm svelte, and we ran like smart people. Hard to argue with the assessment though. Take out a bandit fort on haunted hill with a leader who crazy sadist woman thinks can kill us all, while dodging hungry momma.
N: It would be convenient if our enemies fought each other. I would be interested in seeing this "Bad-ass" who will apparently copulate us to death attempt the same with the she-troll. I suspect she would, as the bandit woman put it, #$@$ him.
K: Wait. Can we do that? Could we lure the trolls into the bandits camp?
GM: Sure.
K: Alright. This is now officially cooler than video games.
The party then gathered their own horses, the horses they retrieved from the bandits, and two they purchased from Oleg and set off for the fort...
Upon hearing the look-outs cry, the half-orc rushes to the open gate shouting "You(Gesturing at Auchs)! Get up here and help me hold the gate. No don't close it. Those things will be over the wall in seconds if we do. Let's try to keep 'em bottled up here. The rest of you lot get ready to shoot! Keep us alive Princess(directed to Angela's character)! And somebody get us some fire. Lots of it!
Since this sounded like a good idea, and the newcomer was voleentering to stand in front. The bandits thought questions of 'are they really one of us' could wait until after the immediate threat of being eaten had past.
The hillside proved little more than a speedbump to the trolls, but enough that the one became isolated when other three stopped to tear
apart zombies. This one reached the gates and went down quickly to due to readied actions by K, the lieutenants, and the bandits. The three dispatched the zombies then charged fort, with one heading for the gate and the other climbing the walls. The mother hung back to let her children gain experience. She would come in when needed.
Due to poorer rolls, the second troll to enter the gate was barely injured in the first round, while the troll's rend put Auch down for the count. The other troll had gained the wall by this point, and things were looking grim, until the Stag Lord shot two very impressive sneak attacks into the gate troll, putting it into the negatives and cementing his status as awesome.
K then used her secret weapon. A gallon cask of Alchemist's fire! Specially ordered in Restov after the second encounter with the trolls. It was to be the parties defense against 'Big Momma'. As the actual K is a shot-putter, she and I guesstimated throwing a gallon verses pint. It did for the wall troll nicely, though it also ignited the fort, severely burned a bandit, injured K, and almost finished off poor Auch. 'Princess' rushed forward to save the poor man, Auchs, from burning to death, while K grabbed another cask, just ale this time, from her horse and 'negotiated' with Momma.
Here we see a fine example of half-orc brute squad negotiating techniques.
K(in Giant): Hey! You see what I did! Well, I've got another one right here. Scared? Come at me! I will roast you and feast on your flesh!
GM:*Big momma fails her sense motive check verse bluff. Believes that the small, green, tusked-one has a container of flaming goo. Decides to back off and find someway of resisting fire.* The big female backs away snarling, "I will feast on your bones small-tusk. You and the others and all your children."
A few more things happened, like killing the Stag Lord. Turns out the halfling monk is more like a crazyed fire ninja. Just waiting to cu-de-grace you in your sleep with alchemist's fire.
Great story. Glad your group is having fun with it. My group has put two sessions into the start of Kingmaker and this week I hope to actually get them to Oleg's. Up till now we have been in Restov talking and RPing with the other groups, townsfolk, and the mayor. The gnomish bard suggested that the group go hunting for a boar to show the other three groups a good time at a party. Provided an excellent chance for the group to RP with the others (I had a party planned for just before the four groups left Restov, but this was better as it was player done).
After the winter weather finally lightened a bit the group set off for the Stolen Lands. After a few days of travel they ended up in a White Stag, a small community built up around a large hunting lodge. White Stag is not considered to be part of Restov, though it does look to Restov for all of its needs (trading with them).
While in White Stag a fierce winter storm hit and forced them to shelter within the old hunting lodge that was now used as a village gathering place and tavern and called by locals the Boozy Moose (due to the stuffed centerpiece of the place). Spent a while RPing and storytelling from the bard and from the village elder. Party found the origin of the name White Stag is due to him seeing a beautiful white stag that he didn't have the heart to shoot when he was a young man. After that he gave up being a hunter and lived in the lodge next to where he had seen the stag.
After everyone goes to sleep an unconscious child arrives on a horse. Child warns of barbarians coming and speaks of his dead family. Group has to defend White Stag against a group of barbarians with only two hours of warning. The gnome talks to the horse and finds out that it was guided to White Stag by a "white horse with horns". The party get some good ideas (including the bard's player coming up with turning the snow to ice...though the alchemist is the one that had the IC knowlege to say something like that), the ranger goes out to try and contact what they believe is a guardian spirit of the area.
Battle comes (giving us a chance to try out the Warpath mass combat rules) and the party destroys the raiding barbarians. As the Numerians break up their leader tries to rally his men. While the villagers fight the barbarians, the party advances on the leader and the few barbarians that are rallying to his side. Nasty fight occurs but in the end everyone on the White Stag side lives.
As the remaining barbarians flee from White Stag the storm clouds break letting the sun through and they see the White Stag chasing the Numerians back to where they came from.
The worst injury is that the ranger dropped his swords down the well and had to go and get them out of it. So he is sick for a few days and stays holed up in the Boozy Moose. It was only a little price to pay for being the Heroes of White Stag!
Now I'm looking forward to getting the group to Oleg's where we can actually start digging into the meat of the adventure.
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To preface, apologies if there is a thread like this already. I didn't notice one, but thought I would add a disclaimer just in case.
Perhaps it is just my group, I doubt this, but some of our party's favorite moments came from random encounters. So, I started this thread as a place for us to share those moments spawn inside jokes, boutes of sniggering, and shouts of Huzzah!(These can come from anything, not just Random Encounters.)
The stories make a bit more sense if you know the players, so here we go.
** spoiler omitted **A slim woman and a half-orc approach the gates of the Stag Lord's fort, leading a string horses. As the watchmen challenge them, the half-orc displays a silver pendant and demands entrance. Following orders, the guards demand the pass-word. There follows from the half-orc an explosion of expletives, threats of what Kessel is going to do to the poor guard, and insults to the manhood of a person who hides from a pair women behind a wall. (Intimidate check to open the gate and pass the buck to one of the bosses: Success)
In the commotion a halfing silently slips over the rear wall of the fort.
As the lieutenants and general bandits gather in the courtyard to see just what is going on, the one bandit on watch wise enough to actually keep a lookout swears loudly and calls down, "TROLLS! FOUR @#$# TROLLS!" As four of the creatures emerge from the wood, howling for blood...
But how this come about? To explain, let us go back to the beginning...
After slaying the bandits at Oleg's, the three companions enters their first hex to begin exploring. All was well, until...
Great story Lloyd1
Thanks.
This might be spoilerific. So I'm tagging it as such.