A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Bandit Camp

[pennywit]

This is GM cheese, but I couldn't resist it. My players have heavily focused on their economy and on stability, so they haven't built much in terms of institutions of higher learning. Once their kingdom began in earnest, I started handing out reports at the beginning of each session. All of the players receive a consolidated report from all of the NPCs on the council. Meanwhile, each PC council member receives his own report that he can share (or not) with the rest of the group.

RRR spoilers and GM cheese:

Three sessions ago, my players cleaned out the tomb of the Lonely Warrior. Two session ago, wicked fairies invited my players to a feast at the Forgotten Keep. This feast ended with a dead Teorlian and the Dancing Lady at large.

So at our most recent session, my Magister received his in his report: "A scholar investigated the Barrow of the Lonely Warrior, which you recently emptied out. He found that the barrow was the final resting place of an ancient warrior who once fought fairies. In particular, one of his enemies was called the 'Dancing Lady.' The scholar believes this fairy may be dangerous."

[pennywit]

Players (other than the Baroness): "We need to find you a consort. How about Sootscale?"

[pennywit]

Final thing (for now):

My players encountered Grigori. The PCs are mythic, and Grigori is not (yet), so in the Diplomacy-off with the Baroness and her Display of Charisma, Grigori got "pwned" in short order. On his way out of town, however, he managed to surreptitiously zap the PC barbarian with Malicious Spite.

The player, who's always game about these things, immediately went about undermining the baroness. He tried to drive a wedge between her and Dovan. He nearly started a brawl at a Council meeting. And (via a GM note and a Plot Twist card) he convinced a clerk to embezzle money from the kingdom treasury and run off with it.

When the spell wore off, he confessed his misdeeds (and the party figured out he'd been enchanted by the bard). It ended with "And I have to confess ... I convinced Alberg Mecklov (NPC clerk) to steal money." The PCs were quite concerned to learn this clerk had stolen 6BP at a time when the players were saving up for a fairly major purchase.

[pennywit]

Players, after fighting mad hermit, Cat, and a wandering owlbear, have a dead owlbear, a dead puma, and an unconscious (but not dead) hermit.

Baroness: "This is a lot easier when they just die."

[Orthos]

Elegy: "I can't believe we just whoopie-cushioned our way out of a war."

After Lilith and her gang of spies and fey pranksters had three days to infiltrate and sabotage the approaching army headed by Elegy's father.

[pennywit]

Players battled Vesket and his two caimans while Tig was tied up and scared. The group knocked Vesket into negative hit points, then the barbarian did the coup de grace with a greataxe ... IN FRONT OF IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG TIG!

Tig: "Violence really DOES solve everything!"

[Gabrielle]

Bard: These three soldiers traveling with our party...are they wearing red shirts?
GM: Well, red cloaks, yes.
Bard: Then I won't get too attached.

--

GM: You know that he was exiled for having an affair with a weaver's daughter.
Wizard (9 Charisma): Hey, weaver-f**ker, how's it going?

--

GM: You come upon a dead horse... on closer inspection, it's a dead unicorn.
Oracle (Me): Can I read its entrails?
GM: It appears remarkably whole, actually.
Oracle: That can be remedied.

Druid: I can speak with animals. Can I speak with dead animals?
Oracle: Even if you can, I bet it can only answer yea or neigh.

[Philip Knowsley]

pennywit wrote:

Players battled Vesket and his two caimans while Tig was tied up and scared. The group knocked Vesket into negative hit points, then the barbarian did the coup de grace with a greataxe ... IN FRONT OF IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNG TIG!

Heh - In my game one of the PCs had been in the 'jail' pit with Tig.

He was therefore quite protective of the little lad when they were released
by the rescue party...& even though they had been told that Tig was 'half-dead'
didn't try to heal the wee chap...

The PC kept hold of Tig's hand, dragging him hither & thither...& was told
part way through the running battle/escape that Tig had collapsed, but they
didn't pay that much mind. At the end of the battle they discovered that Tig
had actually died (previously on 0 HP, & into negatives from exertion).

I had a lot of fun posting the 'Where is Tig' poster (his parents had put up
to try to help find him) for several sessions afterwards. The player was
actually quite shamefaced, & Tig is still discussed to this day.

[pennywit]

Philip Knowsley wrote:

Heh - In my game one of the PCs had been in the 'jail' pit with Tig.

He was therefore quite protective of the little lad when they were released
by the rescue party...& even though they had been told that Tig was 'half-dead'
didn't try to heal the wee chap...

The PC kept hold of Tig's hand, dragging him hither & thither...& was told
part way through the running battle/escape that Tig had collapsed, but they
didn't pay that much mind. At the end of the battle they discovered that Tig
had actually died (previously on 0 HP, & into negatives from exertion).

I had a lot of fun posting the 'Where is Tig' poster (his parents had put up
to try to help find him) for several sessions afterwards. The player was
actually quite shamefaced, & Tig is still discussed to this day.

I think I'm going to be a little mean, too. I think Tig is going to turn into a little juvenile delinquent.

[Philip Knowsley]

Excellent. If he survives, he can become a brawler... :)

[pennywit]

Players, exploring deserted buildings, see a bobbing light in the distance.

Player 1: "Ok, we're leaving now."
Player 2: "We'll fight dragons, but not a glowing light."

I think will o' wisps have left my players traumatized ...

[pennywit]

My players, via email, have listed the monsters they hate as we near the end of RRR:

* Goblets
* Tooth fairies
* Owlbears
* Will O' Wisps

[Orthos]

So the party decided the best way to deal with Drelev - who, in my campaign, has had the Ruler's uncle working for him for some time (instead of Imeckus Stroon), but most recently has made him disappear - is to goad him into instigating hostilities while remaining purely reactive to avoid having the appearance of being expansionist (since they did, just recently, absorb Varnhold). This has led to three days of making the absolute most annoyance they can out of themselves. Camping outside Drelev Keep and demanding to be seen, then serenading the guards with off-key violins, bad poetry, and passive-aggressive insults.

Which led to conversations like these.

----

Giant: "What you doing?"
Errol: *happily* "Why, I'm out for my morning constitutional!"
Giant: "Huh?"
Errol: "Going for a walk! Healthy!"
Giant: "Huh?"
Errol: *switches to Giant, suddenly sounding irritated* "I'm taking a g&%!+#ned stroll!"

----

Lilith: Life is like a hurricane
Lilith: Here in. Iomrall.
Elegy: MIGHT SOLVE A MYYYYSTRYYYYYYY
OR REWRITE HISTRYYYYY
Elegy: really we need to because oh my god
GM: WOOO HOOOO
Elegy: You know how heavily they whitewash US founding history to remove all the "Jefferson slept with his slaves" stuff?
Elegy: I imagine Iomrall's going to end up much the same
Elegy: "YES THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT ALL TIMES."
GM: and then people will track down Elegy in the later years of her life and...
GM: "AHAHAHHAHAHAHA NO"
Elegy: "The countess then played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in F sharp for five hours" becomes "A diplomatic standoff"

----

Elegy: I think that Elegy will ask Errol to recite this book of fairy tales in Aklo tomorrow
GM: oh dear
Elegy: Really, he could be saying anything
Elegy: She doesn't speak Aklo
Elegy: It'll be like French
Elegy: <This toast is burnt. I will feast upon your soul.>
*swoooooon*
Elegy: So that, the bluebirds...
Elegy: oh god i just had the perfect idea
Elegy: As long as we're going with Disney why you do this to us
Elegy: "Jaekah here's the script"
Elegy: *to Hannis* DISHONOR ON YOU
*to Marae* DISHONOR ON YOUR COW

----

Lilith: "Somebody gave me the idea that the guards are afraid of fey magic."
Jaekah: "You used fey magic?"
Lilith: "No! I'm not a caster! See - oogly boogly!"
GM: "Errol, you know magic, she's got her cadence all wrong. These mundanes, they don't ever know what they're doing. It's OOOOgly BOOOOgly, more emphasis on the OOOs, and the endings clipped short..."
*at which point Lilith's player was rendered unable to play for about five minutes*

[pennywit]

GM: "You spend the evening in the Talonquake's nest. Who's on watch?"

Players: (Arrangements, then Baroness volunteers)

GM: (Dice roll: Wandering monster) "You see a bobbing light coming toward you."

Wizard: "Death to all wisps!! Magic missile!!"

GM: "You're asleep."

Wizard: "I'm dreaming about magic missile!!"

Baroness: "Calm down."

GM: "The light gets closer."

Baroness: "I'll wake up the others."

GM: "As the light approaches .. it's ... a familiar looking gnome! It's Jubilost Narthropple!"

Baroness: "Hi, Jubilost!"

===============================

My players really, really hate wisps.

[pennywit]

I encountered a first last session. First game I've ever run (or been in) where a PC took ranks in Profession (accountant). May be related to a small embezzlement problem a couple sessions back ...

[pennywit]

Barbarian player, having rolled a 9 on a Sense Motive role: "I don't know who that is. But I think I know who that is!!!"

[Philip Knowsley]

pennywit wrote:

I encountered a first last session. First game I've ever run (or been in) where a PC took ranks in Profession (accountant). May be related to a small embezzlement problem a couple sessions back ...

Heh - I play a character in RotRL who has ranks in Profession (librarian).

He's definitely not a Sorcerer (Sage)...definitely!

[SlimGauge]

Lloyd Jackson wrote:

'I have a plan!'

Great. CUSTER had a plan.

[pennywit]

This isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but I enjoyed this exchange at my table:

Barbarian (the community's marshal): "We need to build jails."
Wizard (the magister): "We need a library so there can be more learning. I will give you 2,000 gold to support a library."
Barbarian: "We need to build a library!"
===================================
In case you can't guess from the above, my players have spent a lot of BP on things to improve economy, loyalty, and stability, but they haven't done much as far as centers of learning.

When I prepare for each session, I prepare "kingdom reports." I have one sheet that contains reports from NPC members of the ruling council, typically recommendations for things that need building and seeds for potential side quests and plotlines. Additionally, each individual player receives a separate sheet that represents just his report, and he can share that information with other council members (or not) at his leisure.

I notice the utter lack of educational buildings, so as a sort of running joke, I started putting in the Magister's report information that might have been useful in the past, but is no longer. After my party fought the Lonely Warrior, the Magister learned:

Quote:

An ancient being known as the Lonely Warrior is said to be entombed to the east. Little is known about this creature, but it is said that his spirit does not lie easy.

One session after my party slew the Talonquake, this gem appeared:

Quote:

A local researcher reports that there may be truth to rumors of an ancient owlbear that once terrorized the Stolen Lands.

At out last session, the magister said, "I have a proposal. Let's hang this researcher."

[pennywit]

Players at recent session, playing third-level side characters who will do some minor adventuring within the realm. These new characters have been tasked with investigating a cult.

Members of this cult attempted to mug a lone PC in broad daylight. The rest of the PCs (along with Dovan, the kingdom's spymaster and their employer) pile out of a side building when they hear the ruckus. The witch immediately zonks one of the cultists with a slumber hex. As the rest of the PCs close on on the other cultists, Dovan pauses to deliver a coup de grace to the sleeping cultist.

Ranger: "Now we know a little something about Dovan!"

[pennywit]

(During a story arc involving the Temple of Razmir).

GM: "Can I get a 'Praise Razmir'?"
Players (unenthusiastically): "Praise Razmir."
GM: "I said, can I get a 'Praise Razmir'?"
Players (more enthusiastically): "Praise Razmir!"

[Spatula]

The players discovered the Old Beldame's swamp house and barged in when she was not home. The bubbling contents of her cauldron intrigued the party halfling, who sampled it and found it to be pretty tasty! Then the high priest recalled that they had heard rumors of a swamp witch... what were people saying again? Something about her kidnapping children and cooking them in her cauldron?

The halfling, now spooning the soup into his mouth, goes wide-eyed and spits it out. "I just ate children soup!"

But it tasted like vegetable broth. And so the Duke attempts to comfort his compatriot: "Maybe it's just the children soup stock."

[pennywit]

Philip Knowsley wrote:

Excellent. If he survives, he can become a brawler... :)

IMC, Dovan became the players' spymaster. After trolls killed Auchs and ate him, Dovan sort of adopted Tig. So now, instead of a befuddled giant of a man following him around, Dovan has a Tig as his combination scout and messenger boy.

[Othniel Edden]

In a 4e campaign I had a character that when he was in towns he'd go to the nearest diviner and play him to watch sporting events and the news. I called this Scrytube. So when my players founded a Tavern inside their kingdom they had it have Scrytube and had it stream images from Tymon. One of the world's earliest sports bars.

[Secane]

After I mentioned that I do allow custom races, one of my players wanted to play a customized Plant-Human hybrid race as a wizard of the Wood school.
He joined just as the party started attacking the Staglord after managing to infiltrate the fort and killing off most of his lieutenants.

Wizard Player "I use my Splintered Spear ability on the Staglord!"

GM "Ok, give me a min... let me look that up... Splintered Spear.. As a standard action, you can create a wooden shortspear appropriate to your size... which hurls itself as a ranged attack against one target... using your Intelligence modifier... spear deals normal damage according to its size, plus your Intelligence modifier, then breaks into countless splinters.... ok... roll for it."

Summoner Player "Wait! So your playing a plant right?"

W Player "Yes, I'm half plant, half human."

S Player "....so ... you grow... that spear out of your self...?"

*Room pauses to process this information*

[kadance]

... he is groot?

[Orthos]

In Drelev after the takeover.

Lilith: "Why is Errol on the throne? Again?"
Errol: "So he can see both sides of the room."
GM: "It's Errol's Me Time."
Observing Non-player: "Sometimes he likes to feel like pretty pretty princess."
Errol: "Elegy! I need your tiara!"
Elegy: "No, this thing gives me bonuses on Religion checks."
Errol: "But I need its Moon Prism Power!"

[Orthos]

Elegy: "But yeah, now that she's gotten a little less unsufferable, becoming a little more socially acceptable is probably the new goal."
Errol: "To make up for the fact that her teammates are; a belligerent homicidal fey jerk, a squirrely introverted tree lady, a meek meatheaded dragon, and Takeshi."
Elegy: "pff"
Errol: "And this is why we never question Elegy as the face."

[Keydan]

When ambushing bandits that came to tax Oleg our druid rolled 1 on his magic roll... now we play with crit fail cards... his failure was 2 rolls on rod of wonder...

In the end, a Rhino gored out most bandits and PCs spent next few minutes thinking how the hell are they going to reverse the stone to flesh cast on the druid...

[Orthos]

Those crit cards have caused so much insane fun in our game. Pretty much all because of the Oracle doing crazy things with eldritch bolt. Like throwing a zombie to Heaven or turning a will-o-wisp to stone.

[pennywit]

GM: (Placing one cardstock mini, two blank bases on the table)
Player: "It's a bear ... a dire bear!!"
GM: "It's only a grizzly."
Player: "Only a grizzly?"
GM: "Well, three grizzly bears. So, who's on watch?"
Player: "I am."
GM: "You see three grizzly bears pawing at the carcasses of the wolves you fought earlier. What do you do?"
Player: "Guys ... wake up. There are three bears here!"
GM: "One of the bears looks up and growls at you. It's front paw rests firmly on the wolf carcass."
Players: "We back away and move our camp."
GM: "Do you make sudden moves or back away slowly?"
Player: "We back away slowly ... "

[Orthos]

Countess Elegy is new to the tongues spell. Negotiating with M'botuu leads to this exchange:

Sepoko: "And how is your chieftain called?"
Elegy: "I am Countess Elegy Dragomir."
GM: "Do you try to speak your name directly or just let the spell handle it? There may be translation issues."
Elegy-OOC: "She's never used the spell before so she'll just let it run itself."
GM: "Okay."
Sepoko: "Greetings, Chieftain Dirge Dragon-Spawn."

Cue much laughter from the group and a five minute break.

[Lee Hanna]

While at the Rushlight Tournament (run early IMC), some of the council members split up to make friends with their neighbors-- I ran these as similar to the Diplomatic Edicts in Ultimate Campaign.

Their Grand Diplomat, Lily Teskertin, went to see Varn. Varn had already approached them about building a connecting road through the pass, as the PCs had a road and new village only 2 hexes away. It should have been a slam-dunk to set up an Embassy agreement here. One of the players picked up the die, I told her the modifiers, but not the (really low) DC. Lily rolled a 1.

"What could a charming teenage girl have said to an old bachelor warrior that could have gone so wrong?"
"I guess we learned something about why Lord Varn's still unmarried?"

[Orthos]

Elegy-OOC: "We get along with everybody we didn't conquer."

[Keydan]

***
GM(Me after they rolled good knowledge local on Gabbles):
"Those were no ordinary Mites... it was King Grabbles and his Mites of the Mity Table..."
***
When interrogating the freed Kobolt
Kobolt: Mites ambushed us but we used a secret Kobolt tactic...
Players: Which was...?
Kobolt: Surrender, worked nice, yes?

[pennywit]

Scenario:

PCs were third level. One of the PCs was a paladin in very heavy plate armor. PCs were fighting a group of kobolds, and these kobolds spent a round or two banging on the paladin's armor without much success.

Then:

GM: The first kobold helps one of his fellows (success).
GM: The second kobold helps the fellow beside him (success).

Paladin (realizing what was happening): "Guys?! These kobolds are aiding each other. I don't like this. Help!!"

[Liranys]

Scenario:

We're in the bottom of a clock tower clearing out some Trolls or ogres or something on the way up and the human fighter goes to open a door. He's a big guy and kinda dumb. Then the little tiny Sorcerer dragon disciple stands right behind him, but because she's so small, she can cast right between his legs.

So fighter opens door. Sorcerer casts fireball into the room from between the fighter's legs. Bad guys get crispy and one of them runs and knocks on another door yelling "He's Pissing fire!"

[pennywit]

Paladin, after a yellow musk creeper has spent three rounds sucking his brains: "Auchs is my hero!!"

The paladin's player hammed it up, and the rest of the group humored him.

[pennywit]

Party rogue had been rolling low for the entire session. A Calistrian cleric charmed him, and he started attacking a party member ... and hit!! PC: "Oh, sure, NOW, you roll high."

==========================================

Party enters a room splattered with blood and corpses. In the middle of it, a redcap is dancing with a corpse. He calls for the party to join him in the dance.

All of my players paused for a second to take this in.

Then:

Rogue: "I grab a corpse and start dancing."
Witch: "I'm a lady. I wait for somebody to ask me to dance."

===========================================

GM, rolling an attack an enemy with a scythe: "Natural 20!"

These players have seen scythe get a critical before

GM: "Rolling to confirm."

Players: (all eyes on the die).

[Orthos]

En route to the castle where Lilith's former sire resides, and where they presume Vordakai regenerated since they never found his phylactery:

Naltar General: "Sorcerer and a lich. WONDERFUL."
Lilith: "Let's be clear. Vampiric sorcerer and a lich."
Naltar General: "Is there anything else we should know?"
Lilith: "...His favorite blood type is O positive?"

Elegy-OOC: "That makes me wonder. Are blood types consistent even to non-humans or is that humans only?"
DM-OOC: "I don't even know."
Elegy-OOC: "This is important! We have to know who he's going to stick the silly straw in first!"

[Orthos]

Players are exploring Maure Castle, which is inhabited by Lilith's necromancer vampire sire, on a side-trek and are in the Great Hall.

Lilith: "Their courtyard is better than ours. Their GUEST ROOMS are better than ours. That's it, we're taking this castle."
GM: "Do you want Scarwall? Because that's how you get Scarwall!"

[Sparowl]

Our Paladin has a thing where he has to attempt to save all members of the Green Faith he finds. It lead to some interesting things with the Stag Lord's father.

It lead to a funny incident when they came across the Mad Hermit. Seeing a crazy woodsmen living with his pet cat, they assumed he was a Druid. So the Paladin puts his weapons away and keeps trying to either grapple or get between the party and the Mad Hermit. During this time, our Gunslinger is steadily getting stabbed and mauled. Finally, they manage to render them both (hermit and cat) unconscious and tie them up.

Gunslinger - "In the future, we just kill the things that stab me in the kidneys." (Mad Hermit got some good Sneak attacks)

Paladin - "Well, we did walk into his house while he was gone, then attack his pet..."

Gunslinger - "Yeah, about that." Shoots the cat in the head, killing it "I hate being mauled."

Paladin freaks out over the Gunslinger killing the cat. Decides to Detect Evil.

Turns out the Gunslinger is not Evil. The Mad Hermit is. So is the party's summoner. And his Eidolon.

The Paladin just turns and looks at GM, mouth open. GM starts laughing. GM has the Summoner and Eidolon roll perception to see if they notice that the Paladin is now strangely upset with them. Both fail, gloriously.

Paladin - "Does the crazy Druid have the symbol of the Green Faith burned into him, like the last one?"

GM - "You check him over. He isn't a member of the Green Faith, as far as you can tell."

Paladin - "Damnit. Alright, you can cap him." Gunslinger shoots Mad Hermit in the head. "Now we need to deal with the Summoner."

The GM just got to sit and laugh as the party imploded over the revelation that the Summoner was actually evil.

[GeoffA]

"Mites - I've walked a mile in their shoes, and I still hate them!"

Our party ranger spent most of the campaign nursing his hatred (and boosting his favored enemy bonus) against the fey. When he was killed and raised from the dead, interfering fey magic caused him to come back in the form of a mite. He had some self-esteem and self-hatred issues for the last several sessions of the game until we saved the kingdom, lived happily every after, and the GM decreed that he could find someone to turn him back into a human.

[pennywit]

Cleric: "I channel energy to heal the ranger's wolf."
GM: "Do you have Selective Channel?"
Cleric: "No."
GM: "Alright. The wolf is healed. You also healed the giant spiders. Including the two that were in negative HP territory. I think I know what feat you're taking at 5th level."
Cleric: "Yep."
==========================
Later
==========================
GM: "And the giant spider is down."
Paladin (glancing at cleric): "I'm going to coup de grace this one."

============================
Still later
============================

GM: "This is Lake Silverstep. Anybody want to give me a Knowledge (history) roll?"
Wizard (rolls): "25."
GM: "Legend has it that this lake was the footprint of a great silver dragon, and that the water later filled in the lake."
Other player (glancing at map): "Let's NOT fight this dragon, OK?"

[Orthos]

pennywit wrote:

GM: "This is Lake Silverstep. Anybody want to give me a Knowledge (history) roll?"

Wizard (rolls): "25."
GM: "Legend has it that this lake was the footprint of a great silver dragon, and that the water later filled in the lake."
Other player (glancing at map): "Let's NOT fight this dragon, OK?"

Spoiler:

So how long until they find his acid-scarred corpse in the cave and learn just how badass Ilthuliak really is?

[pennywit]

Party was exploring near Lake Silverstep. GM rolls a wandering monster: Manticore!! Manticore launched four spikes at the barbarian (creating a very nice barbarian pincushion), then flew past the party. In round 2, the manticore turned around for a second attack.

GM: "OK, what's everybody doing?"
Barbarian: "Where is the Manticore?"
GM: "About 70 feet up in the air."
Barbarian: "I'm going to hide behind this tree."
GM: "Ummm ... didn't you have a bow?"
Barbarian: "No. Bows are for wimps!!"

A couple rounds later, the wizard had fireballed the beast (to poor effect) and gotten knocked into negative HP for his trouble. The alchemist brought the beast to ground with a tanglefoot bag, and the barbarian dispatched Mister Manticore after critting with a raging power attack.

Barbarian: "I think I want to buy a bow ... "

[T.A.U.]

Previously during the campaign:
The party was level 1 and exploring a plain hex. Rolled a random encounter: Shambling Mound!
The 3 PCs where on horseback and the summoner's eidolon (quadruped) was with them.
Nobody succeeded in the perception roll to notice the stealthy plant.
Rolled a d4 to see who will be attacked between the 3 horses and the eidolon and got the eidolon.
Surprise round, eidolon was annihilated... the entire party flees.

Last session:
The party (now level 4/mythic tier 1), after having heavily recruited Kesten Garess and his men plus father Jhod Kavken and an npc paladin to assault the Staglord's fort, is camping in the hills.

Random encounter during the night: Shambling Mound again!
Roll to see in which watch turn the plant will attack: the summoner's turn.
Roll to see who will be attacked in the summoner's turn between the pc, the eidolon, Kesten and one of his men: the Eidolon!
Surprise round, eidolon annihilated again (critical hit of the Shambling Mound!)

Summoner's Player OOC: Definitely this kind of plant like to eat mine eidolon.
Oracle's player OOC: Are you sure it's not a love story?
Summoner's player OOC: Mmm, yes it should be an explanation.
Alchemist's player OOC: An impossible love-story!

[Wolfgang Volos]

So far my players have taken a rather reasonable approach to things. They laid in ambush for the bandits at the beginning of Stolen Lands, killed off all of the minions, but captured Happs Bydon. After explaining his situation to him they managed to turn him away from a life of banditry and onto the path of redemption. This theme continued when they got to the bandit camp a few days later and proceeded to put every bandit down but Kressle. She was harder to convince, but once they made it clear that her chances were better off with them than with her boss, she grudgingly agreed to give up her thug-like ways. They also managed to defeat a certain purple kobold and became honorary members of the Sootscale tribe. I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to find an ally or two among the Stag Lord's men. They already plan to infiltrate his fort rather than take it head on by force.

I'm really enjoying their discussions before, during, and after game about their plans for the Stolen Lands. So far there has only been a couple of encounters where they haven't atleast tried to talk something down and those particular fights were with mindless undead or animals. They even talked a raging grizzly down during a random nighttime encounter. Well, the Hunter used Wild Empathy and rolled high enough to make the thing indifferent, at which point it wandered off. Leaving me saying something like, "And the raging Grizzly gets this confused look on it's face, like it forgot where it put it's car keys, and promptly wanders off in search of whatever it is missing."

[Orthos]

Fighting the reborn Stag Lord (heavily variant carrion golem) in Maure Castle. He has a freakout after getting hit by an acid attack.

GM: "Elegy, you vaguely remember the Stag Lord having severe acid burns on his face after you removed his helmet."
Lilith: "Great, a golem with post-traumatic stress disorder."
Elegy: "Post-Mortem traumatic stress disorder."

[Spatula]

The party goes to the Mud Bowl in the Greenbelt to get black rattlecaps for the Old Beldame. The party cleric dies to the tendriculos. They head back to the witch to claim their reward.

Player 1: “What is she going to use these for anyway?”

Me: <checks quest> “It says here she uses them to brew a potent tea.”

Player 1: “Tea?! What makes it potent? Does it do anything?”

Player 2: “It has a lot of caffeine.”

Player 3: "She just likes the taste."

Player 4: "It has a unique bouquet. She's a connoisseur of artisanal teas."

Player 1: “Well, that was certainly worth the cleric's life!”