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Inspired by Gluttony's Campaign report, I thought I'd do a write-up of my own "Skyrim" group (so named because the snowy environment reminds me of Skyrim, and because my other gaming group is my "Skype" group).
First, a brief foreword: I switched current characters to the RoW campaign. As such, levels for them range from 3rd to 5th. Seeing I don't hand out lots of magic, the group doesn't have any magical weapons. To compensate, encounters were beefed up. Let me tell you, the party did NOT have an easy time of this, and as of the final encounter are pretty much out of spells, though they still have some healing left from the Paladin and Cleric. Two of the players also joined a bit later, which is why I've two GMPCs.
Hobbes and the Calvinists (Adventuring Party)
Nicholas Hobbes - Male Half-Elven Cleric 3/Generalist Wizard 2 (with a cat familiar)
Asea - Female Half-Elven Ranger 4
Ferris - Female Human Rogue 3
Iron Sentry - Male Human* Fighter 2/Transmuter 1 with Bonded item (his spiked Mithral gauntlet which came with the armor)
GMPC Martin - Male Human Paladin (Undead Scourge) 4
GMPC Anna - Female Human Sorcerer (Destined) 1/Druid 2 with a Fox companion
*Sentry is an odd case. The character wants to be "riding in a golem" for his concept, and I decided to let him have a Gnome who was inside a clockwork magical suit of armor. Everyone thinks he's human, and he is built as a human inside full plate mithral armor (that he's paying off). No one in the group currently knows he's actually a gnome, and he has no gnomish abilities inside the armor (Charisma of 8 - I've decided the armor "drains" Charisma and mechanically boosts strength). He's built with the Human race, so his gnomishness is just a fluff bit. For now. (Amusingly, Sentry's main attack is punching things with his gauntlet... with the use of a punching dagger in his off hand. So he's not built to be overpowering. Just unique.)
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The adventure started with the group delivering a chest of spell components to an old wizard living at the edge of town (a remnant of my previous campaign who will play no part in the adventure, especially as he's 90 years old). The wizard told them about the cold pocket in the forest and suggested they could learn more at the Silver Stoat.
Amusingly, the group didn't bother going there. Instead, they went around town, marveled at the sawmill (which I had operated by steam power - seeing the sawmill didn't have a stream handy for a watermill, I wasn't sure how else they'd easily operate those big saws for cutting lumber) and finally buying up all the cold-weather gear (with Martin trusting to the power of his Goddess to keep him warm (Endure Elements). Ferris had been interested in purchasing some poison, but ended up buying some alchemist fire instead - several of the group did so.
When they learned about the lady who'd been kidnapped, they chose to leave. Yuln was not conscious but the mayor did inform them that he'd been rambling about the "winter fey" (which caused Sentry some concern - he seems to know something about the ice-touched but didn't share those concerns with the group).
Despite the late hour (it was around 4 p.m. when they left town) they decided to search for the noble lady who'd been kidnapped. The sun was approaching the edge of the horizon when they came across the scene of the massacre. They suspected something was up with the locked carriage and surrounded it while the heavily-armored Sentry pulled the spear from the carriage door.
The zombies still got the first round of attacks, one actually hitting Sentry. Amusingly, despite seeing the foe he's dedicated to defeat, Martin still failed to hit in the first round of combat. The zombies proved resistant to most of the attacks (punching with a gauntlet doesn't do much to a zombie, even if the blow is a fairly strong one), but between Nicholas' use of Channeled Energy, Sentry's strength (and punching), and Martin's longsword (and a declared head shot that rolled a natural 20 from Asea) the zombies were taken down.
A broken trail in the snow led further into the forest... and so our intrepid band followed the path and into a story normally found in fairy tales....
The sun had probably set by the time they came across the chest, but the group couldn't tell through the falling snow; already the trail was showing signs of being slowly filled in (several inches had fallen between the time the bandits had gone through the region and the Calvinists had reached it. Ferris, attracted by the idea of free loot, immediately started toward the chest; however, even as Nicolas called out warning her to look for traps, she'd found it (Trap Spotter skill). She soon was able to stake the rope and prevent it from triggering even if someone tripped over the rope. Sadly, the chest proved empty.
That didn't stop Sentry, however, who immediately considered the chest might have a fake bottom. As he started digging the chest out he came across the loot which had been buried BENEATH the chest. Noticing a mastercraft chain shirt (and seeing his own chainmail was exceedingly noisy and was functional only because of all the magic that was used to fix it (acid trap from a previous adventure), Martin proceeded to switch to the lighter armor. And Ferris praised the gods. All of them. (Martin had a -5 to his stealth roll up to this point. Sentry, in full plate Mithral, was actually quieter. Scary thought, that.)
Not even half an hour later the group came across a gully (at which point I learned the value of secret Perception rolls). They immediately assumed the worse despite all failing a Perception check. So they rushed through as a group. They got to the far end of the gully. Nothing happened. And as they relaxed and thought they dodged a bullet? THAT was when the white-scaled snake-critter lunged out of a snowbank and latched onto Nicolas.
This is when the snow proved to be a problem. Nicolas failed his concentration check to use his first spell, while the others were unable to scratch the wyrm's hide. The next round, Nicolas succeeded in invoking his divine spell to blind the creature... but it proved resistant to the magic and returned the favor with a lungful of poison which weakened him. Fortunately, the others were able to start harming it, including a magic missile from Anna (who normally avoids using her Sorcerer talents when possible - she'd been persecuted for it in the past as witchcraft).
While the wyrm finally tried to flee with its snack, one last magic missile proved to be too much, and it slumped to the ground bleeding to death. Nicholas swore he'd turn it into luggage and convinced Asea to skin the body. While it took half an hour, the group was soon on their way again... with worse waiting for them.
Eventually (after skinning the Tatzlwyrm) the group continued on their way. The trail was starting to fill in places, but they made fairly good time until they came to a glade of trees with odd feathered fetishes hanging from the branches. The group cautiously made their way to the bundles (while pondering if there was a witch named "Blair" in the region) only to find the corpses of a dozen or so crows, each pierced with tiny arrows and bound with strips of leather. High-pitched giggles could be heard, and soon the group was slapping their flanks as icy pinpricks from sprite bows struck home.
Oddly, it was the most experienced of the group (Nicholas, the wizard/priest) who succumbed to the winter touch of the ice fae, followed by Ferris. No arrow managed to pierce the mithral shell of Sentry, who started cursing all things fae, and Anna quickly spotted one of the sprites who'd been laughing so hard at the mortal folk that he lit up brightly. Four of his brethren appeared fluttering around him, and all were unaffected by the enchanted branches and weeds that Anna sicced on them; the others knew better than to try to enter the area, but a second fae had been revealed by then and Sentry went charging to attack it. Ferris' blowgun dart went straight through one of the lights, however, revealing them to be naught but smoke and illusion.
That was when Nicholas proved his cunning and called forth in the name of the Divine for the sprite to approach him. It had no choice but to obey his commands, and Ferris drew her sword and struck hard as it moved between her and the others. Sentry soon reached the second and proceeded to punch it from the sky.
A third fae appeared, unleashing a shimmering spray of rainbow sparkles, but Sentry proved to be greater than the magic and then using his punching dagger and spiked gauntlet proceeded to knock that fey to the ground as well, where it briefly fluttered and then died. The one surrounded by the others proved no luckier and as it lay bleeding to death on the ground, Nicholas' familiar pounced it and proceeded to start devouring the sprite. Cats will do that sort of thing.
Unseen, a fourth sprite snuck away. Ted would have to be warned.
Sadly, the cunning and brilliance of these wayward adventurers would not last. Whether it was the cold slowly seeping into their bones (despite their use of magics to ward off the chill and cold-weather gear purchased by the Calvinists prior to entering the forest, or the fact it was now close to 8:30 at night (with the group having traveled all day to reach Helgren) I don't know. But what I do know is that when the talking elk appeared? They never once doubted.
The elk asked why they were here, and they told it. But the elk was concerned. After all, only true heroes could prevail in what was to come. How could it provide them with its blessings without knowing if they were heroes? And thus they admitted... everything. The normally secretive wizard/priest out-and-out admitted his talents. The not-exactly-trustworthy thief admitted as such... and when Martin expressed suspicion, she chided him and told the elk he was a holy warrior of Marashieb, Goddess of Death (and Healing).
The only thing the elk failed to learn was who and what Sentry was. They joked that Sentry was their golem. Sentry did not dissuade that comment. He stood silently and allowed the others their laugh... but in turn also did not express any suspicion that this was anything other than a magical elk. And as such... the white stag provided its blessings and went on its way.
Realizing they had stepped fully into a fairy tale, the group continued along their way and as it was becoming fully dark with the snow falling about them (with light provided by Sentry's magic) they came across this figure, all white... holding up a sign warning them to stand back. And the normally-cautious Nicholas and the once-paranoid Ferris stepped forward... and were greeted by a living snowman who snarled at them to get lost. They ignored the warning... and were caught as the snowman howled loudly... exploding into shards of ice that knocked the pair to the ground.
Three figures of ice emerged from the frozen creek; one each reaching Ferris and Nicholas and striking hard. The third failed to reach them but was close behind. At this, the gang struggled to move forward, with Martin rushing to Nicholas' aid while Sentry moved to help Ferris. Both failed to make it through the snow, and the Elementals, each as tall as Martin, struck hard. Both Ferris and Nicolas barely survived the onslaught, though Nicolas' enchanted ring started to heal his previous wound. The third Elemental failed to harm Nicholas and was hit by arrows fired by Anna and Asea.
At that, Sentry finally reached Ferris and struck hard, using his magical might and his strength to crack the icy shell of the Elemental. Realizing that Sentry was the greater foe, it turned from its nearly-dead opponent and struck hard, both punches causing Sentry's armor to ring loud and start to leak fluids. Martin quickly abandoned his effort to reach Nicolas and healed Sentry significantly.
Sentry's return blows shattered the Elemental, while Martin turned his attentions to the third Elemental... and with additional magic from Anna and arrows from Asea soon all three Elementals were broken shards.
Remembering the story about the thin ice that the farmer's son had encountered, the group moved away from the main path and snuck across the ice uneventfully. Upon returning to the path, they found a farmer who had succumbered to the Elementals and supplemented their weapons with the weapons he had on his person.
It's been a wee bit! ^^;; Well, I'll write up more of these, but first I thought I'd provide the Reveal on Sentry... who wasn't actually a gnome, but is a goblin raised by gnomes and who thought he was a gnome with a complexion problem. Let me tell you, the reveal was quite hilarious! Especially as one player kept joking about Sentry being a gnome in a suit because he really loves the movie "Labyrinth" which had a goblin-piloting golem.
Male Goblin Fighter 2 Wizard 2
CG Medium Humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1
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Defense
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AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+9 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 38 (2d10+2d6+8)
Fort +5 (+5 circumstance bonus vs. cold weather, +4 vs. hot or cold environments and to resist damage from suffocation), Ref +4, Will +3 (+1 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +1
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee Punching dagger +6 (1d4+6/x3) and
Sentry's Bonded Spiked Gauntlet +7 (1d4+6/x2) and
Spear +8 (1d8+8/x3) and
Spear +8 (1d8+8/x3)
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 2):
1 (3/day) Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp, Magic Weapon, Enlarge Person (DC 14)
0 (at will) Spark (DC 13), Ray of Frost, Detect Magic, Light
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Statistics
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Str 20, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 11, Cha 8
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 21
Feats Arcane Strike, Double Slice, Endurance, Scribe Scroll, Still Spell, Two-weapon Fighting
Traits Armor Expert, Hedge Magician
Skills Acrobatics +3 (-1 jump), Appraise +7, Bluff +0, Climb +8, Craft (armor) +6, Craft (blacksmith) +6, Craft (weapons) +6, Disable Device +4, Escape Artist +2, Fly +2, Intimidate +3, Perception +1, Profession (Smith) +4, Ride +6, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +5, Swim +7 (+11 to resist nonlethal damage from exhaustion); Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Common, Dwarven, Gnome, Goblin
SQ arcane bonds (object [sentry's bonded spiked gauntlet] [1/day]), opposition schools (abjuration, necromancy), physical enhancement +1 (dexterity), specialized schools (transmutation), telekinetic fist (6/day)
Combat Gear Alchemist's fire (2); Other Gear Mithral Full plate, Punching dagger, Sentry's Bonded Spiked Gauntlet, Spear, Spear, Ring of feather falling, Backpack (15 @ 16.31 lbs), Bedroll, Cold weather outfit, Thieves' tools, Trail rations (5), Waterskin (5), 99 GP, 4 SP
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Special Abilities
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Abjuration You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Abjuration school.
Arcane Bond (Sentry's Bonded Spiked Gauntlet) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook 1/day. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Bravery +1 (Ex) +1 to Will save vs. Fear
Cold weather outfit +5 Fort save vs. cold weather.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Endurance +4 to a variety of skill checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue.
Hedge Magician Magic item gp costs -5%.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Physical Enhancement +1 (Dexterity) (Su) +1 bonus to physical ability, +1 per 5 levels (change per day).
Ring of feather falling Feather fall activates if you fall more than 5 ft.
Still Spell You can cast a spell with no somatic components. +1 Level.
Telekinetic Fist (6/day) (Sp) 30' ranged touch attack, 1d4+1
Transmutation Transmuters use magic to change the world around them.
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Creating Sentry was rather... interesting as while the rider is small-sized, the armor is medium-size (speed didn't change as goblins move at 30 feet, while the armor reduces speed to 20 ft. in any event). Fortunately, Hero Labs was able to adjust the size of Sentry easily enough. The armor boosts Sentry's strength, but is noisy and significantly reduces stealth and riding ability (and acrobatics, come to think of it - I'll have to add that in). In essence, Sentry works as a Human in armor (and was originally built as such), and the goblin inner working is primarily for fun and flavor.
Cool Stuff! Thanks for sharing with us.
Loved the goblin reveal!
Now that the group had been bloodied (significantly), they once again started to show caution. While it was now dark, they continued to travel (relying on the sharper eyesight of the two half-elves to find their way along the trail). Finally they heard voices ahead and sent Asea and Ferris to scout out the situation and determine if they were friends or foes. After hearing the three men argue about the spoils they'd gotten from ambushing Lady Argentea's caravan, they knew it was the latter. Soon, the group developed a plan of attack.
Nicholas cast a silence spell on a crossbow bolt in hopes that by silencing the men, they could not effectively communicate and would be easily taken down. Sadly... he missed. The bolt landed far enough behind so that only one man was silenced... and he moved out of the silence as he saw Sentry and Martin charging through the snow toward them, while Anna and Asea fired arrows down upon them. The fight was short and bloody... for the enemy, that is. They loaded Sentry up with their weapons (not bothering with their padded armor) and headed on.
When they topped the ridge, they could see a lodge up ahead despite the snowfall. Continuing their caution, they chose to send Asea on ahead. Sadly, Asea wasn't able to see the tripwire in the snow and was hit by a crossbow bolt fired by a light crossbow on the porch... and then caused a bunch of pans to fall off the porch to alert everyone within. Most of the bandits were asleep, however, and the lighting was such that no one inside could see Asea.
Sadly the cold was starting to sap my players' brains. Rather than realize they could retreat, Nicholas used a Message spell to tell Asea to throw her one flask of Alchemist's Fire onto the roof of the lodge, hoping that the fire would distract the people inside. A combination of the late hour, the snow, and clumsiness caused Asea to fumble her throw, which landed short of the lodge in a snowbank, where it quickly extinguished. Nicholas then used his ability to speak with animals to tell Anna's fox to run up and make lots of tracks, hoping to throw off the bandits while Martin ran up to Asea and checked up on her while staying in a position to reinforce her if necessary.
This actually did work. Erf (the fox) managed to trick the bandits and even nipped one who talked about "killing the damn fox that tripped their trap" (they were hoping for a deer or an elk instead). They looked around, didn't see anything due to the darkness and the snowfall, and went back in while saying they'd reset the trap in the morning.
The party slowly snuck forward, checked out the stable, and then debated what to do next. Nicholas suggested splitting the group to cover both exits (despite the fact the bandits never used the other door), sending someone onto the roof to block the chimney, and smoke them out. Martin suggested otherwise... but Nicholas got quite upset at being second-guessed and things got ugly for a bit.
(Side note: Not wanting to kill off the party by having nine bandits, a thief, and a cleric pile onto half the group while the other was out of sight, I used Martin to suggest against that course of action... at which point Nicholas' player blew up at me. I suggest to other GMs that if they want to warn against a course of action, don't roleplay it. Look at the player and say clearly and concisely "Are. You. Sure. You. Want. To. Do. That." I did that after the player calmed down and it worked.)
Finally, realizing it was late and they were out of spells (even if fully healthy), the group decided to back off and find someplace to camp for the rest of the night and attack the bandits come morning. During the night, their campfire attracted attention though; a Moss Troll slowly snuck up on the group. Finally, after the campfire was extinguished in the morning, the Troll launched its attack and was met by Sentry and Martin. Ferris finally got to use some poison she'd purchased before the group had reached Helgren, and put the Troll to sleep... only for it to get up a round later as it made its second save. An arrow from Asea took it down again... and then it stood a third time before finally the group took it down for good and burnt its remains (while Ferris stood well back due to her aversion to fire).
The morning assault on the Lodge proved to be a comedy of errors. While the group (which had nominally elected Nicholas Hobbes as their leader) had been out of spells the previous night, in all likelihood an evening assault would have had a rabble of disorganized bandits. Instead, they faced a group of rested bandits who'd reset their crossbow trap with first light and had eagle-eyed watchers who immediately spotted the Calvinists as soon as they crossed the ridge. Seeing the group consisted of six armed and semi-professional adventurers, they roused their sick brethren and alerted Rokhar of the incoming assault.
First blood came to the trap. Ferris failed to auto-detect the trap, but just shy of the tripwire (just before I was going to announce it going off) she chose to look for any traps. She once again failed to find any, and the crossbow bolt took her in the arm, while the pans made a ruckus warning the bandits their trap had been sprung. By this point, the bandits were already outside and starting to make their way through the snow to reach the party... at which point Nicholas chose to cast a Silent Image of a tree lying across the path between the party and the bandits.
Upon rounding the side of the Lodge and coming into sight, the bandits were greeted with a fallen tree. What with the ongoing snowfall and the fact they were over a hundred feet from the tree, and the fact they only got a will save if they interacted with the illusion... I realized the bandits couldn't just see through the illusion outright. Instead, they started arguing among themselves. No one had heard it fall. They knew the party was there. It had to be an illusion! And that's when it hit me: the same held true for the party.
Just about every single party member failed their save. The tree was real. They knew it couldn't be real... but even interacting with the tree... they kept failing their saves. One by one some of the party were able to overcome their belief but due to Nicholas' high intelligence, it took some time. Fortunately, Anna was soon able to overcome her belief and as the bandits started to approach she hit them with an Entangle. They were still far enough away that they couldn't tell (due to the snowfall and perception penalties) that their arrows fired at the tree were not sticking into it (especially when Nicholas started adding a couple illusionary arrows). A couple of the bandits made their saves... and were targeted by Asea.
Between the entangle, missile fire from Asea and Anna, and sheer luck they were able to take down half of the bandits prior to them getting close enough to the tree for Nicholas to drop the illusion. At that point the writing was on the wall. What could have been a nasty fight ended up a rout against the bandits, and the two survivors surrendered and warned the group of their necromancer leader.
Meanwhile, Ten-Penny Tacey had watched the fight. She saw the writing on the wall, she gathered her belongings, and hid. Rokhar sent his frost skeletons against the group as they entered the lodge but Martin and Sentry both proved fairly effective against them (even as the skeletons' frost hurt them both). As they wiped out the third skeleton, Rokhar had snuck out (invisible) and made his way to the dead and dying bandits... casting a Death Knell on one of the dying bandits and then hitting the rest of them with a Channel Negative Energy to kill them all (including the two captives). Nicholas realized something was up and led the group back outside, but not before Rokhar was able to raise the entire lot of bandits as zombies.
One long and tiring fight later, Rokhar surrendered with a single hit point remaining (I must say I was most surprised to find he didn't have any healing magic or potions at all). He then spun a tale of invaders including an ice mephit and a moss troll leading frost-touched sprites, and led them back within... and even begged some healing out of Nicholas for when his own spells boosting his health wore off. By the time the group returned to the Lodge, Ten-Penny had escaped and was already heading down the path back to civilization with every bit of her equipment. (The group wouldn't run into her again and only learned of her through second-hand accounts.)
Rokhar managed to successfully hide his unholy symbol; his spellbook was evidence enough of his claims of being a "simple" necromancer. Naturally Nicholas confiscated the spellbook with plans to rifle through it and copy most of it. But it served its purpose and has left the group assuming they'd defanged Rokhar... not realizing he could easily get his spells back. He continued to cooperate by telling them where Lady Argentea was kept and providing them with the key. Lady Argentea was able to confirm some of what he'd said about the winter fey and the threat facing Taldor.
That's when Rokhar brought them to Vrixx. The sprite tried initially to convince the group he was an innocent fey, but the others refused to believe it and Sentry was outright hostile toward the blue-skinned pest. It tried threatening them, to no avail. And then finally it started insulting Sentry, claiming that Sentry was delusional and hinting at things... while Sentry grew quite angry and threatened to smash the cage flat with Vrixx still trapped inside. At that Nicholas covered the cage and put it in his backpack while the group prepared to return to Helgren with Lady Argentea.