I posted this is the 3rd party publisher area and I think that was a mistake, I think that is where 3rd party publishers go to post things. So sorry for the double post, I'm still new to these forums a bit. With that said:
Way of the Wicked is an adventure path created by Fire Mountain Games.
http://www.firemountaingames.com/products.html
My group just started on May 24th with this AP, and thus far are absolutely in love with it. I have created a blog dedicated to trying to fantasize or journal their adventure.
I'm trying to keep as much crunch out of it as I can and stick to the fluff and flavor for your reading. However if you want to know anything about the classes/archetypes/races just ask I will post about it on here :).
Entry 1: The Escape
Entry 2: First Blood
Entry 3: Hell Inside of Hell
Entry 4: The Final Trek
Next session is on June 7th, so stay tuned for that. :)
I'd recommend posting this in the "Campaign Journals" forum.
I've already flagged the moderators to move this thread over there.
I'd recommend posting this in the "Campaign Journals" forum.
I've already flagged the moderators to move this thread over there.
Oh wow there is an actual journals section lol thanks for the help. There are so many places on these forums.
I gained two new players, and we set them up yesterday, we went through a minor RP session and got them somewhat up to speed.
Hopefully their own adventure will cross with the main group.
Here is there updated journal entry.
Entry 5: A Dirty Penance
Three more blogs from this session are in order, but I'm slowly churning them out as I find time in the day.
Entry 6 Crossing the Moors
Only one more left from June 7th's session, and it will be a pretty beefy one, it'll be a couple days.
Entry 7 Finding the Manor
Entry 8 Meeting the Master
I hope you enjoy them. Next session is july 19th, and trust me, that's going to be a doozy :)
Entry 9 The Nine Knots
That's all I have now until July 19th, enjoy!
Wow. Sorry everyone. I got swamped right as I started. I have two more to do, but this should keep ya busy.
Entry 10 The Demise of Sir Balin
Entry 11 A Scolding for the Ages
We have another session coming up on the 16th as well, so I need to get these done :)
Entry 12 Training the Bounded
Entry 13 and 14 will be up tonight.
Entry 13 The Ceremony Before the Voyage
Entry 14 The Frosthamar Part 1
Entry 15 The Frosthamar Part II
Entry 16 Sakkarot and the Tail of Loose Ends
A couple of the entries appear to be missing, but it's interesting to see how another group played through it. We finished chapter 1 a month ago or so, and our experience was quite different. Most of the players have a decent degree of system mastery and the characters worked together pretty well.
My Party Link
Tiefling Samurai
Human Blackguard (later Oracle)
Human Witch (Scarred Witch doctor)
Elf Wizard (later replaced with a Human Alchemist)
We killed every solider in Branderscar, captured the warden, and took as prisoners three servants. The entire place was looted and two of the dogs were taken to be trained by the party. Some of the soldiers took a really long time to die, and the warden was left with his limbs in tourniquets and his tongue cut out atop a pile of mangled corpses for the executioners who arrived 3 days later to find in a grisly tableau.
I don't know that we triggered a single trap in the dungeon. Balin had his sword hand amputated but was spared and set loose. A couple party members had him in their history and were unhappy with the early and anticlimactic resolution to his story. There was a very particular desire to see him reappear later, perhaps left handed.
Most of the Frosthammer stuff was anticlimactic, but the party really hit it off with Sakkarot. They spared Kargeld until they made landfall outside of Balentyne, then slaughtered him and his crew. I'll spare any further details, but it seems like you guys played very differently overall, and more like the AP was intended. We gave our GM fits taking prisoners, trying to corrupt people, and generally being a vile and sadistic group.
Keep it up, I'm interested in seeing where you guys go with all of this (especially in Balentyne.
One thing I'm curious about - you mentioned a number of players dropping, some only to be found much later by the guy raising his skeletal minion. Did they not bleed out? What is your current party make up? Seems like you guys needed some replacements there after the initial escape. Did you guys not encounter the White Ravens at the manor?
Entry 17 Dwarfing the Problem
Thanks for the reply. When you say entries missing do you mean from my blog not showing up, or things found in the story that are not here? Some of the stuff the players just didn't do. So it never came up, like the warden.
The people who dropped, they lived because they did stabilize. (If they didn't I would have gently reminded that character) See, the Catfolk player is a teenager who really does not engage unless it is time to roll dice. So when I say that he sat there until the necromancer dude finished, I meant it lol. He only gathered the bodies and sat there waiting.
They did meet the ravens but shows no RP interest in getting to know them or care about them, so it was basically glossed over. As railroady as this module is, my players seem to love it.
The current party make up though, since we lost Grimalkin and Strumm to real life issues, and the Original necromancer guy, here is what we have now.
(and a new player to join soon, but that is later:)
Kallista - Tiefling Magus
Maldrake - Tiefling Cleric
Stixx - Goblin Alchemist
Stryder - Catfolk Archer
Urgoen - Oread Summoner
NPCs
Kiliketz and Grumblejack thus far
Former
Strumm - Half elf archer
Grimalkin - Halfelf slayer
Vix'thra - A cleric but I forgot race. He's gone, and actually is Urgeon now. (was a rushed character because he was a last minute addition and I gave him a break and let him make a character he wanted after he had time to look over books)
Again, thank you for posting, its nice to know all those page views are not just that.
My gaming group is going to be interesting come balentyne, because they are very clingy and like to travel in large groups.
I also force them into slow progression, it forces excellent team work and a utilization of all resources possible before trying to rest.
This is an update. I fixed this one, it wasn't showing up. But I cannot edit my post anymore. (wtf paizo, what's up with using board technology from 1997?)
Entry 11 A Scolding for the Ages
Entry 6 Crossing the Moors --- fixed
Entry 17 Dwarfing the Problem --- fixed also.
I know it's my blog of course, but if anyone sees any problems don't hesitate to tell me I will fix it right away :)
Entry 18 Exploring Aldencross
Entry 19 A Weasel Among Us
Odd, I don't remember the fort being that far away in our play through.
I could be wrong here and that would be mostly fire mountain games fault due to lack of labeling on their damn maps. (very sloppy job on that)
If that link does not work:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e218/killemtwo/mapwow_zpsd9a8cb09.png
That is a clip from the world map as I best understand it, and if we are talking about a tunnel that goes all the way from The Lord's Dalliance to the place in the fort, the marker indicates that straight across water it may be 35 miles at a minimum, and the story says nothing about this going under water.
So I have to assume it went along the shore.
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That's your labeling of the two, not theirs? If so, I'd suggest perhaps that for the sake of the map Aldencross and Balentyne are a single point, since my understanding was that Aldencross was basically a little town in the shadow of the fort.
Given the explained origin of the tunnel we got (e.g. used to smuggle the old Captain's mistress in) it seems unlikely that the two could be that far away. It's even more the case given that, if I remember correctly, there are a number of examples of people traveling on a daily basis from the Fort to the Town (including an old woman).
I think you've done goofed this one, because if the distance is that large it is almost impossible to meaningfully interact between the town and fort.
In our game the fort was a few miles away.
Alternately, possibly the little dot down the road from Balentyne is the city of Aldencross. Not having read the adventure (because I'm playing through it and like to be surprised), I can't say for sure what direction or distance it mentions the fort being from the city, but I do know that the longest tunnel in use today is 80 some miles long, and the longest tunnel in use for non-water is about half of that. It seems shocking that an escape tunnel would be anything approaching either of those lengths.
not to spoil anything but the tunnel was used so the original lords of the fort way back when could smuggle whores back and forth. Too late now, I've set the standard that it is 50 some miles away. Even if you look at the completed map in like book 6 or something, these are still not labeled.
Balentyne is but not aldencross. It is probably the most important part of and RPG (the map) and it is the most neglected piece of all.
The new journals are coming up soon in how the party has handled this and I am very impressed by their actions :) and I hope you all will be as well. Though I don't see how making it 50 miles away vs a couple miles is going to really going to put a damper on things.
Well, I can't speak to your game, but our game was heavy on moving between the town and the Fort. One party member attempted to join up with the soldiers at the fort, and gained a semi-leadership poisition. We used the tunnel to sneak in on a couple occasions before eventually luring a bunch of guards and dwarves in and bombing it (while framing the slain wizard for it).
We convinced two captains to duel each other to the death over an affair between one and the other's wife. That entailed a fair amount of back and forth from the fort.
We ambushed another captain while returning from a patrol.
We used the bodies from the slain captain and his patrol to foul the Fort's drinking water supply and leave many of the soldiers sick and weakened.
We sowed discord among those in the Fort, leading to suspicion of each other, and especially of the dwarves.
We attacked during the play and slew a great many soldiers and civilians before riding away. We ambushed the force dispatched from the fort to support the town, slaining another dozen soldiers.
We burned the rookery.
We animated many slain soldiers as skeletons and placed them on the road between the town and fort. This picked off a few soldiers, but more importantly drew out the acolytes and commander to destroy them with a couple dozen soldiers, who we also ambushed and slew.
At that point we returned to the fort, the party blackguard impersonated the commander, and most of the additional soldiers were picked off. Some were put to the question as traitors by the lord commander (sadly many died under the question). Others were converted to the party. The last of the effective garrison was locked in the chapel and the room set aflame, with the party baring the door.
We forged letters in the commander's name, with the seal of the crown, to gain many of the magic items in town. With the Fort in our hands, its defenders slain, its coffers looted, we opened its gates. That night we returned to town, burned the docks, slew the horses stabled which we weren't stealing, stole the finest boat at the docks. We gathered those we wished to save and fired the rocket off, then broke the seal.
Basically the entire thing was an unmitigated success. There's a lot of torture, blood sacrifice, and so forth left out here, but that's the basics. Lots of movement between town and fort though.
You could always say the mephit lied / mislead / didn't know how to judge properly.
Thanks for the input and the help. At this point they have traversed the tunnel and are now aware it is a very long trip. I don't think this will be a problem for them however. At least not with how this is all described in book 7 and book 1.
Entry 20 Grumblejack and Mead
Entry 21 The Secret Laboratory
Entry 22 Loose Ogre in The Dalliance
Entry 23 A New Found Friend
Entry 24 Rumors and Recon
Entry 25 Mama Giuseppe's Famous Stew
This entry, while not extremely long or even really important really showed the first sign of how this team has started to work together. Plus since I got to play Mama, it was really funny playing an old woman and acting all sweet, thankful, and forgiving to have her end up the way she did.
Entry 26 Bellam's Basement Adventure
Entry 27 Inn Trouble
Entry 28 The Way to Balentyne
Entry 29 Breaking Balentyne: Part I
