Ok I need some advice. I've been invited to run a homebrew game for some new players but they meet every other Thursday for 3 hour sessions. I haven't run games in that short of a time ever for PF. Normally I run 4-6 hour sessions, sometimes longer and even then it doesn't feel like we get a ton of stuff done.
Please offer any advice or commentary on running short sessions here. I know I can use modules but I want to keep a lot of the game homebrewed. Are there things I should avoid or trim back in the game to maximize the time?
Make sure players get there on time and are ready and focused.
Perhaps set a rule saying no phones at the table (excluding possible emergency issues).
I normally run my group through 3-4 hour sessions. The biggest issue I have is keeping everyone one topic and focused.
You will never get too much done, but having a player take notes about where you are and what you do can help everyone pickup where you left off.
Doesn't need to be detailed, just enough so everyone can go "Last time on Danger Patrol..."
Keep everything succinct. Your best bet, since they're new, is flash cards.
So any time you've got a debuff on the party, place the card in open view so they don'tforget about it. Do this with everyone's to-hit totals (before and after buffs if applicable) so they don't have to continuously do the math. This will save mere seconds, sure, but it saves those seeconds over and over again which adds up.
Do not plan more than one life-on-the-line fight. You will not finish more than one.
Two small fights and one big fight or two-three skill focused encounters, one small fight and one big fight often work for me. You may get more done, but don't plan on it. Don't spend too much time shopping as that will seriously impede on your battle/encounter time. Set up Facebook group or a group chat or an email list so you can get that stuff done between meets. This way, when you "get to town" they can update their sheets with the previously desired items and you can move right along.
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Make sure to tell people to keep track of their current hp, spells used, rage rounds, all the limited stuff per day. With such short games. I doubt you will always go through s full day of challenges every game. If you spread a day of challenges over 2 or more hrs, you don't want them at full day resources every game. Unless you want to.make it extra easy or encourage them to fire at will without any thought.of conservative resource management that really makes those limited resource classes so much better if able.to freely recharge so much mite often.
I love everything you're saying right now. I'm using the 5 Room Dungeon design ethic for my initial adventures. That is:
Room 2: trick, trap or RP challenge like having to get info out of a bouncer or cross a raging river
Room 3: setback/PCs are close to the objective but held at bay by something that eats up a few more resources like they slide down a level and have to fight back up
Room 4: final confrontation/bbeg/major conflict dealt with
Room 5: revelation where the PCs find the treasure or the bbeg is shown to be a pawn or whatever
So usually how it turns out for me when I run these is minor fight/skill challenge/minor fight + skill challenge/major fight/? Think this is good time management for 3 hours?
Our group plays 4 hour sessions and it goes rather well. The keys:
1) Be prepared. Have everything ready to go - your maps set, your NPCs ready, your miniatures set aside, etc. Have all the relevant rules quoted in your notes (I keep mine on a laptop so I have links to the SRD inline).
2) Make sure your players are prepared. Everything has to be ready - they need all their own sheets printed on paper, they need stats for any pets/summoned creatures/etc. printed out. They need minis for themselves and anything they need to play.
3) Start on time. No screwing around for 15-20 minutes as people scragle in late and talk about this week's Flash. Everyone arrives about 10 minutes early and we start RIGHT on time.
4) Keep things moving. If a player doesn't know what his character is going to do (either in terms of in-combat or role-play scenarios) then delay them until the next PC goes. Yes, this means their character is delayed in initiative if the player doesn't know what they're doing in a reasonable timeframe. Suggest that they have "default" actions that are their go-tos.
5) Keep everyone engaged. I rotate through the group with asking them what their character is doing. We keep items short and clear and make sure everyone is doing something. Engaged players mean they keep on-task and don't have that moment of "uhhh" when you ask them something.
6) No distractions at the table. In-game humor is encouraged (we have a couple goblins in our current group who are a blast) but let's keep things focused on the game. If you have someone who is constantly distracting, take them aside and talk with them. If people are texting their girlfriends or reading fanfic or posting to the Paizo forums during a game? Yeah, no.
That five-room formula should be perfect. More rooms for fewer fights/more skill or rp challenges. Less rooms for fewer skill or rp challenges/more fight. Rinse, lather, see you next session.
Tomorrow begins the first session. Let me know what you think of the plan
1. PCs hired to travel to Valyg's Crossing, a town on the borderland of a rugged wilderness.
2. Mission 1: meet with Rowana Thrune (NG f hum Wizard 3)
3. Social encounter: meet Rowana
a. she is friendly to the PCs guild
b. Rowana came to Valyg's Crossing to learn of her ancestor, another wizard
c. she has heard rumors of strange noises coming from a ruin on an island in the bay but hasn't checked it out
4. PCs ambushed by the water
a. Monsters: x4 kobold warrior 1/CR 1
b. Clues point back to the ruin
1. they use slingstones of the same rock as the ruin
2. the kobolds are wet and slimy with lake scum
3. the kobolds are a variety with racial talents as excellent swimmers
c. if clues aren't enough, a drunk in an alley tells the PCs he saw them climb up off the quays
5. On the isle of the ruin
a. monsters: x2 dire rats; kobold rat master (warrior 3)/CR 1
b. traps: shallow pits (5' wide, 10' deep) lined with stones (1d6 damage; Ref save DC 15; Perception DC 15; Disarm DC 15) CR 1/2
c. kobold and rats try to drive PCs into the holes
d. there is either a secret door through a pit or the PCs can enter the ruin through a hole in the side; if through the hole Ref save DC 13 or fall for 2d6 damage
6. Under the old ruin
a. Monsters: x3 kobold warrior 2; kobold adept 3/warrior 1 (familiar: donkey rat with the Mauler archetype; he rides the beast through the battle)
b. treasure: along with combat gear there is ancient loot, an old spellbook and a dragon's skull
7. Epilogue: PCs retrieve the spellbook and learn from clues at the scene that the kobolds really came for the skull. They are warriors of a cult worshipping ancient dragons that one roamed these wilds.
I don't really know where I'm going with this storyline yet but this is my opening shot across the bow. Tell me if you think it's too ambitious.
All our games are 3hrs long. They are Friday nights and people start showing up around 6:30 with the intent to start at 7. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not.
One thing I noticed is that we waste a lot of time figuring out where we are at on the map. Sometimes the GM has it all set up. Currently the GM has these big maps on cardboard. They are the size of the table. We cleared the floor last week and the GM took a picture of where we were at so we could place our minis next game session.
But being there early seems to be the key. Then you can wait and twiddle your thumbs. :)
Depending on how new they are (how much you have to explain) and how many there are (looks like you're planning versus four?), that should definitely fill the time up fairly well depending on the rolls of course.
Is this happening tomorrow? Let us know how it goes, haha.
Tonight: 7pm central standard. Thanks everyone for the great advice.
At every session I play in, about one hour (more more or less) is spent socializing and not moving the campaign forward. Don't know what is normal for you, but do your best to keep everyone on task.
I use an Excel spreadsheet that calculates everything for me, including giving me the ability to easily assign XP rewards and such. It honestly helps me out SO MUCH.
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I can give some insight into this since we I run a game at lunch hour once a week at work.
What I have learned is that you need to be able to have your group sit down and immediately start playing. There is no time to discuss anything but the game.
Also, have a way to keep track of initiative across sessions that is agnostic to seating position (that was a frustrating mistake my second session).
It also helps to have a way for your players to discuss what they want to do out of game. Since we all work together, that is not a problem for us. For you, having a forum or email chain would be good if you dont all see eachother every day.
We didn't get any gaming done yesterday. I decided to have folks roll up their characters so we just did a Session 0.
We have a party now though:
half-elf druid
half-elf druid (swamp druid)
half-orc barbarian
elf wizard (Void Elemental school)
The basic premise of the game is going to be that the PCs have been drafted as agents of the Lantern Watch, an organization dedicated to exploring the wilderness. This motley crew is being sent to a Small Town on the edge of the wilds; there they will meet up with local NPCs, find landmarks lost in a recent global calamity and slowly begin to combat the monsters making a name for themselves.
Per the players last night this'll be a fairly beer & pretzels kind of game. As one gal put it "we just want to get together on a Thursday night, roll some dice and smash something." FYI, she's the barbarian.
We usually play 3 to 4 hours, once a week. Goes great. Just finished a campaign that got players to 12th level and it was 34 sessions long.
EPIC story and it was all sessions under 4 hours.
Just in case you are bored and need a morning read you can
click here
Nothing wrong with short sessions as long as people pay attention and continue to show up week after week!
Just because they're foolhardy and smash mouth doesn't mean there can't be a decent premise and storyline. And you can slowly teach them about tactics along the way.
Were you going to stick with the same kobold encounters?
I can give some insight into this since we I run a game at lunch hour once a week at work.
Dude, where do you work and are they hiring haha. I would love to play RPG's on my lunch hours. That sounds amazing.
sorry i missed the bell - still I like to require that all players roll up their characters on their own free time and then provide copies of them to me in advance of actual playtime, that way nobody shows up with some +cr monster beast or some invalid feat progressions, etc. Really bogs the session down if you spend the first 30 minutes correcting errata, or worse, it comes up in the middle of a fight while you've only got an hour of playtime left
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Concerning running games in 3-4 hours, here's my recipe:
Game Length
Two hours for first half. Take a 30 minute break. Come back for a 1 hour finish.
Playing longer than two hours straight can start to wear you out, especially if you're excited. Taking a quick break lets everyone relax and plan and just BS.
If you have to run the game for three hours straight with no breaks then some of my advice may not apply.
Plan For Late Comers
ALWAYS set the start of the game for 30 minutes earlier than it actually is if you've got late comers. As people drift in, they'll use those 30 minutes to chat and get the BS out of their system before the game goes down. Once you're 30 minutes "late" (read: right on time), you start the game.
Act Quickly During Your Turn
There's often that problem player that isn't paying attention to the game and thus takes a few minutes to figure out what they're doing once it's their turn. Realistically, they should be planning their course of action during other players' turns unless they had to take a pee break or something. I counter this by giving people roughly 30-60 (depending) seconds to figure out what they're going to do on their turn, and then I let them work out HOW they are doing that with as much time as they please. (It doesn't take very long at that point. Once you know you're charging the ogre's flank, you just need to determine bonuses and so forth; once you know you're casting Color Spray, you just need to determine where you're slapping that cone for maximum effect.)
Conscript a Player to Work Initiative
Make someone else work the initiative table while you set up the map. It quickens things.
Have A "Be Quiet" Signal
This may seem rude, but it's sometimes necessary if you're with a scatterbrained or easily distracted group. My old DM had a plastic skull he named Bob (thank you Dresden Files) that he'd put on the table when he wanted people to be quiet. Another DM I know uses a gigantic d20. Since I run games online, I have to use audible signals, so I just whistle when the players get way out of line. It doesn't happen frequently, but having a "be quiet for a second so I can talk" signal as a DM really, really helps.
Make Food Preparations
If you're running the game live, the best thing you can do is prearrange the foodstuffs problem. Either have everything you need in the house / game store / wherever (such as all your snacks and sodas) or order takeout / pizza / whatever a little before the break. Having pizza arrive as the break begins means you're less likely to have people still chowing down a whole plate of food when it's time for the break to end.
My live GM used to have whoever wasn't going to have a turn in combat or whoever wasn't in a particular roleplay scene get up and order the pizza for us 10-20 minutes before break. This keeps the GM at the table (which is always good) and lets your game keep moving on.
I think the underlying thing I'm getting out of all of this is to go back to my cub scouts days: Be Prepared. Prepare for the game, plan for late players, know when/how to delegate, etc. I think that's the part I'm looking forward to the most to be honest.
In another game I'm running the players are very laid back and we have enormous sessions (sometimes like 8hrs) so I end up winging a lot and improvising. As such I don't feel particularly connected to the game; it's just something we do in between joking around with one another.
This new 3hr session game though meets every week; people are there to play; I have to be on point every week or else it'll show right away. Some might say that sounds scary but to me I'm really looking forward to it.
Yes, I'm still going the kobold route. I have some thoughts on where to take the game. Right now it's a very linear idea, but I don't know how these new guys play. They may sidestep everything I have planned but that's ok; I feel confident that I can wing it for a session and then backtrack and make some plot connections to the original story I had planned if need be.
I've decided to go old skool on this game and give out actual experience points. The plan is to email after sessions wrap and give out EXP as well as solicit feedback on any downtime actions, shopping trips etc. As the PCs level there might be additional emails containing "getting stronger" montages.
I guess my biggest fear is immersion. How, in 3hrs at a time, can I make the setting come alive for the players? So far I've got a small regional map containing a roughly 10 mile radius around the town. I've also sent out a primer on basic, common knowledge on all the areas named on the map such as the Bleakmoss Moors, the Nettlewood and the swamps at Soddenscars.
Should I avoid social encounters due to time constraints? If not how do I maximize immersion while minimizing the chatty-chatty so we can get through our adventures?
YES, DOWNTIME EMAILS. I'm glad you're doing that -- it helps a lot.
You've got a lot of squishy in that party, but they're using animal companions as well (I imagine?). You might want to add a couple mooks here and there on the battles after the first one depending on how well the first fight goes for them. Don't want all the fights to end too swiftly.
It can also help to let players plan things that the characters would reasonably have time to plan via email so you don't have to waste half a session throwing ideas about and not having time to actually do anything.
As with a lot of the others but also break your STORY down into small achievable tasks. Each session being a mini-episode rather than a full one.
Yeah, this. One guy whose games I go to occasionally runs 3-4 hour sessions. He always opens with "When we last left our noble heroes..." It's a very episodic game. He briefly recaps what happened last game, and he has an adventure that we try to get finished within 3 hours (but have a fourth hour just in case). It works pretty well.
The good thing about episodic adventures is you can make each adventure REALLY unique. In one campaign based entirely in a city, our episodes were as varied as this (and were completed in one session each):
1. Trudged through a sewer
2. Fought a cult inside a harem
3. Had a chase-focused episode through the streets
4. Invaded a flooded warehouse
5. Explored caves that actually connected to Golarion's version of the Underdark
6. Solved a murder mystery IIRC
7. And my character, a Grippli swashbuckler, had recurring duels with a tiefling Slayer throughout the course of this campaign.
And you don't have to limit yourself to a city, obviously; you could easily have a much broader exploration scheme. Explore the Swamps of Peril! Delve into the Dungeon of Deplorable Designs! Climb the Mountains of Desolation! Invade the Keep of the Wizard King! Etc. Giving your adventures very strong themes works very well with episodic campaigns.
My plan for leveling was to send emails with experience earned after each game session. It will be up to the players to level, come up with RP for their "getting stronger" montage and tell me what changes they're making on their characters.
I also like what folks are saying about a recap each session. I used to do that but stopped when the players started taking notes. Only, they stopped taking notes and didn't tell me, so for the last few sessions of my other game folks have looked at me and gone "what're we doin' again?"
I think I may have overdone it. Last night we had our first 3hr session beyond just exposition. It seemed to be going fine; I timed out the intro to just half an hour so people showed by 7:15 pm and we were at our first conflict by about 10 to 8pm. I decided to change the first adventure to have them find a landmark in the wilds that's held by kobolds since the party is all wilderness types. I thought we'd make it through about 5 scenes.
We only made it through that one fight.
So in my 5 room dungeon this is labeled "Room 1: Entry/CR 2" but it was so much more. The party, which is 5 level 1 PCs (x2 druids, a barbarian, a wizard and a hunter) comes up to an islet with steep stone ringing it surrounded by a 40' radius of foul water. The mission is to go to the islet, secure the small ruin atop it and de-contaminate the spring that's fouling the area.
Their approach is surrounded on all sides by shriekers. The kobolds that they know are holding the islet have been here a while. Said kobolds are excellent swimmers and maintain a few dire rat pets, so getting across the river isn't an issue. To trick intruders they have a trapped rope-bridge from the canopy to the shore.
The shore has lots of rocks, boulders and a few tall pines; plenty of cover for the kobolds guarding it. There are x3 kobold warrior 2 and 1 kobold adept 3. The forest approach gives the PCs cover so the shriekers around them are the only early warning system the kobolds have.
The PCs see the shrooms and correctly ID them from a distance, so they choose to blow one up to see what comes running. The kobolds on shore are built for sniping so they pop up, take a single pock-shot from 80' with a crossbow and then disappear. From distance penalties no one in the party tracks where it goes.
Now the players are nervous. No one wants to get in the water so they send the wizard's thrush familiar to scout. It fails its perception so it comes back and reports it can't see the kobolds. It DOES however find a handy rope bridge 30' up that descends to the shore.
PCs begin climbing. Kobolds take more sniping shots and the PCs train some bows on them, readying actions. Despite getting shots off these are kobolds wearing mwk studded leather with high Dex and hiding behind Cover; the PCs need an 18-20 to hit. The kobolds wing a couple PCs but they make it to the bridge and get clever; they cast Obscuring Mist. Now the first PC tries the rope bridge...
He doesn't detect the trap, fails a save and plummets into the water. The kobolds go next in the initiative and one of them scores a crit; that PC is out of commission as is his animal companion now.
Another PC dives in and casts CLW from a scroll but doesn't heal enough to wake him up. These guys slowly chug to shore, the barbarian in tow, through the water. The 2 guys attacking from range are choosing to keep attacking from range, despite not having a snowball's chance of hitting.
At this point I even TOLD the bow-casters that they have a very strong miss chance. They asked for help and I told them tactically it would be better to try and get closer in order to drive the kobolds from their cover. Neither player chose to move from range or deviate from their bow. So now it's all on the one druid without an animal companion and the barbarian.
Following the tactics I'd set up the adept's familiar flies out to Sicken the PC with a touch attack. The barbarian gains her feet on shore, holds action, then cleaves the swooping dino in half, nearly killing the adept. Said spellcaster is now exposed behind some boulders but none of the PCs were able to capitalize. The crossbow shooters train all 3 on the barbarian who now sustains serious damage.
She charges their position with her druid ally timing a Summon Nature's Ally so that he's not shot while casting. The barbarian finally gets to the kobolds but fumbles. A giant centipede appears but misses. The kobolds move into their "secondary positions"; they're now out of cover to protect their adept who moves to 10' from the barbarian. The adept lets fly with an acidy version of Burning Hands, dealing minor damage thanks to the PC making her save. Even still she's very hurt. She FINALLY rages, hacks and completely murders one of the warriors.
The kobolds begin fleeing, the adept using his second acidy Burning Hands and dropping the barbarian into negatives. With Ferocity she gets one more action and spends it turning the fleeing adept into a bloodmist. Fight finally over
Yes, I know they're 1st level. Yes, I know the kobolds had advantageous terrain. I'll adjust the fight to CR 3 for experience. However halfway through they KNEW they wouldn't hit from range and that the water was an easy DC10 Swim check with no monsters in it. Based on the boldness and experience of the players I'd expected them to get through the water in a couple rounds and be on shore with spells and melee quickly.
Instead they left about half the party effectively out of the combat at range. I think I need to COMPLETELY scale back my expectations. I need to back off the deadliness of my combats and maybe even reduce the kobolds' levels.
Their villains only had NPC levels and the "heroic" array of stats, but I really optimized them for their chosen functions. I'm thinking that, until this group hits its stride I should dial it back.
Anyway, that's a summary of my first session. The players had fun with the challenge of it but were frustrated with one another for tactics. Hopefully this frustration eases a bit for everyone.
I don't think you need to dial back at all. They made a huge gamble in making themselves targets, neglected your advice, and fumbled a save. Sounds like they're level one. Haha. You've given them a very quick lesson in tactics. If you want to throw them a bone, maybe.put a couple potions of CLW where the kobolds were posted. Otherwise, you run the risk of them knowing you put on the kid gloves for session two when they enter and all of a sudden things are easy for them. Its all good as long as they had fun.
I think at least one of the potions they find should be labeled "CUR LIT WOONDZ" but is actually Arsenic.
I also think a Kobold with some Vivisectionist/Preservationist levels would be pretty hip to throw in the mix, especially if you can work the Noxious Bite feat in.
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I think at least one of the potions they find should be labeled "CUR LIT WOONDZ" but is actually Arsenic.
I also think a Kobold with some Vivisectionist/Preservationist levels would be pretty hip to throw in the mix, especially if you can work the Noxious Bite feat in.
There is an alternate trait that gives a kobold a bite attack. A Warrior level 5 is a CR 2 threat, possibly with Said bite attack. Getting an adept to cast Bull's Str on him before he goes into the fight gives you a kobold attacking in melee with a +7 Bite (1d4+3 +1 Acid) that carries a DC 16 Fort or Nauseated for 2 rounds. That is brutal considering just off to the side are a couple warrior 1 kobolds with shortbows waiting to light up the guy hurling on himself for 1d4/shot.
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Second session: much better. I think the players are getting to know me as a GM and I'm certainly getting a better handle on them as players. They're all experienced gamers, but not with me as the GM.
Example: last night they had 2 choices to proceed - up an earthen ramp that they could see was covered by arrow slits or squeezing through a Small sized cave. The ramp was steep, roughly a 60 degree grade, requiring a DC 5 Climb check and slowing their speed while they knew that there were at least 2 elite kobolds in those tunnels.
Normally as a GM I would've used descriptive words to explain the hazards. Last night I simply told the players: DC 5 Climb checks and slowed movement or follow the kobolds you know are there into their Small sized tunnels. I think it was fairly liberating for the players who immediately began a healthy and productive debate. Lesson 1 goes to me: be specific, not descriptive in a 3 hr session.
Lesson 2 went to the players: the environment isn't just decoration. I'd put the kobolds behind a bunch of Small sized boulders; still very heavy but movable with great strength or a big lever. In the party is a half-orc barbarian with 20 Str. Her player just sat there while the others debated and she just seemed sort of nonessential so I reminded her that the boulders weren't fixed in place. At this point the biggest debate was how to stop the kobolds from just coming back out of the tunnel and attacking from the bottom of the ramp as well as through the arrow slits. Finally I got fed up and turned to the barbarian's player.
Me: what's your character's Str?
Player: umm... 20. Why?
Me: the boulders are movable
Player: ok, so...
Me: So you can pick up and move the boulders by virtue of your incredible strength, stacking them in front of the cave opening.
What followed was an a-ha look of glee followed by a bit of roleplaying the moving of the rocks.
I am an old-skool GM. I fully intend for my gameworld to be interactive, right down to the rocks. I try to challenge my players to use every resource at their disposal to win through situations. After the specific info and the boulders thing, they really started kicking it into high gear.
They opted for the ramp. They'd captured a kobold scroll of Obscuring Mist so the plan was to stand just inside the ramp and cover nearly all of it in the mist. This would give them concealment as they moved up. For added effect one guy noted that on his equipment he'd brought extra clothes and a writing kit with glow-in-the-dark inks. In a show of humor and roleplaying the players drew a creepy face on a shirt and used Prestidigitation to slowly float the shirt up in front of the first murder hole.
Thus the "GHOOOOOSSSTTTTT SHIRRRRRTTTTT" was born.
The rest of the session was just a fun romp. The PCs made it up the ramp despite the kobolds getting clever and tossing several flasks of alchemical grease to make it DC 10 Climb and even with some luck catching one of the PCs with an arrow in the mist. Along the way the party found slithering tracks in the dirt, rolled very well and identified it as a tatzlwyrm. One knowledge check later and, following the "Precise" info giving lesson I basically just read out of the monster's ecology and stat block.
Now they're hitting a groove. They get up the ramp, look around, no dragon so they tie off a rope to drop down the ramp for the rest of the team. As soon as one PC has his back turned, the tatzlwyrm comes out of hiding to strike. The PC's wolf AC and the barbarian PC make their Perception checks and act in the surprise, so as the tatzlwyrm makes a partial charge and jumps the rope-tying PC his wolf gets a bite in, dealing a little damage. The dragon then drops the PC from full to negatives (love my charge/bite/pounce/rake attack routine!) and begins to coil around the body as if to carry it away to feast. The barbarian steps up and attacks, missing barely.
Now there's some drama. Kobolds are coming out somewhere else up top in the regular round and getting ready to set up another sniping zone. The PCs are still struggling up the greased ramp and the wolf and barbarian are facing down a CR 2 dragon!
What followed was a nice 2 sided combat. The PCs made their climb checks thanks to the rope but were only able to get into position for fighting the dragon. Then the wizard PC remembers: I have color spray! He dives out, into the open, about 5' from the first kobold sniper. The kobolds hadn't gotten to the Cover yet to actually hide so he's able to see them, so he pops off the color spray, takes out three of the 6 as they're moving into position, and finally the kobolds return fire hitting the wizard once.
The group fighting the tatzlwyrm was not doing well with no hits but thankfully they had it surrounded and it missed with a bite. Then the barbarian risks an AoO that ended up not hitting either to deliver a crippling blow! The dragon went from barely wounded to Staggered at exactly zero HP in one shot!
So in the end the remaining kobolds fled, the PCs coup de gras'ed the foes around them and then they looted the dragon's den. They finished the session by using loose stone and rubble to block off all the kobold exits they could find and fleeing through the last of the mist to camp for the night 4 miles from the dungeon.
Now through email they will relate taking the loot back to town, selling what they can and re-supplying. Then they will plan their next foray into the dungeon. Of course the kobolds won't be so easily taken out next time. The PCs though still have their secret weapon:
"GHOOOOOSSSTTTTT SHIRRRRRTTTTT!!!!!!!!" (TM)
Tangent City. That's where we went last night. We tried to resolve a bunch of stuff through email but inevitably there were things we left out, so we started off the session with some book keeping.
After that the idea was supposed to be that the party returns to the kobold-infested ruins and finish the job they were hired to do. Instead the PCs run afoul of some kobold traps now set up on the way to said ruins and bypass them. This alerts a tatzlwyrm spy who races to tell the kobolds that guests will be arriving. 2 insane arrow crits later, through the forest, at 180 and 210 feet respectively, and the party has a dead tatzlwyrm.
So the PCs decide to make camp halfway to the ruins. They use Know: Geography to find a ginormous tor, nearly the size of a lone mountain, in the midst of the forest. They make for it to find a cave and I whip out the Raging Swan Wilderness Dressing book since I wasn't prepped for this. One roll later and I tell them that the small cave has an entrance in the shape of a yawning demon maw, complete with dried blood across the threshold.
What follows is nearly 45 minutes of debate, movie lines, jokes in character and general ridiculousness. After our shenaniganary I decide that the cave is a small shrine to Lamashtu and they decide to cleanse it. The have recently bought some holy water and I don't know that there's a mechanic for cleansing a mundane shrine (it didn't have a permanent Desecrate spell, it was just nasty) so basically I had a PC make a Know: Religion and expend 1 vial of holy water.
This resulted in a scene kind of like the Exorcist and fit in with the characters' background so I gave it some theatrics. As they chanted at the threshold and cleaned away the blood a toxic-smelling vapour arose and the "eyes" of the demon-face entry glowed with demonic fire. In said fire they even heard tortured souls and torment alongside crying babies. At the completion the fire exploded around them but they were all unharmed.
The barbarian had dragged the dead tatzlwyrm with her. On the spot I told the PCs that in the instant that they'd been engulfed in the fleeing demonic power the dragon had somehow reanimated and fled with an unholy speed. As the air cleared the monster was nowhere to be found.
So now the PCs are like "there's a Lamashtan cult in the area. Lets look into it!" so they make another Know: Geography and Local roll and realize that there's a tiny Hamlet just a few miles away, on the other side of this mountain. They make for it, arriving late in the day. When I randomly rolled the Qualities the only one it had was Racial Intolerance so since the party contains a half-orc I decided it'd be orcs. The PCs come walking in and immediately are grabbed by 2 kindly dwarves who tell them that no one will help them if they're seen with the half-orc.
More tangents ensue as the PCs begin gathering info. Essentially this rounded out the night and we ended with the PCs staying just outside of the village in the loft of the mill with the dwarves.
The lesson last night was: reign in tangents. Yes we all had fun but a couple players lamented the fact that we really didn't get anywhere and as a result the kobolds got yet another day to re-supply and fortify their position. 3 hr sessions are hard man!
Ah, the joys of running a sandbox instead of a railroad express!
In one of the last games I ran my players tried to run off in quest of otyughs to help with a "garbage problem" that the town mayor grumbled about during one of our sessions. I'd intended the "what the hell are we going to do with all this trash that's piling up? The eggheads tell me an otyugh would do it. Where the #$%#$ am I going to get a $&$^$ otyugh? Pull it out of my @#$?!" (I'd taken a bottle of Irish Mist, printed out some letters and taped them on so the label read, "Elvish Mist", and was pouring glasses of iced tea out of it during the meeting, thus the lack of decorum on part of Hizzoner!) to just be part of a rant that underlined the issues the town had due it being a booming frontier burg. Of course someone seized upon it and almost went running off in that direction!
I had some NPCs drop some heavy hints and got them back on course. That way I could get back to the quest I had done several hours of planning for and pretty much based the entire campaign upon!