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Author Topic: [Actual Play] D&D 4e: Shadows over Fallcrest  (Read 29640 times)

Narf the Mouse

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[Actual Play] D&D 4e: Shadows over Fallcrest
« Reply #30 on: March 29, 2009, 02:04:49 AM »
I just read this page. It's interesting enough, but not much to comment on.

Except yeah, don't run through fire, folks.
The main problem with government is the difficulty of pressing charges against its directors.

Given a choice of two out of three M&Ms, the human brain subconsciously tries to justify the two M&Ms chosen as being superior to the M&M not chosen.

jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #31 on: April 05, 2009, 11:25:05 AM »
Session 6 - Cast of Characters

Al Truism - human controller wizard
Leigh - eladrin battle wizard
Merend - dwarven devoted cleric
Rhogar - dragonborn protecting paladin
Su-ika - genasi shielding swordmage
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #32 on: April 05, 2009, 11:26:02 AM »
Session 6 - Scene 1 (of 5)

With still no sign of Krolec, Zena takes off that night looking for him.  She never returns.  Merend suspects that one or both of them may have been captured or killed.  These suspicions are confirmed later when he spots Zena from a distance, being carried by a bandit patrol into the keep area.

Merend laments the capture of his comrades, but still feels he cannot sacrifice the safety of the group to try and save them right away, even though it may mean their death.  Instead, he begins to implement his plan from the night before.  He sets up the group for an ambush along one of the paths the bandit patrols tends to take near the keep.  Merend hopes they can take out at least one more patrol of bandits before attempting to take the keep.

After several hours, the gambit finally pays off.  A patrol heads into the area.  The two wizards hide behind sections of ruined walls and will attempt to take the bandits from the rear while the others charge in from the front.  As Merend had anticipated, the bandits immediately spot Rhogar and Su-ika due to their inability to hide.

The wizards get in their shots while Rhogar and Su-ika charge in.  But Merend quickly sees a flaw in his plan – the rear bandits take off and assault the wizards, who are pinned in by the ruined walls.  Al is dazed by a strong blow by one of the bandits.  Meanwhile, Su-ika is completely surrounded and is knocked senseless by the bandits as well.

Al responds by using his thunderwave spell to knock his opponent back away from him.  Al also tries to hop over the ruins of the wall, but is unsuccessful.  Leigh opts to use her sword instead until she can maneuver far enough away to use her ranged spells again.

Meanwhile, Su-ika takes a few more hits as she uses her swordburst power to whittle down her opponents.  Merend continues to use his healing abilities to keep her alive.  Rhogar’s heavy armor protects him from any hits from the inferior bandit weapons, but at the same time isn’t having much luck hitting the bandits himself.

Across the battlefield, Leigh finally maneuvers far enough away to blast her opponent with a magic missile, killing him.  Likewise, Al finishes off his adversary with another thunderwave blast.

Su-ika’s sword bursts eventually cause two of her opponents to fall, while Leigh finishes off another with her magic missile and Rhogar takes out the fourth with his longsword.

With the battle over, the group quickly scavenges what they can and move off to a new location.
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #33 on: April 05, 2009, 11:27:41 AM »
Session 6 - Scene 2 (of 5)

Camped out in a safe location, Al and Leigh begin discussing their ideas with Merend about using diversionary and probing tactics to get at the bandits.  Merend tends to think there isn’t good enough cover to get in close to the keep, but figures he may as well let them try.

Leigh’s idea is to take a couple of the bandit maces they’ve recovered and make a sort of shrine with them together with a sign reading, “Let Our People Go or Die!”  Al’s part of the plan is to go around to a different side of the keep and fire off a couple of magic missiles up at the guards on the roof.

The tricky part of the plan involves getting close enough to the keep.  The area around the keep is relatively clear, with low grass being the only cover.  Leigh has no problems sneaking in, but Al isn’t nearly as quiet.  As a result, several arrows are shot in his direction, though none hit.

Once he is in position, Al fires off a magic missile up at the guards.  Between the darkness and their superior cover, he is unable to hit anyone.  But Al is not discouraged, having already resigned himself to the idea that he might not hit anyone.

Meanwhile, Leigh gets the display of maces in position then sneaks out without being noticed, as planned.  Al moves around to another side and lets off another magic missile.  Dodging the responsive arrow fire from the top of the keep, he moves around to the fourth side and lets off another one there as well.  None of his magic missiles hit, but he hopes the attacks will cause confusion and perhaps convince the bandits they are surrounded.  As he heads out of the area, one of the arrows finally hits him.

Back at camp, Merend wonders with Leigh whether anyone will actually see the display she set up.  Realizing she should have illuminated it or otherwise drawn attention to it first, Leigh decides to sneak back out and blast the area near it with a couple of magic missiles.  After the area has been sufficiently lit up, she sneaks back out effortlessly.

Merend sets up a series of watches that night, being careful that they don’t get overrun by bandits while they sleep.  The night passes uneventfully.
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #34 on: April 05, 2009, 11:29:31 AM »
Session 6 - Scene 3 (of 5)

The next morning, Merend turns his attention to scouting around the area as best he can to look for an alternate way in to the keep.  They need to get inside, but he feels a frontal assault through the main door would be suicide.

Luck turns his way when he eventually spots the drainage ditch for the keep.  Nearby are the remains of some old earthworks.  The group should be able to sneak off into the earthworks then use them as cover to get into the drainage ditch without being seen.

Rhogar, who is incredibly un-stealthy, takes the lead.  He is spotted by the guards and hit with an arrow on his way in.  The others quickly follow and manage to avoid injury.

Crawling through the drainage ditch, Rhogar is barely able to squeeze through the opening of the privy inside the basement of the keep.  The others follow with more success, but are still covered in filth.  Looking around, the basement contains a well and the privy, but little else.  No sign can be seen of Krolec or Zena.

The group decides to head up the spiral stairs leading out of the basement, Rhogar in the lead.  They come to the ground floor.  Rhogar can see a large hall with columns and a dais at the end nearest them with a throne.  Inside the hall appear to be four bandits and their sergeant.

Rhogar knows he needs to move quickly.  The bandits could hear him coming, so his only chance to surprise them is to attempt to intimidate them with his fearsome presence.  He runs into the hall yelling, causing the bandits to pause a moment.  It’s enough time for everyone else to fill into the hallway and get ready for battle.

Rhogar and Su-ika take to the front, focusing on the bandit sergeant.  Rhogar gets in a solid hit, but Su-ika misses.  The sergeant strikes back with a brutal blow to Rhogar, nearly dropping him.  Merened quickly moves to heal him.

Leigh gets into position and begins blasting the bandits with a flaming sphere while Al attacks with his force orb spell, then follows up with magic missiles.  Meanwhile, Su-ika is having less success with her swordburst and switches to using her lightning lure and aegis of shielding to keep the bandits from getting to the wizards.

The tide of the battle turns quickly in the group’s favor.  With no one else injured, even Merend moves into the attack with his lance of faith.  It doesn’t take long before all the bandits are dropped.

Merend’s focus is now on the other doors in the hall.  He wants to make sure they don’t get anyone coming in and attacking them from the other directions.  Al, thinking quickly, casts a cloud of daggers in front of the double-doors at the end of the hallway while Merend listens for any noises on the other side of the single door on the other side of the dais.  Hearing nothing, Merend elects to head upstairs first before opening any doors.
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #35 on: April 05, 2009, 11:31:02 AM »
Session 6 - Scene 4 (of 5)

Moving up the stairs cautiously to the next level, they see the hall on this floor is L-shaped, with three doors and no one standing around.  Merend decides the best thing to do would be to take the stairs up to the roof first to take care of those guards.

Up on the roof, Rhogar charges in and again intimidates the four archers standing up there.  Rhogar and Su-ika charge two of the archers, quickly dropping them, while Al and Leigh drop the other two using their magic missile blasts.

With no more overt threats, Merend has everyone return to the top level of the keep.  There he decides to open the furthest door.  It opens to the bedroom of the head of the bandits and his two personal guards, who are ready to strike.

Al quickly sends in an acid arrow, splashing the leader and one of the guards.  Leigh follows suit, hitting both of the guards.  In the doorway, Rhogar hits with a solid attack on the leader, but is struck back by a fearsome blow himself.

Merend moves in to heal Rhogar.  Al casts a cloud of daggers in the doorway, striking the leader.  Su-ika then uses her lightning lure to pull the leader into the middle of their group.  For her troubles, she is struck by a powerful hit herself.

The bandit leader attempts to use some fancy footwork to maneuver, but Su-ika is able to use her lightning lure to keep him in place.  She and Rhogar quickly begin wearing him down while Merend makes sure they stay healed.

Al and Leigh decide to stay focused on the two guards.  Using a combination of force orbs, scorching bursts, and magic missiles, they manage to kill the guards before they can exit the room.

A final series of attacks on the leader finishes him off, and his dead body crashes to the ground.
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #36 on: April 05, 2009, 11:31:49 AM »
Session 6 - Scene 5 (of 5)

Feeling the worst is over, Merend decides to investigate the other doors.  The next door over opens to a long barracks room.  The handful of bandits in the room are passed out from drinking.  The group decides they can’t just slit their throats as they sleep, so they tie them up and elect to decide what to do with them later.

In the far corner of the room, they also find the bound and gagged, but unharmed, Zena and Krolec.  Apparently the bandits were planning to see if they could use them for ransom, but never got the chance.

The last door on the floor appears to be stuck, and hasn’t been opened in quite some time.  Rhogar kicks it down.  It appears to be an old wizard’s study.  Several scrolls sit on a desk in the middle of the room.  Leigh quickly moves in to take possession of them.  She and Al identify the scrolls as being: Secret Page, Arcane Mark, Last Sight Vision, Undead Ward, and Dark Light.

But that’s hardly the only thing of value on the second floor of the keep.  Back in the bandit leader’s room, the group discovers a small chest containing 200 gold.  They also notice the leader was wearing magic armor, which Leigh and Al identify as Darkleaf Leather Armor (+1).

Downstairs, they find another magic item on the body of the bandit sergeant – he was wearing a Belt of Vigor.  They also discover the other door on this floor to lead to a small room being used for food storage.  And the double doors at the end of the hall, naturally, are the main entrance to the keep.

After they make sure there are no more bandits outside, the group sits down to decide what to do next.
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jgants

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Session 6: Breach
« Reply #37 on: April 05, 2009, 11:44:04 AM »
Session 6 - Session Notes

I thought this session would have to be briefer, originally, but it ended up running a little long.  I had a terrible cold (actually, still do) and took off half a day of work the last two days that week.  I would have canceled the game alltogether but the logistics of canceling at the last minute are tough.

This was the first session we actually had multiple combats in the session.  Finally.  I had to kind of push them into it because they keep trying to do this "we can only handle one combat" thing.

Actually, overall, they weren't in too much danger.  Rhogar and Su-ika both got close to getting downed, though, and Rhogar was almost out of healing surges by the end.  The wizards got lucky with some bad die rolls, or they would have easily been downed (the group's tactics could clearly still use some work).

Anyhow, they finally completed a quest, finally found some magical treasure, and a couple of the group finally gained a level (one player was starting to grumble a bit about that before the session; I'm always amazed on how some players want to gain a level for not doing all that much).
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jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #38 on: April 19, 2009, 09:37:13 AM »
Session 7 - Cast of Characters

Al Truism - human controller wizard
Leigh - eladrin battle wizard
Merend - dwarven devoted cleric
Rhogar - dragonborn protecting paladin
Sa-ika - genasi shielding swordmage
Krolec Jar'bin - elven two-blade ranger

and special guest star:
Mitka Karamazov - halfling cutthroat rogue
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jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #39 on: April 19, 2009, 09:38:50 AM »
Session 7 - Scene 1 (of 5)

While Merend suggests the group could possibly hold their own trial of the captured prisoners, everyone else feels more comfortable just hauling them back to Fallcrest and letting the authorities there deal with them.  On the trip back, Merend voices his concern about the lack of stolen goods found at the keep, suggesting the bandit’s fencing partner is close by – possibly even the merchant they were trying to get the jalep root for.  But, no one else seems overly interested in the possibility of who the bandit fence is.  

The main discussion Krolec is interested in involves the distribution of magic items.  After some thought, it is decided that it makes the most sense to give the Belt of Vigor to Rhogar (as he tends to get healed the most on the front lines) and the Darkleaf Leather Armor to Zena (as she has the weakest defenses of the front-line warriors).  Finally, although anyone can use the ritual scrolls, Krolec decides to let Leigh hold on to them for now (as she is the only one who has any ritual components anyways).

After a relatively uneventful couple of days, the group arrives back at the eastern gate – Wizard’s Gate – leading into town.  There they find the gate guarded by five soldiers and a dwarf named Sergeant Murgeddin.  Murgeddin is impressed by their tales of taking out the bandit group, and has his men take the bandits into custody.

Murgeddin then informs Krolec that the guards were waiting for their group to return, and that they are to go see Lord Markelhay, the lord of the city, immediately.  Merend tries to get around the request to see Lord Markelhay right away, but Krolec reminds him they have no reason not to go see the lord.  On the trip up to Moonstone Keep, where Lord Markelhay resides, Murgeddin tries to make conversation by mentioning he once fought with the old Lord Aranda Markelhay (the current Lord Markelhay’s grandfather) during the Orc Wars, before the old lord went missing, but no one takes too much interest in his old war stories.

Once they arrive at the keep, they are immediately shown in to the great hall where Lord Markelhay grants them audience.  He explains he is busy with state business, but wanted to congratulate them for their handling of the bandit affair.  Apparently the priest of Pelor, Grundelmr, had informed him of their mission.  Markelhay mentions there are many threats in the area that need taken care of, and that he has had disappointments in the past with other groups of would-be adventurers.  

Lord Markelhay explains that he would like to talk to the group about a possible job that he thinks they may be able to handle, but he is in the middle of something and can’t discuss new business at the moment (despite the group’s preference to do so).  Instead, he invites them back for dinner that evening – he is already having some honored guests over and tells Krolec that his group can join as fellow honored guests, and that the job can be discussed over drinks after dinner.  Krolec and most of the group are appreciative, though Zena dismisses the event as “not her thing” and indicates she won’t be attending.
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jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #40 on: April 19, 2009, 09:39:40 AM »
Session 7 - Scene 2 (of 5)

After leaving the keep, Merend suggests the next stop be to Grundelmar, who sent them on the mission against the bandits in the first place.  After Grundelmar congratulates them for taking out one of the threats in the region, Merend questions him about Juniper Creek and their prophet.  Grundelmar, however, has only recently moved into the area and has never heard of the village.  He does mention they sound like heretics, which Krolec heartily agrees with.

Next, the group mentions the idea of keeping Raven’s Roost as their own, possibly fixing up the keep and maintaining a small staff there.  Grundelmar quickly admonishes them of the idea, reminding them of the many dangers in the area and that they are not well enough known yet for people to trust them to move out there, not to mention the tens of thousands of gold required for maintenance and staffing costs.  Instead, he suggests they wait until they have grown more experienced and well-known and have cleared out the region of most immediate threats.  Then it could be a fine home for them, as the area is surrounded by good farmland.

Merend then quizzes Grundelmar about Lord Markelhay, and the job he might want for them.  Grundelmar is fairly certain it has to do with the attacks along the roads heading west to Winterhaven by bands of kobalds.  Between the attacks west by the kobalds and east by the bandits, the local economy has been struggling the last few months.  Grundelmar doesn’t know all that much about the kobalds in that area, but does suggest to Merend that the old wizard in the tower in town, Nimozzoran, might know something.

Grundelmar has some other news about the west for them as well.  He has received a letter from Marla, the priestess of Pelor in Winterhaven, about increased activity by the Cult of Orcus in the area.  Grundelmar suggests that if they head west, they look into that as well.

Finally, before they leave, he gives a healing potion to Merend, the only one the temple has.  He also reminds Merend that if they ever need any special healing they can come to him.

Next, Leigh suggests they go see the merchant, Eli Leng, who they were trying to get the jalep root for.  When they arrive, he is disappointed to hear they were unable to get any jalep root, but is interested in their story about the missing Whittlesey expedition.  They also mention the statue relic that the merchant in Harkenwold wanted them to bring back to him, and Merend voices his suspicions about why the statue would be sent back to Leng.  Leng explains that in addition to his herb store, he also operates a local cabinet of curiosity, and that the other merchant was sending him the statue to put in it.

With plenty to do and not wanting to be in debt to Leng any more, the group decides to give over the diamond they possess to him in exchange for not being able to get the root.  He gladly accepts.

Once that bit of business is dealt with, the group attempts to sell their acquired bandit weapons to Leng.  However, the merchant reminds them that he doesn’t deal with weapons.  He suggests they try Teldorath Arms instead.

The group then leaves the herb shop and heads over to Teldorath Arms, where the cheerful dwarf Teldorath greets them.  Al handles the negotiations, suggesting that the slightly damaged weapons show how durable and well-made they are.  Teldorath doesn’t entirely agree, but eventually the two come to a mutual agreement over a small amount of gold to cover the entire lot of scavenged weapons.

Teldorath mentions that what he really needs is the shipment of dragonscale he had that was stolen by the kobalds while it was being shipped from Winterhaven.  He offers a good reward if they ever happen to recover it.  Al starts to try to negotiate a price, but Teldorath isn’t interested in discussing it until they actually have the item.

Finally, the group inquires about any magical goods Teldorath has for sale.  The only thing he has is a magic horned helmet, but after hearing the price and comparing to their combined treasury, they are quickly dissuaded of the idea of ever buying magical weapons or armor.  Instead, they leave the store and decide to divide out the gold to everyone, giving them each the relatively paltry sum of 30 gold pieces, with 31 gold pieces and some copper left in the group expense account.  Everyone decides to go spend the copper at the nearest tavern in a celebratory drink.
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jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #41 on: April 19, 2009, 09:40:41 AM »
Session 7 - Scene 3 (of 5)

Nearby, in the Lucky Gnome Tavern, sits a local halfling rogue named Mitka Karamazov, having a drink.  Mitka has only recently moved into Fallcrest, along with his brothers Vanya and Alyoshka, but has already gained several contacts in the local underworld.

One of those contacts was a thief named Pace.  When Pace’s body was fished out of the sewers a few days ago, Mitka immediately headed over to toss through Pace’s room at the local flophouse.  He knew Pace liked to hide his scores all over town in secret locations, and figured he could find something pointing to where Pace might have stashed something valuable.

All that Mitka was able to find was a simple diary Pace kept.  And the only thing of interest in it was one page where Pace obliquely mentioned the “Fusille Family” and a note saying, “What is that man wearing a purple cloak doing here?  Is he following me?”  Naturally, Mitka hasn’t been able to make heads or tails of what these entries mean.  But, he has been on the lookout for any local adventuring types that could (unknowingly) assist him.

As he reflects on these thoughts while enjoying his ale, the group of adventurers led by Krolec head in through the door.

Krolec and the others immediately notice Mitka.  He stands out from the rest of the patrons by virtue of being a halfling, being quite a bit younger than the others, and by being the only one not missing an eye or several teeth.  Mitka raises a mug to them, and Merend goes over to greet him.

Mitka explains that he is new in town, and asks what has been going on in the area.  Krolec explains about the orc wars, bandits, kobalds, and eventually works his way up to the more recent infiltration of the city by a group of drow.  

Merend mentions their brief trip into the sewer and the recovery of the body of Pace along with mentioning the man in the purple cloak.  The discussion reminds Zena about the information she heard before heading out of town; that Pace was asking around about the man in the purple cloak before he turned up dead.

Mitka attempts to hide the fact that he knew Pace, and recognizes the reference to the man in the purple cloak, but Merend and Krolec can tell he’s lying.  Krolec is willing just to walk away from the halfling and be done with it, but Merend wants to find out what he knows.  He gets Rhogar to grab Mitka and use his fearsome presence to demand more information.

While not quite shaken by the experience, given his halfling resistance to fear, Mitka does decide that Rhogar and the others could be dangerous enemies, and tries to win their favor by giving out a little more information.  Mitka explains that he is a specialist adventurer and a sort of “private investigator”.  He’s been looking into Pace, and has found information about Pace mentioning the man in the purple cloak (being careful not to say anything about looking for Pace’s stash or the note about the Fusille family).

Mollified by the new information, Merend believes Mitka’s special talents could be useful to the group, at least temporarily, and offers Mitka a spot in the group for the job they anticipate being given by Lord Markelhay.  Mitka accepts.

Krolec and Al both seem wary about Merend’s offer, but don’t actually contradict him.  After Zena reminds everyone she is not interested in attending the dinner, Merend suggests Mitka take her place and they all make arrangements to meet up outside of Moonstone Keep later that evening.  After Mitka leaves, Al makes sure to voice his opinion about not trusting Mitka, and everyone agrees that they will have to watch him carefully at first.
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jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #42 on: April 19, 2009, 09:42:03 AM »
Session 7 - Scene 4 (of 5)

After they finish their drinks, everyone leaves to go get ready for the dinner.  Krolec makes sure to leave enough time to stop by the Moonsong Temple and meditate to Corellon.  Everyone eventually meets up at the gate, and are escorted in to the dining hall.

After they are announced, Lord Markelhay welcomes them and introduces them to his other guests.  In attendance are famous local historian Paul Cranewing, local artist Honoria Mellnor, and visiting lord, Lord True Value.  Several of the group members notice Al and Lord Value exchange glances, but no one quite figures out the significance.  Neither does anyone notice the resemblance between the two men.

Lord Markelhay also picks up on Zena’s absence and Mitka’s appearance.  While Krolec explains that Mitka has joined them, Markelhay looks suspicious and appears to give a look to his guards that suggests he wants Mitka looked after carefully.

As they sit down, the group makes conversation with the other guests.  Paul Cranewing quizzes Krolec about the group’s expedition into the sewers.  Cranewing mentions his long-standing desire to completely explore and map out the sewers.  Alas, the sewers are far too big and dangerous for that to ever be feasible.

Cranewing goes on to talk about legends of a tunnel system that exists deep below the sewers.  A place called “The Devil’s Attic”.  According to the historical fragments of notes Cranewing has been able to assemble, the tunnels were commissioned by Lord Astor, a prominent city figure a couple of hundred years ago.  Paul has not been able to find out where the tunnels went, but they were designed to be a private way to move from one lord’s location to another.  Furthermore, they were said to contain a lavish sitting room full of fine furnishings and other treasures, though Rhogar questions what condition they would be in now.  Cranewing asks Krolec to let him know if the group should ever happen to discover the tunnels, as no one who has gone looking for them has ever returned.

The other local guest, Honoria Mellnor, is currently at the keep to paint a portrait of Lord Markelhay.  She is still putting the finishing touches on it, but it should be ready in a couple of days.  Honoria goes on to mention her desire to recreate the lost portrait of the Relcoff Family, an aristocratic family who died off many years ago.  Their portrait was lost during the sieges of the Orc Wars.

However, she knows that the  Relcoff Family Plaza in the old cemetery inside the Tombwoods is said to contain statues of all of the family members.  She hopes to hire someone (for 50 gold) to go into the cemetery and get her a sketch of the statues.  But, so far she has not found anyone willing to go into the area, as it is considered haunted and rumored to contain the undead.

Merend and Krolec both get the same idea – they should probably just go in and clear out the Tombwoods completely.  The idea of having a haven for the undead in the middle of the city is untenable to them.  Plus, who knows what treasures might be found there.

Of all the guests, Lord Value is the least talkative.  Krolec eventually gets him to open up a little.  Lord Value explains that he is from the Asandar region, east of the Dawnforge Mountains.  His region borders a large wasteland known as the Sind Desert.  Recently, his area has come under attack by a nomadic group of barbarians known as the Slave Lords, who have been raiding his outlying towns, and capturing the townfolk to use as slaves.

Lord Value had come to Nentir to seek assistance, but this region is busy with its own problems.  Krolec laments the groups’ inability to assist him at this time, but does keep it in mind for the future.  All the while through the discussion, Al grumbles implied insults about Lord Value to himself, though some others, particularly Merend, do take notice.

When the dinner is over, the other guests begin to leave as Lord Markelhay invites Krolec and his group into the back parlor to discuss the job he has for them over drinks.  However, Al stuns everyone by making a point to call out to Lord Value and say, “so long, dad!” as he spits a curse at him.  Lord Value heads off in a huff without acknowledging Al, while everyone else is trying to comprehend what happened.  Putting two and two together, they decide that Al’s last name, Trueism, means he is the illegitimate son of Lord True Value.

Lord Markelhay isn’t thrilled with the obvious insult, but elects to shuffle everyone off to the parlor and simply ignore the incident.  After the servants hand out pipes and glasses of brandy to everyone, Lord Markelhay begins discussing the problem of Kobald Hall and the effect on the city’s finances.

Lord Markelhay is a little hesitant, once again mentioning how groups of adventurers in the past have been hired but failed to return.  Al handles the negotiations, and is able to use this information to talk Markelhay up from 200 gold to 300 gold for their reward (along with whatever they find at the keep).  

Al tries getting something else out of Markelhay, such as any “spare” magic items they might have, but Markelhay explains the only magic item he recalls ever being in the castle was a magical sword named Moonbane that was passed down through generations.  Lord Markelhay points out if they were to coincidentally discover Moonbane in Kobald Hall (a prospect he finds unlikely) then it would be in their best interests to return it to him.  In the end, he agrees to the group’s request for a “favor to be named later” as part of their reward.

They also discuss a timeline.  Since it isn’t urgent that the kobalds be eliminated immediately, the group decides to tackle heading into the Tombwoods first, since its right in town.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #43 on: April 19, 2009, 09:43:00 AM »
Session 7 - Scene 5 (of 5)

The next morning, everyone meets for breakfast at Lucky Larry’s, a local diner renowned for its grits and hash breakfasts.  They then head into the Tombwoods from the east, with Rhogar and Zena in the lead followed by Krolec and Sa-ika, then Merend and Mitka, with Al and Leigh in the rear.

It doesn’t take long before they find trouble.  Rhogar notices some zombies lurking nearby in the woods on his side.  Unfortunately, Zena does not spot the same on her side, allowing the zombies to get a lot closer before the group can react.

Al immediately blasts one of the zombies moving in at Zena with his magic missle.  Sa-ika moves in to position herself next to a couple of the zombies and attacks with her swordburst while simultaneously using her aegis of shielding to protect Zena from the closest zombie.

Zena herself charges in and smashes one of the zombies with her mace, while Krolec moves around to the side and attacks one of the zombies on Sa-ika using both of his swords.  Leigh assists with a magic missile against the zombie Krolec has injured.

Towards the back of the battle, Merend moves up a little, just to stay within healing range.  Mitka elects to sneak around and attack one of the zombies on Krolec from the flank.

Across the battlefield, Rhogar finds himself alone, back in the woods, facing four zombies.  He attempts to fight off one of them and scores a slight hit.  Luckily, the zombies move very slow and are easy to hit.

However, Rhogar quickly finds the zombies are also quite powerful, as he is hit by a powerful blow.  Zena, Mitka, and Krolec also feel the power of the zombie attacks as they are each injured by the smashing zombies.

With another magic missile blast, Al finishes off the zombie attacking Krolec, and Sa-ika’s swordburst takes out another.  Zena misses with her attack against the zombie on her, but Leigh assists with a blast using her magic missile again.  

Krolec decides to move out and assist Rhogar.  Merend, concerned about the injuries several have taken, uses his beacon of hope spell to heal Zena, Mitka, and Sa-ika while weakening the two remaining zombies they are fighting against.  Mitka then uses his deft agility to maneuver around the zombie attacking him without getting hit, and then attacks him twice from the flank, killing the zombie.

Across the battlefield, Rhogar attacks against the oncoming zombies, but misses.  Rhogar and Zena are both smacked by zombies, though Sa-ika’s protecting ward keeps Zena from becoming too injured.

With most of the zombies on the other side of the battlefield gone, Al turns his attention to Rhogar.  He moves in so he can see one of the attacking zombies, then casts a cloud of daggers on him.  Meanwhile, Sa-ika moves in and uses her lightning clash ability to strike one of the zombies, though she misses a second one.  She follows up by shifting into position and attacking with another swordbust.

Merend then uses his sacred flame to kill one of the zombies while granting some temporary energy to Zena.  Zena responds by finishing off the zombie attacking her.  Mitka quietly moves around the battlefield, taking a route that would put him in flanking position of the remaining zombies.

The three zombies left make their attacks on Rhogar, but luckily he avoids injury.  Sa-ika using her lightning lure to get one of the zombies into a better position.  And with the zombie now exposed, Leigh is able to blast him with a magic missile.  Al attempts a magic missile at one of the zombies as well, but misses.

Zena charges across the field and slices into another of the zombies, killing it.  Krolec also kills a second zombie next to him as part of a hit and run maneuver.

Merend moves in to heal Rhogar.  Rhogar tries to finish off the last zombie, but keeps missing with his attacks.  The zombie attacks back, causing another major injury for Rhogar.

Mitka decides it will take too long to reach the zombie and instead lurks back in the foliage, making sure nothing else approaches the group while they are distracted.

The remaining zombie is then finished off after a barrage of attacks from Al’s cloud of daggers, Sa-ika’s lightning lure, Leigh’s magic missile, and finally with Krolecs twin strikes.

With the battle, everyone pauses to catch their breath.  Rhogar already feels like he has expended a lot of energy recovering from the powerful zombie hits he took.  Still, the group presses on into the forest, towards the old cemetery.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

jgants

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Session 7: The Brother Karamazov
« Reply #44 on: April 19, 2009, 10:17:39 AM »
Session 7 - Session Notes

A quick note - careful readers may have noticed the character being called "Sa-ika" instead of "Su-ika".  I only recently realized I'd been typing in the name incorrectly, lol.

This session went pretty well.  Much better than I originally anticipated.  Usually the group has a bad tendency to spend a session after a big finale on dividing up treasure, arguing over minor things, and working up leveling up their characters (Merened, Al, and Leigh all got to level 2 at the end of last session).  I've made it pretty well known I despise wasting a gaming session on "administrative" crap, so I made sure to push them to decide a lot of things over email.

Thus, no more than a couple of minutes were spent on discussing treasure during the session, the characters were already leveled (more or less, the Leigh player can't decide on a new feat yet), and we already worked out to just bring the prisoners back to Fallcrest.  

So, the vast majority of the session got spent on actual role-playing and not administrative nonsense.  I am quite proud that I was able to keep the game moving, actually, because that's something the other people in the group who GM can never seem to do (usually because they aren't nearly as organized as I am).  One of my best abilities as a GM is to keep things organized and keep things moving.

The Mitka character is obviously named after one of the characters in The Brothers Karamazov.  Originally, there were going to be two guest stars and I was also going to have another halfling PC named Vanya, but that guy wasn't able to make it.  It's just as well, as the Sa-ika player ended up showing up in time for the big zombie battle (she had other plans, and originally wasn't going to play that session, but then showed up as a surprise in the last hour).

Originally, I wasn't sure if there would even be any combat this session.  But, things kept moving along nicely enough that we were able to fit it in (the players really seem to like it better when there's at least one combat a session).

The Mitka player actually owned a 4e PHB (unlike most of my players), but hadn't really played before.  He mostly plays the old basic D&D with his kids.  He thought there were a lot of rules compared to basic (which he pretty much stuck with playing the last 20+ years), but seemed to find things moved quickly enough while actually playing.  Chalk up another player who finds 4e streamlined and easy to play.

The cemetery in the Tombwoods (which we haven't gotten to yet) and the characters of Paul Cranewing and Honoria Mellnor aren't mine.  They come from The Barrow Grounds adventure put out by Expeditious Retreat Press.  It was one of the few 3rd party adventures I ever saw that interested me, mostly because I liked the location it set and it wasn't very wordy (I find it impossible to read adventure modules with tons of text and backstory).  I'd long planned throwing that cemetery into the Tombwoods area, and this was my first opportunity to do so.

Something else that isn't mine is the whole "Devil's Attic" concept (along with the name for Lord Astor).  That comes from The Reliquarry novel (the sequel to The Relic) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.


And finally, I will briefly mention the truly bizarre part of the session.  It had nothing to do with the game, but was part of the OOC chatter.  Apparently, the guy who was going to drop in for last session but cancelled at the last minute is suing one of the regulars for sexual harassment (over some work-related incident).  Now I'm glad he cancelled, that could have exploded nastily in my face.  

All I want to say is that I never thought I'd have to worry about who to schedule for games based on a guy in his 50s suing a guy in his 60s over sexual harrassment.  What a brave new world that we live in...
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.