Four players this session:
Halma, Human Rogue played by Jesse
Ana, Half Elf Cleric played by Chelsea
Therryk, Dragonborn Paladin played by me
Lucan, Elf Fighter played by Colin, who also DMed
We left off last session with a part of the party returning to the boat to relay what they had found and to gather some help for the deeper dungeon. I guess some of those adventurers are really enjoying the fishing at this lake or need to work on their tan some more...
Ana joined the three of us who had already explored the upper part of the structure, Sylus was busy copying rituals from Arlarond's book so he didn't join us. We followed chalk marks in the caverns to the huge room with the chasm, and descended the rope to the tunnel we had explored previously, following it through the secret door and into the room with the gears oriented horizontally, stopping where we did before. During the journey we filled her in on the things we had seen and discovered, so that by the time we got there we were all prepared to move on.
The room we had stopped on was very large, with a 10 foot wide walkway on either end, and the remains of a similar walkway extending partially along the right wall. At the same level as the door were a series of large 20 foot in diameter or so gears, about half a dozen, that were turning at a few revolutions per minute, pretty slowly. Our plan was to leap across the gaps and make our way across the room, entering the double doors on the opposite wall.
Therryk removed his armor as he knew it's restriction would make the jumps difficult, and the four adventurers leaped across the first ten foot gap. We all made it, but Therryk, perhaps a little afraid that he would come up short, jumped a little far and crashed into Halma, knocking them both down. At this exact moment we were ambushed.
Four . . . clockwork men clambered over the edges of the gears in the center of the room. They were man sized, and composed of intricate gearing and clockwork mechanisms, with long powerful apelike springs for arms. They immediately swung those arms and wrapped up all four us. Highlights
- The setup of the fight put Halma and Therryk at the junction between two gears with two enemies, with Ana and Lucan on the other side of a gear with their own two enemies to fight.
- Halma pretty easily breaks the grapples in this fight, and gets to work dismantling the clockworks. Knowing that Therryk would not have as easy a time, he grabs the leg of the machine with its arms around Therryk and shoves it between the two gears, hoping it will pull him off. It succeeds.
- The fight is dizzying as positions change constantly due to the rotation of the gears. Ultimately we are more than a match for them and the last one is knocked from the platform by a timely shove from Lucan.
The careful progress across the room continues almost without incident. Another difficult leap to a lone gear near the far wall is uneventful, but during the final leap to the platform on the other side Lucan falls short and tumbles down, landing a story below us. Not a devastating fumble, but one that made us hold our breath.
The double doors open into a similarly sized room, with 2 10 foot wide walkways intersecting at the center. The floor of the room, a story down, was littered with parts and pieces of mechanical gear, and there were several tanks in the room, one of them quite large and taking up almost a quarter of the room. We cautiously made our way to the center, and were not very surprised when we were ambushed again in the middle of the room. Two bulky mechanical men charged out of the double doors in front of us, and from each of the double doors to either side a squat clockwork man appeared with a mean looking crossbow and two shields for protection. We sprung into action:
- Halma darted towards the left side, flinging a dagger at the robot, and being surprised by the return slam he got from the shield
- "So much for them being helpless in melee."
- The burly mechanical men charge and mark the two party tanks. Luckily, this is just what they wanted.
- The two crossbow wielders fired volleys at the three other party members clustered together at the intersection, missing mostly but hitting their own side.
- The four fighters trade blows, one of the clockworks falls, disabled, and the other is shoved into the pit.
- By this time Halma has single-handedly taken out one of the clockworks and he makes his way across the room towards the other, throwing daggers as he goes.
- Therryk attempts death from above again, leaping on the soldier from the walkway 10 feet up. This time he hits, and is satisfied.
- The one in the hole is marked by Lucan, who continues throwing his enchanted trident to maintain it, but must engage Therryk. Therryk is very difficult to hit.
- Halma meanwhile has engaged the last clockwork remaining on the platform, and positions himself into tricking the think off the edge and into the pit.
- Ana leaps into the pit, as does Halma, and the remaining enemies are dispatched quickly.
A search of the three doorways reveals more of the same in two rooms, and one room with something new. The center of this much smaller room held a model of the solar system, spinning slowly around the sun. Levers in the corner of the model altered the orbits of the model planets, but little else in the room was a clue to the purpose of the model. None of us are rocket scientists. It took some experimenting, but we were able to discover that the model was not currently accurately displaying the orbits of the planets. With some fiddling of the controls we corrected the model, and a grinding noise as the model slid away to reveal a ramp down was our confirmation.
The short ramp ended in an even smaller room, this one about 15 feet square. In the center of the room was a throne, and upon this throne sat a clockwork man. His hand on the arm of the throne was connected to it with a complex array of gears. It was soon apparent that he was not hostile, and we spent quite some time questioning him.
This facility was built by a civilization long gone. It's purpose is to hold the memories and emotions of the creators. They felt that they had advanced sufficiently and were ready for the next step, as it were. The complex mechanisms are all a part of the original construction, though the giant's temple is not. Some of the energies used in the upkeep of the place are necrotic in nature and have been leaking of late. This could explain the ghouls and zombies that we saw. We explained that we were here looking for treasure, and seeking to eliminate the undead as vengeance for our friend who was killed.
He. . .it. . .explained that he was having a hard time accessing the problem, as the guardians had been preventing him from getting his resources to the area. He agreed to supply us with wealth in exchange for destroying the rogue guardians. In this way we would accomplish both of our goals and help the overseer with his problem. He illuminated the way with blue lights and we began the next part of our journey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Short players again, this time not with such deadly consequences. The first fight was what a 4e fight should be, IMO. The room had 4 or so gears, represented as a 4x4 square, with the first two meshing. Colin drew arrows to show how they would turn, and at the bottom of the round all those on the outer edge moved four squares along the rim, and those in the middle moved one square. Part of the tension was from not knowing what would happen if we fell, underneath us was a mess of machines with no real clue as to how far we would fall or if we could get back up. Plus I took my armor off again. I am seriously considering retraining for the Athletics skill. AC 13, ouch.
The other fight was also fun, and I would love to use some more of the tactic we used at the end, with Colin marking him and him only being able to hit me. That is a 24 he had to hit, pretty rough. I was surprised how well Halma did, since he took on the first bolter without anyone to flank with. He had enough tricks up his sleeve to knock him out really fast, which is cool.
The astronomy puzzle was not really the forte for the four PC's there. I don't think I can convey accurately the roleplay that took place with the overseer, it was quite a bit of talking and exposition, represented by the concise version in the Actual Play.
And this Saturday for reals should be fun with warlocks for me, yeehaw!
Jay
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
11/1 Actual Play
We only had 4 this session, and I think we may see the result of that midway through the day. We had:
Lucan, Half Elf Fighter 3, played by Colin who was also DMing
Arlarond, Human Wizard 3 played Dan
Halma, Human Rogue 3 played by Jesse
Therryk, Dragonborn Paladin/Warlord 3 played by me
Notice something? No leader you say? I had 3 heals per day as a multiclassed leader and a paladin, and that is just not enough.
We picked up directly after we left off last week. The crew was directing the ship towards the island, still a few hour's journey across the lake. Long enough for the party to get a good rest in and recharge from the treacherous battle with the dragon. Therryk and Arlarond attempted to calm the crew by telling them that the dragon likely eliminated all serious dangers in the area as the largest predator around. Possible monetary benefits and other social benefits from having slain a dragon were mentioned, too. In a hushed conference, however, we discussed the possibility of an even larger dragon, perhaps the parent of this one, and moved the carcass below decks and administered clerical blessings on it to prevent it's decomposition.
As the island came into view we noticed some odd things about it. First, there was no significant vegetation. Second, it was composed of an odd mineral or other formation that gave it a distinct almost crystalline appearance. We found the remnants of what might have been an old road or similar convention, a flat path that lead from the shore deeper into the island. Several members of the party were still recuperating from the poison used by the dragon and were unable to make the journey. Four of us left the ship to scout the temple. A short distance inland we found an abandoned campsite. After a short search of the area we determined that it was a dwarven expedition. We found a fine cast iron vessel with a stamp reading "Sogol Expeditions". Sogol is the name of the dwarven leader imprisoned in Hammerfast. We conjectured that he had found the temple and needed to gather additional manpower, hopefully because there was so much treasure to haul out.
We continued inland, constantly climbing higher, and encountered what we thought must be the temple we sought. Unimpressive from the outside, it looked like a large, featureless mound. The only clues to it's importance were two pillars flanking an opening. We entered cautiously into a large chamber. Pillars marched towards the opposite wall on a giant scale. A sole spot of sun illuminated a bas-relief depicting a triumphant warrior standing over a chasm in the earth. With artificial light provided by Arlarond we discovered this was only one of many such carvings arranged in an analemma calendar, depicting an epic battle near a huge chasm. The temple was built on top of the chasm.
The next room was long and descended towards a large hole in the floor. Flanking the hole were large control mechanisms with chains disappearing into the darkness. We guessed that this was an elevator. In front of this was an altar, too large to see the top of without climbing up, and fully 15 feet long. Close examination of the altar revealed little of the meaning behind the religious iconography in the temple. There was a central depression and four in the corners. Another mystery to ponder as we made plans to descend into the darkness.
The platform was in the down position, and we discovered as we prepared to descend that it was shattered and useless. In order to descend we would have to climb. Halma and Lucan were fine and would have little difficulty descending. Therryk would be okay if he was unencumbered by his heavy armor. Arlarond would need some help, however.
The time aboard the boat learning a sailor's profession came in handy. Halma was able to fashion a harness for Arlarond and this allowed him to be lowered down by Therryk and Lucan. Halma climbed down, and once Arlarond was on the ground the other two started down.
A ghoul attacked. Half of the party was still 100 feet in the air when a ghoul came from the darkness and tackled Arlarond to the ground. His claw immobilizes him.
- Therryk and Lucan clamber down the chains as fast as they can.
- Arlarond casts from his prone position and Halma moves to try and flank the ghoul.
- When Therryk is near enough to the ground that he thinks the fall won't kill him, he lets go of the chain and with a battle cry lands. . .next to the ghoul. A spectacular failure.
- Lucan hops down and immediately joins the fight. It is the turning point.
- A host of nude dwarven zombies shuffle out of the darkness towards us. Our minion sweeper blasts them all with ice and fire, leaving the rest of us to deal with the ghoul.
- Lucan drives his trident into the ghoul a final time, rendering it lifeless again.
This certainly explains why the dwarven expedition failed and Sogol felt a need to return with greater strength. We rested and Therryk donned his armor. Not long after we began traveling we came to a fork in the way. Following Halma's advice we began going left, but were immediately set upon by more undead.
- The initial rush immobilized some of the party, making a strategic retreat unlikely. It would be a constant annoyance throughout the fight.
- Early on Arlarond shrouded himself in flames, killing the zombies. That left three ghouls.
- The constant assault of the ghouls took its toll. Therryk used all his daily healing abilities propping up Halma. The ghouls would stun with their claws, then attempt large bites with did devastating damage.
- Lucan was bit by a zombie, paralyzing him. Arlarond stepped into the fray attempting to make himself a target by scorching two of the ghouls. It worked.
- Arlarond gets clawed, then bitten, and falls dead to the ground. Strange light from the hole in his head briefly illuminates the fight, then is gone.
- Immediately after the Lucan falls, and things are grim for the two standing members of the Heroes of Fallcrest
- Luck and divine providence prevail and Therryk and Halma emerge victorious, and are able to revive Lucan. Arlarond, however, is gone.
As we carry our friend's body to the surface the sounds of screaming, and of combat, grow louder. As we enter the chamber with the ruined elevator we see a man being attacked by two zombies. They fall to a burst of arcane power, and we are introduced to Sylus, the Human Warlock (Infernal pact). He was part of Sogol's expedition and has spent the past few weeks surviving and eliminating the undead members of his former party. He is glad to see us, and we readily agree to join forces and avenge our dead teammates. Sylus' goddess also despises the undead, so for him it is perhaps an even greater motivation.
We bear Arlarond's body back to the boat, and there hold council and determine to keep going with our exploration of the temple. According to Sylus there is a room underneath the temple with a large chasm, this room is where his party turned to zombies. Finding this room and it's secrets would go a long way towards avenging our friend. Plus, treasure.
The search is long and arduous. Halma leads, turning left whenever we are presented with a choice. We find dead ends, one of them piled with chewed bones. We find several catacombs filled with the bodies of giants in strange robes. After over five hours of wandering we find the room Sylus told us about.
The floor is made from a strange material. Not metal, but smooth and sheer. The room is large and strange, bisected by a 50 foot wide chasm of indeterminable depth. The chasm extends beyond the confines of the room, continuing under the walls and on beyond our ability to recon. We are stumped. The interior of the pit is lit by regularly spaced lights that do not flicker like torches, and appear to be magical. We also discover tunnels that open into the chasm, and we climb 30 feet down and into the nearest one.
Similar in construction or origin to the chasm, the tunnel provides no clues as to it's purpose. Regularly spaced along the wall are more of the magic lights. Even removing one was no help, as it ceased functioning as soon as it was chiseled out of the wall. All the time we had been in the tunnels the ambient noise had been increasing, until we noticed a dull thrumming throughout. Without warning a blast of steam burst from the depth, shooting down the tunnel and catching us unawares, painfully so for some of us.
We hurriedly moved down the corridor, now with a more immediate purpose to our search. It ends with a T, and predictably we go left. After a short walk we come to another choice, to go left again or to continue going straight. Some exploration reveals that every left option will take us back to the chasm. We kept going and were getting nervous, as the rumble was getting louder again.
Sharp eyes saved us. We spied a seam in the right wall, and after some quick examinations were able to push the catch and open the door. It moved back and sunk into a slot in the ground, and if anything the room beyond it left us even more confused.
It felt as if we were looking at the back of an enormous clock. Gears, springs, and mechanical devices went almost floor to ceiling on the far wall. And it was a large wall, with us on a walkway 30 feet from the ground. We closed to the door behind us to protect against any more steam bursts and began to explore the room.
Aside from doors on the other two walls in the room, we discovered little. According to plan, we took the left, and entered another similar, only more bizarre. In this room the clockwork was horizontal, and we could not see below it to the ground below. A series of gears covered the floor, ticking away, and the walkway to the opposite side was destroyed. On the other side of the room was a set of double doors. After much deliberation it was decided that we were woefully understaffed and unprepared for any serious engagement this far from backup, and we elected to return to the surface, and the boat, and gather what help we could for whatever awaited us on the other side of the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arlarond dies. Which sucks, as his player had one of the few complete backstories. The ghoul fight was brutal for a few reasons. Number one, for a party with two clerics it is pretty ironic that when we encounter some undead neither one is present. Which also means healing is . . .not really there. Number two is ghouls are pretty rad. Their claw immobilizes and does 1d6+, and if you are immobilized they bite and you are stunned and take 3d6+. Colin rolled 18 for damage when he hit Arlarond, for a total of 22 damage. He dropped to negative bloodied and died. Lucklily Dan had a Warlock ready and we were able to get back to 4 PC's again. I think we would have had to call it a day with only the 3 of us remaining.
My star moment was going to be this awesome attack in the first fight. I spent my action point to spend another move climbing down. When I was 30 feet down I let go of the chain and tried to fall on the ghoul. I got a freaking 9. That hits. .. nothing. So instead I bellyflopped onto the stone floor and had to fight the ghoul unarmored with a 13 AC. Less than heroic.
We spent a lot of time at the tail end of the session exploring the complex. It is bizarre, as Colin is bizarre, and it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Next week Dan is DM'ing a different campaign set in the same world. Level 4 characters, with a few monstrous races. I am bringing a Half Elf Star Pact Warlock that rides a giant riding lizard. Should be good times.
Jay
Lucan, Half Elf Fighter 3, played by Colin who was also DMing
Arlarond, Human Wizard 3 played Dan
Halma, Human Rogue 3 played by Jesse
Therryk, Dragonborn Paladin/Warlord 3 played by me
Notice something? No leader you say? I had 3 heals per day as a multiclassed leader and a paladin, and that is just not enough.
We picked up directly after we left off last week. The crew was directing the ship towards the island, still a few hour's journey across the lake. Long enough for the party to get a good rest in and recharge from the treacherous battle with the dragon. Therryk and Arlarond attempted to calm the crew by telling them that the dragon likely eliminated all serious dangers in the area as the largest predator around. Possible monetary benefits and other social benefits from having slain a dragon were mentioned, too. In a hushed conference, however, we discussed the possibility of an even larger dragon, perhaps the parent of this one, and moved the carcass below decks and administered clerical blessings on it to prevent it's decomposition.
As the island came into view we noticed some odd things about it. First, there was no significant vegetation. Second, it was composed of an odd mineral or other formation that gave it a distinct almost crystalline appearance. We found the remnants of what might have been an old road or similar convention, a flat path that lead from the shore deeper into the island. Several members of the party were still recuperating from the poison used by the dragon and were unable to make the journey. Four of us left the ship to scout the temple. A short distance inland we found an abandoned campsite. After a short search of the area we determined that it was a dwarven expedition. We found a fine cast iron vessel with a stamp reading "Sogol Expeditions". Sogol is the name of the dwarven leader imprisoned in Hammerfast. We conjectured that he had found the temple and needed to gather additional manpower, hopefully because there was so much treasure to haul out.
We continued inland, constantly climbing higher, and encountered what we thought must be the temple we sought. Unimpressive from the outside, it looked like a large, featureless mound. The only clues to it's importance were two pillars flanking an opening. We entered cautiously into a large chamber. Pillars marched towards the opposite wall on a giant scale. A sole spot of sun illuminated a bas-relief depicting a triumphant warrior standing over a chasm in the earth. With artificial light provided by Arlarond we discovered this was only one of many such carvings arranged in an analemma calendar, depicting an epic battle near a huge chasm. The temple was built on top of the chasm.
The next room was long and descended towards a large hole in the floor. Flanking the hole were large control mechanisms with chains disappearing into the darkness. We guessed that this was an elevator. In front of this was an altar, too large to see the top of without climbing up, and fully 15 feet long. Close examination of the altar revealed little of the meaning behind the religious iconography in the temple. There was a central depression and four in the corners. Another mystery to ponder as we made plans to descend into the darkness.
The platform was in the down position, and we discovered as we prepared to descend that it was shattered and useless. In order to descend we would have to climb. Halma and Lucan were fine and would have little difficulty descending. Therryk would be okay if he was unencumbered by his heavy armor. Arlarond would need some help, however.
The time aboard the boat learning a sailor's profession came in handy. Halma was able to fashion a harness for Arlarond and this allowed him to be lowered down by Therryk and Lucan. Halma climbed down, and once Arlarond was on the ground the other two started down.
A ghoul attacked. Half of the party was still 100 feet in the air when a ghoul came from the darkness and tackled Arlarond to the ground. His claw immobilizes him.
- Therryk and Lucan clamber down the chains as fast as they can.
- Arlarond casts from his prone position and Halma moves to try and flank the ghoul.
- When Therryk is near enough to the ground that he thinks the fall won't kill him, he lets go of the chain and with a battle cry lands. . .next to the ghoul. A spectacular failure.
- Lucan hops down and immediately joins the fight. It is the turning point.
- A host of nude dwarven zombies shuffle out of the darkness towards us. Our minion sweeper blasts them all with ice and fire, leaving the rest of us to deal with the ghoul.
- Lucan drives his trident into the ghoul a final time, rendering it lifeless again.
This certainly explains why the dwarven expedition failed and Sogol felt a need to return with greater strength. We rested and Therryk donned his armor. Not long after we began traveling we came to a fork in the way. Following Halma's advice we began going left, but were immediately set upon by more undead.
- The initial rush immobilized some of the party, making a strategic retreat unlikely. It would be a constant annoyance throughout the fight.
- Early on Arlarond shrouded himself in flames, killing the zombies. That left three ghouls.
- The constant assault of the ghouls took its toll. Therryk used all his daily healing abilities propping up Halma. The ghouls would stun with their claws, then attempt large bites with did devastating damage.
- Lucan was bit by a zombie, paralyzing him. Arlarond stepped into the fray attempting to make himself a target by scorching two of the ghouls. It worked.
- Arlarond gets clawed, then bitten, and falls dead to the ground. Strange light from the hole in his head briefly illuminates the fight, then is gone.
- Immediately after the Lucan falls, and things are grim for the two standing members of the Heroes of Fallcrest
- Luck and divine providence prevail and Therryk and Halma emerge victorious, and are able to revive Lucan. Arlarond, however, is gone.
As we carry our friend's body to the surface the sounds of screaming, and of combat, grow louder. As we enter the chamber with the ruined elevator we see a man being attacked by two zombies. They fall to a burst of arcane power, and we are introduced to Sylus, the Human Warlock (Infernal pact). He was part of Sogol's expedition and has spent the past few weeks surviving and eliminating the undead members of his former party. He is glad to see us, and we readily agree to join forces and avenge our dead teammates. Sylus' goddess also despises the undead, so for him it is perhaps an even greater motivation.
We bear Arlarond's body back to the boat, and there hold council and determine to keep going with our exploration of the temple. According to Sylus there is a room underneath the temple with a large chasm, this room is where his party turned to zombies. Finding this room and it's secrets would go a long way towards avenging our friend. Plus, treasure.
The search is long and arduous. Halma leads, turning left whenever we are presented with a choice. We find dead ends, one of them piled with chewed bones. We find several catacombs filled with the bodies of giants in strange robes. After over five hours of wandering we find the room Sylus told us about.
The floor is made from a strange material. Not metal, but smooth and sheer. The room is large and strange, bisected by a 50 foot wide chasm of indeterminable depth. The chasm extends beyond the confines of the room, continuing under the walls and on beyond our ability to recon. We are stumped. The interior of the pit is lit by regularly spaced lights that do not flicker like torches, and appear to be magical. We also discover tunnels that open into the chasm, and we climb 30 feet down and into the nearest one.
Similar in construction or origin to the chasm, the tunnel provides no clues as to it's purpose. Regularly spaced along the wall are more of the magic lights. Even removing one was no help, as it ceased functioning as soon as it was chiseled out of the wall. All the time we had been in the tunnels the ambient noise had been increasing, until we noticed a dull thrumming throughout. Without warning a blast of steam burst from the depth, shooting down the tunnel and catching us unawares, painfully so for some of us.
We hurriedly moved down the corridor, now with a more immediate purpose to our search. It ends with a T, and predictably we go left. After a short walk we come to another choice, to go left again or to continue going straight. Some exploration reveals that every left option will take us back to the chasm. We kept going and were getting nervous, as the rumble was getting louder again.
Sharp eyes saved us. We spied a seam in the right wall, and after some quick examinations were able to push the catch and open the door. It moved back and sunk into a slot in the ground, and if anything the room beyond it left us even more confused.
It felt as if we were looking at the back of an enormous clock. Gears, springs, and mechanical devices went almost floor to ceiling on the far wall. And it was a large wall, with us on a walkway 30 feet from the ground. We closed to the door behind us to protect against any more steam bursts and began to explore the room.
Aside from doors on the other two walls in the room, we discovered little. According to plan, we took the left, and entered another similar, only more bizarre. In this room the clockwork was horizontal, and we could not see below it to the ground below. A series of gears covered the floor, ticking away, and the walkway to the opposite side was destroyed. On the other side of the room was a set of double doors. After much deliberation it was decided that we were woefully understaffed and unprepared for any serious engagement this far from backup, and we elected to return to the surface, and the boat, and gather what help we could for whatever awaited us on the other side of the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arlarond dies. Which sucks, as his player had one of the few complete backstories. The ghoul fight was brutal for a few reasons. Number one, for a party with two clerics it is pretty ironic that when we encounter some undead neither one is present. Which also means healing is . . .not really there. Number two is ghouls are pretty rad. Their claw immobilizes and does 1d6+, and if you are immobilized they bite and you are stunned and take 3d6+. Colin rolled 18 for damage when he hit Arlarond, for a total of 22 damage. He dropped to negative bloodied and died. Lucklily Dan had a Warlock ready and we were able to get back to 4 PC's again. I think we would have had to call it a day with only the 3 of us remaining.
My star moment was going to be this awesome attack in the first fight. I spent my action point to spend another move climbing down. When I was 30 feet down I let go of the chain and tried to fall on the ghoul. I got a freaking 9. That hits. .. nothing. So instead I bellyflopped onto the stone floor and had to fight the ghoul unarmored with a 13 AC. Less than heroic.
We spent a lot of time at the tail end of the session exploring the complex. It is bizarre, as Colin is bizarre, and it will be interesting to see where this goes.
Next week Dan is DM'ing a different campaign set in the same world. Level 4 characters, with a few monstrous races. I am bringing a Half Elf Star Pact Warlock that rides a giant riding lizard. Should be good times.
Jay
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Drow Necromancer
I thought I'd post the Drow Necromancer I pit the group against a couple of sessions ago. I made him using Asmor's monster creator, and for powers I picked wizard powers reflavored to fit a necromancer, and some undead abilities (the Reanimate ability comes from the Deathlock wight. He never got to use it)
I learned some stuff. I thought the ability to negate an attack was too powerful so I made it recharge, but realized later that fights are so dynamic, and usually short, that having an ally close at hand was not always a possibility and therefore the power was not all that overpowered. The big bad death shroud should do half damage, as most area attacks do. I think tacking a weak status effect on the main ranged attack would not have been unbalancing and fit the encounter well, I think slow would work well. Without further delay, the Necromancer...
Jay
I learned some stuff. I thought the ability to negate an attack was too powerful so I made it recharge, but realized later that fights are so dynamic, and usually short, that having an ally close at hand was not always a possibility and therefore the power was not all that overpowered. The big bad death shroud should do half damage, as most area attacks do. I think tacking a weak status effect on the main ranged attack would not have been unbalancing and fit the encounter well, I think slow would work well. Without further delay, the Necromancer...
| ||||||
| ||||||
| Master's touch aura 3; Undead in aura gain +1 to attack rolls and all defenses | ||||||
| HP 104; Bloodied 52 | ||||||
| AC 18; Fortitude 15, Reflex 17, Will 16 | ||||||
| Resist Necrotic 5; Vulnerable Radiant 5 | ||||||
| Saving Throws +2 | ||||||
| Speed 7 | ||||||
| Action Points 1 | ||||||
| M Staff (Standard; at-will) ♦ Melee | ||||||
| +9 vs AC 1d6+4 | ||||||
| r Reanimate (Minor; daily) ♦ Healing, Necrotic | ||||||
| Ranged 10, affects a destroyed undead creature level 6 or lesser, the target stands as a free action with a number of hit points equal to one-half its bloodied value. This power does not affect minions. | ||||||
| c Death Shroud (Standard; encounter) ♦ Arcane, Necrotic, Implement | ||||||
| Close burst 2 Target each enemy in burst +8 vs Fort 2d8+4 damage and target is pushed 2 squares Miss: Target is pushed 1 square When bloodied this power recharges. | ||||||
| a Draining Burst (Standard; at-will) ♦ Arcane, Necrotic, Implement | ||||||
| Area burst 1 within 10 squares Target Each creature in burst +8 vs Reflex 1d6+4 Necrotic damage | ||||||
| Dimension Door (Move; daily) ♦ Arcane, Teleportation | ||||||
| Teleport 10 squares | ||||||
| Minion Sacrifice (Immediate Interrupt; recharge 56) ♦ Arcane | ||||||
| When hit by a ranged attack any adjacent undead may shift and take damage instead. | ||||||
| ||||||
| Skills Religion +11, Arcana +11 | ||||||
|
Jay
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Familiar
First, a feat:
Ritual Knowledge (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Trained in Arcana, Ritual Caster Feat
Benefit: You learn the Familiar Ritual
Then the ritual:
Familiar
You call a portion of your being into the world as a small creature. This creature will be your new familiar.
Level: 4
Category: Creation
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 400 GP
Market Price: Unavailable
Key Skill: Arcana
You bring into being a small animal of a type chosen by you. While in all respects it looks like the real thing, it is in fact a part of you. It communicates with you verbally, and speaks the languages you speak. Your familiar possesses a number of Hit Points equal to your Healing Surge value. At the time of creation you lose one healing surge to your familiar and it is only regained on it's destruction or dismissal. The small animal gains all movement types but none of the special abilities of the animal you chose. It must remain within 20 squares of you at all times, or it is dismissed. If your familiar is destroyed by any means you must wait until you take an extended rest to call another. During combat a familiar shares your actions. You may at any time elect to have your familiar take any of your standard, move, or minor actions. A familiar has no natural attack. Your familiar uses your defenses.
Calling a familiar grants the following utility power:
Alter Familiar
With a thought your companion melds into a different, more useful shape
Daily✦ (twice daily) Arcane, Polymorph
Minor Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar
Effect: Your familiar changes shape into another small animal. As the original it gains the movement types but not the special abilities of the animal it resembles.
Special: At 11th level this becomes four times daily, at 21st it becomes six times daily.
And we add a second feat:
Close bond (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Ritual Knowledge (Familiar) Feat
Benefit: You learn the Deliver Spell Utility Power
Deliver Spell
You gesture with your implement and magic power bursts from your familiar.
Daily ✦ Arcane, Implement
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar
Effect: You make all attack rolls and determinations as normal, but the power emanates from your familiar. Powers with the weapon keyword or other powers that rely on a melee or ranged attack do not function in conjunction with this power.
Jay
Ritual Knowledge (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Trained in Arcana, Ritual Caster Feat
Benefit: You learn the Familiar Ritual
Then the ritual:
Familiar
You call a portion of your being into the world as a small creature. This creature will be your new familiar.
Level: 4
Category: Creation
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 400 GP
Market Price: Unavailable
Key Skill: Arcana
You bring into being a small animal of a type chosen by you. While in all respects it looks like the real thing, it is in fact a part of you. It communicates with you verbally, and speaks the languages you speak. Your familiar possesses a number of Hit Points equal to your Healing Surge value. At the time of creation you lose one healing surge to your familiar and it is only regained on it's destruction or dismissal. The small animal gains all movement types but none of the special abilities of the animal you chose. It must remain within 20 squares of you at all times, or it is dismissed. If your familiar is destroyed by any means you must wait until you take an extended rest to call another. During combat a familiar shares your actions. You may at any time elect to have your familiar take any of your standard, move, or minor actions. A familiar has no natural attack. Your familiar uses your defenses.
Calling a familiar grants the following utility power:
Alter Familiar
With a thought your companion melds into a different, more useful shape
Daily✦ (twice daily) Arcane, Polymorph
Minor Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar
Effect: Your familiar changes shape into another small animal. As the original it gains the movement types but not the special abilities of the animal it resembles.
Special: At 11th level this becomes four times daily, at 21st it becomes six times daily.
And we add a second feat:
Close bond (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Ritual Knowledge (Familiar) Feat
Benefit: You learn the Deliver Spell Utility Power
Deliver Spell
You gesture with your implement and magic power bursts from your familiar.
Daily ✦ Arcane, Implement
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar
Effect: You make all attack rolls and determinations as normal, but the power emanates from your familiar. Powers with the weapon keyword or other powers that rely on a melee or ranged attack do not function in conjunction with this power.
Jay
Monday, October 27, 2008
10/25 Actual Play
This session fast forwarded the typical end-of-story wrap up and started the beginning of a new adventure. We leveled to third in the interim. Participating:
Chelsea, playing Ana the Half Elven Cleric
Chris, playing Merril the Halfling Cleric
Dan, playing Arlarond the Human Wizard
Jay, playing Therryk the Dragonborn Paladin
Jesse, playing Halma the Human Rogue
Lisa, playing Feawen the Elven Ranger
Colin was DMing but ran Lucan, his Elven Fighter
We had 2 Defenders, 2 Strikers, 2 Leaders, and 1 Controller. A pretty balanced group. Of course, the three not attending are all strikers, so it was more luck than anything...
The city of Fallcrest embraced their new heroes with open arms. Upon hearing of the events that transpired in the Scarred Caverns a celebration was thrown, with our heroes as guests of honor. Somewhat more attention was paid to Ana, the bastard child of the Lord Mayor. The party was a chance to relax, and to get paid for being heroes.
It was also a chance to hear about the local goings on. It seems a party of dwarves had been spending their days in the local watering hole. These dwarves had been in the town for a few days and nobody seemed to know why they were here or what they were waiting for. Arlarond, who had spent the evening drinking with them not long ago, made his way to the Inn and began pumping them for information.
It did not take much to discover what the story was. They were biding time waiting for their leader to show up. He was stuck in prison in Hammerfast and would send a runner when he was released and ready to meet up. At that time they would head North to find an old abandoned Giant Temple. Since no more giants claimed it the temple was newly dubbed the treasure temple.
Arlarond wasted no time. He found Halma drinking in another establishment. Halma readily offered to hire an actor to convince the dwarves that their boss needed them in Hammerfast (though this is still unknown to the party). Arlarond moved on. In turn he contacted the remaining members of the party in their respective hangouts or homes. The plan was to meet at the Wizard's Tower at sundown.
He finished in time to return to the Inn and witness the actor approach the dwarves. He played up being the runner sent from Hammerfast. The dwarves were mostly passed out drunk by this point, having been kept in supply by a generous donation from Arlarond. The actor informed them that their boss needed them to return and post bail for him. One of the dwarves was with it enough to demand proof that this runner was from the boss. Arlarond graciously volunteered himself as an impartial party to verify that the name whispered in his ear by the 'runner' was the name spoken aloud by the dwarf. Big surprise, it was! The dwarves decide to finish their one last night of drinking and leave early the next morning to Hammerfast.
There is time enough in the day for some planning and research. Ana attempts to search the castle for any information about a 'Giant's Temple' to the north, but is unsuccessful. Arlarond quizzes his master, who admits that he does not recall any such thing, but freely allows Arlarond to do research of his own in the small private library in the tower. After some diligent searching he spies a map tucked away between two bookshelves with a handwritten scrawl mentioning some larger than life ruins on a specific island in the lake north of Fallcrest.
Nightfall comes, with the gathering of the heroes at the foot of the Wizard's Tower. Preparations are made, and discussion about travel arrangements turns to boats. It is agreed that waiting until mid morning the next day (after the dwarves leave town) would be best. The next day, a small boat is hired for the journey, provisions are procured, and the journey begins. It will be days of sailing just to reach the lake. To pass the time, the two Human party members attempt to learn the ropes of sailing from the 4 man crew.
Three days out from Fallcrest the sharp eyed members of the crew, and the captain of the vessel spot a boat headed downriver. As it gets closer it is apparent that there is nobody aboard and the out of control boat is headed on a collision course with ours. Fast acting by the crew and party together push it out of the way in time to avoid disaster, and Halma leaps aboard to investigate this new mystery.
With both boats anchored near each other, the party begins to examine the derelict. Large gouges mar the deck, and portions of the railing are torn away. Exploring the lower deck illuminates part of the mystery, as 5 bloated corpses are found. Simultaneously Feawen comes to a conclusion about the claw marks, and Arlarond recognizes the origin of the poison. This boat had been attacked by a green dragon.
A quick party council agrees on two things. Make no mention of the bodies or the dragon, and take as many barrels of wine as we can load on two Tenser's Discs. Once the boat is once more unoccupied it is released to float downriver to Fallcrest. Interestingly enough, the captain volunteers a tale about a green dragon terrorizing a village in the north. He travels this way often trading goods, but has never seen one. He considers it a legend.
Days later as the party entered the lake, they saw the expected shape far away in the sky. Knowing what they did about the reality of a green dragon in the area, the party points the boat to shore and ushers the crew below decks. Before too long they are staring down the charging gullet of a large green dragon.
The battle was long. Highlights:
- We were bunched up on a 15 x 50ish boat. Had the dragon felt sporting he would have waited until we reached the shore to attack, but he took advantage of the situation and charged while we were still almost 100 feet away. The boat was moving about 2.5 feet per second. Less than 2 miles per hour.
- The dragon had a mental ability that compelled the target to move 10 feet in a direction of his choosing. This meant that no place on the boat was safe from being ordered to step off and into the lake.
- All of his attacks afflicted some status effect or another. We were doing awful at saving. Everyone had some sort of status on them most of the fight except for Feawen. Being the primary ranged attacker she managed to stay out of the clump. One might thing Arlarond would also have stayed back, but he ventured out over the water in his floating disc, and was hit in the first pass with the breath weapon.
- The Clerics are both ranged attackers, obviously Feawen the ranger and Arlarond the wizard could attack from afar. That left the three melee classes. Lucan has an enchanted trident so he could stay back a few squares. Therryk chose to stand at the bow and attempt going toe to toe with the dragon, and Halma took a different approach...
- His Daily ability blinded the dragon, and then he ran and jumped from the boat and attacked in the air with is action point. He spent a few rounds in the water after that, since the dragon stunned him and a few others with his fear ability. He got dragged under the barely moving boat and lost a healing surge for the trouble. Arlarond was knocked from his disc and took a dip too, as did Feawen, Therryk, and Merril at some point during the fight.
- Surprisingly in spite of the constant poison damage, the slowing from the after effect, and the fear debuff we kept dealing damage. The dragon moved onto the ship and began going after different targets. The boat crept towards the shoreline, and was only stopped from beaching by the timely action of Halma dropping anchor. His second attempt at glorious action was thwarted by his relative inexperience with sailing. An attempt to cut a rope and cause the boom to knock the dragon in the head was less than effective, but we much appreciated his not allowing us to crash into the shore.
- With most people bloodied and Merril and Ana out of healing magic the party was feeling pretty grim when surprisingly one last arrow from Feawen sent it pinwheeling towards the water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was in the player's seat for this and the next few games, which is nice for a change. We spent quite a bit of time role playing the town action, even getting momentarily bogged down in that D&D constant, over planning. For some odd reason it was buying a boat that did it this time. Goes to show that you never know what will set it off.
The dragon fight took up most of the rest of the time. I did not expect it to last that long. Most of the difficulties from this fight were due to the terrain. Granted, fighting a dragon in any circumstances should be difficult, but considering that there was nowhere on the boat safe from his slide ability and no way for us to not be bunched up, his breath weapon and dragon fear were especially effective. Later in the fight with both of those not recharged he flyby attacked several times, which is still rotten since his melee attacks also add poison damage.
The entire theme of the fight was status effects. We were experimenting this session with pipe cleaner rings to represent conditions. We started with pink on the dragon to represent the Hunter's Quarry (the Pink Ranger, hur hur) and yellow for the Divine Challenge. Then we got hit with the breath weapon and most of the minis on the boat had a green (poison) and orange (slowed) ring. Add red for bloodied and yellow for the fear debuff and the wizard could barely be seen behind his rings. Someone suggested the players keep the rings instead of their minis, and that is how we finished. The dragon had a couple status rings and the DMPC, but most players were wearing theirs on their fingers the rest of the fight. It was kind of a . . .less than ideal test for them, since the dragon caused a lot more status effects than normal, and in my mind the primary function should be to mark enemies so the players can see at a glance which ones are marked, bloodied, etc.
We were more worried than we should have been about colliding with the shore. At the bottom of every round Colin redrew the shore 3 squares closer and moved all the water treading PC's 3 squares away. Luckly the DC's for climbing aboard were only a problem for the full plate, heavy shield Paladin (me). Halma had the anchor in his hand originally in an attempt to leap onto the dragon (again), and hook it to him. I think had we not been careening out of control towards the shore he may have tried. It is funny, because it added that bit of desperation, I think. While I would have *loved* to fight on open ground, having a hole torn in the ship would have sucked.
This was my first FAIR dragon fight playing D&D. I did fight a red dragon once in a 10th level game, but he was. . .a pain in the ass, I guess. This dragon was a tough, exciting, dangerous fight, and a score for 4e, in my opinion.
Jay
Chelsea, playing Ana the Half Elven Cleric
Chris, playing Merril the Halfling Cleric
Dan, playing Arlarond the Human Wizard
Jay, playing Therryk the Dragonborn Paladin
Jesse, playing Halma the Human Rogue
Lisa, playing Feawen the Elven Ranger
Colin was DMing but ran Lucan, his Elven Fighter
We had 2 Defenders, 2 Strikers, 2 Leaders, and 1 Controller. A pretty balanced group. Of course, the three not attending are all strikers, so it was more luck than anything...
The city of Fallcrest embraced their new heroes with open arms. Upon hearing of the events that transpired in the Scarred Caverns a celebration was thrown, with our heroes as guests of honor. Somewhat more attention was paid to Ana, the bastard child of the Lord Mayor. The party was a chance to relax, and to get paid for being heroes.
It was also a chance to hear about the local goings on. It seems a party of dwarves had been spending their days in the local watering hole. These dwarves had been in the town for a few days and nobody seemed to know why they were here or what they were waiting for. Arlarond, who had spent the evening drinking with them not long ago, made his way to the Inn and began pumping them for information.
It did not take much to discover what the story was. They were biding time waiting for their leader to show up. He was stuck in prison in Hammerfast and would send a runner when he was released and ready to meet up. At that time they would head North to find an old abandoned Giant Temple. Since no more giants claimed it the temple was newly dubbed the treasure temple.
Arlarond wasted no time. He found Halma drinking in another establishment. Halma readily offered to hire an actor to convince the dwarves that their boss needed them in Hammerfast (though this is still unknown to the party). Arlarond moved on. In turn he contacted the remaining members of the party in their respective hangouts or homes. The plan was to meet at the Wizard's Tower at sundown.
He finished in time to return to the Inn and witness the actor approach the dwarves. He played up being the runner sent from Hammerfast. The dwarves were mostly passed out drunk by this point, having been kept in supply by a generous donation from Arlarond. The actor informed them that their boss needed them to return and post bail for him. One of the dwarves was with it enough to demand proof that this runner was from the boss. Arlarond graciously volunteered himself as an impartial party to verify that the name whispered in his ear by the 'runner' was the name spoken aloud by the dwarf. Big surprise, it was! The dwarves decide to finish their one last night of drinking and leave early the next morning to Hammerfast.
There is time enough in the day for some planning and research. Ana attempts to search the castle for any information about a 'Giant's Temple' to the north, but is unsuccessful. Arlarond quizzes his master, who admits that he does not recall any such thing, but freely allows Arlarond to do research of his own in the small private library in the tower. After some diligent searching he spies a map tucked away between two bookshelves with a handwritten scrawl mentioning some larger than life ruins on a specific island in the lake north of Fallcrest.
Nightfall comes, with the gathering of the heroes at the foot of the Wizard's Tower. Preparations are made, and discussion about travel arrangements turns to boats. It is agreed that waiting until mid morning the next day (after the dwarves leave town) would be best. The next day, a small boat is hired for the journey, provisions are procured, and the journey begins. It will be days of sailing just to reach the lake. To pass the time, the two Human party members attempt to learn the ropes of sailing from the 4 man crew.
Three days out from Fallcrest the sharp eyed members of the crew, and the captain of the vessel spot a boat headed downriver. As it gets closer it is apparent that there is nobody aboard and the out of control boat is headed on a collision course with ours. Fast acting by the crew and party together push it out of the way in time to avoid disaster, and Halma leaps aboard to investigate this new mystery.
With both boats anchored near each other, the party begins to examine the derelict. Large gouges mar the deck, and portions of the railing are torn away. Exploring the lower deck illuminates part of the mystery, as 5 bloated corpses are found. Simultaneously Feawen comes to a conclusion about the claw marks, and Arlarond recognizes the origin of the poison. This boat had been attacked by a green dragon.
A quick party council agrees on two things. Make no mention of the bodies or the dragon, and take as many barrels of wine as we can load on two Tenser's Discs. Once the boat is once more unoccupied it is released to float downriver to Fallcrest. Interestingly enough, the captain volunteers a tale about a green dragon terrorizing a village in the north. He travels this way often trading goods, but has never seen one. He considers it a legend.
Days later as the party entered the lake, they saw the expected shape far away in the sky. Knowing what they did about the reality of a green dragon in the area, the party points the boat to shore and ushers the crew below decks. Before too long they are staring down the charging gullet of a large green dragon.
The battle was long. Highlights:
- We were bunched up on a 15 x 50ish boat. Had the dragon felt sporting he would have waited until we reached the shore to attack, but he took advantage of the situation and charged while we were still almost 100 feet away. The boat was moving about 2.5 feet per second. Less than 2 miles per hour.
- The dragon had a mental ability that compelled the target to move 10 feet in a direction of his choosing. This meant that no place on the boat was safe from being ordered to step off and into the lake.
- All of his attacks afflicted some status effect or another. We were doing awful at saving. Everyone had some sort of status on them most of the fight except for Feawen. Being the primary ranged attacker she managed to stay out of the clump. One might thing Arlarond would also have stayed back, but he ventured out over the water in his floating disc, and was hit in the first pass with the breath weapon.
- The Clerics are both ranged attackers, obviously Feawen the ranger and Arlarond the wizard could attack from afar. That left the three melee classes. Lucan has an enchanted trident so he could stay back a few squares. Therryk chose to stand at the bow and attempt going toe to toe with the dragon, and Halma took a different approach...
- His Daily ability blinded the dragon, and then he ran and jumped from the boat and attacked in the air with is action point. He spent a few rounds in the water after that, since the dragon stunned him and a few others with his fear ability. He got dragged under the barely moving boat and lost a healing surge for the trouble. Arlarond was knocked from his disc and took a dip too, as did Feawen, Therryk, and Merril at some point during the fight.
- Surprisingly in spite of the constant poison damage, the slowing from the after effect, and the fear debuff we kept dealing damage. The dragon moved onto the ship and began going after different targets. The boat crept towards the shoreline, and was only stopped from beaching by the timely action of Halma dropping anchor. His second attempt at glorious action was thwarted by his relative inexperience with sailing. An attempt to cut a rope and cause the boom to knock the dragon in the head was less than effective, but we much appreciated his not allowing us to crash into the shore.
- With most people bloodied and Merril and Ana out of healing magic the party was feeling pretty grim when surprisingly one last arrow from Feawen sent it pinwheeling towards the water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was in the player's seat for this and the next few games, which is nice for a change. We spent quite a bit of time role playing the town action, even getting momentarily bogged down in that D&D constant, over planning. For some odd reason it was buying a boat that did it this time. Goes to show that you never know what will set it off.
The dragon fight took up most of the rest of the time. I did not expect it to last that long. Most of the difficulties from this fight were due to the terrain. Granted, fighting a dragon in any circumstances should be difficult, but considering that there was nowhere on the boat safe from his slide ability and no way for us to not be bunched up, his breath weapon and dragon fear were especially effective. Later in the fight with both of those not recharged he flyby attacked several times, which is still rotten since his melee attacks also add poison damage.
The entire theme of the fight was status effects. We were experimenting this session with pipe cleaner rings to represent conditions. We started with pink on the dragon to represent the Hunter's Quarry (the Pink Ranger, hur hur) and yellow for the Divine Challenge. Then we got hit with the breath weapon and most of the minis on the boat had a green (poison) and orange (slowed) ring. Add red for bloodied and yellow for the fear debuff and the wizard could barely be seen behind his rings. Someone suggested the players keep the rings instead of their minis, and that is how we finished. The dragon had a couple status rings and the DMPC, but most players were wearing theirs on their fingers the rest of the fight. It was kind of a . . .less than ideal test for them, since the dragon caused a lot more status effects than normal, and in my mind the primary function should be to mark enemies so the players can see at a glance which ones are marked, bloodied, etc.
We were more worried than we should have been about colliding with the shore. At the bottom of every round Colin redrew the shore 3 squares closer and moved all the water treading PC's 3 squares away. Luckly the DC's for climbing aboard were only a problem for the full plate, heavy shield Paladin (me). Halma had the anchor in his hand originally in an attempt to leap onto the dragon (again), and hook it to him. I think had we not been careening out of control towards the shore he may have tried. It is funny, because it added that bit of desperation, I think. While I would have *loved* to fight on open ground, having a hole torn in the ship would have sucked.
This was my first FAIR dragon fight playing D&D. I did fight a red dragon once in a 10th level game, but he was. . .a pain in the ass, I guess. This dragon was a tough, exciting, dangerous fight, and a score for 4e, in my opinion.
Jay
Monday, October 20, 2008
10/18 Actual Play
We had 6 PC's this session, the Human Cleric, the Halfling Cleric, the Elven Fighter, the Human Wizard, the Human Rogue, and the Elven Ranger. The Halfling Cleric just happens to be the same halfling we had join us last session, only now she is a male cleric. Convenient. Onward ho!
The next room is a large, mostly empty stone room with a 5x20 foot altar in the center that rises about 4 feet high. As the party begins to enter the room they see standing in front of the altar a robed figure, moving slightly. The Elven and Half Elven party members see more in the dim light. At the other end of the long room are two pits. They also get a better look at the altar. It is covered with grotesque imagery, and from what they can see, it is a twisted fountain, with many spouts that dribble blood that collects in a trough around the base. Thankfully it appears empty right now.
The Rogue sneaks up behind the figure. As he gets close it turns, and he and the rest get a good look at it. Taught skin pulled over dry bones, draped in shapeless robes. Unholy light burns within and animates it's movements. They attack each other.
As the Wight screams it's unholy scream a handful of zombies climb from the pits. As they near the party, it is apparent that these are the same hobgoblins that they defeated not that long ago. Highlights:
- The Halfling Cleric manages to catch about half of them in a spectacular display of his Deity's power. The zombies flee and two of them tumble into the pit.
- The Half Elven Cleric does the same thing, and pretty much eliminate the zombies as a threat.
- The wight was too exposed to do much besides die. Melee characters charged in and ended it quick.
Exploration following the fight illuminates a few things. The pits are full of dead bodies, all in more advanced states of decomposition than the ones they fought. Of the three exits out, one is a dead end, and one is easily barricaded by the Rogue, leaving and obvious choice for the party. Not before the clerics take their time to rob this altar of it's power, just as in the previous room. Once done, the party noticed that the pits full of bodies began to stink. Before there was no scent.
The room the party chose was once a beautiful stone room with decorative pillars spaced throughout. Many of them had fallen, leaving piles of broken stone on the floor. In the corner were some stairs down, and opposite them was another door. After cautiously exploring the room and finding nothing of interest, they decided to move on to the next door.
This room held something interesting. The door opened on three dark elves gathered around a large table. The table had a body strapped to it, and appeared to be purpose built for torture and dissection. To the right was a dividing wall with living quarters, and in that room were three more Drow. The apparent leader began speaking with the party, but was interrupted by an orb of force streaking into the room and striking two of the guards. Important stuff:
- The Human Wizard put down an area of force daggers right in front of the door, anticipating the Drow's charge for the party. Unfortunately they had reach weapons and this only hindered the party during the first round.
- The Rogue shouting at his allies to keep out of that room and move the enemies to their room. They had good defensive position with pillars to hide behind and a choke point. This would have worked perfectly except...
- The Drow Wizard hitting the grouped party with a power that made four of them fall prone, and dazed them. The pole arm fighters were able to move into the room once the force daggers were down and attack the party in the open.
- The other two Drow were quickly dubbed 'cabana boys' and after one was dropped quickly it was decided to try and keep the other alive.
- The Elven Fighter attacking from the ground and shoving his trident under his assailant's armor, killing him. Afterwards he said he planned to go down, just for that purpose.
- Once the battle started turning against them, the Drow retreated into the room and slammed the door, attempting to get away.
- The Fighter leaped at the door, kicking it down after a vault with his trident, burst through, and charged the remaining guard, taking him down.
- The fight was largely over, but the Drow Wizard did not know that. He ran down a hallway and opened the door at the end. The other Wizard conjured another region of magical daggers behind him, trapping him.
- The Fighter (again!) bullrushed him into the daggers, and he dropped to his knees, protecting his face from the slashing. He did not see the rogue's dagger find it's mark between his fingers, and he fell to the ground dead.
The party took two prisoners, the living cabana boy, who the wizard had abandoned in his flight, and the last guard that had been taken down by the fighter. They examined the body and discovered that it was the man that they had been looking for, and that he was dead. The two clerics laid him on the bed and began to perform rites on him, while the party interrogated the cabana boy.
Through some clever trickery involving whispered words of his former master being conjured into his ear, he spilled all he knew. This was a Drow Temple of Vecna. Long ago a powerful Drown Necromancer had come to the surface world and enslaved or destroyed many. He had build temples like the one they were in all over, to enable him to perform his unholy rites. The fountain in the last room was an artifact that animated the dead placed in the two pits nearby. the current Necromancer was seeking to raise an undead army and begin the work of his master anew. The party learned:
- The dungeon was two levels
- The man the killed was not the Necromancer
- There were only a handful of followers, all outcast from the Underdark and Drow society as a whole
While the Clerics finished their rites the next room was explored. This was the final room on this floor. In the corner were five square obsidian pillars, each five feet on a side and going floor to ceiling. They were written in a language unknown to all present, but following a brief ritual the Wizard was able to discern that these contained the knowledge for using the altar in the next room. Essentially these were the Necromancers' spellbooks. With help from the Rogue they used a hammer to obscure or obliterate key parts of the rituals, rendering them useless.
Placing the body on a floating disc, they returned to the city to report their findings. The prisoners were taken to the Sheriff's office. While Constable Blackshield was initially reticent to take the prisoners, he loosened up after a long night passing the flask with the Rogue. The two Clerics took the body to be lain to rest at one of the town's temples, and Wizard went to the tavern to unwind. Following an unpleasant exchange with Constable Blackshield's wife, the Half Elven Cleric decided that the children needed a better place to stay.
Early in the morning they met at the sheriff's office to talk to Constable Morlinar about what should be done. The sheriff was summoned, and although gruff at first he agreed to speak to the Lord Mayor about what should be done. The question of the two recently orphaned Graygrinder children was addressed, and the Rogue produced a sack of gold to be put in a trust for their safekeeping. The Wizard offered them a place to stay as hired hands at his master's tower, and Constable Morlinar promised to check on them to see how things were going. The party all knew that their job was not yet finished, and left soon after for the Scarred Caverns and the Necromancer, who was likely waiting for them there.
Not even bothering to sneak, the party marches down the stairs and into his lair. The Necromancer was working on some type of magical sigil on the floor, but stood and commanded his undead as the party walked in:
- Two clerics in the party meant this fight was doomed from the beginning. Despite having an aura from the Necromancer that boosted their power they were turned and out of the fight almost right away.
- The Wizard conjured a fiery sphere that he controlled with his mind. He harried the Necromancer with it the entire battle.
- The Necromancer got fed up with this and unleashed Necromantic energy on the party. Four of them were caught in a vortex of dark energy and flung back.
- In the following seconds he paid dearly for putting himself out there. Crippled and stunned he again blasted everyone back.
- Feeling the end creeping close and not wanting to face his master after such a complete failure he leaped through a portal and down the hall.
The party chased him only to run right into a trap. The last room in this complex contained an elevator powered by powerful enchantments and guarded by crossbow firing automata. Three Drow soldiers barred the way, attempting to give their master time, but as it became clear that the party would break through, the final soldier hit the kill switch and sent the platform plummeting into the Underdark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is what I get for planning the inaugural session to introduce (1) The Underdark *scary* and (2) Undead.
I get two clerics! 4e Turn Undead is brutal. Having played a 3.5 Cleric I can say with authority that without special attention from feats, domains, or prestige classes, turn undead was usually a bust. 4e Turn Undead is super awesome. As it should be for an attack that only works against certain types of enemies.
The last encounter for this adventure got lopped off. We were out of time and 20 minutes from the end of the session so it just gets described in cinematic terms. Since Colin is running next session it would be a huge time waster for me to DM the wrap up and then turn things over to him. This way he can weave the end of adventure infodump/interrogation with the authorities with the beginning of a new adventure seed. Not that they will necessarily need to follow it. I did try to introduce possible adventures into the sessions that I ran, and I got two in. Not a world record, at all.
So, what did *I* learn? Three combat encounters per session, tops, end of story, no argument or addendum. Do not plan for more. Do not try and anticipate what the party will do, you will always, always be wrong. Controllers belong at the back. Minions work best when scattered among rank and file troops, and in moderation. Do not assume that your players will want to know everything about everything when given the chance. In fact, that is practically what this game is about.
And the Halfling thing. . .Different player, and the best option was to pretend that it was that Cleric all along.
Next week I get to play, wonderful!
Jay
The next room is a large, mostly empty stone room with a 5x20 foot altar in the center that rises about 4 feet high. As the party begins to enter the room they see standing in front of the altar a robed figure, moving slightly. The Elven and Half Elven party members see more in the dim light. At the other end of the long room are two pits. They also get a better look at the altar. It is covered with grotesque imagery, and from what they can see, it is a twisted fountain, with many spouts that dribble blood that collects in a trough around the base. Thankfully it appears empty right now.
The Rogue sneaks up behind the figure. As he gets close it turns, and he and the rest get a good look at it. Taught skin pulled over dry bones, draped in shapeless robes. Unholy light burns within and animates it's movements. They attack each other.
As the Wight screams it's unholy scream a handful of zombies climb from the pits. As they near the party, it is apparent that these are the same hobgoblins that they defeated not that long ago. Highlights:
- The Halfling Cleric manages to catch about half of them in a spectacular display of his Deity's power. The zombies flee and two of them tumble into the pit.
- The Half Elven Cleric does the same thing, and pretty much eliminate the zombies as a threat.
- The wight was too exposed to do much besides die. Melee characters charged in and ended it quick.
Exploration following the fight illuminates a few things. The pits are full of dead bodies, all in more advanced states of decomposition than the ones they fought. Of the three exits out, one is a dead end, and one is easily barricaded by the Rogue, leaving and obvious choice for the party. Not before the clerics take their time to rob this altar of it's power, just as in the previous room. Once done, the party noticed that the pits full of bodies began to stink. Before there was no scent.
The room the party chose was once a beautiful stone room with decorative pillars spaced throughout. Many of them had fallen, leaving piles of broken stone on the floor. In the corner were some stairs down, and opposite them was another door. After cautiously exploring the room and finding nothing of interest, they decided to move on to the next door.
This room held something interesting. The door opened on three dark elves gathered around a large table. The table had a body strapped to it, and appeared to be purpose built for torture and dissection. To the right was a dividing wall with living quarters, and in that room were three more Drow. The apparent leader began speaking with the party, but was interrupted by an orb of force streaking into the room and striking two of the guards. Important stuff:
- The Human Wizard put down an area of force daggers right in front of the door, anticipating the Drow's charge for the party. Unfortunately they had reach weapons and this only hindered the party during the first round.
- The Rogue shouting at his allies to keep out of that room and move the enemies to their room. They had good defensive position with pillars to hide behind and a choke point. This would have worked perfectly except...
- The Drow Wizard hitting the grouped party with a power that made four of them fall prone, and dazed them. The pole arm fighters were able to move into the room once the force daggers were down and attack the party in the open.
- The other two Drow were quickly dubbed 'cabana boys' and after one was dropped quickly it was decided to try and keep the other alive.
- The Elven Fighter attacking from the ground and shoving his trident under his assailant's armor, killing him. Afterwards he said he planned to go down, just for that purpose.
- Once the battle started turning against them, the Drow retreated into the room and slammed the door, attempting to get away.
- The Fighter leaped at the door, kicking it down after a vault with his trident, burst through, and charged the remaining guard, taking him down.
- The fight was largely over, but the Drow Wizard did not know that. He ran down a hallway and opened the door at the end. The other Wizard conjured another region of magical daggers behind him, trapping him.
- The Fighter (again!) bullrushed him into the daggers, and he dropped to his knees, protecting his face from the slashing. He did not see the rogue's dagger find it's mark between his fingers, and he fell to the ground dead.
The party took two prisoners, the living cabana boy, who the wizard had abandoned in his flight, and the last guard that had been taken down by the fighter. They examined the body and discovered that it was the man that they had been looking for, and that he was dead. The two clerics laid him on the bed and began to perform rites on him, while the party interrogated the cabana boy.
Through some clever trickery involving whispered words of his former master being conjured into his ear, he spilled all he knew. This was a Drow Temple of Vecna. Long ago a powerful Drown Necromancer had come to the surface world and enslaved or destroyed many. He had build temples like the one they were in all over, to enable him to perform his unholy rites. The fountain in the last room was an artifact that animated the dead placed in the two pits nearby. the current Necromancer was seeking to raise an undead army and begin the work of his master anew. The party learned:
- The dungeon was two levels
- The man the killed was not the Necromancer
- There were only a handful of followers, all outcast from the Underdark and Drow society as a whole
While the Clerics finished their rites the next room was explored. This was the final room on this floor. In the corner were five square obsidian pillars, each five feet on a side and going floor to ceiling. They were written in a language unknown to all present, but following a brief ritual the Wizard was able to discern that these contained the knowledge for using the altar in the next room. Essentially these were the Necromancers' spellbooks. With help from the Rogue they used a hammer to obscure or obliterate key parts of the rituals, rendering them useless.
Placing the body on a floating disc, they returned to the city to report their findings. The prisoners were taken to the Sheriff's office. While Constable Blackshield was initially reticent to take the prisoners, he loosened up after a long night passing the flask with the Rogue. The two Clerics took the body to be lain to rest at one of the town's temples, and Wizard went to the tavern to unwind. Following an unpleasant exchange with Constable Blackshield's wife, the Half Elven Cleric decided that the children needed a better place to stay.
Early in the morning they met at the sheriff's office to talk to Constable Morlinar about what should be done. The sheriff was summoned, and although gruff at first he agreed to speak to the Lord Mayor about what should be done. The question of the two recently orphaned Graygrinder children was addressed, and the Rogue produced a sack of gold to be put in a trust for their safekeeping. The Wizard offered them a place to stay as hired hands at his master's tower, and Constable Morlinar promised to check on them to see how things were going. The party all knew that their job was not yet finished, and left soon after for the Scarred Caverns and the Necromancer, who was likely waiting for them there.
Not even bothering to sneak, the party marches down the stairs and into his lair. The Necromancer was working on some type of magical sigil on the floor, but stood and commanded his undead as the party walked in:
- Two clerics in the party meant this fight was doomed from the beginning. Despite having an aura from the Necromancer that boosted their power they were turned and out of the fight almost right away.
- The Wizard conjured a fiery sphere that he controlled with his mind. He harried the Necromancer with it the entire battle.
- The Necromancer got fed up with this and unleashed Necromantic energy on the party. Four of them were caught in a vortex of dark energy and flung back.
- In the following seconds he paid dearly for putting himself out there. Crippled and stunned he again blasted everyone back.
- Feeling the end creeping close and not wanting to face his master after such a complete failure he leaped through a portal and down the hall.
The party chased him only to run right into a trap. The last room in this complex contained an elevator powered by powerful enchantments and guarded by crossbow firing automata. Three Drow soldiers barred the way, attempting to give their master time, but as it became clear that the party would break through, the final soldier hit the kill switch and sent the platform plummeting into the Underdark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is what I get for planning the inaugural session to introduce (1) The Underdark *scary* and (2) Undead.
I get two clerics! 4e Turn Undead is brutal. Having played a 3.5 Cleric I can say with authority that without special attention from feats, domains, or prestige classes, turn undead was usually a bust. 4e Turn Undead is super awesome. As it should be for an attack that only works against certain types of enemies.
The last encounter for this adventure got lopped off. We were out of time and 20 minutes from the end of the session so it just gets described in cinematic terms. Since Colin is running next session it would be a huge time waster for me to DM the wrap up and then turn things over to him. This way he can weave the end of adventure infodump/interrogation with the authorities with the beginning of a new adventure seed. Not that they will necessarily need to follow it. I did try to introduce possible adventures into the sessions that I ran, and I got two in. Not a world record, at all.
So, what did *I* learn? Three combat encounters per session, tops, end of story, no argument or addendum. Do not plan for more. Do not try and anticipate what the party will do, you will always, always be wrong. Controllers belong at the back. Minions work best when scattered among rank and file troops, and in moderation. Do not assume that your players will want to know everything about everything when given the chance. In fact, that is practically what this game is about.
And the Halfling thing. . .Different player, and the best option was to pretend that it was that Cleric all along.
Next week I get to play, wonderful!
Jay
Thursday, October 16, 2008
9/27 Actual Play
In attendance this session was the Human Wizard, the Human Rogue, the Elven Ranger, the Elven Fighter, the Half-Elven Cleric (formerly warlord), and the Halfling Ranger's first appearance. She was brought in partway through the session. We jumped in right where we left off, as the final Kruthik fell to the ground dead. The party was unable to discover anything by searching the area, as the Kruthiks has destroyed any footprints with their own. It was decided that they would continue downwards and try to find any sign of the Graygrinder family. After about another hour of travel they entered an even larger tunnel.
The system they were in was a tributary of an even larger cavern system. The Kruthik tracks ended where their caves met the larger cave. The party was able to search around and find a few partial footprints, booted humanoids had been here. A relatively short distance deeper into the cave the party came upon a larger cavern. The sharp eyed elven members of the party were able to function better in this low light environment. Two dimly burning torches were spotted burning against the cavern's far wall. In an attempt at subterfuge the Wizard used mage hand to levitate a torch ahead of the party, to the entrance of the large cave. Arrows zipped out of the darkness and a harsh yell demanded identification.
Shortly following that a group of Hobgoblin warrior charged around the corner and straight for the wizard. The quick actions of the party Rogue saved him, as he dashed up and in a flurry threw his enchanted knife in a blur, killing most of the warriors almost right away. Bolstered by this initial success they moved into the room, and started drawing fire from some archers hiding in the deeper darkness. In the center of the room a large Hobgoblin Warlord bellowed challenges to the party, and the Rogue answered. In a furious blow the Warlord's hammer knocked the Rogue from his feat, leaving searing flame dancing across his prone form. The party rushed forward to recover their fallen comrade, exactly what the Warlord was hoping for. He turned to a new target, the Elven Fighter now slashing and stabbing at him with a trident, and began to wear him down. The archers peppered the less armored members of the group, focusing on the Cleric as she began bolstering her allies.
The Warlord's tone started turning to one of defiance and encouragement as the party began targeting his archers. As the party moved into the room they illuminated slaves chained together in the corners of the room. One of these slaves, our Halfling Ranger, began slipping out of her bindings. The Elven fighter went down, but the fight clearly had turned against the Hobgoblins and it was just a matter of time before they were defeated. The Halfling Ranger slipped out and snuck the bow right off of a Hobgoblin's back, shooting him and his ally. The Wizard blasted two of the archers into the cave wall, and they crumpled into a heap. The Warlord eventually fell to the combined might of the party, and the fight ended shortly after that.
The party's search of the fallen Hobgoblins turned up little new information, but they did find keys which they used to release the captives. All of the Hobgoblins wore thin metal collars, and the leader had a powerful flaming warhammer. The captives were all small. Most were members of the smaller races, goblins, gnomes, halflings and the like. Among the captives were the two Graygrinder children. Upon releasing the captives, most of them bolted without a word. Three halflings, natives of the area, stayed and answered the party's questions, but unfortunately they did not know much. The day was most certainly gone, even though this deep underground it was impossible for the party to tell.
After some initial fear and trepidation that on the journey to the surface they would be attacked by Kruthiks again, the party walked all the way back topside and found a safe place to rest for the night. The two Rangers, feeling tough, decided to try and find something fresh for the party. They stumbled upon a freshly killed deer and two territorial wolves feeding on it. A short and painful battle later the Rangers waltz into camp with a partially eaten deer and a wolf carcass.
Back in Fallcrest the party dropped the Graygrinder children off with Constable Blackshield, who asked payment for the inconvenience, and brought Constable Morlinar up to speed. They promised to return to the caverns to locate the father of the family, did some quick shopping, and called it a day. The next morning they left for the Scarred Caverns, hoping to find some good news inside.
After a lengthy but uneventful journey they found themselves outside the enterance to this strange underground building. Just inside the entryway they saw a large font in the center of the room, shaped like a skull and formed from bones. As one of them entered to examine it several skeletal forms animated and moved to attack the party. Half of them burst into flames as they did so, and it was on. The non-flaming skeletons crumbled before the party's might, but the fiery ones were able to put the hurt on several people, igniting the rogue again and letting him burn for much of the encounter. This was twice in a row this had happened to him. The Cleric was able to call upon her God and the party beat back the skeletons. Afterwards the Cleric took a few minutes to desecrate the empty pool. She felt it lose its power and it began to crumble right away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ended there. This session happened a month ago, almost, and while I remember most of what I had planned for, things like the trip to town are vague and the details fuzzy.
This was a good session. I really, really enjoyed running the Hobgoblin NPC during the fight. I don't know if the players will have as fond memories about the event. No more skill challenges, I need to think about them some more. This happens to me all the time, but I really thought that they would get further along this session. I need to scale back those expectations, otherwise things go poorly, I end up skipping things and it becomes a speed run.
Jay
The system they were in was a tributary of an even larger cavern system. The Kruthik tracks ended where their caves met the larger cave. The party was able to search around and find a few partial footprints, booted humanoids had been here. A relatively short distance deeper into the cave the party came upon a larger cavern. The sharp eyed elven members of the party were able to function better in this low light environment. Two dimly burning torches were spotted burning against the cavern's far wall. In an attempt at subterfuge the Wizard used mage hand to levitate a torch ahead of the party, to the entrance of the large cave. Arrows zipped out of the darkness and a harsh yell demanded identification.
Shortly following that a group of Hobgoblin warrior charged around the corner and straight for the wizard. The quick actions of the party Rogue saved him, as he dashed up and in a flurry threw his enchanted knife in a blur, killing most of the warriors almost right away. Bolstered by this initial success they moved into the room, and started drawing fire from some archers hiding in the deeper darkness. In the center of the room a large Hobgoblin Warlord bellowed challenges to the party, and the Rogue answered. In a furious blow the Warlord's hammer knocked the Rogue from his feat, leaving searing flame dancing across his prone form. The party rushed forward to recover their fallen comrade, exactly what the Warlord was hoping for. He turned to a new target, the Elven Fighter now slashing and stabbing at him with a trident, and began to wear him down. The archers peppered the less armored members of the group, focusing on the Cleric as she began bolstering her allies.
The Warlord's tone started turning to one of defiance and encouragement as the party began targeting his archers. As the party moved into the room they illuminated slaves chained together in the corners of the room. One of these slaves, our Halfling Ranger, began slipping out of her bindings. The Elven fighter went down, but the fight clearly had turned against the Hobgoblins and it was just a matter of time before they were defeated. The Halfling Ranger slipped out and snuck the bow right off of a Hobgoblin's back, shooting him and his ally. The Wizard blasted two of the archers into the cave wall, and they crumpled into a heap. The Warlord eventually fell to the combined might of the party, and the fight ended shortly after that.
The party's search of the fallen Hobgoblins turned up little new information, but they did find keys which they used to release the captives. All of the Hobgoblins wore thin metal collars, and the leader had a powerful flaming warhammer. The captives were all small. Most were members of the smaller races, goblins, gnomes, halflings and the like. Among the captives were the two Graygrinder children. Upon releasing the captives, most of them bolted without a word. Three halflings, natives of the area, stayed and answered the party's questions, but unfortunately they did not know much. The day was most certainly gone, even though this deep underground it was impossible for the party to tell.
After some initial fear and trepidation that on the journey to the surface they would be attacked by Kruthiks again, the party walked all the way back topside and found a safe place to rest for the night. The two Rangers, feeling tough, decided to try and find something fresh for the party. They stumbled upon a freshly killed deer and two territorial wolves feeding on it. A short and painful battle later the Rangers waltz into camp with a partially eaten deer and a wolf carcass.
Back in Fallcrest the party dropped the Graygrinder children off with Constable Blackshield, who asked payment for the inconvenience, and brought Constable Morlinar up to speed. They promised to return to the caverns to locate the father of the family, did some quick shopping, and called it a day. The next morning they left for the Scarred Caverns, hoping to find some good news inside.
After a lengthy but uneventful journey they found themselves outside the enterance to this strange underground building. Just inside the entryway they saw a large font in the center of the room, shaped like a skull and formed from bones. As one of them entered to examine it several skeletal forms animated and moved to attack the party. Half of them burst into flames as they did so, and it was on. The non-flaming skeletons crumbled before the party's might, but the fiery ones were able to put the hurt on several people, igniting the rogue again and letting him burn for much of the encounter. This was twice in a row this had happened to him. The Cleric was able to call upon her God and the party beat back the skeletons. Afterwards the Cleric took a few minutes to desecrate the empty pool. She felt it lose its power and it began to crumble right away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We ended there. This session happened a month ago, almost, and while I remember most of what I had planned for, things like the trip to town are vague and the details fuzzy.
This was a good session. I really, really enjoyed running the Hobgoblin NPC during the fight. I don't know if the players will have as fond memories about the event. No more skill challenges, I need to think about them some more. This happens to me all the time, but I really thought that they would get further along this session. I need to scale back those expectations, otherwise things go poorly, I end up skipping things and it becomes a speed run.
Jay
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