Session 4: Deeper into the Keep

4th Weekend of July

Prior to the weekend, a lot of people got interested in joining the tremendous fun of geeking out with D&D, mostly through the coolness of this blog. I had to brainstorm a bit on how to incorporate the new characters into the story and thought up a really cool one involving stone replicas and devils and marshmallows, but in the end, I fell back on the classic "this guy knows that guy."

New Characters!

• Carlo (Macho Therapist) plays Elros, a Drow Ranger who rains frost arrows to rival the rogue's damage output.
• Josh (Jollibee) plays Vizuviouz, a dual-weapon wielder Longtooth Shifter Tempest Fighter. What a mouthful.

Billy was surprisingly not busy and was able to play in the morning. I made characters for Fey and Carlo based on what they'd like to play so we can dive in to the action quickly. Fey was supposed to play this really cool Swordmage who has elemental sword attacks, but sadly, higher powers than the DM's intervened with his availability to play. Carlo liked his archer dude and I think everybody was impressed with his average damage per round of 20 or so. I wasn't able to discuss with Josh his character beforehand, so when he showed up at night and we rolled up his swordie, he probably got disappointed in how it later turned out.


The story so far:

After days holed up in his room, communing with his deity Ioun, Jim emerged blessed with a +1 holy symbol slightly groggy from not eating, bathing, pissing, shitting, jerking off, etc, during the whole time. He finds that the rest of his group had gone ahead to Shadowfiend Keep to confront Kalarel. Staul asks him to aid his comrades, along with Elros, the dark-skinned brother of the elven hunter Ninaran. Staul then leaves to have a jolly good time in Lordaeron.


The Hunger Problem of Dungeon Dwelling

The Horsemen was about to retrace their steps to the locked door they had earlier passed when Jim Castillo and Elros found them. Since Aaron wasn't there yet, his Dragonborn Juno went to look after the horses that they parked outside the dungeon, because it's just dumb to call yourselves Horsemen if you ain't got horses. The group then stumbles into a blue slime lurking beneath a shallow underground pool, which bathes them in fart bubbles.

Rune of terror

They go back and enter the now-unlocked door which leads to dark corridors pervaded by low moaning sounds. No, not whimpering, Japanese-style moans; more like the moan you make when you're tired and hungry and bored. The very perceptive Elros scouts ahead with his darkvision, finding a rune-marked floor tile which he bravely steps on.

And, as Jace has previously illustrated, we know what happens to brave adventurers, don't we?

The Horsemen probably got a bit confused when they saw the dark elf screaming like a little girl headed in the opposite passageway. They follow him into a room where a very joyous welcome committee of zombies (about as joyous as starving wolves get when a flock of sheep stumbles into their cave) happily invites them in for lunch. And, similar to earlier encounters with similarly hungry rats, jelly, kruthiks and slime, the Horsemen decline the invitation, not quite keen to join a party where they are the lunch.


The Lovely Bones

They venture into a hallway lined with sarcophagi. Rattling, clicking noises seem to come from inside them and they pry each lid open, only to discover nothing inside. Just as they see the hallowed altars at the far end of the hall, the pried lids slam shut then burst open again, from which skeletons in various armor and weapons climb out. After dismantling the skeletal array, they discover the altars to be dedicated to the Platinum Dragon. So Crono offers a short prayer to his deity while Elros notices and loots several silver dragon statues from a secret compartment behind one. Nice combo.

The next room revealed a much larger sarcophagi than the others, with an equally larger skeleton climbing out of it. This one however, had a breastplate emblemed with a dragon, and more importantly, a voice, which then said, "The portal must never be reopened! State your intentions or prepare to die!"

You have to keep wondering why Daven was playing the intelligent wizard when he was all for attacking the dude and just taking its longsword. The backstabbing rogue and usually evil drow were quick to explain their benevolent mission, and together they successfully passed an impromptu interview via a skill challenge.

The skeleton introduced itself as Sir Leoric, the last Knight of Bahamut to guard the Keep before its ruin. Sir Leoric succumbed to the malevolent whispers of the evil from the portal and, became possessed of a terrible madness. He slew his wife and children, and, being the greatest warrior in the Keep, most of the guard battalion. The rest rallied forth and was able to trap him into the catacombs where he regained his sanity and realized in horror at the atrocity he has done. He begs the Horsemen to fulfill his mission of guarding the portal, which he now feels to be reopening, and gives them his +1 Aecris longsword.

They return to the passageways marked with runes of terror and, after being stumped on how to hurdle this impossible obstacle, tried to jump over them, which surprisingly worked (duh). Elros' spider senses detected a secret door with an illusory wall, and after destroying the hungry zombies inside, they get stumped for a while again by the following riddle:

A wondrous treasure,

Valued by all, sought by many.

Found in both victory and defeat,

Yet never at the bottom of a treasure chest.

It marches before you like a herald,

And lives long after you are gone.

Of what do I speak?

Jace finally shows his intelligence and correctly answers Reputation, getting rewarded with a +1 Black Iron scale armor he would later give to Juno. He tested its fire resistance when he later casts Burning Spray with Juno in the blast area.

It's evening (real time, not game time) by the time they venture down into the second level of the Shadowfiend Keep...

The Magic Item Wishlist

For those who don't know yet, I've asked everyone to give me a wishlist of the magical items they would like to get for their characters.

The purpose of the wishlist is so that I know what you guys want. Treasure rewards are more meaningful and exciting if there's something in there that the players can actually use, instead of random stuff no one really wants (like the shield of protection). This doesn't mean everyone will get what's on their list, but I'll try to accommodate your wishes.

How it works:

Make a list of 3 magical items you'd like to get within the next couple of levels, preferably a weapon, an armor, and a miscellaneous item (like boots, or rings, etc). The level of each item must not exceed your level + 4.

I'll then combine all your lists and use that to draw rewards from whenever there's a treasure reward that has magical items in it. So if you guys unlock a chest that the adventure guide says has 2 magic items, I'll pick 2 from the list and that's what you'll find. I'll try to balance it so that everyone will at least get 1 good weapon and armor.

You can choose from the items in any of the books, as well as those listed in the D&D Character Builder. It's a great tool and there's a free torrent for it. Just a reminder, item level is very important here. Usually, each adventure only has a couple of high level items and many lower level ones, so only listing level 8 items for example will make it much less likely for your item to be picked.


Those who don't give me lists will have to make do with random stuff.

Microsoft Surface - Dungeons and Dragons Demo Walkthrough | HD

Frikken awesome

Session 3: Side Campaign

3rd Weekend of July 2010

Since many players couldn't come this weekend, and since those who could are too addicted not to play, Aaron, Arbeen and I decided to start a side campaign. I thought we should try the races and characters in Player's Handbook 2 just for kicks.

New Characters!

Aaron plays Erdan (17 Charisma), an Elven Paladin who's the Jace of this campaign (i.e. misses a lot, gets knocked out a lot).
Arbeen plays Urza (18 Charisma), a Deva Sorcerer who dreams of planeswalking someday.
Derick plays Justin TimberBieberLake (20 Charisma), a Half-Elf Bard who likes to punish enemies both with ridiculous swordplay and even more ridiculous singing and dancing.

Having only 2 Player Characters (PC) is too hard for me, who has to adjust the encounter difficulties of the adventure (which was originally designed for 5 PCs) to have just the right amount of challenge. So I added my own character but adopted a support and laid back role so the real players are in charge of what they do.

Background Story

We decided to call our adventuring group The Jonas Brothers (or maybe DMC?) as we were a cute but tough trio out to make a name (and riches) for ourselves in a harsh, unforgiving world. With our high Charisma scores, no music loving crowd can resist us, men will shower us with gold, women will shower us with kisses and hugs and other hopefully indecent behavior, our fans will triple-double after every completed quest, and we will skyrocket to the top of the Hellboard Charts. That's the plan anyway.


The story so far:

Brindol

The wanderings of The Jonas Brothers led them to Brindol, a small town on the south shore of the Elsir River. While relaxing in the Antler and Thistle tavern, shouts, crashes, clangs, and other assorted noises ring through the early evening and suddenly, hobgoblins wearing armor imprinted with a red hand break the tavern door down shouting, "For the Red Hand! For Sinruth!" They attack several patrons while one of them throws a burning torch near the bar and sets it aflame.

The Jonas Brothers quickly respond in kind, being one of the several aforementioned patrons themselves. They fell hobgoblins, by the dozens, by the hundreds, nay, thousands! At least that's how the bard will sing about it later.

Red Hand of Doom

Arbeen's Urza bounces off Chaos Bolts that make bowling pins of the minions. Sick.

Aaron's Erdan becomes this Daven's campaign and misses a lot of attacks. He also gets hit a lot and misses his other character, a Dragonborn Fighter wearing scale armor, too.

When they finish dispatching the hobgoblins, and cleaning up the mess (including some spilled coins from a gambling table), a wounded city guard asks for Erdan's aid. It seems several attacks have unbelievably occurred inside the town, which with its high walls thought impervious from such incursions. Smoke and flames rise from several buildings all around, and the sound of battle can be heard over the panicking shouts and screams.

Ogre

A moment later a huge ogre strapped to a wagon turns the street and notices The Jonas Brothers. Erdan charges forward and feels the hugeness of the ogre as it pummels him with a club long and large enough to be a Meralco post. The wagon was also carrying 2 hobgoblins armed with longbows that punctuated the club swing with arrow piercings.

Not to be left out of such an exciting clubbing event, the rest of the party joins in and shoots some long range lyrics and bolts and arrows of their own. This is where I felt that 3 PCs can be really hard for both the players and the DM, since even though I already adjusted the monsters' stats, it was still a bit too difficult.

After Justin's incredible shooting percentage (2 hits out of 13 attacks), along with Erdan getting knocked out twice in typical Daven style, the party eventually brings down ogre and co.

The next day, they get summoned to the Council Hall where they are interviewed by Council Member Eofram (as a skill challenge) as possible rescuers of the townsfolk who were captured in the attack. 7 people were taken, along with some historic items in the Hall of Valor. The Jonas Brothers fail the skill challenge but get the quest anyway for half the reward.

They then interrogate a captured hobgoblin and attempt to force the Red Hand's lair from him. They fail this skill challenge too but he points out a location on their map anyway.

They then journey north to where the hobgoblin said they were camped, the catacombs at Castle Rivenroar. Traveling without getting lost was another skill challenge they failed, and they ended up at, instead of the entrance to the catacombs, the entrance to a cave bear's cave. Where Erdan also gets knocked out. They eventually find the right path and reach Castle Rivenroar anyway.

So, multiple skill challenges failed, Erdan practically hugging the floor all the time - seems like a good start!

Session 2 (Part 2)

2nd Weekend of July 2010

The story continues...

When the Horsemen finally untie Staul, he takes back his +1 amulet of protection from Jace's now-dead body (who won't be needing it anymore, since he's dead), removes his wife's picture from its locket and hands it back to the group to show his appreciation for his rescue from being kobold stew (or bbq, or whatever these kobolds do to their food). On their way back to Winterhaven, he then recounts what happened to him.


Staul's story

Staul

Staul has discovered from his sources in Winterhaven, namely an old farmer named Elian and a much older scholar named Voltar, that the rumored relic he was searching for would probably be connected to Orcus, the Prince of the Undead (cue suspense music). Orcus' avatar was released from a portal north of town back in the Scourge War, but was defeated by the now-legendary Knights of Bahamut. Though the fallen avatar was hurled back through the portal from whence it came, a piece was salvaged (the horn the Horsemen recovered) and taken away.

Staul lectures the Horsemen that usually, re-summoning works better and faster if there's a strong connection between the worlds that would be connected by the portal (Orcus in his world, and his horn in this world), and that if obviously evil men (and kobolds, and gnome, etc) are looking for it, then it only means that they want to reopen the portal for Orcus.

Orcus

Staul says that he need not say how terrible Orcus or even his avatar is (not bad-terrible or crappy-terrible, but horrendous-, merciless-, and disastrous-terrible), and that they would have to stop this Kalarel fellow from completing the ritual of reopening the portal. They, meaning of course, the intrepid and enterprising young adventurers named the Horsemen -1.

Upon returning to town, the Horsemen are in a hurry to collect the promised gold from both Lord Pedro and Sister Linore. Lord Pedro would meet them later with Staul, while Sister Linore reinforced Staul's assessment of the impending threat. The priestess of Avandra also took notice of the mangled body that Aaron's Dragonborn was dragging along and commented that it might be dead and would they be so kind as to properly dispose of it in a nearby trash can, preferably one marked non-recyclable, since it was starting to smell and might disturb the other dying people in the temple's ward.

However, the hero of the day, Troll, continues in his Action Hero role and asserts that bringing the dead wizard back alive would help in stopping Kalarel. He convinces Linore of the wizard's assets (i.e. meatshield) and she tells the group she will ask Avandra's intervention and inform them later via email.


Resting in Winterhaven

After recharging themselves at the Silver Unicorn, the Horsemen -1 meets with Staul and Lord Pedro. They agree to thwarting Kalarel's plans by going to his likeliest location: Shadowfiend Keep, which the Knights of Bahamut built to guard over the portal. Staul would love to help, but he's old and offers to send aid by travelling to the nearest Defenders of the Alliance HQ. Troll also convinces Lord Pedro to lend them horses to hasten their quest. So when they later went to the Temple to find Jace brought back to life, not only did Troll remove the -1 from the group's name, he also made them true Horsemen.

Troll, the sassy but charming Tiefling that he/she is, also flirts with the amicable male proprietor of Blair's Emporium, Blair.Smiles, winks, compliments, etc were exchanged in the brief but passionate haggling, along with gold coins that traded for potions of healing and a belt of giant strength among others.

I should note that since his character died, Daven was busy sleeping. When I was telling the others how Linore sadly informs the Horsemen the good news, Daven literally woke up and joined the table all smiles. He showed his appreciation by casting Burning Hands in a later encounter, burning more than Arbeen's Rogue's hands. Some time in the next part Fred nods off and dozes in his chair. Billy didn't return so I left his Cleric back in town, communing with his deity.

Level Up!

The characters reached Level 2 here after getting XP from completed quests. I made a mistake in giving too much though, as some would later level up again on Sunday, which never happened before in all my years of playing D&D.


Shadowfiend Keep

Shadowfiend Keep

They arrive at the ruins of Shadowfiend Keep to find the dungeons guarded by goblins. Much goblin-slaying ensues and the Horsemen clean up the first few rooms easily. They sneaked up on a sleeping fat goblin and after butchering the poor helpless dude, they find 2 keys on his person. One opens a chest containing a +2 magic wand which Jace happily takes (though it didn't improve his spell hit % any way) and the other probably can open a locked door they passed by. (Hint!)

They were able to explore natural cave areas where the Dragonborn Fighter constantly got chomped on by giant rats, slammed stickily by a large splitting ochre jelly, and gnashed by clawed, insect-like kruthiks. But he's a tough mofo and Aaron just mocks/brags/sighs-in-relief the DM whenever a monster rolls badly in its attack.

It's Sunday evening when everyone decides to call it a day. Since the encounters were too easy I'll jack up the next monsters in the next rooms next week. (Hint!)

Session 2 (Part 1)

2nd Week of July 2010

New Character!

• Fred (iCYxFRESH), plays Troll, a Tiefling Warlord of questionable gender.

Fred, envious of the tremendous fun the group was having, joins and creates a Warlord creatively named Troll. The adventure picks up early in the morning but had to pause for a quick break (about 8+ hours) so that Fred can go on a date.

Since the group is very understanding, and would gladly trade places with Fred (i.e. on a date with an actual girl), we re-energize by sleeping. Billy, however, has other friends and leaves. Fred returns after paying P120 for a tricycle ride to my house, and we play til morning (because he has to go meet his girl, again). 

The story so far:

Crono (the rogue) approaches the stirring thing and notices it's actually covered by a blanket. Lo and behold, beneath is Troll (the warlord) tied up, gagged, bruised, and with a sore behind. Troll struggles to remember why he ended up there, and, after the DM reassures him that he did not engage in S&M action with the gnome, recalls what has transpired.

Troll's tale

Troll is actually one of the Defenders chosen to escort Staul into Winterhaven. Things were going fine and dandy until they leave for the dragon burial site, where, some days later, they are ambushed by a gnome with fellows in dark clothing along with a kobold troop. They were quickly overpowered, and as Fred was being tied up, he hears the gnome talking with Irontooth, the kobold leader. Fred was to be made as a sacrifice for Kalarel's ritual, while Staul would be taken by a hungry Irontooth.

After Troll tells his story, the group opens the silver box, finding inside it a blackened ram's horn that radiated strong evil. Reading Staul's notes, they discover that the horn was a cut-off piece of an avatar of Orcus, Prince of the Undead. This malicious avatar was released from a portal near Winterhaven in the Scourge War, where it was defeated by a valiant company of Defenders named Knights of Bahamut. The fleeing summoners managed to salvage the broken off piece of the demon's horn, probably in the hope of resummoning it later. However, the Knights of Bahamut built a keep over the portal, swearing to keep guard over the partially sealed portal. How the horn came to be buried in a dragon's burial site is unknown.

Outer Kobold Lair

Troll then decides to team up with the horseless Horsemen, and they set off for the kobold lair. As they prepare to assault the unaware outer guard, Troll boisterously argues with the rest, blowing the surprise attack. Fred gets his first taste of D&D action, and finds his Jacob (wolf pack) tactics work really well with Arbeen's backstabs. Daven's wizard continues to miss, but luckily, his Cloud of Daggers have unavoidable damage, and he sweeps off most of the minions.

Here my memory seems to get muddled. I think Fred and Billy leaves after that encounter so the former can meet up with his girlfriend while the latter does something (I don't remember) for someone he fervently wishes would be his girlfriend. Fred comes back later, probably happy, and we continue playing, but Billy doesn't, since his fervent wish probably is still just that, a wish. I hijack the body of Billy's cleric, Jim Castillo, and control him in the next encounter for the sake of story continuity.

Inner Kobold Lair (or How Daven Died)

The group enters the cave behind the cliff waterfall and is promptly greeted by javelins aplenty. Out of bravery (or dumbheadedness, your pick), Daven rushes his wizard Jace to the forefront to clear the kobold minions with his trusty Cloud spell. He and Crono, Arbeen's equally brave (or courageous, your pick) Rogue, are quickly surrounded by numerous kobolds while the team's frontman, Aaron's 7 foot tall Dragonborn dude lags behind. They all fell kobolds left and right but more keep on coming.

Irontooth

Eventually, the dreaded leader of the kobolds, Irontooth, arrives, and, along with an acid-lobbing wyrmpriest, his dual axes give the players reason to dread. Soon, the cleric's healing prayers and the warlord's inspiring words run out, and the players wounds aggravate. One by one, snickety sharp axes deal mortal blows to the Horsemen, and one by one, they fall.

First to kiss the cave floor is, of course, the brave wizard. Daven has failed his first death saving throw* when the Dragonborn Fighter flops down. He fails his second saving throw by the time the Cleric sizzles down from an acid orb. The rogue Crono, sly lil bastard that he is, was down to 3 or so Hit Points and was flinging javelins or some such from behind a wall near the cave entrance/exit when the wyrmpriest decides to go out for fresh air and maybe a short stroll and a snack. He gives the Rogue a thump with his wooden stick on his way out and down goes the halfling.

*Characters reduced to 0 or less Hit Points become unconscious and need to succeed at death saving throws in order to stay alive. 3 failures and the character dies. Yep, dedz.


You can stir the air with a spoon at this point, the suspense was so thick now that everything, the entire Horsemen's survival, depended squarely on the shoulders of the Tiefling Warlord, Troll. He and Irontooth, both greatly wounded, were locked in final battle when Troll swings his falchion... and misses! Irontooth returns the blow in kind... hits! Somehow Troll is still alive and there's still hope left.

It is at this moment in the encounter that Daven has to succeed at his third saving throw else Jace dies. As you may have guessed from the subtitle, yes, Daven fails, and Jace perishes amidst great fits of laughter from everyone else. He awaits his final fate by taking a nap.

Troll rolls the dice, in the last desperate attempt at survival, and there is a moment of silence when all eyes stared unbelievingly as the 20-sided die rested on the 20. An automatic critical hit! Troll's falchion disembowels Irontooth and cuts him up into many pieces just to be sure. The hero of the day revives his unconscious teammates and gets many many thanks and whoops in return. Except of course for Jace, who died and who probably wouldn't have died if Fred hadn't missed his first attack.

Inside the cave they find Staul, who, bound and gagged, showed incredible relief in his eyes upon seeing his rescuers. The Horsemen however ignores him and goes for the treasure chest beside Irontooth's bed, finding lots of gold and a suit of +1 dwarven chainmail which Troll happily dons.

The Horsemen has accomplished its first mission but they are faced with more dilemmas: What is this ritual that Kalarel hopes to finish with the Horn of Orcus? Who is this Kalarel and what is his cult's true purpose? Should the Horsemen finish what they seem to have started and thwart Kalarel's plans? Should they finally stop counting the gold coins and untie the scholar? How should they bury Jace's cold but brave corpse and how do they divide his possessions and his share of the loot among the rest of the still-alive members?

Join us tomorrow for Session 2 (Part 2)!

Debut Session!

1st Weekend of July 2010

I think introductions are in order, for the confused few who will happen to stumble into this blog. Our gaming group has decided to play D&D, and this blog will serve as the journal of our gaming sessions.

After the players have spent a few hours making their characters, and after I've spent a week preparing the adventure, I, as the only experienced (but still young) D&D gamer explained the basics of the game and went on to elaborate on the more detailed mechanics as the game progressed.


Da Peeps and their characters:

• Aaron (Manyak) plays Juno, a Dragonborn Fighter with a huge sword and lightning-fresh breath.
• Arbeen (Super E) plays Crono, a Halfling Rogue who rolls a lot of damage dice.
• Billy (Busy) plays Jim Castillo from Ewan, a Human Cleric who's, surprisingly, competent.
• Daven (Hari ng Sablay) plays Jacebel, the mermaid. Oh I mean, Jace Beleren, an Eladrin Wizard with AoE spells that always misses the enemies but always burns/shocks/slams/etc. his allies.
• Derick (D) plays the magnanimous and benevolent Dungeon Master (a.k.a. the enemy) who delights in blessing the players with awesome magic items and hot chicks and slimy goo.

Background Story


The story so far:

The Defenders of the Alliance organize its members into Ranks. The Horsemen, a Company of 4 mildly competent friends, have recently finished their training, and graduated into the lowest Rank, Slug Rank. Slugs get the easiest missions, and would need to complete a few in order to advance their Rank and thereby be assigned more dangerous, and more importantly, more high-paying missions.


To Winterhaven

Their first mission is to find a certain scholar named Staul, an avid historian of old relics from the Scourge War. He has gone north to a small town called Winterhaven searching for a rumored artifact from a sealed portal near it. Yet even escorted by Defenders (also Slugs on their first mission), Staul has seemingly gone missing. The Defenders then sent the badly named Horsemen to protect its investment.

The group journeyed north and was beset by small green kobolds of the Akki tribe along the road near Winterhaven. Here they learn the mechanics of D&D combat, and they also find out how badly their wizard can miss his spells. While asking around the town for word about Staul, they learn that Winterhaven is ill-manned to protect its surrounding lands from kobolds ambushing travelers and sometimes even capturing them.

The innkeeper of the Silver Unicorn relates that Staul has been staying for weeks in a room upstairs while conversing with locals about his search. While Jace (the aforementioned wizard) was busy sleeping, the rest of the group manages to learn that Staul was last seen a few days ago to excavate a nearby dragon burial site where the relic was supposed to be. Wandering the town, Jim Castillo (the cleric) visits the Temple of Avandra and accepts the priestess' (Sister Linore) request for proof of a rumored death cult. Juno and Crono went shopping, and Crono even chatted up a sexy elven hunter named Ninaran who has been guiding Staul around the wilderness. The group later gets an audience with the town's ruler, Lord Pedro, who asks them for aid in removing the kobold brigands in exchange for 250 gp.

Typical day for young, enterprising adventurers.


Dragon Burial Site

They are ambushed again by kobolds on the road, this time led by a wyrmpriest who was wearing a necklace with a horned skull pendant. Upon arriving at the burial site, they later discover a similar one worn by a gnome trickster overseeing an excavation under the command of a spectral apparition calling itself Kalarel. After hounding the sometimes invisible gnome, and dispersing the apparition, they find Staul's notes and amulet on the gnome's person, partly explaining why the gnome was there and not the scholar. Jace detects the presence of strong magic underneath the ground where the apparition's minions were digging, and he plucks out a silver inlaid box depicting a ram's skull and horns after using a (what he believes to be) magical shovel.

The Horsemen were about to open the box and read the notes when one of them noticed something stirring nearby...