Artifact Hunters: The Real Quest Begins!

Game Date: 10/16/2010
DM: Nick

The Party:
Anna Bella (Leigha) - Halfling Monk
Gavail Pontiff (Ted) - Eladrin Wizard
Marek the Silver (Rusty) - Dragonborn Paladin
Morigan McBane (Jesse) - Human Artificer
Talindra Seryth (Matt) - Razorclaw Shifter Avenger

The Session:
Today we began our true mission, to find Torm's armor. First we each bought a horse (Anna and Tal are sharing one), and then we were off. We spent most of the session town-hopping, traveling East and resting in each town.

In one town we encountered a group of thugs who claimed to be the town guards. They asked us for some gold as a "leaving town fee". We saw through the ruse and made short work of them.

In another town we were given the chance to play a game where we would have had to steal a woman's undergarments. We passed on that one.

In yet another town we caught a bit of a stage show. A Tiefling magician was performing magic tricks. For one trick, he asked for help from a child in the audience. Then the Tiefling unhinged his jaw and bit the kid's head off. The magician turned out to an Oni Devourer with a sweet tooth for kids.

Though it was five against one, we had the additional problem of innocent bystanders. The Oni kept eating more children during the fight, so we had to take the monster down as quickly as possible. Best line - "Damn, I really wanted to eat you." (DM Nick, to the childlike Anna Bella.)

We wrapped up that battle and headed out of town. Or next fight took place in a swamp. We faced four Greenscale Hunters, two Vine Horrors, and two Crocodiles. The Hunters were no big thing, but the Vines and Crocs had some fairly devastating moves. Luckily, Gavail managed to hit a large group of them with a Sleep spell early on, which dramatically shortened the battle.

We left the final Hunter alive, and he agreed to become Marek's squire. We're calling him "Sleepy", since he spent the majority of the battle unconscious.

In the next town, we agreed to help someone by fighting in the arena. We got as far as choosing our foes, then ended the session.

Next Session:
Three of us will be entering an arena for one-on-one battles. Marek will be fighting a Half-Orc Hunter, Anna will face a Hex Knight, and Tal will compete against a Gnome Arcanist.

Reminders:
I will be unavailable on the 23rd and the 30th. On the 23rd some of the group will be playing at a Gamma World event, and they have a special Halloween game planned for the 30th. Our next game will be on October 6th.

Obsidian Portal Entry

Artifact Hunters: Miniquestapalooza!

Game Date: 10/9/2010
DM: Nick

The Party:
Anna Bella (Leigha) - Halfling Monk
Gavail Pontiff (Ted) - Eladrin Wizard
Julien (Dane) - Kalashtar Cleric
Marek the Silver (Rusty) - Dragonborn Paladin
Morigan McBane (Jesse) - Human Artificer
Talindra Seryth (Matt) - Razorclaw Shifter Avenger

Note:
Call it laziness or lack of time, but I'm not going into as much detail this campaign as I often do. A more complete log of our campaign's story appears on our Obsidian Portal page (meticulously updated by Nick), while my blog is more of a summary with personal anecdotes.

The Session:
When we left off, we had a choice of four mini-quests we had to complete to make a name for ourselves. So now we simply had to choose: Gnolls, Orcs, Chapel, or Tombs?

1. First we went off to raid a tomb. We encountered a Howling Hag, accompanied by several zombies. Thanks to Julien's Turn Undead power, a lot of the minions were taken out in one round. We breezed through this battle.

2. Next we explored a cave full of Orcs. The battle was soon joined by a gi-normous War Pig. Nevertheless, we slaughtered them all and had ribs for dinner.

3. Then we investigated a church where strange whispers had been heard. We each picked a door or window, the plan being to all crash through at once and surround whatever might be inside. What actually happened was Anna Bella, our plucky mini-monk, made a dramatic entrance... while the rest of us kept failing our rolls to bash our own doors. The Halfling found herself alone against a Spine Devil, two Legion Devils, and Gnaw Demon with a sweet tooth for her face. She fought well and stayed on her feet. Julien managed to keep healing her through a window, even though he couldn't quite climb through it. Eventually the rest of us found ways into the building, and made short work of the baddies.

4. Finally we faced some Gnolls & Hyenas. Early in the battle, Talindra got flanked by the boss and one of his cronies, who managed to drop her in one round. She's really glad we've got a cleric in the party now. This was the toughest battle of the night, but we pulled through.

Afterwards, we returned to town, and impressed the head librarian enough to gain access to the main quest. Next session we'll be headed out of town, looking for pieces of Torm's wardrobe.

Artifact Hunters: The Avatar of Torm - Session 1

Game Date: 10/2/2010
DM: Nick

The Party:
Anna Bella (Leigha) - Halfling Monk
Gavail Pontiff (Ted) - Eladrin Wizard
Marek the Silver (Rusty) - Dragonborn Paladin
Morigan McBane (Jesse) - Human Artificer
Talindra Seryth (Matt) - Razorclaw Shifter Avenger

A New Start
With two character deaths (and some other factors), last week we decided to try something different for a while. So today we started a new campaign. It involves a mission from church of Torm, and combating the influence of Bane. Bane is the evil god of tyranny, corruption, power, and general nastiness. (He also broke Batman's back once.)

About Our Characters:
Talindra Seryth was raised by an anti-Bane cult. I say "cult" because even though they are technically eliminating evil from the world, they are obsessive about their cause, and they care little about the morality or legality involved in achieving their ends. Tal was raised from birth to be a holy avenger, dedicated to finding and eliminating Bane's followers.

Also in the party we have Anna Bella, a Halfling Monk who kicks major ass despite her petite size. Gavail Pontiff is an Eladrin Wizard who studies history and dislikes the worship of gods. Marek the Silver is an honorable Dragonborn Paladin. Morigan McBane is a Human Artificer who enjoys exploring ancient ruins and hunting for treasure.

The Session:
We began in the city of Triel, where they were preparing for an event called the Divine Death. But soon we were given a plot hook that had us traveling to the city of Berdusk to look for the Gauntlet of Vestigius.

On our way we were attacked by a gnoll and two hyenas in the forest. Once we reached Berdusk, we found out that the gauntlet had been taken into some caves to the North. In these caves, we fought Goblins, Fire Beetles, and finally an Imp before finally getting the gauntlet back.

Next, we were told to head to the Elturel Monastary and speak to the head librarian. However, we were not allowed entrance until we proved ourselves. Next session, we will begin by selecting one of four mini-quests. One involves a Gnoll Outpost, another involves an Orc Raiding Party, another involves Haunted Tombs, and the last one involves an abandoned Chapel of Tyr.

A more extensive recap of our session appears on our Obsidian Portal page.

...And On A More Personal Note:
There's an episode of Daria where a student dies. Since Daria has a reputation for being unemotional, one of the dumber students asks her how to stop feeling sad. Daria charges her money for the advice, cash up front. After the student pays her, Daria says, "Find some other way to feel." The student immediately gets angry that Daria charged her for such simple advice. Then Daria says, "It worked, didn't it?" The student stops, thinks a second, realizes that getting angry really did make her forget about her grief, and walks away without saying anything.

Well, that's how I've felt ever since I started putting together this character. I mourned a little when my character died last week, but working up a new character made me forget about it. I'm very excited about Talindra, she's unlike anything I've played before. Writing her description and backstory is very cathartic, like being reborn after death. I do feel a little shallow though, as if I'm saying, "Out with the old, in with the new. Get your ass killed, we'll replace you too." But these are just fictional characters, how sad can I really be?