Dragon's Demand: Big Bad Wolf

Game Date: 2/22/2014
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Dragon's Demand, Session 5
System: Pathfinder
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith (James) - Tiefling Paladin
Raz (Matt) - Human Sorcerer

The Session:
We were down two players today, so we didn't accomplish quite as much as we usually do.  Tanith spent the session consoling his sister over Erevel's death.  The rest of us were quickly presented with a new job.  We are to enter the home of the dead wizard Hunclay, deactivate any magical traps, defeat any arcane guardians, and catalog his possessions so they can be sold at auction.  We agreed to take the job, but decided not to do it right away.

Raz spent the evening identifying the magical items we'd found in the Kobold quarry.  The small box was a "Phylactery of Faithfulness", which alerts the wearer if they are about to take an action that is against their alignment or religion.  She gave it to Lilith.  One of the cloaks was a "Cloak of Resistance" (+1 to saving throws), which went to Halfbeard.  The other cloak was a "Cloak of Fangs" (+1 saving throws and a bite-based melee attack) which she kept for herself.

While Raz was doing that, Halfbeard and Lilith visited a gnome named Bassy, who was the town's historian.  They asked her about the dragon scales we'd found.  Bassy said they looked pretty new, which was worrisome news.  One of the kobolds we'd encountered mentioned serving the Great Lord Aeteprax, a dragon who had been defeated centuries ago.  If this dragon was somehow back in business, that could be a problem.  Bassy told us that Aeteprax's bones were buried at Tula's Crypt, so we might check that out at some point.  Later we informed Lady Origena of the scales, and she was also concerned.

But rather than visiting Hunclay's home or searching the tomb, this session we decided to go wolf hunting.  A couple of sessions ago we learned of a wolf pack that had been killing livestock, and (despite some reservations) we decided now was the time to take the job.  Halfbeard in the lead, we set out into the woods to track them down.  The ranger's tracking rolls started off pretty good, but quickly got worse.  Eventually it was the wolves that found us.  Despite some great perception rolls, the wolves managed to get pretty close before we saw them.  There were three total; two normal size and one extra-large dire wolf.

Lilith rushed to the front, and was promptly knocked to the ground.   She tried to get back up a couple of times during the fight, but each time she was immediately knocked back down.  She took a lot of damage, and quickly used up all her healing powers.  Once she hit zero, Raz fed her a healing potion, but she didn't stay above zero long.  Halfbeard stepped up and tanked for a couple of rounds, but soon found himself making death saves as well.  It finally came down to the dire wolf and Raz.  Just as she was about to be ripped to shreds, Raz fired off the magic missile that took the last of the creature's hit points.

The enemy finally defeated, Raz found herself alone in the forest, with two dying teammates.  She fed them the party's last two healing potions, which kept them from dying, but still didn't bring them back to consciousness.  Raz looked around and saw a cave nearby, with shallow water flowing through it.  She dragged her companions into the cave, leaving her fatigued.  Then she beheaded the dire wolf so we'd have proof of our kill.  Resting beside her friends in the soggy cave, she heard some skittering noises deeper in the tunnels, but Raz stayed where she was.  Soon she drifted off to sleep.

Halfbeard and Raz awoke several hours later.  Halfbeard had healed a couple of hit points from resting, but he was still very close to zero.  Lilith, however, had vanished.  Halfbeard sneaked through the cave passage and looked around the corner.  The tunnel ended in a chamber where he saw some chests, Lilith's prone form in one corner, and a large crablike lamprey monster.  We really wanted to help Lilith, but we didn't think we would survive a fight with Halfbeard being so close to death.

So Raz and Halfbeard headed back to town, with the intention of returning to the cave as soon as possible.  We turned in the wolf head, and used some of the reward money to buy healing potions.  Halfbeard drank enough potions to get back to full health, and we kept a few more on us to prepare for the upcoming battle.  Next we sought out Tanith to accompany us.  We ended the session there.  Next session we'll head straight back to the cave.  Hopefully that creature won't have eaten Lilith yet.

XP Rewards:
Raz, Halfbeard and Lilith each earned 1067 xp, bringing them up to 4361.

Dragon's Demand: Farewell Erevel

Game Date: 2/15/2014
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Dragon's Demand, Session 4
System: Pathfinder
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Erevel (Daniel) - Elf Rogue
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith (James) - Tiefling Paladin
Raz (Matt) - Human Sorcerer
Tanith Tularn (Thomas) - Human Cleric

The Session:

Today we continued our exploration of the kobold caverns beneath the quarry.  We were guided by Nighttail the Glib, a kobold from a rival clan.  Erevel led the way down the next tunnel, carefully checking for traps as he went.  After turning a corner and reaching a T-junction, our Rogue encountered two kobolds. It was a bottlenecked fight, with the party crammed into a tight hallway, so only those in front experienced much of the action.  At one point Erevel fumbled, causing himself to bleed.  A quick heal check kept him from losing too much blood.

After the battle we searched the room.  There was a pool of water containing some snapping turtles, which we avoided.  We found a door to the kobold armory, where Lilith obtained a Cold Iron Masterwork Longsword.  A bit later we ran encountered an old kobold priest, who warned us about a "great scaly beast" before he died.  From his body we took a box with trailing ribbons, which detects as magical, but we haven't figured out what it does yet.

Down some more hallways we passed a dire rat enclosure.  Nighttail mentioned these rats had been bred to be extra powerful.  We took her word for it and passed on by; no sense starting any unnecessary battles.  We came to a room with a stone bridge, flanked by two pits.  We could see some holes along one wall, and knew it had to be some sort of trap.  Erevel crawled forward to look for triggers.  The holes then opened up, from which hidden kobolds used their slings against us.  Erevel dropped down beside the bridge, on the opposite side from the slingers, hanging onto the edge to avoid getting stoned.  He tried to shimmy the rest of the way across, but fell into the pit. Luckily it wasn't very deep, and eventually he managed to climb out the other side.

Meanwhile, the rest of us ran across the bridge, went around the corner, and fought the kobold slingers directly from their hiding place in a side passage.  Lilith blocked off the passage so no kobolds could escape, and the rest of us fired around her until all the kobolds were defeated.  We then went down another hole to go even deeper into the dungeon. 

The next room had two short tunnels to choose from, both opening into larger chamber.  Erevel sneaked down the left tunnel, and the rest of us followed.  From the lead, Erevel saw a kobold cleric and two skeletons, standing by a statue.  Though Lilith wanted to stick to our usual strategy - blocking off the tunnel for another bottlenecked fight - Raz got impatient and charged to the head of the party.  This brashness cost her a few hit points when the squishy sorcerer suddenly found herself tanking.  Luckily she managed to withdraw before getting too hurt.

Half the party continued fighting the skeletons in the left hallway, and the other half ran around so they could attack from the opposite tunnel.  Tanith used a fear spell on the cleric, who then fled down another hallway.  Once the skeletons were destroyed, we examined the statue.  It was an idol of "The Infernal Duke Vapula", who I don't know, but it certainly sounds like one of those Names To Run Away From Really Fast.  We beat up on the idol for a few minutes before continuing.

Nighttail requested that we not disturb the kobold nursery, which she called "The Room of the Future."  We happily obliged, and walked on by.  Down the next tunnel, Erevel found and disabled a tripwire.  The tunnel finally opened up into a room containing the cleric, three kobold guards, and their chieftain: the evil sorcerer Roaghaz.

Lilith turned in one of our Pathfinder bonus cards to give herself a super-high diplomacy check.  She told the three kobold guards that if they joined us, they would be spared when Nighttail took over the kobold clan.  While they didn't immediately rush to our side, they did spend the next round mulling it over instead of attacking us.  Meanwhile Erevel attempted to use diplomacy on the kobold cleric, but didn't have much success.

During the fight, Roaghaz used a web spell, which kept some of us (mostly Halfbeard) from moving very far into the room.  Meanwhile, the cleric used a powerful "Channel Negative Energy" power which damaged all of us, and killed his own guards.  This dropped Erevel, and Raz spent the next round trying to keep him from dying.  A couple of rounds later the cleric used the power again, killing Erevel and nearly dropping Raz.  Lilith finished off the cleric, leaving only Roaghaz.

The chieftain was tricky.  He cast Mirror Image, so our next few attacks only took out his illusions.  Then he hit Raz, Lilith, and Halfbeard with Glitterdust, blinding them for a few rounds.  His next spell fumbled, accidentally releasing a nausea-inducing Stinking Cloud.  Tanith made the final hit that finished off our foe.

Noooooooooooooo!

Looting all the bodies and searching the room yielded a fair amount of treasure.  We found 1895 gold, a Wand of Web with four charges left, a Scroll of Glitterdust, a magic cloak we still haven't identified, and a few more items.  We also found some large reptilian scales.  We considered having Erevel raised, but Halfbeard (who knew him best) told us Erevel wouldn't have wanted that.  Nighttail helped us free some human prisoners the kobolds had been holding, and we headed back to town.  We gave Erevel a decent burial and called it a day.

Our share of the gold is 461.25 gp each.  We each earned 1294 xp, bringing the survivors up to 3294.

Dragon's Demand: Party Go Down The Hole

Game Date: 2/8/2014
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Dragon's Demand, Session 3
System: Pathfinder
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Erevel (Daniel) - Elf Rogue
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith (James) - Tiefling Paladin
Raz (Matt) - Human Sorcerer
Tanith Tularn (Thomas) - Human Cleric

The Session:

The Party

Last session we found the body of the missing wizard Hunclay, and learned that he was responsible for the destruction of the mage tower.  On the way out of the ruins, we found a pair of notched daggers on a corpse.  We immediately headed back to the treasure room so we could try them in the locks we couldn't open last week.  Success!

There were seven treasure chests.  All told they contained 18500 copper pieces, 4000 silver, 115 gold, 14 platinum, and a teak case containing 30 emeralds.  We spent a good while figuring out how to get everything back to town, made arrangements to convert the copper into silver, and deposited a lot of it in the bank.  Our quest-giver, Lady Origena Devy of Belhaim, rewarded us with an additional 500 gold.  All told, we had 1276.5 gold (2553.6 gold each) and 30 gems (6 gems each).

We poked around town, did some shopping, and collected a few more rumors.  We'd now completed enough sidequests to reach level 2.  After spending some time leveling up our characters, we turned in for the night.  The next morning we set out on our next quest, to drive the kobolds out of the local quarry.

Kobold Quarry

We approached the quarry, and saw six kobolds walking around outside near some caves.  We considered ambushing them, but instead decided to approach and ask to speak to their leader.  They told us their leader was too busy to talk to us.  Raz tried to intimidate them, but that just provoked them into attacking us.

Six kobolds shouldn't have been much of a challenge for our party, but we just sucked in this battle.  Fortunately the kobolds didn't do much damage, but we made up for it by damaging ourselves.  At one point Tanith fumbled and got tangled up in his gear.  Raz fumbled a Ray of Frost spell, giving herself an ice cream headache.  In all the chaos, two of the kobolds managed to get away.  We pursued them into the tunnels.

The Hand of God Adds Tunnels

Erevel led the way, checking for traps.  When we came to a fork, Halfbeard used his tracking skills to pick a tunnel.  At one point Erevel found a pit trap and guided us around it.  Eventually we reached a large room with a pile of vegetables and excrement in the middle.  On top of the mound was a leather sack.  At first we thought the sack was the lure for a trap, so we gave it a wide berth.  Then, in one alcove, we spotted a bound kobold. We spoke to her.

The kobold prisoner was named Nighttail the Glib and she was from a rival clan.  The sack belonged to her, and the pile of refuse was there for other kobolds to throw at her.  Seeing as we had a common enemy, Nighttail offered to help us.  She promised to give us a wand of Cure Light Wounds in exchange for our help.  She also had a pet dinosaur named Hack, who was being held in the next room.

Meeting Nighttail

As Nighttail led us through the tunnels, she mentioned that some human prisoners were being held in one of the rooms.  We'll take care of that after we defeat the kobold leader.  Down another hallway we saw a couple of kobold guards in front of a doorway.  There was a lot of straw on the floor, so Halfbeard tried to trick the guards by throwing an everburning torch at the straw at their feet.  These torches can't actually start fires, but the kobolds didn't know that, and one of them panicked and fled around the corner.  We killed the other one in short order.

 Lilith chased the one that got away, but set off a dart trap.  Once we tended to her wounds, we went around the corner and saw a hole.  Lilith climbed down first, and the rest of us followed.  In the lower room we faced a single kobold.  We finished him off, and prepared to explore the tunnels further.  We ended the session there.

Here's where we left off.

Dragon's Demand: Good Baron Sarvo Wills It

Game Date: 2/1/2014
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Dragon's Demand, Session 2
System: Pathfinder
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Erevel (Daniel) - Elf Rogue
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith (James) - Tiefling Paladin
Raz (Matt) - Human Sorcerer
Tanith Tularn (Thomas) - Human Cleric

The Session:

Last session ended with us thwarted by a river of acidic slime.  We returned to town, rested, and spent the next morning getting to know our way around the village and collecting rumors.  We learned all the latest juicy gossip:  The baroness allowed kobolds to move into an abandoned quarry.  Dragons still live nearby, and have been stealing boars.  There are unmarked mine shafts in the hills, haunted by the ghosts of miners.  The town Druid hasn't been seen in a while, and his pregnant wife is missing.  A wolf pack has been killing livestock.  The town wizard might be a devil worshiper.

We bought some wooden boards and nails, intending to make a makeshift bridge for the acid river.  We went to see the Baroness for supplies, but spoke to his son Arnhold instead.  He wasn't extremely helpful, and might not have even been sober, but he did arrange a bit of healing for us.  Once we felt ready to press on,  and headed back to the dungeon.  First we made our way towards the room with the control lever, so we could make the ledge appear beside the acid river. 

As we approached the control room, a voice spoke to us through the door.  Just like last session, it told us it was starving.  This time, Halfbeard tossed some rations through the window, and the voice replied, "Good Baron Salvo wills it."  It wasn't the first time we'd heard this phrase, and we decided to keep it in mind this time.  This time we were not attacked this time when we used the controls.

We reached the river and used our planks to cross it.  It took some fancy footwork to cross unscathed, but eventually we all made it to the other side.  We tried to pull the boards after us, but damaged them in the attempt.  Next we walked down a long hallway.  At the end there was a small room containing illusory magic.  We heard instructions that told us to close the door behind us before using the pass phrase.  We briefly split the party, each group entering the room, closing the door, saying "Good Baron Sarvo wills it", and proceeding into the next room. 

The next room was much larger.  It contained a four-armed arcane servant, but it made no move to attack us.  There was a lever against one wall, which we later learned controlled a pit trap in the previous room.  Glad we knew the pass phrase.  We also saw a key floating in the air.  As we approached the servant, it instructed us to "present the crest for passage."  Halfbeard had found a crest in the previous session (not that the rest of the party noticed), which he now presented.  The servant stepped aside.  The floating key turned out to fit in the back of the servant.

In the next room there were several treasure chests, but we couldn't reach them because they were behind bars.  There were two slots on the floor that might have been keyholes, but none of our keys fit them.  As we pondered the situation, a ghoul came from an adjoining hallway and attacked us.  We finished it off in a round, and peered down the hallway from which it had emerged.  The hall was barricaded and filled with booby traps.

After making our way through the traps, we emerged in a cave with a low ceiling, making everyone except Halfbeard crouch.  We saw a large pile of rubble and a lot of kobold tracks.  Searching more closely, we found two kobold bodies and one crushed human.  We believed it to be the wizard Hunclay.  We found two keys on his body, so of course we tried them in the treasure room.  No dice.

As we re-entered the cave, we were attacked by three kobolds.  It was a weird battle because we were stuck single file in the hallway, and Halfbeard took most of the damage since he was stuck in front.  Raz managed to make one fall asleep, we took down another, and the final one decided to parlay.  We asked the kobold about all the rubble, and she told us the kobolds had been hired by Hunclay to destroy the mage tower.  We continued to speak with her for a while, until we felt we'd learned all she could tell us.  Then we grabbed Hunclay's body to take it back to town. 

We used some of the larger pieces of rubble to make a bridge across the acid river, and headed out of the dungeon. We will pick up the story in town next week.

Dragon's Demand: First Session

Game Date: 1/25/2014
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Dragon's Demand, Session 1
System: Pathfinder
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Erevel (Daniel) - Elf Rogue
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith (James) - Tiefling Paladin
Raz (Matt) - Human Sorcerer
Tanith Tularn (Thomas) - Human Cleric

The Session:
Our party had been hired as caravan guards for a trip through the forest.  The journey was going to take three to four weeks and we would pass through several towns.  The caravan was led by a trader named Silas Gribb. During the trip, Raz became chummy with him, but Erevel suspected he was shifty.

In the town of Belhaim, Silas was arrested.  Turns out he was a wanted smuggler.  Halfbeard was also detained, but eventually cleared of charges.  Finding ourselves in a strange town without jobs, we did as all adventurers do and headed for the inn.  As we schmoozed and drank, we suddenly felt the building shake as a plot hook exploded elsewhere in town.

We joined a crowd forming around a now-destroyed Witch's Tower.  An investigation was already underway, and several kobold corpses had been found in the rubble.  Suspicions arose around a local Wizard named Hunclay, who had previously made no secret about his hatred of the tower (it blocked his view), but alas the mage could not be reached for comment.  The door to his home was trapped, and he wouldn't answer our knocks.  Meanwhile, other party members discovered a trapdoor in the tower ruins.

Quest Cards

After a bit of running around looking for clues, we were given a proper quest by the Lady Origena Devy, Baroness of Belhaim.  We were promised 500 gold if we would investigate the dungeon under the ruined tower. This being one of the more organized campaigns I've experienced, we were handed quest cards to keep track of available tasks.  Looks like most of them involve making friends in town; good thing I have high Charisma.  But that's on the back burner for now, as we have a dungeon to explore. 

We climbed through the rubble and sent our Rogue down into a large chamber.  He was immediately attacked by a pair of giant centipedes.  They didn't have a lot of hit points, so the fight only lasted about a round.  Not being a great climber, Raz faceplanted descending a measly 15-foot drop, losing half her hitpoints.  We searched the room and found a key in an iron maiden.

Exploring the underground hallways, we found several empty cells and a secret door.  The iron key opened some of the cell doors, but we all we really found was bones.  As we approached one particular door, we heard a voice calling us.  A prisoner claimed it had been ages since he'd been fed.  Of that we had no doubt - it looked like it had been years since anyone had been in these halls.  But we were very skeptical that an ordinary prisoner could have survived this long.  Lilith detected that it was an evil presence.  We opened the door and prepared for a fight.

Instead of an immediate battle, we were deluged with visions of starvation and imprisonment, powerful enough to damage us.  Otherwise the room was empty, but we found a secret door on the far wall.  This door led to a very narrow hallway.  Once through the hallway, we found a machine.  A lever on the device caused a chain to move, disappearing into the wall.  The machine's function was not immediately obvious.

A lightning elemental appeared above the machine, so we spent the next couple of rounds in battle.  Lilith delivered the killing blow, and we continued trying to figure out the machine.  We left the room, this time watching the ceiling for signs of the device's chain.  We founds some pipes and followed them, but they disappeared into another wall.  At the end of another hallway, we found a torture room.

Amidst all the horrific torture devices, a raven perched on a chair.  He introduced himself as Harzogopas, and politely requested that we donate blood.  When we refused, he vanished.  While searching the room, we were attacked by the raven, now in the form of an invisible imp.  We struck a deal with the imp, agreeing not to attack each other.  Harzo really hit it off with the similarly-aligned Tennith, agreeing to serve the Cleric since his old master is long dead.

The imp pointed out a secret door, and we followed it to a river of acidic sludge.  Through experimentation and backtracking, we discovered that the machine we'd played with earlier controlled a platform over the sludge.  Unfortunately the platform didn't help enough.  Even if we walk to the end of the platform, there's still twenty feet of sludge we have to find a way to cross if we want to see the rest of the dungeon.  We sent the imp across and he confirmed that there is a door around the corner on the other side.  We ended the session there, so we'll start with that puzzle next week.

Afterthoughts:
I missed this.  It had been more than two months since I'd gotten to play, and I was having withdrawals.  Pathfinder seems pretty interesting, though it's definitely a lot harsher than I'm used to.

Character: Raziya "Raz" Furian

This my character for the "Dragon's Demand" Pathfinder Campaign.

Name: Raziya "Raz" Furian
Race: Human (Garundi)
Class: Sorcerer (Celestial Bloodline)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Deity: Erastil (Farmers, Hunters, Tradesmen)
Age: 18
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: White

Background:
Raz is a Sorcerer who thinks she's a Wizard.  She realized early in life that she had a knack for magic, and became a Wizard's apprentice.  But her master knew that she just didn't have a head for magical study, and failed her.  This rejection just drove her harder.  So what if she didn't quite follow the spell procedures to the letter?  A lot of her spells still worked, even if she substituted eye of salamander instead of newt.

So she continues to study Wizardly magic, skimming the magic words and fudging procedures here and there.  She prepares her spells whenever she rests, even though those preparations don't actually do anything.  She has no idea that her magic comes from within rather than from study.  She always carries her favorite spellbook, and doesn't believe she can cast spells without it.
  
Known Associates:
Erevel - Elf Rogue
Halfbeard - Dwarf Ranger
Lilith - Tiefling Paladin
Tanith Tularn - Human Cleric

Creating the character:
Like the other characters in this campaign, we rolled up the details of her background using Pathfinder's campaign guides.  We ended up with a lot of vague data and worked together to figure out what it meant.  We're still working out some of it.

Here's what we know:  Her parents are soldiers, still alive, and she has two older siblings.  She's from a kingdom that fell.  She's a failed Wizard, and once had a pariah for an acquaintance (which could easily describe some of the other party members).  Raz was once pressured or manipulated into seducing someone young.  She was once incarcerated with Tennith, and she once worked for Lilith.

She has the "attachment" drawback.  One of the DM's suggestions for the attachment was a spellbook, due to her thinking her magic comes from study.  The character concept really popped from there.  Her spellbook is basically Dumbo's feather, and I have no doubt the DM will take advantage of this in a future session (assuming she survives long enough - she's pretty squishy).

Traits: Worldly (Social), Reluctant Apprentice (Magic), Patient Optimist (Religion).

Mini: Lanin, Elf Wizard (D&D Basic Game)

LFG: The Great Mudpit Caper

Game Date: 11/9/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 17
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer a.k.a. "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius (James) - Human Cleric
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Thomas) - Human Monk
Vikao (Daniel) - Human Ranger

The Session:
I missed the 10/26 session.  Apparently they reached a village inside a volcano.  The villagers asked our party to battle some cannibals that had been attacking the village.  They spent a good deal of last session fighting these cannibals.  They ended the session thwarted by a blocked tunnel.

Today we broke down a wall and started exploring some of the enemy tunnels.  After a few turns, the floor fell out from under us, dropping Halfbeard and Barad into a water-filled dungeon.  We went ahead and started investigating that level, slogging through chest-deep water past some old prison cells and torture devices.  Jared discovered a secret door which led to a room full of statues.

Statues... of Doom!

Of course the statues came to life and attacked us; what other reason would there be to have a room full of statues in D&D?  If I were the king of a fantasy realm, my first act would be have all sculptors put to death.  Anyway, these statues hit hard, and they were all around us.  At first we were getting creamed, until we fled the room and fought them in the doorway instead.  After that the fight was much easier, but we still used up a lot of healing resources.

Two of the statues fled through a trapdoor in the roof, but we caught up with them afterwards and destroyed them as well.  Back in the hallway and through another door, we found an enormous room filled with deep water.  The water was too murky to see anything.  It looks like the perfect place for an eventual boss fight.  We didn't want to mess with it just yet, so we picked a different hallway.

Ghouls... of Doom!

At the end of another long passage, we fought eight ghouls.  The hallway was only ten feet wide, so it was a rather structured fight.  Front fighters take out an enemy, move into the square, wash rinse repeat.  At the end of that hall we found a room with an altar, and looted a bone-handled mace.  We wanted to take a closer look at it, but we were pressured for time - our pushy Cleric was hoping to trigger another encounter before his Bless wore off.

No such luck.  We spent a good while exploring more halls, opening doors and getting very wet from the ensuing floods.  One particular blast of water swept us down some stairs, landing us in a cavern full of sand and mud pits.  The sand was very warm, and the mud pits were boiling.  We were afraid to explore too far into this cave just yet, so we headed back up the stairs.

Giant pool... of Doom!

In the next room we triggered a powerful flame trap.  Most of us were burned, some quite badly, and the damage continued due to burning oil and smoke inhalation.  Once the last of the water, smoke, and fire cleared out of the room, we sat down for an extended rest.  We ended the session there.  We believe the adjoining hallway leads back toward the giant pool room, so we'll probably head there next.

Update: I missed the 11/23 game due to it being an international geek holiday (The Day of the Doctor).  I don't know what happened, but here's where things left off, courtesy of Rusty:  "...the game ended with a mind-controlled Barad, Jaraed, and Golog fighting Damethius, Vikao, Steif, etc.  Steif briefly switched sides, but as things ended, Jaraed and the pirate wench were outright killed."  It looks like we'll be doing some Pathfinder playtesting for the next few weeks, so it might be a while before we see how things turn out.

LFG: Roc Falls, Wizard Gnome Dies

Game Date: 10/12/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 15
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer a.k.a. "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (James, subbing for Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius (James) - Human Cleric
Doran of Clan Hawk (Eddie) - Human Barbarian
Jared (Cliff, subbing for Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Daniel, subbing for Thomas) - Human Monk
Vikao (Daniel) - Human Ranger
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul the Sleep Deprived (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:

Braaaains... nope, none here.

When we left off last session, we had befriended some exiles from Doran's tribe, who allowed us to make camp with them.  While Zuul and Demethius were on the first watch of the night, the encampment was attacked by a group of ghoulish undead.  Since most of us had been sound asleep, it took us a round or two for us to join in the fun.  Unfortunately we didn't yet have the benefit of an extended rest, so we had to face this battle with limited resources.  Jared used Entangle for a little crowd control, and Zuul's Turn Undead caused half of the enemies to flee the area.  The rest of the deadites didn't take too long to finish off.  We watched out for an hour or so to see if any more appeared, and then went back to bed.  Good thing that won't happen again, right?

Gamer Food

A few hours later our sleep was interrupted again, this time by the sound of birds screeching.  I'm starting to call this "The Island That Never Sleeps" because we so rarely make it through an entire rest.  This time the encampment under siege from a pair of Rocs, who kept swooping down and carrying off villagers.  One went straight for Woil, the party Wizard.  At first he managed to push it away with Thunderwave, but on the next round it ate him.  As one of the lower-level party members, he had a max HP of 12.  The Roc hit him for 32 damage, swallowing the little Gnome in one gulp. (Not the healthiest diet, but at least it wasn't beef snacks in spray cheese.)  We never even had the chance to heal him.

Steif was the next to get carried off.  While flying through the air in a Roc's beak, Steif attacked the monstrous bird, finishing it off...  then suddenly finding himself plummeting to the ground.  The fall dropped him below zero hit points, but we healed him before he could share Woil's fate.  The surviving Roc decided it had eaten enough, and flew away.

We (finally) finished our rest and continued our hike.  Eventually we reached a 100-foot rope bridge.  We were concerned the bridge might not hold our weight, so we tried going across one at a time and used some of our rope to reinforce it.  As it turned out, the bridge's structural integrity wasn't the problem.  No, the real challenge was the flock of pterodactyls that attacked anyone who tried to cross.  Luckily they weren't nearly as powerful as the Rocs, and we didn't lose any more party members.

Kill it with fire!

Our guide, Vikao, joined the party as we continued on our quest.  After the bridge, we reached a plateau and started following a river.  One night, while camping by the river, we were attacked by three trolls.  Demethius and Zuul were once again on watch (we've got to stop letting them watch).  The trolls managed to knock out Demethius before he even knew they were there, and he stayed near death through much of the fight.  Having been asleep, some of the party members weren't in their armor, which is never a great thing when facing trolls.  Keyleth used her favorite fire spell against one of the trolls, and spent the rest of the battle moving the fire around.  One of the trolls quickly realized she was responsible for this burning sensation, and punished her harshly.  Though bruised and battered, Keyleth got the last laugh when her spell eventually finished him off.

Troll Soccer

Steif decapitated another troll, which is a pretty mean feat considering he was using his fists.  However, the headless troll continued to fight, and the troll-less head continued to bite anyone who came near.  Steif tried to drop-kick the troll head, but instead the head ended up chomping on the Monk's ankles.  Steif spent the next few rounds wrestling the surprisingly agile head.  As the fight continued, both head and body started to regenerate into full trolls.  Another troll's severed arm also threatened to regenerate into an additional monster, but we didn't let it get far.  There were a lot of ups and downs in this fight, but eventually we got all the trolls down long enough to finish them off with fire.  We camped again and ended the session.

Reminders:
We might not play next Saturday 10/19, as our DM is scheduled to run a game at Nashville Comic-Con.  I will not be able to make it on 10/26 or 11/2, but there might not be a game on 11/2 anyway.

LFG: Monkey Business

Game Date: 10/05/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 14
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius the Holder of Actions (James) - Human Cleric
Doran of Clan Hawk (Eddie) - Human Barbarian
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus the Verminslayer (James, subbing for Thomas) - Human Monk
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul the Designated Punching Bag (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:

Keyleth's Favorite Spell

We're still exploring this island, searching for an ancient artifact in a lost city.  While on watch one day, Zuul and Demethius encountered some Aranea in the trees.  Since most of us were asleep, we started the battle at a disadvantage, complicated even further as the spider creatures fired webbing at us.  At one point Doran (who's still level 1) was taken down to 2 hit points, causing his fiancee Keyleth to lose her temper and kill his attacker.  This was the first of many times Keyleth defended her betrothed this session.  She's going to have a tough time keeping him alive until the wedding.

More resting, more wandering.  One day we encountered an aggressive tribe of apes.  One of them gave Woil a big hug. Zuul tried to scare them off with a mighty roar.  And it worked... sort of.  They apes ran off, still carrying Woil with them.  Our party chased after them, working our way over rough terrain, and dodging the rocks they threw at us.  One of Zuul's spells had the side effect of causing a loud peal of thunder.  The sound attracted the attention of a much larger ape.  It was a rough fight, but we got through it.  Woil cast the spell that finished off the big one, and we wiped out the remaining apes within a couple of rounds.

Damn dirty apes!

Later we heard the sound of something chasing something else.  We investigated just in time to see the tails of some giant lizards running by, but we didn't try to draw them into a fight.  Another night we were accosted by a bunch of monkeys.  They weren't much of a threat in battle, but they were quite annoying in that they kept trying to steal our equipment.  We wiped them out and went back to bed.  A couple of hours later, the smell of dead monkey attracted four more apes.  It wasn't a long fight, but it was yet another one where sleeping party members had to join the fight late.

Another day, we found some humanoid tracks.  We followed them to a group of neanderthals.  Zuul and Barad greeted the primitive people, who spoke in broken common.  We asked them if they knew where we could find the city we sought, and they agreed to lead us to the bridge to the city.  We followed them for a few hours.  We saw more monkeys, but we just ran past them while they threw feces at us.  That may be the first time I've used the word "feces" on this blog.  A bit further, a giant spider suddenly burst out of a mountain crag, killing one of our neanderthal guides.

Not really a squid.  This time.

We fought several giant spiders, with a cliff wall on one side and a drop-off on the other.  The spiders had the advantage of being able to climb the walls and attack us from the sides.  The best moment was when Woil, having spotted a spider climbing up the cliff below us, used a grease spell to make the spider fall to its death.  After the battle, we continued for a few more hours, when we met some exiles from Doran's tribe.  They were friendly, and allowed us to camp with them.

We ended the session there.  We're at the camp, but we haven't actually taken an extended rest yet.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 31 - Bonus Questions

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.  Well, sort of.

Day 31 - Bonus Questions

Not to put down the person who put this list together, but there were a few questions I thought it was lacking.  Just for fun, here's a few extra questions I might have used if I'd been the one to make the original list. 

Cleric of Sune

What's your favorite way of representing a battle?
(In other words, do you prefer Minis/tokens/pennies/M&Ms? On grid/hexes/unmarked map? All in your head?)
I love miniatures - generally I use the prepainted ones WOTC made, but I have great respect for people who paint their own.  And a standard gridded map is great, but bonus points if you build something three dimensional.

What is your favorite miniature?
The Cleric of Sune (Unhallowed #15).  Several of my characters have been female redheads, so I've probably use this mini more often than most.  Most significantly I used this one for Aria Thatcher in the Scarred Lands campaign.  Some of my possible future characters also fit this description.

Dungeon Tiles

What are your favorite dungeon tiles/maps?
I really like some of the later Dungeon Tiles WOTC put out, that had the three dimensional elements to them.  Granted, I was already doing three-dimensional things to my Dungeon Tiles before WOTC started doing it.  I love adding little props like furniture and other details.  But that gets expensive and time-consuming.

Of course I'd really like some Dwarven Forge playsets, but I'll never be able to afford any of them.  Terraclips are nice too.  If I had unlimited money, these things would be all over my house.

What is your favorite non-d20 (weapon/magic) die? 
d4, because they're the easiest to identify by stepping on them.

What is your favorite game-breaking exploit or overpowered build?
Well, I've never seen the point in cheating, but it's still fun to read about uber-powerful feat/spell combinations powergamers have come up with.  I remember people complaining about 4e's "Frostcheese" for years, and the pre-nerf Blade Cascade was pretty neat.  About the funniest one I've heard of is the Locate City bomb.

But while I'm not much of a powergamer at the table, I do enjoy overpowered builds in the video games.  I remember some NeverWinter Nights servers banned things like the "Tenser's Transformation" spell and the "Weaponmaster" prestige class.  I once built a Halfling Weaponmaster who dual-wielded keen kukris (and it takes a LOT of feats to pull that off).  Her normal damage wasn't that scary, but she usually critted several times per round.  Add in all the crit feats (Improved Critical, Overwhelming Critical, Devastating Critical) and most of her foes didn't last long.  Of course, by the time you get all those feats you're at such a high level that most enemies are pushovers anyway, and some enemies are immune to crits... but it's still a fun build.

What's your favorite spell?
I love a ranged at-will, even if it's weak.  I'm especially fond of minion-stompers like the 4e Sorcerer's Blazing Starfall or the Druid's Chill Wind.  Sure, you're not going to do a lot of damage, but you're never helpless.  In NeverWinter Nights I really enjoyed Sound Burst (I played a lot of Bards, and I loved sound-related spells).  Also negative energy ray because it looks like a laser beam.

What's your favorite level/tier?
Mid-range, maybe around level 12.  I have no interest in playing a god, but I've seen so much of the early levels that I'm nearly sick of them.

What was your best "Crowning Moment of Awesome"?
Twice when playing "Living Forgotten Realms" games, I've rolled a crit on a Daily power that killed the session's final boss.  One of the times, it looked like it was going to be a very difficult battle, with a powerful boss and lots of minions.  But in the first round my critted Daily took the boss out, leading the DM to shake his head and say, "I hate you guys."  The encounter was smooth sailing after that.

Not D&D, but a runner up would be in a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics, where we were fighting a giant worm.  My fighter climbed to the top of the monster and held on, hacking away at it's head.  It was a feat of heroism I might not have attempted in an ongoing campaign, but in a one-shot I was a bit more brave.  It really pays off sometimes; that image will stick in my head forever.

What's your favorite fictional character and/or novel set in a D&D universe?
Well, it ain't Drizzt.  The best D&D-related books I've read is the Justicar Trilogy by Paul Kidd.  But my favorite character in a D&D book was probably Majandra the bard in The Tomb of Horrors.

What's your favorite D&D-related comic/webcomic?
Knights of the Dinner Table helped me get into D&D in the first place, so I have to give it to them.  But my current favorite RPG webcomic is Order of the Stick.

Which "type" of gamer are you?  (Powergamer, Roleplayer, Instigator, Explorer etc)
I like to think of myself as a Roleplayer, and yet I often find myself sitting out some of the narrative parts of the session.  It depends on the group I'm in, the character I'm playing, and how comfortable I am.  Really I'm a little bit of everything to some extent, but then, that probably describes most players. 

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
What do you mean?  An African or European swallow?
Huh?  I don't know that!  Aaaaiiiigh!

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 30 - Best DM You’ve Had

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 30 - Best DM You’ve Had

To be honest, I'm not overly fond of questions like this, because they have the potential to hurt someone's feelings.  However, in my case there's not much to dance around.  I've only had a couple of DMs that I played with long enough to really form an opinion.  Those two DMs were so different from each other that I can't really say either one was better.  Both are excellent for different reasons.

So anyway, that wraps up the 30 Day D&D Challenge.  It's been a fun month of blogging; I hope to do something like it again next year.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 29 - What is the number you always seem to roll on a d20?

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 29 - What is the number you always seem to roll on a d20?

The random number gods hate me, which is why I don't spend a lot of time in casinos.  I don't actually fumble that often, but I do miss a lot more than I hit.  I seem to get more 4s than anything.

LFG: Birthday Bash

Game Date: 9/28/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 13
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius the Holder of Actions (James) - Human Cleric
Doran of Clan Hawk (Eddie) - Human Barbarian
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Thomas) - Human Monk
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul the Punching Bag (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
Last session we killed a gaggle of pirates, and sent a bunch more running.  After freeing the villagers they'd captured, we worried that the fleeing galleon might attack our own ship.  We spent a fair amount of time debating on whether to use the remaining canoes to return to our ship, or trek through the forest, or even split the party and do both.  We picked the forest, with Zuul staying behind to protect the villagers until our return.  It turned out we were worried for nothing, as our ship's captain hadn't even seen the pirates.

Taking The Long Way

We sailed back to the village of Tanaroa, and returned the former captives back to their people.  Chieftess Mira made us honorary members of the island tribes, and asked a special favor of Keyleth.  As part of her induction into Clan Hawk, she asked Keyleth to marry Mira's cousin Doran.  Keyleth asked for some time to think about it.  In the meantime, Doran has joined the party, so he and Keyleth can get to know each other better.

The rest of the party each got to pick their clan:  Hawk, Elk, Tiger, or Turtle.  Between all our party members, we have all four clans covered.  We spent a week in the village, after which the islanders gave us some rations, took us as far as they could, and wished us luck.  Thus began the first of what will probably be several sessions, exploring the jungles of this island in search of an artifact.  We have planned a circuitous route around the island, starting at the outer areas and spiraling inward, in order to cover the ground most thoroughly.

Sleeping Near The Enemy

After a day or two we encountered a pair of dinosaurs with club-like tails.  We approached them cautiously, but they didn't attack so neither did we.  The following day we were camping when a dozen Bugbears tried to sneak up on us.  Luckily Zuul and Demethius were keeping careful watch, and spotted the Bugbears before they could kill us in our sleep.  Zuul attempted to intimidate them before the attack, but he just wasn't scary enough.  He got surrounded right off, taking a beating while the rest of us woke up and got to our feet.  Still, it wasn't that bad a fight.  We got a few bruises and used several healing spells, but the Bugbears didn't last too many rounds.

This Cake Is Not A Lie

After that we spent a couple of more days trekking through the jungle.  One day we were walking along when seven huge spiders came at us.  To be honest, I don't remember much about this battle because that's when the surprise party started.  My wife suddenly showed up in the Game Keep's back room with several of my friends, bearing a cake to celebrate my 40th birthday.  My character used her favorite flame spell on the spiders, and the other players were kind enough to roll my dice when I couldn't pay attention.  But from what I can tell, we defeated the spiders pretty quickly.  After that, we took an extended rest and called it a day.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 28 - A character you will never play ever again

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 28 - A character you will never play ever again

Nara Cavell was fun to play, but she could also be pretty annoying.  She was a religious nut, and couldn't go six minutes without praising Pelor.  She was the moral center of the party, and the campaign probably would have gone in a completely different direction without her influence.  While most of my characters are good-aligned, I don't see myself going that insanely far with it ever again.  Even if I were to actually play Nara again, I think I would have her mature a little bit, at least enough to know that sometimes you have to commit minor sins for the greater good.

Class-wise, I really didn't like the time I played a Ardent, and I doubt I'll play one again.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 27 - A character you want to play in the future

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 27 - A character you want to play in the future

I've always wanted to play a fairy.  When 4th edition finally got around to releasing the Pixie, it was right at the end of the edition's lifespan (or at least at the end of my group's tolerance for the edition), so I never got the chance.  Well, okay, I did have one chance, but I played a Hamadryad instead (something else I'd always wanted to play).  Let's face it, I've just got a thing for fey characters.

Of course, you know what will happen.  I'll start playing 5e when it comes out, waiting patiently for them to add Pixies to their Player's Handbooks... and they'll finally add it a month before 6e comes out.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 26 - Favorite nonmagic item (your character’s or someone else’s)

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 26 - Favorite nonmagic item (your character’s or someone else’s)

A katana.  Sure, in real life they're no more effective than a normal sword, but in fiction it's a great way to separate the awesomesauce swordmasters from the mundane soldiers.  Take a normal sword, bend the blade a bit, and you've got an instant badass.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 25 - Favorite magic item (your character’s or someone else’s)

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 25 - Favorite magic item (your character’s or someone else’s)

I like bows that have unlimited arrows.  Even when I'm in a campaign where the DM handwaves your arrow usage, I like having such an item.  I'm just weird that way.  I also like bags of holding, even if the DM doesn't care about encumbrance.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 24 - Favorite energy type

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 24 - Favorite energy type

Acid.  No real reason, it's just the one I tend to pick most when I get to pick an energy type.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 23 - Least Favorite Monster Overall

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 23 - Least Favorite Monster Overall

That's tough... I think even the silliest creatures in the monster manual can be awesome if the DM presents them well.  My least favorites would be the ones that are more annoying than deadly.  Creatures that only takes half damage, or regenerate as fast as you damage them, or that give players multiple status effects on every turn... especially creatures that keep me stunned round after round, preventing me from actually playing the game... those can make D&D less fun.  But again, a good DM can make a difference.

Also annoying are creatures that have ridiculously high AC, though that's often a matter of the DM using inappropriate monsters for that party.  That's another thing - any creatures can be annoying if they're too high level for the party at that time.  One of the most annoying character deaths I've had was when we were ambushed by Bugbears.  They won the initiative and dropped my Sorcerer before I even had a turn.  I didn't make any mistakes that led to my death, and I had to sit and watch the entire encounter without being able to play.  (And it was 4e, so you know the encounter took a while.)  Unpredictable instant death does not make for a fun game.

Fluff-wise, I hate that there's metallic bulls called "Gorgons", while the creatures that should be called Gorgons are called "Medusas".  And it strains my suspension of disbelief a bit that I can kill a gelatinous cube with arrows.

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day 22 - Favorite Monster Overall

Note - This post is part of the 30 Day D&D Challenge.

Day 22 - Favorite Monster Overall

This probably could have gone under favorite Aberrations, but I didn't want to make the same post twice.

My favorite monster is the Beholder.  Ever since I was a kid I've had a thing for monsters with lots of eyes.  The beholder reminds me of a monster I designed when I was in kindergarten, except mine was more of a humanoid with a beholder-like head, and lots of tentacles instead of arms.

LFG: This Wall Is On Fiiiiiiiiiiiiire...

Game Date: 9/21/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 12
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius (James) - Human Cleric
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Thomas) - Human Monk
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
So, we're on a tropical island, in the village of Tanaroa, hoping to eventually search some ruins for a pearl.  But that's on the back burner for now, as we're still trying to endear ourselves to chieftess Mira.  Her brother - or possibly cousin (a confusion I will attribute to inbreeding) - has been captured by pirates.  Mira believed he was being held in a pirate cove on a nearby island.  We agreed to attempt a rescue.

As we sailed around all the tiny reefs and sandbars, our ship got caught in some sort of web.  The captain was nonchalant, "It's just sea spiders."  Oh, thank goodness, is that all.  We managed to cut the ship free and continued the trip.  We approached the pirate island with too little subtlety, and their galleon attacked us with its catapults.  We turned the ship around and fled with our tails between our legs. 

But eventually we did manage to take some landing boats and make landfall about fifteen miles from the pirate cove.  Due to the heat, we waited until nightfall to travel.  Around morning we reached the pirate cove.  It was a walled-in compound consisting of about sixteen huts, opening up onto a beach.  It had three watchtowers, and the wall was covered in thorns.  Once again we waited until nightfall so we could attack under cover.

While waiting for sundown, Zuul and Keyleth went foraging and were ambushed by five dire rats.  It wasn't much of a fight. When the sun finally set, we sneaked up to the outer wall and started attacking one section.  After about a round we managed to break through, but the pirates were alerted to our presence.  Most of the battle was clustered around that entry point.  Demethius set large sections of the wall on fire in order to give us more ways in.  We spent a good portion of the fight tracking which sections of the wall had taken damage from the flaming thorns.

As wave after wave of pirates stormed out of their huts to attack us, we faced several moments of peril.  A couple of us went down more than once, and we burned many healing spells and potions to stay on our feet.  About halfway through the encounter, Keyleth started using her Flame Orb spell, making her feel useful for the first time this battle... until her spell set fire to a hut that contained some of the pirates' prisoners.  Zuul bravely rushed through the enemy lines to rescue the captives.

It was a very long battle.  All told we faced forty-three pirates and their leader.  We killed or captured about half of them; the other half fled to the beach and escaped in their rowboats.  While a couple of us came very close to death, we all survived the battle.  After the fight, we found more captives tied up in huts, including Mira's brother/cousin.  We also found a few treasures, including a Ring of Waterwalking.  We ended the session there.