An Ending, For Now

Last night marked the seventh (and last, for the time being) game in the Shadows of the Past campaign. To sum up the events of the last two games:

Ulbarun's Raiders, also known as the Wolves of the North, set seige to the Keep. The players managed to hold them off quite well; the bandits weren't well prepared to take a fortified position, and they certainly weren't expecting to be roasted alive by Kedrin's magical stick. After their first encounter with that particular item, they had to seriously reconsider their options.

The bandits didn't have much time to reconsider things. Tolbert, one of the Keep's ghosts, reminded Herger of his promise to put Lady Gallaigh's ghost to rest. One way to do this would be to show her proof of her husband's death, and Tolbert had seen the necessary proof upon the finger of the bandit leader: Lord Gallaigh's golden signet ring.

The characters launched an attack on Ulbarun's camp, laying their enemies low. Some good rolls, not to mention an exceptional critical hit, ensured the fight was shorter than it might have been otherwise. The heros did not emerge unscathed: Blair, the NPC fighter who's been with the party since the first game, all those years ago, was killed by a lucky hit that separated his head from his body.

Victory and sadness, in equal amounts.

The remaining bandits, leaderless and unwilling to continue the seige, packed up and rode off. Of course, Herger's sworn enemy, Toral, survived, and rode off with his bandit pals. Perhaps they will run into him at another time..?

Athael managed to finish the ritual, which tied a spell of masking into the shadowy nexus that lies within the bowels of the Keep. The keep, obfuscated from sight, will be largely ignored by any passers-by who might otherwise notice it. Those who do know of it, but who are not living within its walls, will lose their memories of it over time, unless they are somehow reminded of the place on a regular basis.

And so the game ended. The player characters, now 6th level, will begin their next adventure when next we meet to play Midnight. When will this be? Who knows. Perhaps later this year, closer to autumn. For now, we had a good run, the game came to a satisfactory conclusion, and all seem content with the resolution...for now.

Thanks for the game, guys.

No Kedrin!

Alex was unable to attend last night's game, and Kedrin (his character) was, for the moment, used by the others for menial tasks and trap and monster detection (ie, walking out in front of the party at a distance of at least 10 feet). He suffered surprisingly few wounds from this abuse, only losing his left leg at the hip when the dire tyrannosaur attacked.

Okay, okay. April Fool's.

Alex was absent, though, but Kedrin was assigned babysitting duties for the first half of the game, and became Athael's gopher once the PCs returned to the keep.

Leaving the harpy's lair proved to be exciting. The worg that had escaped last session ran off to warn some hobgoblins who were manning a watchpost on the south end of the crevasse. Two hobs returned with the worg, and set up an ambush in the bridge chamber (where the "foot bridge," which was discussed at some length, was located).

After the attack started, Bridie managed to notice that the bridge's rope supports on the opposite side of the chasm/pit seemed to be frayed, but not before Koko ran across, breaking them with his weight, and plummeting head-first into the depths. He was last seen clawing at a balrog as the two fell ever deeper into Kazad Dum.

April Fool's again.

Koko actually fell a whopping distance of 10 feet, but he was immediately set upon a by a giant spider that lived in the pit, while the hobgoblins (safely on the opposite side) riddled the party with crossbow bolts (though they weren't particularly effective).

Everyone ended up in that pit at one point or another (with Herger's attempt to cross the span of the pit with a running leap being one of the more spectacular accounts), and with the spider slain by one of Koko's thrown darts (which pinned it to the wall like a bug in a museum display, albeit a large one), everyone began scrambling at the wall, trying to get out.

Easier said than done. In the end, Blair was the only one who couldn't make the climb, and a rope was lowered to him when the coast was determined to be clear.

Once out, the group began the travel home. The following morning, Toral, the Dornish man the party rescued from the goblins, bade the group his farewell and thanks, but not before checking out Herger's magic spear. Another two days later, the PCs arrived back at the Keep, to a warm dwarvish welcome. Athael, the black sapphire in hand, went off with Kedrin to begin the preparation of the spell that will ultimately mask the keep.

Of course, four days later, a virtual army of mounted warriors appeared on the horizon, and proceeded to surround the keep. Prior to dusk, they sent a small contingent for parley. Their demands: that the PCs surrender the keep to their master, Lord Ulbarun, the Wolf of the North. As payment for saving Toral from the hobgoblins, the bandits are allowing them to leave with their lives.

After giving Toral a withering look, Herger stomped off. I guess Herger's short-term goal is to feed Toral his spear, one inch at a time. Bridie told the bandits that they would have their answer in the morning, and the parley was over.

So, here endeth the session. No one increased a level, as the action wasn't quite as heavy as it might've been. My emergency ankhegs were not needed. Shucks.

Alex, don't miss next game. They will need you, and your nuclear staff, to make a dent in a force of 30+ bandits...

Post Script
Just in case you guys were wondering what your resources in this matter are, I thought I'd tell you. The breach in the north wall of the courtyard has been repaired, but the work is far from complete; if there's a single weak spot in your defenses, it's the northern wall.

As for manpower, there's the four PCs, Blair, Athael, Rasha, and the nine dwarves. Athael is somewhat busy for the time being, so don't count on him lending a high-level hand to the proceedings. Being a child, Rasha doesn't really count for much, though I'm sure you can eat her if you need to.

Speaking of eating, that's your one big problem: there's not a heck of a lot of food in the keep at present. Given what little rations the dwarves may have left over from their trip, as well as the amount of grub the group has stored up (read: none), you're liable to have some very lean times if any sort of siege lasts for an appreciable amount of time.

Session #4 Recap

The game went on as normal last night, though we ended up playing a little over an hour longer than scheduled in order to put the finishing touches on the current adventure.

In retrospect, the initial encounter with the harpy's hobgoblin servants was a struggle. Three of the heroes were felled in the fighting (Koko, Herger, and Blair), but the hobgoblins were slain. The PCs retreated to gather their wits and explore their options. After a brief respite, they returned to the goblin lair to explore and loot.

In the process, they encountered a couple of goblins, which they quickly dispatched, and they rescued a captured Dorn named Toral.

The final battle against the harpy and her minions would have been a disaster, if not for Kedrin and his new-found magical staff. A powerful item, the staff's fiery magic was instrumental in frying the harpy. With the winged horror dead, Rasha was rescued, bringing a close to the adventure.

Or is it merely just begun? The group must still return to the keep.

And there is also the matter of Athael's ritual to mask the keep from the Shadow's detection. He mentioned some time ago that it would require the use of a valuable gem...

We'll see how it goes next time, on April 1st. No fooling!

The Game Continues

Session three was a good one, overall. I think it was a bit slow, but it's always difficult to predict how things will carry over. To recap:

The goblin was interrogated by Kedrin, with Mr. Chocolate in attendance, but little was actually revealed. With the aid of Athael and his owl familiar, Fethis, the location of the harpy's lair was revealed. After preparing for a short journey, the party set out, back-tracking the goblin tracks.

After only an hour in the wilderness, they were set upon by five worgs - the mounts of the goblins that had raided the keep earlier that morning. Koko's beastial nature frightened off two of the worgs right off the bat, but his momentary victory was put to a brutal end as one of the remaining wolves tore out his throat. Thanks to the alternate massive damage rules, Koko took a massive critical that felled him in one ripping, tearing swoop.

After seeing to Koko's wound, the party was well enough to continue for the rest of the day. The tracks eventually led to a gorge in the rocky highlands, the characters descended within, and a cave leading into the earth was eventually discovered. A lone guardian - an ettin - attracted by the light and noise the party was making, confronted them. Bridie showed her true martial skill, and with the rest of the party, managed to slay the beast.

Now, they must descend into the cave. What horrors and struggles await them in their quest to save Rasha from a hungry harpy? We'll find out in two weeks!

Remember, everyone is hitting fifth level next session, so be sure that you've got your character leveled up prior to the game starting. Any questions, pass them on to me and I'll adjucate via email beforehand.

Session #3 Reminder

Just in case you don't check your email, oh gentle player, this post is to remind you that we're still scheduled to play Shadows of the Past this Saturday. Same time, same place. Then again, I must be fooling myself: if you don't read your email, I reckon there's little chance that you check this blog with any frequency.

And people call me a pessimist.

In other news, I'm going to be incorporating Reputation scores. This isn't tough to figure out, and it's not really something you'll need to keep much track of. There are also some other feats I'll need to incorporate into the game. I plan, at some point, to group these feats and their descriptions into a document that you can all check out when it's time once more for your characters to gain new feats.

The odds are excellent that any character that survives this weekend's session will make fifth level. Stay optimistic!

The Continuing Adventures of Our Heroes

We had a good time last night, even though Mike was a little bit late. We have to cut him some slack, especially since his average commute from home to our apartment is somewhere in the range of 2-3 hours. That's dedication for you. I'll be damned if I'm going to drive more than thirty minutes to play a game, no matter who the DM is or how awesome the players are.

Mike insists that we're the most "normal" group he's ever played with. He insists that the majority of gamers he's known have been violent social misfits. I guess we've got him fooled, eh?

As far as the game goes, here's a quick re-cap of events.

The orcs that were slain at the end of the last game remained dead, though three of them (including the oruk) rose up as ungral and attempted to chew the party up. Herger took a great big chomp to the forearm, which might've very easily been a chomp to the throat had he not made his save against massive damage.

The zombies dispatched, the trip back to the Keep was uneventful. On arrival, it was revealed that the dwarves had begun to repair the keep's walls with rubble and locally-available stone. They have refused to sleep in the Keep, preferring the outbuilding/stable in the courtyard. After all, the Keep is haunted. Though they're not cowards, the dwarves feel that it isn't wise to sleep in a building that is host to so many restless spirits.

Athael took his time examining the well/nexus beneath the Keep, and proposed a new mission for the heroes over a hearty supper of skinny rabbit stew. The new mission will take the party south, in the direction of the Aruun Jungle. The group isn't averse to the idea of going, so long as they can tie up some loose ends before they go.

Later in the week, several goblins infiltrated the Keep. Stymied by Koko, who managed to alert the heroes (as well as kick some goblin butt), the goblins mission was soon made clear: to kidnap Rasha, who was bound, gagged, and carried bodily to the roof of the Keep where she was scooped up by a hideous woman with bat-like wings: a harpy, if Kedrin's lorebook is in any way accurate.

And so the game ended. Of the five infiltrating goblins, only one remains. I'm thinking that the heroes will be giving the Keep's torture chamber a run for its money next session.

Speaking of next session, we're logged to play on Saturday, March 4th, 7pm-12am. Thanks for showing up last night, folks. It was good fun.

House Rules

I've been mulling over the house rules I'd like to see implemented in the campaign, and I've decided to post them here for your reference. There aren't that many, in all honesty.

As you know, I've reduced the Massive Damage Threshold from the standard D&D limit of 50 to your character's Constitution score. If your character takes a single hit that inflicts damage greater than or equal to his Constitution score, you have to succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save or be immediately reduced to -1 hit points.

In addition to this, I'd also like to experiment with the Severe Injury and Infection rules that are presented in the Thieves' World Player's Manual. If it turns out that it's too much to keep track of, we can ditch it, but I think it might be interesting to see how it pans out.

Other additions from Thieves' World will include a couple of new base character classes, which will be available to characters from this point forward. The first is that of the assassin, which is precisely what it sounds like. It's a slight departure from the assassin prestige class (from the DMG), in that there is no magic involved with the character class at all.

The second base class I'll be allowing is that of the savant. The savant is a highly-configurable class, designed to allow players to play tradesmen, craftsmen, specialists, etc. In effect, it is a PC version of the "expert" NPC class from the DMG.

Anyone interested in looking these rules over at the next game should feel free to ask.

As an aside, I've also considered implementing a vitality/wound point system, but I'll probably hold off on that. The game is going to be difficult enough with the current slew of additional rules.

So...I'll see you all on Saturday night, 7pm to midnight.