Game Night

Gaming Tonight!

The party is going to fight an Ettin, or two!

After that it will be re-skin of WoTC's "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" scene 1. Hopefully culminating in a rematch with the on-the-run evil mage of "Lost Mine of Phandelver."

The important thing is that we are playing.

Hopefully every one is in a good mood and ready to play. Hopefully the new guy picks it up really quick and has a good time. Hopefully it is a memorable and fun session!

With the various comings and goings of players we have been jumping systems and campaigns for our sessions in the last year We started as a 3.5 group, but when the players started dropping out we went to the freshly pressed 5th edition. I think it's a good system that just needs to be learned.

With another dropout from 5th we jumped to old-school with a Basic adventure. I like Basic as it instills within me warm senses of nostalgia. I don't like it's out-dated clunkiness. What I should have done is used some updated OSR rules and called it Basic. Same feel, clearer rules. But the one guy really wanted to see Basic and the others didn't care so I went with Basic.

The players, being raised on 3.5 didn't really appreciate the simplicity of Basic. "There's not enough options!" They complained. "What do you mean no skills?!" Because things weren't spelled out in the rules the assumption was that they couldn't be done. Again, Straight Basic is a bit clunky so I agreed with some of their complaints. After all, this is why folks have been House-ruling the game since it's inception. A few well-placed house rules could have eased the burden. If I was a bit less rusty I could have made better executive decisions during play. Though I don't think it would have made the Magic-User happy. "I Only get 1 spell per day?" or the thief, "Wow, the thief skill percentages suck. I guess I'll just stab with my dagger and hope not to be killed."

It finally dawned on me that one of the difference between Basic and 3.5 is the status and progress of the PC's. In Basic, they become heroic and awesome by surviving their adventures. It's the hero's journey in a way. But in 3.5 and later, the PC's start off with great powers and awesomeness. Adventures are just something to do. By already being a cut above regular folk, they are heroes from the get go. In a comic book sense, Basic is the origin story. The first few issues where the character gets their powers and learns to use them and fight. The later editions are every other issue, where the character is established and just does what they do. While I can appreciate the worth of both, I feel like you get more out of play by building up and surviving with the meager character who barely scrape by the goblin encounter.

After a few adventures in Basic to convert the two remaining characters to 5th and try that again. After all, I have the main books, I should probably use them. The more I familiarize myself with them the better they seem. Hopefully with more options we can please these 3.5 players.


What I really should have done was skip Basic and use 2nd edition. The version that I played the most back in the day.

Thinking About Attacks of Opportunity

I get Attacks of Opportunity. I do, though I also think they are ridiculous. The rational part of my brain says “yeah if Olak the orc decides to flee after I walked up to him and gave him a good thwomping I should be able to attack him.” The old schooler in me says “But you already moved this turn when you walked up and thwomped Olak. You can’t move again until next turn” The books describe AofO as reactions Almost as if they are an automatic move, without much thought. OK I see, but if it’s auto without much thought then maybe it’s not as effective as a planned attack. I’m a well trained fighter. When I walked up to Olak I sized him up, I checked out his weapon and anticipated how he would use it, I saw the bits of his armor that I could penetrate. These quick thoughts came in and I used them to thwomp him. It worked, I broke through his defenses and gave him what for. Olak splits because he doesn’t want anymore. I can AofO him but I gotta do it fast. It’s a reaction, I just go in for a quick stab. I am not thinking about where to place the blow for max damage. I’m just thinking hit him! So why should this attack be just as effective as the one where I plan and thought through where to hit Olak? I don’t think it should be.

Or look at it this way Olak and I are engaged in combat. I attack him with a full thought out attack and missed. He decides to stay and fight and attacks me. I’m trying to block him with weapon/shield/armor, etc. My mind is now on how to avoid damage. Meanwhile Urggk  behind me just got thwomped by my Cleric friend Eldyn. Urggk now wants to flee. It’s crowded here due to close walls on one side and hot lava on the other. Urggk has no choice but to run right past me for escape. He does so I get an AoO. But I’m not focusing on Urggk. I’m trying not to get hit by Olak. So I can’t closely see Urggk’s defenses, armor, weapon etc, all the things a fighter would look at to exploit. No, I just see him and look to hit. So I do. Quick reaction hit. Again, I don’t think this should be as effective as a well-planned attack. 

EDIT: It's possible that the second example wouldn't provoke an Attack since I would be engaged in melee with another opponent. Though maybe it would. I'm not super clear on all the different ways AoO are provoked. (Old School Thinking and all.)

12 Pubs and Taverns*

1. The Hornless Unicorn (picture of a white horse on the sign)
2. Mead’s Alehouse (proprietor is Jonen Mead who created  a delicious brew but can’t name it after himself for obvious reasons)
3. The Owlbear’s Nest (Proudly displays an Owlbear head above the bar, though it is rather small and probably just the stuffed head of a regular owl)
4. Sid’s Joyless Brothel (It used to be joyful until the local magistrate started cracking down on prostitution)
5. The Phoenix (was The Soaring Eagle prior to the great fire. Built upon the original foundation)
6. Bigby’s Drinking Hand (the local Mage’s hangout)
7. The Wander Inn (seemingly a franchise as there’s one in every larger Imperial  city, the fact is, the name is not as clever or unique as each proprietor thinks it is)
8. Grog’s Grog (Run by the Half-Orc Grog. The menu is limited to poorly –cooked unidentified meat and the namesake grog.)
9. The Rat Cellar (Plenty of rodents are kept on hand to be released into the basement for up and coming adventurers.)
10. Valtish’s establishment that serves various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, foodstuffs, etc.  also with a number of bedrooms to rent for travelers and locals alike. (Gnomish names can be so literal.)
11. The Barred From Entry Inn (Sign is of an X through a lute. No Bards allowed!)
12. The Broad Satyr (Sign is a female satyr, located in the heart of the theater district)

*credit to The Dungeon Dozen.

That Escalated Quickly

So the party became Murderhobos. Sort of. Well only one did, but the rest became gruesome corpse desecraters.

Let's backtrack. They came into town and dropped off the goods they were supposed to deliver. The Charismatic Dwarf attempted to flatter the Shopkeeper into giving them some more gold since they had a run-in with some Goblins. Alas he failed his persuasion roll. This is immediately followed by a successful intimidate roll from the Half-Orc barbarian.So, the shopkeeper is coerced/robbed while the party sits idly by. They then continue to try to talk with the shopkeeper who is quite upset at this time. The Half-Orc leaves but the rest stay behind. The Dwarf even tries to persuade the shopkeeper to be more friendly with him. A high roll from the Dwarf convinced the shopkeeper to relax slightly, but he was still upset at everyone else.

So they pissed off one NPC in town. No big deal. He didn't have anything more to offer our group anyways.

So through some further town exploits they learn of the local gang of ruffians who are running the town. The Half-Orc makes a failed attempt to infiltrate their hideout, the dingy bar down the road. Four of the toughs tell him to get lost. He decides to intimidate them. It was a high roll, but I determined that if they were threatened, these guys would draw weapons and fight. After all, they outnumbered the Barbarian. They strike first and do a fair amount of hurting on him. He cuts out of there mighty quick, another round and he would have been toast.

So he regroups back at the nice inn with the rest of the party. Their plan is to rally the town to drive the gang out. I had determined that the town doesn't want a fight, after all, these roughs have been pushing them around for awhile. But the Dwarf gave a nice speech and rolled well, so I allowed 3 tavern patrons to be roused into action.They head out the door only to see five of the bad gang waiting across the street looking to threaten the rest of them away.

The party wastes no time with words and chooses to fight. The Half-Orc and Gnome Monk kill 3 of the gang. The Dwarf Sorcerer put the other 2 to sleep. The Drow Cleric however is felled by their wicked slashes. He makes his rolls though and stabilizes on the ground, still unconscious. The Dwarf decides to take the sleeping thugs into the inn. The innkeeper tells him that there's a perfectly good cell at the town hall. (This is where things get bad)

While they are having their discussion the Player playing the Gnome asks me if she can slit the sleeping bad guys throats.

I tell her, well yeah she can. So she does.

The gaping townsfolk look on aghast at this. The Dwarf then decides to chop off their heads and put them on pikes, while the Half-Orc (angry that he didn't get to kill the baddies) proceeds to club the corpses into pulp. All the while the Drow is still laying unconscious in a pool of his own blood. Needless to say the townsfolk are terrified.

It was late in the real world so I called it for the night. Personally I was a bit disgruntled by their actions. Part of it comes from the fact that the rest of the adventure emanates from this town. Side-quests, info etc all come from the town who now want nothing to do with the party. The other part of it is my own shock at their actions. It being a long time since I was Dungeon Master I wasn't ready to handle a party of amoral bastards. I was taking their antagonism personally, which is something I should try not to do.

Still, I got some thinking to do on how to make this adventure work in lieu of their actions.

Back to the Surface

We all needed rest after our battle with Vinhatis. It was sad that Kevin's parents were killed, but at least we were able to save the children.

We decided to rest in the High Priest quarters. In the middle of the night (or our rest, we've have lost track of time) my appearance started changing for the worst. Tentacles grew out of my chin. My ears grew to grotesque proportions taking on an almost wing-like appearance. I was turning into whatever it was that "kissed" me. There was nothing for me to do but wait until Trevor awoke and prayed for Curative powers and hope that I wouldn't turn into one of those hideous beasts.

Upon waking and praying Trevor's light was able to heal me. I could feel the disease getting purged from my body. Trevor is convinced that my appearance will go back to normal in a few days. I hope so as I look a mess.

After that business was cleared up we decided it was best to make our way out of this tomb. We heard footsteps moving away from our location and towards the surface. A damned goblin was following us. Upon his discovery I gave chase. Unfortunately the hall was lined with grease. The goblin set it ablaze and escaped to the surface.

We ran through receiving our share of singes and burns. At the surface we found the goblin and his friends, wargs, ogres and more goblins. Battle of course ensued. Trevor stayed to protect the children. Veekay used a variety of illusions to fool the wargs. Soranna fought a devastating duel with the Ogre (That lady is tough) Wolfwood as usual laid down arrow fire and I made my way around the field killing what I could.

We emerged victorious, bruised and battered. It was time to get some rest. Luckily our journey back to Morralis (Wolfwood's home village) proved uneventful.

Mayor Crawford was overjoyed with the return of his children. He gave us a Writ of Heroism and even granted us land and building within the Town. A home base could come in handy. We also talked to Kevin about the death of his parents, Phineas and Deborah. This sobered our celebratory return. With time Kevin will overcome his grief.

We are still no nearer to finding the cause of the Vale's curse. However we continue on our journey unearthing all that we can.

The Vexing Venhatis

We traveled deeper into the Dwarven ruins. Wary of what awaited further into the depths. It was as silent as a tomb down there. Morbid thoughts, but what else is that quiet. Heading in each direction were many doors leading to the Cultists' living quarters. Each one contained little more than a bed and a dresser. Not much in the way of coinage either. Where was everybody? Had we killed them all? Where was their leader?

In addition to the basic living quarters we found the High Priest's rooms. In the one was a diary of Freya. A bigwig of some renown in the cult. From what I gathered the Blight Cult came to the Vale after curse. So, they are not the cause of it. They are just capitalizing on the misfortune. There was also some details about the Cult leader Venhatis. He is described as a mad man and Freya and her brother Drognir are planning on betraying them. I kept that information in my head thinking it might come in handy.

 In the other high priest's quarters we found a treasure chest with a secret switch in the bottom. I flipped the switch in the hopes that it would reveal more treasures. Instead it opened up a secret door behind a painting. Within this area were terrible looking creatures that were nothing more than grotesque heads with wings. One emitted a harsh shriek that pierced my very soul with fear. I slumped to the ground too frightened to move, even when the creature came close to me. It inserted it's horrendous tongue into my mouth. I don't know what it was planning to do. I couldn't stop it whatever it was. Luckily my companions made quick work of the beasts and saved me before I was done in. Needless to say this encounter left a bad taste in my mouth. The sooner we got out of here the better. There was just one more door to go...

And this was the one. The black heart of the blight cult beat within this Dwarven Hall. It must have once been a temple with the balconies and the pews. At the end of the hall was a Dais where stood Venhatis and the Blight Siblings. Venhatis was a madman who's cackling laugh and jittery speech echoed off the walls. What gave him that spastic tic? As we entered the room he gave his speech and pulled a switch dropping two cages from the ceiling. Inside was one was Phineas and Deborah,the kindly farmers that sheltered us. Kevin, their son, said they were kidnapped. Inside the other was the Mayor's children. Attached to each cage was some devious trap. We were obliged to rescue them, but first we had to get through Venhatis' minions.

They appeared to be mindless goblins. They were sitting in the pews and turned on us at their master's bidding. I quickly stabbed the first one I saw with nothing to show for it but a small piercing that oozed acid. My swords would be of no use on them. It fell to the light of Heironius to deal with them. And deal it did. Trevor's god basically obliterated these "blight zombies" Good for us, bad for Venhatis. Unfortunately there was more than just zombies serving Venhatis. The balcony contained more mages, and blight priests. These suckers continued to the vex us with magic grease and acid blasts. Then to top it off, we discovered a giant Gelatinous Cube guarding the dais. On top of that, Venhatis decided taking flight was a good way to engage us. The coward hid behind Stalactites only appearing to spit acid and taunt us.

Wolfwood took care of the balcony cultists with the help of Veekay. That left the gelatinous cube for me, Trevor and Soranna. Of course Soranna found herself floating in the ooze, again. She nearly succumbed to the Cube before we finished it. Then the Siblings attacked . We fought back valiantly Wolfwood with his arrows, Trevor and I with our Swords while Soranna lay recovering on the ground. The coward siblings turned to gas and fled before we could offer the finishing blows. Meanwhile Veekay was doing his best to get Venhatis. Lightning Bolts, Magic-Missiles and every other spell he could cast. In the end it was a well-placed crossbow bolt that finally took the Mad Priest out.

We were left bloody and broken. Somehow Wolfwood's Wolf companion Toafy was killed. I quickly ran to the dais and rescued the mayor's children. Sadly there was nothing I could do for Phineas and Deborah. When Drognir escaped he dropped the key to their cage and it broke on the ground. There was nothing we could do except watch them get consumed by acid.

There is no time to mourn and no time to heal our wounds. We have to get back to the surface and the relative safety of a town.

The blight might have started to take it's toll on me. My hair has fallen out. Will I succumb...