This session happened Friday, June 24, 2011, and was the only session I ran this past weekend.
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
– Halgrim (Kainen’s stone giant warrior cohort)
Sal Ty (elf wizard) [via Skype]
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Alys Kaah (gnome summoner/cavalier) [via Skype]
– Mr. Boodles (Alys’s owlbear-looking eidolon and mount)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table and then on my laptop via Skype.
“All the mummy, but only half the rot.” ~Tycho von Helmont on alchemical undead
In-game Starting Date: February 25, 23rd Year of King Nikola V
Over the last week, Sal had scouted the Banshee Copper Mine, looking for loot using summoned earth elementals. He failed. As a result, he had to go to Agnes, hat in hand, and ask for her assistance in finding “the banshee’s loot”. Now he had confirmed the existence of a couple of copper seams in the mine, but no gold coins or other valuables and he could not accept that none existed.
Agnes agreed to go explore the mine, but only if the rest of the group went as well as they had found very dangerous things in the mine. Sal conceded this point – he hated to face danger if he could have put a meatshield, er, combat specialist between himself and the danger.
Once the available adventurers were assembled (Xin had gone to Westcastle Crossing to get spell reagents and took Mog as a bodyguard), Sal cast mass reduce person on everyone else, picked them up, and then cast teleport on himself to move the entire group to the entrance of the Banshee Copper Mine. [He had studied the area on previous trips.]
The group entered the mine, following Thorngrim’s sketch map of the mine. They descended to the third level of the mine and re-checked the bone chamber, where Agnes had previously found a bag of gold coins. This was done at Sal’s insistence and there may have been some rolled eyes, but the room was professionally searched. Nothing new was found.
After this, the group decided to descend to the bottom of the main shaft. They found two tunnels leading away and that the level was flooded with three feet of water. This was problematic for Agnes (3 ft, 8 in) and Alys if she wanted to dismount from Mr. Boodles. Sal, Maenwen, and Thorngrim pool their magic and cast waterbreathing on every member of the party, then the group climbed down to the bottom of the shaft.
The group followed the tunnel to the right, which led up a ramp (and out of the water) and to another shaft. This shaft was about 30 ft across and extended up and down a level. The walls were much more natural in appearance and seemed to be a natural formation that the miners took advantage of. There were two tunnels branching off at this level, one on the level above, and two down at the bottom.
The tunnel to the left ended at a suspiciously warm wall and Sal sent an earth elemental to find out why it was warm. The adventurers were supposing the red dragon, but the elemental reported a lava tube instead. Backtracking to the new shaft, they followed the other tunnel and ran into a gibbering mouther at the end of the tunnel. The combined firepower of the adventurers destroyed it before the mouther could attack.
Rather than descend any further, the group backtracked all the way back to the third level of the main shaft and followed a different tunnel to the west. They discovered that the tunnel breaks into a more natural underground passage that extended two directions until they were out of sight. After following it one direction for an hour and finding nothing but more tunnel, this seemed to be part of the underworld and not part of the mine at all. The adventurers tracked back and decided to finish exploring the mine. They went to the second shaft and investigated the tunnels at the bottom of that [roughly level 5 of the mine], but discovered that these tunnels had been just started when things apparently went bad in the mine. Going to the top of this shaft, they followed the single tunnel there and found their way back to the main shaft.
At this point, the group descended to the flooded bottom of the main shaft and followed the remaining tunnel. This tunnel had a y-intersection and the group followed the right fork, which ended at a wooden wall with a door. Agnes also noticed that the supports for the last 30 ft of the tunnel were rigged to easily collapse the tunnel. Curious, the adventurers investigated the wooden wall and door. The wood was swollen with the water pressing against it and quite stout. Not certain what was on the other side and it being late in the day, the adventurers decided to fall back to the workroom on the second level to camp.
The next morning, the adventurers returned to the flooded fourth level and the wooden wall. After Agnes checked and cleared the door of traps, Kainen was brought forward and forced the door open, pushing against the flow of water into the next chamber, a chamber that was extremely warm and lit with an orange-red light. After watching the water quickly flow for a moment or two, Thorngrim cast wall of stone to create a low wall to stop the flow of water, just as the cold water that had flowed through reached the lava pool in the next room and flashed to steam!
The instant geyser filled the chamber and started blasting back up the tunnel. The adventurers dove into the remaining water, some making it, some not [Halfgrim amongst the “not” category due to size]. Those who did not make it in time were scalded with the boiling steam before getting under the water surface. Not knowing how long the geyser would last and having neglected to cast waterbreathing this day, Thorngrim cast a silent version of wall of stone, sealing off the tunnel and stopping the geyser. This saved Halfgrim’s life. Gasping for air, the rest of the adventurers surfaced and Su Bel set to healing everyone (including herself).
The adventurers returned to the second level of the main shaft and follow the last unexplored tunnel. After making their way past a room covered with thousands of crystals, the adventurers found the end of the tunnel, an apparent dead-end. Looking around, Agnes noticed that the cart track stopper had an additional mechanism hidden in it. Showing Thorngrim how to activate the mechanism, the group moved back. Thorngrim reach with his rubbery long arms and tripped the mechanism.
This caused the end 10 ft of the cart tracks and the floor under the tracks to angle down, exposing a low-ceilinged small chamber with three chests and a pile of something covered with a tarp. Agnes crept forward and investigated. The tarp covered a stack of platinum ingots. The chests contained gold coins, valuable gems, an endless decanter, the broken remains of many potion bottles, and a scroll tube. Only one of the potions was still good – a potion of stone giant control. [Convenient, no?] The scroll tube contained a mostly complete map of the entire mine (it didn’t show the starter tunnels on the fifth level).
The group spent another hour checking the accuracy of the map before camping for the night. In the morning they decided it was time to return to Drop-off Keep. Sal cast mass reduce person and teleported everyone back.
*End of session*
[This is the second to last session for the campaign. The finale will be next week and will be the attack on the red dragon. I think the PCs have a good chance of winning a tough fight, but if they don’t, that will definitely effect the landscape of the next campaign set here. I’m looking forward to see what happens.
Between sessions I granted the characters 2 levels, putting most of the party at 12th level. I did this as the campaign is getting close to the end and I want the characters to do the coolest things they can these last two sessions. I originally wanted to run the campaign until the PCs reached 15th level, but there is a good ending here and I’m ready to end this story and move on to the next one. Adding two levels now gets the characters closer to the endpoint I originally sold to the players and should allow a cool final battle.
Finally, after the campaign ends, I’m going to drop using Skype to bring in remote players. For a mixed group of some here some remote, it isn’t working anywhere near where I want it to be. I’ll post a more detailed posting on this later.]
Showing posts with label Haunted_Mine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haunted_Mine. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
SR48: The Cleansing of the Banshee Copper Mine
This session happened Friday, June 3, 2011, and was the only session I ran this past weekend.
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Xin (human wizard)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Alys Kaah (gnome summoner/cavalier) [via Skype]
– Mr. Boodles (Alys’s owlbear-looking eidolon and mount)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table and then on my laptop via Skype.
In-game Starting Date: February 15, 23rd Year of King Nikola V
After the cold, snow-heavy winter months, the adventurers decided it was time to free the copper mine of the banshee living in it. They took the 3 Peaks Road south and then followed the sporadic trail of arcane marks across the Great River, pushing on until dusk to reach the crooked tower Thorngrim erected there last year. The night passed mostly quietly, with those on guard duty allowing the wildlife seen to pass in peace.
The next day, the adventurers hiked into the foot hills of the mountains, heading towards the plateau where the mine entrance was located. As they reached the edge of the plateau and were looking for a good route to climb, Agnes noticed the remains of an old road leading up the side. There was not much left of the road, but it did mark an easier path up the side of the plateau. Once they reached the top of the plateau, they set up a covert camp. Sal cast [magic mansion - I need to look up the exact spell name] for a place to camp while Thorngrim cast illusionary terrain to hide the campsite, particularly from any dragons that might fly overhead.
During the second watch, Sal spotted a group of giants moving across the plateau. He flew after them to find out where they were going. The giants moved across the plateau and entered the higher mountains on the far (eastern) side of the plateau. Once the giants were out of sight in the mountains, Sal placed an invisible arcane mark on the spot so it could be found later. As it was getting towards dawn, Sal flew back and reported what he had learned. He had a tendency to yawn for the rest of the day and was down a few spells from lack of rest.
After a couple hours hike, the adventurers reached the entrance to the copper mine. They entered the mine and set up a camp in the first cavern so they would be at minimum encumbrance while exploring the mine and looking for the banshee. They set a rope and climbed down the main shaft to the next level of the mine. Down one passage they found the mine’s workshop, long abandoned. Agnes was able to determine the mine belonged to humans based on the materials and tools found here. This area was also the home for the elevator’s tread wheel and it was estimated that if the top pulleys were replaced and new ropes strung, the elevator would work again. This was filed away for later use.
The passage out the back of the workshop eventually dead-ended and the adventurers followed the next passage clock-wise off the main shaft. They could hear water moving behind the walls and shortly came to a cavern where the underground stream was exposed. They (carefully, one might say paranoidally) made their way across the bridge and deeper into the mine. At a Y-intersection, Agnes noticed the wooden braces holding the ceiling up were acid damaged and weak. Looking around for the cause of this damage, she located a huge black pudding as it roiled up for the attack. A couple of bombs and fireballs later, the pudding was destroyed, but the ceiling started to collapse. Thorngrim attempted to shore up the ceiling with a wall of stone, but the weight involved merely shattered his wall. The group ran for their lives, trying to stay ahead of the collapse. When they cleared the bridge over the stream, the collapse finished, blocking off any further passage in the direction they had been heading.
It also attracted the attention of the banshee.
The adventurers heard the wail of the banshee from deeper in the mine and cautiously made their way back to the main shaft. There they spotted the banshee as it flew out of a passage on a lower level. The main shaft was over forty feet across and over a hundred feet deep, which allowed Mr. Boodles to take flight as the other adventurers spread out along the ledge of the shaft. The banshee flew up towards Mr. Boodles, her face twisted with rage, and struck him, dark energies flowing through the contact. Alys was able to share the damage, keeping Mr. Boodles from being destroyed, but terror was now in his heart. Just as Mr. Boodles was bolting away from the banshee, Sal placed a horizontal force wall UNDER them and covering most of the shaft, providing a surface for Alys to quick dismount onto…and for Mog to charge across.
As the adventurers moved around her and struck at her with their magic weapons, the banshee wailed again. Agnes, Dame Yasha, and Xin all fell to the ground dead from the attack and the rest were sickened for a round [I rolled minimum on the die for how long the effect lasted]. With anger in their hearts, the remaining adventurers renewed their attacks and put down the banshee, Tycho dealing the final damage to her.
In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Su Bel regretted letting vengeance guide her hand. She had breath of life ready and could have brought back one of the fallen, but now the time was past. The fallen were bound in their cloaks and set aside for later transport – first the banshee’s lair had to be found.
The living adventurers descended to the mines third level and entered the passage the banshee had appeared through. It led to a chamber full of bones, bones of Man and of Elf. All of the bones were collected and taken to the surface, where they were given burial and the ground consecrated. [This permanently banished the banshee, but the players might not have known that.]
After the burial, the fallen were gathered and Sal teleported all of the adventurers back to Drop-off Keep. The following day, Su Bel cast raise dead multiple times to bring the fallen back. She then started the long process of restoring them to their full capabilities.
While the copper mine was purged of the banshee, the cost had been high.
*End of session*
[We had a full group this session with all but one player physically present, a rare occurrence now-a-days.
A note about the in-game dates: the year changes on the King’s Ascension Day, which is July 10. So when that date comes around again, it will be July 10, 24th Year of King Nikola V. I bring this up now as the winter season has just passed and while that signals the new year in the Gregorian Calendar, it doesn’t in the in-game calendar. This is something I can play with when the current campaign ends and I re-boot several decades in the future. More on that later.]
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Xin (human wizard)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Alys Kaah (gnome summoner/cavalier) [via Skype]
– Mr. Boodles (Alys’s owlbear-looking eidolon and mount)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table and then on my laptop via Skype.
In-game Starting Date: February 15, 23rd Year of King Nikola V
After the cold, snow-heavy winter months, the adventurers decided it was time to free the copper mine of the banshee living in it. They took the 3 Peaks Road south and then followed the sporadic trail of arcane marks across the Great River, pushing on until dusk to reach the crooked tower Thorngrim erected there last year. The night passed mostly quietly, with those on guard duty allowing the wildlife seen to pass in peace.
The next day, the adventurers hiked into the foot hills of the mountains, heading towards the plateau where the mine entrance was located. As they reached the edge of the plateau and were looking for a good route to climb, Agnes noticed the remains of an old road leading up the side. There was not much left of the road, but it did mark an easier path up the side of the plateau. Once they reached the top of the plateau, they set up a covert camp. Sal cast [magic mansion - I need to look up the exact spell name] for a place to camp while Thorngrim cast illusionary terrain to hide the campsite, particularly from any dragons that might fly overhead.
During the second watch, Sal spotted a group of giants moving across the plateau. He flew after them to find out where they were going. The giants moved across the plateau and entered the higher mountains on the far (eastern) side of the plateau. Once the giants were out of sight in the mountains, Sal placed an invisible arcane mark on the spot so it could be found later. As it was getting towards dawn, Sal flew back and reported what he had learned. He had a tendency to yawn for the rest of the day and was down a few spells from lack of rest.
After a couple hours hike, the adventurers reached the entrance to the copper mine. They entered the mine and set up a camp in the first cavern so they would be at minimum encumbrance while exploring the mine and looking for the banshee. They set a rope and climbed down the main shaft to the next level of the mine. Down one passage they found the mine’s workshop, long abandoned. Agnes was able to determine the mine belonged to humans based on the materials and tools found here. This area was also the home for the elevator’s tread wheel and it was estimated that if the top pulleys were replaced and new ropes strung, the elevator would work again. This was filed away for later use.
The passage out the back of the workshop eventually dead-ended and the adventurers followed the next passage clock-wise off the main shaft. They could hear water moving behind the walls and shortly came to a cavern where the underground stream was exposed. They (carefully, one might say paranoidally) made their way across the bridge and deeper into the mine. At a Y-intersection, Agnes noticed the wooden braces holding the ceiling up were acid damaged and weak. Looking around for the cause of this damage, she located a huge black pudding as it roiled up for the attack. A couple of bombs and fireballs later, the pudding was destroyed, but the ceiling started to collapse. Thorngrim attempted to shore up the ceiling with a wall of stone, but the weight involved merely shattered his wall. The group ran for their lives, trying to stay ahead of the collapse. When they cleared the bridge over the stream, the collapse finished, blocking off any further passage in the direction they had been heading.
It also attracted the attention of the banshee.
The adventurers heard the wail of the banshee from deeper in the mine and cautiously made their way back to the main shaft. There they spotted the banshee as it flew out of a passage on a lower level. The main shaft was over forty feet across and over a hundred feet deep, which allowed Mr. Boodles to take flight as the other adventurers spread out along the ledge of the shaft. The banshee flew up towards Mr. Boodles, her face twisted with rage, and struck him, dark energies flowing through the contact. Alys was able to share the damage, keeping Mr. Boodles from being destroyed, but terror was now in his heart. Just as Mr. Boodles was bolting away from the banshee, Sal placed a horizontal force wall UNDER them and covering most of the shaft, providing a surface for Alys to quick dismount onto…and for Mog to charge across.
As the adventurers moved around her and struck at her with their magic weapons, the banshee wailed again. Agnes, Dame Yasha, and Xin all fell to the ground dead from the attack and the rest were sickened for a round [I rolled minimum on the die for how long the effect lasted]. With anger in their hearts, the remaining adventurers renewed their attacks and put down the banshee, Tycho dealing the final damage to her.
In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Su Bel regretted letting vengeance guide her hand. She had breath of life ready and could have brought back one of the fallen, but now the time was past. The fallen were bound in their cloaks and set aside for later transport – first the banshee’s lair had to be found.
The living adventurers descended to the mines third level and entered the passage the banshee had appeared through. It led to a chamber full of bones, bones of Man and of Elf. All of the bones were collected and taken to the surface, where they were given burial and the ground consecrated. [This permanently banished the banshee, but the players might not have known that.]
After the burial, the fallen were gathered and Sal teleported all of the adventurers back to Drop-off Keep. The following day, Su Bel cast raise dead multiple times to bring the fallen back. She then started the long process of restoring them to their full capabilities.
While the copper mine was purged of the banshee, the cost had been high.
*End of session*
[We had a full group this session with all but one player physically present, a rare occurrence now-a-days.
A note about the in-game dates: the year changes on the King’s Ascension Day, which is July 10. So when that date comes around again, it will be July 10, 24th Year of King Nikola V. I bring this up now as the winter season has just passed and while that signals the new year in the Gregorian Calendar, it doesn’t in the in-game calendar. This is something I can play with when the current campaign ends and I re-boot several decades in the future. More on that later.]
Monday, March 7, 2011
SR37: Dragonslay…er, No. Not Really.
This session happened Friday, February 25, 2011, and was the only session I ran this past weekend. There was no game on February 18th due to player scheduling issues (and the DM, me, not really being ready).
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Xin (human wizard)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table.
With the group of adventurers still out in the mountains, Sal used reduce person on the others (so he could carry everyone) and then teleport on himself to get back to Drop-off Tower without hiking the entire distance. Back at the Tower, the group dispersed to pursue their own preparations for fighting the red dragon, having decided that they would be able to defeat it easier than the banshee in the copper mine. [Despite not knowing where the dragon lairs or, really, anything about it.]
As pert of his preparations, Sal went to the Iron Keep to consult with the few sages there and perform some other errands, like updating the Table Map in Spider's Bar. At Spider's, he was introduced to Xin, a human wizard new to town. Xin had some peculiar understandings about how things were here in the Southern Reaches (like he thought a cabal of wizards ran the place), but was still very much interested in joining up with the adventurers to expand his knowledge.
Sal teleported both Xin and himself back to the steps of Drop-off Tower (without warning Xin first). There he dumped Xin off with Su Bel to have her verify Xin was on the up-and-up. She did so after talking with him a bit (and casting a few discreet spells). She then gave Xin the five copper tour of the tower. [As a note, construction of the keep walls has started, requiring Thorngrim to dispel the illusionary walls he was using to plan out the constructions. This made him slightly sad, but the workers demanded it be done so they could see what they were doing.]
Once Xin was introduced to everyone, planning for how to fight the dragon started in earnest and continued far into the evening. Once the tactics were agreed to, Sal set to inscribing the necessary scrolls support the group against the dragon. This took another day, during which the rest of the group made their own last minute preparations. The following day, Sal used several spells to transport the group [minus Agnes and Tycho as their players were not in attendance] to the plateau in front of the Banshee Copper Mine. There the adventurers made camp while Sal cast scrying several times, attempting to locate the dragon's lair. The only time he was able to locate the dragon, it was flying high in the sky. Having used most of his high-level spells, Sal needed to rest [only two hours – he does have a ring of sustenance] before re-memorizing.
Late that night, during the second watch, the camp was attacked by six stone giants. Mog, Sal, and Maenwen were on watch, with the rest of the adventurers up in a rope trick, sleeping. The giants achieved tactical supremacy early in the fight, killing Mog and Maenwen during the fight. Su Bel was able to save Mog by casting breath of life on him [see end note], but she was not able to save Maenwen. After this point, the dice turned in the favor of the players, allowing them to get their tactics in order and turn the tide of the battle.
While the adventurers eventually defeated the stone giants, they had clearly been punked. This seriously shook their faith in the odds of defeating the dragon, let alone without anyone dying (but the dragon of course). When the dawn arrived, Su Bel cast raise dead and restoration on Maenwen, then Sal cast reduce person on everyone and teleport on himself, teleporting everyone back to Drop-off Tower with their tails firmly between their legs.
*End of session*
[Well after the fact, I realized that Su Bel's Healing domain granted power, Healer's Blessing, only works on cure spells, not healing spells. This means that she would not have received the +50% increase in effect from breath of life, which would have left Mog dead until the next day, assuming the PCs would still have won the fight. His body might have been lost if they had to retreat to live.
I allowed it based on incorrect input from one of the players who generally knows the rules extremely well. I'm not certain how I want to deal with this. His advice was exactly the opposite of what the correct ruling was and his character may have died permanently otherwise, along with one or more other characters as his character is the damage-dealer in the group. I'm not going to go back and require a re-do as that is lame. If I retcon that Mog died and then was raised by Su Bel, that would seem to have little impact other than the use of resources (I require that they have the diamonds necessary). It may be that I just bring it up at the beginning of next game and let it go, which seems the most likely, but I'm not happy about being told the wrong thing by a walking rules encyclopedia.]
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Xin (human wizard)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table.
With the group of adventurers still out in the mountains, Sal used reduce person on the others (so he could carry everyone) and then teleport on himself to get back to Drop-off Tower without hiking the entire distance. Back at the Tower, the group dispersed to pursue their own preparations for fighting the red dragon, having decided that they would be able to defeat it easier than the banshee in the copper mine. [Despite not knowing where the dragon lairs or, really, anything about it.]
As pert of his preparations, Sal went to the Iron Keep to consult with the few sages there and perform some other errands, like updating the Table Map in Spider's Bar. At Spider's, he was introduced to Xin, a human wizard new to town. Xin had some peculiar understandings about how things were here in the Southern Reaches (like he thought a cabal of wizards ran the place), but was still very much interested in joining up with the adventurers to expand his knowledge.
Sal teleported both Xin and himself back to the steps of Drop-off Tower (without warning Xin first). There he dumped Xin off with Su Bel to have her verify Xin was on the up-and-up. She did so after talking with him a bit (and casting a few discreet spells). She then gave Xin the five copper tour of the tower. [As a note, construction of the keep walls has started, requiring Thorngrim to dispel the illusionary walls he was using to plan out the constructions. This made him slightly sad, but the workers demanded it be done so they could see what they were doing.]
Once Xin was introduced to everyone, planning for how to fight the dragon started in earnest and continued far into the evening. Once the tactics were agreed to, Sal set to inscribing the necessary scrolls support the group against the dragon. This took another day, during which the rest of the group made their own last minute preparations. The following day, Sal used several spells to transport the group [minus Agnes and Tycho as their players were not in attendance] to the plateau in front of the Banshee Copper Mine. There the adventurers made camp while Sal cast scrying several times, attempting to locate the dragon's lair. The only time he was able to locate the dragon, it was flying high in the sky. Having used most of his high-level spells, Sal needed to rest [only two hours – he does have a ring of sustenance] before re-memorizing.
Late that night, during the second watch, the camp was attacked by six stone giants. Mog, Sal, and Maenwen were on watch, with the rest of the adventurers up in a rope trick, sleeping. The giants achieved tactical supremacy early in the fight, killing Mog and Maenwen during the fight. Su Bel was able to save Mog by casting breath of life on him [see end note], but she was not able to save Maenwen. After this point, the dice turned in the favor of the players, allowing them to get their tactics in order and turn the tide of the battle.
While the adventurers eventually defeated the stone giants, they had clearly been punked. This seriously shook their faith in the odds of defeating the dragon, let alone without anyone dying (but the dragon of course). When the dawn arrived, Su Bel cast raise dead and restoration on Maenwen, then Sal cast reduce person on everyone and teleport on himself, teleporting everyone back to Drop-off Tower with their tails firmly between their legs.
*End of session*
[Well after the fact, I realized that Su Bel's Healing domain granted power, Healer's Blessing, only works on cure spells, not healing spells. This means that she would not have received the +50% increase in effect from breath of life, which would have left Mog dead until the next day, assuming the PCs would still have won the fight. His body might have been lost if they had to retreat to live.
I allowed it based on incorrect input from one of the players who generally knows the rules extremely well. I'm not certain how I want to deal with this. His advice was exactly the opposite of what the correct ruling was and his character may have died permanently otherwise, along with one or more other characters as his character is the damage-dealer in the group. I'm not going to go back and require a re-do as that is lame. If I retcon that Mog died and then was raised by Su Bel, that would seem to have little impact other than the use of resources (I require that they have the diamonds necessary). It may be that I just bring it up at the beginning of next game and let it go, which seems the most likely, but I'm not happy about being told the wrong thing by a walking rules encyclopedia.]
Friday, February 18, 2011
SR36: Searching for a Mine of Their Own
This session happened Friday, February 11, 2011, and was the only session I ran this past weekend. There was no game on February 4th.
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table.
Having settled on a plan for expanding Drop-off Tower into Drop-off Keep, Agnes and Thorngrim each put down 2,500 gold marks to start actual construction of the walls. A respectable dwarven firm (Torut Torarr and Family) was selected to oversee the work and a crew of workers hired from the Iron Keep started clearing and leveling where the walls will go while orders for stone were placed with the quarries in the Iron Hills.
In addition to the start of construction, Sal picked up a co-artificer by the name of Maenwyn. Sal had sent posters to several centers of learning back across the ocean looking for someone willing to join him in the south and assist him. In addition to being skilled in the creation of magic items, Maenwyn had expertise in running a business, something Sal planned on putting to use in the future when he establishes a learning academy. [This is something I, as the DM, am very excited by.]
Having codified the various maps in their possession (the Table map from Spider’s Bar, a treasure map on an ivory tusk, a treasure map on a dragon scale, and the floor-covering map from one of the tombs at the Terrace of Fallen Horses) into a single map, the adventurers decided to investigate what appeared to be the location of a mine. Packing supplies and using the mount spell (except Dame Yasha who brought her mount Lakshmi), the adventurers rode south on Three Peaks Road.
Turning off the road prior to entering the mountains themselves, the adventurers attempted to circle the mountains to the east. They found a long line of cliffs to the east and south of the mountains, in the hills. They followed the cliff edge around, discovering an immense river gorge south of Three Peaks, beyond which they could barely detect the high mountains their map showed. [Note: there was an odd symbol on their map, which the could not figure out and I did not explain. When they arrived here, they realized it was marking an immense canyon flanked by miles-wide plateau steps. Think the Grand Canyon, but not as quite deep or as long.]
Not wanting to deal with the river gorge, the adventurers followed the cliff face west until it ended and then skirted the western edges of the river canyon. Camping on the edges of the Sea of Grass to the southwest of the Three Peaks area, their evening rest was disturbed by a stampede of horses. Tycho and Thorngrim were on watch at the time and the rest of the group was up a rope trick, so Thorngrim used ghost sounds to imitate the roars of many dire lions, deflecting the stampede of horses.
The next day the adventurers crossed the wide river and started working their way up into the foothills of the mountains. Most of the day passed uneventfully, but as they were making camp, the adventurers were attacked by a flight of four griffins. This fight did not last long and dinner for the night was griffin steaks. In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea as later an adult red dragon showed up and demanded to know what they were doing in its mountains. After a quick consultation, the adventurers decided they did not want to fight the dragon. When the dragon demanded 100 gold pieces per person as tribute, the adventurers quickly paid. Somewhat satisfied by this, the dragon stated that the adventurers had "one week" and then flew off. It didn’t say one week to what and the adventurers were not willing to call the dragon back for clarification.
In the morning, the adventurers continued working their way into the mountains. Early in the afternoon they discovered a large plateau backed by tall mountains. On the southern edge, up next to a steep mountain face, were the ruins of a small keep. At the back of the keep they found the entrance to a mine, with rusted tracks leading into the darkness. The adventurers entered the mine and spent the rest of the afternoon searching the nearest tunnels.
Down one series of tunnels they discovered the mine still contained a workable vein of copper. They also found a deep shaft that led to deeper levels of the mine, but the lifts were long ago destroyed, so they postponed searching the deeper levels until later. Down a different set of tunnels they found the skeletal remains of a dead human with a fractured skull. The adventurers were coming to the conclusion that the mine had not been abandoned peaceably and returned to the first chamber to camp.
During the night, on second watch, Thorngrim and Maenwyn heard an eerie howl from deeper in the mine. Neither could identify the sound, but when Thorngrim replayed it for Sal (using ghost sounds), Sal and Su Bel identified it as the cry of a banshee! This led to a discussion as to which foe will be harder to face, the banshee or the dragon? It was decided that the banshee would be especially dangerous as most of the spellcasters were out of spells still and the camp was moved out into the ruins of the keep.
*End of session*
[Normally, I would not end a session with the adventurers in a locale, requiring them to return to a safe location or chance a roll on the table of Doom. However, it was getting late and the same set of players will be there on the 18th, so I let it go. Plus, I was tired and ready to end the session.]
Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
– Dame Yasha of Bereste (Su Bel’s human cavalier cohort)
Sal Ty (elf wizard)
– Maenwen (Sal’s human wizard cohort)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)
– Kainen (Thorngrim’s human fighter cohort)
Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table.
Having settled on a plan for expanding Drop-off Tower into Drop-off Keep, Agnes and Thorngrim each put down 2,500 gold marks to start actual construction of the walls. A respectable dwarven firm (Torut Torarr and Family) was selected to oversee the work and a crew of workers hired from the Iron Keep started clearing and leveling where the walls will go while orders for stone were placed with the quarries in the Iron Hills.
In addition to the start of construction, Sal picked up a co-artificer by the name of Maenwyn. Sal had sent posters to several centers of learning back across the ocean looking for someone willing to join him in the south and assist him. In addition to being skilled in the creation of magic items, Maenwyn had expertise in running a business, something Sal planned on putting to use in the future when he establishes a learning academy. [This is something I, as the DM, am very excited by.]
Having codified the various maps in their possession (the Table map from Spider’s Bar, a treasure map on an ivory tusk, a treasure map on a dragon scale, and the floor-covering map from one of the tombs at the Terrace of Fallen Horses) into a single map, the adventurers decided to investigate what appeared to be the location of a mine. Packing supplies and using the mount spell (except Dame Yasha who brought her mount Lakshmi), the adventurers rode south on Three Peaks Road.
Turning off the road prior to entering the mountains themselves, the adventurers attempted to circle the mountains to the east. They found a long line of cliffs to the east and south of the mountains, in the hills. They followed the cliff edge around, discovering an immense river gorge south of Three Peaks, beyond which they could barely detect the high mountains their map showed. [Note: there was an odd symbol on their map, which the could not figure out and I did not explain. When they arrived here, they realized it was marking an immense canyon flanked by miles-wide plateau steps. Think the Grand Canyon, but not as quite deep or as long.]
Not wanting to deal with the river gorge, the adventurers followed the cliff face west until it ended and then skirted the western edges of the river canyon. Camping on the edges of the Sea of Grass to the southwest of the Three Peaks area, their evening rest was disturbed by a stampede of horses. Tycho and Thorngrim were on watch at the time and the rest of the group was up a rope trick, so Thorngrim used ghost sounds to imitate the roars of many dire lions, deflecting the stampede of horses.
The next day the adventurers crossed the wide river and started working their way up into the foothills of the mountains. Most of the day passed uneventfully, but as they were making camp, the adventurers were attacked by a flight of four griffins. This fight did not last long and dinner for the night was griffin steaks. In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea as later an adult red dragon showed up and demanded to know what they were doing in its mountains. After a quick consultation, the adventurers decided they did not want to fight the dragon. When the dragon demanded 100 gold pieces per person as tribute, the adventurers quickly paid. Somewhat satisfied by this, the dragon stated that the adventurers had "one week" and then flew off. It didn’t say one week to what and the adventurers were not willing to call the dragon back for clarification.
In the morning, the adventurers continued working their way into the mountains. Early in the afternoon they discovered a large plateau backed by tall mountains. On the southern edge, up next to a steep mountain face, were the ruins of a small keep. At the back of the keep they found the entrance to a mine, with rusted tracks leading into the darkness. The adventurers entered the mine and spent the rest of the afternoon searching the nearest tunnels.
Down one series of tunnels they discovered the mine still contained a workable vein of copper. They also found a deep shaft that led to deeper levels of the mine, but the lifts were long ago destroyed, so they postponed searching the deeper levels until later. Down a different set of tunnels they found the skeletal remains of a dead human with a fractured skull. The adventurers were coming to the conclusion that the mine had not been abandoned peaceably and returned to the first chamber to camp.
During the night, on second watch, Thorngrim and Maenwyn heard an eerie howl from deeper in the mine. Neither could identify the sound, but when Thorngrim replayed it for Sal (using ghost sounds), Sal and Su Bel identified it as the cry of a banshee! This led to a discussion as to which foe will be harder to face, the banshee or the dragon? It was decided that the banshee would be especially dangerous as most of the spellcasters were out of spells still and the camp was moved out into the ruins of the keep.
*End of session*
[Normally, I would not end a session with the adventurers in a locale, requiring them to return to a safe location or chance a roll on the table of Doom. However, it was getting late and the same set of players will be there on the 18th, so I let it go. Plus, I was tired and ready to end the session.]
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