M4: Under the Volcano [Nimisgod judging] -CONCLUDED

Eanos, human monk

"I've been granted a courier service as my knightly holding," Eanos tells the others. "The main office is here in the capital, though its routes snake throughout Monemvassia. Its income will surely be a boon, but hopefully it might prove a useful information network, as well."

He bows to his companions. "Thank you all for your aid. When I joined your band at the inn, I was but a novice. I doubt I'd have survived this long without the help of you, my peers and betters. If you have need of me again, I shouldn't doubt you'll find me back at the Red Dragon again in the near future."

With that, the young monk slips away into the city, his quick steps soon taking him out of sight.

[sblock=Fleet of Foot Couriers]Monemvassia's widest-known courier network, Fleet of Foot has a mid-sized compound on the outer edge of Monemvassia city. Here is a barracks for couriers in the city, as well as horses and other supplies the couriers might need. Couriers are stationed at most major businesses and government buildings, working in shifts so that they might be on call at all times.

While primarily used within the great city, FoF also does a fair business delivering to outlying areas (Three Rings and other allied towns). Outside the city, FoF subsists through arrangements with local inns and roadhouses. Couriers coming into a town from more than a half-day's ride away may stay at contracted inns, and local courier representatives are generally contacted via these inns, as well. The inns recieve a regular service fee, and the courier service deals with reduced facility upkeep and overhead.

Known for their exceptional speed and discretion, FoF specializes in quick delivery of smaller personal parcels (missives, small gifts, the odd special-order armament), leaving larger cargo to guarded caravans and trade ships.[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]It's been a heck of a ride. Thanks for putting up with a rookie and letting me learn the ropes. [/sblock]

The entire set of adventures have been great, I'm very happy to have played through all of them. I hope Tenebrynn can continue with what you've got planned next

Monemvassia is actually only one city. I envision it like an old Greek city-state (which is kind of is, in real life. Monemvassia is an actual place in Greece; it was my favorite place when I visited there in '96. I probably should have given it a different name for LEW, but I didn't think of it at the time.)

Thus the FoF courier service would probably be active within the city itself, although, of course, it would also deliver messages and such to the various farms, mills, forts, mines and outposts in the vicinity. Three Rings is a small, independent town near Monemvassia, which has a treaty with the larger city for protection in return for some tax revenue and general cooperation.

Looks like everyone is keeping their knighthood. Don't forget to add it to your CS, including your adamantine dagger. You could sell your dagger of course; it's worth over 3000 gps & is fairly useless in general, but you're expected to have it if you're a knight, and you would be requested to purchase another if you've 'lost' it. By the way, the names inscribed on the daggers were the same as were given to the Prince in the beginning of M3, which is where they got Ashnar's last name. I don't recall that anyone gave a false name at the time. If you did, then your dagger has that false name.

DM Commentary

From the beginning, I knew I had two challenges on this adventure. One was that I wanted to have Frump disguised as a gnoll god. There wasn’t one, and I was tempted to use Yenougha, as the module states. But the judges talked me out of it and I settled for Kazikazi.

The other challenge was to get the party captured without getting it killed. I contemplated having this happen by DM fiat, but again, the judges talked me out of it. I wasn’t sure how I would do it until just before it happened. If the party hadn’t taken Frump with them, or if they’d taken his spellbook, it still probably would have played out similarly. I would have just invented some other excuse for the Dragon’s forces to descend suddenly, and with overwhelming power.

I knew the battle with ‘kazikazi’ would be tough, but I also knew the party was sure to overcome unless it chickened out. The module says a glass wall is in front of the throne (there occupied by the gnoll diety-demon Yenougha). I didn’t think a real glass wall made sense with no support beams, so I made it glassteel. Later I realized glassteel is not a spell in 3E. It was a 6th level magic user spell in 1E, which is the era in which the module was published. The illusions were supposed to last the entire fight, as the spectral force spell would have in 1E. Too late, I noticed in 3.5E that the Major Image spell lasts only 3 rounds after concentration ends. The throne was supposed to double spell range, instead, I decided it increased the duration of certain illusions.

My recollection of playing it under 1E rules is that our spellcasters were able to cast their light spell underground. Perhaps the component was different. I added the moss in the crocodile room as it did seem less fun when no one could see. I replaced a giant crab with the crocodile b/c I couldn’t find a giant crab in the creature catalog.

I had expected the party to come into conflict with the Viscount in M3, but given the uncertainties of how that module would play out, I’m not too surprised they didn’t. I think the final battle of M4 might have been more fun if they’d had more run ins with the Viscount.

The party only played out a small part of the A3 & A4 modules. In fact, you could probably get away with doing them again as players. The party took the first escape from the underground caves. While this was smart on their part, they did miss some of the more interesting underground encounters.

This was a great group of players, and I thank you for making this a fun game for me too.

I must tell you've handle everything well. Assassin's Knot was an adventure just meant for Rinaldo skills, and for that, it was marvelous. A lot of chance to use his social skills, he was in his element, and that was a nice stimulation. Rinaldo, when I create it first, he was a nice character, but lack deepness, but it is really in M2, Bandit's Camp, M3 and M4 adevntures that his story, his personalities and his goal have made the most interesting character I have ever played on PbP, and it is greatly part to you Manz.

But I must tell, as Manz told, the other things that made that serie interesting, it is the group. It has changed after each adventure, but not much. Nurlan and Tenebrynn have even see M1, Ashnar and Rinaldo have joined up in M2 and the four of us have stayed until the end.

I've seen the courageous Tenebrynn taking the front many times, and I've seen it falled under the hits and become unconscious at least twice. I've seen Nurlan and Mordik being capture, I've seen Ashnar and Nurlan dying in combat... all these events have allowed me to figure how Rinaldo see his role in the group. I've always tried to put in his mind that his group is not simply friends, but his family. He was a coward in his first adventure, but he has learn that peopel were counting on him, and it has always been his motivation over the one he always pretend to have: money.

I was happy of one thing when we found ourselves underground. I feel during M3 that Eanos was following Rinaldo's lead, and maybe Rinaldo was shining a bit too much at his side, not giving the full chance for Eanos to take his place (even if I were happy to have a vigilant character next to him, he was his eyes and hears), but when we found ourselves naked, underground, Eanos skills was becoming the most important. The fastest swimmer, the only who could easily enter combat... If Eanos would have been an NPC, I think it is him Rinaldo would have taken as a cohort

I think the Monemvassia serie of adventure was really great, and I hope to see you all in teh next Rinaldo's adventures, you favorite trader.

Ok, enough for the flower, now the pot: Where is Frump?

Velmont said:

Ok, enough for the flower, now the pot: Where is Frump?

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Seems like noone was interested in Ogrin's previous idea to send him a "welcome present":

rln said:

Ogrin whispers to Rinaldo, audible enough so the others in the party can hear it, "Just out of curiosity - what would a scroll with a magical force trap, and a scroll with a spell to hide a magic aura cost at your fine establishments? Why I'm wondering? Oh, no reason, really..."

OOC: That's a scroll of explosive runes, and a scroll of Magic Aura, in case it wasn't obvious

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Edit: Some addendum. If I were to consider a defining moment, it's how we handled the guards at the bridge. Nurlans charms allowed us to get past the ogre and the hobgoblins, Razh held them at bay and Ashnar scared them off. I believe this helped reduce our losses quite a lot; Nurlans death came down to two lucky rolls, and that's just the way the dice rolls - could've happened at any time.

Ogrin didn't see much character development in this adventure, though the blame for that falls entirely on me. Skillwise, he was much in Rinaldos shadow except where stealth was needed. His distrust versus mind-affecting mages (illusionists and enchanters) has almost turned into hatred, but otherwise there's little new he brings with him from this adventure. The ship might turn out to be a good thing in this regard, as it gives him a rather unique position.

It is hard to "break in" when most of the group has already played for an adventure and everyone have their distinct roles places. Razh and Ogrin has stuck together for three adventures, so it turned out quite logical that the two of us would "stand out" a little. Still, I believe we filled the niche we were hired for quite well - meatshields with sharp edges

rln said:

Seems like noone was interested in Ogrin's previous idea to send him a "welcome present":

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Sorry, but Rinaldo doesn't trade in cursed items, or in evil items. Rinaldo maintain some standards.

Manzanita said:

I wanted to have Frump disguised as a gnoll god. There wasn’t one, and I was tempted to use Yenougha, as the module states. But the judges talked me out of it and I settled for Kazikazi.

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Creating a god for the purpose would have made more sense to me, but it's not a big issue. Although it seemed strange to have a bunch of gnolls worshipping a goblin god, it didn't detract from the enjoyment of the game.

Manzanita said:

Later I realized glassteel is not a spell in 3E. It was a 6th level magic user spell in 1E, which is the era in which the module was published. The illusions were supposed to last the entire fight, as the spectral force spell would have in 1E. Too late, I noticed in 3.5E that the Major Image spell lasts only 3 rounds after concentration ends. The throne was supposed to double spell range, instead, I decided it increased the duration of certain illusions.

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No problem there. When dealing with a powerful mage, I don't think the PCs need to be able to analyze the spells causing whatever he's achieving by magic. I don't have a problem with supposing that he's got his own spells without needing to specify exactly what they are.

Manzanita said:

My recollection of playing it under 1E rules is that our spellcasters were able to cast their light spell underground. Perhaps the component was different. I added the moss in the crocodile room as it did seem less fun when no one could see.

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Good call.

Manzanita said:

This was a great group of players, and I thank you for making this a fun game for me too.

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Likewise, even though I wasn't posting as actively as in the first three adventures. In part I think this has to do with me DMing at the same time. It used to be that, when I'd log into ENWorld, I'd turn first to the game Nurlan was in, and direct my D&D-energies entirely to that. Now, attention for my creative juices is divided. It may also have something to do with Rinaldo emerging as the de facto party leader, especially since he outshines all in the most roleplay-intensive skills. In M3, Nurlan and Rinaldo were operating in separate scenes for most of the game, and each of us had a leadership (and spokesperson) role cut out for us in our respective teams. In M2, Rinaldo was new to the group, so it was the holdovers from M1, especially Nurlan and Charlarn, who were most in leadership.

However, Nurlan's return from death does fit in very well with his character development. I had always conceived of him as a sort of "accidental adventurer", rising to the occasion but never feeling that it was really what he was all about. Sort of like a typical Hitchcockian hero more than a James Bond type. But the game is set up so that most roleplay opportunities happen in the context of an adventure. So I figured, if I kept playing him, there would have to be some tension between what he thought of himself as and what he was becoming. Either he'd gradually be transformed into a serious adventurer, or he'd recoil and return to minstrel mode. Death gave him the perfect cue to do that -- and at the same time, acquiring a concert venue of his own gives me an opportunity to play that out more. At some point, I'm sure he'll get sucked into another adventure sequence, but not right now.

BTW, if we're going to be adding funds to our character sheet weekly, when does that start?

Manzanita said:

Monemvassia is actually only one city. I envision it like an old Greek city-state (which is kind of is, in real life. Monemvassia is an actual place in Greece; it was my favorite place when I visited there in '96. I probably should have given it a different name for LEW, but I didn't think of it at the time.)

Thus the FoF courier service would probably be active within the city itself, although, of course, it would also deliver messages and such to the various farms, mills, forts, mines and outposts in the vicinity. Three Rings is a small, independent town near Monemvassia, which has a treaty with the larger city for protection in return for some tax revenue and general cooperation.

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I've edited the original description so that I think it works now: couriers are posted all over the city for quick response, and occasionally ride out on errands to affiliated areas.

Velmont said:

I feel during M3 that Eanos was following Rinaldo's lead, and maybe Rinaldo was shining a bit too much at his side, not giving the full chance for Eanos to take his place

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Conceptually, Eanos is supposed to be a character who never lies, which was challenging to pull off during the extended ruse of M3. It probably points to a weakness in my playing that, in most cases, my solution was just to keep him quiet, letting other people do the talking. When I did have him talk, I tried to be careful to have him say things that were factually true, but present them so others would interpret them in such a way as to maintain the group's cover.

That sort of lead to Eanos developing in my head as a relatively taciturn character, letting others do the talking while he watched people's responses / kept his senses sharp for threats. Which was kind of a nice surprise, since I thought he'd be a much more talkative, insistent sort of a character when I was first developing him. Hooray for characters taking on lives of their own.

I'm going to have to agree with rln on this one: Razh didn't evolve in this adventure in any respect other than hit points and attack bonus. Which isn't a bad thing. The reason I made him was because I always played spellcasters in RL, and I wanted to try a classic, gruff, dwarven fighter for once. He has a dark past, but it doesn't really come out except in passing. So there's not too much room for growth. One thing this adventure helped me as a player decide was to invest some levels in the Fighter class. Raging is fun and all, but tactics and combat feats really help when 50 hp becomes 2 hp.

Anyway, I've already said it, but great adventure, folks. I hope we can do it again some time.