[sblock=Click to read what happened when my group played this adventure]
We played an awesome game of D&D 4e on Sunday! We started around 1 pm, and went until after 1 am! The game was really designed for 6 characters, and since 2 of the players couldn't make it, some doubled up. Jess played Erais (the cleric) and Kathra (the fighter). Mike played Corrin (the paladin) and Tira (the warlock) - interesting combo for a player! Lisa played Riardon (the ranger), until she went to bed at 10 pm and passed her character to Jenny. Jenny played Skamos (the wizard).
In addition to the items on their character sheets, the party starts with 4 scrolls of identify and 2 items from the following list, as equipment granted to them by the kingdom:
1) +1 Vicious Longbow
2) +1 Symbol of Life
3) +1 Dwarved Plate Armor
4) +1 Cloak of Resistance
5) Belt of Vigor
6) +1 Heavy Shield of Protection
I rolled the Symbol of Life and Dwarven Plate Armor. So the Paladin and Cleric got magic items to start with - not a bad combination!
The story begins with our characters, a band of tax assessors for the Kingdom of Kincynth. They don't collect taxes, but instead travel as adventurers through the outlying colonies, to determine their population size, defensibility, and wealth. This information is used to determine garrison requirements and levy taxes. They have recently completed their survey in the town of Feldspur, near the Moonglow Mountains. The town has grown considerably since the previous assessment, and is cabable of supporting its own garrison - excellent news! The group is getting low on coin and supplies, and is returning to the capitol city. They had just passed through the Gloommist Rainforest when Riardon reported that a storm is coming up and they should seek shelter for the night. To this end, they detour to the nearby town of Solgan.
Solgan was a prosperous trading town at a crossroads leading to the colonies. In recent years, more direct roads have often left Solgan out of the loop, and the town has certainly felt the pinch. The town was large enough to have weathered the change, but it is smaller and more introverted than it was.
Town Center Map:
Code:
+-----++--------+
|Ware-||Molten |
|house||Thunder |
+-----+| || |+-------+
|The || || ||Loafing|
|Daily|+--/--++--/ \---+|Around |
|Pack | | |
| | +----+--------+ | |
+--/--+ |Room|The Last| | |
| 1 | Star | +---/---+
o +----+ |
\~/ | | |
}|{ stable| / +---\---+
(~~~~~) | \ |Life's |
`---' | | | |Reward |
+----+ | | |
Open |Room| | | |
Air | 2 | | | |
Market +----+--------+ +-------+
+-------+
| Rare | +------+
\ Deal | |House |
/ | \ |
| | | |
+-------+ +------+
The residents of the town were cautious of the players in general, and the Tiefling (devil-kin, according to them) in particular. Still, they weren't openly offensive, and the characters perused the shops and bought many necessary (and some not-so-necessary) supplies.
After the shops closed, the group settled in at the Life's Reward tavern. They took a table near the door just in case a fight broke out - they were pretty concerned about the town's reaction to the Tiefling. Corrin got the tavern's proprietor to bring out a half-keg of his finest brew, and got him talking over 5 SP worth of ale. It turns out that some 5-7 years ago (he doesn't remember exactly, he was drunk at the time...) there was some problem brought on by a devil living in the Goommist. The town leaders made some sort of deal with the beast, the details of which slip his mind at the moment. Anyway, since then the town has become leery of people who travel through the Gloommist, since they are trespassing on the devil's land and they don't want to be the target of retribution. And, since this group is traveling with a devil-kin, they are even more suspect. The mayor and the town's clergy don't drink, so there's little chance for the party to talk with the mayor until tomorrow.
--GM Note--
The devil in the Gloommist is a henchman of a reclusive Elven Warlock who believes he is the guardian of the rainforest. He has poisoned the waters that supply Solgan, and part of the pact between him (through his devil proxy) and the Mayor and Clergy of slogan is that they will not drink alcohol. The Mayor and Clergy have no idea why this has been required of them, but it is because drinking alcohol would counteract the effects of the poison. The poison is slowly driving them insane, and since they control the city, their insane ideas can cause all kinds of havoc. This story helps with the plot of this game, but it is not the plot of this game.
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The group resolves to meet with the mayor in the morning and discuss the pact he has made with the devil. If the pact requires a reoccurring payment, this will have to be dealt with since only the King is allowed to tax his towns. With this being the decided course of action, the group wanders through the rainstorm back to their room (#1 at the Last Star inn).
A couple hours go by, and everyone's asleep, except the Ranger. Something about trying to sleep inside. Or maybe the ground's just too level. Anyway, he's still awake, fighting for sleep, when he hears the sound of breaking glass outside. He goes over to the window and peers out at the warehouse across the street, certain the sound came from there, but sees nothing.
To be sure, he wakes the dwarf and has her take a look. She sees a light come on over there, and remarks that it's odd that someone would be working in the warehouse at this time of night. She then notices some lizard-like beast run down the alley between the warehouse and the Molten Thunder smithy. Pretty soon everyone's awake and taking turns looking at the warehouse. The tiefling says, 'That light's awfully bright, like it's on fire...'
The cleric decides it might be a good idea to tell someone about the fire so he jumps up and runs to get the innkeeper, while the others start a water train from the fountain to the warehouse. Originally they were going to leave via the window (and opened it), which would have given them the shortest route, but they decided that would be too suspicious if anyone saw them going out their window.
Soon the town guards are helping them pour water on the fire, and the paladin, warrior, and tiefling (with Fire Resist 5) enter the warehouse to pour water directly on the fire. The ranger and the warlock follow the tracks of the lizards to the edge of the forest. The paladin checks to see if there was a likely target for the fire - i.e. a specific item someone would want destroyed, but finds nothing.
The ranger decides that it's not a good idea to try to follow the lizards deep into the woods alone on a dark, rainy night such as this, so they start back. The ranger's been trying to figure out what kind of beasts they're dealing with, but keeps failing the nature roll. About the time that they get back to town, he realizes that they are kobold tracks.
After the fire is out, the party is discussing the fire and kobold invaders with the owners of the warehouse when a disturbing mob approaches through the market square. Many of them carry torches, some are hastily or partially dressed, and the mayor is with them. They call for the guards, who are over with the players and shop owners. The guard captain and his lieutenant go over to the mayor and have a quick, hushed conversation while cries of 'bring out the devil-kin' can be heard from the angry mob.
Of course, the party will have none of that. The halfling and dwarf climb through the window back into their room and start passing weapons and armor out the window to the party (previously, only the Ranger and Warlock, who went after the kobolds, were combat-ready). By the time the guards get done taking with the mayor, the party is fully armed and armored!
Two guards come up and say, 'Hand over the devil-kin!' The party refuses, of course, and they recognize one of the guards, Richard, as being the guard who gave them directions when they first arrived in town.
'Richard,' says the warrior, 'what's this all about?'
'Eight children have been spirited away by small devils with glowing eyes! You outsiders, going through the Gloommist with a devil-kin, are clearly the cause of this calamity! The people hope that by killing the devil-kin, the Gloommist Devil will be satisfied and return the children.'
Somehow, the party isn't convinced by Richard's logic. (Imagine...) The Ranger steps forward, and says, 'The beasts that did this are not devils, but kobolds. I have spied their tracks and can follow them to their lair. Allow us to go, and we will slaughter those vermin and bring back your children!'
It's a good speech, but the people aren't convinced that the devil-kin won't just escape. After some negotiating, it is decided that the players will leave their mounts (worth sever hundred gold in total), and that Richard will go with them.
--Another GM's Note--
This dungeon is designed for a party of 5. In fact, it's expected that a party of 5 would need to be somewhat lucky and well organized - a party of 6 is more likely to be able to complete it. A party of 4 would most likely fail, so several monsters would have to be removed or downgraded, as would several traps. This is not for the faint-hearted!
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