WotBS 4E - WotBS - Adventure Path - Spoilers

You mentioned once that you might post some photos. I'd love to see those, if it's not too difficult.

My first session went quite well. I botched a few things, but I've historically been a player and am re-learning how to dm after a 20 year break.

Everyone had a good time, so that means I did a good job.

Your notes are extremely helpful to me. I really want to flesh out the rp stuff. More than two combats a night is too boring.

Thanks so much.

Yea, I did mention pictures. Up to this point I have not actually taken any. Maybe I'll try to take some pics during this upcoming session. Yes, I myself have typically been a player so DMing is mostly new to me as well. I have a couple new sessions to post and will get them up here shortly.

Chapter 6 - Devil may care

After surviving the assault the group along with Haddin and his daugter gathered belongings and headed south toward the forest. They would have to travel very quickly as the additional travelers would deplete the supply of heat resistant potions. Erion was a bit concerned " Maybe we can give Cheadle and Trammorn half a dose each?" "Then it might not work" said Grull "I think its a good idea" The half orc showed his teeth at Cheadle who smiled back and waved at Grull happily. The horses were let loose and the packs were cinched, Hadin refused to carry anything and had his daughter lift a heavy bag which Molakai promptly added to his own oversized pack. She smiled at the large Goliath "Thank you"

The pace was quick and they made good time, the group entered the oven like heat of the fire forest and quickly learned that the potions kept them from incinerating but all the pleasure of roasting over a spit was still present. They choked on clouds of soot and ash that filled the air. They came upon charred skeletons of apparent travelers. Mokokai took a moment to sift through the packs and ash covered equipment found a few things that appeared to survive the heat and to his surprise a charred hand reached out from the ash and grabbed his foot. "Release meeee!" A large axe shattered the charred remains as Molokai looked around for more undead crawling to life. The remain lay quiet. "Lets move! We are wasting time here!" yelled Serasith and the group continued. After a few hours there was something skittering high above in the flaming treetops. The group was watching all around when suddenly a goblin like creature with flames dancing over its body fell out from the trees, apparently pursued by 2 fire bats. The goblin hid behind Trammorn's leg and the fire bats closed in and attacked the dwarf. Keep moving yelled Serasith leave the goblin to die this is not our fight. The goblin ran to the other side of Trammorn as the bats ripped past the group again slashing with fiery talons at whoever was in the way. Haddin was nearly hit and decided he needed protection. Trammorn felt a familiar numbness and the sound of battle was muffled as if he had his head underwater, Haddin would be protected.


At this point in time Haddin as taken a true dislike for Trammorn and utilizes his presence to shield himself from any danger he might find himself in.


The goblin had brought this danger to the group and they didnt appreciate the delay he was attacked as the firebats strafed around the group striking and then darting out into the surrounding flaming woods. Trammorn felt himself regain control and yelled HADDIN!! and let loose a lightning bolt in the dominators direction. Trammorn felt numbness grip his body and a warmth spreading in his armor as Haddin's last humiliation was to make Trammorn wet himself then just as Grull persued a firebat off the road Hadin decided he had enough of Trammorn, the holy man made it obvious he would not let this domination pass without retaliation. Haddin sent wracking pain thru Trammorns spine, his legs buckled and he fell to his knees, Hadins then shifted Grull and Trammorn and let his domination go. Trammorn was able to whisper the name of his god as the flames took him.


Trammorn was not well liked by the group and they had no knowledge of Haddin's domination up to this point so they assumed Trammorn went mad and attacked an ally. They attributed his death to Haddin defending himself and chalked it up as a necessary evil of battle.


Grull brushed the soot off as Serasith said "Trammorn can not be saved, Hadin I trust that you were only defending yourself. I saw Trammorn strike at you with anger. "Yes Yes he attacked me!" said Hadin scanning the group to see if their trust had wavered. Serasith spoke "Trammorn was strong in his beliefs and I am sure dying for his god was what he wanted more than holding his tongue and alliance with you. That is behind us now and we will not speak of it. We are here to protect each other and safely get through the Fire Forest. Lets move!

At this point Trammorn was dead and could have easily been revived by his player quickly had a Half-Elf Bard rolled and decided he would trek on with a new character. so I introduced him a little down the road in the cave.



a few hours down the road a crumbling bridge crossed a ravine. A broken wagon appeared to have crashed through and lay smashed below its cargo strewn about. Grull managed down the steep slope and carefully manuvered burning shrubs to find a chest containing suppplied and more heat protection draughts.

The rest of the group did thier best to cross and were attacked by flame burst creatures that were hiding beneath the bridge the group backed off but were nearly defeated suffering terrible burns but managed to disperse the strange flaming creatures. They attached ropes and after a very dangerous and tense crossing they all were across.

Up the road they found a cave mouth and entered it to find a cool area and pool of cold water. A half elf lay by the water covered in soot, breathing shallow but alive. Cautiosly the group woke him. He thanked them and introduced himself as Davkas and told of the great songs he would tell of his travels in this inferno. "My caravan was lost the men were attacked and I escaped to this cave. The wagon fell through the bridge I was the only one fast enough to make it across" "Lets rest here and when we are ready you can travel with us Davkis" said Serasith. Davkas smiled "yes of course I will tell the tales of your brave rescue" Grull shook his head and mumbled "we found you sleeping in a cave..what is wrong with people..." Davkas ignored the gruff half-orc and sat and tuned his instument while smiling at Cheadle his mind drifting as he came up with the lyricks and melody. The gnome who was normally overly talkative caught Davkas gaze and wasn't sure what he was smiling at but he felt uncomfortable and walked away toward Erion who had found some cave drawings and a hidden stash behind an outcropping.

"Look at this" Erion said as his hands glowed a blue sof light "It appears Goblin and Elves were allied, even trading here. Before the forest had burned. The book is some form of ledger and I am not sure why they were allied. A common enemy perhaps?" It doesnt say any more but I wonder what events lead up to this fire and if there is a link?" Cheadle shrugged. "Who knows. what else did you find?" Erion showed the gnome the stash. "A belt that emanates magic and a few strange potions. There is mention here about potions that can snuff out magic itself. They might come in handy"

The party is starting to learn of more of the fire forest and it seems to offer a little intrigue. They are debating between getting out of here and attempting to find out its cause of eternal burning. I like that they have decisions to make and other ideas and motives to take their focus. It relieves some of the obvious railroading up to this point in the adventure. Obviously its hard not to be railroaded a little bit, I mean they have to escape a town, journey in one direction through an ever burning forest and make it safely to The Lyceum.



Serasith said, "ok a short rest then we will travel. fill your waterskins and eat a quick meal"

Not long after they took to the road again. a few minutes in the sweltering heat and the rest and refreshment they just had seemed hours ago. Serasith pushed them forward and they found strength in the Dragonborns words and made good time. a few hours later another bridge spanned another gap, but this bridge seemed very sturdy and not a danger to cross.

As they walked up they saw across the ravine a few flaming eyed over sized canines. One left off the rock and headed across the bridge. The group tensed but the creature simply dropped an object and walked back to the others of its kind. The group crossed slowly ready for anything and the object was a human legs charred and meaty with a message gouged into it that read..."Leave the case, and carry this with you if you wish to negotiate"

The group decided to get more distance from the pack of Hellish Hounds and discussed the strange message. Erion was relieved "Well at least they didn't decide ripping us to pieces and then taking the case would be a good idea" Kristov was quick to reply "So far that hasn't really worked" Erion continued, "True but I'm all for negotiations at least we can maybe figure out what the hell is going on. What are we carrying anyways?" The group stopped to take a drink and let Hadin sit. "I have a prybar" The dragonborn took out the Adamantium box and wedged the bar in, with a pop the case opened. in it was a leatherbound ancient book. Erion studdied it closely then picked it up. "Its very old, definately infernal.." with a wave of his hand a blue glow covered the book and the pages neatly turned. "Plans or some underground complex. I am not sure what this means of what kind of Regasian military secret this is? Yet another mystery instead of an answer. damnit! I sure hope the Lyceum knows what this means" As a safety percaution lets put a false book back in the case and we will....

Words were cut off by a whoosh of flame and a cackle "Ah ha ha ha! You have broken the contract! and so you will die!" a strange and misshappen beast stomped a cloven hoof into the grounds and creatures rose up and screamed toward the group. The minions were dispatched and the infernal beast himself attacked "Tell your master he will not get what he wants today!" Serasith cut deep and as quickly as it began the Devil cackled "Well done! We will meet again!" a flash of sulpherous smoke and he was gone.


This is the groups first meeting with Kazyk. He demanded they turn over the case and attacked swiftly to determine their level of strength in hopes of recovering the case. The party proved to be much more then Kazyk could handle so he decided waiting for a better opportunity when the party was a little weaker.


"Whew, he wasn't a combatant. Since he nearly killed us all I vote to not tangle with infernal creatures if we can help it" Erion gasped and took a long draw from his waterskin. "Molokai will face any creature I do not care where they come from!" came the words from the normally quiet Goliath. After gathering up belongings the group set off yet again.

as the day got late the groups legs ached and the pace slowed "Just a little longer then we will rest " urged Serasith. Just as they turned a bend in the road they saw a dragon born on the road side. He noticed the group and waved to them. Hello Travelers it is so good to meet you! I am making great progress and hope to uncover the secrets of this fire forest!

"We are in need of rest and your tale is fascinating us brother" Said Serasith "perhaps you have shelter for us?" "Why yes certainly you can stay with me, i have a cabin as well as can help you with potions that will make your travels mush more comfortable"

The group took up the Dragonborn's offer and ate a hearty soup and listened to the tales he told.




Solid session over all. While the group was able to dispatch of Kazyk it wasn't easy. They still have possession of the case but as a precaution they replaced the military secrets with the goblin journal they found in the cave. I thought this was clever and would potentially give them the option of tricking/working Kazyks contract against him later in the adventure.

Chapter 7 - A fungus among us


After a much needed rest the group was eager to be on thier way but Serasith said "My brother is in need and while I do want to make haste toward the Lyseum the potions will still take the morning to prepare so we will head to a nearby cave and gather some components for his research."

The group agreed only because Serasith was already strapping on his sheild and heading toward the cave. The group caught up and heard a loud piercing noise comming out of the cave. The sound was deafening and they needed to find its source and extinguish it. Cheadle had heard the tone before "Its some sort of Alarm Spell we need to find its focus and take it far away." The group hit the cave and moved as quickly as it could searching patches of moss and fungi for very specific sampled and chipping flint from the cave walls. Kristov had found the alarm focus and got it far out of the cave, "what a relief" Just as they were nearly done shambling creatures came out of an inner cave into the larger cavern. They attacked but were driven back by the heroes who gathered what they needed and headed out of the cave.


So here I had some problems with the group. I decided to use the modified skill challenge that was posted in this thread:


http://www.enworld.org/forum/war-bu...burning-sky-skill-challenges.html#post5008387

The group was all over the place. One of our players has a small case of OCD. Cheadle the gnome orginally decided he would attempt to see if he could delay the sounds coming from the cave but at the last second decided to help search for flint. No one made any attempts to delay and the group tried to just find and gather the reagents during the 8 rounds. I felt I tried to give as much information as possible without giving everything away. I laid out the fact that based on their impression of the sounds from the cave they could assume they had roughly 8 rounds to gather the reagents before what ever was coming would get there. I then drew two boxes on a peice of paper and filled one with 8 tokens to represent the rounds. I left the other box empty and explained that for every 2.5 successes for attempting to delay the inevitable you could gain an additional round before IT arrived. I had the party roll initiative and suggested they discuss their tactics before beginning so they have a good idea what they need to accomplish (the whole time I stressed how loud the shrieking alarm was and that it was soooo loud that sooner or later it could lead to deafness). After a round in they Kristov finally decided to attempt to find the alarm source and deal with it. Mean while the group was split in two trying to gather flint and shrooms. After 6 rounds of gathering they hadn't found all the reagents yet and felt it was inevitable that what ever was coming would get there before they got it all. I explained that they might have organized better and maybe attempted to delay. Davkas's player was frustrated and lashed out saying that i didn't give them enough information. They didn't know what to do. I felt differently. I wasn't about to tell them the exact solutions and how to delay, I leave that up to the player to come up with possible outs and then I will interpret how to apply the necessary skills to resolve them. I believe I am there to assist when necessary but not provide all the answers to everything. Needless to say this lead to a small heated argument. The Mushroom men showed up and the party dispatched of them and finished gathering the reagents.

They returned late morning and it wasnt long before the ritual was prepared. "Ok what I plan to do is gain the alliance and aid of a powerful Dryad I am near to discovering the secrets of this fire and may indeed have a way to control it and even put it out! The ritual prepared will be used to save her and her children with what I learn even more will be unlocked! Lets begin!"

The group assisted as best they could but nature itself rejected the magics and the ritual was disrupted vines ripped out of the ground and grabbed to strangle the heroes and the makeshift ritual alter collapsed in a sinkhole. After a gruelling battle the trees were uprooted and the Dryad and her children were lead to a cool pool The dryed had used all of her strength to give her children life so they could make it to the pool. She sank away as her children were happily frolicking in the waters. Seeming to quickly forget their mother and the fact they were on fire just a short while ago. "Well I guess we won't need Davkas to sing and cheer up the children, they seem to be handling things quite well" Said Cheadle "A lot like we did with whats-his-nose that dwarf guy who used to hang around with us" Grull noticed Hadin crack a smile. The half orc wondered how much damage he would do to the group if Hadin dominated him and used him against them. Cheadle would definately go first...Grull smiled and let his thoughts go, of course he would never hurt his friends but it was always fun to imagine.


I was originally planning to use the modified skill encounter for saving the children in the above thread but failed to realize it was incomplete before getting to the point where I could complete it on my own. I ended up just using the skill challenge in the module with left much to be desired. I like skill challenges just not necessarily the way they are laid out so far in adventure. I have read through some other threads talking about alternative ways to deal with skill challenges and they all sound like they have improvements. I'll try to implement these or change the skill challenges when I can and have the time.


The group headed down the sinkhole and were able to secure the dragon borns body and barely escape up as they were surrounded by more shambling Fungus creatures. They headed back to the cabin to go ever everything and again get a much needed rest. The Dragon Born would need time to go over his notes and recouperate but he was onto something and he thanked the group and resupplied their potions.

They again took to the road and after a few hours they heard a cracking sound ahead and a huge flaming tree smashed across the road in front of them. They looked back and a wave of fire moved up the road from behind them crashing out of the flaming brush came Stags with firey antler racks crackling. They snorted and prepared to charge. The group readied themselves. Davkas pulled out his Lute and yelled "I love this..the song ideas just keep comming hanging out with you guys is great!" just as some ash got in his eye.

Cheadle summoned his spirit companion and noticed Davkas had thrown a wink in his direction and thought to himself "Why is he always doing that? Maybe its because I'm short and he could just walk up and..." Cheadle shuddered the image away and focused on the battle at hand.

I also had a hard time with the "rescue the children" skill challenge. It was a strange one to do on a combat grid. SCs are pretty abstract but movement in combat, not so much. Still, its a pretty good running series of encounters isn't it?

Yes it has been a wild ride of interesting encounters. I certainly have enjoyed the variation in types of encounters we get to experience. My lack of experience as a DM has me a little bewildered on some occasions here in the Fire Forest when handling how to introduce the encounters and how to allow my players to "explore" and not force them down a specific road. I have a couple more sessions to update here shortly, its been a rather fun couple of weeks.

My party just finished with the encounter that introduces Rantle, and boy did they hate him. I"m not quite sure what it was, but I thought for a bit that it was going to come to blows.

He really made them mad.

I think I may have to bring him back somehow!