D&D 4E My Dark Sun 4e Game Experience Updated 01/22/2013

Session 6

We begin with the group chasing the caravan, tracking it down to retrieve their possessions and for vengeance. Katrie leads the way, using her elven eyes and knowledge of nature to help her and her companions catch up. After 2 days, she catches wind of a group of the Argosy's outrunners, 5 of them, and runs back to warn her companions.

The outrunners, though, had spotted Katrie and followed her tracks. The party decides to hide in a small field of bolders and rocks so that they can ambush the group.

Gundrek goes first. He rushes forth and attacks one of the outrunners, an elven archer riding an Erdlu. While the rest of the outrunners move in to surround him, Katrie maneuvers around behind their group to attack the same archer and crits, killing him. Tor Val charges the Outrunner leader, a huge Half Giant wielding a great club the size of a tree trunk. The two clash, and Tor Val deals a staggering blow. The half giant commander, though, remains focused on Gundrek and swings his massive club, knocking Gundrek prone and likely breaking every rib on the left side of his body. The final elven archer attacks the group, hitting Kratas, while the remaining outrunners maneuver to contain the party. Kratas moves in to heal Gundrek, and is hamstrung by one of the outrunners, which makes him fall prone. While he tries to get up, the outrunner continues to knock him back down to keep him occupied. Meanwhile, Katrie knocks the other outrunner off of his Erdlu while Dryder kills the last Archer.

Soon, the battle is ended. The party, a little worse for the wear, discusses how to attack the caravan without getting overwhelmed. Kratas notices that the outrunners they just killed were of similar build and stature to their group; the outrunners had two elves, two humans, and a half-giant. He and Dryder hatch a devious plan to wear the outrunners' outfits, rush back to the caravan on the stolen Erdlu's and Crodlu, and try to bluff their way into the Caravan.

Using the bloodied outfits of the outrunners, the group rides back to the caravan, which is surrounded by no less than 30 House Shom soldiers. On top of the Argosy, a large group of archers peers down at the group as they approach. Behind, 20 slaves, nearly naked and all dehydrated, are pulled along, bound together by a giant hair rope. Kratas yells, "To Arms!! They've found us! House Amketch warriors approaching," while Dryder yells that they have wounded. The soldiers immediately gather their arms and wave the group through, urging them into the argosy and to the infirmary. As the group dismounts and enters the argosy, groups of soldiers and archers pour out. Dryder then closes the argosy doors and locks them behind them.

(Kratas rolled kind of low on his Bluff check, but due to their plan, and the edginess of the soldiers, I gave the enemy soldiers a penalty to their insight rolls. Incidentally, they rolled a 1 on their insight, so they believed everything the party said).

The party rushes upstairs, locking doors behind them. They believe that due to the value of their magical equipment, it would likely be upstairs in the Captain's quarters. They arrive to find the door locked, and Dryder quickly picks the lock and retrieves their equipment. Then, they head to the bridge. The archers, recognizing them from below, announce that Bezrak and Holtet were waiting for their report in the bridge.

The group has a surprise round ready. Splitting up, they head into the bridge from separate doors and lock the doors behind them. Within, Bezrak, Gundrek and Agristes are discussing the false news that the party had shouted on their way in. None of them suspects anything as the party attacks.

Katrie summons her toad, who begins attacking Agristes. Tor Val charges Holtet and crits, doing massive amounts of damage. Holtet, staggering from the mighty blow, shouts a warning, and Gundrek moves in front of Bezrak so that he could occupy him. Agristes suddenly reveals that he is a psion, and dominates Tor Val. Holtet marks Tor Val, and Bezrak uses a Bull's Strength to push everyone away from him (he's a battlemind). Tor Val, still dominated by Agristes, attacks Gundrek, which violates Holtet's mark. Holtet slashes at him with his battleaxe. Agristes then dominates Dryder, who attacks Tor Val as well. Holtet moves out of Tor Val's range and attacks Katrie. Meanwhile, the Frog continues to happily munch on Agristes and Gundrek tries to keep Bezrak occupied. Tor Val, no longer dominated, rushes after Holtet and attacks. Bezrak interrupts him, using Lightning Stride to flash over to where Tor Val is about to attack. Bezrak nails Tor Val and forces him to attack himself instead of Holtet, which again violates Holtet's mark. Agristes, heavily wounded by the toad, falls to an attack from Kratas. Dryder, Katrie and Gundrek team up on Bezrak and bring him down, and Tor Val and Holtet continue to exchange blows. Outside the bridge, the Archers have realized that something is wrong and try to break into the Bridge, bursting in and peppering the party with arrows. Katrie moves her frog to occupy them, and Gundrek blocks them off so that the rest of the group can finish off Holtet.

This battle was intense. The close quarters and the combination attacks of Holtet and Bezrak nearly brings Tor Val down, and Agristes dominating party members was an extreme annoyance. The entire fight was a tribute to excellent tactics and poor rolls (from both sides).

Soon, the combat is over. Kratas rushes to the upper deck and yells down to the remaining soldiers (the rest having moved a little further east to meet with the alleged Amketch soldiers) that Bezrak wants them to bring the slaves into the Argosy so that they could lock it down and prepare for the (fake) attack. He rolls EXTREMELY well on his bluff check, and the group moves down to help the slaves into the argosy. They then lock down the caravan, arm the slaves, and attack the remaining guards through the Argosy archer slits and murder holes.

With the Argosy now back under their control, the former slaves (House Amketch caravan members) all freed, the party debates on returning to Nibenay and returning with the Caravan, and news of the sabotage and betrayal of Bezrak. However, they still don't know where the beetles are coming from...

The MVP of this session is the Frog (the party voted this, mind you). He damaged and took out more enemies than the rest of the party. The group has fondly given him the nickname of Hypnotoad. All hail the Hypnotoad!!

The day is now the 2nd day of Hoard in the Season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.

Dark Sun: Session 7

Another short session today. Between the last session and this one, the party and I did several emails so that I could hash out their plans. The group was extremely reluctant to travel to Fort Melidor, where they knew a House Shom stronghold was located (and was also where the Caravan appeared to be traveling before the group liberated it). They decide to question some of the freed Amketch slaves.

Kwen, the master of provisions, is simply grateful that the party rescued him. During their journey, he provides them with extra portions of food and the best morsels he can find.

Vasharra, the dwarven driver, also wants to return home. However, she is concerned about these beetles and the danger they pose. In fact, since she is a psion, she hopes that the party, after escorting the caravan back to South Ledopolis, will continue their research into the source of the beetles.

Ekargga is again thankful that the party has freed her from slavery (twice). She echoes Vasharra, saying that the beetles are dangerous and should be destroyed.

Another former slave, Aljira, tells the group that she overheard Bezrak and Agristes discussing a bad deal, and that they needed to head to Fort Melidor to replenish their beetle supply, and then head on to Tyr for a new sell.

Four days later, the caravan arrives in South Ledopolis. After finding the Amketch shop, they pay to have a message sent to Marius Amketch in Nibenay (a Sending ritual) to request further instructions and to inform him of their progress. Marius's response asks them to find the source and destroy it, and they would receive a bonus.

The group decides to head to Balic, where they know the Caravan started from, and where it was also loaded. After a little investigation (some well rolled Streetwise checks), they are able to locate a shop in the Market District of Balic that is owned by a House Shom agent. They are able to determine that this agent is able to get them items that are hard to find (i.e. illegal).

Kratas, since he is the most diplomatic, and since he's a former noble, decides to play up to his strengths and pretend to be a well-to-do Noble looking for exotic merchandise. He enters Ridecia's Emporium dressed in expensive clothing. Dryder, Gundrek and Tor Val pretend to be his bodyguards/slaves, and Katrie shifts into the form of an exotic predatory cat, which Kratas pretends is his "pet." Dryder roams the emporium while Kratas and the shop-keeper talk, and Gundrek and Tor Val spend the time looking menacing. Katrie, since she's pretending to be a pet, roams the shop, finding a secret door in one section of the wall. Meanwhile, Kratas discusses business with Ridecia, rolling VERY well on his diplomacy and bluff skill challenge. Soon, he convinces Ridecia that he is serious, and Ridecia informs him that he will send someone to meet Kratas when he is able to obtain the "merchandise."

The group leaves and discusses the next phase of their plan. The are certain that if they can break into Ridecia's home, they would be able to find something that could implicate House Shom in the beetle trade, as well as show proof that they are using other houses to smuggle the illegal merchandise. With this proof, they think that House Amketch could gain major support if a trade war were to arrise between Amketch and Shom. Katrie and Dryder break into the home, making sure that the rest of the party remains unseen. Moving around the house, they soon discover Ridecia's journal and ledgers, which fully incriminate House Shom. Thinking quickly, the party grabs a few other bits of expensive looking treasure and leaves Balic by the shortest route possible, heading for Nibenay.
This was an extended skill challenge opposed by Ridecia and his wife. Not only did Dryder and Katrie roll well and their stealth and perception checks, but I rolled REALLY poorly for the opposed perception checks for Ridecia and his wife (yes, I understand that this was a passive perception to oppose, but I wanted a bit more of a challenge for them...didn't work out well at all, though). In fact, most of this session was me rolling really really poorly.

After crossing the Silt Sea to North Ledopolis, the group begins the grueling journey across the open desert to Nibenay. Several days into their journey, they come upon an area of black, defiled sands. Wary, the group is soon surprised by a fierce and hungry Tembo.

For those of you who have not seen Tembos, they are a delightfully annoying solo monster that resemble a reptilian cat. Not only do they have a necrotic aura, but they can drain party healing surges to increase the damage of that aura, have multiple powers that let them shift multiple squares, and can go invisible. While the party did quite well, and none of them dropped to zero hitpoints, they were all worried about the battle, and they thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

The Tembo attacks Gundrek first, popping out of Invisibility and missing. Then, shifting to the main party, he attacks Tor Val. The following round includes the party trying to surround the Tembo, and the Tembo slipping through their ranks and attacking. After a bite on Tor Val, he drains one of the Half-giant's healing surges and increases his necrotic aura to 10 damage per round. Katrie, worried, finally does a grasping claws to immobilize the Tembo, only to be horrified as it goes invisible and escapes. Eventually, the party corners the beast, immobilizing it and bringing it down.

A few days later, they arrive at Nibenay. Tracking down Marius Amketch, they turn over the ledgers and journals from Ridecia. Marius is slightly disappointed that they didn't go after the source of the beetles, but is nevertheless pleased at the evidence they provided. He rewards them (not the full bonus), and the party gets their XP award for completing the main quest.

The party makes a few purchases and decides that it's time to head back to Kiris Dahn and Treona so that they can receive their payment for the liberation of the city (several sessions back). The quest XP reward was enough to bring them up to 5th level.

Some of you may notice that I've been leveling the party relatively quickly; this is deliberate. As a rule of thumb, I've been giving them a level about every other session. This is to fast-track them toward Paragon.

The day is now the 18th day of Hoard in the Season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.

Next session; Black Spine!

Cool writings. Sounds like a lot of fun, though I wonder if the party has a strange kind of tactics. Everyone is battling a different enemy. They split up, get ganged up and nearly die. I wouldn't have put a penalty on the guards' insight roll at the rolling fortress. I mean, the party was mimicking guys the guards should know, because they were traveling together as far as I get it. And I wouldn't have allowed the second bluff since there was a loud battle going on an archers shooting arrows at the party?

TheClone said:

Cool writings. Sounds like a lot of fun, though I wonder if the party has a strange kind of tactics. Everyone is battling a different enemy. They split up, get ganged up and nearly die. I wouldn't have put a penalty on the guards' insight roll at the rolling fortress. I mean, the party was mimicking guys the guards should know, because they were traveling together as far as I get it. And I wouldn't have allowed the second bluff since there was a loud battle going on an archers shooting arrows at the party?

Click to expand...

Yes, I wonder why they don't focus fire on the bad enemies, too. It's still fun, and I am doing more of a sandbox-style campaign that lets my players have a lot of freedom...I hate rail-roading them.

Rushing up to the argosy pretending to be guards wasn't really a bad idea. They were wearing the dead guards' clothing, they looked injured, they were all of similar build to the outriders they killed, and they were yelling about an attack coming. Not a huge stretch to think that there was something about to happen, and the guards wouldn't have too much of a reason to disbelieve them. Besides, they rolled pretty good on their bluff.

The fight in the argosy? You have a good point. However, you have to remember that they were on the top floor (3 stories), and the argosy is mostly made of stone. The sounds of battle would have been muffled. And, again, the party rolled really well on their bluff check.

The plan was pretty decent, and it made for a fun and interesting session. I like to reward good planning. And, if it makes a good story, I like it even better.

Yeah sandboxing in the desert is prettyn eat (couldn't let that one pass). I myself am also more the sandboxy kind of DM and love it as a player.

I wasn't meaning to kill their plan. I agree it was a really cool plan. I just wouldn't have given the guards a penalty I think. But if it's a more pedagogical thing for rewarding them for the planning.. granted Cool player ideas and neat planning has to be supported.

Session 8

The group journeys back to Kiris Dahn, hoping to meet up with Treona so that they can receive the reward for liberating the town several months ago. As they arrive at the pass, they are shocked to discover a large amount of tracks. What's so shocking are that the tracks are in a military style formation. Alarmed, the companions rush into the pass to discover what's going on.

They run into a small band of Gith raiders, 13 strong, who immediately turn and attack the party. The Gith Drone (a psionic creature) steps forward and drops a psychic attack in the middle of Gundrek, Kratas and Tor Val. Gundrek teleports next to him after he attacks, and takes damage from using an encounter power while under the effects of the Gith's psychic attack. The Gith warriors then move forward, surrounding Gundrek. Kratas moves up to assist, while the Gith commander and Hobbler move into position. The Gith commander leaps next to Katrie, but misses with his attack. Dryder moves up to assist Gundrek and Kratas, and Tor Val charges the commander, nailing him with a hefty blow. Katrie summons Hypnotoad, who proceeds to munch happily on one of the Gith Warriors. It isn't too much longer before only one Gith warrior is left. Desperately, it attacks Hypnotoad, and the party backs away, knowing that the universe will descend on the loan gith and punish it for attacking their mascot. Sure enough, Hypnotoad crits the creature and eats him.

The group is shocked to find that all of these gith have metal weapons. Not only that, but they appear to be well trained. The group gathers the spears and continues on to Kiris Dahn.

There, they discover that the residents of the hommlet have been busy. Fortifications surround the town, and many of the damaged buildings have been rebuilt and fortified. The guards at the gates see the companions and yell greetings, telling others to rush and get Tenpug (the leader of the city residents).

Soon, Tenpug arrives with Treona. The party notices that there is something different about her, but are unable to pinpoint it. Tenpug explains that Gith have been raiding the town for around a month, and they are well equipped and well trained. He fears that a more organized attack is eminent, and takes the group to a gathering of the town leaders taking place in the rebuilt mansion. While they wait for the leaders to arrive, Allkirk (the Veiled Alliance member they met in Nibenay) pulls Dryder aside and talks to him. He explains that he realizes that Dryder doesn't like him, but he has a favor to ask. He wants Dryder and his party to do whatever they can to protect Treona. He realizes that Dryder and the rest of the group senses her change, and that he thinks that she has a greater destiny that has not been revealed just yet. Dryder whole-heartedly agrees.

Several of the leaders are reluctant to stay, afraid that they will all be killed in the attack. Several believe that they should remain and defend the town, for where else can a group of escaped slaves go? Tenpug thinks that the group would be an enormous help if they could help train the 150 some-odd former slaves and help build the town's fortifications. They agree to help.

Here, the party gets involved in an extended skill challenge. Katrie and Dryder decide to scout the enemy encampment (Katrie rolls good on her Perception, but really poorly on her stealth. Fortunately, Dryder was able to take up the slack). They discover 2 camps teaming with Gith, at least 300 strong, with a third camp being built nearby. Realizing that the Gith are gathering for a full scale assault, they return to the town and reveal the bad news. Kratas and Gundrek decide to assist with the training (rolling very well on each of their rolls), and Tor Val assists with building barricades and fortifications. 5 days pass while the town prepares.

On the 5th day, while the party and Tenpug discuss a rallying point in case they get overwhelmed, Treona approaches the group and brings them to a secret door within the mansion. Below, the group finds a forgotten temple that the town had apparently been built over. Winding their way to the crypts, they discover an exit that opens up into the Bath House to the east and realize that the crypts would be a great place to hide in the case that the Gith succeed in overrunning the town. Deciding to investigate further, the group discovers a large, heavy wooden door that has multiple runes inscribed on it. Kratas attempts an arcana check and reads a message:

"Beware all who would break this seal,
Make not the wound you can not heal,
Fear the heart of dead man's power.
the crimson curse of the dying hour."

A debate ensues. Katrie is reluctant to continue, fearing that the spirits of this place would be offended by them moving forward. The rest of the party, though, wants to push forward in the hopes that something within would assist them in the upcoming battle. Kratas breaks the locking rune, and the door swings open into a large, nearly cavernous room that is littered with bones. As the party moves into the room, the bones rise up, forming into a large group of skeletons, all former defilers.

This was a fun fight. Most of the skeletons were minions, so the party has a blast just wading through the enemies, feeling heroic as they crush one skeleton after another. 2 skeletons are different, and burn with black flames. From behind the horde of skeleton minions, they hurl balls of black flames at the party. The fight only lasts a few rounds, and the group is flush with their victory and move further into the abandoned temple.
The next room has a huge mirror on the opposite side. As the party moves closer to it, they each receive a vision of death and fear.

(I sent a private message to each of the party members describing their visions).

Dryder:

"The streets of the city are silent as you make your way toward your target. The moons light your path as you get closer.

Something is wrong, though. You can’t quite figure it out, but there is an odd feeling in the air. When you see her, you realize your error. Her beautiful face smiles cruelly as she points her finger at you, and you feel your life swiftly draining away. The last thing you see are her gleaming red eyes, and a wide, vicious fanged mouth…"

Gundrek:

"You can hear them behind you as you run through the desert. At least 30 of them, all riding Erdlus. As you crest a sand dune, you feel an arrow pierce your thigh. Tumbling down the dune, you finally come to a rest at the base. Looking up at the red sun, you breathlessly try to get up, to keep going, try to keep away from your pursuers.

Before you can get up, a shadow falls over you. Looking up, you see Kratas looming, a spear in his hands. He snarls at you, right before plunging the spear through your throat, “This is for my father.” "

Tor Val:

"Your fury wanes as you crush the last of her army. The rush of victory courses through your veins as you howl your rage to the sky.
And then you feel it…something is draining your life force. You fall to your knees among the bodies of your enemies. A few hundred feet away, you see her, chanting as the life-force of all those that you killed, and from you, rushes into her body.

Her lovely face smiles as she throws back her head and screams, and it is the most horrible sound you’ve ever heard. Her body grows, her hands extending into claws. Massive leathery wings sprout from her back as her head and snout elongate. The last thing you see as the darkness descends are her glowing eyes, right before her jaws close over your body."

Kratas:

"All of your lands; your home, your holdings, your money, all gone. You learned that some anonymous buyer had purchased everything your father had built before he died.

Now, you wander through the streets, homeless. The nobles who used to be your peers look at you with scorn and pity. The former slaves that your father owned will not help you. Soon, starvation and illness strike you. And as you lie in a narrow alley, wasting away from your illness, your old companion Gundrek finds you.

He looks down at you sadly, and as you croak at him to help you, he slowly nods his head and raises his Trikal. As it descends upon your head, you hear him brokenly say, “This is a far kinder death than what I gave your father.” "

Katrie:

"You look upon your home, the grove that you have so carefully grown and nurtured. Black and gray ash blankets the ground. All of your lovely trees and flowers are drained of all life, defiled to powder.

The sadness and rage almost consume you, but then you see her. Her pretty face smiles cruelly, and you feel yourself change as you spring at her, your claws extending to rip the life from her defiling body.

With a casual backhand, she knocks you from the air, breaking your ribs. And as you lay there, gasping for breath, she stands over you. Her hand extends, and you feel the life being pulled from you.

“Yes, this is the lifeforce I need. The primal power that surges through your veins will complete my transformation.”

As the darkness of death descends, you can hear the cries of a massive beast, and it sounds like a dragon."

(The woman that they saw was Treona's sister, Dreus)

The mirror then attacks each of the party members, attacking their will. Only Dryder is unaffected as fear washes over the group, forcing them to leave the room. Kratas pulls out his halberd and points it at Gundrek, thinking that the vision he saw in the mirror was true. What results is some FANTASTIC role-playing as Dryder tries to talk Gundrek and Kratas down from an almost certain fight. Once they back down, Tor Val discusses his vision, and Dryder reveals that his vision was quite similar.

Eventually, Dryder returns to the room and finds a door well hidden within the enchanted mirror. Once he opens the door, the spell breaks, and the group is able to enter the room again.

On the other side of the door is a blackness so deep that no light can penetrate. Realizing that the darkness isn't really dangerous, they tie a rope around Gundrek and let him enter the doorway.

Gundrek is suddenly thrust into total blackness and silence. He moves forward a few feet. Outside the room, the rest of the party is suddenly shocked to find that the rope goes completely slack. Pulling the rope out, they see that it is completely cut, and that such a cut could not be made with a weapon (Kratas did an Arcana check and saw that the cut was too perfect, so it had to be some sort of magic). Tor Val then rushes into the room to rescue his friend and vanishes. The rest of the party soon follows.

This was a fun trap. No one was hurt, but as soon as they entered the room and moved 20 feet forward, they were each teleported to a separate area of the room. Maptools has a nice Fog of War feature that allowed me to move the party around in the black maze, but none of the characters could see where they were going. One at a time, I asked them to tell me which way they wanted to walk (Left, Right, Up, Down), and moved them until they would run into a wall. None of them could hear anything, so they couldn't yell out to their companions (Marco....Polo!). Kratas and Katrie, though, both had psionic wild talents that let them communicate if they were close enough to each other. Dryder is the first to find his way out, and soon the rest of the group escapes.

They now stand before a door that says, "Only the worthy may enter."

The door opens easily for them, and in the center is a crystaline pedestal. Floating above it is another Slaying Stone (Katrie, at this point, starts yelling, "Destroy it!"). Carefully, Tor Val grabs the stone, and the party leaves the room.

As soon as they leave the room, Tor Val bursts into flames. They soon discover that this stone is possibly the original Slaying Stone, and that the one they destroyed was a lesser copy. Tor Val soon learns that the stone is cursed (he can't drop it). The flames don't burn him, however, though it will harm his friends if they get to close. Not only that, but Tor Val senses that the Stone will allow him to drain healing surges from his companions, and then allow him to use that energy to hurl deadly fireballs at his enemies (yes, I know this is different than the one mentioned in the adventure of the same name...creative license, my friends). Tor Val breathes a sigh of relief as he returns to the room and the flames die out. The group has an intense argument about the stone. Some wish to use the stone to save the townspeople, and others think it is too dangerous and that it should be destroyed. It is at this point that the session ends.

This was a great session, easily my favorite. Some fantastic role-playing, and some very enjoyable traps. I have a great team here...

The day is now the 26th day of Hoard in the Season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.

Wow, that was a cool story. Well done!

Dark Sun: Sessions 9 and 10

While preparations continue for the coming battle, the party emerges from the sunken temple. The artifact they discovered could turn the tide of battle, but Katrie is vehemently opposed to using it. After much deliberation, the group agrees to show Treona and Allkirk the artifact, and then find some way to destroy it.

Allkirk and Treona descend into the depths of the temple with the party. Treona carefully examines the artifact while Allkirk investigates the runes. Treona thinks that the artifact that they have found is the original Slaying Stone, and that the one they destroyed before was a cheap copy. Allkirk, however, says that he thinks he knows what the artifact is, and that it is extremely dangerous. He points to several runes, some to prevent the artifact from working within the room, and some to prevent the room from being found. He says that he thinks that this is the Eye of Abalach Re, and that if it were to leave this room, he's certain that the sorcerer queen would sense it and try to find it. Everyone then turns and looks at Tor Val, who was the one who took it from the room before. They all hope that the time that the Eye was not in the room was short enough that Abalach Re may not have sensed its location, and all agree that this is something to discuss later. The artifact should remain in the room for now, and the immediate danger of the Gith incursion is more pressing.

As the group tours the town, checking their preparations, Katrie (with her incredibly high perception) notices something behind a few buildings. The group quickly investigates, and discovers that the gith have sent a scouting group to check out the town. The gith scouts immediately attack.

Two of these were different; they were able to channel their psychic energy and perform devestating attacks on the party. Led by what appeared to be some type of sergeant, the gith wade into the party, trying to take them down before they can alert the rest of the town defenders.

One of the attackers, a Drone, throws a psychic attack at the party, who were nice and clumped together. Fortunately, the dice were unkind and the attack misses 2 out of the 3 people attacked. Gundrek uses this to his advantage and attacks the Sergeant. Tor Val charges the Drone and kills him, and Katrie, Dryder and Kratas fight off the others. Soon, the skirmish is over, and the party realizes that where there is one scout group, there are likely others. They swiftly alert the town defenders, who then scour the village and find signs that other scout parties were indeed present.
The following day, the gith attack begins. Shouts from the east of town alerts the group that the gith are approaching, so they gather their arms and head to that area. Treona, decked in chainmail armor and wielding a glowing sword that sparked with electricity (she's a swordmage) and Allkirk head to the south area of town, where they think the main force will attack.

The party realizes that their carefully planned defenses are nearly useless as the gith immediately leap over their barricades and land on the roofs of the village homes. The defenders are quickly overwhelmed, so they retreat to the center of the village, where the advantage of the rooftops would be removed from the gith. To the south, Allkirk and Treona begin their defense, using spell and sword to destroy and damage the invaders.
Meanwhile, the party is attacked by a large group of gith. This group is better trained and equipped than the others, but soon the party is successful in destroying this group, just in time to hear the horn for retreat. Battered and bloodied, the party rushes to the center of town, where the rest of the town defenders have begun to withdraw into the mansion, and then down into the crypts beneath it.

Hoping to draw the gith behind them, the group meets up with Treona and Allkirk. Together, they taunt and beckon the enemy toward the mansion, hoping to pull them down into the crypts where they will have the advantage. Treona and Allkirk remain with the main force while the party rushes through the crypts, emerging in the hidden room of the Bath House. Now firmly behind enemy lines, the group hopes to sneak behind the main force and attack the gith leaders.

Rushing back to the town square, the party is pleased to discover the enemy commander and his retinue have remained behind. The gith commander is surrounded by a group of guards and a powerful psion.
The battle is fierce! Tor Val charges the group, but is soon surrounded by the Commander's forces. Gundrek steps up to assist and is successful in gaining the attention of most of the enemy guards. Katrie and Dryder rush the commander, and Kratas tries to assist Gundrek and Tor Val as best he can. Soon, several of the enemy guards lie dead from the combined assault. It is at this time that the enemy psion unleashes a devastating attack that almost kills Tor Val. Angered, Tor Val charges the psion...and crits. The resulting damage kills the gith psion, and soon the party is successful in taking down the enemy commander.

Still hearing fighting and shouts from within the mansion, the group rushes to assist. Bursting into the front door, they find a large group of gith trying to descend into the crypts. Immediately, they attack.
This was mainly a group of minions, with some standard enemies thrown in. It was clear to me that the party was having a blast just mowing through the enemies. Katrie summons Hypnotoad, who then happily begins munching on a few enemies. Tor Val and Gundrek fight back to back, laughing as bloodlust washes over them. Dryder and Kratas sweep through the enemies, who quickly realize that they are fighting a losing battle when Dryder crits the group's leader, completely obliterating him. Then, right after, Tor Val crits the Gith Drone, splashing his innards all over the inside of the mansion.

Outside, they can hear the gith retreating. Below, they hear a shout of joy as the townsfolk realize that they have succeeded. However, their victory comes at a price; nearly half of the defenders lay dead or dying, and only about one hundred able warriors remain.

The day is now the 28th day of Hoard in the Season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.

Next session: Cry Vengeance

Sounds like some hard fought, exciting fights - can you let me know which Gith you used? I'm thinking of putting some in my campaign, and wasn't terribly impressed by the powers of the ones I've read - yours sound much cooler.

Dr_Ruminahui said:

Sounds like some hard fought, exciting fights - can you let me know which Gith you used? I'm thinking of putting some in my campaign, and wasn't terribly impressed by the powers of the ones I've read - yours sound much cooler.

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I used quite a few of the Gith Savages (minions). The Spearhead is very useful for dealing out a goodly amount of damage. The Drones are fantastic as artillery. I also used Dust Racers as shock troops. For the rest, I created variants. Black Spine uses a lot of Gith, so I needed to change things up to keep it interesting.