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Against the Giants: Campaign Journal
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<blockquote data-quote="cthulhu42" data-source="post: 7333966" data-attributes="member: 6792361"><p>Session 8</p><p></p><p> Note: This was our 50th session of the campaign. As such, I decided a little bonus was in order. All players got an inspiration point. </p><p></p><p> During the big fight in room 9/10 of the upper lair, one of the fire giants had commanded an ogre to run and warn the Jarl, and that's just what that ogre did. So, with ample warning and plenty of time to prepare, the Jarl gets ready for the intruders. </p><p></p><p> First, he has the boulder that conceals the white dragon cave left just enough ajar that anyone actively looking is sure to see it. The plan is to tempt the party into the dragon cave, let the dragons soften them up a bit, then have the frost giant, cloud giant, Oni and his ogres that are all dwelling in the first of the western caves of the lair come in behind the heroes and finish them off. One ogre is to hang back and warn the Jarl if this first attempt fails, in which case all remaining giants will set up an ambush in the throne room. </p><p></p><p> The Session</p><p></p><p>We started the session in the ice toad lair, and after a bit of healing the party searched out the rest of the area, finding the toads amethyst deity. From there, they decide to check out the rest of this level, heading first to an unexplored cave on the west side of the rift, only to find it empty. Then it was down to the floor of the rift to check out the odd snow mound they'd spotted in it's southern end. Edran scouts on ahead and is greeted by the Remorhaz that lairs there. The fight isn't so tough with the whole group ganging up on the thing, despite Edran still being unable to sneak attack due to his drunken state. They take a short rest there, helping themselves to some Remorhaz blood and bile for future magic item crafting. At one point Edran sneaks off around the side of the mound to have another drink, but Rufus follows him and whines in what can only be disappointment. Edran stoppers the flask and puts it away. </p><p></p><p> At last, they finally head down the south tunnel that leads them to the lower level of the frost giant lair. </p><p> </p><p> They enter the grand hall. Edran spies a boulder against the east wall that has been shoved aside, allowing passage into a cave beyond. He slips in to explore, with Krote not too far behind. It is only seconds later that Edran discovers the mated pair of white dragons that occupy the cavern, and he runs like hell out of there. The rest of the party, eager to test their mettle against the dragons, charge on in. Thus begins a protracted battle that ends in a bit of disaster, at least for Sai. </p><p></p><p> The PC's engage the dragons, taking blast after blast of icy breath attacks. Just as they slay the male dragon and turn their attention fully upon the female, the boulder at the entrance is pushed aside and a frost giant, accompanied by four ogres, steps in to attack. Unfortunately, Sai had posted himself near the entrance in a place of seeming safety, and he was the first hero the frost giant encounters. He only hits the wizard once, but it is then that we find out that Sai is still cursed by the armor they'd previously found, and is vulnerable to slashing and piercing weapons. The double damage from the giant's axe is more than enough to put Sai down. </p><p> </p><p> The rest of the party gang up on the female dragon, killing her before turning their attention on the frost giant in the entryway. But as they close with him, a cloud giant appears. He Misty Steps past his frost giant brethren, and attacks from behind.</p><p></p><p> Thoradin gets Sai back on his feet, only to have the frost giant axe him again, putting the wizard back down. </p><p></p><p> In the meantime, Edran, seeking high ground, meets the Oni that has flown in, invisibly. Edran shakes off the attempted Charm spell from the Oni, but the villain disappears again.</p><p></p><p> Thoradin heals Sai again, and our wizard is finally able to Misty Step away from the giants deadly axe. He gets off a spell or two, only to have the Oni toss down a bead from a necklace of fireballs onto he and Thoradin, and for the third time, Sai is down. Thoradin has his hands full though, as the cloud giant beats hell out of Selendra, and Krote and Joshua are going toe to toe with the frost giant. Edran flits from foe to foe, but isn't much help, as he is still unable to sneak attack, a condition Thoradin finally decides to do something about with a spell (delivered with a vicious slap across the face) that instantly sobers the lad up. </p><p></p><p> Edran, at last, punctures the frost giant a good one and then races over to aide Sai, who has been bleeding out. As Edran gets to Sai, he notices that Sai's handy haversack is missing. A second later, Sai's new staff of frost disappears as well, and Edran realizes that the Oni is helping itself to Sai's possessions. </p><p> </p><p> Not far away, the cloud giant clouts Selendra hard enough to take her down, thanks, in part, to the armor of vulnerability. Thoradin gets her to her feet with a heal spell, and she rises, slamming at the giant with everything she has. The cloud giant had intended to flee, but Selendra cuts him down with a mighty swing. </p><p></p><p> Both giants are dead, and Edran has used a scroll and a potion to get Sai back up again. The four ogre are determined to die fighting, and they block the entryway, going up against Krote and Joshua, even as the Oni attempts to make his escape. The ogres are little match for Krote who mows them down in about two rounds. .</p><p></p><p> On a hunch, Thoradin casts a new spell: Dawn. It catches the Oni in it's wide area, causing him to go visible. The Oni tosses down another fireball bead that knocks Selendra down, then flies for the exit with Edran hot on his heels. Thoradin chases him with the Dawn spell as well, and it is extremely touch and go for a few rounds as the Oni attempts to get away. </p><p></p><p> They are chasing him down the tunnel that leads back to the upper lair, when he manages to turn invisible once again. Did he continue on down the tunnel? Did he double back into the grand hall? One thing is sure, he barely makes a save against Sai's Fireball, that, had he not, would have dropped him. As it was, the rounds begin to pass with no sign of him. It is with palpable frustration that they realize that the slippery Ogre-Mage has gotten away with Sai's precious belongings. </p><p></p><p> Hurt, low on spells, and pissed off but good, they content themselves with securing the dragon's horde.</p><p> </p><p> It is Harvester 8th, approximately 1:30pm</p><p> </p><p></p><p> Notes: They found a suit of armor among the items on the frozen adventurers. When they were back in the city of Pellak, Sai went ahead and attuned himself to the suit to find out what it's magical properties were. After finding out that it conferred resistance to bludgeoning damage he took it off and gave it to Selendra. Unbeknownst to either of them it was armor of vulnerability, and even though Sai took it off, he still carried the curse. I have to admit, I got a good chuckle out of that, and waited patiently for poor Sai to take an axe to the chops. Once he did, his new vulnerability to slashing damage nearly cut him in half. </p><p></p><p> As I was looking through the creatures in the lair I saw the Oni, and at first, didn't even know what it was. Looking it up in the MM I recognized the ogre-magi. The closer I looked at him, the more I liked what I saw. He doesn't pack much of a punch, but anything that can fly and be invisible at will just had to get some spotlight. This party has been used to rolling over most bad guys of late, and it was hard knocks when this Oni got the better of them. To be fair, he barely escaped. Sai actually caught him with a fireball at the very end, and had he not made his save, that would have been it for him. But save he did, and then he was gone. He really got under their skin, and you can't ask for a better villain than that. I think he'll have a place in this campaign's future.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="cthulhu42, post: 7333966, member: 6792361"] Session 8 Note: This was our 50th session of the campaign. As such, I decided a little bonus was in order. All players got an inspiration point. During the big fight in room 9/10 of the upper lair, one of the fire giants had commanded an ogre to run and warn the Jarl, and that's just what that ogre did. So, with ample warning and plenty of time to prepare, the Jarl gets ready for the intruders. First, he has the boulder that conceals the white dragon cave left just enough ajar that anyone actively looking is sure to see it. The plan is to tempt the party into the dragon cave, let the dragons soften them up a bit, then have the frost giant, cloud giant, Oni and his ogres that are all dwelling in the first of the western caves of the lair come in behind the heroes and finish them off. One ogre is to hang back and warn the Jarl if this first attempt fails, in which case all remaining giants will set up an ambush in the throne room. The Session We started the session in the ice toad lair, and after a bit of healing the party searched out the rest of the area, finding the toads amethyst deity. From there, they decide to check out the rest of this level, heading first to an unexplored cave on the west side of the rift, only to find it empty. Then it was down to the floor of the rift to check out the odd snow mound they'd spotted in it's southern end. Edran scouts on ahead and is greeted by the Remorhaz that lairs there. The fight isn't so tough with the whole group ganging up on the thing, despite Edran still being unable to sneak attack due to his drunken state. They take a short rest there, helping themselves to some Remorhaz blood and bile for future magic item crafting. At one point Edran sneaks off around the side of the mound to have another drink, but Rufus follows him and whines in what can only be disappointment. Edran stoppers the flask and puts it away. At last, they finally head down the south tunnel that leads them to the lower level of the frost giant lair. They enter the grand hall. Edran spies a boulder against the east wall that has been shoved aside, allowing passage into a cave beyond. He slips in to explore, with Krote not too far behind. It is only seconds later that Edran discovers the mated pair of white dragons that occupy the cavern, and he runs like hell out of there. The rest of the party, eager to test their mettle against the dragons, charge on in. Thus begins a protracted battle that ends in a bit of disaster, at least for Sai. The PC's engage the dragons, taking blast after blast of icy breath attacks. Just as they slay the male dragon and turn their attention fully upon the female, the boulder at the entrance is pushed aside and a frost giant, accompanied by four ogres, steps in to attack. Unfortunately, Sai had posted himself near the entrance in a place of seeming safety, and he was the first hero the frost giant encounters. He only hits the wizard once, but it is then that we find out that Sai is still cursed by the armor they'd previously found, and is vulnerable to slashing and piercing weapons. The double damage from the giant's axe is more than enough to put Sai down. The rest of the party gang up on the female dragon, killing her before turning their attention on the frost giant in the entryway. But as they close with him, a cloud giant appears. He Misty Steps past his frost giant brethren, and attacks from behind. Thoradin gets Sai back on his feet, only to have the frost giant axe him again, putting the wizard back down. In the meantime, Edran, seeking high ground, meets the Oni that has flown in, invisibly. Edran shakes off the attempted Charm spell from the Oni, but the villain disappears again. Thoradin heals Sai again, and our wizard is finally able to Misty Step away from the giants deadly axe. He gets off a spell or two, only to have the Oni toss down a bead from a necklace of fireballs onto he and Thoradin, and for the third time, Sai is down. Thoradin has his hands full though, as the cloud giant beats hell out of Selendra, and Krote and Joshua are going toe to toe with the frost giant. Edran flits from foe to foe, but isn't much help, as he is still unable to sneak attack, a condition Thoradin finally decides to do something about with a spell (delivered with a vicious slap across the face) that instantly sobers the lad up. Edran, at last, punctures the frost giant a good one and then races over to aide Sai, who has been bleeding out. As Edran gets to Sai, he notices that Sai's handy haversack is missing. A second later, Sai's new staff of frost disappears as well, and Edran realizes that the Oni is helping itself to Sai's possessions. Not far away, the cloud giant clouts Selendra hard enough to take her down, thanks, in part, to the armor of vulnerability. Thoradin gets her to her feet with a heal spell, and she rises, slamming at the giant with everything she has. The cloud giant had intended to flee, but Selendra cuts him down with a mighty swing. Both giants are dead, and Edran has used a scroll and a potion to get Sai back up again. The four ogre are determined to die fighting, and they block the entryway, going up against Krote and Joshua, even as the Oni attempts to make his escape. The ogres are little match for Krote who mows them down in about two rounds. . On a hunch, Thoradin casts a new spell: Dawn. It catches the Oni in it's wide area, causing him to go visible. The Oni tosses down another fireball bead that knocks Selendra down, then flies for the exit with Edran hot on his heels. Thoradin chases him with the Dawn spell as well, and it is extremely touch and go for a few rounds as the Oni attempts to get away. They are chasing him down the tunnel that leads back to the upper lair, when he manages to turn invisible once again. Did he continue on down the tunnel? Did he double back into the grand hall? One thing is sure, he barely makes a save against Sai's Fireball, that, had he not, would have dropped him. As it was, the rounds begin to pass with no sign of him. It is with palpable frustration that they realize that the slippery Ogre-Mage has gotten away with Sai's precious belongings. Hurt, low on spells, and pissed off but good, they content themselves with securing the dragon's horde. It is Harvester 8th, approximately 1:30pm Notes: They found a suit of armor among the items on the frozen adventurers. When they were back in the city of Pellak, Sai went ahead and attuned himself to the suit to find out what it's magical properties were. After finding out that it conferred resistance to bludgeoning damage he took it off and gave it to Selendra. Unbeknownst to either of them it was armor of vulnerability, and even though Sai took it off, he still carried the curse. I have to admit, I got a good chuckle out of that, and waited patiently for poor Sai to take an axe to the chops. Once he did, his new vulnerability to slashing damage nearly cut him in half. As I was looking through the creatures in the lair I saw the Oni, and at first, didn't even know what it was. Looking it up in the MM I recognized the ogre-magi. The closer I looked at him, the more I liked what I saw. He doesn't pack much of a punch, but anything that can fly and be invisible at will just had to get some spotlight. This party has been used to rolling over most bad guys of late, and it was hard knocks when this Oni got the better of them. To be fair, he barely escaped. Sai actually caught him with a fireball at the very end, and had he not made his save, that would have been it for him. But save he did, and then he was gone. He really got under their skin, and you can't ask for a better villain than that. I think he'll have a place in this campaign's future. [/QUOTE]
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