The Shaman
First Post
Monsignor.ShawnLStroud said:
And that sounds like wicked fun!
[Feb] Campaign reports
And that sounds like wicked fun!
Anax
First Post
In our Greyhawk Irongate campaign (I'm a player), we've recently determined that our first step in satisfying the long-term goal of freeing the surrounding area from the tyrrany of the Scarlet Brotherhood is to look to Onnwal. (The campaign is set during the GW.) Unfortunately, there's only so much that even a group of adventurers as powerful as we are can accomplish--so our pre-first step is to reduce some of the pressure on Irongate in the hopes that we might be able to safely raise support from the dwarves when the time comes to liberate the rest of the former Iron League.
So our first order of business is to return to a nearby Dwarven fortress and help to re-take it for Irongate. We were there when the fortress fell, and it was very much Not a Good Thing--a whole army of barbarian brought in by the brotherhood (which we did manage to slow for some time), along with numerous vile beasts, and at the end an enchanter of great power (who we were fortunate enough to know of only in his effect.) After a bit of scouting, we discovered that while the Suloise barbarians that had invested it have disappeared, the former Dwarven stronghold is now populated with undead former Dwarves.
We decided to attempt a lightning raid--since we know the layout of the place, we determined that there were two places that a necromancer would be interested in setting up shop--either in the lord's chambers or in the chapel. We planned to enter using one secret passage, check the lord's chambers, then fight our way across to the chapel. With luck, we would be able to enter, slay the necromancer, and get out using a different secret passage before we drowned in undead. Once their dark master had been destroyed, we could return and clean out the lesser undead at our leisure.
But of course things don't always go the way you want. For example, the elves who we had heard would be part of the raiding party were called away for another urgent task. This left us working with a group consisting entirely of Dwarves to go in with us. Dwarves are doughty fighters--but they are most definitely *not* fast.
As another example of how things can go wrong, well, of course the necromancer was *not* in the first chamber on our trip.
Also, the scouting we had done prepared us for the large number of dwarf wights, but we were not originally aware of the ghasts, nor of what appeared to be some form of skeletal umber hulks with mysteriously elongating claws.
Then the first of the undead spellcasters appeared--formerly a Paladin we had known when defending the fortress.
And then we arrived in the chapel, and found rather more vampires than we hoped, along with a strange wolf-like creature that we encountered when we were escaping the fall of the fortress.
It will be interesting to see how we can survive this, since we had to stop at this point last session, and both of our spellcasters were running very very low on spells.
Our party consists of:
Sir Gronk Duthmok d'Ahlissa, a half-orc brawler who trained himself by watching his captors in the Scarlet Brotherhood (Half-Orc Monk 11)
Sir West d'Ahlissa, a human earth-friend with strong ties to the land of the Iron Hills (Human Druid 12)
Triben Miran, a human planeswalker who is looking for a way to return to his native land (Human Diviner 3/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 6)
Ann, a halfling ascetic who is lately seeking to redeem her soul (Halfling Rogue 3/Monk 8, having taken a vow of poverty) [my character]
Tyrion, a dwarf of strange aspect, who joined us with the other Dwarves to assault this keep (Dwarf Rogue 11, I believe)
And our former companions:
Sir Oleg Ironbelly d'Ahlissa (Dwarf Fighter/Wizard/Eldritch Knight), lost in our escape from the fortress when it fell. [my old character]
Minos Tagarten (aka Kossoth Ren) (Human Psion?), delivered by our party only a short time ago into the hands of the Irongate watch after committing murder most foul within Irongate itself. (Do not mess with the Dwarven Inquisition.)
So our first order of business is to return to a nearby Dwarven fortress and help to re-take it for Irongate. We were there when the fortress fell, and it was very much Not a Good Thing--a whole army of barbarian brought in by the brotherhood (which we did manage to slow for some time), along with numerous vile beasts, and at the end an enchanter of great power (who we were fortunate enough to know of only in his effect.) After a bit of scouting, we discovered that while the Suloise barbarians that had invested it have disappeared, the former Dwarven stronghold is now populated with undead former Dwarves.
We decided to attempt a lightning raid--since we know the layout of the place, we determined that there were two places that a necromancer would be interested in setting up shop--either in the lord's chambers or in the chapel. We planned to enter using one secret passage, check the lord's chambers, then fight our way across to the chapel. With luck, we would be able to enter, slay the necromancer, and get out using a different secret passage before we drowned in undead. Once their dark master had been destroyed, we could return and clean out the lesser undead at our leisure.
But of course things don't always go the way you want. For example, the elves who we had heard would be part of the raiding party were called away for another urgent task. This left us working with a group consisting entirely of Dwarves to go in with us. Dwarves are doughty fighters--but they are most definitely *not* fast.
As another example of how things can go wrong, well, of course the necromancer was *not* in the first chamber on our trip.
Also, the scouting we had done prepared us for the large number of dwarf wights, but we were not originally aware of the ghasts, nor of what appeared to be some form of skeletal umber hulks with mysteriously elongating claws.
Then the first of the undead spellcasters appeared--formerly a Paladin we had known when defending the fortress.
And then we arrived in the chapel, and found rather more vampires than we hoped, along with a strange wolf-like creature that we encountered when we were escaping the fall of the fortress.
It will be interesting to see how we can survive this, since we had to stop at this point last session, and both of our spellcasters were running very very low on spells.
Our party consists of:
Sir Gronk Duthmok d'Ahlissa, a half-orc brawler who trained himself by watching his captors in the Scarlet Brotherhood (Half-Orc Monk 11)
Sir West d'Ahlissa, a human earth-friend with strong ties to the land of the Iron Hills (Human Druid 12)
Triben Miran, a human planeswalker who is looking for a way to return to his native land (Human Diviner 3/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 6)
Ann, a halfling ascetic who is lately seeking to redeem her soul (Halfling Rogue 3/Monk 8, having taken a vow of poverty) [my character]
Tyrion, a dwarf of strange aspect, who joined us with the other Dwarves to assault this keep (Dwarf Rogue 11, I believe)
And our former companions:
Sir Oleg Ironbelly d'Ahlissa (Dwarf Fighter/Wizard/Eldritch Knight), lost in our escape from the fortress when it fell. [my old character]
Minos Tagarten (aka Kossoth Ren) (Human Psion?), delivered by our party only a short time ago into the hands of the Irongate watch after committing murder most foul within Irongate itself. (Do not mess with the Dwarven Inquisition.)
diaglo
Adventurer
This Sunday I guess we are playing another OD&D session. if I can convince my wife to not throw a SUper Bowl Party instead. the party has found a city of sin. they are trying to buy the freedom of one of the party member's brothers from slavers.
and some time this month. another group i'm in will return to the FR to buy, sell, trade, and BS their way thru a campaign on the verge of a War. read the story hour in my sig.
and some time this month. another group i'm in will return to the FR to buy, sell, trade, and BS their way thru a campaign on the verge of a War. read the story hour in my sig.
Insight
Adventurer
Round Robin Group:
In this homebrew campaign, I have just completed my run as DM, with the conclusion of the mini-campaign, Written in Blood, concerning a vain, power-hungry noblewoman set on becoming a vampire. They 'stopped' her, but the keep she was in crumbled around them. The PCs could not find her body, nor the body of one of their NPC allies.
Turns out my new PC is the NPC ally who went missing. It also turns out that the would-be vampire actually did become a vampire, through circumstances out of the PCs' control. She has since been terminated, but... turned the NPC Paladin into a Vampire in the process. Guess what - that's my new character. This should be interesting...
The players have just learned that they have a PC vampire in their midst, and they seem to believe he is trying to walk the straight and narrow. We'll see how long that lasts.
Future Playtest Group:
This group is actually put together to playtest some adventures I am writing for publication. Right now, since none of my adventures are ready to go, we are running a D&D campaign, using OD&D modules. YAY! The first, Keep on the Borderlands, is our current adventure. You can read about it in my Story Hour - see my sig for the link!
In this homebrew campaign, I have just completed my run as DM, with the conclusion of the mini-campaign, Written in Blood, concerning a vain, power-hungry noblewoman set on becoming a vampire. They 'stopped' her, but the keep she was in crumbled around them. The PCs could not find her body, nor the body of one of their NPC allies.
Turns out my new PC is the NPC ally who went missing. It also turns out that the would-be vampire actually did become a vampire, through circumstances out of the PCs' control. She has since been terminated, but... turned the NPC Paladin into a Vampire in the process. Guess what - that's my new character. This should be interesting...
The players have just learned that they have a PC vampire in their midst, and they seem to believe he is trying to walk the straight and narrow. We'll see how long that lasts.
Future Playtest Group:
This group is actually put together to playtest some adventures I am writing for publication. Right now, since none of my adventures are ready to go, we are running a D&D campaign, using OD&D modules. YAY! The first, Keep on the Borderlands, is our current adventure. You can read about it in my Story Hour - see my sig for the link!
Ellie_the_Elf
First Post
Forgotten Realms Epic Campaign: My pcs are about to set out on a quest to restore the memories of their cleric friend who is a bit mixed up at the moment, after she was kidnapped by the BBEG and her soul got sent to the lair of an Abyssal lord. They've also just discovered that the aforementioned cleric's baby daughter is the subject of an important prophecy concerning the Deliverance (Lathander's latest big project) and that her paladin husband is the son of a now-dead evil demigod and is cursed to follow in his father's footsteps if they can't somehow prevent it.
The Year of Rogue Dragons (my new FR campaign): We're just finishing up Brief Expeditions to Bluffside, after which the party plans to travel to Icewind Dale to get rid of an evil artifact they've accidentally come into possession of. The artifact is an orb, similar to an orb of dragonkind, but with weather controlling properties as well- the one they have at the moment is the orb of frost, which is attracting white dragons to them in great numbers and creating large quantities of snow and ice wherever they go- so I'm getting a lot of use out of Frostburn . There are rumoured to be other orbs for the other elements which they're planning to hunt down and destroy later.
Ellie.
The Year of Rogue Dragons (my new FR campaign): We're just finishing up Brief Expeditions to Bluffside, after which the party plans to travel to Icewind Dale to get rid of an evil artifact they've accidentally come into possession of. The artifact is an orb, similar to an orb of dragonkind, but with weather controlling properties as well- the one they have at the moment is the orb of frost, which is attracting white dragons to them in great numbers and creating large quantities of snow and ice wherever they go- so I'm getting a lot of use out of Frostburn
. There are rumoured to be other orbs for the other elements which they're planning to hunt down and destroy later.Ellie.
"The Friday Game" (FR, Silver Marches) -- After several encounters with fey'ri, the party has been working with the Harpers to learn more about the Daemonfey (a.k.a. House Dlardrageth). While some party members are advocating trying to hunt down the Daemonfey, at this point, the party doesn't have enough information to really locate their foes.
An ally of the party discovered the location of a hidden, abandoned elven fort deep in the High Forest. The party discovered that the fort was inhabited by a band of orcs, as well as a small band of gnolls (living in a very uneasy truce in different sections of the fort). The party wiped out the orcs, and routed the gnolls. In the fort, the party found a long-locked chamber, containing a guardian construct, and several elven weapons.
"The Sunday Game" (FR, Cormyr) -- After not playing for several months due to calendar conflicts, we finally played again on 1/23, finishing up a 3.5 adaptation of G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.
The party had largely cleaned out the upper level in the prior session, and now planned to tackle the dungeon level. They befriended two orc slaves who had been left behind when the surviving giants (mostly cooks and servants) had fled; the orcs helped the party understand the dyanmics in the dungeon level. After wiping out the bugbear guards, the party incited a full-blown orcish rebellion, sending the orcs into the mountains towards Sembia (the party had found evidence that the giants had been tasked by Sembians to attack Cormyrian interests).
The party returned to Suzail with an impressive haul of treasure, and a new nickname -- "The Ghosts of Cormyr" (it had been used to describe them by the giants, in reference to their hit-and-run tactics).
An ally of the party discovered the location of a hidden, abandoned elven fort deep in the High Forest. The party discovered that the fort was inhabited by a band of orcs, as well as a small band of gnolls (living in a very uneasy truce in different sections of the fort). The party wiped out the orcs, and routed the gnolls. In the fort, the party found a long-locked chamber, containing a guardian construct, and several elven weapons.
"The Sunday Game" (FR, Cormyr) -- After not playing for several months due to calendar conflicts, we finally played again on 1/23, finishing up a 3.5 adaptation of G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.
The party had largely cleaned out the upper level in the prior session, and now planned to tackle the dungeon level. They befriended two orc slaves who had been left behind when the surviving giants (mostly cooks and servants) had fled; the orcs helped the party understand the dyanmics in the dungeon level. After wiping out the bugbear guards, the party incited a full-blown orcish rebellion, sending the orcs into the mountains towards Sembia (the party had found evidence that the giants had been tasked by Sembians to attack Cormyrian interests).
The party returned to Suzail with an impressive haul of treasure, and a new nickname -- "The Ghosts of Cormyr" (it had been used to describe them by the giants, in reference to their hit-and-run tactics).
Hjorimir
Adventurer
(Masquerades)
Long ago, the Vé (Fey) controlled this area before a magical cataclysm (source unknown to the player groups) consumed the coastal city of Esuna-Tinir. Now, the PCs have discovered an ancient temple to the Living Wave (Suoken) beneath the city they live in that was created by the Vé long ago. The city is a hotbed of intrigue and activity as wizards seeking the lost magical lore of Esuna-Tinir leave no stone unturned. This is compounded by vampires who have integrated with the aristocracy and a recent infestation of werewolves running amuck.
The group’s sojourn into the ruins can be characterized with a lot of running and screaming. But, ultimately, they’ve managed to overcome some challenging encounters.
(Reflections)
The group threw a changeup at me and has diverted from their original course of action, which involved investigating why orcs that normally dwell in the wilds of the north, have descended upon southern trade routes, to chase a pesky necromancer into the Twilight Lands (read: Fearie).
While there, a hunting group of “elves” spotted the group as they were resting. The elves informed a couple of the PCs that they were hunting wyrms but were interested in the humans and what they were doing in the area. After the PCs explained their intentions (hunt down and kill a certain necromancer) the elves noticed a fabled Vé weapon upon one of them: the sword Gloom. At this point the elves gave them a choice: Wager Gloom against a magical staff that they would be unable to destroy the necromancer within three days time or the elves would give the group three hours head start before they started hunting them…the PCs that is.
It should be noted the nature of the elves (Seelie or Unseelie) is unknown to the player group. They have tentatively accepted the challenge of hunting the necromancer down within three days (after all, that is what they are there for anyway). But a faction within the group thinks that they should just yield Gloom the elves and return to the prime. The necromancer had already killed their wizard once (back on the prime) with a single fireball (don’t worry, he was reincarnated as an orc – hehe) and leave the necromancer to his machinations here away from the prime. They are acutely aware that arcane energy is both maximized and empowered within the Twilight Lands and they’re starting to do the math.
We play the next session this Saturday. Truth be told, they may be heading for a wipeout, but there is always a chance…
Long ago, the Vé (Fey) controlled this area before a magical cataclysm (source unknown to the player groups) consumed the coastal city of Esuna-Tinir. Now, the PCs have discovered an ancient temple to the Living Wave (Suoken) beneath the city they live in that was created by the Vé long ago. The city is a hotbed of intrigue and activity as wizards seeking the lost magical lore of Esuna-Tinir leave no stone unturned. This is compounded by vampires who have integrated with the aristocracy and a recent infestation of werewolves running amuck.
The group’s sojourn into the ruins can be characterized with a lot of running and screaming. But, ultimately, they’ve managed to overcome some challenging encounters.
(Reflections)
The group threw a changeup at me and has diverted from their original course of action, which involved investigating why orcs that normally dwell in the wilds of the north, have descended upon southern trade routes, to chase a pesky necromancer into the Twilight Lands (read: Fearie).
While there, a hunting group of “elves” spotted the group as they were resting. The elves informed a couple of the PCs that they were hunting wyrms but were interested in the humans and what they were doing in the area. After the PCs explained their intentions (hunt down and kill a certain necromancer) the elves noticed a fabled Vé weapon upon one of them: the sword Gloom. At this point the elves gave them a choice: Wager Gloom against a magical staff that they would be unable to destroy the necromancer within three days time or the elves would give the group three hours head start before they started hunting them…the PCs that is.
It should be noted the nature of the elves (Seelie or Unseelie) is unknown to the player group. They have tentatively accepted the challenge of hunting the necromancer down within three days (after all, that is what they are there for anyway). But a faction within the group thinks that they should just yield Gloom the elves and return to the prime. The necromancer had already killed their wizard once (back on the prime) with a single fireball (don’t worry, he was reincarnated as an orc – hehe) and leave the necromancer to his machinations here away from the prime. They are acutely aware that arcane energy is both maximized and empowered within the Twilight Lands and they’re starting to do the math.
We play the next session this Saturday. Truth be told, they may be heading for a wipeout, but there is always a chance…
Steel_Wind
Legend
DragonLance 3.5e - Knights of the Lance - 351 A.C. Age of Despair We have finished nine sessions now and the party has finally reached the Last Tower in the southern Dargaard Mountains. A dread fortress foreshadowed since the very first adventure and notable as being the site of the death of Doughal Stormblade, a Knight of the Sword and the father of two of the PCs. His remains are believed to lie somewhere at the bottom of a great chasm outside of the main fortress.
The party is there ostensibly to recover the Vingaard Cup, a trophy stolen from the Solamnic stronghold of Storm's End. Its loss has raised a Question of Honor, preventing the two wannabe Solamnic Knights from being sponsored as Squires of the Crown.
The Quest to recover the Vingaard Cup is nearing its climax. A locate object spell has just been used and the Cup is within range of the spell, underground.
Despite the epic nature of their quest to recover the Cup, the squires are far more concerned about recovering the remains of their father from the ruins of the Last Tower. This has proved to be a satisfying growth and evolution of player attachment to their "father" throughout the campaign.
Most notable so far has been the absolute lack of clerical magic or healing magic within the party of any consequence. This is in the early stages of the War of the Lance where the Good Gods of Krynn have yet to return.
The heroes managed to recover 8 meagre potions of healing from the lair of some followers of Chemosh in Lemish in Session 3, and have 2 of those postions left.
80+ hours of gaming. Six healing potions used during the whole of it - in a party of 6-8 PCs. Indeed, one of the potions was used to heal an NPC. Only one player death so far. Otherwise, its been bandages, resting where needed and deperately trying not to get hit "too badly". While I am infamous in my gaming circle for condemning Raise Dead and Resurrection, I have become so hard core now that I seem to be actively "anti-Cure Light Wounds" too!
Meh. Don't knock it until you've tried it.
Party has just reached 5th level or so. I plan to keep em at 5th-9th level for a long time to come. Mid level is where the game lives for me.
The party is there ostensibly to recover the Vingaard Cup, a trophy stolen from the Solamnic stronghold of Storm's End. Its loss has raised a Question of Honor, preventing the two wannabe Solamnic Knights from being sponsored as Squires of the Crown.
The Quest to recover the Vingaard Cup is nearing its climax. A locate object spell has just been used and the Cup is within range of the spell, underground.
Despite the epic nature of their quest to recover the Cup, the squires are far more concerned about recovering the remains of their father from the ruins of the Last Tower. This has proved to be a satisfying growth and evolution of player attachment to their "father" throughout the campaign.
Most notable so far has been the absolute lack of clerical magic or healing magic within the party of any consequence. This is in the early stages of the War of the Lance where the Good Gods of Krynn have yet to return.
The heroes managed to recover 8 meagre potions of healing from the lair of some followers of Chemosh in Lemish in Session 3, and have 2 of those postions left.
80+ hours of gaming. Six healing potions used during the whole of it - in a party of 6-8 PCs. Indeed, one of the potions was used to heal an NPC. Only one player death so far. Otherwise, its been bandages, resting where needed and deperately trying not to get hit "too badly". While I am infamous in my gaming circle for condemning Raise Dead and Resurrection, I have become so hard core now that I seem to be actively "anti-Cure Light Wounds" too!
Meh. Don't knock it until you've tried it.
Party has just reached 5th level or so. I plan to keep em at 5th-9th level for a long time to come. Mid level is where the game lives for me.
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