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Gears of Revolution: Notes on my campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Colmarr" data-source="post: 5668584" data-attributes="member: 59182"><p><strong>Session 3</strong></p><p></p><p>I've had to abandon the story hour for time reasons (I severely underestimated how long it would take to fully narrate a campaign), so I'll replace it here with some point form notes on the major events of each session.</p><p> </p><p><span style="color: darkorange">Session summary</span></p><p> </p><p>Aware that the boiler was on a course for a catastrophic explosion and realising that they needed to fire the brand, RT3 split up to apply their respective talents. </p><p> </p><p>Willheim rushed to the main deck (getting there in a single round), and Erik followed.</p><p> </p><p>Tok followed the maze of pipes and found the pressure release valves in another room, venting some excess heat from the furnace.</p><p> </p><p>Thornt rushed to the magazine and grabbed the fire charm that the fire sprite had ripped from the ceiling. Then he returned to the engine room. He sensed the primal magic there. After first trying (and failing) to absorb it, he managed to redirect it toward the capacitor.</p><p> </p><p>Cassi applied her hammer hook to the furnace door, but struggled to get it open. Eventually Thornt joined her and they managed to prize the door open, only to fall back before the heat within. Thornt tossed the charm into the blaze. The flames dimmed a little, but then the charm was consumed.</p><p> </p><p>Tok and Willheim managed to convince a sozzled Geoff Massarde to accompany them, but only after members of the crowd overheard them say that the boiler was oveheating and was going to explode. Panic erupted and principal minister Lee made preparations to teleport the king to safety.</p><p> </p><p>While Erik, Willheim and Massarde made their way belowdecks, Tok made his way upwards. Seeing the crowd out of control, the swaggering changeling managed to convince many that they were going to be special guests at a test-firing of the brand. He chivvied crew into lining chairs near the bow for the guests, and his confidence and calm proved infectious.</p><p> </p><p>Erik grabbed a shovel from beside the boiler and reached into the open doorway to retreive Sokana's amber rod. The flames steal the breath from his lungs, and he drops dangerously close to death before someone pulls him clear.</p><p> </p><p>Massarde guided the remaining investigators in the necessary steps to calibrate the brand, then the weapon is fired. The heat of the boiler dissipates immediately, and a massive beam of fire vaporises a spot in the ocean 100ft in front of the Coaltongue. </p><p> </p><p>In the aftermath, the party resumes and Principal Minister Lee and King Aodhan find time to speak with the investigators privately. They both thank RT3 for their good work, although they are clearly shocked that the Duchess was involved. </p><p> </p><p>Later, the king announces his plans to seek peace with Danor, and that a peace conference has been arranged for one years' time. He also announces his intention to marry a Danoran. Some members of the crowd (Erik included) and none too happy.</p><p> </p><p>A weeks passes with RT3 mopping up after the incident and filling in paperwork. Then they are summoned to Assistant Chief Inspector Delft's office. On the way, they cross paths with Office head Margaret Saxby. She congratulates them on their work on the Coaltongue. "You did us proud on that ship. Please don't embarrass us in the next 5 minutes".</p><p> </p><p>In Delft's office, he introduced RT3 to Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister for Outsiders. Tok knows from her clothing and surname that Lya is a member of the ruling Danoran Jierre dynasty.</p><p> </p><p>Lya tested RT3 with a puzzle, which they solve with only a little fuss. Satisfied (but not overly impressed) with their performance Jierre, begins to tell RT3 about a situation on Axis Island.</p><p> </p><p><span style="color: darkorange">The good</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: white">Despite Erik's player realising at the end of last session that they needed to fire the brand, the countdown still proved exciting. We continued to play round-by-round and I didn't tell the players how long they had left. A drunk and initially uncooperative Massarde added to the tension.</span></p><p> </p><p>As it was, the PCs had about 30 rounds left on the clock after Erik pulled the amber rod from the furnace (and fell unconscious). If he hadn't, if Tok hadn't found and opened both relief valves, and if Thornt hadn't thought to grab one of the fire wards, I believe they would have had about 4 rounds to make the 3 Arcane, Nature and Religion checks necessary to calibrate the brand. That's a pretty tight deadline for TPK, and the tension was just right here. </p><p> </p><p>More than one player commented on how high-pressure it felt. Interestingly, toward the end, Tok's player commented on how the rounds were taking longer and the pace was falling. I actually think that was me more than them. As they added to the countdown, I was subconsciously taking more time with my responses. </p><p> </p><p>The Lya Jierre puzzle also went down extremely well, and occupied about 20 minutes of session time. I must confess though, that I didn't use the puzzle from the adventure. I was concerned that the 3D nature of the puzzle would not sit well with our 2D virtual tabeltop (MapTool) so I replaced it with <a href="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/C-1-Continuity.pdf" target="_blank">this one</a> (but without the genre-specific intro text).</p><p> </p><p>I set up a series of Intelligence Check DCs (9/12/19) to get <a href="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/hints-C-1-3.html" target="_blank">these clues</a>, but they didn't really need them. Willheim's player made a check (and rolled 9 so only got the clue "This is known as a continuity puzzle"), and from there they managed to work it out*. Everyone had fun with the puzzle, and they worked pretty well together to figure out the steps involved.</p><p> </p><p><span style="color: darkorange">The bad</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: white">I would have liked to have a fully-written speech to deliver for King Aodhan. Momentous occasions deserve memorable speeches, and if I'd thought about it ahead of time I would have written one myself. Alas, I was a little lax in my preparation and didn't think of it until it was too late.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: darkorange">The Ugly</span></p><p> </p><p>Nothing to report</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 9px">*If you must know, the answer can be found </span><a href="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/solution-C-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 9px">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 9px">.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Colmarr, post: 5668584, member: 59182"] [b]Session 3[/b] I've had to abandon the story hour for time reasons (I severely underestimated how long it would take to fully narrate a campaign), so I'll replace it here with some point form notes on the major events of each session. [COLOR=darkorange]Session summary[/COLOR] Aware that the boiler was on a course for a catastrophic explosion and realising that they needed to fire the brand, RT3 split up to apply their respective talents. Willheim rushed to the main deck (getting there in a single round), and Erik followed. Tok followed the maze of pipes and found the pressure release valves in another room, venting some excess heat from the furnace. Thornt rushed to the magazine and grabbed the fire charm that the fire sprite had ripped from the ceiling. Then he returned to the engine room. He sensed the primal magic there. After first trying (and failing) to absorb it, he managed to redirect it toward the capacitor. Cassi applied her hammer hook to the furnace door, but struggled to get it open. Eventually Thornt joined her and they managed to prize the door open, only to fall back before the heat within. Thornt tossed the charm into the blaze. The flames dimmed a little, but then the charm was consumed. Tok and Willheim managed to convince a sozzled Geoff Massarde to accompany them, but only after members of the crowd overheard them say that the boiler was oveheating and was going to explode. Panic erupted and principal minister Lee made preparations to teleport the king to safety. While Erik, Willheim and Massarde made their way belowdecks, Tok made his way upwards. Seeing the crowd out of control, the swaggering changeling managed to convince many that they were going to be special guests at a test-firing of the brand. He chivvied crew into lining chairs near the bow for the guests, and his confidence and calm proved infectious. Erik grabbed a shovel from beside the boiler and reached into the open doorway to retreive Sokana's amber rod. The flames steal the breath from his lungs, and he drops dangerously close to death before someone pulls him clear. Massarde guided the remaining investigators in the necessary steps to calibrate the brand, then the weapon is fired. The heat of the boiler dissipates immediately, and a massive beam of fire vaporises a spot in the ocean 100ft in front of the Coaltongue. In the aftermath, the party resumes and Principal Minister Lee and King Aodhan find time to speak with the investigators privately. They both thank RT3 for their good work, although they are clearly shocked that the Duchess was involved. Later, the king announces his plans to seek peace with Danor, and that a peace conference has been arranged for one years' time. He also announces his intention to marry a Danoran. Some members of the crowd (Erik included) and none too happy. A weeks passes with RT3 mopping up after the incident and filling in paperwork. Then they are summoned to Assistant Chief Inspector Delft's office. On the way, they cross paths with Office head Margaret Saxby. She congratulates them on their work on the Coaltongue. "You did us proud on that ship. Please don't embarrass us in the next 5 minutes". In Delft's office, he introduced RT3 to Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister for Outsiders. Tok knows from her clothing and surname that Lya is a member of the ruling Danoran Jierre dynasty. Lya tested RT3 with a puzzle, which they solve with only a little fuss. Satisfied (but not overly impressed) with their performance Jierre, begins to tell RT3 about a situation on Axis Island. [COLOR=darkorange]The good[/COLOR] [COLOR=white]Despite Erik's player realising at the end of last session that they needed to fire the brand, the countdown still proved exciting. We continued to play round-by-round and I didn't tell the players how long they had left. A drunk and initially uncooperative Massarde added to the tension.[/COLOR] As it was, the PCs had about 30 rounds left on the clock after Erik pulled the amber rod from the furnace (and fell unconscious). If he hadn't, if Tok hadn't found and opened both relief valves, and if Thornt hadn't thought to grab one of the fire wards, I believe they would have had about 4 rounds to make the 3 Arcane, Nature and Religion checks necessary to calibrate the brand. That's a pretty tight deadline for TPK, and the tension was just right here. More than one player commented on how high-pressure it felt. Interestingly, toward the end, Tok's player commented on how the rounds were taking longer and the pace was falling. I actually think that was me more than them. As they added to the countdown, I was subconsciously taking more time with my responses. The Lya Jierre puzzle also went down extremely well, and occupied about 20 minutes of session time. I must confess though, that I didn't use the puzzle from the adventure. I was concerned that the 3D nature of the puzzle would not sit well with our 2D virtual tabeltop (MapTool) so I replaced it with [URL="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/C-1-Continuity.pdf"]this one[/URL] (but without the genre-specific intro text). I set up a series of Intelligence Check DCs (9/12/19) to get [URL="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/hints-C-1-3.html"]these clues[/URL], but they didn't really need them. Willheim's player made a check (and rolled 9 so only got the clue "This is known as a continuity puzzle"), and from there they managed to work it out*. Everyone had fun with the puzzle, and they worked pretty well together to figure out the steps involved. [COLOR=darkorange]The bad[/COLOR] [COLOR=white]I would have liked to have a fully-written speech to deliver for King Aodhan. Momentous occasions deserve memorable speeches, and if I'd thought about it ahead of time I would have written one myself. Alas, I was a little lax in my preparation and didn't think of it until it was too late.[/COLOR] [COLOR=darkorange]The Ugly[/COLOR] Nothing to report [SIZE=1]*If you must know, the answer can be found [/SIZE][URL="http://puzzle.cisra.com.au/2007/solution-C-1.html"][SIZE=1]here[/SIZE][/URL][SIZE=1].[/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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