Rugult
On Call GM
Long time lurker, long time reader, yadda yadda yadda...
So it's the War of the Burning Sky that has taken me out of my seclusion and forced me to make my first post here at ENworld. The WotBS interested me for one main reason; it was really a standard fantasy setting with interesting concepts. Up until running this campaign my roomate and I were running Eberron & Iron Kingdoms campaigns with our gaming group, so we really hadn't done 'true' fantasy in a fair while. So I wrangled up a group of four players and decided to give this campaign a shot.
First off, let me say that naming an NPC Torrent was the smartest idea ever. I don't think anyone can have an easy time finding downloads for this series. Means I don't have to worry as much about possible nosy players
The Party
-
Rowan – Human Evoker of Gabal's School
Benedict – Human Cleric of St. Cuthbert
Lucky Pete Lightning – Human Rogue
Krug – Half-Orc Barbarian<Left Adventure 4>
Anika – Human Sorceress <Joined Adventure 3> <Left Adventure 4>
The Scouring Of Gate Pass:
-
Some initial comments before going in. My one concern after reading through the first adventure was that a lot of the encounters seemed to be fairly high ECL and I was unsure if the party would be able to handle all the encounters especially in the order that they came in (particularly the last two encounters that were at ECL 7).
I didn't have any major issues with the roll out of the story as there were enough avenues to cover any NPC deaths or losses that might occur during the course of the adventure.
The background information was enough to get the party in the mood, though some of the players who did not have access/time to read over the Player handbook for the Campaign didn't understand all the politics right away which caused some early confusion until it could be drilled in.
Act One: The Secret Meeting
-
The Half-Orc barbarian of the party; Krug, had taken the Resistence bonus feat so he was the obvious choice to get the party to the meeting. So the adventure started with everyone confused as to where the seemingly unintelligent Half Orc was leading them.
Once the meeting with Torrent was underway the party seemed to get right down to business understanding the gravity of the situation and wanting to do what they could to help... except for 'Lucky Pete' who thought it might also be profitable to find some more spellcasters to sneak out with once they got their objective. Most of the other party members ignored this statement and were more concerned with the case and its contents.
The combat rolled out like a fairly standard DnD combat encounter. The mood with the New Years bells and then the bombing gave good atmosphere to the fight itself followed by the building burning around them. Interesting moments in the fight consisted of:
-Everyone but Rowan getting affected by the Thunderstones.
-The Enlarged Half Orc breaking through the door and accidently sending it hurling into Torrent.
Otherwise the party handled the combat with little loss except for the deafness on most of them. Inspection of the Armbands revealed the Ignan code though it wasn't really important to them considering the apparent importance of the case.
The followup run to the Depository had quite a bit of War Flavour to it, with the party running about doing good deeds. At every turn the Rogue took an opportunity to spread his name; “Lucky Pete Lightning at your service” even though he was quite deaf and couldn't hear anything. The Terror in the Skies encounter with the Wyvern seemed a bit strange as I don't think there are many people at first level who would be making a DC 21 will save.
Act Two: Retrieving The Case
-
This is where things really started to pickup. Almost immediately upon reading the Depository 'Lucky Pete' recognized that the masquerading Elf was disguised and confrontation soon followed. A straight dash to the roof ensued with some crossbow fire sent but nothing damaging. A small moral dilemma ensued when Benedict the cleric saw their target was being followed by a Lantern Archon. The party did catch Larion on the roof as he was making his escape, and then they took their parting shots.
Two crossbow bolts (1 a critical hit) and a flying grappling hook courtesy of the Barbarian was enough to disrupt the jump as well as any subsequent casting of Feather Fall. So the first NPC goes 'splat' thanks to interesting player tactics.
After freeing the Gnome and deducing that the case was likely in possession by someone at Gabal's school, the party was ready to head out. Still slightly confused by current events 'Lucky Pete' took this as an opportunity to speak his mind on the situation and reaffirm his plan to sneak wizards out of the city for gold as well as his thoughts on how since the case was made of adamantite it must be “worth something” thus grew his plan to take the case itself and not the contents.
The party also used this as a chance to loot Larion's body. The potions remained unidentified though a successful check allowed the players time to guess the nature of the Oil he carried. Larion's spell book for the most part was relatively useless to Rowan who is an Evoker.
(End Session #1)
Before heading to Gabal's school, the party decided it would be best to rest a bit at the suggested temple by Torrent. On the way they encountered the Ragesian fugitive who was holed up in the house and after two unsuccessful sneak attacks by the 'Lucky Pete' the party eventually overpowered the single soldier and killed him. Amazingly the boy who was hostage survived the encounter.
Resting at the Temple was pretty standard. The party didn't really change the Evil Bard's actions as there was no one who really stood up or could out perform. Some rest and a level up for everyone followed before heading to Gabal's School.
Reaching Gabal's School the party met up with Diogenes and were eventually able to fill in the blanks about Shealis. Going with the suggested plan of stealing her spellbook while she was dueling and then overpowering her, the party set to work. 'Lucky Pete' broke into Shealis' room no problem and looted it for all it was worth though highly disappointed that he could not find his vaunted adamantite case.
The duel went without a hitch and the party subdued Shealis. Once Pete came back to report the party decided how best to handle the situation, until Pete started threating to torture the captured elf (fingernail torture particularly). Rowan interceded and instead bluffed burning her spellbook. Shealis remained resolute until Rowan opened the book and found the map. With this knowledge Shealis was sapped and left to Diogenes (all right, giggidy giggidy, just look at his picture) while the party went on their way to the Elven Ghetto. Rowan acquired yet another spellbook, and the party split up the loot found in Shealis' room.
It took the party a while to get into the Ghetto though 'Lucky Pete' was able to sweet talk some information out of the locals. Before planning their rush of the building the party was contacted by the Imp who let the party be aware of his jerk plan to take the case back. Ironically enough this was the same thing that 'Lucky Pete' was planning to do, but eventually he capitulated and decided the Imp could have the apparently expensive case.
The elves inside gave little resistence as Pete sneaked in and dealt with them in pretty short order. The Badgers engaged the Barbarian for almost ten rounds, even when raging he could not hit them. Luckily he had the Resistence Preffered Enemy feat, which now has Badgers on it for any future encounters with the critters.
With the documents in hand the party handed off the case to the Imp and then began thinking of how to get out of the city.
(End Session #2)
Act Three: Escaping the City
This act was pretty quiet with the party speaking with Councilman Menash and then Captain Herreman to get out of the city.
The Ambush did not happen as the party was able to confront the bounty hunters and see through their disguises. A short visit from Rantle left them with the letter to his sister before they met up with Captain Herreman.
Act Four: The Gauntlet
An exciting combat ensued with the party fighting off the oncoming bounty hunters in the gauntlet. Pete and Benedict rushed forward after their horses were startled. With the party divided there were a few rounds of regrouping in the face of oncoming riders and hidden crossbow snipers.
Benedict and Krug went unconcious during the fight forcing Torrent to run about with her wand healing them as needed. The rest of the party was able to defeat the riders and scare the remaining hunters off. They took the opporuntity to loot the bodies of their enemies and continue on their way towards the Fire Forest.
Act Five: The Inquisitor
-
The party was really worried about Haddin and his daughter knowing the stories about his mental domination abilities. They stayed for dinner with the strange family, 'Lucky Pete' trying to bluff the old man and Rowan being diplomatic about the oncoming Ragesian threat. I had Haddin detect thoughts them while they were chatting with his daughter so he had a good idea that they were generally being honest (except for Pete).
When the morning came and the Inquisitor arrived the party grouped in the house and went through their battle plan. Haddin took this opportunity to Charm every party member except for Rowan (who made his save) and Torrent, and instructed them on tactics that would best get him and his daughter to safety. Ironically the party was going to do most of the suggested tactics anyways.
First Pete opened the back door to do some scouting while the other players buffed up. One Human Bane bolt later and Pete staggered back in with almost no HP left. Torrent healed the rogue just as the locked door was opened by a goblin who quickly chugged an invisibility potion. Six skeletons followed up though Pete tanglefooted one in the doorway allowing Benedict to summon the powers of St. Cuthbert and destroy them in a turn attempt.
Next up the Orc 'Smiley' sauntered up in front of the Inquisitor and his two guards. Krug charged out of the house to engage the barbarian fighter. Torrent followed up by running behind Krug and enlarging him. Smiley took his quaff and enlarged himself (yes, we had a giant half orc fight). Eventually Krug overpowered the other Orc and Pete launched a killing shot while Smiley was down.
The Inquisitor switched his tactics and used an empowered burning hands damaging both Krug, Torrent & Benedict. With things looking bad, the goblins sneaky goblins came behind Pete who dispatched one only to have the other killed by an impressive display of magic from Crystin. With the goblins killed Pete took a well placed critical shot on the Inquisitor killing him dead. The two remaining guards booked it only to be shot down by the party members.
With this encounter over even Haddin was convinced to follow the party away from his home and into the Fire Forest.
(End Session #3)
Thoughts
-
One thing I would like to say about the first adventure is the fantastic use of items and tactics. While there are encounters that use equipment like thunderstones, I like seeing these items given to NPCs in encounters that don't immediately call for their use. In 'The Gauntlet' once their plan had gone to hell I had the bounty hunters using tanglefoot bags to try to get away.
My party agrees that all of the NPCs seem to be distinct. I myself love the combination of Crystin and Haddin who I think are both very interesting and should prove to add a lot of character interaction in the Fire Forest.
There are some concerns/thoughts that I do have about the adventure though. These are meant more as constructive criticism though.
-Pantheon. Currently I am using the standard PHB cosmology for this campaign though some things have me wondering. For example, up to this point I have not gone into which god that Torrent worships, or what the major religions of Gate Pass are. Religion seems to be very vague in the printed adventure.
-Magic Items. There are quite a few magic items that the party can come across if they kill the right people. With potions it's not as bad (since spellcraft checks can be made), but thus far my party has acquired quite a few magic items and it doesn't look like they will have the material components to identify them anytime soon.
-Challenge. The last two acts of this adventure were REALLY tough encounters based on the ECL and the situation itself. It seems like standard rolling and even odds might see a player or two bite the dust in these encounters.
But so far it really has been enjoyable! I look forward to starting the second Adventure tonight and seeing where we get with it. Updates to come...
So it's the War of the Burning Sky that has taken me out of my seclusion and forced me to make my first post here at ENworld. The WotBS interested me for one main reason; it was really a standard fantasy setting with interesting concepts. Up until running this campaign my roomate and I were running Eberron & Iron Kingdoms campaigns with our gaming group, so we really hadn't done 'true' fantasy in a fair while. So I wrangled up a group of four players and decided to give this campaign a shot.
First off, let me say that naming an NPC Torrent was the smartest idea ever. I don't think anyone can have an easy time finding downloads for this series. Means I don't have to worry as much about possible nosy players
The Party
-
Rowan – Human Evoker of Gabal's School
Benedict – Human Cleric of St. Cuthbert
Lucky Pete Lightning – Human Rogue
Krug – Half-Orc Barbarian<Left Adventure 4>
Anika – Human Sorceress <Joined Adventure 3> <Left Adventure 4>
The Scouring Of Gate Pass:
-
Some initial comments before going in. My one concern after reading through the first adventure was that a lot of the encounters seemed to be fairly high ECL and I was unsure if the party would be able to handle all the encounters especially in the order that they came in (particularly the last two encounters that were at ECL 7).
I didn't have any major issues with the roll out of the story as there were enough avenues to cover any NPC deaths or losses that might occur during the course of the adventure.
The background information was enough to get the party in the mood, though some of the players who did not have access/time to read over the Player handbook for the Campaign didn't understand all the politics right away which caused some early confusion until it could be drilled in.
Act One: The Secret Meeting
-
The Half-Orc barbarian of the party; Krug, had taken the Resistence bonus feat so he was the obvious choice to get the party to the meeting. So the adventure started with everyone confused as to where the seemingly unintelligent Half Orc was leading them.
Once the meeting with Torrent was underway the party seemed to get right down to business understanding the gravity of the situation and wanting to do what they could to help... except for 'Lucky Pete' who thought it might also be profitable to find some more spellcasters to sneak out with once they got their objective. Most of the other party members ignored this statement and were more concerned with the case and its contents.
The combat rolled out like a fairly standard DnD combat encounter. The mood with the New Years bells and then the bombing gave good atmosphere to the fight itself followed by the building burning around them. Interesting moments in the fight consisted of:
-Everyone but Rowan getting affected by the Thunderstones.
-The Enlarged Half Orc breaking through the door and accidently sending it hurling into Torrent.
Otherwise the party handled the combat with little loss except for the deafness on most of them. Inspection of the Armbands revealed the Ignan code though it wasn't really important to them considering the apparent importance of the case.
The followup run to the Depository had quite a bit of War Flavour to it, with the party running about doing good deeds. At every turn the Rogue took an opportunity to spread his name; “Lucky Pete Lightning at your service” even though he was quite deaf and couldn't hear anything. The Terror in the Skies encounter with the Wyvern seemed a bit strange as I don't think there are many people at first level who would be making a DC 21 will save.
Act Two: Retrieving The Case
-
This is where things really started to pickup. Almost immediately upon reading the Depository 'Lucky Pete' recognized that the masquerading Elf was disguised and confrontation soon followed. A straight dash to the roof ensued with some crossbow fire sent but nothing damaging. A small moral dilemma ensued when Benedict the cleric saw their target was being followed by a Lantern Archon. The party did catch Larion on the roof as he was making his escape, and then they took their parting shots.
Two crossbow bolts (1 a critical hit) and a flying grappling hook courtesy of the Barbarian was enough to disrupt the jump as well as any subsequent casting of Feather Fall. So the first NPC goes 'splat' thanks to interesting player tactics.
After freeing the Gnome and deducing that the case was likely in possession by someone at Gabal's school, the party was ready to head out. Still slightly confused by current events 'Lucky Pete' took this as an opportunity to speak his mind on the situation and reaffirm his plan to sneak wizards out of the city for gold as well as his thoughts on how since the case was made of adamantite it must be “worth something” thus grew his plan to take the case itself and not the contents.
The party also used this as a chance to loot Larion's body. The potions remained unidentified though a successful check allowed the players time to guess the nature of the Oil he carried. Larion's spell book for the most part was relatively useless to Rowan who is an Evoker.
(End Session #1)
Before heading to Gabal's school, the party decided it would be best to rest a bit at the suggested temple by Torrent. On the way they encountered the Ragesian fugitive who was holed up in the house and after two unsuccessful sneak attacks by the 'Lucky Pete' the party eventually overpowered the single soldier and killed him. Amazingly the boy who was hostage survived the encounter.
Resting at the Temple was pretty standard. The party didn't really change the Evil Bard's actions as there was no one who really stood up or could out perform. Some rest and a level up for everyone followed before heading to Gabal's School.
Reaching Gabal's School the party met up with Diogenes and were eventually able to fill in the blanks about Shealis. Going with the suggested plan of stealing her spellbook while she was dueling and then overpowering her, the party set to work. 'Lucky Pete' broke into Shealis' room no problem and looted it for all it was worth though highly disappointed that he could not find his vaunted adamantite case.
The duel went without a hitch and the party subdued Shealis. Once Pete came back to report the party decided how best to handle the situation, until Pete started threating to torture the captured elf (fingernail torture particularly). Rowan interceded and instead bluffed burning her spellbook. Shealis remained resolute until Rowan opened the book and found the map. With this knowledge Shealis was sapped and left to Diogenes (all right, giggidy giggidy, just look at his picture) while the party went on their way to the Elven Ghetto. Rowan acquired yet another spellbook, and the party split up the loot found in Shealis' room.
It took the party a while to get into the Ghetto though 'Lucky Pete' was able to sweet talk some information out of the locals. Before planning their rush of the building the party was contacted by the Imp who let the party be aware of his jerk plan to take the case back. Ironically enough this was the same thing that 'Lucky Pete' was planning to do, but eventually he capitulated and decided the Imp could have the apparently expensive case.
The elves inside gave little resistence as Pete sneaked in and dealt with them in pretty short order. The Badgers engaged the Barbarian for almost ten rounds, even when raging he could not hit them. Luckily he had the Resistence Preffered Enemy feat, which now has Badgers on it for any future encounters with the critters.
With the documents in hand the party handed off the case to the Imp and then began thinking of how to get out of the city.
(End Session #2)
Act Three: Escaping the City
This act was pretty quiet with the party speaking with Councilman Menash and then Captain Herreman to get out of the city.
The Ambush did not happen as the party was able to confront the bounty hunters and see through their disguises. A short visit from Rantle left them with the letter to his sister before they met up with Captain Herreman.
Act Four: The Gauntlet
An exciting combat ensued with the party fighting off the oncoming bounty hunters in the gauntlet. Pete and Benedict rushed forward after their horses were startled. With the party divided there were a few rounds of regrouping in the face of oncoming riders and hidden crossbow snipers.
Benedict and Krug went unconcious during the fight forcing Torrent to run about with her wand healing them as needed. The rest of the party was able to defeat the riders and scare the remaining hunters off. They took the opporuntity to loot the bodies of their enemies and continue on their way towards the Fire Forest.
Act Five: The Inquisitor
-
The party was really worried about Haddin and his daughter knowing the stories about his mental domination abilities. They stayed for dinner with the strange family, 'Lucky Pete' trying to bluff the old man and Rowan being diplomatic about the oncoming Ragesian threat. I had Haddin detect thoughts them while they were chatting with his daughter so he had a good idea that they were generally being honest (except for Pete).
When the morning came and the Inquisitor arrived the party grouped in the house and went through their battle plan. Haddin took this opportunity to Charm every party member except for Rowan (who made his save) and Torrent, and instructed them on tactics that would best get him and his daughter to safety. Ironically the party was going to do most of the suggested tactics anyways.
First Pete opened the back door to do some scouting while the other players buffed up. One Human Bane bolt later and Pete staggered back in with almost no HP left. Torrent healed the rogue just as the locked door was opened by a goblin who quickly chugged an invisibility potion. Six skeletons followed up though Pete tanglefooted one in the doorway allowing Benedict to summon the powers of St. Cuthbert and destroy them in a turn attempt.
Next up the Orc 'Smiley' sauntered up in front of the Inquisitor and his two guards. Krug charged out of the house to engage the barbarian fighter. Torrent followed up by running behind Krug and enlarging him. Smiley took his quaff and enlarged himself (yes, we had a giant half orc fight). Eventually Krug overpowered the other Orc and Pete launched a killing shot while Smiley was down.
The Inquisitor switched his tactics and used an empowered burning hands damaging both Krug, Torrent & Benedict. With things looking bad, the goblins sneaky goblins came behind Pete who dispatched one only to have the other killed by an impressive display of magic from Crystin. With the goblins killed Pete took a well placed critical shot on the Inquisitor killing him dead. The two remaining guards booked it only to be shot down by the party members.
With this encounter over even Haddin was convinced to follow the party away from his home and into the Fire Forest.
(End Session #3)
Thoughts
-
One thing I would like to say about the first adventure is the fantastic use of items and tactics. While there are encounters that use equipment like thunderstones, I like seeing these items given to NPCs in encounters that don't immediately call for their use. In 'The Gauntlet' once their plan had gone to hell I had the bounty hunters using tanglefoot bags to try to get away.
My party agrees that all of the NPCs seem to be distinct. I myself love the combination of Crystin and Haddin who I think are both very interesting and should prove to add a lot of character interaction in the Fire Forest.
There are some concerns/thoughts that I do have about the adventure though. These are meant more as constructive criticism though.
-Pantheon. Currently I am using the standard PHB cosmology for this campaign though some things have me wondering. For example, up to this point I have not gone into which god that Torrent worships, or what the major religions of Gate Pass are. Religion seems to be very vague in the printed adventure.
-Magic Items. There are quite a few magic items that the party can come across if they kill the right people. With potions it's not as bad (since spellcraft checks can be made), but thus far my party has acquired quite a few magic items and it doesn't look like they will have the material components to identify them anytime soon.
-Challenge. The last two acts of this adventure were REALLY tough encounters based on the ECL and the situation itself. It seems like standard rolling and even odds might see a player or two bite the dust in these encounters.
But so far it really has been enjoyable! I look forward to starting the second Adventure tonight and seeing where we get with it. Updates to come...
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