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My Dark Sun 4e Game Experience Updated 01/22/2013
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<blockquote data-quote="Raunalyn" data-source="post: 5527154" data-attributes="member: 72670"><p><strong>Session 4</strong></p><p></p><p>The group (now 3rd level) spends a couple of days in Nibenay to rest, recuperate, and resupply. During this time, Zanne decides that he has had enough of the dangers of the Adventuring type and returns home (Zanne's player has only been able to attend one session, so I wrote him out of the game).</p><p> </p><p>As the party gathers in a local tavern to prepare for their next journey, Dryder spots an old friend of his from childhood; a human Ardent named Kratas.</p><p> </p><p>Kratas is the son of a minor noble from Tyr; the owner of a moderately large stable of gladiators who was fairly successful in the arena. Not long before the death of the Sorcerer King of Tyr, a revolt from the gladiators left Kratas's father dead, and a number of prized gladiators escaped. Unfortunately, Kratas was attending Tyr's House of the Mind (a psionics academy) when his father died. Unable to maintain his father's house and attend the Academy, Kratas decides to leave school and strike out on his own so that he can make his own fortune. And possibly, to find his father's killer.</p><p> </p><p>The group welcomes Kratas, and then meets with their merchant sponsor; Marius Amketch.</p><p> </p><p>Marius asks the group to travel to Balic and meet with a representative from his Merchant house named Maserak. Marius explains that he thinks that a trade war is looming between Amketch and House Shom, and would like the group to investigate the possibility that Amketch's caravans are being sabotaged. The party agrees to help and soon begin their journey south to Balic.</p><p> </p><p>They decide to take the direct route, heading south across the Ivory Plains and to North Ledopolis. From there, they would ferry across the Silt Sea to South Ledopolis, and then head east to Balic. Marius provides the group with plenty of supplies.</p><p> </p><p>On the second day of their journey south, the group decides to camp for the night in a small secluded area surrounded by boulders. As the group prepares to bed down for the night, Kratas suddenly realizes that something is trying to probe their minds. The party swiftly arms themselves and turn to face a hulking terror; an Id Fiend.</p><p>This battle was far, FAR, easier than it should have been. An Id Fiend is a level one solo, but I beefed it up to a level 5 and added a few new bells and whistles to it so that it could give the party a nice challenge. However, the challenge just didn't pan out due to very poor die rolls. I kid you not, my first 4 attacks in that combat were no higher than a 6.</p><p>Tor Val charges in (no surprise there). As he moves close to striking distance from the fiend, it uses its tail to swipe at the raging Half-Giant and misses. As Gundrek moves in to attack, the Id Fiend again swipes, missing Gundrek completely. The Battlemind then uses this opportunity to use his Persistant Harrier encounter, hitting the fiend and teleporting onto the small rise next to the id fiend and marking it. The Id Fiend retaliates, biting and clawing at Tor Val and missing....again....twice. In frustration, it uses an Action Point to use its Manifest Fear power, hitting both Tor Val and Gundrek, which dazes and slows them. Then, as its final action, he immediately attacks the two of them with Fearful Torment, which immobizes both of them. It then shifts away from Tor Val and moves closer to the rest of the group.</p><p> </p><p>Katrie shifts into her primal cat form and rushes forward, only to be smacked by the Id Fiend's tail. The impact knocks her prone, and she struggles to stand back up.</p><p> </p><p>Dryder and Kratas then move forward, both dodging that dangerous tail, and strike the fiend.</p><p> </p><p>Tor Val can do nothing, so he stands in place and fumes (note to self; great way to tick off the Barbarian? Stop him from being able to charge). Gundrek uses his Mul Resilience to shake off the effects of the daze and immobilize. He then uses a Spectral Legion to grant the party combat advantage when attacking the Id Fiend. He hits, but to his horror, the Id Fiend lashes out with a Psychic Feedback, which weakens and damages Gundrek.</p><p> </p><p>The damage has been done, though. Gundrek's Spectral Legion gives Dryder Combat Advantage, which he then proceeds to use to great effect. Soon (too soon), the Id Fiend is dead, and the party decides to skin it. They also learn that Id Fiend tastes a lot like Chicken.</p><p> </p><p>The main purpose of this encounter was to help Kratas's player become familiar with his character as well as the 4e rules (he's a new player).</p><p>A few days later, the party arrives in Balic. The journey is punctuated by a brief and tense journey across the Silt Sea from North Ledopolis to Soutn Ledopolis. The crew of the ferry they are riding watches anxiously as a small group of Beast Head Giants roam a little too close to their vessel.</p><p> </p><p>In Balic, the party meets up with their contact, Maserak. He shows them a large insect, something called a Shaqat Beetle. He informs them that the beetles have been showing up in the possession of Templars, Slavers, Assassins, and black market dealers. The beetles also have the unusual effect of making it very difficult for users of the Way to use psionics.</p><p>Maserak explains that in the course of his investigation, he has come to believe that someone is trying to frame Marius Amketch for spreading these insects, thereby harming his business. Maserak and Marius want the group to join up with the Amketch caravan that will be leaving the following day for the Crimsom Obelisk Oasis and find out if these beetles are being smuggled aboard somehow.</p><p> </p><p>The party heads to the caravan and meets up with the caravan leader, Bezrak Sandfist. Soon, they agree to sign on as caravan guards and are brought to meet Bezrak's captain, a huge Half-Giant named Holtet Phen. They are given their duties; the group would be one of the foot patrols that surrounds the caravan. He lets them know what their shifts would be like and informs them that the caravan would leave on the morrow, and leaves them with a stern warning, "You'd better not show up drunk, or I'll flay your pathetic hides!"</p><p> </p><p>The following morning, the journey begins. The caravan consists of an enormous argosy (essentially, a roaming fortress) that is pulled by two mekillots (giant armored beetles). 20 guards and 20 Crodlu mounted outriders roam in random groups around the argosy as it begins to lumber forward.</p><p> </p><p>No more than an hour after their departure, the group notices a small contingent of Balican Templars catching up to them. The caravan halts, and Bezrak climbs down from the argosy, muttering angrily. He points to Kratas and Katrie to follow him, and he proceeds to meet with the Templars, who are their for a routine customs inspection. Bezrak pulls the leader aside, and Kratas takes the opportunity to try to hear what's going on.</p><p> </p><p>Bezrak whispers to the Templar that it would be worth it if the templar let the caravan go without inspection. He then covertly slips the templar a pouch that looks a bit full, but which clinks with the pleasant sound of coins. The templar nods his head in agreement, mounts his Crodlu, and heads back to Balic. As Bezrak watches them go, he turns to Kratas and growls, "Next time, I suggest you control your curiosity. Keep</p><p>your nose out of my business and you will still be employed when we return to Balic." He then stalks off. Kratas then realizes that Bezrak happens to be a fairly powerful psionic.</p><p> </p><p>The next part of this session is heavy in roleplaying as the party tries to determine if there is anything unusual going on. This ends up being an extended skill challenge that includes Perception (to inspect the cargo), stealth (to not be seen inspecting the cargo), thievery (to open locked areas of the argosy), and diplomacy (to talk to several members of the caravan and find out what they know).</p><p> </p><p>After searching the cargo bay and one of the locked areas, the caravan arrives at its first stop on its journey; a merchant fort about 3 days west of Balic called Fort Glamis. Dryder notices that Bezrak leaves the caravan alone and wanders into the fort, so he clandestinely follows. Bezrak disappears inside of a small bar near the outer wall of the fort, and then exits about 20 minutes later to return to the caravan.</p><p> </p><p>On the 5th day of the journey, the caravan leaves the road and starts ponderously moving across the open desert on its way to the Crimson Obelisk Oasis. Meanwhile, Kratas begins to question several of the caravan members. First is the leader of the outriders; a half-elf named Arrazo. The half-elf has reason to believe that the caravan will be betrayed, and that he has made a deal that will keep him safe. He ensures that the party can also be spared...for a price. Kratas finds this suspicious, but agrees to pay anyway so that he can cultivate a potential ally. He also has a chance to speak with Vashara, who is the dwarven psion that drives the argosy. She is quite friendly (he rolled REALLY high on his diplomacy check, and then used his heroic effort and his Adept's Insight power to effectively raise the roll by 8 more), and explains that she doesn't trust Bezrak, and that she thinks he may be hiding something. However, she has no way to prove this.</p><p> </p><p>On the 6th day of their journey, during their morning patrol, the group is alerted as they hear the clash of arms from a group of outriders. Just as the party hefts their weapon, they see dozens of Gith raiders descend on the caravan.</p><p> </p><p>The party decides to defend the right side of the caravan while the other groups defend the left and rear sections. The argosy locks up all of its hatches and brings the upper Arbelest about to assist the guards.</p><p>13 gith leap into the midst of the party. Immediately, Tor Val begins attacking, plowing through the Gith Savages with glee. The rest of the party tries to prevent themselves from being overwhelmed and separated, and things begin to look dire when a Gith Drone and the leader of the group, a Gith Spearhead, leap into the fray. The drone begins to attack the group psionically, laying a debilitating psionic blast on Kratas that causes him to take damage whenever he uses a daily or encounter power. The spearhead focuses energy through his spear and does a devastating attack on Gundrek, dropping him. Meanwhile, the 3rd Gith leader, a Hobbler, leaps up into the air and hurls a javelin at Tor Val, missing him. Tor Val rushes the Drone and proceeds to nearly kill it. Kratas uses his Ardent Surge to heal Gundrek, and Katrie was able to throw Tor Val a magic seed, which allowed him to heal a bit from the injuries he had sustained while fighting the savages and the hobbler. She then uses her magical totem to help Gundrek further by allowing him to spend another healing surge.</p><p> </p><p>Just as the party thinks their victory is assured, another wave of Gith savages leaps among them, 10 of them, along with another Gith hobbler. The hobbler tries to hit Tor Val with a javelin (which, if it hits, would immobilize him), but misses again. Soon, the party is again fighting for their lives as they are nearly overwhelmed by the rush of enemies. But soon, the tide turns as the argosy turns its arbalest on the enemy gith. Finally, nearly beaten and bloodied, the group is victorious, and the remaining gith flee.</p><p> </p><p>This fight was a BLAST! Tor Val at one points crits a minion, then charges the drone, doing over 50 points of damage between all of his attacks. The group, at one point, was genuinely worried about being overwhelmed, especially after Gundrek was taken out in nearly one hit. But between Kratas's Psionic Shield power and Katrie's Spirit of Athas, there was one point in the combat when almost everyone in the party had a +5 to all defenses. It was glorious!</p><p> </p><p>I deliberately made all of these encounters at level+2 or level+3 because I knew that the group would be travelling a lot between encounters, and therefore they would be fresh. The last fight had nearly all of them using most of their resources to survive, so I was quite pleased with the outcome.</p><p> </p><p>With that, we ended the session. The party is still no closer to finding who is actually behind the Shaqat beetles, and they are nearing their destination.</p><p> </p><p>The date is now the 1st day of the Festival of the Soaring Sun in the season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.</p><p> </p><p>Next Session: Crimson Obelisk Oasis</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Raunalyn, post: 5527154, member: 72670"] [b]Session 4[/b] The group (now 3rd level) spends a couple of days in Nibenay to rest, recuperate, and resupply. During this time, Zanne decides that he has had enough of the dangers of the Adventuring type and returns home (Zanne's player has only been able to attend one session, so I wrote him out of the game). As the party gathers in a local tavern to prepare for their next journey, Dryder spots an old friend of his from childhood; a human Ardent named Kratas. Kratas is the son of a minor noble from Tyr; the owner of a moderately large stable of gladiators who was fairly successful in the arena. Not long before the death of the Sorcerer King of Tyr, a revolt from the gladiators left Kratas's father dead, and a number of prized gladiators escaped. Unfortunately, Kratas was attending Tyr's House of the Mind (a psionics academy) when his father died. Unable to maintain his father's house and attend the Academy, Kratas decides to leave school and strike out on his own so that he can make his own fortune. And possibly, to find his father's killer. The group welcomes Kratas, and then meets with their merchant sponsor; Marius Amketch. Marius asks the group to travel to Balic and meet with a representative from his Merchant house named Maserak. Marius explains that he thinks that a trade war is looming between Amketch and House Shom, and would like the group to investigate the possibility that Amketch's caravans are being sabotaged. The party agrees to help and soon begin their journey south to Balic. They decide to take the direct route, heading south across the Ivory Plains and to North Ledopolis. From there, they would ferry across the Silt Sea to South Ledopolis, and then head east to Balic. Marius provides the group with plenty of supplies. On the second day of their journey south, the group decides to camp for the night in a small secluded area surrounded by boulders. As the group prepares to bed down for the night, Kratas suddenly realizes that something is trying to probe their minds. The party swiftly arms themselves and turn to face a hulking terror; an Id Fiend. This battle was far, FAR, easier than it should have been. An Id Fiend is a level one solo, but I beefed it up to a level 5 and added a few new bells and whistles to it so that it could give the party a nice challenge. However, the challenge just didn't pan out due to very poor die rolls. I kid you not, my first 4 attacks in that combat were no higher than a 6. Tor Val charges in (no surprise there). As he moves close to striking distance from the fiend, it uses its tail to swipe at the raging Half-Giant and misses. As Gundrek moves in to attack, the Id Fiend again swipes, missing Gundrek completely. The Battlemind then uses this opportunity to use his Persistant Harrier encounter, hitting the fiend and teleporting onto the small rise next to the id fiend and marking it. The Id Fiend retaliates, biting and clawing at Tor Val and missing....again....twice. In frustration, it uses an Action Point to use its Manifest Fear power, hitting both Tor Val and Gundrek, which dazes and slows them. Then, as its final action, he immediately attacks the two of them with Fearful Torment, which immobizes both of them. It then shifts away from Tor Val and moves closer to the rest of the group. Katrie shifts into her primal cat form and rushes forward, only to be smacked by the Id Fiend's tail. The impact knocks her prone, and she struggles to stand back up. Dryder and Kratas then move forward, both dodging that dangerous tail, and strike the fiend. Tor Val can do nothing, so he stands in place and fumes (note to self; great way to tick off the Barbarian? Stop him from being able to charge). Gundrek uses his Mul Resilience to shake off the effects of the daze and immobilize. He then uses a Spectral Legion to grant the party combat advantage when attacking the Id Fiend. He hits, but to his horror, the Id Fiend lashes out with a Psychic Feedback, which weakens and damages Gundrek. The damage has been done, though. Gundrek's Spectral Legion gives Dryder Combat Advantage, which he then proceeds to use to great effect. Soon (too soon), the Id Fiend is dead, and the party decides to skin it. They also learn that Id Fiend tastes a lot like Chicken. The main purpose of this encounter was to help Kratas's player become familiar with his character as well as the 4e rules (he's a new player). A few days later, the party arrives in Balic. The journey is punctuated by a brief and tense journey across the Silt Sea from North Ledopolis to Soutn Ledopolis. The crew of the ferry they are riding watches anxiously as a small group of Beast Head Giants roam a little too close to their vessel. In Balic, the party meets up with their contact, Maserak. He shows them a large insect, something called a Shaqat Beetle. He informs them that the beetles have been showing up in the possession of Templars, Slavers, Assassins, and black market dealers. The beetles also have the unusual effect of making it very difficult for users of the Way to use psionics. Maserak explains that in the course of his investigation, he has come to believe that someone is trying to frame Marius Amketch for spreading these insects, thereby harming his business. Maserak and Marius want the group to join up with the Amketch caravan that will be leaving the following day for the Crimsom Obelisk Oasis and find out if these beetles are being smuggled aboard somehow. The party heads to the caravan and meets up with the caravan leader, Bezrak Sandfist. Soon, they agree to sign on as caravan guards and are brought to meet Bezrak's captain, a huge Half-Giant named Holtet Phen. They are given their duties; the group would be one of the foot patrols that surrounds the caravan. He lets them know what their shifts would be like and informs them that the caravan would leave on the morrow, and leaves them with a stern warning, "You'd better not show up drunk, or I'll flay your pathetic hides!" The following morning, the journey begins. The caravan consists of an enormous argosy (essentially, a roaming fortress) that is pulled by two mekillots (giant armored beetles). 20 guards and 20 Crodlu mounted outriders roam in random groups around the argosy as it begins to lumber forward. No more than an hour after their departure, the group notices a small contingent of Balican Templars catching up to them. The caravan halts, and Bezrak climbs down from the argosy, muttering angrily. He points to Kratas and Katrie to follow him, and he proceeds to meet with the Templars, who are their for a routine customs inspection. Bezrak pulls the leader aside, and Kratas takes the opportunity to try to hear what's going on. Bezrak whispers to the Templar that it would be worth it if the templar let the caravan go without inspection. He then covertly slips the templar a pouch that looks a bit full, but which clinks with the pleasant sound of coins. The templar nods his head in agreement, mounts his Crodlu, and heads back to Balic. As Bezrak watches them go, he turns to Kratas and growls, "Next time, I suggest you control your curiosity. Keep your nose out of my business and you will still be employed when we return to Balic." He then stalks off. Kratas then realizes that Bezrak happens to be a fairly powerful psionic. The next part of this session is heavy in roleplaying as the party tries to determine if there is anything unusual going on. This ends up being an extended skill challenge that includes Perception (to inspect the cargo), stealth (to not be seen inspecting the cargo), thievery (to open locked areas of the argosy), and diplomacy (to talk to several members of the caravan and find out what they know). After searching the cargo bay and one of the locked areas, the caravan arrives at its first stop on its journey; a merchant fort about 3 days west of Balic called Fort Glamis. Dryder notices that Bezrak leaves the caravan alone and wanders into the fort, so he clandestinely follows. Bezrak disappears inside of a small bar near the outer wall of the fort, and then exits about 20 minutes later to return to the caravan. On the 5th day of the journey, the caravan leaves the road and starts ponderously moving across the open desert on its way to the Crimson Obelisk Oasis. Meanwhile, Kratas begins to question several of the caravan members. First is the leader of the outriders; a half-elf named Arrazo. The half-elf has reason to believe that the caravan will be betrayed, and that he has made a deal that will keep him safe. He ensures that the party can also be spared...for a price. Kratas finds this suspicious, but agrees to pay anyway so that he can cultivate a potential ally. He also has a chance to speak with Vashara, who is the dwarven psion that drives the argosy. She is quite friendly (he rolled REALLY high on his diplomacy check, and then used his heroic effort and his Adept's Insight power to effectively raise the roll by 8 more), and explains that she doesn't trust Bezrak, and that she thinks he may be hiding something. However, she has no way to prove this. On the 6th day of their journey, during their morning patrol, the group is alerted as they hear the clash of arms from a group of outriders. Just as the party hefts their weapon, they see dozens of Gith raiders descend on the caravan. The party decides to defend the right side of the caravan while the other groups defend the left and rear sections. The argosy locks up all of its hatches and brings the upper Arbelest about to assist the guards. 13 gith leap into the midst of the party. Immediately, Tor Val begins attacking, plowing through the Gith Savages with glee. The rest of the party tries to prevent themselves from being overwhelmed and separated, and things begin to look dire when a Gith Drone and the leader of the group, a Gith Spearhead, leap into the fray. The drone begins to attack the group psionically, laying a debilitating psionic blast on Kratas that causes him to take damage whenever he uses a daily or encounter power. The spearhead focuses energy through his spear and does a devastating attack on Gundrek, dropping him. Meanwhile, the 3rd Gith leader, a Hobbler, leaps up into the air and hurls a javelin at Tor Val, missing him. Tor Val rushes the Drone and proceeds to nearly kill it. Kratas uses his Ardent Surge to heal Gundrek, and Katrie was able to throw Tor Val a magic seed, which allowed him to heal a bit from the injuries he had sustained while fighting the savages and the hobbler. She then uses her magical totem to help Gundrek further by allowing him to spend another healing surge. Just as the party thinks their victory is assured, another wave of Gith savages leaps among them, 10 of them, along with another Gith hobbler. The hobbler tries to hit Tor Val with a javelin (which, if it hits, would immobilize him), but misses again. Soon, the party is again fighting for their lives as they are nearly overwhelmed by the rush of enemies. But soon, the tide turns as the argosy turns its arbalest on the enemy gith. Finally, nearly beaten and bloodied, the group is victorious, and the remaining gith flee. This fight was a BLAST! Tor Val at one points crits a minion, then charges the drone, doing over 50 points of damage between all of his attacks. The group, at one point, was genuinely worried about being overwhelmed, especially after Gundrek was taken out in nearly one hit. But between Kratas's Psionic Shield power and Katrie's Spirit of Athas, there was one point in the combat when almost everyone in the party had a +5 to all defenses. It was glorious! I deliberately made all of these encounters at level+2 or level+3 because I knew that the group would be travelling a lot between encounters, and therefore they would be fresh. The last fight had nearly all of them using most of their resources to survive, so I was quite pleased with the outcome. With that, we ended the session. The party is still no closer to finding who is actually behind the Shaqat beetles, and they are nearing their destination. The date is now the 1st day of the Festival of the Soaring Sun in the season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age. Next Session: Crimson Obelisk Oasis [/QUOTE]
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