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My game "session" notes (Dark Sun, Eberron, Gamma World and PoL)
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<blockquote data-quote="Aegeri" data-source="post: 5394856" data-attributes="member: 78116"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Sun: Builder's Cry</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p></p><p>The third session of this game now had the mauled PCs escape from the arena in dramatic style. About to have their loyalty to Kalak tested - with most of the PCs being rather unhappy about any swearing of an allegiance to king Kalak - there was a sudden deafening sound emerging from the Sorcerer Kings tower. This was followed by an even <em>more</em> ominous sound and then gigantic blocks of burning obsidian masonry smashed into the arena, the crowd (pasting numerous individuals) and the sand itself. The complete chaos destroyed the gate to the arena's underground (where the gladiators and monsters are held!), allowing the PCs a convenient escape. Their templar tormentor Judriath fleeing through the stands among the chaos and further burning chunks incoming, they rushed through into the underground.</p><p></p><p>At this point, I had two goals for the session:</p><p></p><p>1) The PCs were hammered, the defender had 8 HP and no surges remaining* for example, so fighting was not an option.</p><p></p><p>2) I wanted a really "slow" session. The purpose here was to give the PCs some time to just get their bearings and otherwise just roleplay. Set some personality and get to know these other weirdos (bear in mind they know the others only incidentally from being executed together).</p><p></p><p>3) Build tension due directly to a certain monster.</p><p></p><p>Now, if I have a flaw as a DM it's sometimes I get stuck in a mode where I get <em>very</em> excited about encounters. I love the tactical combat a lot in DnD and I also like to keep my games at a good clip. So there are <strong>horrible</strong> insects attacking or the tower is falling down around you or whatever else I come up with at the time. The core problem here is that I'm not giving the PCs a breather and so no real time to really just roleplay or do whatever they feel like. Part of this is a holdover of my 3.5 dming, where giving PCs time ensured they came back armed to the teeth with billions of magic items. They probably collapsed the local economy making all of this stuff as well at the same time.</p><p></p><p>In 4E this really isn't much of a problem, but I still have the DMing style where I dislike having downtime in the game and try to have events cluster together too fast. This stifles roleplaying a lot, because players don't feel they can get time out to just do stuff that isn't hitting things. It also adds a degree of implausibility to my plots, where everything just sort of happens really fast together and it can be really odd. I mean first there is a plague, then an army of gnolls turns up and we're stuck in the shadowfell - oh and there is an army of undead in this keep you're in. That's a rough summary of the heroic tier of Sorrow of Heaven. You can tell the sheer pace of how all this occurs never gives enough time for my players to really relax and just do things.</p><p></p><p>So conscious of this, I wanted to reduce the "string of tactical combats every session" feeling of my games. So I presented no combat encounters for the whole session, instead a corridor, a new antagonist and a puzzle. The players could take their time here and I was careful to emphasize that, because while some parts of the arena's dungeon had collapsed it was pretty intact. I didn't draw a combat map, but did roughly explain the layout. Sadly not having a mic makes this harder to do than intended (finally fixing this next week). </p><p></p><p>Ultimately after a discussion, the players discovered one of their first reoccurring antagonists in the game: A battle hardened and wounded tembo called "Three-Fang". Three-Fang will be explained more to them as the PCs explore the arena, but suffice to say he's a bit more powerful than a regular tembo and they are already bad news as it is. For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, a tembo is basically a monster created during the cleansing wars and is now essentially the Athasian equivalent of the boogeyman. With razor sharp claws and teeth. </p><p></p><p>With the party absolutely hammered a direct fight was impossible. So they needed to get around it. Thankfully Three-Fang had just busily dismembered every single one of the regular arena guards who watch the various monsters (I didn't add this at the time, but he also dismembered the other monsters too). Distracted with basically mutilating his fallen enemies corpses, the PCs had the option of making a break for the other entrance past the tembo, taking on a suicidal fight (hopefully not though) or sneaking past. They chose to sneak past.</p><p></p><p>Being careful, moving slowly plus keeping to the overturned cages and tables, they actually pretty easily snuck down towards the passage. Even an inquisitive singular Z'tal couldn't ruin the PCs sneakiness by almost knocking over a pot. Distracting Three-Fang with a ghost sound, they made the remaining distance through the door and into another fairly long corridor. The corridor had an especially weak ceiling and was barred at the other end with a massive stone door. Investigating the door, they noticed that it had a lever next to it. Thinking back, there were two levers in the other room with the tembo.</p><p></p><p>Part of the arena is to separate monsters from the general population quickly if they somehow escape. The levers controlled a system of counterweights that if pushed/pulled correctly opened this door. Due to the way the mechanism worked it "funnels" monsters into the open arena if they want to escape. Inside the arena due to it's open nature, the fortifications and high walls easily allow reinforcing militia or guards to slaughter the creature safely. Unfortunately for the PCs, it now left them completely stuck with Three-Fang, who had figured out the ghost sound wasn't real.</p><p></p><p>Inconveniently for them, Three-Fang found them shortly after and the race was on. Thinking quickly, the PCs dropped the ceiling down upon the advancing tembo, only to find it rapidly started digging through the obstruction. With only a large piece of fallen masonry left between them and doom a pushing match was on! The PCs fired whatever ranged weapons they could at the tembo, while others got on the other side of the masonry and tried to keep it from being pushed in. The struggle lasted only three rounds, but ultimately enough bolts and magic missiles to the face makes one consider other options: So three-fang withdrew. </p><p></p><p>This left them in a precarious position and one I love immensely: Where is the monster? Did it just leave? Is it waiting for us? Having ran Call of Cthulhu games for numerous years, the tension of never knowing where the horrible beastie that could kill you is essential. This is where the very simple puzzle came into play. The knew they couldn't open the stone door without going onto the other side of the fallen ceiling. The other complication they soon learned was that all three levers had to be pulled at the same time: After a round they then "reset" causing the stone door to slam shut (you can guess how this all fits together at this point).</p><p></p><p>All the while they are debating this, Three-Fang is looking for a way around and digging about. They just don't know where. Eventually they decided to leave the defender (who was most wounded) holding the lever next to the door. The first attempt was met with failure, as they saw the door shut and all the levers clicked back into place. During this, I described noises (some just incidental, a few were actually Three-Fang) and then the increasing dread as they knew something was approaching. Thinking quickly, they jammed the other two levers and then Three-Fang caught up with them. The race was now all, with both the Wizard and Monk getting caught out by the rampaging creature.</p><p></p><p>Just before crawling through the opening leading to the door both characters suffered a nasty bite - one that won't go away any time soon - but kicked off the creature before escaping. The bite is actually a story aspect, because I want to turn Three-Fang into a reoccurring obstacle/antagonist for the players in the campaign. Three-Fang is infamous for one particular thing: Anyone he has ever bitten the beast has followed to the ends of Athas to murder. A little like a four legged terminator.</p><p></p><p>Both of the bitten PCs, Othagal the Wizard and Ka'Cha the Thri-Kreen Monk picked up this "legacy" feat. </p><p></p><p style="text-align: left"><strong>Legacy of Three-Fang</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left"><em>This wound festers and boils no matter what amount of healing salves or magic is applied to it. Almost like an extension of the beast that left this wound upon you, it flares up now and again causing terrible pain. Almost as if the creature was closing in...</em></p> <p style="text-align: left"><strong>Benefit</strong>: You gain resist necrotic 2 (Three-Fang ignores this resistance).</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p><p></p><p>A legacy feat is free and is always story related. They denote special things that happen, exceptional achievements that the character performed and other aspects. They also reward players who stick with a character over 30 levels. I liken their function to reading through your characters stats or quest journal in a CRPG like Dragon Age: It's a way of recording a characters accomplishments.</p><p></p><p>Effectively, the overall concept behind this feat is that it lets the characters determine that three-fang might be nearby. The pain of the wound giving them a constant reminder of the creatures continual hunting of them...</p><p></p><p>The characters narrow escape was where we ended the session, but they will get far more background on Three-Fang as they explore and even though they have now achieved level 2 (such a dramatic escape warrants, nay <strong>demands</strong> a level). As I have a houserule that a level up counts as an immediate extended rest (without actually taking eight hours), this means I can keep the pace of the adventure up. Even so, I have spread out encounters and given my players plenty more time to establish their characters during the chaos. I'm keen to see how they'll react to a few situations and what they think of the alternative to magic item rewards I've made!</p><p></p><p>*Sometimes I feel PCs of defenders get dejected when they see their characters hammered mercilessly in hard encounters. But I feel they should always remember that they have the HP and surges to deal with this. A hammered defender in a victorious combat has done an excellent job: Not a poor one. Because they've taken the brunt of the attacks and damage.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aegeri, post: 5394856, member: 78116"] [CENTER][b]Dark Sun: Builder's Cry[/b] [/CENTER] The third session of this game now had the mauled PCs escape from the arena in dramatic style. About to have their loyalty to Kalak tested - with most of the PCs being rather unhappy about any swearing of an allegiance to king Kalak - there was a sudden deafening sound emerging from the Sorcerer Kings tower. This was followed by an even [i]more[/i] ominous sound and then gigantic blocks of burning obsidian masonry smashed into the arena, the crowd (pasting numerous individuals) and the sand itself. The complete chaos destroyed the gate to the arena's underground (where the gladiators and monsters are held!), allowing the PCs a convenient escape. Their templar tormentor Judriath fleeing through the stands among the chaos and further burning chunks incoming, they rushed through into the underground. At this point, I had two goals for the session: 1) The PCs were hammered, the defender had 8 HP and no surges remaining* for example, so fighting was not an option. 2) I wanted a really "slow" session. The purpose here was to give the PCs some time to just get their bearings and otherwise just roleplay. Set some personality and get to know these other weirdos (bear in mind they know the others only incidentally from being executed together). 3) Build tension due directly to a certain monster. Now, if I have a flaw as a DM it's sometimes I get stuck in a mode where I get [i]very[/i] excited about encounters. I love the tactical combat a lot in DnD and I also like to keep my games at a good clip. So there are [b]horrible[/b] insects attacking or the tower is falling down around you or whatever else I come up with at the time. The core problem here is that I'm not giving the PCs a breather and so no real time to really just roleplay or do whatever they feel like. Part of this is a holdover of my 3.5 dming, where giving PCs time ensured they came back armed to the teeth with billions of magic items. They probably collapsed the local economy making all of this stuff as well at the same time. In 4E this really isn't much of a problem, but I still have the DMing style where I dislike having downtime in the game and try to have events cluster together too fast. This stifles roleplaying a lot, because players don't feel they can get time out to just do stuff that isn't hitting things. It also adds a degree of implausibility to my plots, where everything just sort of happens really fast together and it can be really odd. I mean first there is a plague, then an army of gnolls turns up and we're stuck in the shadowfell - oh and there is an army of undead in this keep you're in. That's a rough summary of the heroic tier of Sorrow of Heaven. You can tell the sheer pace of how all this occurs never gives enough time for my players to really relax and just do things. So conscious of this, I wanted to reduce the "string of tactical combats every session" feeling of my games. So I presented no combat encounters for the whole session, instead a corridor, a new antagonist and a puzzle. The players could take their time here and I was careful to emphasize that, because while some parts of the arena's dungeon had collapsed it was pretty intact. I didn't draw a combat map, but did roughly explain the layout. Sadly not having a mic makes this harder to do than intended (finally fixing this next week). Ultimately after a discussion, the players discovered one of their first reoccurring antagonists in the game: A battle hardened and wounded tembo called "Three-Fang". Three-Fang will be explained more to them as the PCs explore the arena, but suffice to say he's a bit more powerful than a regular tembo and they are already bad news as it is. For those unfamiliar with Dark Sun, a tembo is basically a monster created during the cleansing wars and is now essentially the Athasian equivalent of the boogeyman. With razor sharp claws and teeth. With the party absolutely hammered a direct fight was impossible. So they needed to get around it. Thankfully Three-Fang had just busily dismembered every single one of the regular arena guards who watch the various monsters (I didn't add this at the time, but he also dismembered the other monsters too). Distracted with basically mutilating his fallen enemies corpses, the PCs had the option of making a break for the other entrance past the tembo, taking on a suicidal fight (hopefully not though) or sneaking past. They chose to sneak past. Being careful, moving slowly plus keeping to the overturned cages and tables, they actually pretty easily snuck down towards the passage. Even an inquisitive singular Z'tal couldn't ruin the PCs sneakiness by almost knocking over a pot. Distracting Three-Fang with a ghost sound, they made the remaining distance through the door and into another fairly long corridor. The corridor had an especially weak ceiling and was barred at the other end with a massive stone door. Investigating the door, they noticed that it had a lever next to it. Thinking back, there were two levers in the other room with the tembo. Part of the arena is to separate monsters from the general population quickly if they somehow escape. The levers controlled a system of counterweights that if pushed/pulled correctly opened this door. Due to the way the mechanism worked it "funnels" monsters into the open arena if they want to escape. Inside the arena due to it's open nature, the fortifications and high walls easily allow reinforcing militia or guards to slaughter the creature safely. Unfortunately for the PCs, it now left them completely stuck with Three-Fang, who had figured out the ghost sound wasn't real. Inconveniently for them, Three-Fang found them shortly after and the race was on. Thinking quickly, the PCs dropped the ceiling down upon the advancing tembo, only to find it rapidly started digging through the obstruction. With only a large piece of fallen masonry left between them and doom a pushing match was on! The PCs fired whatever ranged weapons they could at the tembo, while others got on the other side of the masonry and tried to keep it from being pushed in. The struggle lasted only three rounds, but ultimately enough bolts and magic missiles to the face makes one consider other options: So three-fang withdrew. This left them in a precarious position and one I love immensely: Where is the monster? Did it just leave? Is it waiting for us? Having ran Call of Cthulhu games for numerous years, the tension of never knowing where the horrible beastie that could kill you is essential. This is where the very simple puzzle came into play. The knew they couldn't open the stone door without going onto the other side of the fallen ceiling. The other complication they soon learned was that all three levers had to be pulled at the same time: After a round they then "reset" causing the stone door to slam shut (you can guess how this all fits together at this point). All the while they are debating this, Three-Fang is looking for a way around and digging about. They just don't know where. Eventually they decided to leave the defender (who was most wounded) holding the lever next to the door. The first attempt was met with failure, as they saw the door shut and all the levers clicked back into place. During this, I described noises (some just incidental, a few were actually Three-Fang) and then the increasing dread as they knew something was approaching. Thinking quickly, they jammed the other two levers and then Three-Fang caught up with them. The race was now all, with both the Wizard and Monk getting caught out by the rampaging creature. Just before crawling through the opening leading to the door both characters suffered a nasty bite - one that won't go away any time soon - but kicked off the creature before escaping. The bite is actually a story aspect, because I want to turn Three-Fang into a reoccurring obstacle/antagonist for the players in the campaign. Three-Fang is infamous for one particular thing: Anyone he has ever bitten the beast has followed to the ends of Athas to murder. A little like a four legged terminator. Both of the bitten PCs, Othagal the Wizard and Ka'Cha the Thri-Kreen Monk picked up this "legacy" feat. [LEFT][b]Legacy of Three-Fang[/b] [i]This wound festers and boils no matter what amount of healing salves or magic is applied to it. Almost like an extension of the beast that left this wound upon you, it flares up now and again causing terrible pain. Almost as if the creature was closing in...[/i] [B]Benefit[/B]: You gain resist necrotic 2 (Three-Fang ignores this resistance). [/LEFT] A legacy feat is free and is always story related. They denote special things that happen, exceptional achievements that the character performed and other aspects. They also reward players who stick with a character over 30 levels. I liken their function to reading through your characters stats or quest journal in a CRPG like Dragon Age: It's a way of recording a characters accomplishments. Effectively, the overall concept behind this feat is that it lets the characters determine that three-fang might be nearby. The pain of the wound giving them a constant reminder of the creatures continual hunting of them... The characters narrow escape was where we ended the session, but they will get far more background on Three-Fang as they explore and even though they have now achieved level 2 (such a dramatic escape warrants, nay [b]demands[/b] a level). As I have a houserule that a level up counts as an immediate extended rest (without actually taking eight hours), this means I can keep the pace of the adventure up. Even so, I have spread out encounters and given my players plenty more time to establish their characters during the chaos. I'm keen to see how they'll react to a few situations and what they think of the alternative to magic item rewards I've made! *Sometimes I feel PCs of defenders get dejected when they see their characters hammered mercilessly in hard encounters. But I feel they should always remember that they have the HP and surges to deal with this. A hammered defender in a victorious combat has done an excellent job: Not a poor one. Because they've taken the brunt of the attacks and damage. [/QUOTE]
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