Ozmar
First Post
All,
Just thought I'd post a recap from my recent first adventure for my epic-level campaign. I am interested in any discussion on the challenges of balancing/designing good epic-level campaigns, so if you've got some ideas, lets hear them. (not sure which forum is best for that, so I'll poke around and see what I can find...)
Ozmar the Epic DM
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SPOILER: Some of this is based on the Razing Of Redshore. Do not read if you plan to play that adventure.
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Our first Epic Level game was a resounding success. I'm pretty sure everyone
had a good time, and I know I had a blast! There were four players
attending:
Rykna, Tirrith Silverstar, L-22 half-dragon/half-elf holy liberator
Lance, Ranma Talbolt, L-20 human sorcerer
Gary, Nultingra, L-20 human planar champion
Matt, "Archer", L-20 elven arcane archer
Additionally, Tirrith had a cohort: Caledor, a L-17 human cleric of
Trithereon, and Ranma had a cohort: Cedric, a L-15 human cleric of Boccob
who's spirit was trapped within a staff of the magi.
We started the game on time at 10am, and played straight through until 9pm.
At 9, Rykna went to bed, but the rest of us decided to continue playing as
long as we could, and so we played until 5am the next morning. It was a
19-hour gaming marathon! I was so full of energy, I just didn't want to
stop. It must have been all the Mt. Dew.
(For future games, I do not plan to game more than 12 hours: from 9am to
9pm. However, we will use the will of the players as a guide. If everyone
wants to keep playing, then we will, but if 1 or more players need to leave,
or if we're getting too tired, then we'll stop. My own energy level will be
a big factor, since I can't run a good game if I get too tired. And I don't
want anyone to have to miss some game b/c we keep playing after they have to
leave. We will only do that if it is agreeable to all concerned.)
The game: [BTW, if I am misremembering anything, let me know!]
CHAPTER 1: THE APOCALYPSE BEAST
The adventure began in the city of Alzar, capital of the kingdom of
Morundia. As the adventure began, the kingdom was celebrating the 1,000th
anniversary of its founding with a party of special magnificence. There was
a week-long celebration consisting of parties, games, competitions, plays,
parties, speeches, and festivities. As a noble of Morundia, and one of the
kingdom's premiere heroes, Tirrith Silverstar was invited to attend the
Hero's Ball, a party at the palace to celebrate the victors of the Great
Games. He gathered together his entourage (consisting of his wife,
Allandriel, his spiritual advisor, Caledor, and his arcane advisor, Ranma)
and teleported from his home in Black Raven to Alzar.
Meanwhile, two other travelers were arriving in Alzar by separate paths. The
mysterious elven warrior known as "The Archer" came to Alzar seeking clues
to understand his past. He was seeking a famed bard named Allandriel, who
had once traveled with his father Elefistar. The other traveler was a
powerful warrior from Acheron named Nultingra. He came to Morundia seeking
some old comrades-in-arms, and had heard that they might be found here.
Archer located Allandriel as she was singing for some high-class nobles in
an upscale tavern. After the show, he contacted her telepathically, and
arranged for a meeting. She told him that she knew Elefistar once, long ago,
but didn't even know he had a son, much less what his fate had been. She did
promise to help him by finding a name of someone who might know his fate.
Ranma went to visit the blue dragon, Mahrlee, who was in Alzar for the
celebrations. (Mahrlee has taken to assuming the form of an elven woman, and
controls a dungeon and the surrounding area in Morundia. She is tolerated
because of her power, and is gaining political allies among the nobility.)
He told her that he is seeking a draconic patron to further his knowledge of
dragon nature and magic. She thanked him for his visit and proceeded to
think about this.
Nultingra moved from bar to bar, seeking news of his companions. He
described them as having bones tattooed on their hands. He eventually found
himself at the Great Games, and observed several competitions between
various famous heroes of the land. He saw Sir Melinikus (paladin lord of
Leilon) defeat his opponents at the jousts. He saw Soveliss the Avenger (a
medusa paladin, and hero of the people) signing autographs. He also saw the
arrival of Lord Robilar (an exiled lord of Greyhawk who is known for slaying
dragons and driving the humanoids out of the Bright Desert) on his metal
steed. Lord Robilar was not well-liked by the people, but he nevertheless
won every event in which he competed. Some people began to view him more
favorably in light of his gracious victories and martial prowess.
Nultingra saw a shady-looking halfling observing the crowds [the halfling's
name, in a former life, was Edward Fuddwhupper, but Nultingra never caught
his name] and asked him pointed questions about the bone-tattooed men. Ed
became suspicious and moved off through the crowd. Nultingra was distracted
by a tasty-looking turkey leg in a tourist's hand and when he looked back
for the halfling, he was gone! [Ed later sent some friends to pay Nultingra
a "visit".]
Archer also visited the Games, and competed in the archery competition. He
smoked everyone, and won first prize, as well as a prize for "Most Arrogant
Display of Skill" when he shot 7 flies out of the air in less than 3
seconds. [BTW, Matt: First prize consists of a golden +6 arrow, of Bane vs.
Dragons. The second prize was an impromptu gift from a gnomish scupltor, and
is a golden statue of a stylized archer with 7 arrows drawn.]
Rumors were flying about the town about wars, heroes, strife, religious
upheaval and all manners of various things. One of the most common rumors
was that the Regent of Morundia was going to announce a contest for the
great heroes of the land. The contest would be to defeat a horrific monster
that threatened the world. Many said it was a titan or dragon, but some said
that it was the mythical Tarrasque. There were many bets placed on this hero
or that, all predicting which would return with the head of the monster to
claim his prize.
As night began to fall, Archer began flying around the city on his magic
carpet, stopping petty crimes and keeping an eye on the people. Since he
didn't need to sleep, he felt he could do some good around town.
When Nultingra returned to his room that night, he was surprised to see
three invisible assassins awaiting him. He pretended that he did not notice
them, and moved towards one and drew his sword in an instant, beheading the
surprised assassin. The others moved to flank him and dealt massive damage
with their poisoned swords, but Nultingra held his ground. He beheaded
another and the third fled out the window, only to fall to his death with 4
arrows in him. Nultingra looked out and saw Archer there, hovering on his
carpet. They looted the bodies and went their separate ways. Nultingra
complained about the security on his room, and then left to find safer
quarters at a local monastery.
The next day, Nultingra met up with Allandriel, and told her his story. He
also told her that he was looking for a mysterious group of assassins known
as the Shadow Shoal. She was impressed with his story, and agreed to look
for information on the Shadow Shoal if he would embark on a quest for the
beast. Nultingra agreed to slay the beast in her name. She invited him to
the Hero's Ball that evening.
At the Hero's Ball, there were many nobles and notables among the elite of
Morundia. The Regent Alusair Obarskyr was present, as well as Caladnei,
leader of the war wizards. Vangardahast was there, with his two beholderkin
companions. It was a fairly typical party, although the room was abuzz with
anticipation of the Regent's expected announcement of the epic quest.
Unfortunately, the festivities were interrupted with the arrival of Lord
Robilar. As he descended into the main hall, an enormous blue dragon
suddenly appeared and blew forth a bolt of lightning at him. Several guests
were fried or crushed as the rest scattered. Robilar ducked the blast and
lept forward with his sword to battle the dragon. Lord Tirrith tried to get
between the two and separate them, but the dragon suddenly vanished in a
magical blast of energy. Alusair and Sthavar (lord of Alzar and General of
the Purple Dragons, Morundia's elite military) quickly restored order, but
the party was! over. The announcement of the quest was rescheduled for the
next day.
Robilar spoke with Tirrith and explained that dragons were evil and
monstrous creatures, and not to be trusted. Clearly this "assassination
attempt" proved how capricious and dangerous they could be. He tried to
convince Tirrith that he should work for him by helping to rid the world of
evil monsters. Robilar said he intended to slay the evil beast that everyone
was talking about to prove to the world what a true hero could do against
evil. Tirrith remained unimpressed.
Tirrith and Allandriel and Ranma left the party and met at the Prancing Pony
with Nultingra and Archer. Allandriel had arranged the meeting. She told
them all a heroic tale of their potential victory over the beast. She
suggested that they should all join forces and defeat the creature and win
the prize and secure the fame and prestige that was rightfully theirs.
Although they were not convinced by her tales (Nultingra, Ranma and Archer
did not seek fame or money, and Tirrith had those aplenty), they did agree
to work together on this quest. (For one thing, Allandriel still promised
information for Archer and Nultingra's personal quests.)
The next day, the Regent announced the commencement of the quest. She said
that divine omens warned of the coming of a terrible beast, which they had
called The Apocalypse Beast. She also said that the gods decreed that a hero
(or heroes) would arise and defeat this terrible beast. So she was
announcing a contest. None could say when or where it would menace the
lands, but she was going to bless any heroes who would pledge their lives to
this quest. The one who returned with the monster's head would receive a
ring of three wishes and one boon from the crown of Morundia.
Many heroes did rise up and sign the scrolls, commiting themselves to the
quest. Tirrith signed up his entire group as a company, and they received
the blessings of whichever deity they favored. Then, as one, the entire
company was set forth into Alzar to begin their quest. Many adventurers
began consulting priests or sages to search for clues as to the location of
the Beast, and many others left Alzar in various directions, each seeking
word of the creature.
"Allandriel's Heroes" (The Party) turned to their priests: Caledor (of
Trithereon) and Cedric (of Boccob), who began to cast divinations and
commune with their gods. They learned that the Beast was called Gareshona,
and would arise in the north, from under the waves of the Nyr Dyv (a great,
inland sea), and be brought forth by a group of evil foes who would attempt
to master the creature and guide its destruction. Scrying for Gareshona
proved fruitless. They returned to Tirrith's castle in Black Raven to lay
their plans.
The next day, they set off on griffons and flying carpets to Dyvers, a large
city on the shores of the Nyr Dyv. They had learned that there was an
enormous rock off the shores of Dyvers called Leviathan Island. As they
arrived in Dyvers, they learned that a group of adventurers led by Sir
Melinikus was already on the island, looking for monsters. They flew out to
the island and saw that it resembled a massive, mile-long creature that had
been turned to stone. They spread out and looked for cultists, but all they
found was Sir Melinikus and his wizard, cleric, and other followers.
They gave Melinikus' wizard some advice on destroying the rock, and then
made camp to rest and prepare the proper spells. While they slept, Archer
flew off to explore the other nearby islands. He found two lighthouses and
spoke with their keepers, but neither had seen anything suspicious. He did
find a new friend in the lighthouse on Westgate. The keeper was very happy
about the kindness The Archer showed him, and promised to signal if he
should ever see a monster rise out of the sea.
The next day, the wizard used earthquake spells and destroyed most of
Leviathan Island. Having soundly defeated the beast (or so he thought), Sir
Melinikus returned to Leilon to celebrate his victory. The Party remained
unconvinced, however, and returned to Dyvers to contemplate their next move.
Ranma scried upon the "Master of the Beast" and saw a stone giant woman
riding on a fiendish black dragon over the sea. As they were discussing
their plans, a man burst into the inn and shouted an alarm! "A horrible
creature attacked Emirikol the Chaotic!", he said. They interrogated him and
learned that he was an apprentice for a powerful mage, who lived in a tower
on Point Harrow, on the southern penninsula on the Nyr Dyv. The creature he
described sounded like a good candidate for Gareshona (over 100 feet long,
big teeth, rose out of the sea), so they flew off towards Point Harrow.
Archer, being very fast, arrived first. He first stopped at a castle south
of the point and warned them, then continued on to Emirikol's tower. When he
arrived, he saw that there was an enormous maelstrom of wind, rain, clashing
metal and thunderous lightning that had enveloped the entire point. He could
not (or dared not) enter the storm, and could see blades or shards of metal
swirling about within the storm. South of the storm, he found an enormous
tunnel leading down into the earth. The tunnel was more than 100 feet
across. There were huge rents in the rock and earth, as though something
colossal had dug down into the ground.
He was soon joined by Ranma, who teleported to his side. Ranma chose to
investigate further down the tunnel, and spotted two huge umber hulks lying
in wait among the debris within the entrance. They did not spot him, so he
warned Archer, who then proceeded to fly past them invisibly. He flew as far
as his elven vision would allow, and saw that the tunnel continued to bore
down into the earth. Archer returned and ambushed the umber hulks by
shooting one in the back. The first hulk fled by burrowing into the walls,
while the second tried to confuse his opponent. Archer's mind was too swift,
and he sent an arrow around the corner of the hulk's tunnel, causing him
more pain. The second hulk charged out to fight Archer (who had flown up
into the air) but Archer's rain of arrows drove him back. Archer sent his
last arrow through solid rock to unerringly strike his foe, finishing him.
The first hulk had escaped, however, and they never did find where he went.!
They were soon joined by the others, and took stock of the situation. The
hole went generally south, toward the City of Greyhawk. They scouted down
the tunnel, but found it blocked by cave-ins. They then flew along the
surface and found the south-most sinkhole and summoned a xorn to dig down
into the tunnel on the southern side of the cave-in. At that point, the
tunnel was far underground, but still proceeded south. They followed the
tunnel, commanding earth elementals to move obstructions as they traveled.
For two days they followed their quarry, and eventually arrived in Greyhawk.
The tunnel opened into Greyhawk, and they found a city in ruins. The beast
had been there, but was driven off by the combined efforts of the city's
guards, some adventurers, and four of the circle of eight (Jallarzi
Salavarian, Iquander, Warnes Starcoat, and Alhamazad the Wise - the others:
Mordenkainen, Tenser the Archmage, Darwi Derriwingle, and Theodrain Eriason
were noticably absent...). They learned that the creature could spit forth
bolts of lightning, and was resistant to all but the most potent of attacks.
They also learned that it was accompanied by giants riding
half-dragon/half-dire bears, and other monsters of great hideousness and
meanness.
They scried again for the Master of the Beast, and saw her standing on a
cliff near Tenser's castle. She pointed to the castle and said "There is our
next target." Sensing an imminent attack, they teleported to the village
ourside Tenser's castle. From the beach, they could see the castle rising up
out of the water, where three giants circled on dragons about the tower. As
they watched, bolts of lightning and fire shot out of the tower, destroying
one of the attackers. A second bolt killed a dragon/bear and sent it
crashing to the beach. The giant staggered to his feet and fell as he was
filled with arrows (from Archer) and beheaded (by Nultingra).
Then Tenser's castle was consumed in magical energy and vanished. Nothing
remained but a gaping hole into which rushed the sea. The giant dragon-rider
was amazed and turned to fight the heroes on the beach. They flew to engage
her, and battled over the surface of the Nyr Dyv. Nultingra beheaded the
giantess, and her dragon grabbed her body and bit off her hand. He then
raised her hand (with magical ring on her finger) and said "I wish that
Gareshona should arrive now and destroy you for your interference!"
Gareshona did arrive.
The "Apocalypse Beast" rose up out of the waters on the shore and let forth
a terrifying roar that shakened, deafened, and stunned all within 1200 feet.
Even their dragon opponent was stunned (which proved fatal for him). Only
Cedric (being a staff) was unaffected, and he quickly healed Ranma, who used
a maze spell to remove Gareshona from the action for a few minutes. He then
teleported to the rest of the party and healed them. In a few rounds,
Tirrith dealt the killing blow and the dragon was dispatched. Archer quickly
recovered the wish ring from the giant's hand, then they prepared for
Gareshona's return.
Ranma placed a prismatic wall across the pit where Gareshona once stood, and
the others spaced themselves around the area. When the beast returned, it
was almost harmed by the prismatic wall, but it proved to be too strong, and
after another vicious roar, it leaped out of the wall and trampled Tirrith
and Caledor. Archer used the wish from his ring to try to force the beast
back into the wall, but the creature was too strong! Archer continued to
pepper the beast with arrows, and Ranma threw spell after spell (to no
effect). The beast sent a bolt of energy at Archer, but the elf luckily
blinked out of the way. Finally, Nultingra came up from behind the wall,
ducked under the beast's clawed legs and ran up to the weak spot beneath its
throat. With a well-placed blow, aided by the magic of his weapon, he struck
the creature's neck in a vital spot and Gareshona fell with a thunderous
crash.
The Party gathered itself and began to wonder if they had found the right
beast after all. It certainly seemed too easy... Still, the creature's head
was more than 30 feet long, so they removed it and reduced it by magic and
returned to Black Raven to rest.
The next day, they return to Alzar and were hailed as heroes! After clerics
had verified that the threat to the world had been abated, they received
their rewards.
The Regent Alusair granted them (collectively) a ring of three wishes, as
well as a single request from the crown of Morundia. After a brief
consultation, Tirrith made his request and the others used their wishes.
Archer wished for greater agility, Nultingra wished that he could heal
quickly, and Ranma simply kept the remaining wish for future use.
(Cedric, being a staff, was unknown and received no reward. He is resigned
to his fate. Caledor was far too humble and desired to remain unknown, so he
did not accompany them to the ceremony.)
Tirrith then stepped forward and made the following request: He explained
that he saw many threats to the crown of Morundia, and wished to protect the
kingdom at all costs, and so he asked that his family be made next in line
to the crown so that he would become king if anything happened to the
Obarskyr line.
[BTW - The following is "Official Adventure Errata"
I was thinking about
Tirrith's request, and realized that I answered it wrong. (Initially,
Alusair rejected it and asked Tirrith to come up with a new request later.)]
[When the regent granted her boon, she would have been rewarding all of you
heroes in a great ceremony before all the gathered people of Morundia. With
her words amplified by magic, she awarded each of you with great ceremony
and many accolades. When she then turned to Tirrith and asked him for his
request, his words carried out over all the kingdom before all the people of
the land. She would have almost no recourse to refuse - in the eyes of the
people, you were the heroes who just saved the entire world from
destruction. You saved every land, including Morundia, from the ravages of
the beast. Tirrith may have asked for something that she could not, by law,
grant, but he placed her in a position in which she could not, by popular
expectation, refuse. She thought for a few moments (she is a quicker thinker
than I am sometimes...) and granted Tirrith's request:
"From this day forward, Tirrith Silverstar and all his heirs and family are
appointed Knight Protector of the Crown of Morundia. The fate of the
Obarskyr crown is in your most capable hands."
Tirrith was granted additional lands (a small manor house and some farms)
outside Alzar, so his family can live nearby. His new duties are to protect
the future king from all harm, and to ensure that no threat can menace the
royal family line. He is now an advisor on all security matters for Alusair,
and is welcomed into her confidence. (Her other advisors include Filfaeril,
Caladnei, Vangardahast, Sthavar, various religious and community leaders and
a variety of nobles in her favor.)
Tirrith's FIRST DUTY: There was a serious security breach last week at the
Hero's Ball. The captain of the palace guards has been imprisoned for his
incompetence. Tirrith is commanded to review the palace's security and make
recommendations to the new captain for improving security.]
(At this point, we broke for 30 minutes while I thought and rested. It was
9pm, and everyone was gung ho for more gaming, so I had to think a bit...)
CHAPTER 2: THE RAZING OF HARDBY
Over the next week, Archer and Nultingra stayed at Black Raven as guests of
Lord Tirrith. They had business to discuss with Allandriel. Meeting with
each privately, Allandriel gave them some clues that would lead them further
on their quests. She knew of an elven druid named Tesseril who adventured at
great length with Archer's father, Elefistar. Allandriel thought that
perhaps she would know more of Elefistar's fate. She also learned that there
were rumors that the Shadow Shoal had a cell operating out of the coastal
city of Hardby. As she was sharing this information with Nultingra, three
invisible assassins entered her room. Fortunately, Nultingra saw them and
again pretended he did not until he got the drop on one of them. He beheaded
one while the other two leaped at Allandriel and cut her down. Archer (who
was waiting in the next room) entered and shot an assassin while Nultingra
beheaded the last. Alas! Allandriel was already dead.
Tirrith was a bit upset. When Allandriel had been raised, he made her
promise to not research the locations of infamous assassin guilds without
telling him again. Then he berated his companions for endagering his wife.
The others tried to learn how best to defeat the Shadow Shoal, and decided
to travel to Hardby and investigate.
When they teleported to Hardby, they found the town in the throes of a
hurricane! They struggled through the winds and rain and found all the town
leaders gathered in the hall of records. There they confronted the townsfolk
and (eventually) got most of the story: (Only Tirrith's immense leadership
skills and Ranma's incredible charisma kept the crowd quiet, especially in
the face of Nultingra's repeated threats.)
For weeks, things had been getting worse. First it was whale attacks and
elementals attacking the shipping lanes. Then animals invaded the outlying
farms, and then animals and elementals attacked the city and ran among the
streets. Then the storms came, and gale force winds kept the city locked
down. Then just that week, elementals attacked the whaling docks and a huge
whale destroyed the ships in the harbor. Then just the day before, a horde
of elementals and a huge spell-casting elemental destroyed Lorchester keep
and killed the lord of Hardby. The clerics could not raise him and said that
he was too despondant to return. Erik Lorchester (his son) was enraged by
the accusation of cowardice, and they almost came to blows, but Tirrith kept
them focused.
Then the bookkeeper, a pretty halfling named Amyrella Ambermead, spoke up.
She said people were blaming some assassin's guild called the Shadow Shoal,
but she thought that was rediculous (there had been no assassinations or
unexplained murders in years, and what kind of assassins invaded towns with
elementals?) She said she had heard some adventurers a few months back were
talking about going to the Abbor-Alz mountains and killing storm giants, and
that there was a cabal of evil storm giant druids in those mountains. The
giants served a powerful storm giant called the Storm Lord. She thought the
giants must be behind the attacks, since it seemed like druidic magic at
work.
The townsfolk dismissed that idea, but agreed to let the party try anything
if it would save them. (Meanwhile, Archer sneaked through the building and
spied on Amyrella's things in her room, but found nothing suspicious.) Erik
Lorchester offered to allow them to stay at the inn where his family was
hiding from the storm. They agreed, although Tirrith said he'd rather return
to watch his wife and make sure she was safe. The others agreed to continue
this investigation.
That night, the storm suddenly stopped. Then it renewed again, raining down
acid, large hail stones, and huge bolts of lightning. Then it resumed its
hurricane strength, and there was no more activity until morning.
In the morning, as the party (Nultingra, Ranma, Archer and Cedric) ate
breakfast, their inn was attacked by a hoard of earth elementals! They
managed to hold off the elementals rather easily by summoning a massive
amount of elements of their own. The attacking elementals were led by a
spell-casting earth elemental of great size, but they eventually fled
without doing too much damage.
After the battle, the party scried for the Storm Lord (and failed) and then
the daughter of the Storm Lord (who was supposedly a druidic leader). They
saw her in the mountains with several other storm giants. They had a human
prisoner: a woman adventurer. So the party teleported to the storm giants
and obliterated them. It was a slaughter. The party was hasted before they
left, and teleported (w/o error) behind the lead giant and hit them with two
prismatic sprays. Many died outright, some went insane, and one (the lucky
bastard) was even sent to another plane! The woman was also killed
(collateral damage). The surviving giants were quickly perforated with
arrows or beheaded. The last giant was insane, and had already killed one of
his own before he was attacked by an earth elemental over twice his size. He
surrendered, then flipped out and attacked and had to be put down.
Cedric raised the woman from the dead, and she introduced herself (insert
name of bard here) and told her sordid tale: she was with a group of
adventurers who were fighting giants in the hills, but they were ambushed
and killed. She was captured. Then the giants used some horrificly painful
electrical death spell on her and she knew no more...
She thanked them for the rescue, and gave Ranma one of her powerful scrolls
as reward. She then used a soul bind scroll to capture the Storm Lord's
daughter's soul and they all returned to Black Raven to rest.
Next day, they returned to Hardby and found the storm was gone! But as they
approached the city, they saw a seagull with a message on its leg. They took
the message and the note said "I have stopped the storms, come meet me by
the beach. I have a job for you. - Urlkathoon." They went to the beach and
that evening, they were approached by a seal that spoke. It said that it was
Urlkathoon, a whale druid that wanted to find the assassins that had killed
its mistress, Tesseril. It said that they must travel with him to the Shadar
Pool, in a cave in a trench beneath the ocean floor (five miles down)
several hundred miles away. It said that Tesseril had been killed by
assassins, and the whale had tracked them to Hardby. It didn't know who they
were, so it decided to destroy the city. Then when it met the party (it was
the spellcasting elemental) it decided they were powerful enough to help.
They needed to go with Urlkathoon to the cave and defeat the krak! en
guardian and maybe some other traps and then search for clues about the
identity of the assassins.
They agreed (they were pretty easy at this point...) and flew out over the
sea. Once above the cave, they used much magic to protect themselves from
the water, cold, darkness, and pressure of being under 5 miles of water and
then summoned an elemental to drag them down into the darkness. Urlkathoon
led them to the cave and left, asking them to kill the kraken (but since
they didn't speak whale, they didn't know what he said...)
They opened a Mord's Magnificent Mansion and stepped inside. (Since the
spell's boundary prohibits water from entering, they were safe. From the
entry, you can look out into the world, and no one except you and your
friends can enter.) From the entry, they summoned a water elemental and sent
it in to explore the cave. They then scried on the elemental to see what it
saw. The elemental moved around and saw a dire shark, and then came to
Ithkarsus, a kraken cleric. Ithkarsus and the elemental talked for a bit,
and the elemental told it that a human wizard had summoned it to explore the
cave. Ithkarsus told it to go about its business and then begin to cast many
spells on itself to prepare for battle.
Ranma then summoned about a dozen elementals and sent them into the cave to
kill the kraken. Ithkarsus was not harmed by the elementals, and ignored
them, but came forth to slay the intruders. Archer's arrows, fired from
within the safety of the mansion, sent the creature hurrying back for cover.
It then healed itself and waited for the intruders to commit themselves. It
planned. It waited. Ranma had the elementals kill the dire shark. This
enraged Ithkarsus, and he burst out and attacked the barrier, but he could
not penetrate it. Then Nultingra lunged forward and buried his blade in the
kraken's brain. The party was victorious.
Then Urlkathoon returned. He assumed the form of a dolphin and led them into
the caves. He opened a secret magical door that led to a water-filled hall
that led to a glowing, green wall of force. Urlkathoon became a water
elemental and tried to tell them how to will themselves into the next room.
Archer was the first to figure it out, and was confronted by a mithril
golem, which promptly attacked him. When the others joined him, there was a
mithril golem pinned to the wall by about a dozen arrows. Urlkathoon was
upset, but no one understood his watery words anyway. They continued down
the hall and came to the Shadar Pool...
The Shadar Pool is a massive artifact that contains much lore and wisdom.
Long ago, the Sentinals of Shadar were formed to protect the pool from the
unworthy or from those who would abuse its powers. Tesseril was the last of
the protectors, and she was slain by a former sentinal named Lascer (he had
become evil...) and three of his cohorts. Lascer also died in the battle,
but his cohorts bathed in the pool, became even more powerful and then left.
Tesseril's spirit remained and merged with the pool. She became mad with
grief and rage, and promptly tried to kill the party once they arrived, but
fortunately, Urlkathoon (with the help of the party) was able to calm her
down and convince her to help them bring vengence to her killers. She agreed
and described her killers in great detail, and identified them as members of
the Shadow Shoal. (One of the descriptions matches the halfling
recordkeeper, Amyrella Ambermead!) Then she welcomed each of them to bathe
in the Shadar Pool, so that they might have the knowledge and power
necessary to confront the Shadow Shoal.
They did bathe in the pool, and each gained the following benefits: [Lance,
this includes Ranma and Cedric]
+2,000 XP
+2 inherent bonus to all ability scores
+4 insight bonus to one skill of choice
Now the party (Ranma, Cedric, Nultingra, and Archer) is 5 miles beneath the
surface, and must return to Hardby to confront the Shadow Shoal.
Next time... THE SHADOW SHOAL
Thoughts on running the game:
The adventure ran very well. I was pleased at how smoothly everything went.
It felt very much like a first-level adventure: the party was gathered
together, they had a mutual goal and independent goals that they all worked
toward. They fought some challenging opponents, but were not too challenged,
nor were they near death or in extreme peril. The only difference was in the
scale of the quests. Rather than fight a marauding owl bear that was
threatening a local village, they tracked down The Apocalypse Beast and
became saviors of the world.
When I was setting up the adventure, I was concerned about balancing the
challenges properly. I didn't want to overwhelm the party, but I also wanted
them to be challenged by their opposition. While some of the party took
damage, others escaped unscathed, and I think everyone felt that they were
in danger, despite the fact that they overwhelmingly thrashed their
opponents. (Objectively, they could have been in trouble if their opponents
had been more clever, or just more lucky. I think they did so well because
they were wise enough to prepare themselves, clever enough to be
appropriately careful, and lucky enough that their opponents had exploitable
weaknesses.) At this level, I knew that the party was capable of incredible
power, but I wasn't sure if the players would be prepared to use the power
at their disposal. It can be very challenging to play a character with so
many options effectively. Also, a single hole in your defense can kill you
quickly when yo! ur opponents are using instant-death spells.
Now it remains to be seen if the challenges ahead will be equally balanced.
The party has increased in power: Archer, Nultingra and Ranma each gained a
level, and Tirrith might have also raised to level 23. They are already
nearly unstoppable, but once I have more practice desiging high-level
opponents, the opposition should be more well-prepared. Also, I expect that
they will be joined on Nov 9 by Getter, Mega, Matt and Matt and maybe Aaron?
So 4 to 9 players will dramatically increase the "punch" of this party. It
will be fun to see how things can proceed from here.
I think all the players have found the obvious "perfect choices" for
high-level PCs. The initial party was 3 fighters, 1 wizard and 2 cleric
cohorts. The additional players have chosen (AFAIK) monk, gnome tinker,
wizard, wizard and maybe cleric? Seems no one wants to play a druid, bard or
rogue, and clerics are almost universally cohorts. BTW, this is just an
observation. I think any class could be fun to play, even at high levels,
and it is mostly just a matter of personal taste.
Anyway, thanks again to those who came. It was a blast, and I think we can
look forward to a long future for this campaign. I have enough adventure
material and ideas already outlined for at least the next ten levels or so.
I'm looking forward with eagerness to the next game.
Ozmar the Epic Level DM
Just thought I'd post a recap from my recent first adventure for my epic-level campaign. I am interested in any discussion on the challenges of balancing/designing good epic-level campaigns, so if you've got some ideas, lets hear them. (not sure which forum is best for that, so I'll poke around and see what I can find...)
Ozmar the Epic DM
----------------------------
SPOILER: Some of this is based on the Razing Of Redshore. Do not read if you plan to play that adventure.
----------------------------
Our first Epic Level game was a resounding success. I'm pretty sure everyone
had a good time, and I know I had a blast! There were four players
attending:
Rykna, Tirrith Silverstar, L-22 half-dragon/half-elf holy liberator
Lance, Ranma Talbolt, L-20 human sorcerer
Gary, Nultingra, L-20 human planar champion
Matt, "Archer", L-20 elven arcane archer
Additionally, Tirrith had a cohort: Caledor, a L-17 human cleric of
Trithereon, and Ranma had a cohort: Cedric, a L-15 human cleric of Boccob
who's spirit was trapped within a staff of the magi.
We started the game on time at 10am, and played straight through until 9pm.
At 9, Rykna went to bed, but the rest of us decided to continue playing as
long as we could, and so we played until 5am the next morning. It was a
19-hour gaming marathon! I was so full of energy, I just didn't want to
stop. It must have been all the Mt. Dew.
(For future games, I do not plan to game more than 12 hours: from 9am to
9pm. However, we will use the will of the players as a guide. If everyone
wants to keep playing, then we will, but if 1 or more players need to leave,
or if we're getting too tired, then we'll stop. My own energy level will be
a big factor, since I can't run a good game if I get too tired. And I don't
want anyone to have to miss some game b/c we keep playing after they have to
leave. We will only do that if it is agreeable to all concerned.)
The game: [BTW, if I am misremembering anything, let me know!]
CHAPTER 1: THE APOCALYPSE BEAST
The adventure began in the city of Alzar, capital of the kingdom of
Morundia. As the adventure began, the kingdom was celebrating the 1,000th
anniversary of its founding with a party of special magnificence. There was
a week-long celebration consisting of parties, games, competitions, plays,
parties, speeches, and festivities. As a noble of Morundia, and one of the
kingdom's premiere heroes, Tirrith Silverstar was invited to attend the
Hero's Ball, a party at the palace to celebrate the victors of the Great
Games. He gathered together his entourage (consisting of his wife,
Allandriel, his spiritual advisor, Caledor, and his arcane advisor, Ranma)
and teleported from his home in Black Raven to Alzar.
Meanwhile, two other travelers were arriving in Alzar by separate paths. The
mysterious elven warrior known as "The Archer" came to Alzar seeking clues
to understand his past. He was seeking a famed bard named Allandriel, who
had once traveled with his father Elefistar. The other traveler was a
powerful warrior from Acheron named Nultingra. He came to Morundia seeking
some old comrades-in-arms, and had heard that they might be found here.
Archer located Allandriel as she was singing for some high-class nobles in
an upscale tavern. After the show, he contacted her telepathically, and
arranged for a meeting. She told him that she knew Elefistar once, long ago,
but didn't even know he had a son, much less what his fate had been. She did
promise to help him by finding a name of someone who might know his fate.
Ranma went to visit the blue dragon, Mahrlee, who was in Alzar for the
celebrations. (Mahrlee has taken to assuming the form of an elven woman, and
controls a dungeon and the surrounding area in Morundia. She is tolerated
because of her power, and is gaining political allies among the nobility.)
He told her that he is seeking a draconic patron to further his knowledge of
dragon nature and magic. She thanked him for his visit and proceeded to
think about this.
Nultingra moved from bar to bar, seeking news of his companions. He
described them as having bones tattooed on their hands. He eventually found
himself at the Great Games, and observed several competitions between
various famous heroes of the land. He saw Sir Melinikus (paladin lord of
Leilon) defeat his opponents at the jousts. He saw Soveliss the Avenger (a
medusa paladin, and hero of the people) signing autographs. He also saw the
arrival of Lord Robilar (an exiled lord of Greyhawk who is known for slaying
dragons and driving the humanoids out of the Bright Desert) on his metal
steed. Lord Robilar was not well-liked by the people, but he nevertheless
won every event in which he competed. Some people began to view him more
favorably in light of his gracious victories and martial prowess.
Nultingra saw a shady-looking halfling observing the crowds [the halfling's
name, in a former life, was Edward Fuddwhupper, but Nultingra never caught
his name] and asked him pointed questions about the bone-tattooed men. Ed
became suspicious and moved off through the crowd. Nultingra was distracted
by a tasty-looking turkey leg in a tourist's hand and when he looked back
for the halfling, he was gone! [Ed later sent some friends to pay Nultingra
a "visit".]
Archer also visited the Games, and competed in the archery competition. He
smoked everyone, and won first prize, as well as a prize for "Most Arrogant
Display of Skill" when he shot 7 flies out of the air in less than 3
seconds. [BTW, Matt: First prize consists of a golden +6 arrow, of Bane vs.
Dragons. The second prize was an impromptu gift from a gnomish scupltor, and
is a golden statue of a stylized archer with 7 arrows drawn.]
Rumors were flying about the town about wars, heroes, strife, religious
upheaval and all manners of various things. One of the most common rumors
was that the Regent of Morundia was going to announce a contest for the
great heroes of the land. The contest would be to defeat a horrific monster
that threatened the world. Many said it was a titan or dragon, but some said
that it was the mythical Tarrasque. There were many bets placed on this hero
or that, all predicting which would return with the head of the monster to
claim his prize.
As night began to fall, Archer began flying around the city on his magic
carpet, stopping petty crimes and keeping an eye on the people. Since he
didn't need to sleep, he felt he could do some good around town.
When Nultingra returned to his room that night, he was surprised to see
three invisible assassins awaiting him. He pretended that he did not notice
them, and moved towards one and drew his sword in an instant, beheading the
surprised assassin. The others moved to flank him and dealt massive damage
with their poisoned swords, but Nultingra held his ground. He beheaded
another and the third fled out the window, only to fall to his death with 4
arrows in him. Nultingra looked out and saw Archer there, hovering on his
carpet. They looted the bodies and went their separate ways. Nultingra
complained about the security on his room, and then left to find safer
quarters at a local monastery.
The next day, Nultingra met up with Allandriel, and told her his story. He
also told her that he was looking for a mysterious group of assassins known
as the Shadow Shoal. She was impressed with his story, and agreed to look
for information on the Shadow Shoal if he would embark on a quest for the
beast. Nultingra agreed to slay the beast in her name. She invited him to
the Hero's Ball that evening.
At the Hero's Ball, there were many nobles and notables among the elite of
Morundia. The Regent Alusair Obarskyr was present, as well as Caladnei,
leader of the war wizards. Vangardahast was there, with his two beholderkin
companions. It was a fairly typical party, although the room was abuzz with
anticipation of the Regent's expected announcement of the epic quest.
Unfortunately, the festivities were interrupted with the arrival of Lord
Robilar. As he descended into the main hall, an enormous blue dragon
suddenly appeared and blew forth a bolt of lightning at him. Several guests
were fried or crushed as the rest scattered. Robilar ducked the blast and
lept forward with his sword to battle the dragon. Lord Tirrith tried to get
between the two and separate them, but the dragon suddenly vanished in a
magical blast of energy. Alusair and Sthavar (lord of Alzar and General of
the Purple Dragons, Morundia's elite military) quickly restored order, but
the party was! over. The announcement of the quest was rescheduled for the
next day.
Robilar spoke with Tirrith and explained that dragons were evil and
monstrous creatures, and not to be trusted. Clearly this "assassination
attempt" proved how capricious and dangerous they could be. He tried to
convince Tirrith that he should work for him by helping to rid the world of
evil monsters. Robilar said he intended to slay the evil beast that everyone
was talking about to prove to the world what a true hero could do against
evil. Tirrith remained unimpressed.
Tirrith and Allandriel and Ranma left the party and met at the Prancing Pony
with Nultingra and Archer. Allandriel had arranged the meeting. She told
them all a heroic tale of their potential victory over the beast. She
suggested that they should all join forces and defeat the creature and win
the prize and secure the fame and prestige that was rightfully theirs.
Although they were not convinced by her tales (Nultingra, Ranma and Archer
did not seek fame or money, and Tirrith had those aplenty), they did agree
to work together on this quest. (For one thing, Allandriel still promised
information for Archer and Nultingra's personal quests.)
The next day, the Regent announced the commencement of the quest. She said
that divine omens warned of the coming of a terrible beast, which they had
called The Apocalypse Beast. She also said that the gods decreed that a hero
(or heroes) would arise and defeat this terrible beast. So she was
announcing a contest. None could say when or where it would menace the
lands, but she was going to bless any heroes who would pledge their lives to
this quest. The one who returned with the monster's head would receive a
ring of three wishes and one boon from the crown of Morundia.
Many heroes did rise up and sign the scrolls, commiting themselves to the
quest. Tirrith signed up his entire group as a company, and they received
the blessings of whichever deity they favored. Then, as one, the entire
company was set forth into Alzar to begin their quest. Many adventurers
began consulting priests or sages to search for clues as to the location of
the Beast, and many others left Alzar in various directions, each seeking
word of the creature.
"Allandriel's Heroes" (The Party) turned to their priests: Caledor (of
Trithereon) and Cedric (of Boccob), who began to cast divinations and
commune with their gods. They learned that the Beast was called Gareshona,
and would arise in the north, from under the waves of the Nyr Dyv (a great,
inland sea), and be brought forth by a group of evil foes who would attempt
to master the creature and guide its destruction. Scrying for Gareshona
proved fruitless. They returned to Tirrith's castle in Black Raven to lay
their plans.
The next day, they set off on griffons and flying carpets to Dyvers, a large
city on the shores of the Nyr Dyv. They had learned that there was an
enormous rock off the shores of Dyvers called Leviathan Island. As they
arrived in Dyvers, they learned that a group of adventurers led by Sir
Melinikus was already on the island, looking for monsters. They flew out to
the island and saw that it resembled a massive, mile-long creature that had
been turned to stone. They spread out and looked for cultists, but all they
found was Sir Melinikus and his wizard, cleric, and other followers.
They gave Melinikus' wizard some advice on destroying the rock, and then
made camp to rest and prepare the proper spells. While they slept, Archer
flew off to explore the other nearby islands. He found two lighthouses and
spoke with their keepers, but neither had seen anything suspicious. He did
find a new friend in the lighthouse on Westgate. The keeper was very happy
about the kindness The Archer showed him, and promised to signal if he
should ever see a monster rise out of the sea.
The next day, the wizard used earthquake spells and destroyed most of
Leviathan Island. Having soundly defeated the beast (or so he thought), Sir
Melinikus returned to Leilon to celebrate his victory. The Party remained
unconvinced, however, and returned to Dyvers to contemplate their next move.
Ranma scried upon the "Master of the Beast" and saw a stone giant woman
riding on a fiendish black dragon over the sea. As they were discussing
their plans, a man burst into the inn and shouted an alarm! "A horrible
creature attacked Emirikol the Chaotic!", he said. They interrogated him and
learned that he was an apprentice for a powerful mage, who lived in a tower
on Point Harrow, on the southern penninsula on the Nyr Dyv. The creature he
described sounded like a good candidate for Gareshona (over 100 feet long,
big teeth, rose out of the sea), so they flew off towards Point Harrow.
Archer, being very fast, arrived first. He first stopped at a castle south
of the point and warned them, then continued on to Emirikol's tower. When he
arrived, he saw that there was an enormous maelstrom of wind, rain, clashing
metal and thunderous lightning that had enveloped the entire point. He could
not (or dared not) enter the storm, and could see blades or shards of metal
swirling about within the storm. South of the storm, he found an enormous
tunnel leading down into the earth. The tunnel was more than 100 feet
across. There were huge rents in the rock and earth, as though something
colossal had dug down into the ground.
He was soon joined by Ranma, who teleported to his side. Ranma chose to
investigate further down the tunnel, and spotted two huge umber hulks lying
in wait among the debris within the entrance. They did not spot him, so he
warned Archer, who then proceeded to fly past them invisibly. He flew as far
as his elven vision would allow, and saw that the tunnel continued to bore
down into the earth. Archer returned and ambushed the umber hulks by
shooting one in the back. The first hulk fled by burrowing into the walls,
while the second tried to confuse his opponent. Archer's mind was too swift,
and he sent an arrow around the corner of the hulk's tunnel, causing him
more pain. The second hulk charged out to fight Archer (who had flown up
into the air) but Archer's rain of arrows drove him back. Archer sent his
last arrow through solid rock to unerringly strike his foe, finishing him.
The first hulk had escaped, however, and they never did find where he went.!
They were soon joined by the others, and took stock of the situation. The
hole went generally south, toward the City of Greyhawk. They scouted down
the tunnel, but found it blocked by cave-ins. They then flew along the
surface and found the south-most sinkhole and summoned a xorn to dig down
into the tunnel on the southern side of the cave-in. At that point, the
tunnel was far underground, but still proceeded south. They followed the
tunnel, commanding earth elementals to move obstructions as they traveled.
For two days they followed their quarry, and eventually arrived in Greyhawk.
The tunnel opened into Greyhawk, and they found a city in ruins. The beast
had been there, but was driven off by the combined efforts of the city's
guards, some adventurers, and four of the circle of eight (Jallarzi
Salavarian, Iquander, Warnes Starcoat, and Alhamazad the Wise - the others:
Mordenkainen, Tenser the Archmage, Darwi Derriwingle, and Theodrain Eriason
were noticably absent...). They learned that the creature could spit forth
bolts of lightning, and was resistant to all but the most potent of attacks.
They also learned that it was accompanied by giants riding
half-dragon/half-dire bears, and other monsters of great hideousness and
meanness.
They scried again for the Master of the Beast, and saw her standing on a
cliff near Tenser's castle. She pointed to the castle and said "There is our
next target." Sensing an imminent attack, they teleported to the village
ourside Tenser's castle. From the beach, they could see the castle rising up
out of the water, where three giants circled on dragons about the tower. As
they watched, bolts of lightning and fire shot out of the tower, destroying
one of the attackers. A second bolt killed a dragon/bear and sent it
crashing to the beach. The giant staggered to his feet and fell as he was
filled with arrows (from Archer) and beheaded (by Nultingra).
Then Tenser's castle was consumed in magical energy and vanished. Nothing
remained but a gaping hole into which rushed the sea. The giant dragon-rider
was amazed and turned to fight the heroes on the beach. They flew to engage
her, and battled over the surface of the Nyr Dyv. Nultingra beheaded the
giantess, and her dragon grabbed her body and bit off her hand. He then
raised her hand (with magical ring on her finger) and said "I wish that
Gareshona should arrive now and destroy you for your interference!"
Gareshona did arrive.
The "Apocalypse Beast" rose up out of the waters on the shore and let forth
a terrifying roar that shakened, deafened, and stunned all within 1200 feet.
Even their dragon opponent was stunned (which proved fatal for him). Only
Cedric (being a staff) was unaffected, and he quickly healed Ranma, who used
a maze spell to remove Gareshona from the action for a few minutes. He then
teleported to the rest of the party and healed them. In a few rounds,
Tirrith dealt the killing blow and the dragon was dispatched. Archer quickly
recovered the wish ring from the giant's hand, then they prepared for
Gareshona's return.
Ranma placed a prismatic wall across the pit where Gareshona once stood, and
the others spaced themselves around the area. When the beast returned, it
was almost harmed by the prismatic wall, but it proved to be too strong, and
after another vicious roar, it leaped out of the wall and trampled Tirrith
and Caledor. Archer used the wish from his ring to try to force the beast
back into the wall, but the creature was too strong! Archer continued to
pepper the beast with arrows, and Ranma threw spell after spell (to no
effect). The beast sent a bolt of energy at Archer, but the elf luckily
blinked out of the way. Finally, Nultingra came up from behind the wall,
ducked under the beast's clawed legs and ran up to the weak spot beneath its
throat. With a well-placed blow, aided by the magic of his weapon, he struck
the creature's neck in a vital spot and Gareshona fell with a thunderous
crash.
The Party gathered itself and began to wonder if they had found the right
beast after all. It certainly seemed too easy... Still, the creature's head
was more than 30 feet long, so they removed it and reduced it by magic and
returned to Black Raven to rest.
The next day, they return to Alzar and were hailed as heroes! After clerics
had verified that the threat to the world had been abated, they received
their rewards.
The Regent Alusair granted them (collectively) a ring of three wishes, as
well as a single request from the crown of Morundia. After a brief
consultation, Tirrith made his request and the others used their wishes.
Archer wished for greater agility, Nultingra wished that he could heal
quickly, and Ranma simply kept the remaining wish for future use.
(Cedric, being a staff, was unknown and received no reward. He is resigned
to his fate. Caledor was far too humble and desired to remain unknown, so he
did not accompany them to the ceremony.)
Tirrith then stepped forward and made the following request: He explained
that he saw many threats to the crown of Morundia, and wished to protect the
kingdom at all costs, and so he asked that his family be made next in line
to the crown so that he would become king if anything happened to the
Obarskyr line.
[BTW - The following is "Official Adventure Errata"
I was thinking aboutTirrith's request, and realized that I answered it wrong. (Initially,
Alusair rejected it and asked Tirrith to come up with a new request later.)]
[When the regent granted her boon, she would have been rewarding all of you
heroes in a great ceremony before all the gathered people of Morundia. With
her words amplified by magic, she awarded each of you with great ceremony
and many accolades. When she then turned to Tirrith and asked him for his
request, his words carried out over all the kingdom before all the people of
the land. She would have almost no recourse to refuse - in the eyes of the
people, you were the heroes who just saved the entire world from
destruction. You saved every land, including Morundia, from the ravages of
the beast. Tirrith may have asked for something that she could not, by law,
grant, but he placed her in a position in which she could not, by popular
expectation, refuse. She thought for a few moments (she is a quicker thinker
than I am sometimes...) and granted Tirrith's request:
"From this day forward, Tirrith Silverstar and all his heirs and family are
appointed Knight Protector of the Crown of Morundia. The fate of the
Obarskyr crown is in your most capable hands."
Tirrith was granted additional lands (a small manor house and some farms)
outside Alzar, so his family can live nearby. His new duties are to protect
the future king from all harm, and to ensure that no threat can menace the
royal family line. He is now an advisor on all security matters for Alusair,
and is welcomed into her confidence. (Her other advisors include Filfaeril,
Caladnei, Vangardahast, Sthavar, various religious and community leaders and
a variety of nobles in her favor.)
Tirrith's FIRST DUTY: There was a serious security breach last week at the
Hero's Ball. The captain of the palace guards has been imprisoned for his
incompetence. Tirrith is commanded to review the palace's security and make
recommendations to the new captain for improving security.]
(At this point, we broke for 30 minutes while I thought and rested. It was
9pm, and everyone was gung ho for more gaming, so I had to think a bit...)
CHAPTER 2: THE RAZING OF HARDBY
Over the next week, Archer and Nultingra stayed at Black Raven as guests of
Lord Tirrith. They had business to discuss with Allandriel. Meeting with
each privately, Allandriel gave them some clues that would lead them further
on their quests. She knew of an elven druid named Tesseril who adventured at
great length with Archer's father, Elefistar. Allandriel thought that
perhaps she would know more of Elefistar's fate. She also learned that there
were rumors that the Shadow Shoal had a cell operating out of the coastal
city of Hardby. As she was sharing this information with Nultingra, three
invisible assassins entered her room. Fortunately, Nultingra saw them and
again pretended he did not until he got the drop on one of them. He beheaded
one while the other two leaped at Allandriel and cut her down. Archer (who
was waiting in the next room) entered and shot an assassin while Nultingra
beheaded the last. Alas! Allandriel was already dead.
Tirrith was a bit upset. When Allandriel had been raised, he made her
promise to not research the locations of infamous assassin guilds without
telling him again. Then he berated his companions for endagering his wife.
The others tried to learn how best to defeat the Shadow Shoal, and decided
to travel to Hardby and investigate.
When they teleported to Hardby, they found the town in the throes of a
hurricane! They struggled through the winds and rain and found all the town
leaders gathered in the hall of records. There they confronted the townsfolk
and (eventually) got most of the story: (Only Tirrith's immense leadership
skills and Ranma's incredible charisma kept the crowd quiet, especially in
the face of Nultingra's repeated threats.)
For weeks, things had been getting worse. First it was whale attacks and
elementals attacking the shipping lanes. Then animals invaded the outlying
farms, and then animals and elementals attacked the city and ran among the
streets. Then the storms came, and gale force winds kept the city locked
down. Then just that week, elementals attacked the whaling docks and a huge
whale destroyed the ships in the harbor. Then just the day before, a horde
of elementals and a huge spell-casting elemental destroyed Lorchester keep
and killed the lord of Hardby. The clerics could not raise him and said that
he was too despondant to return. Erik Lorchester (his son) was enraged by
the accusation of cowardice, and they almost came to blows, but Tirrith kept
them focused.
Then the bookkeeper, a pretty halfling named Amyrella Ambermead, spoke up.
She said people were blaming some assassin's guild called the Shadow Shoal,
but she thought that was rediculous (there had been no assassinations or
unexplained murders in years, and what kind of assassins invaded towns with
elementals?) She said she had heard some adventurers a few months back were
talking about going to the Abbor-Alz mountains and killing storm giants, and
that there was a cabal of evil storm giant druids in those mountains. The
giants served a powerful storm giant called the Storm Lord. She thought the
giants must be behind the attacks, since it seemed like druidic magic at
work.
The townsfolk dismissed that idea, but agreed to let the party try anything
if it would save them. (Meanwhile, Archer sneaked through the building and
spied on Amyrella's things in her room, but found nothing suspicious.) Erik
Lorchester offered to allow them to stay at the inn where his family was
hiding from the storm. They agreed, although Tirrith said he'd rather return
to watch his wife and make sure she was safe. The others agreed to continue
this investigation.
That night, the storm suddenly stopped. Then it renewed again, raining down
acid, large hail stones, and huge bolts of lightning. Then it resumed its
hurricane strength, and there was no more activity until morning.
In the morning, as the party (Nultingra, Ranma, Archer and Cedric) ate
breakfast, their inn was attacked by a hoard of earth elementals! They
managed to hold off the elementals rather easily by summoning a massive
amount of elements of their own. The attacking elementals were led by a
spell-casting earth elemental of great size, but they eventually fled
without doing too much damage.
After the battle, the party scried for the Storm Lord (and failed) and then
the daughter of the Storm Lord (who was supposedly a druidic leader). They
saw her in the mountains with several other storm giants. They had a human
prisoner: a woman adventurer. So the party teleported to the storm giants
and obliterated them. It was a slaughter. The party was hasted before they
left, and teleported (w/o error) behind the lead giant and hit them with two
prismatic sprays. Many died outright, some went insane, and one (the lucky
bastard) was even sent to another plane! The woman was also killed
(collateral damage). The surviving giants were quickly perforated with
arrows or beheaded. The last giant was insane, and had already killed one of
his own before he was attacked by an earth elemental over twice his size. He
surrendered, then flipped out and attacked and had to be put down.
Cedric raised the woman from the dead, and she introduced herself (insert
name of bard here) and told her sordid tale: she was with a group of
adventurers who were fighting giants in the hills, but they were ambushed
and killed. She was captured. Then the giants used some horrificly painful
electrical death spell on her and she knew no more...
She thanked them for the rescue, and gave Ranma one of her powerful scrolls
as reward. She then used a soul bind scroll to capture the Storm Lord's
daughter's soul and they all returned to Black Raven to rest.
Next day, they returned to Hardby and found the storm was gone! But as they
approached the city, they saw a seagull with a message on its leg. They took
the message and the note said "I have stopped the storms, come meet me by
the beach. I have a job for you. - Urlkathoon." They went to the beach and
that evening, they were approached by a seal that spoke. It said that it was
Urlkathoon, a whale druid that wanted to find the assassins that had killed
its mistress, Tesseril. It said that they must travel with him to the Shadar
Pool, in a cave in a trench beneath the ocean floor (five miles down)
several hundred miles away. It said that Tesseril had been killed by
assassins, and the whale had tracked them to Hardby. It didn't know who they
were, so it decided to destroy the city. Then when it met the party (it was
the spellcasting elemental) it decided they were powerful enough to help.
They needed to go with Urlkathoon to the cave and defeat the krak! en
guardian and maybe some other traps and then search for clues about the
identity of the assassins.
They agreed (they were pretty easy at this point...) and flew out over the
sea. Once above the cave, they used much magic to protect themselves from
the water, cold, darkness, and pressure of being under 5 miles of water and
then summoned an elemental to drag them down into the darkness. Urlkathoon
led them to the cave and left, asking them to kill the kraken (but since
they didn't speak whale, they didn't know what he said...)
They opened a Mord's Magnificent Mansion and stepped inside. (Since the
spell's boundary prohibits water from entering, they were safe. From the
entry, you can look out into the world, and no one except you and your
friends can enter.) From the entry, they summoned a water elemental and sent
it in to explore the cave. They then scried on the elemental to see what it
saw. The elemental moved around and saw a dire shark, and then came to
Ithkarsus, a kraken cleric. Ithkarsus and the elemental talked for a bit,
and the elemental told it that a human wizard had summoned it to explore the
cave. Ithkarsus told it to go about its business and then begin to cast many
spells on itself to prepare for battle.
Ranma then summoned about a dozen elementals and sent them into the cave to
kill the kraken. Ithkarsus was not harmed by the elementals, and ignored
them, but came forth to slay the intruders. Archer's arrows, fired from
within the safety of the mansion, sent the creature hurrying back for cover.
It then healed itself and waited for the intruders to commit themselves. It
planned. It waited. Ranma had the elementals kill the dire shark. This
enraged Ithkarsus, and he burst out and attacked the barrier, but he could
not penetrate it. Then Nultingra lunged forward and buried his blade in the
kraken's brain. The party was victorious.
Then Urlkathoon returned. He assumed the form of a dolphin and led them into
the caves. He opened a secret magical door that led to a water-filled hall
that led to a glowing, green wall of force. Urlkathoon became a water
elemental and tried to tell them how to will themselves into the next room.
Archer was the first to figure it out, and was confronted by a mithril
golem, which promptly attacked him. When the others joined him, there was a
mithril golem pinned to the wall by about a dozen arrows. Urlkathoon was
upset, but no one understood his watery words anyway. They continued down
the hall and came to the Shadar Pool...
The Shadar Pool is a massive artifact that contains much lore and wisdom.
Long ago, the Sentinals of Shadar were formed to protect the pool from the
unworthy or from those who would abuse its powers. Tesseril was the last of
the protectors, and she was slain by a former sentinal named Lascer (he had
become evil...) and three of his cohorts. Lascer also died in the battle,
but his cohorts bathed in the pool, became even more powerful and then left.
Tesseril's spirit remained and merged with the pool. She became mad with
grief and rage, and promptly tried to kill the party once they arrived, but
fortunately, Urlkathoon (with the help of the party) was able to calm her
down and convince her to help them bring vengence to her killers. She agreed
and described her killers in great detail, and identified them as members of
the Shadow Shoal. (One of the descriptions matches the halfling
recordkeeper, Amyrella Ambermead!) Then she welcomed each of them to bathe
in the Shadar Pool, so that they might have the knowledge and power
necessary to confront the Shadow Shoal.
They did bathe in the pool, and each gained the following benefits: [Lance,
this includes Ranma and Cedric]
+2,000 XP
+2 inherent bonus to all ability scores
+4 insight bonus to one skill of choice
Now the party (Ranma, Cedric, Nultingra, and Archer) is 5 miles beneath the
surface, and must return to Hardby to confront the Shadow Shoal.
Next time... THE SHADOW SHOAL
Thoughts on running the game:
The adventure ran very well. I was pleased at how smoothly everything went.
It felt very much like a first-level adventure: the party was gathered
together, they had a mutual goal and independent goals that they all worked
toward. They fought some challenging opponents, but were not too challenged,
nor were they near death or in extreme peril. The only difference was in the
scale of the quests. Rather than fight a marauding owl bear that was
threatening a local village, they tracked down The Apocalypse Beast and
became saviors of the world.
When I was setting up the adventure, I was concerned about balancing the
challenges properly. I didn't want to overwhelm the party, but I also wanted
them to be challenged by their opposition. While some of the party took
damage, others escaped unscathed, and I think everyone felt that they were
in danger, despite the fact that they overwhelmingly thrashed their
opponents. (Objectively, they could have been in trouble if their opponents
had been more clever, or just more lucky. I think they did so well because
they were wise enough to prepare themselves, clever enough to be
appropriately careful, and lucky enough that their opponents had exploitable
weaknesses.) At this level, I knew that the party was capable of incredible
power, but I wasn't sure if the players would be prepared to use the power
at their disposal. It can be very challenging to play a character with so
many options effectively. Also, a single hole in your defense can kill you
quickly when yo! ur opponents are using instant-death spells.
Now it remains to be seen if the challenges ahead will be equally balanced.
The party has increased in power: Archer, Nultingra and Ranma each gained a
level, and Tirrith might have also raised to level 23. They are already
nearly unstoppable, but once I have more practice desiging high-level
opponents, the opposition should be more well-prepared. Also, I expect that
they will be joined on Nov 9 by Getter, Mega, Matt and Matt and maybe Aaron?
So 4 to 9 players will dramatically increase the "punch" of this party. It
will be fun to see how things can proceed from here.
I think all the players have found the obvious "perfect choices" for
high-level PCs. The initial party was 3 fighters, 1 wizard and 2 cleric
cohorts. The additional players have chosen (AFAIK) monk, gnome tinker,
wizard, wizard and maybe cleric? Seems no one wants to play a druid, bard or
rogue, and clerics are almost universally cohorts. BTW, this is just an
observation. I think any class could be fun to play, even at high levels,
and it is mostly just a matter of personal taste.
Anyway, thanks again to those who came. It was a blast, and I think we can
look forward to a long future for this campaign. I have enough adventure
material and ideas already outlined for at least the next ten levels or so.
I'm looking forward with eagerness to the next game.
Ozmar the Epic Level DM
