Pogre's Story Hour - with Pics of Minis & Scenery (Final Update)

[pogre]

Introduction
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

One of the attractions that brought me to EN World was my friend Ben Durbin mentioning his fine story hour about his character Wulf Ratbane. I read the story from start to finish and really was impressed with his efforts (still am). I moved on to Pirate Cat’s story effort and quickly realized why it was the top story hour around here. There are a lot of other great story hours here and I at least scan all of the D&D versions.

When I made the decision to write my own story hour I wanted to make sure I could offer two things:

1. Quality and
2. Something different than any other current story hour.

Naturally, the judges of the story hour’s quality are the readers, but I will offer a couple of things that are different:

1. Pictures of Miniatures and scenery. I use tons of miniatures and scenery in our game. I have taken pictures of our game in progress and will post them right along with the episodes. The pictures I post here will actually be thumbnails. I will include links to the larger picture that are stored on my server. I will do my utmost to be kind to those with dial-ups.

Taking pictures of the miniatures and scenery is a skill/art that I am improving at, but some of the early pics may be a bit frustrating for lack of detail. Hang with me, they do and will improve.

2. Graphically described kill shots. I really enjoy writing descriptions of combat and slaying blows. The campaign is full of combat and lots of mayhem. I realize it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but one of my group’s favorite parts of D&D is the challenging combats. Naturally, I will have to keep my descriptions within the bounds of Eric’s Grandmother’s values.

I hope you take away a number of things from the story hour, especially enjoyment! Not all of the miniatures are painted to a show quality as many of them are over 15 years old. However, you will see many pieces that are very well painted.

The scenery is a mix of hand built stuff, master maze, and Hirst Arts blocks. If you want to know how something was done, feel free to jump in! I hope the scenes inspire readers to do something bigger or better with their modeling and miniatures.

This is an on-going campaign, I am anxious to hear any suggestions you have as well. Keep in mind the story hour will run about a session behind the current play session. “You should do this next time” suggestions will not help me. Finally, if you can steal a plot hook or encounter or two that’s great too, I know that’s why I read story hours.

- pogre

 

[pogre]

The Player Characters
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

The campaign begins with four stout characters ready for action:

Shannon – Human Fighter
Shannon is seeking his way spiritually, grappling with the big questions in life. In the meantime he is slaying every living thing in his way. Shannon efficiently wields a brutal great sword and never hesitates to enter the fray.

Bridget - Human Cleric
A follower of Ophelia who carries a religious fervor into battle, not to mention a mean back swing with her mace, Bridget seeks converts to her god. Bridget managed to avoid an assignment to a specific temple for the next couple of years.

Johann- Human Fighter
A soldier of fortune, Johann is a free-sword with an attitude. Johann is short on patience and explanations and quick with his martial weapons. Johann is far less concerned about his reputation than other members of the group, but remains civil for their sake generally.

Scapa – Human Sorcerer

Scapa grew up a thieving urchin who one day discovered his abilities. Scapa still leans towards his childhood pursuits and sees his magical abilities as a practical skill.

The PCs, each for their own reasons, are headed toward Hemmerschneg, the capital city of the Olde Realm. They are staying over at one of the many White Stallion Coaching Inns on the Northern Road between Hemmerschneg and DuJang. During the evening meal the PCs hear an important announcement…

To be continued…

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Cool!

I am a longtime fan of Keith's DMing skills, but especially of his sculpting, painting, and miniature building skills. I have had the luxury of playing on his Master Maze stuff several times now, it is amazing!

Glad to see you here! I am still waiting to see exactly how you manage to steer clear of Eric's Grandma!


Wulf

 

[pogre]

Episode 01
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

One of the many White Stallion Coaches came rolling into the Coaching Inn. A group of fine looking merchants and nobles worked their way through the common room to the back dining area. A short time later the Coachmaster swaggered into the common area and took a table with one of his runnerguards.

The Coachmaster ordered some food and drink. Following a quick bite and drink he stood and announced in a loud voice,

“My coach ran into a bit of trouble up the way. As is standard White Stallion policy I will discuss a reward for those willing to help deal with this problem. Those interested in this work will meet with me at dawn here tomorrow.”

The four travelers each thought to themselves, ”What could it hurt to hear the man out in the morning?” With the prospects of gainful employment each went to their bedroll full of hope for the coming morning’s meeting.

…..

The following morning four people showed up at the meeting. The Coachmaster shared breakfast with the group and said,

“I am thankful there are a few of you here as this is not a one person job. You see, a dozen miles up the road we had a bit of trouble. Our coach was ambushed by a bunch of brigands. Fortunately, our runner guards were capable of fending them off.”

The Coachmaster pauses to take a deep draught from his morning tea. He then continues:

“I would like for all of you to travel back up the road and punish these brigands. There looked to be about a dozen of them, young humans. They probably are young tribesmen on raids from the north. Nonetheless, they must be punished. I am authorized to offer you 10 crowns per head. Do you accept this contract?”

The Coachmaster retrieved a standard bounty hunter contract that read:

Bounty Contract
NOW COMES, White Stallion Coach Company (Company) through its assigned agent Lynus Barger to propose a bounty contract with ___________________ (Bounty Hunter) a lawful person seeking bounties in the Realm and agree to the following:

1. Company has been wronged by one or more persons in doing Company’s legally rightful course of business of providing the finest in coach accommodations; and such persons in interfering in said business of the Company hath violated all good and decent laws of the realm and its finest cities, and wherefore, legal enforcement is fully stretched and a burden to the dutiful tax paying citizenry of the Realm, thus Company seeks to hire the heretofore named Bounty Hunter to redress its wrongs.

2. That Company is a licensed bounty contract provider and the heretofore mentioned Bounty Hunter hereby agrees to follow all of the laws of the Realm and must agree to facilitate or participate in acts that are fully defensible under the Realm’s fair rule and notwithstanding any noble intention or actions of the Bounty Hunter the Company shall not be liable for any legal defense expenses or other pitfalls of said employment.

3. Company agrees to compensate the bounty hunter as follows:
10 Gold per live Brigand or Brigand’s head presented at this Inn within a fortnight.



The PCs thanked the Coachmaster for the opportunity and quickly signed the contracts, each retaining a copy. They gathered up their belongings and agreed to set out that very morning planning as they moved along.

The group left the confines of the dark tavern and were greeted by the bright sunshine of a crisp April morning. They marched North anticipating the coming day’s events…

Marching on the Road.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Just thought I would pop in again real quick with some photography tips I have learned from my 40k batreps.

Don't use Zoom or your Flash. Make sure you have plenty of light (preferably natural) and get the lens as close to your miniatures as you can-- by which I mean, as close as possible while still framing everything in one shot. There is rarely any good reason to back off from your shot.

If you need more light, stand a piece of white cardboard nearby to reflect a little more brightness towards your minis. You could make a simple board with an A-frame "kickstand" for this purpose. If I was really going to go all out, I would actually make the frame so that the board actually leans in over the figures at a slight angle, but of course you'd have to counterweight the far outside of your kickstand.

Just doing my part to improve a good story hour schtick!

Course what you really need are some nice, flat counters.


Wulf

 

[pogre]

Thanks Wulf!
You beat me to the punch - I was going to ask you about photography.

Edit: The lighting quality will not change for a few more posts. As I stated in the intro - I am still learning the ropes.

As for counters - I understand those that use them for lack of other resources, but you young man have no excuse!!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Edit: The lighting quality will not change for a few more posts. As I stated in the intro - I am still learning the ropes.

If all else fails, you can run the jpgs through some image editing software and brighten them up a bit. Usually there is some kind of "auto balance" or "auto levels" setting that does a decent job-- for publication on the net, anyway.

One last comment before I relurk, don't get discouraged if you don't see a lot of posts, it takes a while for Story Hours to build up a full head of steam... I have my own backwater story here as well (Lazy Days) so just remember to post because you want to, not because you seek some sort of mutually sick Pavlovian response with the readers.

Not, err, that I would do that myself, of course.


Wulf

 

[pogre]

Episode 02
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

The group made good progress up the highway and discussed possible strategies in attacking the bandits. They also learned a bit about each other and determined they were a group well suited for the task.

Late that morning the group spied an unexpected sight - A haggard looking Dwarf with a gray beard struggled up the road towards them. He held a handaxe at his side and his eyes were cast downward. He struggled to place one foot before another. He bore a number of wounds and his garb was torn and bloody

The Dwarf

Shannon called out to the dwarf, “Ho there friend we seek…”

The Dwarf interrupted him, “Ho there. Another patch of rogues to jump old Turin eh? Well, you are a few hours late all I have left is this axe, but I am willing to give it to you. Right ‘tween your eyes!”

The PCs quickly explained they meant the Dwarf no harm and in fact they were after some Brigands. They quickly gained his confidence when the cleric Bridget healed his wounds.

The Dwarf introduced himself as Turin Alemaker, brewer. Turin explained some brigands had chopped down a great tree and blocked the highway. He then explained, “These were no ordinary highwaymen! They made no demands. They just jumped us and killed my best man and our mule straight off. I hacked my way through to escape. The scoundrels got my six barrels of brew and my wagon.”

“What do you suppose a bunch of Northern barbarians are doing with a wagonload of ale?” Scapa asked with a wry grin.

“If you fill this bounty come look me up at the Quail Covey in Hemmerschneg and I’ll add to your reward,” Turin quickly added.

“Do you want the barrels back even if they are empty?” Johann asked.

“Aye, anything you can get, I would appreciate it greatly,” Turin answered.

The group quickly decided to make haste up to the ambush site. Hopes were high they would find the enemy drunk and unready…

To be continued…

 

[pogre]

Episode 03

Episode 03
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

The Bounty Hunters ducked off the road when they suspected they were closing in on the ambush site. A short time later, after working their way through the undergrowth of the woods surrounding the highway, they spotted a large felled tree.

Approaching the Road Block

They also spotted some sort of guard or lookout on the North side of the tree. He appeared to be bored and was not paying particular attention to his surroundings. As the group quietly approached closer they could see he was a young man, probably no older than 17. There was also a dead mule on the other side of the tree and possibly the corpse of a humanoid near that.

Johann was the first to speak and whispered in a harsh voice, “Let’s cut him. Can you hit him with that crossbow from here cleric?”

Scapa interrupted, “Now hold on, how are we sure he is with those bandits?”

“Why else would he be looking up and down the road here?” Shannon answered.

“Your probably right, but let’s be sure. We do not want to alert his whole camp just to take out some young kid,” Scapa replied.

“Besides,” Johann stated, “his kin are probably just back at camp drinking the ale. The drunker they get the better for us. Let’s just wait a while and see if they relieve him, and then we will follow him back to their main camp. I agree Scapa, let’s hold off.”

“I think I could shoot him if you want me to,” the cleric finally answered looking down the length of her crossbow.

“No!” they all hissed at her in unison.

“OK, OK, take it easy,” she replied.

The PCs sat motionless in the trees for a couple of hours, but no one came to relieve the boy. Shannon moved away from the group and removed his armor. He quickly climbed a nearby tall tree.

Scapa questioned him on his return, “Did you see anything?”

“No,” Shannon replied, “but I did smell smoke coming from North East of here.”

“Aha, let’s loop around to the Northeast and see if we can find their camp,” Johann suggested.

“Should I shoot this guy first?” Bridget asked.

The answer came in the form of three pairs of hard-staring eyes.

“OK, OK, I was just asking,” she replied.

The group made their way through the woods and only a couple of miles from the main road they heard a low droning voice coming from the woods ahead.

To be continued…

 

[pogre]

Episode 04

Episode 04
Pogre’s campaign – To Save a Soul

The low droning voice became louder as the group approached a clearing. Peering from the surrounding woods the bounty hunters spied two tents and a wagon laden with barrels. A man was sprawled out along the back of the wagon and did not appear to be moving. The rest of the area was quiet save the voice.

Approaching the Clearing

“He’s singing and he is three sheets to the wind,” Shannon said.

“Let’s come up with a plan,” Scapa stated. “I will sneak around to the far side and light the far tent on fire and nail anybody that comes out.”

“We’ll storm the other tent as soon as you light up the far tent,” Johann offered.

“What about me?” Bridget asked.

“You shoot the guy on the cart as soon as he gets up,” Johann replied to the cleric.

“Let’s go,” Scapa said.

Scapa began his slow sneaking trek around the camp to take up a position on the south side of the clearing. Shannon and Johann took up their positions outside of the northern tent’s flap.

Preparing for Attack.

Scapa fumbled with some alchemical flasks, a volatile mixture that ignited on impact. The problem, the sorcerer realized, was that the flasks must burst for them to catch fire. The soft cloth of these tents did not appear capable of breaking the flasks. Working quickly he pulled out a couple of pints of lamp oil. He snuck up to the tent and poured oil all over the side. He could hear the occupants snoring inside.

Scapa moved back and threw a flask of alchemical fire on the ground near the tent and it exploded catching the lamp oil on fire. The tent was soon in a full blaze.

The Attack begins.

The man on the cart who had been singing jumped up when the fire started. Bridget shot at him, catching him in the shoulder with a bolt. The guard spun and fell to the ground, but managed to shout out.

Johann and Shannon ducked into the other tent and saw a large northern tribesman stripped to the waist yielding a huge axe struggling to his feet. Another tribesman was already on his feet wielding a slightly smaller battle-axe. The two fighters closed on the big clansmen.

Shannon tried to swing his giant two-handed sword first catching bits of tent and rope as he swung. Despite catching obstacles in its path the blade dug deep into the big tribesman’s shoulder, smashing through collarbone on its path. Quickly drawing the blade back Shannon could see he had hit a major artery as blood gushed forth from the wound. The tribesman wavered and then crumpled to the ground.

Johann was having more trouble with his opponent. Shannon’s swing had ripped a piece of tent cloth down into his view and he could not fully see his opponent. Johann swung wildly trying to keep the brigand off him out of self-defense more than anything. The tribesman swung his battle-axe and caught Johann fully in the ribs.

Johann felt his air leaving him and he grunted in pain. Chinks of armor came off his torso as he staggered from the blow. He weakly held up his weapon to ready for another swing, but he knew he was in trouble. His side felt warm and wet with the blood pouring down his side. He saw the crimson stain on his opponent’s blade and knew it was his own blood.

The sword missed the tribesman as Johann struggled to remain standing. Shannon tried to help, but he was caught up in some of the tent’s rigging he had loosed with his deathblow earlier. Johann’s opponent had sobered quickly and readied his weapon for another solid strike.

To be continued…