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Rhenny's Princes of the Apocalypse Campaign Logs
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<blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 6716936" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>This kicks off our new campaign. This session was really a prelude to the adventure. I wanted to give the PCs a way to bond and develop their characters before we actually got to Red Larch. I had everyone speak a little about his or her character to start the session, and then I asked the entire group to come up with a little story to explain where they all met and how they got to know one another. We decided that they all were in Triboar and started from there.</p><p></p><p>PCs (1st Level)</p><p></p><p>Pate the Half-Elven Bard (in possession of a map that shows the Sumber Hills perhaps an area where an elemental node exists)</p><p>Zeed the Arakocra Rogue (fearful of hippogriff riders who have attacked in the area – also hopeful to find more Arakocra in the Dessarin Valley)</p><p>Hundar the Half-Orc Fighter (Tracking Gar Shatterkeep, who sunk the ship Hundar sailed on)</p><p>Turytopple the Gnome Paladin (A gnome trying to fight evil)</p><p>Kippipop the Gnome Sorcerer (Looking for mystery and lore)</p><p>Namfoodle “Foo” the Gnome Rogue (Trying to find riches)</p><p></p><p>The Gnomes in the group had some history together. Tury was shipwrecked and ultimately found Kippipop’s Gnome village. Those two fell in love and decided to travel the world together, setting out for adventure with their good friend Namfoodle. They met with Pate, Zeed and Hundar in Triboar. Pate was playing for the crowd in the “Silver Horn Tavern” and Foo was quickly inspired to whip out his harmonica to play along. He wasn’t so bad, so Pate took a liking to the little fella. All the while, Tury worked to create a mechanical hamster that could keep time with a little symbol. Unfortunately, Hundar, accidently on purpose, stepped on the prototype and crushed it. This influenced both Tury and Kippipop to follow him around and talk his ears off. Kippipop and Tury bantered about adventures and plans for the future when they noticed a birdman swoop down from the sky. Zeed, the Aarakocra, joined the group and they all traveled south toward Red Larch. All of the adventurers had also shared that they experienced strange anomalies with the weather over the past few months…surging tides, freak windstorms, wildfires, even some earth tremors.</p><p></p><p>After a day and a half on the road, they came to a ruined stone structure that looked like an old toll booth. There were two cloaked, larger humanoids in the road. One of them held a stick with a flag on the end, with the flag down on the ground near its feet. When the group got close enough, one of the figures spoke with a guttural voice and asked for 2 gp toll per person. Zeed was able to see under the cloaks to tell that these figures were Half-Orcs. Hundar spoke Orc to them and tried to intimidate them into letting him pass. They were taken aback and let Hundar through. Pate spun a tale and convinced the toll keepers that he had aided their kind in a battle against goblins a long time ago. Miraculously they believed him and let him pass, but they were unsure, and the group heard them say something about how the boss wouldn’t like all this. Then Kippipop stepped forward and hugged one of the Half-Orc’s legs and talked about hugging and kissing instead of paying a toll. At this point one of the Half-Orcs turned to the other and said this was getting too silly. They realized that the group was trying to get past without paying. That’s when they twitched and went for their weapons. The Half-Orc with the flag raised it up into the air as if to signal others and then the fight started.</p><p></p><p>It was Foo who took an arrow in the chest, fired from a light forest area 40’ to the east. Luckily other arrows from that direction missed Hundar, Pate and Foo again. Kippipop who was standing near a Half-Orc, clapped her hands and a small thunder pop lightly hurt those around her. Unfortunately, it was her allies, Foo and Hundar, not the Half-Orcs. Zeed took to the air and fired an arrow down upon one of the Half-Orcs, hurting it badly. Pate tried to viciously mock one, but it would have none of that. Soon, the group realized that there were other foes firing arrows from the trees. Turytopple was hurt by a Half-Orc’s battle axe, but soon the party took down the Half-Orc foes.</p><p></p><p>Hundar ran towards the trees. The others followed in turn. It was hard to spot the goblins that were firing arrows and hiding in the trees, but Hundar was able to cut down two eventually. Foo took down another, but the fourth one ran deeper into the forest. Zeed took to the air and was able to find the fleeing goblin. It looked as if it was running toward a cave. Zeed was able to overtake the goblin and land before it with rapier drawn. The little goblin ran right into Zeed and the rapier went clean through its chest. Zeed could see the cave, but realized he was pretty far from the rest of the party so he took to the air and flew back to them. Meanwhile, the others found some silver on the Half-Orcs, and a necklace with a tooth on it that they gave to Kippi.</p><p>The group, thinking that these were bandits who perhaps had a hideout in the cave, traveled into the forest. Tury wanted to smite evil so he urged the party forward. With Hundar and Tury in the lead, they marched right into the cave. Inside they saw 4 goblins, 1 goblin chief and 2 half-orcs. Since the group was not sneaking in, the foes reacted and came at them. The battle was fierce. Kippipop tried to sleep the goblins and caught 2 of them. Tury strode right in and confronted them directly. When he was in their midst, he dodged and juked to keep the foes from hitting him. Pate was able to make one of the Half-Orcs laugh uncontrollably for a few rounds. The others attacking as they could, missing a good number of times, and hitting some. The other goblins woke their sleeping brothers before engaging the party, and the entire battle lasted nearly 30-45 seconds. </p><p></p><p>During the fight, Kippipop made the sound of an owl bear growling which kept the boss back an extra round since he feared moving toward the “strange magic.” A few rounds into the battle, Kippipop was slashed brutally by one of the goblins and she went down. Soon after, Pate was knocked down by one of the half-orcs. The others battled on, but it was looking bad for the party. Zeed eventually took one goblin down. He had a hard time seeing in the dim lighting of the cave though. Foo also took one down. Tury dodged and weaved, but when Kippi went down, he moved toward her to guard her from more injury, attempting to bind her wounds as best he could. He ended up spending nearly 3 rounds holding her and applying pressure to her open would, and eventually he stabilized her. Hundar harnessing his second wind, hacked a few of the foes, but he too took a mighty blow that should have laid him low but for his half-orc resilience. Then, with one blow he took down the goblin chief (critical hit doing 21 points of damage). This turned the battle in the party’s favor. Zeed attempted to bandage Pate, but could not do it. Lucky for Pate, he stabilized on his own (with inspirational encouragement from one of the others) and did not die.</p><p></p><p>After killing the last foe, the group was able to take a few hours rest. Pate and Kippi both regained consciousness and everyone bandaged themselves as best they could. It was a tough first few days on the road.</p><p></p><p>The group found that the goblin leader was wearing a nice chain shirt, which Tury took, they also pocketed some gold and silver, and found a scroll. Pate read over the scroll and could tell that it was magical. It could be used to cast a cure wounds spell and a lesser restoration spell. The group also found a crude map. Kippipop and Foo looked it over. It was a map of the Sumber Hills with Rivergard Keep marked and circled. In one corner of the map was a strange symbol. It also said, “Grimjaw pays for stuff.”</p><p></p><p>The group posted watches through the next night and used the cave for shelter. They were able to rest uninterrupted.</p><p></p><p>Comments</p><p></p><p>1600 xp (1000 for the monsters and 600 for roleplaying and story awards) - the PCs are nearly 2nd level. They will be able to level up after a little more play next session.</p><p></p><p>The fight in the cave was very dangerous. I thought the group would go down, but they were able to use inspiration a few moments to avoid catastrophe. Hundar's class and race abilities really saved them too. It was cool seeing the Arakocra fly and overtake the fleeing goblin. That helped the group find the cave and eventually get the treasure and the map that they found.</p><p>Kippipop and Turytopple had terrific interplay roleplaying their Gnome couple, while the others formed bonds based on other ideas each of the players had. Since the group has traveled together and has fought together, and nearly died together, they are beginning to adhere and feel a bond with one another.</p><p></p><p>My play summary does not do justice to the roleplaying. We spent about 45 minutes in the beginning setting up the PC relationships and "bonding". I like how that got us going.</p><p></p><p>You may notice how sometimes PCs don't do what's optimum in a situation. That's awesome. I really like when players roleplay and choose an interesting action rather than the "right" action. In one situation, Kippipop did her thunderclap cantrip with friendlies near her. That's why she's called Kippipop. Another time, Zeed hit a goblin in the cave with his first attack, but decided to use his off hand and not sneak attack because he thought the goblin was really injured. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 for damage and the goblin had 2 hp. Needless to say, his other attack missed so he couldn't take down the goblin, and it was that goblin that slashed Kippi and took her down. Additionally, Turytopple ran to try to use medicine skill on Kippipop (his wife) spending 2 or 3 rounds out of action just to save her from dying. (He had already used his lay on hands on himself during the first fight).</p><p></p><p>Interestingly, the dodge action worked really well as long as there were enough PCs going on the offense. Once Kippi and Pate went down, defense had to turn to offense. Oh...also, Pate actually rolled his death save with inspiration and averted rolling a "1" which would have killed him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 6716936, member: 18333"] This kicks off our new campaign. This session was really a prelude to the adventure. I wanted to give the PCs a way to bond and develop their characters before we actually got to Red Larch. I had everyone speak a little about his or her character to start the session, and then I asked the entire group to come up with a little story to explain where they all met and how they got to know one another. We decided that they all were in Triboar and started from there. PCs (1st Level) Pate the Half-Elven Bard (in possession of a map that shows the Sumber Hills perhaps an area where an elemental node exists) Zeed the Arakocra Rogue (fearful of hippogriff riders who have attacked in the area – also hopeful to find more Arakocra in the Dessarin Valley) Hundar the Half-Orc Fighter (Tracking Gar Shatterkeep, who sunk the ship Hundar sailed on) Turytopple the Gnome Paladin (A gnome trying to fight evil) Kippipop the Gnome Sorcerer (Looking for mystery and lore) Namfoodle “Foo” the Gnome Rogue (Trying to find riches) The Gnomes in the group had some history together. Tury was shipwrecked and ultimately found Kippipop’s Gnome village. Those two fell in love and decided to travel the world together, setting out for adventure with their good friend Namfoodle. They met with Pate, Zeed and Hundar in Triboar. Pate was playing for the crowd in the “Silver Horn Tavern” and Foo was quickly inspired to whip out his harmonica to play along. He wasn’t so bad, so Pate took a liking to the little fella. All the while, Tury worked to create a mechanical hamster that could keep time with a little symbol. Unfortunately, Hundar, accidently on purpose, stepped on the prototype and crushed it. This influenced both Tury and Kippipop to follow him around and talk his ears off. Kippipop and Tury bantered about adventures and plans for the future when they noticed a birdman swoop down from the sky. Zeed, the Aarakocra, joined the group and they all traveled south toward Red Larch. All of the adventurers had also shared that they experienced strange anomalies with the weather over the past few months…surging tides, freak windstorms, wildfires, even some earth tremors. After a day and a half on the road, they came to a ruined stone structure that looked like an old toll booth. There were two cloaked, larger humanoids in the road. One of them held a stick with a flag on the end, with the flag down on the ground near its feet. When the group got close enough, one of the figures spoke with a guttural voice and asked for 2 gp toll per person. Zeed was able to see under the cloaks to tell that these figures were Half-Orcs. Hundar spoke Orc to them and tried to intimidate them into letting him pass. They were taken aback and let Hundar through. Pate spun a tale and convinced the toll keepers that he had aided their kind in a battle against goblins a long time ago. Miraculously they believed him and let him pass, but they were unsure, and the group heard them say something about how the boss wouldn’t like all this. Then Kippipop stepped forward and hugged one of the Half-Orc’s legs and talked about hugging and kissing instead of paying a toll. At this point one of the Half-Orcs turned to the other and said this was getting too silly. They realized that the group was trying to get past without paying. That’s when they twitched and went for their weapons. The Half-Orc with the flag raised it up into the air as if to signal others and then the fight started. It was Foo who took an arrow in the chest, fired from a light forest area 40’ to the east. Luckily other arrows from that direction missed Hundar, Pate and Foo again. Kippipop who was standing near a Half-Orc, clapped her hands and a small thunder pop lightly hurt those around her. Unfortunately, it was her allies, Foo and Hundar, not the Half-Orcs. Zeed took to the air and fired an arrow down upon one of the Half-Orcs, hurting it badly. Pate tried to viciously mock one, but it would have none of that. Soon, the group realized that there were other foes firing arrows from the trees. Turytopple was hurt by a Half-Orc’s battle axe, but soon the party took down the Half-Orc foes. Hundar ran towards the trees. The others followed in turn. It was hard to spot the goblins that were firing arrows and hiding in the trees, but Hundar was able to cut down two eventually. Foo took down another, but the fourth one ran deeper into the forest. Zeed took to the air and was able to find the fleeing goblin. It looked as if it was running toward a cave. Zeed was able to overtake the goblin and land before it with rapier drawn. The little goblin ran right into Zeed and the rapier went clean through its chest. Zeed could see the cave, but realized he was pretty far from the rest of the party so he took to the air and flew back to them. Meanwhile, the others found some silver on the Half-Orcs, and a necklace with a tooth on it that they gave to Kippi. The group, thinking that these were bandits who perhaps had a hideout in the cave, traveled into the forest. Tury wanted to smite evil so he urged the party forward. With Hundar and Tury in the lead, they marched right into the cave. Inside they saw 4 goblins, 1 goblin chief and 2 half-orcs. Since the group was not sneaking in, the foes reacted and came at them. The battle was fierce. Kippipop tried to sleep the goblins and caught 2 of them. Tury strode right in and confronted them directly. When he was in their midst, he dodged and juked to keep the foes from hitting him. Pate was able to make one of the Half-Orcs laugh uncontrollably for a few rounds. The others attacking as they could, missing a good number of times, and hitting some. The other goblins woke their sleeping brothers before engaging the party, and the entire battle lasted nearly 30-45 seconds. During the fight, Kippipop made the sound of an owl bear growling which kept the boss back an extra round since he feared moving toward the “strange magic.” A few rounds into the battle, Kippipop was slashed brutally by one of the goblins and she went down. Soon after, Pate was knocked down by one of the half-orcs. The others battled on, but it was looking bad for the party. Zeed eventually took one goblin down. He had a hard time seeing in the dim lighting of the cave though. Foo also took one down. Tury dodged and weaved, but when Kippi went down, he moved toward her to guard her from more injury, attempting to bind her wounds as best he could. He ended up spending nearly 3 rounds holding her and applying pressure to her open would, and eventually he stabilized her. Hundar harnessing his second wind, hacked a few of the foes, but he too took a mighty blow that should have laid him low but for his half-orc resilience. Then, with one blow he took down the goblin chief (critical hit doing 21 points of damage). This turned the battle in the party’s favor. Zeed attempted to bandage Pate, but could not do it. Lucky for Pate, he stabilized on his own (with inspirational encouragement from one of the others) and did not die. After killing the last foe, the group was able to take a few hours rest. Pate and Kippi both regained consciousness and everyone bandaged themselves as best they could. It was a tough first few days on the road. The group found that the goblin leader was wearing a nice chain shirt, which Tury took, they also pocketed some gold and silver, and found a scroll. Pate read over the scroll and could tell that it was magical. It could be used to cast a cure wounds spell and a lesser restoration spell. The group also found a crude map. Kippipop and Foo looked it over. It was a map of the Sumber Hills with Rivergard Keep marked and circled. In one corner of the map was a strange symbol. It also said, “Grimjaw pays for stuff.” The group posted watches through the next night and used the cave for shelter. They were able to rest uninterrupted. Comments 1600 xp (1000 for the monsters and 600 for roleplaying and story awards) - the PCs are nearly 2nd level. They will be able to level up after a little more play next session. The fight in the cave was very dangerous. I thought the group would go down, but they were able to use inspiration a few moments to avoid catastrophe. Hundar's class and race abilities really saved them too. It was cool seeing the Arakocra fly and overtake the fleeing goblin. That helped the group find the cave and eventually get the treasure and the map that they found. Kippipop and Turytopple had terrific interplay roleplaying their Gnome couple, while the others formed bonds based on other ideas each of the players had. Since the group has traveled together and has fought together, and nearly died together, they are beginning to adhere and feel a bond with one another. My play summary does not do justice to the roleplaying. We spent about 45 minutes in the beginning setting up the PC relationships and "bonding". I like how that got us going. You may notice how sometimes PCs don't do what's optimum in a situation. That's awesome. I really like when players roleplay and choose an interesting action rather than the "right" action. In one situation, Kippipop did her thunderclap cantrip with friendlies near her. That's why she's called Kippipop. Another time, Zeed hit a goblin in the cave with his first attack, but decided to use his off hand and not sneak attack because he thought the goblin was really injured. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 for damage and the goblin had 2 hp. Needless to say, his other attack missed so he couldn't take down the goblin, and it was that goblin that slashed Kippi and took her down. Additionally, Turytopple ran to try to use medicine skill on Kippipop (his wife) spending 2 or 3 rounds out of action just to save her from dying. (He had already used his lay on hands on himself during the first fight). Interestingly, the dodge action worked really well as long as there were enough PCs going on the offense. Once Kippi and Pate went down, defense had to turn to offense. Oh...also, Pate actually rolled his death save with inspiration and averted rolling a "1" which would have killed him. [/QUOTE]
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