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Running Commentary on Rel's 4e Campaign (Complete 8/2/10)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 4788408" data-attributes="member: 99"><p>(we played again last night so now I've got two sessions to catch up on)</p><p></p><p>The PC's initially pulled back from the entrance to the room to make sure that if the Spider Queen had any nasty tricks that they would be out of line of sight. The Ettercaps charged forward and met them in the hallway. It turned out that the Spider Queen DID have some nasty tricks. One was to grasp the husk of an enwebbed Gnoll body hanging nearby and rip it open, revealing the newly hatched form of an Ettercap that dropped to the floor with a sickening "squish". Taking only a moment to instinctively grasp that its queen was in trouble, it charged forward to fight the intruders.</p><p></p><p>This went on for several rounds with the PC's inflicting some damage on the "adult" Ettercaps and generally able to destroy the newly hatched minions before they did too much damage. Finally they dispatched them all and rushed into the room to confront the Spider Queen herself. After the first few attacks on her landed, one of Zanne's fire spells burned through most of the webs supporting the huge egg-sac/abdomen and it fell to the stone floor and ruptured. The Spider Queen hissed in pain as thousands of tiny spiders poured out of the sac and swarmed toward the PC's.</p><p></p><p>Astavian was grabbed, poisoned and webbed to the ceiling during the battle and it was only Mialain's Melora's Tide that kept him alive. But he made a grand reappearance when he cut himself loose from the ceiling and dropped onto the Queen's back, driving his greatsword all the way through her body. It took several more tense moments of blasting at the swarm of baby spiders before it was dispersed and the PC's could catch their breath.</p><p></p><p>They camped in the upper gallery after finding a hidden ladder beneath the staircase. Nothing bothered them while they camped although they could hear more cackling of Gnolls in the distance and the beat of far off drums. Rested, they descended the ladder.</p><p></p><p>It went down for a hundred feet with Astavian in the lead. Zanne was just behind him and was the one who spotted the ancient runes that triggered the guard constructs to attack. Astavian was beset by three of them by the time the others climbed down into the room. Their magic-powered clockwork bodies seemed to have deteriorated over the years but they still packed a wallop. However, once the whole group was in the room and was able to focus their attacks, they destroyed these old guardians one by one.</p><p></p><p>There was only one exit from the guard room and it led them into the back of what appeared to be an old tailoring shop. There were moldy remnants of cloth laying about with a heavy layer of dust on the floor. There were some small, three-toed footprints amid the dust but no creatures in sight.</p><p></p><p>Exiting the front of the shop they found themselves in a large underground street that spiraled up to the left and down to the right. Knowing that what they sought likely lay deeper inside the mountain, they went right. Eventually they came to a large side passage and explored it to find light coming from up ahead and their way blocked by a rusty portcullis. They located the workings for the portcullis in the upstairs of another nearby shop but they were so rusted that they wouldn't budge.</p><p></p><p>Continuing the downward spiral they noticed that there was a thin blanket of Mist forming on the ground and they paused to apply some of the "Mist Milk" they had prepared via a ritual. Hopefully it would protect them from the corrupting powers of the Mist.</p><p></p><p>They located another large side passage and Mialain's cartography skills indicated that it likely ran beneath the former one they had discovered. This one was also blocked by a portcullis but this gate had a couple of the bars bent out of the way such that they could potentially squeeze through. Eshik knelt down as he noticed some tracks and some strange, sharp quills laying on the ground. A moment later he was struck by similar quills that caught fire in mid air.</p><p></p><p>The spiny Mist Demons surged out of the Mist ahead and flung volley after volley of these poisoned quills at the group. Astavian and Eshik squeezed through the gap in the bars to challenge them up close while Zanne and Mialain kept up a stream of attacks and healing from behind the portcullis. Although their poisoned spines did considerable damage to the Paladin and Ranger, the Mist Demons had little room to maneuver and were soon brought low by the combined attacks.</p><p></p><p>Exploring further up the passage, the PC's were surprised to emerge on a broad ledge on the side of the butte. They could not see how high up they were as the ground was obscured in the Mist. But they saw the rotted remains of a catapult on the ledge as well as a bony nest, likely the lair of the spined Mist Demons. Eshik noticed something shiny protruding from the bottom of it and discovered an enchanted dwarven belt, with each link looking like a round shield. Zanne examined it and determined that it would help protect the wearer from weapon attacks.</p><p></p><p>They rested for a few more minutes before heading back inside the butte to delve deeper into its depths...</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>So the spider fight was pretty fun IMO. It was a long fight (took about an hour and a half I think) but it had lots of components and was supposed to be a rather grand affair. The Ettercaps, bolstered by the added Ettercap minions put a dent in the PC's before they got to the Queen. But I thought that the players did a good job of noticing that she was largely immobile and thus it was wise of them to stand back out of her reach and view while fighting her guardians. I especially loved Astavian's stunt to turn his fall from the ceiling into a Charge attack. I also liked how the tactics of the fight changed completely with the introduction of the swarm. These different phases of the battle kept things interesting and continued to change the powers that were appropriate for the different foes.</p><p></p><p>As they explored, Eshik, Zanne and Mialain all got to use their "background skills" to notice things about the stonework, cloth/dye shop and layout of the fortress respectively. I try to incorporate those skills whenever I can because it validates those player choices and provides some cool added flavor.</p><p></p><p>The fight with the spined devils was fairly well handled by the players. The melee types got right up on them to limit their ability to fire the quills with impunity while Zanne and Mialain did their work from behind the portcullis. This was a fairly standard fight at close to their level and they executed it well. Its primary purpose from a GM standpoint was to provide a little peak in the action toward the end of the session and to also remind them that, while below the Mistline, things are dangerous. Plus Astavian's player totally digs it anytime he gets to smite a Mist Demon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 4788408, member: 99"] (we played again last night so now I've got two sessions to catch up on) The PC's initially pulled back from the entrance to the room to make sure that if the Spider Queen had any nasty tricks that they would be out of line of sight. The Ettercaps charged forward and met them in the hallway. It turned out that the Spider Queen DID have some nasty tricks. One was to grasp the husk of an enwebbed Gnoll body hanging nearby and rip it open, revealing the newly hatched form of an Ettercap that dropped to the floor with a sickening "squish". Taking only a moment to instinctively grasp that its queen was in trouble, it charged forward to fight the intruders. This went on for several rounds with the PC's inflicting some damage on the "adult" Ettercaps and generally able to destroy the newly hatched minions before they did too much damage. Finally they dispatched them all and rushed into the room to confront the Spider Queen herself. After the first few attacks on her landed, one of Zanne's fire spells burned through most of the webs supporting the huge egg-sac/abdomen and it fell to the stone floor and ruptured. The Spider Queen hissed in pain as thousands of tiny spiders poured out of the sac and swarmed toward the PC's. Astavian was grabbed, poisoned and webbed to the ceiling during the battle and it was only Mialain's Melora's Tide that kept him alive. But he made a grand reappearance when he cut himself loose from the ceiling and dropped onto the Queen's back, driving his greatsword all the way through her body. It took several more tense moments of blasting at the swarm of baby spiders before it was dispersed and the PC's could catch their breath. They camped in the upper gallery after finding a hidden ladder beneath the staircase. Nothing bothered them while they camped although they could hear more cackling of Gnolls in the distance and the beat of far off drums. Rested, they descended the ladder. It went down for a hundred feet with Astavian in the lead. Zanne was just behind him and was the one who spotted the ancient runes that triggered the guard constructs to attack. Astavian was beset by three of them by the time the others climbed down into the room. Their magic-powered clockwork bodies seemed to have deteriorated over the years but they still packed a wallop. However, once the whole group was in the room and was able to focus their attacks, they destroyed these old guardians one by one. There was only one exit from the guard room and it led them into the back of what appeared to be an old tailoring shop. There were moldy remnants of cloth laying about with a heavy layer of dust on the floor. There were some small, three-toed footprints amid the dust but no creatures in sight. Exiting the front of the shop they found themselves in a large underground street that spiraled up to the left and down to the right. Knowing that what they sought likely lay deeper inside the mountain, they went right. Eventually they came to a large side passage and explored it to find light coming from up ahead and their way blocked by a rusty portcullis. They located the workings for the portcullis in the upstairs of another nearby shop but they were so rusted that they wouldn't budge. Continuing the downward spiral they noticed that there was a thin blanket of Mist forming on the ground and they paused to apply some of the "Mist Milk" they had prepared via a ritual. Hopefully it would protect them from the corrupting powers of the Mist. They located another large side passage and Mialain's cartography skills indicated that it likely ran beneath the former one they had discovered. This one was also blocked by a portcullis but this gate had a couple of the bars bent out of the way such that they could potentially squeeze through. Eshik knelt down as he noticed some tracks and some strange, sharp quills laying on the ground. A moment later he was struck by similar quills that caught fire in mid air. The spiny Mist Demons surged out of the Mist ahead and flung volley after volley of these poisoned quills at the group. Astavian and Eshik squeezed through the gap in the bars to challenge them up close while Zanne and Mialain kept up a stream of attacks and healing from behind the portcullis. Although their poisoned spines did considerable damage to the Paladin and Ranger, the Mist Demons had little room to maneuver and were soon brought low by the combined attacks. Exploring further up the passage, the PC's were surprised to emerge on a broad ledge on the side of the butte. They could not see how high up they were as the ground was obscured in the Mist. But they saw the rotted remains of a catapult on the ledge as well as a bony nest, likely the lair of the spined Mist Demons. Eshik noticed something shiny protruding from the bottom of it and discovered an enchanted dwarven belt, with each link looking like a round shield. Zanne examined it and determined that it would help protect the wearer from weapon attacks. They rested for a few more minutes before heading back inside the butte to delve deeper into its depths... ***** So the spider fight was pretty fun IMO. It was a long fight (took about an hour and a half I think) but it had lots of components and was supposed to be a rather grand affair. The Ettercaps, bolstered by the added Ettercap minions put a dent in the PC's before they got to the Queen. But I thought that the players did a good job of noticing that she was largely immobile and thus it was wise of them to stand back out of her reach and view while fighting her guardians. I especially loved Astavian's stunt to turn his fall from the ceiling into a Charge attack. I also liked how the tactics of the fight changed completely with the introduction of the swarm. These different phases of the battle kept things interesting and continued to change the powers that were appropriate for the different foes. As they explored, Eshik, Zanne and Mialain all got to use their "background skills" to notice things about the stonework, cloth/dye shop and layout of the fortress respectively. I try to incorporate those skills whenever I can because it validates those player choices and provides some cool added flavor. The fight with the spined devils was fairly well handled by the players. The melee types got right up on them to limit their ability to fire the quills with impunity while Zanne and Mialain did their work from behind the portcullis. This was a fairly standard fight at close to their level and they executed it well. Its primary purpose from a GM standpoint was to provide a little peak in the action toward the end of the session and to also remind them that, while below the Mistline, things are dangerous. Plus Astavian's player totally digs it anytime he gets to smite a Mist Demon. [/QUOTE]
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