Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9322863" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 26px">Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh</span></strong></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Session #134: Are We the Baddies?</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</span></strong></p><p>Daktari/Dak (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 9</p><p>Fellowyn Silverstream (played by George) Male Eladrin Wizard Bladesinger Lvl 9</p><p>New Tricks/Newt (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 9</p><p>Ramshambo/Ram (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/2</p><p>Vincenzo/Vinnie (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 9</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">DEAD PCs</span></strong></p><p><s>Nicholai Barbaros Kostyiev/Nicky (played by George) Male Dhampir Cleric of Twilight Lvl 8 </s>RIP</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">NPCs</span></strong></p><p><s>Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) </s>RETIRED</p><p><s>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 </s>RIP*</p><p><s>Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard </s>RETIRED</p><p><s>Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1</s> EXPLODED</p><p>Ubdug (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 2 (When we remember)</p><p>*Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">Servants/Familiars</span></strong></p><p>Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks</p><p>Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 18px">The Dark Squad’s to-do list-</span></strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer from Lowhill), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetery).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood- except she's not there anymore, but a big red dragon is?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Blackedge and the Goblin Stair?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall, the Witch's Tor is in the Drowned Forest, in the Mere of the Dead Men.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. Location unknown. SEE 2. ABOVE.</li> </ol><p></p><p>This is session 134, and once again we didn’t get a lot of this done, we were too busy playing a (test) encounter for the other game we are setting up. The (test) encounter went well, the best moment came when Maggie ‘O (played by Jim) shot eight Kobolds dead on her turn with her (pump-action) crossbow. Not bad for a 1st level (Cleric) PC. I’ve been messing with the action economy, naughty me.</p><p></p><p>I thought the Kobold’s song, and their accompanying dance, deserved mentioning too- most enjoyable.</p><p></p><p>We’ll get to this (and an explanation), probably.</p><p></p><p>But the final hour of last Tuesday’s session, the 134th so far, was back to the Dark Squad and their ‘in progress’ massacre of the Lizardfolk.</p><p></p><p>Are you sitting comfortably, then we’ll begin, although- there’s not much to it this time (again).</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359075[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Remember this- a slew of dead Lizardfolk, including one wearing robes, and then the more violent members of the Squad press their case- they rush in to the lair, on the rampage.</strong></p><p></p><p>New Lizardfolk turn up, or else come rushing to the attack- whirring and croaking in their strange draconic tongue, and… they die.</p><p></p><p>Remarkably quickly.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359076[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Even Vinnie’s Spike Growth secures a few kills.</strong></p><p></p><p>To note the Lizardfolk in the Spike Growth in the image above was armed with a broom.</p><p></p><p>Fellowyn, at this point, is trying to communicate with the bleeding out female Lizardfolk- savaged by the Spike Growth spell. The Eladrin is trying to tell her to lie still, not to move.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie, the instigator of the spell is whistling loudly, very loudly- trying to drown out the sound of her screams.</p><p></p><p>He’s also quick to get away from the sight of it all.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359077[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Daktari is raging- running ahead, cutting down any Lizardfolk he sees.</strong></p><p></p><p>Fellowyn meantime is going both sides of the soon to be ongoing debate, pointing out to his colleagues that Lizardfolk eat humanoid flesh.</p><p></p><p>If the Dark Squad were not killing them, in short, the Lizardfolk would be killing the Dark Squad.</p><p></p><p>And then eating them…</p><p></p><p>That’s Fellowyn’s line.</p><p></p><p>Although, he worries- often aloud.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359078[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Oh look, in the Spike Growth, a second female Lizardfolk attempts to rescue her friend… alas she suffers the same fate. The pair are now cowering and clutching on to each other, surrounded on all sides by spiked and serrated terrain.</strong></p><p></p><p>Their screams are getting louder.</p><p></p><p>We’ve moved on a little bit, but…</p><p></p><p>Things have changed, but only slightly.</p><p></p><p>I think it was Ram that said it- the title of this session, “Are we the baddies?”</p><p></p><p>The debate is rumbling on.</p><p></p><p>Regardless, the Dark Squad rush on deeper into the lair.</p><p></p><p>Even Newt is double moving every turn- trying to find new Lizardfolk to destroy.</p><p></p><p>But it’s the chatter that he can’t stand.</p><p></p><p>The backsliding.</p><p></p><p>Ram spots a female Lizardfolk, who bursts from a chamber ahead armed with a… big ladle. The Rogue doesn’t shoot, only snarls at the terrified humanoid to get out of his way.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]359079[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>The raging Daktari has no such qualms, he grabs out a javelin and… that’s the end of the ladle wielding Lizardfolk.</strong></p><p></p><p>Note somewhere along the way Ubdug has got excited- I (the DM) roll a d4 each turn to see what Ubdug does, he’s that kind of random. I keep rolling a ‘1’, one in Ubdug attack mode means charge in and attack, and so he does.</p><p></p><p>Ubdug goes racing ahead of Ram doing his best impression of Daktari (raging).</p><p></p><p>Ubdug even starts mimicking Newt’s vocalisations, although in his own inimitable style.</p><p></p><p>“I AM THE ZERO-BRINGER!”</p><p></p><p>Keep in mind that when Ubdug (briefly) ‘dies’ he (briefly) visits a featureless plain/plane populated only by zeroes. Zeroes are anathema to the Modron, the brief glimpse he receives each time he ‘dies’ is of a terrifying hellscape. Ubdug lives for the ones. Zeroes are death to him.</p><p></p><p>Ram even worries (aloud) for a while that they (he?) have corrupted, or else are in the process of corrupting Ubdug, and that might not be such a good thing.</p><p></p><p>Remember Ubdug says “I AM THE SUPREME BEING”, a lot, well- at present the intellectual heavyweights of the Dark Squad are of the opinion (and it’s a consensus) that Ubdug might just turn out to be what he keeps telling everyone he is.</p><p></p><p>Present thinking is Ubdug is a God of some sort. I forget how they made this mental/narrative journey; I may have had a hand in it- if so, I have no regrets.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, back to the massacre…</p><p></p><p>Moments later Ubdug corners a bunch of Lizardfolk in a chamber- the three females were caught in the act of cooking dinner. The Modron drops a Storm Sphere into the chamber and then shuts the door.</p><p></p><p>More remarkably all of the Lizardfolk in the chamber survive, but only just.</p><p></p><p>To recap, at this point Fellowyn has killed a few Lizardfolk but is mostly not keeping up with the front line, he gets a shot or blast off every now and then.</p><p></p><p>Ram started off as a killing machine but is now selecting targets, and being very selective about it- he hasn’t fired his bow for the last three or so turns.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie is, still whistling loudly, and following on- every now and then readying an action but other than maintaining concentration on his Spike Growth spell, Vinnie is mostly way behind the front line.</p><p></p><p>Daktari is raging and killing/attacking every Lizardfolk he sees.</p><p></p><p>Ubdug is at the same gig.</p><p></p><p>Newt, more of the same- except he (like Fellowyn & Vinnie, at times) can’t keep up with the action- and the front line. But again, when he sees an enemy- he destroys it.</p><p></p><p>So…</p><p></p><p>Oh, but I’ve not mentioned Newt much this session so far, which is odd because he has been the chattiest PC by far.</p><p></p><p>The chatty he is doing is this kind of thing-</p><p></p><p>“Don’t look Vinnie, don’t listen to their screaming- we need to see this through!”</p><p></p><p>“These creatures are bloodthirsty monstrosities- you remember the prisoners in the Mere of the Dead Men, in the Lizardfolk’s cages. They eat us!”</p><p></p><p>“Ram, think of Saltmarsh- they plan to attack the town!”</p><p></p><p>Newt is making the case for genocide, and he’s having to do it a lot.</p><p></p><p>In between all of the above the players, and their PCs- of course, are starting to fret.</p><p></p><p>Are we doing the right thing?</p><p></p><p>It gets to this, and it’s Newt again-</p><p></p><p>“This is what the Dark Squad do!” If you listen closely, you can hear Newt stamping his foot to punctuate the previous statement, and throughout what follows- “It’s just the DM, messing with us- it’s Paul (that’s me) trying to ruin our fun. There’ll be some kids turn up next. He’s just trying to make us feel bad, to make us doubt ourselves. This is what he does.”</p><p></p><p>I love that last line-</p><p></p><p>“This is what he does.”</p><p></p><p>But that alas was also the end of the session.</p><p></p><p>It was only an hour-long, but I enjoyed it immensely.</p><p></p><p>I think it was less enjoyable for some other folk.</p><p></p><p>Full session of the Dark Squad next time.</p><p></p><p>Can’t wait.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well you lovely people.</p><p></p><p>Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 9322863, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=7]Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER] [B][SIZE=6]Session #134: Are We the Baddies?[/SIZE] [SIZE=5]Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).[/SIZE][/B] Daktari/Dak (played by Haggis) Male Human Uthgardt Sky Pony Barbarian Lvl 9 Fellowyn Silverstream (played by George) Male Eladrin Wizard Bladesinger Lvl 9 New Tricks/Newt (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 9 Ramshambo/Ram (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue/Fighter Lvl 7/2 Vincenzo/Vinnie (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 9 [B][SIZE=5]DEAD PCs[/SIZE][/B] [S]Nicholai Barbaros Kostyiev/Nicky (played by George) Male Dhampir Cleric of Twilight Lvl 8 [/S]RIP [B][SIZE=5]NPCs[/SIZE][/B] [S]Inverna Nightbreeze (played by George) Female Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 8 (Sidekick) [/S]RETIRED [S]Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 5 [/S]RIP* [S]Tarbin Tul (played by goonalan) Male Human Bard [/S]RETIRED [S]Ubmo (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 1[/S] EXPLODED Ubdug (played by Goonalan) Supreme Being Lvl 2 (When we remember) *Trapped in the Land of the Bad Dead Ancestors. [B][SIZE=5]Servants/Familiars[/SIZE][/B] Gerald (Bat/Giant Bat) servant/mount of New Tricks Owly (Owl) Vinnie’s familiar [B][SIZE=5]The Dark Squad’s to-do list-[/SIZE][/B] [LIST=1] [*]Find the other four Symbols of Ub, one was left in Deepbridge (Duergar fortress in the Underdark). The others need to be found, they belonged to- Rambles 'Shambles' Bowspirit (halfling killer from Lowhill), Antonio De La Crane (posh kid druid alchemist) & Giggles (crazy wood elf). All of these folk lived in the Saltmarsh region, the Dark Squad have found the De La Crane Manse (in the Dreadwood) and the De La Crane Crypt (in Saltmarsh Cemetery). [*]Nightshade is in the Deep Dreadwood- except she's not there anymore, but a big red dragon is? [*]Blackedge and the Goblin Stair? [*]To join the Pact of the Wild Flame prepare the Witch's Tor for the coming of the starfall, the Witch's Tor is in the Drowned Forest, in the Mere of the Dead Men. [*]To join the Pact of the Wild Flame track down the last member of the Pact, a wild elf adventurer called Giggles- and finally put her spirit to rest, and also recover her maze button. Location unknown. SEE 2. ABOVE. [/LIST] This is session 134, and once again we didn’t get a lot of this done, we were too busy playing a (test) encounter for the other game we are setting up. The (test) encounter went well, the best moment came when Maggie ‘O (played by Jim) shot eight Kobolds dead on her turn with her (pump-action) crossbow. Not bad for a 1st level (Cleric) PC. I’ve been messing with the action economy, naughty me. I thought the Kobold’s song, and their accompanying dance, deserved mentioning too- most enjoyable. We’ll get to this (and an explanation), probably. But the final hour of last Tuesday’s session, the 134th so far, was back to the Dark Squad and their ‘in progress’ massacre of the Lizardfolk. Are you sitting comfortably, then we’ll begin, although- there’s not much to it this time (again). [ATTACH type="full"]359075[/ATTACH] [B]Remember this- a slew of dead Lizardfolk, including one wearing robes, and then the more violent members of the Squad press their case- they rush in to the lair, on the rampage.[/B] New Lizardfolk turn up, or else come rushing to the attack- whirring and croaking in their strange draconic tongue, and… they die. Remarkably quickly. [ATTACH type="full"]359076[/ATTACH] [B]Even Vinnie’s Spike Growth secures a few kills.[/B] To note the Lizardfolk in the Spike Growth in the image above was armed with a broom. Fellowyn, at this point, is trying to communicate with the bleeding out female Lizardfolk- savaged by the Spike Growth spell. The Eladrin is trying to tell her to lie still, not to move. Vinnie, the instigator of the spell is whistling loudly, very loudly- trying to drown out the sound of her screams. He’s also quick to get away from the sight of it all. [ATTACH type="full"]359077[/ATTACH] [B]Daktari is raging- running ahead, cutting down any Lizardfolk he sees.[/B] Fellowyn meantime is going both sides of the soon to be ongoing debate, pointing out to his colleagues that Lizardfolk eat humanoid flesh. If the Dark Squad were not killing them, in short, the Lizardfolk would be killing the Dark Squad. And then eating them… That’s Fellowyn’s line. Although, he worries- often aloud. [ATTACH type="full"]359078[/ATTACH] [B]Oh look, in the Spike Growth, a second female Lizardfolk attempts to rescue her friend… alas she suffers the same fate. The pair are now cowering and clutching on to each other, surrounded on all sides by spiked and serrated terrain.[/B] Their screams are getting louder. We’ve moved on a little bit, but… Things have changed, but only slightly. I think it was Ram that said it- the title of this session, “Are we the baddies?” The debate is rumbling on. Regardless, the Dark Squad rush on deeper into the lair. Even Newt is double moving every turn- trying to find new Lizardfolk to destroy. But it’s the chatter that he can’t stand. The backsliding. Ram spots a female Lizardfolk, who bursts from a chamber ahead armed with a… big ladle. The Rogue doesn’t shoot, only snarls at the terrified humanoid to get out of his way. [ATTACH type="full"]359079[/ATTACH] [B]The raging Daktari has no such qualms, he grabs out a javelin and… that’s the end of the ladle wielding Lizardfolk.[/B] Note somewhere along the way Ubdug has got excited- I (the DM) roll a d4 each turn to see what Ubdug does, he’s that kind of random. I keep rolling a ‘1’, one in Ubdug attack mode means charge in and attack, and so he does. Ubdug goes racing ahead of Ram doing his best impression of Daktari (raging). Ubdug even starts mimicking Newt’s vocalisations, although in his own inimitable style. “I AM THE ZERO-BRINGER!” Keep in mind that when Ubdug (briefly) ‘dies’ he (briefly) visits a featureless plain/plane populated only by zeroes. Zeroes are anathema to the Modron, the brief glimpse he receives each time he ‘dies’ is of a terrifying hellscape. Ubdug lives for the ones. Zeroes are death to him. Ram even worries (aloud) for a while that they (he?) have corrupted, or else are in the process of corrupting Ubdug, and that might not be such a good thing. Remember Ubdug says “I AM THE SUPREME BEING”, a lot, well- at present the intellectual heavyweights of the Dark Squad are of the opinion (and it’s a consensus) that Ubdug might just turn out to be what he keeps telling everyone he is. Present thinking is Ubdug is a God of some sort. I forget how they made this mental/narrative journey; I may have had a hand in it- if so, I have no regrets. Anyway, back to the massacre… Moments later Ubdug corners a bunch of Lizardfolk in a chamber- the three females were caught in the act of cooking dinner. The Modron drops a Storm Sphere into the chamber and then shuts the door. More remarkably all of the Lizardfolk in the chamber survive, but only just. To recap, at this point Fellowyn has killed a few Lizardfolk but is mostly not keeping up with the front line, he gets a shot or blast off every now and then. Ram started off as a killing machine but is now selecting targets, and being very selective about it- he hasn’t fired his bow for the last three or so turns. Vinnie is, still whistling loudly, and following on- every now and then readying an action but other than maintaining concentration on his Spike Growth spell, Vinnie is mostly way behind the front line. Daktari is raging and killing/attacking every Lizardfolk he sees. Ubdug is at the same gig. Newt, more of the same- except he (like Fellowyn & Vinnie, at times) can’t keep up with the action- and the front line. But again, when he sees an enemy- he destroys it. So… Oh, but I’ve not mentioned Newt much this session so far, which is odd because he has been the chattiest PC by far. The chatty he is doing is this kind of thing- “Don’t look Vinnie, don’t listen to their screaming- we need to see this through!” “These creatures are bloodthirsty monstrosities- you remember the prisoners in the Mere of the Dead Men, in the Lizardfolk’s cages. They eat us!” “Ram, think of Saltmarsh- they plan to attack the town!” Newt is making the case for genocide, and he’s having to do it a lot. In between all of the above the players, and their PCs- of course, are starting to fret. Are we doing the right thing? It gets to this, and it’s Newt again- “This is what the Dark Squad do!” If you listen closely, you can hear Newt stamping his foot to punctuate the previous statement, and throughout what follows- “It’s just the DM, messing with us- it’s Paul (that’s me) trying to ruin our fun. There’ll be some kids turn up next. He’s just trying to make us feel bad, to make us doubt ourselves. This is what he does.” I love that last line- “This is what he does.” But that alas was also the end of the session. It was only an hour-long, but I enjoyed it immensely. I think it was less enjoyable for some other folk. Full session of the Dark Squad next time. Can’t wait. Stay safe and well you lovely people. Cheers the Dark Squad and goonalan. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
Top