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 LIVE! 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 Second Age [4e PoL campaign]
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="Jack99" data-source="post: 5115554" data-attributes="member: 53135"><p>Session 5</p><p></p><p>The guy playing the monk is still on a break, and our invoker was missing as well tonight, being on vacation (lucky sob)</p><p></p><p><strong>Tirsday 21st Zeptambor, Year 599 (continued)</strong></p><p>After getting everyone on their feet, the yet to be named heroes debated hotly on whether to pursue Mistress Adele or not. They figured they needed at least a small break before tracking her down and confronting her. But it proved too hard. Not many tracks to follow in the sever, and Kavaki soon had to give up. Instead they decided to head up to the surface and go tell the Lord Warden that they had found the nest of the Ravens and had taken care of that problem. He was of course more than pleased, and rewarded them handsomely. After telling him about what had happened, they realized that in their haste to catch Mistress Adele, they had completely forgotten to search the guildhall and all the rooms, so back down they went. As it turned out, that was a good idea. While there was no significant treasure, they did find directions to a kobold camp sketched on some paper. The thief in question must have been used to deliver messages or something. Obviously there was a connection.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]This was one of two ways to find the kobold camp. Not counting sheer dumb luck of course. The other would have been good old fashioned research, which would have let them south, to the shapechanging fomorian hermit, who keeps a kobold from said tribe as slave. I would have preferred the other way for more fun, but the players' choices should decide the course of the adventure, not what I think. Or at least, that's what I am trying to do.[/sblock]</p><p> </p><p>Before heading north, they swung by the House of Sun, once a great temple to Pelor, now run only by a lonely dwarf priest named Grundel. They wanted information about what kind of creature Mistress Adele could be, although they were already convinced that she was some sort of undead creature, perhaps a vampire. Grundel couldn't really help them, but since they seemed convinced they were fighting undead, he did give them a couple of bottles of holy water, and a blessing of Pelor for the road.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]Based on the description of Mistress Adele, I silently ruled that there was no way in hell that Grundel would recognize her as a succubus, or even a demon. So when they asked, they got nothing. Sometimes it is okay to say no <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>The blessing of Pelor was yet another little bonus, that usually will make no difference at all, but gives some flavor. This time they got +1 to all defenses against the first attack within 24 hours targeting them[/sblock]</p><p>After buying some rations and some sun rods, the party of heroes headed north, following the thief's directions . After 5-6 hours, they found themselves standing on the river bank of the Jade River. This time however, there was little trouble getting over to the other side, since all present were adept swimmers. They continued north for a while, until they decided to rest for the night. Kavaki found them a nice spot, which secured them a good night's rest.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]Despite being fewer and missing the closest thing they have to a skill monkey (Deva Invoker, high Int and Wis) they did really well on the skill challenge to see if there was any random encounters and on the skill challenge to camp for the night.[/sblock]</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Onsday 22nd Zeptambor, Year 599</strong></p><p>The next day, they pushed further north, soon finding the ruins of an ancient tower that Garel-kai is convinced was built by kobolds, however odd that sounds. Not far from the ruined tower, they found (still following the notes, of course) a clearing with 3 man-dragon shaped statues in the middle. Scouting the clearing, the heroes were soon jumped by 4 kobolds, but they were quickly dispatched. Kavaki found an entrance to the kobold warrens behind some bushes. The entrance was actually fairly wide but as they got in, the heroes found that none of them could walk upright around in the tunnels.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]The statues were one of those things that, as a DM, I just toss out there, without knowing what it is yet. Luckily they failed all their checks, so I have plenty of wiggling room to make something up, should they show continued interest in what they were. Having thought about it last night, I think I want to introduce draconians in my world, as some sort of draconian overlords, messengers of the dragons or something along those lines.[/sblock]</p><p>Once inside, the party quickly realized that the sneaky kobolds had made a small maze of corridors. Going a bit around randomly (there were tracks everywhere) they eventually stumbled on a spear trap, shewering both Kavaki and Tokiel. Almost immediately after, the place was crawling with kobolds running in and out, throwing javelins at our heroes. The battle moved around in the corridors, and suddenly the party were split up, and Tokiel found himself alone with 3 kobolds. A few seconds later, Tokiel was down. With everyone spread out, it took some time for the others to find out that Tokiel was down and in need of help. Unfortunately, by that time, the rest of the party was fighting both Griina (Kobold Highpriestess) and Korak (Green Dragon, encountered earlier), as well as quite a few kobolds. Garel-kai tried to get back to Tokiel, but was repeatedly blocked by the kobolds. Tokiel died just seconds before Garel-kai got to him with a healing potion. At the other end of the battle, Kavaki and Paavu had killed Griina and most of the kobolds, but were struggling with Korak. Kavaki went down, with poison in his system, but Paavu managed to kill the green menace and Garel-kai got back just in time to save Kavaki.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]Another PC dead. It was a pretty hard encounter (n+4), but they had only had 1 encounter during that day, so it should have been doable. Also, there was plenty of time to save the sorcerer, since he was down for 7 rounds before dying. I do think the problem is that I have been playing my intelligent monsters a bit more smart this campaign. I am in general better at using the terrain to my advantage, and also on focusing their fire on one person at the time. Especially if the players are bloodied. That's like (and should be IMO) having a bull's eye painted on your forehead. Problem is, I haven't adjusted for that in my balancing of the encounters. I will have to pay even more closely attention to things, because while my players like it rough, killing too many too often will ruin my campaign for sure.[/sblock]</p><p>With all the enemies dead, the heroes searched the caves and found the dragon's lair and treasure, but no more clues regarding the connection between the kobolds and Mistress Adele. They then headed back south towards Fallcrest, with the corpse of the dragon. On the way home, they dodged what sounded like a really, really big boar, before resting for the night.</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]The boar that they dodged was a Death Boar, something which could have proven fatal. Luckily their checks allowed them to hear the boar before it heard them, and they chose to go around it. It is actually very rare, that my players avoid a combat. Despite them not having run into a hard random encounter since the first night of playing, the respect is still there. And that is a good thing.</p><p><strong>Torsday 23rd Zeptambor, Year 599</strong></p><p>The next morning they got home to Fallcrest. There they found themselves the heroes of the day, being dragonslayers and all. At least a couple of hundred people followed them through the town when they arrived, carrying the green dragon's corpse.</p><p></p><p>While the Lord Warden was happy that they had eradicated the kobold tribe that seemed behind the attacks on the town, he was disappointed that they had not managed to take at least one prisoner to interrogate. But as Paavu said, it is kinda hard to remember to not kill when you are being swarmed and have a dragon on your ass. With the war coffers being low-ish, the Lord Warden asked them to settle for his gratitude for this time around. Instead he introduced the party to Durham, personal (dwarven) smith of the Lord Warden, so that Paavu could get the dragon's head mounted on his helm.</p><p></p><p>As they exited Durham's forge, a kid yelled: Hey look, it's the Fallcrest Dragonslayers!</p><p>[sblock=Thoughts]I really want them to have a name for the group, it gives a certain je ne sais quoi, so I had an NPC come with a suggestion, based on what has happened. It actually didn't happen at the game table, but it was included in the summary posted on our blog (which is identical to this post, minus all the comments, of course)[/sblock]</p><p>[sblock=More Thoughts]I am still not super-happy about the campaign. My players are having fun (according to them anyway) and they like the multiple choice situation they are in constantly. But right now, they are merely basing their choices on what sounds the most fun. It is both their and mine, that eventually, the choice will be taken because their characters "feel" more for something.</p><p></p><p>I thought a lot about this (on holiday, so plenty of time to think) and perhaps it is a natural process of every campaign that is not extremely linear. It takes some time, some adventures, before the campaign gains the right form and the players can relate 100% to what happens. So I guess my verdict is that I have to be patient, and let things develop at their own pace. Since the players like this form, I will stick with it for now, but to be honest, I think I prefer a slightly more linear type of campaign. [/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack99, post: 5115554, member: 53135"] Session 5 The guy playing the monk is still on a break, and our invoker was missing as well tonight, being on vacation (lucky sob) [B]Tirsday 21st Zeptambor, Year 599 (continued)[/B] After getting everyone on their feet, the yet to be named heroes debated hotly on whether to pursue Mistress Adele or not. They figured they needed at least a small break before tracking her down and confronting her. But it proved too hard. Not many tracks to follow in the sever, and Kavaki soon had to give up. Instead they decided to head up to the surface and go tell the Lord Warden that they had found the nest of the Ravens and had taken care of that problem. He was of course more than pleased, and rewarded them handsomely. After telling him about what had happened, they realized that in their haste to catch Mistress Adele, they had completely forgotten to search the guildhall and all the rooms, so back down they went. As it turned out, that was a good idea. While there was no significant treasure, they did find directions to a kobold camp sketched on some paper. The thief in question must have been used to deliver messages or something. Obviously there was a connection. [sblock=Thoughts]This was one of two ways to find the kobold camp. Not counting sheer dumb luck of course. The other would have been good old fashioned research, which would have let them south, to the shapechanging fomorian hermit, who keeps a kobold from said tribe as slave. I would have preferred the other way for more fun, but the players' choices should decide the course of the adventure, not what I think. Or at least, that's what I am trying to do.[/sblock] Before heading north, they swung by the House of Sun, once a great temple to Pelor, now run only by a lonely dwarf priest named Grundel. They wanted information about what kind of creature Mistress Adele could be, although they were already convinced that she was some sort of undead creature, perhaps a vampire. Grundel couldn't really help them, but since they seemed convinced they were fighting undead, he did give them a couple of bottles of holy water, and a blessing of Pelor for the road. [sblock=Thoughts]Based on the description of Mistress Adele, I silently ruled that there was no way in hell that Grundel would recognize her as a succubus, or even a demon. So when they asked, they got nothing. Sometimes it is okay to say no ;) The blessing of Pelor was yet another little bonus, that usually will make no difference at all, but gives some flavor. This time they got +1 to all defenses against the first attack within 24 hours targeting them[/sblock] After buying some rations and some sun rods, the party of heroes headed north, following the thief's directions . After 5-6 hours, they found themselves standing on the river bank of the Jade River. This time however, there was little trouble getting over to the other side, since all present were adept swimmers. They continued north for a while, until they decided to rest for the night. Kavaki found them a nice spot, which secured them a good night's rest. [sblock=Thoughts]Despite being fewer and missing the closest thing they have to a skill monkey (Deva Invoker, high Int and Wis) they did really well on the skill challenge to see if there was any random encounters and on the skill challenge to camp for the night.[/sblock] [B] Onsday 22nd Zeptambor, Year 599[/B] The next day, they pushed further north, soon finding the ruins of an ancient tower that Garel-kai is convinced was built by kobolds, however odd that sounds. Not far from the ruined tower, they found (still following the notes, of course) a clearing with 3 man-dragon shaped statues in the middle. Scouting the clearing, the heroes were soon jumped by 4 kobolds, but they were quickly dispatched. Kavaki found an entrance to the kobold warrens behind some bushes. The entrance was actually fairly wide but as they got in, the heroes found that none of them could walk upright around in the tunnels. [sblock=Thoughts]The statues were one of those things that, as a DM, I just toss out there, without knowing what it is yet. Luckily they failed all their checks, so I have plenty of wiggling room to make something up, should they show continued interest in what they were. Having thought about it last night, I think I want to introduce draconians in my world, as some sort of draconian overlords, messengers of the dragons or something along those lines.[/sblock] Once inside, the party quickly realized that the sneaky kobolds had made a small maze of corridors. Going a bit around randomly (there were tracks everywhere) they eventually stumbled on a spear trap, shewering both Kavaki and Tokiel. Almost immediately after, the place was crawling with kobolds running in and out, throwing javelins at our heroes. The battle moved around in the corridors, and suddenly the party were split up, and Tokiel found himself alone with 3 kobolds. A few seconds later, Tokiel was down. With everyone spread out, it took some time for the others to find out that Tokiel was down and in need of help. Unfortunately, by that time, the rest of the party was fighting both Griina (Kobold Highpriestess) and Korak (Green Dragon, encountered earlier), as well as quite a few kobolds. Garel-kai tried to get back to Tokiel, but was repeatedly blocked by the kobolds. Tokiel died just seconds before Garel-kai got to him with a healing potion. At the other end of the battle, Kavaki and Paavu had killed Griina and most of the kobolds, but were struggling with Korak. Kavaki went down, with poison in his system, but Paavu managed to kill the green menace and Garel-kai got back just in time to save Kavaki. [sblock=Thoughts]Another PC dead. It was a pretty hard encounter (n+4), but they had only had 1 encounter during that day, so it should have been doable. Also, there was plenty of time to save the sorcerer, since he was down for 7 rounds before dying. I do think the problem is that I have been playing my intelligent monsters a bit more smart this campaign. I am in general better at using the terrain to my advantage, and also on focusing their fire on one person at the time. Especially if the players are bloodied. That's like (and should be IMO) having a bull's eye painted on your forehead. Problem is, I haven't adjusted for that in my balancing of the encounters. I will have to pay even more closely attention to things, because while my players like it rough, killing too many too often will ruin my campaign for sure.[/sblock] With all the enemies dead, the heroes searched the caves and found the dragon's lair and treasure, but no more clues regarding the connection between the kobolds and Mistress Adele. They then headed back south towards Fallcrest, with the corpse of the dragon. On the way home, they dodged what sounded like a really, really big boar, before resting for the night. [sblock=Thoughts]The boar that they dodged was a Death Boar, something which could have proven fatal. Luckily their checks allowed them to hear the boar before it heard them, and they chose to go around it. It is actually very rare, that my players avoid a combat. Despite them not having run into a hard random encounter since the first night of playing, the respect is still there. And that is a good thing. [B]Torsday 23rd Zeptambor, Year 599[/B] The next morning they got home to Fallcrest. There they found themselves the heroes of the day, being dragonslayers and all. At least a couple of hundred people followed them through the town when they arrived, carrying the green dragon's corpse. While the Lord Warden was happy that they had eradicated the kobold tribe that seemed behind the attacks on the town, he was disappointed that they had not managed to take at least one prisoner to interrogate. But as Paavu said, it is kinda hard to remember to not kill when you are being swarmed and have a dragon on your ass. With the war coffers being low-ish, the Lord Warden asked them to settle for his gratitude for this time around. Instead he introduced the party to Durham, personal (dwarven) smith of the Lord Warden, so that Paavu could get the dragon's head mounted on his helm. As they exited Durham's forge, a kid yelled: Hey look, it's the Fallcrest Dragonslayers! [sblock=Thoughts]I really want them to have a name for the group, it gives a certain je ne sais quoi, so I had an NPC come with a suggestion, based on what has happened. It actually didn't happen at the game table, but it was included in the summary posted on our blog (which is identical to this post, minus all the comments, of course)[/sblock] [sblock=More Thoughts]I am still not super-happy about the campaign. My players are having fun (according to them anyway) and they like the multiple choice situation they are in constantly. But right now, they are merely basing their choices on what sounds the most fun. It is both their and mine, that eventually, the choice will be taken because their characters "feel" more for something. I thought a lot about this (on holiday, so plenty of time to think) and perhaps it is a natural process of every campaign that is not extremely linear. It takes some time, some adventures, before the campaign gains the right form and the players can relate 100% to what happens. So I guess my verdict is that I have to be patient, and let things develop at their own pace. Since the players like this form, I will stick with it for now, but to be honest, I think I prefer a slightly more linear type of campaign. [/sblock] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Second Age [4e PoL campaign]
Top