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[Zeitgeist] Chronicles of Unit 42
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<blockquote data-quote="d2OKC" data-source="post: 6008153" data-attributes="member: 97351"><p>OK, we played again for about six hours and got all the way through Act Two of Axis. It was a lot of fun, and the guys are really getting in to it. We had one missing player, so the whole thing was done with only three PCs (the swordmage, the artificer, and the monk/shaman).</p><p></p><p>===</p><p></p><p>After the incident on board the R.N.S. <em>Coaltongue</em>, Unit 42 of the RHC became minor celebrities in the city of Flint. Newspapers tried to get interviews, people stopped them in the streets to thank them for saving the king, and the RHC took notice of their resourcefulness.</p><p></p><p>But, there was still work to do. The Duchess had escaped, and had taken her fleet, along with all the soldiers she had that were loyal to her, and took over Axis Island, a Danor-controlled island on the edge of the Yerasol Archipelago. It was an act of war, but neither side wanted to go. So, an agreement was made. Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister of Outsiders, gave King Aodhan and his navy, led by Captain Rutger Smith of the R.N.S. <em>Impossible</em>, three days to retrieve his sister and hand the island back over to Danor before she would be helpless and unable to convince the council in her homeland to not go to war against Risur.</p><p></p><p>The King summoned his most battle-tested squad of constables, Unit 23, and for backup, he sent the newly famous Unit 42, as they were the last to see the Duchess alive, and might catch something others would miss. Plus, they had proved themselves capable, and because of their interaction with Geoff Massarde, Jierre was more comfortable asking them a favor - rescue her tiefling nephew Nathan from whatever fate the Duchess might have in mind for him.</p><p></p><p>She met the unit, along with Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft, to brief them on the mission and offer her assistance, in the form of information to help them get into the fortress once they made it to the island. The briefing was rather simple. They were to join Unit 23 on the <em>Impossible</em>, follow them into a sea cave, in case something went wrong, and make their way across the island to the backside of the fortress. Then they would wait, while the other inspectors sneaked through the fortress, opened the sea wall and signaled the fleet to move in. Once the battle was over, they were to interrogate the Duchess and look for Nathan Jierre before handing the island back over to the Danorans.</p><p></p><p>That night, they boarded the <em>Impossible</em>, talked philosophy with Captain Smith (specifically that of the famous thinker William Miller), and got to know Unit 23 - Tanya the half-elf shaman, Letmas the human illusionist, Seven-Foot Dan the human fighter, and Burton the halfling rogue. Right away they hit it off with the gregarious Seven-Foot Dan and enjoyed the illusions and imitations of Letmas. A good evening was had, and the two units were even able to get a bit of shuteye before they made it to Axis Island.</p><p></p><p>As fun as Unit 23 was on board the ship, they were just as serious when it came to doing their job on the island. They were professional and efficient as they marched to the sea cave and set up their rope system to swim to the other side of the tunnel. They quickly explained that after they made it across, Burton would swim back to get the others, and dove into the freezing water.</p><p></p><p>The group waited for a few minutes, and suddenly there was a violent shake in the cavern - and earthquake. The rope that Unit 23 was trailing behind them started jerking and then went completely still. After a minute of planning, Unit 42 jumped in after and followed the rope until they came upon Burton, his leg trapped under a rock, screaming in pain about yellow frogs and purple skies. When they swam up to him, he demanded they cut off his leg and free him. Instead, they levered the rock off his leg and got him back to a safe spot before going back for the rest of his group. They found the hand of Seven-Foot Dan sticking up from under a pile of boulders, lifeless. There was no way they could have survived this cave-in.</p><p></p><p>Burton told them to go on, complete the mission, and send someone after him when the fortress was retaken. They did as he said, and went off through the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>When they emerged on the other side, they found themselves in a large cavern. There were makeshift docks built around its edges and a large column of stone rose up in the middle, displaying a large golden coin. The constables immediately decided to climb up and get a better look at the coin. As soon as Gareth Carter touched it, a shadowy figure struck him on the back of the head.</p><p></p><p>A small fight broke out which saw the constables defeat the shadow elemental and a small earth elemental while a man fired his pistol from far above (and Gareth learned that the coin allowed him to jump around the room with ease), but as soon as the elementals were destroyed, the man, who introduced himself as Nicolas Dupiers, surrendered and tossed his gun down.</p><p></p><p>He explained that he was the mine foreman and when the Duchess's forces made their way onto the island, he hid here with two other coins so nobody would get them. The constables took the two other coins from him and divided them among themselves (Carter ended up with a coin that gave him resistance, Casimiro del Garra with a coin that gave him darkvision, and Reginald Battersea with the coin that let him jump easily). Dupiers told them how to leave, and wished them luck taking down the Duchess.</p><p></p><p>They came out of the mine on the opposite side of the mountains from the fortress and slowly made their way over. This is when they started to experience the truly strange effects of the island. Flame gouts, wandering colossi, and mystery swamps filled with yellow frogs all caused them consternation, but none deterred them from their mission.</p><p></p><p>They made it to the back of the fortress and used passwall to get in. From there, del Garra scouted out a path for the others to follow, and they slowly made their way to the harbor (after passing a building with a teleportation circle), where they swam across to the lighthouse to see how they would get up and open up the seagate. When they got there, it was heavily guarded by a mage and several soldiers. They opted for a rather bold approach and started with a surprise round from the water. Battersea used his jumping abilities to fly around the wall and Carter was nigh invulnerable with the resistance he had, and the fight was pretty quickly over. They set the seawall to open, and then prepared to defend the tower.</p><p></p><p>Two waves came at them. The first was easily dispatched by igniting a few barrels of firedust, which Battersea had strategically placed across the wall. The other wave was much more difficult.</p><p></p><p>While Carter held a bottleneck, Battersea and del Garra took shots from above. In the end, the attackers were able to get past Carter, but not long enough to close the seagate, and though both del Garra and Battersea were knocked down during the fight, they both got back up and Unit 42 held down the lighthouse long enough for the fleet to breach the seawall.</p><p></p><p>===</p><p></p><p>They loved the other group of constables. They had a real fun time "breaking stuff" with Seven Foot Dan, and we have a guy in our group who fancies himself an impersonator, so he concluded his character was as well, and did some voices with Letmas for a bit (I, btw, am terrible with voices).</p><p></p><p>They also loved the icons, and have already decided to request them back. They will be disappointed to learn they don't work off the island, but really, the earth icon made the swordmage nearly indestructible. With resist 5 and an AC as high as he has, he basically held down the lighthouse on his own.</p><p></p><p>I made a fun model for the lighthouse encounters. I'll try and get some photos up before too long. Maybe later this evening.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="d2OKC, post: 6008153, member: 97351"] OK, we played again for about six hours and got all the way through Act Two of Axis. It was a lot of fun, and the guys are really getting in to it. We had one missing player, so the whole thing was done with only three PCs (the swordmage, the artificer, and the monk/shaman). === After the incident on board the R.N.S. [I]Coaltongue[/I], Unit 42 of the RHC became minor celebrities in the city of Flint. Newspapers tried to get interviews, people stopped them in the streets to thank them for saving the king, and the RHC took notice of their resourcefulness. But, there was still work to do. The Duchess had escaped, and had taken her fleet, along with all the soldiers she had that were loyal to her, and took over Axis Island, a Danor-controlled island on the edge of the Yerasol Archipelago. It was an act of war, but neither side wanted to go. So, an agreement was made. Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister of Outsiders, gave King Aodhan and his navy, led by Captain Rutger Smith of the R.N.S. [I]Impossible[/I], three days to retrieve his sister and hand the island back over to Danor before she would be helpless and unable to convince the council in her homeland to not go to war against Risur. The King summoned his most battle-tested squad of constables, Unit 23, and for backup, he sent the newly famous Unit 42, as they were the last to see the Duchess alive, and might catch something others would miss. Plus, they had proved themselves capable, and because of their interaction with Geoff Massarde, Jierre was more comfortable asking them a favor - rescue her tiefling nephew Nathan from whatever fate the Duchess might have in mind for him. She met the unit, along with Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft, to brief them on the mission and offer her assistance, in the form of information to help them get into the fortress once they made it to the island. The briefing was rather simple. They were to join Unit 23 on the [I]Impossible[/I], follow them into a sea cave, in case something went wrong, and make their way across the island to the backside of the fortress. Then they would wait, while the other inspectors sneaked through the fortress, opened the sea wall and signaled the fleet to move in. Once the battle was over, they were to interrogate the Duchess and look for Nathan Jierre before handing the island back over to the Danorans. That night, they boarded the [I]Impossible[/I], talked philosophy with Captain Smith (specifically that of the famous thinker William Miller), and got to know Unit 23 - Tanya the half-elf shaman, Letmas the human illusionist, Seven-Foot Dan the human fighter, and Burton the halfling rogue. Right away they hit it off with the gregarious Seven-Foot Dan and enjoyed the illusions and imitations of Letmas. A good evening was had, and the two units were even able to get a bit of shuteye before they made it to Axis Island. As fun as Unit 23 was on board the ship, they were just as serious when it came to doing their job on the island. They were professional and efficient as they marched to the sea cave and set up their rope system to swim to the other side of the tunnel. They quickly explained that after they made it across, Burton would swim back to get the others, and dove into the freezing water. The group waited for a few minutes, and suddenly there was a violent shake in the cavern - and earthquake. The rope that Unit 23 was trailing behind them started jerking and then went completely still. After a minute of planning, Unit 42 jumped in after and followed the rope until they came upon Burton, his leg trapped under a rock, screaming in pain about yellow frogs and purple skies. When they swam up to him, he demanded they cut off his leg and free him. Instead, they levered the rock off his leg and got him back to a safe spot before going back for the rest of his group. They found the hand of Seven-Foot Dan sticking up from under a pile of boulders, lifeless. There was no way they could have survived this cave-in. Burton told them to go on, complete the mission, and send someone after him when the fortress was retaken. They did as he said, and went off through the tunnel. When they emerged on the other side, they found themselves in a large cavern. There were makeshift docks built around its edges and a large column of stone rose up in the middle, displaying a large golden coin. The constables immediately decided to climb up and get a better look at the coin. As soon as Gareth Carter touched it, a shadowy figure struck him on the back of the head. A small fight broke out which saw the constables defeat the shadow elemental and a small earth elemental while a man fired his pistol from far above (and Gareth learned that the coin allowed him to jump around the room with ease), but as soon as the elementals were destroyed, the man, who introduced himself as Nicolas Dupiers, surrendered and tossed his gun down. He explained that he was the mine foreman and when the Duchess's forces made their way onto the island, he hid here with two other coins so nobody would get them. The constables took the two other coins from him and divided them among themselves (Carter ended up with a coin that gave him resistance, Casimiro del Garra with a coin that gave him darkvision, and Reginald Battersea with the coin that let him jump easily). Dupiers told them how to leave, and wished them luck taking down the Duchess. They came out of the mine on the opposite side of the mountains from the fortress and slowly made their way over. This is when they started to experience the truly strange effects of the island. Flame gouts, wandering colossi, and mystery swamps filled with yellow frogs all caused them consternation, but none deterred them from their mission. They made it to the back of the fortress and used passwall to get in. From there, del Garra scouted out a path for the others to follow, and they slowly made their way to the harbor (after passing a building with a teleportation circle), where they swam across to the lighthouse to see how they would get up and open up the seagate. When they got there, it was heavily guarded by a mage and several soldiers. They opted for a rather bold approach and started with a surprise round from the water. Battersea used his jumping abilities to fly around the wall and Carter was nigh invulnerable with the resistance he had, and the fight was pretty quickly over. They set the seawall to open, and then prepared to defend the tower. Two waves came at them. The first was easily dispatched by igniting a few barrels of firedust, which Battersea had strategically placed across the wall. The other wave was much more difficult. While Carter held a bottleneck, Battersea and del Garra took shots from above. In the end, the attackers were able to get past Carter, but not long enough to close the seagate, and though both del Garra and Battersea were knocked down during the fight, they both got back up and Unit 42 held down the lighthouse long enough for the fleet to breach the seawall. === They loved the other group of constables. They had a real fun time "breaking stuff" with Seven Foot Dan, and we have a guy in our group who fancies himself an impersonator, so he concluded his character was as well, and did some voices with Letmas for a bit (I, btw, am terrible with voices). They also loved the icons, and have already decided to request them back. They will be disappointed to learn they don't work off the island, but really, the earth icon made the swordmage nearly indestructible. With resist 5 and an AC as high as he has, he basically held down the lighthouse on his own. I made a fun model for the lighthouse encounters. I'll try and get some photos up before too long. Maybe later this evening. [/QUOTE]
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