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[ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
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<blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 5964052" data-attributes="member: 79141"><p><strong>Session 37</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session 37</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Rumdoom and Uru were overcome by the disorienting energies of the Ziggurat and remained behind with the boats.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Matunaaga took up position halfway up the ziggurat while the others searched the campsite.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">The bodies had been interfered with and searched since death. All useful documentation had been stolen.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">The reserachers had been killed by psychic energy. Their bodies had decayed but had not been eaten or carried away - there was no sign of natural fauna in the area. The energy of the ziggurat repelled them.<br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">The unit headed inside the ziggurat and after a deep descent discovered they had only gone down about ten feet!</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">There were more bodies in the entrance chamber - this time killed by claws/tentacles/necrotic energy.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Three Ancient orc mummies stood in alcoves. They had clearly been divested of a staff, a sword, and an amulet.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Offered a choice of left or right, the unit first investigated a dessicated corpse hanging on a spear trap to the right - a dead tomb robber providing evidence of the traps that lay ahead.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen"><em>Leon experienced a hallucination about his future at this point. His reattached arm had turned into a snake, and bitten his girlfriend, who died in his arms. He was them accused of a terrible crime and was herded through the streets of Flint, being jeered at and vilified. Finally, he found himself imprisoned in a cell made from gold.</em><br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">They went left, and came to a room containing many platforms over a deep, watery, spike-filled pit and an elaborate magical puzzle designed to cross it by lowering multicoloured magical walls and raising magical bridges, each colour keyed to a specific plane. It made it impossible for less than four people to make it through the room.<br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen"><em>Here, Malthusius also had a vision of a possible future. He was in battle with a rakshasa, only it wasn't clear if he was the rakshasa as the rakshasa's opponent didn't look like him at all. All he knew was that he was one of the combatants.</em><br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Partway through solving the puzzle, they released two creatures that resembled - in origin if not in form - the same type of 'thoughtforms' released by the golden staff. These were glowing orbs, like spherical jellyfish with trailing tentacles. They attacked, along with many insidious implanters - crawling horrors with ovipositors that had climbed up from the pit.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Once they had dealt with these monsters, and Krauss had succumbed to an even deeper form of the madness afflicting many of the unit by now, they managed to solve the puzzle and cross into an ancient maproom.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">(On opening the final door, Malthusius had a vision of the Ancient orcs preparing for battle with 'Warbeasts of Gidim' - their name for the thoughtform creatures. He also learned that one could 'think at' these creatures to weaken/affect them.)<br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">The map room was once a dead end, but could now be accessed by a tunnel freshly dug from the other side. (Clearly the archeologists could not be done with repeatedly solving the rainbow bridge puzzle over and over again.) At the other end of the tunnel was a room where a large indentation in the wall indicated the possible location of a table/door-sized golden seal (now removed).</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">In the maproom an ancient contraption indicated the location of another ziggurat - in a place now occupied by the Cold Claw Sea. (The map there was so old it showed modern Risur and Danor linked by a land bridge: the now shattered Yersaol archipelago.)</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">From the chamber of the missing seal, they entered a long corridor, which led to a dangerous fire trap. They could either continue straight ahead or take a passage behind the trap.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">They took the second passage and discovered a twisting gauntlet of spear and dart traps, followed by a crushing force trap and two more fire traps. Each of the traps (except for the spear traps) was presaged by an inscription on the walls or floor depicting the planetary system, with one specific planet/plane picked out (Avilona, Jiese, Urim). They made their way along, methodically dealing with each trap.<br /> </span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Krauss was the first to dash through all of these traps, and found himself on the threshold of a large chamber, where lurked several 'warbeasts of gidim': hideous floating monsters covered in eyes, and spidery crawling spikers. A fight broke out in which the unit had to avoid both these monsters and another trap - a terrifying bottomless pit. A wounded Matunaaga was forced to withdraw at this point.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Leon realised that the pit was an illusion. They defeated the warbeasts and crossed the room, and, after another twisting passage and two more spear traps, found themselves on the other end of the long corridor they had reached on the far side of the maproom. Only one more chamber remained unexplored:</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">Here, a secret door had been wedged open by the archaeologists. Someone had placed an ironic 'welcome' mat in the doorway! Beyond, lay seven corpses, two feathered serpent pillars, and a huge golden seal - but a very poor seal, as it leaked waves of disorienting Apet-flavoured energy.</span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen"><em>Here, Korrigan had a hallucination too. He was holding his newborn son and cycling through strange environments that represented the planets/planes.</em></span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen"><em>Matunaaga had a vision of an earthquake levelling the temples of his homeland. He braced himself to take aim at a distant star through an intervening haze of pollution, which turned out smoke emanating from the star - not a star at all, in fact, but the pulsing ember of a cigarette!<br /> </em></span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: YellowGreen">The unit prepared to explore this final room.</span></li> </ul><p>Rumdoom and Uru's players were away this week. I've been having a lot of fun lately screwing with characters whose players don't show up. Unless there's some major real-life reason for them not to be there. In this case I began thinking how having the party split for the deadly final trap could make for an even more memorable encounter. The report for session 38 details how this worked out in practice.</p><p></p><p>When you read a dungeon as a DM, it's only natural to try to predict what will happen depending on what route the players take. They could easily miss a huge chunk of the dungeon simply by taking a different route. To my surprise, having negotiated the rainbow bridges, my players headed back south down the spear/dart-trapped corridor, and then back up to the secret seal chamber via the bottomless pit trap. They managed to set off every trap in the dungeon in a beautiful 'figure of eight'! </p><p></p><p>Krauss has now got a mind scar, which is perfect for his character. He has become obsessed with Matunaaga (which gives him a good excuse to use <em>warweavers tether</em>). </p><p></p><p>The hallucinations were also great fun. My players have given up trying to read too much into these things, and so I could put quite a lot of hints in the visions without worrying that they would spoil the plot.</p><p></p><p><strong>NB: </strong>I had the monsters in the puzzle room emerge once the players were partway through the room. This idea came about after reading another thread.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gideonpepys, post: 5964052, member: 79141"] [b]Session 37[/b] [B]Session 37 [/B] [LIST] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Rumdoom and Uru were overcome by the disorienting energies of the Ziggurat and remained behind with the boats.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Matunaaga took up position halfway up the ziggurat while the others searched the campsite.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]The bodies had been interfered with and searched since death. All useful documentation had been stolen.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]The reserachers had been killed by psychic energy. Their bodies had decayed but had not been eaten or carried away - there was no sign of natural fauna in the area. The energy of the ziggurat repelled them. [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]The unit headed inside the ziggurat and after a deep descent discovered they had only gone down about ten feet![/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]There were more bodies in the entrance chamber - this time killed by claws/tentacles/necrotic energy.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Three Ancient orc mummies stood in alcoves. They had clearly been divested of a staff, a sword, and an amulet.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Offered a choice of left or right, the unit first investigated a dessicated corpse hanging on a spear trap to the right - a dead tomb robber providing evidence of the traps that lay ahead.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen][I]Leon experienced a hallucination about his future at this point. His reattached arm had turned into a snake, and bitten his girlfriend, who died in his arms. He was them accused of a terrible crime and was herded through the streets of Flint, being jeered at and vilified. Finally, he found himself imprisoned in a cell made from gold.[/I] [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]They went left, and came to a room containing many platforms over a deep, watery, spike-filled pit and an elaborate magical puzzle designed to cross it by lowering multicoloured magical walls and raising magical bridges, each colour keyed to a specific plane. It made it impossible for less than four people to make it through the room. [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen][I]Here, Malthusius also had a vision of a possible future. He was in battle with a rakshasa, only it wasn't clear if he was the rakshasa as the rakshasa's opponent didn't look like him at all. All he knew was that he was one of the combatants.[/I] [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Partway through solving the puzzle, they released two creatures that resembled - in origin if not in form - the same type of 'thoughtforms' released by the golden staff. These were glowing orbs, like spherical jellyfish with trailing tentacles. They attacked, along with many insidious implanters - crawling horrors with ovipositors that had climbed up from the pit.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Once they had dealt with these monsters, and Krauss had succumbed to an even deeper form of the madness afflicting many of the unit by now, they managed to solve the puzzle and cross into an ancient maproom.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen](On opening the final door, Malthusius had a vision of the Ancient orcs preparing for battle with 'Warbeasts of Gidim' - their name for the thoughtform creatures. He also learned that one could 'think at' these creatures to weaken/affect them.) [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]The map room was once a dead end, but could now be accessed by a tunnel freshly dug from the other side. (Clearly the archeologists could not be done with repeatedly solving the rainbow bridge puzzle over and over again.) At the other end of the tunnel was a room where a large indentation in the wall indicated the possible location of a table/door-sized golden seal (now removed).[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]In the maproom an ancient contraption indicated the location of another ziggurat - in a place now occupied by the Cold Claw Sea. (The map there was so old it showed modern Risur and Danor linked by a land bridge: the now shattered Yersaol archipelago.)[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]From the chamber of the missing seal, they entered a long corridor, which led to a dangerous fire trap. They could either continue straight ahead or take a passage behind the trap.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]They took the second passage and discovered a twisting gauntlet of spear and dart traps, followed by a crushing force trap and two more fire traps. Each of the traps (except for the spear traps) was presaged by an inscription on the walls or floor depicting the planetary system, with one specific planet/plane picked out (Avilona, Jiese, Urim). They made their way along, methodically dealing with each trap. [/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Krauss was the first to dash through all of these traps, and found himself on the threshold of a large chamber, where lurked several 'warbeasts of gidim': hideous floating monsters covered in eyes, and spidery crawling spikers. A fight broke out in which the unit had to avoid both these monsters and another trap - a terrifying bottomless pit. A wounded Matunaaga was forced to withdraw at this point.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Leon realised that the pit was an illusion. They defeated the warbeasts and crossed the room, and, after another twisting passage and two more spear traps, found themselves on the other end of the long corridor they had reached on the far side of the maproom. Only one more chamber remained unexplored:[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]Here, a secret door had been wedged open by the archaeologists. Someone had placed an ironic 'welcome' mat in the doorway! Beyond, lay seven corpses, two feathered serpent pillars, and a huge golden seal - but a very poor seal, as it leaked waves of disorienting Apet-flavoured energy.[/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen][I]Here, Korrigan had a hallucination too. He was holding his newborn son and cycling through strange environments that represented the planets/planes.[/I][/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen][I]Matunaaga had a vision of an earthquake levelling the temples of his homeland. He braced himself to take aim at a distant star through an intervening haze of pollution, which turned out smoke emanating from the star - not a star at all, in fact, but the pulsing ember of a cigarette! [/I][/COLOR] [*][COLOR=YellowGreen]The unit prepared to explore this final room.[/COLOR] [/LIST] Rumdoom and Uru's players were away this week. I've been having a lot of fun lately screwing with characters whose players don't show up. Unless there's some major real-life reason for them not to be there. In this case I began thinking how having the party split for the deadly final trap could make for an even more memorable encounter. The report for session 38 details how this worked out in practice. When you read a dungeon as a DM, it's only natural to try to predict what will happen depending on what route the players take. They could easily miss a huge chunk of the dungeon simply by taking a different route. To my surprise, having negotiated the rainbow bridges, my players headed back south down the spear/dart-trapped corridor, and then back up to the secret seal chamber via the bottomless pit trap. They managed to set off every trap in the dungeon in a beautiful 'figure of eight'! Krauss has now got a mind scar, which is perfect for his character. He has become obsessed with Matunaaga (which gives him a good excuse to use [I]warweavers tether[/I]). The hallucinations were also great fun. My players have given up trying to read too much into these things, and so I could put quite a lot of hints in the visions without worrying that they would spoil the plot. [B]NB: [/B]I had the monsters in the puzzle room emerge once the players were partway through the room. This idea came about after reading another thread. [/QUOTE]
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