Against the Shadows VI - A Faded Glory Story Hour

[Old One]

Hats, er, Helms off to Rowan...

Big Grin ... HEY WAIT! THIS MAN WANTS ME DEAD!

This was a very tough situation. In a meta-game sense I knew how bad off eveything was. IN a character sense I had so many choices, just like with everything else in Old One's world, that it was a struggle to pick a certain series of actions, all of which could have been in character. At one point I rolled a die to decide and promptly ignored it choosing to follow a certain developement path you'll soon learn about in an update.

That risky Heal attempt was a blast. I knew it could potentially end the entire party had the AoO's been nasty ones, but sometimes you have to go with your gut and Rowan's gut was twisting watching his friend die. He's lost two, damned if he was going to lose another!

Natural 20 on that heal check, plus three for ranks and talent, minus the damage he took, and it still barely suceeded.

Old One knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats in situations like this even when our characters are out of it for a long part of the fight like Rose and Sextus were. Both players were skimming the PHB to prepare replacement characters, but neither could tear their attention away from the action long enough to get anything done.

I must be livin' right...2 players stop by in the same day! It is tough to run a session when the party is fighting in two different locations, but I try to use a "mini-cliffhanger" approach. I will run 1-3 rounds in one location until something dramatic happens, then switch to the other location, leaving the PCs at the first location hangin' on the side of that cliff!

Hopefully it works pretty well!

~ Old One

 

[Old One]

A Little of Both...

Old One, do you write down what happens each round or do you just have an amazing memory or poetic license? Do any of your players keep logs during the game to keep track of what is going on?

Valavien,

I try to make good pre-game notes, then summarize important happenings in a campaign log after the session. Corey is our "Imperial Scribe", responsible for taking notes during the game (which he then writes up in journal form from Quintus' perspective). Tortoise (Rowan) is our "Imperial Quotemaster" and he records humerous quotes and anecdotes.

I do have a pretty good memory and if I do the full write up within a day or two of the session, everything is pretty accurate. Lately, however, I have been unable to get to the write ups for a week or two postgame. I give bonus XP for postgame journals...Corey and Tortoise are regular writers, with Lew's player submitting journals a little less frequently.

I narrate the action pretty much as it happened, although I sometimes take some "creative license" to bring in background elements that either weren't obvious to the players or that they didn't see. I try to capture all of the major events (who dropped who, fumbles, crits, spell use) and include important narrative by both PCs and NPCs. Sextus' player regularly spouts awesome lines (for which I wish I had a tape recorder) and Corey has been known to give a good speech or three.

I do forget things from time to time or misattribute a quote or action, but the players are good about catching and correcting mistakes (they have full permission to post here to correct me as needed).

Hope that helps...

~ Old One

 

[Old One]

One might think the wizard is unbalanced...

Never survive enemy contact... Or something like that. Right. That's why I prefer not to plan.

My characters are built to be survivors... But you guys did awfully good. Old One please... If they manage to kill some of these villains, post their stats in a Rogues Gallery thread. As well as our heroes!

That mad cackling wizard... first a hypnotic pattern, then a ray of frost, then magic missiles... do you roll randomly which spell he uses ?

Darklone -

No plan survives contact with the enemy...an old military adage that proves true time and again (especially with this group). Actually, this group does a pretty good job of planning most of the time, which is a good thing! They make intelligent use of spells, protect their flanks and rear, and aren't afraid to run away!

These are all good things...otherwise, we would have lots of TPKs!

If I ever get some time, I will post the PCs and some of the villains into the Rogue's Gallery. One of the issues, however, is that with the exception of Scarnose/Acrius and Luc, they really haven't done in too many villains!

With regards to the enemy wizard, I am not at liberty to divulge what, if any, method there was to his spell casting!

~ Old One

 

[Darklone]

Re: One might think the wizard is unbalanced...

These are all good things...otherwise, we would have lots of TPKs!

That's the reason why I love your group (Applause to the players). They act tactically good (per D&D rules) as well as heroically.

If I ever get some time, I will post the PCs and some of the villains into the Rogue's Gallery. One of the issues, however, is that with the exception of Scarnose/Acrius and Luc, they really haven't done in too many villains!

Tortoise, Corey, did you hear that? Go ahead and give us something to watch! Get some notches on your weapons!

With regards to the enemy wizard, I am not at liberty to divulge what, if any, method there was to his spell casting!

Praise all gods for blindfighting and close your eyes at anything the enemy wizard shouts
Hey heroes, how many of your group got blindfighting?

 

[Corey]

Darklone said, "Tortoise, Corey, did you hear that? Go ahead and give us something to watch! Get some notches on your weapons!"

Man, there is just no pleasing some people. We slaughter scores of bad guys to get to the "leader." Then, when we are exhausted, Darklone wants us to waste him as well. What do you want us to do, bleed on him?

Corey

PS- The reply with quote thing was not working correctly, so I had to improvise.

 

[Lela]

Hay all, I'm back. Had a great time. Went to bed late, slept in, relaxed, read all of Harry Potter IV. All in all, nothing productive.
It was great!!

Nice update Old One! It really was an incredible description of combat. Some of the best I ever read! Did Lew's player actually say that Rose's lung was punctured out loud? I wouldn't be surprised if someone in your group were to do that.

Nope, didn't do a thing with the Lela Awards©. C'mon, did anyone really expect me to?
I was a little too busy doing nothing to actually get anything done.

Looking forward to what will come next! Hmmm, may I sudjest a Druid character for the dead player. Just got Masters of the Wild and realized all the amazing things you could do with Wild Shape. Fun with a (Dire) Bear's Str, and a Cheetah's speed boost. And seeing as this party is always trying to intimidate their foes with impressive displayes of magic, imagine what watching someone turn into a giant bear and roar at you would do. There's also the Animal Companion, which allows for Dire Animals (Dire Tiger! Dire Tiger!). And then there is always the Awaken spell later on. You could even include a couple flying creatures to help Rowan with scouting!!

Okay, little bias there, but it is something to think about.

Paitiantly waiting (I really am, I still have to complete the Lela Awards© and I don't have to have it ready until you have it ready). Keep my request in mind (from that e-mail WAY back).

 

[Darklone]

Damn !

Hay all, I'm back. Had a great time. Went to bed late, slept in, relaxed, read all of Harry Potter IV. All in all, nothing productive.
It was great!!

Darn! I just finished Harry Potter I-III and read IV halfways... weekend is too short!

Man, there is just no pleasing some people. We slaughter scores of bad guys to get to the "leader." Then, when we are exhausted, Darklone wants us to waste him as well. What do you want us to do, bleed on him?

Edit: Yeah sure, threaten him with your stepmother and your siblings! You're Mr. Intimidate, scare him into surrender!

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

NEXT

With at least one character "moving on" what type of characters should players roll up next? Because they are currently in an urban setting they might have different options available.

In my opinion...

if Rose is lost, his player should try a Monk next.

if Quintus is lost, his player should try a multi-class Fighter/Wizard next.

If Rowen is lost, his player should try a Rogue next.

If Lew is lost, his player should try a Paladin next.

If Sextus is lost, his player should try a Cleric next.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Caliber]

Just as a note, I believe that the Monk and Paladin classes are actually psudo-prestige classes in Old Ones campaign, so Rose and Lew's players probably couldn't make those choices. Well, maybe they couldn't.

 

[anowack]

Hi!

I'm a long time lurker, infrequent poster. I've been reading this stroy hour since near the beginning (just caught up after a long period not reading these boards). I just figured I'd finally write a post to show my great enjoyment of this storyhour, etc.

Looking forward to finding out who bites the dust...