Arthurian Adventures (in Ireland)

[Námo]

Here are the basic Sir Anton's stats:

Yeah! Thanks.

Motto: "Freedom through Service" - I wanted to have it in German, but not being German and having a limited German vocabulary I cannot find a German word that means service or duty and rhymes with Freiheit... I intendet something like "Freiheit du(e)rch ...heit" where ...heit is a german word for service or duty

Well, hopefully it's not a problem of your Language (German) skill, but a problem of my native language... I could not think of any German word for service/duty that rhymes with Freiheit. Literally it would be Dienst or Pflicht - so maybe "Freiheit durch Dienst."

 

[Particle_Man]

The funny part about this is that I decided that (aside from the secret druidic tongue) there is only one language in my game world. Thus the saying comes across as an idiosyncratic code used only by members of the family, and doesn't sound intelligible to the rest of the world. But hey, he wanted a germanic family saying, he's got a germanic family saying.

 

[Particle_Man]

Well, first off some news: I am taking a break for the holidays, so this will be the last game report for a while until at least the Saturday after Jan. 3rd, when I return. That said, I talked to the players about posting their characters and they seemed cool with the idea (except for one who was absent, and another who declined). So you may see more players posting here, which will also be good since they can read the posts and correct my mistakes.

And the big clash did not happen as I thought, since Sir Anton, Sir Andrew and Lady Christine’s players were late, I had them all disappear in a magical whirlwind. Sir Anton saw his Lady of the Lake, who warned him that his enemy was Albion (he was shown the face of the giant he met in Lemba, but this face was very, very solid, and has a nasty look). Sir Andrew was buried up to his neck in amber, in a grove of trees with pink and blue leaves, and visited by a beautiful green lady called Titania who told him to tell Caius that Merlin is sleeping for the good of fairyland. Unfortunately, Sir Andrew only remembers the “Merlin is sleeping” part of the message when he later tells Prince Caius. Lady Christine’s player was a no-show (I think she had to babysit, and I assume did not get permission to bring her 9 year old brother for a one-shot character).

Meanwhile, back at the village of Freedonia, the two peasants were untied, and told to build stables by their new master Sir Toby, but Lady Leanne set the rest of the buildings on fire, presumably to purify the place. Sir Anton talked with Lady Leanne about her fire magic and found out that she had druidic training. Then they heard the loud footsteps of giants, and sure enough, two arrived demanding tribute for King Albion. Needless to say, the followers of King Anguish were not happy with this (the two rescued peasants ran far, far away, btw).

Noble single combat ensued. Giant #1 took out the wounded Toby, and the wounded Sir Anton. Then Prince Caius took out that giant, taunting/bluffing him to get in a sneak attack. But then Giant #2 challenged Prince Caius! But during that battle, Giant #2 was hit by arrows from the woods, and was so enraged he left to deal with the upstart archers (they were dwarven yeomen, but I rolled so badly for them that they didn’t even get seen by most of the characters (Lady Leanne snuck over and saw them, but that’s it). The giant returned, and Sir Andrew challenged the giant and finally won. (both giants had those special rings, which Lady Leanne took, causing the giant bodies to disappear in whirlwinds of dust, and her to keep the rings). At that point, Lady Leanne wanted to return to fairyland the gold statuettes that she knew were in that bag, and so used the other ring, given to her by Queen Titania, to return there (Sir Andrew was blinded by the whirlwind, but the other party members saw her disappear (but hey, characters disappear and reappear a lot in my campaign, so the characters were not shocked).

Sir Andrew and Sir Anton got into theological debates, and Prince Caius made Sir Andrew promise to take no action without him (Sir Andrew suspected Lady Leanne of witchcraft and wanted her taken for questioning). I think that Prince Caius is able to put reins in on Sir Andrew’s fanaticism…for now.

Meanwhile, Lady Leanne was being interrogated by Queen Titania, who soon realized that Leanne was holding some information back, read her mind, and found out about the rings. She then took them to investigate them, and sprung a trap! (I spent her destiny points). Suddenly Queen Titania was trapped inside a gigantic ruby crystal and was visibly aging and being drained of her power! Fairyland itself was getting colder (snow appeared in it for the first time!). It took the aging Auberon to staunch the flow, after he found out that the rings came from Albion. He used his magic and was able to stop the draining, but not free his wife. He told Lady Leanne that to break her free required the heart of an innocent mortal, and the name of the powerful sorceror that worked with Albion to fashion this trap. He warned her that he could not spare magics to help her, since he now was the sole being able to maintain the realm of fairyland. In addition, he would be “going to sleep” within a handful of years, so if Titania could not be rescued by then, then all the fey would die, fairyland would be destroyed, and all the old magic would be gone, with the exception of the magic of whoever had drained her power. This distressed the Lady Leanne.

Auberon in his weakened state tried to send her home, but something went awry (I rolled a 1 on a d20). She ended up on the right plane of existence (4 on a d4), but ended up in the Arctic Ocean (8 on a d8, the other 7 being continents). She cast endure elements, got on a large ice floe, walked inwards until she got to snow, and looked around for help but only saw a White Dragon in the distance, which she hid from. Things looked bleak. Then she got a voice in her head talking through her ring, asking if she needed help (she spent fate points). She had little choice but to say yes, and ended up in the bedroom of a Queen called Morgan, beloved of the Fey. Morgan let her dry herself, was very pleasant, and send her to where she wished to go (Baron Ivo’s). She ended up in Roderick’s bedroom during a very private moment, which she used to pretend to be upset with Roderick’s “unfaithfulness” to hopefully get him off her back. Then she hid from him using speed and eventually the secret passages in her castle (opposed int check – she won).

[Note: I got the idea for the Arctic as a place and Roderick’s bedroom as the later place from the players of Sir Andrew and Sir Anton, respectively].

The rest of the party is travelling on the road to Baron Ivo’s, and hear a hissing noise. Sir Andrew investigates and sees a squat lizard, larger than a dog but smaller than a horse. He tells it to Halt, but it advances. They fight (Sir Anton helps out). Sir Andrew turns into a statue! Sir Anton kills the creature, but now they have a problem. And possibly a clue. Could this be what had happened to Caius’s brother Magnus? Could that statue of Magnus back at King Anguish’s BE Magnus?

Anyhow, Caius is on the case. At Baron Ivo’s he asks about the merchants that had brought the Magnus statue (Ivo has a cough, by the way – getting older). They find the merchants on their route and get information on the knights that had driven off Saxons who were around that statue and who abandoned it on the field of battle. This took our group to meet the knights in the port city of Dartsmouth (remember, there is also a deadline to attend the wedding of Linus and Brigitt). There they met Sir Jaime and Sir Gregor, and went to the place where the statue was last seen. On the way, they met some Saxons and a Skald, and killed them, and rescued a stone arm (and some wealth). They found out from Sir Jaime that the Saxons had thrown a stone arm of the statue over a cliff in spite, so Sir Caius was lowered on a rope from the cliff to the beach. And was attacked by a giant springing out of the sea! Quickly being pulled up, and throwing back one of the large spears thrown at him (and hitting the giants for more damage, too!), he engaged the giant in conversation, confirmed that this giant had the arm, and offered to trade two gems for it. The giant took the gems and went under the water. (I had decided that if I rolled equal or less than the giant’s nobility, he would return with the arm – it was a low nobility but I made the roll, so he did).

Lady Leanne noticed that the arms did not have weapons or shields in them, and remembered that the statue of Sir Magnus has a sheathed sword.

Ok, some Gather Info checks later, they find out that many of the coastal cities of Count Randolph have been attacked by Saxons, and tracked down where statues had been stolen. They went to John Reb’s place. His widow showed Caius and Leanne some other statues (a lifelike bird, a sword, a lifelike cat she said was modeled on the real cat that was around them, etc.). Prince Caius bought the bird and fastened it to Sir Andrew.

And I think that is where we left it. Oh, the player of Sir Andrew played Hubert, the cohort of Prince Hammoton, for now.

I think I have to beef up my monsters, though. On the one hand Sir Toby the centaur nearly died against the giant. But on the other hand he never felt the need to use his haste power, so the later battles were not too much of a sweat for him. So dragons, dragons, dragons! And giants too! NOW we are in the Arthurian mythos, baby!

Oh, and Prince Caius just made Red Knight! Ta-dah! First prestige class!

I hope I haven’t forgotten anything, but I am tired and will stop for now.

 

[Toby of Kusman]

Green Knight Stats

When we started the campaign, I decided to be a skillful Yeoman since everyone was making a melee Knight. We also decided to go for the “power rangers” route… blue, red, green, purple and white knights. A Green Knight requires to have both Animal Affinity and Track feats, and a common Yeoman could start with both. There was no reason not to take it, but then I soon found out the disadvantage of having a low nobility character in a high nobility party. They were the heroes and I was the zero .

Here were the starting abilities of my human character:
Str: 9 + 2
Dex: 18
Con: 16
Int: 15 – 2
Wis: 10
Cha: 9

Bloodline: Commoner
Nationality: British
Nobility: 37

*Note – commoner bloodline gives +2 to Str or Con, -2 to Int, +1 feat (with 20+d10 starting nobility)

I was level 2 Yeoman and level 2 Knight before turned into a Centaur

Feats I had:
Point Blank Shot, +1 Archery, Animal Affinity, Heritage of Nobility, Track, Improved Initiative, +1 Mounted Combat, Aura of Knighthood, Weapon Focus (Great Sword), Armor Tolerance +1, Knight’s Warhorse, and Ride by Attack.

Fate:
To be a knight (Completed)
To save a great lady (Chosen after shooting multiple females as my destiny)

Character Concept:
First I wanted to be a skillful ranged character, but I soon learned that shooting in honorable fights means BAD reputation and LOWER nobility. Therefore, I decided to become a knight just like the rest of the party. The fun of this character was the process that I had to go through to become a real knight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Current Character Info:
Level 7 character
Level 1 Knight

Race: Centaur (Large Size) +8 Str, +4 Dex, +4 Con, -2 Int, 4HD creature

Centaur Abilities:
Str: 20
Dex: 22
Con: 20
Int: 11
Wis: 12
Cha: 9

Nobility: 73 (3rd highest in party)

Centaur has great abilities for fighter type characters. However, this is a story role-playing campaign. I thought my Centaur wouldn’t be able to fit in the story. I was sooooo worried.

HP: 69
AC: 20
Initiative: +10
Fortitude Save: +8
Reflex Save: +10
Will Save: +5

Melee Attack: +11/+6
Ranged Attack: +12/+7

Attacks:
2 hooves – 1d6+5 damage, +11 to hit
Great Sword (master work) – 3d6+7 damage, +13/+8 to hit

Composite Long Bow (master work) – 2d6 damage, +13/+8 to hit (Bow had returned to family after I was knighted. No more destiny points can be used to shoot a lady in the back)

Feats:
Track, Ride by Attack, Animal Affinity, Heritage of Nobility, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Great Sword), and Power Attack

Allegiances:
Oath of Fealty, Oath of Loyalty, and Code of Chivalry

Fate:
To save a great lady (Completed, but there are more ladies to be saved)
To be human again (story purpose)

Items:
Great Sword (m.w.)
Great Axe
Chain Shirt with chain barding (m.w.)
Silver Horse Shoes
Cold Iron Horse Shoes
Other Gears: backpack, blankets, ropes, waterskin, etc...

Magical Items:
Circular Amulet with 6 different color buttons (black, blue, green, red, purple, and white) – currently embedded in my left shoulder
It allows me to cast Haste 2x per day for 8 rounds each as a free action, and many other things that I don't know....

 

[Toby of Kusman]

I think I have to beef up my monsters, though. On the one hand Sir Toby the centaur nearly died against the giant. But on the other hand he never felt the need to use his haste power, so the later battles were not too much of a sweat for him. So dragons, dragons, dragons! And giants too! NOW we are in the Arthurian mythos, baby!

It was a challenge I declared against the giant. I wouldn't use any magic to my advantage in an honorable fight!

For King Anguish!

 

[Particle_Man]

D'oh! And I forgot to add nobility for you! Remind me next game to do that (and for other combatants (Blue knight, White Knight), except perhaps Red -- did Prince Caius take the shot on the giant when his back was turned, going after those pesky archers?).

 

[Námo]

Thanks again for your story hour, and thanks to you all for posting your characters. This is a fun experience...

[Except for words like "do not expect updates until next year" : ]

Obviously you all are having great fun with your game. And it shows.

And, Sir Toby, I'm very glad you would not stoop to unfair magical aid in honorable combat. Your chosen fate is quite a clever solution to the serial killer problem you got at the beginnning of the story.

EDIT: apparently and "]" conspire to get the following result ]
So "preview" is your friend, or you have a lot of editing to do

 

[LadyK]

Lady Christine's Stats

Character Name: Lady Christine of the Clan O'Brian
Player: LadyK
Bloodline: Peerage (Lesser Nobility)
Nationality: Scottish
Class: Hedge Mage
Level: 4

Basic Stats

Hit Points: 27
Armour Class: 13
Initiative: +2

Strength: 8
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 18
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 16

Spell Points: 18

Saving Throws

Fortitude: +5
Reflex: +5
Will: +4

Attacks - and yet I'm more successful with the morningstar than the crossbow

Melee: +1
Ranged: +4

Skills - best or most relied on

Bluff
Gather Information
Handle Animal
Heal - low modifier, but I have a first aid kit
Intimidate
Prophecy - working on this one!
Ride
Spellcraft

Feats

Spell Focus Enchantment
Power Surge x2

Items

Morningstar
Dagger x10 - I like throwing these
Magic Dagger w/ +1 to hit
Light Crossbow and Bolts

Magic Ring w/ +1 armour
Magic Cloak w/ + something to armour. - Have so never used this
Magic Bracelets of Feather Fall

Lantern and Oil
Healer's Kit
Rope


----
"The Fair Damsel hath rescued the Good Sir Knight. Again."

 

[LadyK]

Lady Christine's Familiar

Name: The Weasel - really, he doesn't need any more specific name
Type: Dire Weasel
Size: Medium
Colour: White

Basic Stats

Hit Points: 13
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40ft
Armour Class: 16

Strength: 14
Dexterity: 19
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 11

Attacks

Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+4
Attack: Bite +6 (1d6+3)
Special Attack: Attach, Blood Drain

Saves

Fortitude: +3
Reflex: +7
Will: +4

Feats
Alertness
Stealthy
Weapon Finnesse
Carries Touch Spells
Empathic Link

Adds +2 to Lady Christine's Spot and Listen checks
Adds +2 to Lady Christine's Reflex save

----
"So I now have an arctic dire weasel familiar?? crazy DM"

 

[LadyK]

Friar Hobb and the miracles of Prince Hamilton and Lady Christine's pet reassure me that our cause is right and just, and that the One God watches and protects us.

Pet, Sir Andrew? PET?? You do disservice to so noble a companion. Yet you do not know him as I do, and thus you cannot rightly judge his worth. And you do him honor in praising him, and thanking him for his aid in battle, and so I forgive you the slight. You are, it is true, more courteous to him than some others of our party, and I do apologize if, due to your greater nobility, I have come to hold you in too high of an expectation.

My companion is no pet, he cannot be bought nor sold, and he is loyal to me because he wishes to be, not because I have tamed or trained him. He may indeed be a miracle, or as was once suggested, a gift from a greater power. I cannot tell; I am a lady of this world and no other, practical more than holy, who knows much about some things, yet very little of far more. What I do know is that this weasel has saved my life, given me comfort, hunted with me, played with me, and shown me beauty. No pet, he.

Forgive me, I pray, if I am too passionate in my convictions or, because, mayhap, of certain events in my past, too quick in my condemnations. Forgive me, also, if I stay too long on a subject.

----
"I have PMS and a crossbow. Any questions?"