Particle_Man
Explorer
Pain is relative, and nothing is truly permanent. Or so I claim. 
Ok, lots of stuff. First they fought the four ghouls, who were polished off with little trouble. One of them tried to bite the elf (Lady Leanne). Silly ghoul!
Oh, a one-shot character was introduced: a dwarf fool (with Int 5!). This led to an idea where many nobles have dwarf fools (but don’t realize that they are THAT kind of dwarf…). A network of agents for Queen Titania, methinks. Anyhow, she played her to the hilt to be useful, yet annoying…really annoying.
After the battle, the characters ran into Friar Hobb, who was a Hermit/Rogue (in fact, the reformed rogue that had earlier been one of the 24 that tried to kill them, traveled with them to many realms (including Hell), and now was there to rescue them). He was told in a dream that three green hags were sending a tornado down this path. He begged the party for forgiveness, and to be believed about his warning. He was believed, and they went off track for half a day to a grove.
In that grove, they talked (the fool started telling a joke). Then a spear pierced Hobb and two giants (ogres, really) sprang into view. And the party polished them off.
This is where I had to realize that I needed to “tone up” the critters slightly (but as we see later, sometimes the monsters are too tough…hey, I am still learning how to DM, and it is harder to measure CR when people sometimes do the single combat thing and sometimes don’t)!
Anyhow, the fool had run off into the woods, and so had a private encounter with goblins (to make it more fun for the others, I let each other player play a goblin). They were fairly evenly matched, I thought, but the goblins started a grapple and things were going downhill for the fool. But then one of the goblins used sleight of hand to steal a “pretty” from another goblin. And many rounds were wasted with goblins ripping the same “pretty” from each other’s hands (a silver comb) and some ran off after the goblin that had it. Then the fool could polish off the remainder. By the way, if you ever let your players run temporary monsters like this, remember that the level of the tactics of the monsters suddenly increases to make them MUCH tougher! On the other hand, it was a fun way to break the “serious” mood of high chivalry for a while.
Meanwhile, back at the grove, the party was struck with a variant Veil spell, after fog descended on them. As the fog cleared, Green Hags surrounded the party, or so they thought. (4 of the party looked and sounded like Green Hags, so we had party members fighting party members for a while, until a lucky dispel magic got rid of them). I used the opportunity to let Sir Andrew do extra damage to his ‘hag’, Sir Anton (and blew some destiny points).
Sir Toby went into the woods to look for the Fool. He saw a goblin and fired two arrows. The first hit and killed the goblin, and the second hit the apple that that goblin became as it died while the apple was still in mid-air! Great shot! Too bad no one else saw it…
Ok, they link up with the fool and go back to the grove. The wind goes up a bit, and then they rest for the night. The next day, they return to the path and find scenes of devastation. The friar’s dream of a tornado was true, it seems…
They eventually reach what seems to be a castle, flying King Hammoton’s flags. But then the fool climbs the “portcullis” and makes a save and realizes it is only a hut. The others then make their saves. All of them. Darn! And then they get initiative ahead of all the 3 Green Hags! But considering how the party faired against them, I still worry that they were not ready to face these hags yet. I guess I will see how the players react next week.
The inside of the hut is much bigger than the outside. Combat ensues. 5 goblins spring out of a cupboard and start firing arrows, but they die quick. One of them has the silver comb with purple gems (the “pretty”, and recognized by Lady Leanne as being the remains of a fallen elf). Being nasty, the Hags tried to curse or weaken Toby and failed. Then they just ganged up on him, eventually “killing” him and moving on to Prince Caius, doing the same, etc. (Both players blew their remaining 2 fate points to have some means of being saved. In this case, I will wait until next session to say what became of them. In game, both disappeared in flashes of light, as did Lady Leanne’s Weasel, temporarily. It returned bigger (see below). Toby and Caius have not returned…yet).
And this brings up an interesting point. Sir Andrew and Sir Anton, for most of the fight (Sir Anton for all of it), did not ever “Double Team” a hag, because that would be ignoble (not your standard D&D flanking here!). And this, plus the greenhags having no problem with teaming up, led to character “deaths”. Sir Anton and Sir Andrew were almost completely unharmed in the battle. This is part of the DM problem with the “Single combat” thing…it is hard to balance, and characters can die more. But we’ll see.
Oh, and I have decided that Lady Christine’s “magic item” (every party member eventually gets one) is actually that her familiar weasel will be treated as tougher. So now it is a Dire Weasel, and will gain HD to be one behind Christine’s level as a Hedge Mage (getting Large when appropriate). The weasel actually helped kill a hag, but Sir Anton nearly killed it, thinking the medium sized creature was a monster. Then Lady Christine punched him in the nose, and Hobb cured the weasel.
In the hut, they find various nasty things. A baby’s crib with rat skulls in it, a stew pot with a human hand, nasty stuff. Of note is a box, that when the fool opened it, restored memories to Caius’s older brother (tied up as a dangerous “wolf man”, although is memories as a “wolf man” are hazy, at best) and Sir Anton (so he remembers what actually happened at Hammoton’s castle). They also find stuff that the Fool takes with her (back to Queen Titania), and some papers describing King Anguish’s immanent assassination (taken by the fool but at least read by Lady Christine). But Lady Leanne also finds tracks outside of the last hag. The party is divided over what to do next, to the point of maybe splitting the party.
Oh, Sir Anton foolishly agreed to give the “pretty” to the Fool (likely out of frustration at the fools constant pleading). But Lady Leanne secretly stole the “pretty” from Sir Anton after he got it off the goblin he killed. Makes it kind of hard to keep that oath, unfortunately. But so long as he is “on the quest” to find it and give it to the fool, he technically has not broken his word.
Well, next time they might go after that last hag or not. And two players might make new characters or might not. I have an idea for Toby, but not sure about Caius yet. Hmmm...
Ok, lots of stuff. First they fought the four ghouls, who were polished off with little trouble. One of them tried to bite the elf (Lady Leanne). Silly ghoul!
Oh, a one-shot character was introduced: a dwarf fool (with Int 5!). This led to an idea where many nobles have dwarf fools (but don’t realize that they are THAT kind of dwarf…). A network of agents for Queen Titania, methinks. Anyhow, she played her to the hilt to be useful, yet annoying…really annoying.
After the battle, the characters ran into Friar Hobb, who was a Hermit/Rogue (in fact, the reformed rogue that had earlier been one of the 24 that tried to kill them, traveled with them to many realms (including Hell), and now was there to rescue them). He was told in a dream that three green hags were sending a tornado down this path. He begged the party for forgiveness, and to be believed about his warning. He was believed, and they went off track for half a day to a grove.
In that grove, they talked (the fool started telling a joke). Then a spear pierced Hobb and two giants (ogres, really) sprang into view. And the party polished them off.
This is where I had to realize that I needed to “tone up” the critters slightly (but as we see later, sometimes the monsters are too tough…hey, I am still learning how to DM, and it is harder to measure CR when people sometimes do the single combat thing and sometimes don’t)!
Anyhow, the fool had run off into the woods, and so had a private encounter with goblins (to make it more fun for the others, I let each other player play a goblin). They were fairly evenly matched, I thought, but the goblins started a grapple and things were going downhill for the fool. But then one of the goblins used sleight of hand to steal a “pretty” from another goblin. And many rounds were wasted with goblins ripping the same “pretty” from each other’s hands (a silver comb) and some ran off after the goblin that had it. Then the fool could polish off the remainder. By the way, if you ever let your players run temporary monsters like this, remember that the level of the tactics of the monsters suddenly increases to make them MUCH tougher! On the other hand, it was a fun way to break the “serious” mood of high chivalry for a while.
Meanwhile, back at the grove, the party was struck with a variant Veil spell, after fog descended on them. As the fog cleared, Green Hags surrounded the party, or so they thought. (4 of the party looked and sounded like Green Hags, so we had party members fighting party members for a while, until a lucky dispel magic got rid of them). I used the opportunity to let Sir Andrew do extra damage to his ‘hag’, Sir Anton (and blew some destiny points).
Sir Toby went into the woods to look for the Fool. He saw a goblin and fired two arrows. The first hit and killed the goblin, and the second hit the apple that that goblin became as it died while the apple was still in mid-air! Great shot! Too bad no one else saw it…
Ok, they link up with the fool and go back to the grove. The wind goes up a bit, and then they rest for the night. The next day, they return to the path and find scenes of devastation. The friar’s dream of a tornado was true, it seems…
They eventually reach what seems to be a castle, flying King Hammoton’s flags. But then the fool climbs the “portcullis” and makes a save and realizes it is only a hut. The others then make their saves. All of them. Darn! And then they get initiative ahead of all the 3 Green Hags! But considering how the party faired against them, I still worry that they were not ready to face these hags yet. I guess I will see how the players react next week.
The inside of the hut is much bigger than the outside. Combat ensues. 5 goblins spring out of a cupboard and start firing arrows, but they die quick. One of them has the silver comb with purple gems (the “pretty”, and recognized by Lady Leanne as being the remains of a fallen elf). Being nasty, the Hags tried to curse or weaken Toby and failed. Then they just ganged up on him, eventually “killing” him and moving on to Prince Caius, doing the same, etc. (Both players blew their remaining 2 fate points to have some means of being saved. In this case, I will wait until next session to say what became of them. In game, both disappeared in flashes of light, as did Lady Leanne’s Weasel, temporarily. It returned bigger (see below). Toby and Caius have not returned…yet).
And this brings up an interesting point. Sir Andrew and Sir Anton, for most of the fight (Sir Anton for all of it), did not ever “Double Team” a hag, because that would be ignoble (not your standard D&D flanking here!). And this, plus the greenhags having no problem with teaming up, led to character “deaths”. Sir Anton and Sir Andrew were almost completely unharmed in the battle. This is part of the DM problem with the “Single combat” thing…it is hard to balance, and characters can die more. But we’ll see.
Oh, and I have decided that Lady Christine’s “magic item” (every party member eventually gets one) is actually that her familiar weasel will be treated as tougher. So now it is a Dire Weasel, and will gain HD to be one behind Christine’s level as a Hedge Mage (getting Large when appropriate). The weasel actually helped kill a hag, but Sir Anton nearly killed it, thinking the medium sized creature was a monster. Then Lady Christine punched him in the nose, and Hobb cured the weasel.
In the hut, they find various nasty things. A baby’s crib with rat skulls in it, a stew pot with a human hand, nasty stuff. Of note is a box, that when the fool opened it, restored memories to Caius’s older brother (tied up as a dangerous “wolf man”, although is memories as a “wolf man” are hazy, at best) and Sir Anton (so he remembers what actually happened at Hammoton’s castle). They also find stuff that the Fool takes with her (back to Queen Titania), and some papers describing King Anguish’s immanent assassination (taken by the fool but at least read by Lady Christine). But Lady Leanne also finds tracks outside of the last hag. The party is divided over what to do next, to the point of maybe splitting the party.
Oh, Sir Anton foolishly agreed to give the “pretty” to the Fool (likely out of frustration at the fools constant pleading). But Lady Leanne secretly stole the “pretty” from Sir Anton after he got it off the goblin he killed. Makes it kind of hard to keep that oath, unfortunately. But so long as he is “on the quest” to find it and give it to the fool, he technically has not broken his word.
Well, next time they might go after that last hag or not. And two players might make new characters or might not. I have an idea for Toby, but not sure about Caius yet. Hmmm...
Unfortunately, my boss decided that I would be working this Saturday till 11pm, by which time the session was long over.
In fact, I thought the concept of blowing fate points to prevent death, but something strange happening to you interesting. In my view, death should not be without consequences and the way you approached it was quite interesting. I can see, though, how it can upset some players if their race changes - I guess it depends on the player and what the race changes to. Also, you need to ask whether it upsets the players or merely their characters.
