Campaign Commentary- Adventures in Fallcrest

[Goonalan]

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 3 Part 2

Alas Rogar gets to the bottom of the stairs and trips over his own feet- '1', a Bullywug guard turns to stare at him, not sure for a second quite how to react, he recovers his senses and croaks a warning- it gets busy.


Watch out for the Giant Frogs!

Chaos ensues, the Bullwug Minions fall quickly, however a pair of Giant Frogs make their presence felt- the first hops over and devours Maldor, then hops off with the Avenger's legs hanging out the creatures mouth, Stunned and being chewed for 5 damage/turn.

Maldor fails his save on the next three turns- he's munched (although just hanging in there hit points wise), and when he finally gets out (and healed) the Giant Frog swallows him again on the very next round and hops off some more- well, it made me laugh.

If that wasn't bad enough towards the end of the fracas the other frog swallows Jeb and hops off with him too- Jeb however, escapes in seconds, thanks to an extra save from Drake.

In the meantime inside a Giant Frog turns out to be probably the safest place in the room, the Bullywug Minions blast their foul Croaks and several PCs take bits of Poison damage. A Bullywug Mud Lord hops in and unleashes a Fiery Croak doing 12 points of Thunder & Fire damage to one of his own and three of the PCs.

Soon enough Resolute, Rogar and Drake are bloodied, late in Maldor is down to only 6 HP- the fight requires some great play, Rogar taking a metric ton of AoO to get to the Mud Lord and prevent him from doing any more big damage. The PCs concentrate fire and Lord Kermit is taken down, the Giant Frogs are then hunted to extinction- the Bullywug Minions falling by the wayside in the action.

A lovely combat, enlivened by the Giant Frogs hitting most every time, although less liked by Maldor who apart from two rounds of play spent the entire time in the gullet of a Giant Frog, another Level 1 Encounter- Bullywug, Croaker (Level 3 Minion Brute) x7; Frog, Giant (Level 3 Controller) x2 & Bullwug, Mudlord (Level 3 Artillery), although it felt much tougher- you can really get some enemies on the board when there are six PCs.

Some notes-

I succeeded this time in bottle-necking the PCs in the thin corridor from the stairs down, obviously helped immensely by the fact Rogar missed badly with his Stealth check and the alarm was sounded early.

I put Bullywugs in the side rooms (above and below the PCs entrance) so I could unleash their Croak attacks and get to a few of the weaker PCs. This worked a treat, although was quickly nullified- the Bullywugs being Minions and all.

I used the Giant Frogs as one-amphibian snatch squads- reel in with Grasping Tongue attacks, or just Move into combat. Then Bite & Swallow followed soon after by Prodigious Leap to get the hell-out-of-dodge (with the feet of swallowed PC just visible). This tactic worked three times out of four, and made me laugh every time. Although I seem to remember being the only one laughing.

I tried to use the Mud Lord the same way as I had Rort above, he has some nice Burst & Blast attacks- I got in a good Fiery Croak early on but then quickly came unstuck. Rogar (the little... bugger), used his Drunken Monkey Move (+2 Speed +1 Defences vs AoOs), suffered three or four AoOs (one hit) and was in the Mud Lord grill, and then Steel Wind taking out a Minion and damaging the Mud Lord. Followed by Action Point Drunken Monkey Attack, bloodying (almost) the Mud Lord and with the free Basic Attack clearing another Minion. Then adding an extra 6 damage for Ironsoul Flurry and my Mud Lord was bloodied and battered, and the path almost clear. The dam broken the other PCs poured in.

Maldor was effectively nullified for the whole fight- Stunned and being consumed inside a Giant Frog, even when he did Save and get out the Giant Frog just swallowed him again next turn.

Jeb was also swallowed but managed to get out in moments, thanks to a free Save granted by Drake.

Rogar, with help from Resolute and Artillery by Neb, did for the Mud Lord very quickly, the Halfling Monk then chased down one of the Giant Frogs, the guy is everywhere- the Monk Movement Powers, even the At Wills, are very effective when combined with good tactical play.

The bodies are dragged away, and both of the Giant Frogs dissected- Maldor lost a boot in one of them- he can't remember which one he was in. Two caches of residuum are found, both small, a bunch of carpenters tools (which Maldor decides he wants to take) and a lot of gold- gathered up and in the possession of the Mud Lord. Finally an intact Ritual Scroll- Comrade's Succour is found, and taken by Drake- the poor lad is a little out of sorts, he's not used to this kind of thing.

The chambers are thoroughly searched, little else is discovered, other than the fact that the previous inhabitants left in a rush, and did a good job of taking everything with them.

The statue here, even bigger than the one in the previous chamber, is of the same guy- god-like he commands all before him, this guy must have an ego the size of a small continent.

There's more mud on the stairs down- Rogar, again, leads the way- and this time with better rolls.

Next time... Dirty Fighting.

 

[Badgerish]

Comments from Rgoar's perspectives:

a) Yes, we checked that the Bullywugs needed lights like we did, so Rogar tried his (untrained) stealth and failed horribly.

b) Maldor getting frogged was hilarious to everyone accept Maldor's player. As a GM, i've used similar creatures (changed to large to make more sense) which shows and important part of the action economy.

c) Rogar (still unsure about the value of this) burnt his daily power in this encounter. I tried to big it up, with akira-style specail effects and a limited transformation (Masterful Spiral, fluffed as Martial Trance/Psionic lose-of-control) and he got to attack 3 targets, but it was too late and the effect only lasted one extra round.

d) again with the statue: There was a giant (20' tall?) statue of the same person we saw statues of on the 1st floor. There was also 15/20' wide, 40' long floor-mosaic of the same man, which we delighted in discussing his 'pac-man'-staff, which he was pictured with.

 

[Goonalan]

HS1 The Slaying Stone
Session 3 Part 3

Down again, Rogar leading the way- the other PCs following a little behind, a number of locked chambers are found, and swiftly unlocked- a hastily abandoned bedroom and a storeroom with a camp bed in it- a little more residuum is recovered but nothing else of note- a few clothes and some mouldy reagents and damp unusable chemicals.

A kitchen is located, although it too has been ransacked, and muddied- the Bullywugs have been here, nothing of note, and finally to a locked door which is on the third attempt opened, and unleashes a tide of foetid mud- Neb and Drake are knocked off their feet and sent tumbling down the hard stone corridor.

The pair are quickly righted and the PCs wade into a chamber twelve inches deep in sulphurous mud, over the far side of the chamber is a beautifully crafted magical staff- spinning like a top causing a swirling maelstrom in the mud.

Neb uses his arcane knowledge to determine that this is some sort of portal, small though it is, to the Plane of Elemental Chaos- and if they don't close it, then the chambers here will eventually fill with the foul mud.


The PCs try out their new Mud Man Face Packs.

And to make matters worse a gang, initially four, of Mud Men surge up from the liquid filth and start giving the PCs the 'hard word'...

A Skill Challenge to complete (to close the Portal) and the Mud Men to defeat.

A lot of melee this time, and a little less fun because of it, but that's my fault- I must do better, hide much more stuff around the place for the PCs to find, or else provide more role-playing opportunities- a few talking enemies etc.

Ah well... not so bad. At the end of session 3 the PCs have just short of 500 XP, I figure they should have enough XP to level every five or six sessions, at least that's what I'm going to try for.

Next time... Mud glorious Mud!

 

[Ressurectah]

I must say that this fight was very amusing to me. This was the first time I have encountered something like this and If Paul allows it I think there is a bit of business to be had in the future. (If we get the staff, that is...) ;-)
Telekinetic leap was used nicely in this encounter...

 

[Goonalan]

I'm left wondering what the bit of business will be?

Here's the Skill Challenge for 'Close the Portal'-

Stem the Muddy Tide Skill Challenge.

In the very bottom of the magical redoubt below the Kiris Library you are faced with a sea of mud being spewed from a malfunctioning magical staff- straight from the planes of Elemental Chaos. You must stem the flow of the staff or else you will be swept away on the muddy tide, also who knows what creatures could be summoned through the portal should you fail.

This is a Level 2 Complexity 2 Skill Challenge, requiring 6 successes before 3 failures.

All Primary Skill Checks are Standard Actions.

Arcana DC15- with practised gestures and muttered arcane phrases, you seek to exert your will over the malfunctioning magic item and close the portal to the elemental chaos.

Nature DC15- your knowledge and control over the natural world extends into the primordial realm of the elemental chaos. You exert your will over the malfunctioning magic item in an attempt to seal off the portal it has opened.

Aid another DC10- you can chose to aid an ally in their attempt to close the portal. Success grants a +2 bonus to the ally's next Primary Skill check.

All Secondary Skill Checks are Minor Actions, although some can be used as part of the Movement Phase, see below for details.

Acrobatics DC12- your natural agility helps you to keep your footing in the treacherous conditions, making the task at hand easier to accomplish. You gain a +2 bonus to your next Primary Skill check. This check can be used as part of the Movement Phase.

Athletics DC12- You use the strength of your body to brace your companion against the slick tide of elemental mud. You grant a +2 bonus to the ally's next Primary Skill check. This check can be used as part of the Movement Phase.

Religion DC12- You call upon your deity to fortify your will and bolster you against the elemental chaos. You grant a +2 bonus to your next Primary Skill check.

Outcomes

Success- the tide is halted and the portal closed- the staff may also now be safely recovered.

Individual Failures- a sudden wave of elemental mud spews forth, you each take [2d6] points of damage and must make an immediate Athletics or Acrobatics check DC12 or else be pushed 2 squares and must further save or fall prone. A creature then emerges from the elemental chaos...

Overall Failure- the tide of elemental chaos is too much, it explodes with a deafening fury, you each take [4d6] points of damage and must make an immediate Athletics or Acrobatics check DC15 or else be pushed 5 squares and must further save or fall prone. There is no hope, you are forced to retreat- the library will slowly become submerged in elemental chaos, escape while you can.

Note Skill Challenges are dynamic, I need you to tell me just exactly what your PC is doing, I don't want- 'I'll make an Arcana check', this is a narrative after all it's your job as well as mine to carry the story.

The players complained (lol- only a little bit) that I was being too overt, I explained that I had in fact stolen the Pirate Cat method and used the PC explanation- I wanted the SC to be important, for the PCs to know that success is good, failure- very bad. Previously I have used invisible Skill Challenges, and they've seemed to work but often the while the pay off seems apparent the full extent of failure has not been made obvious.

The fact that the PCs completed the SC with no failures, not even a hiccup on the way, however...

If anyone has any comments I'd be very grateful, I'm at a crossroads, the invisible method sometimes lacked tension, the overt method makes it a lot less suspenseful (that's not a word- but you know what I mean).

I really would appreciate any thoughts you have.

I'll post the other Skill Challenge I sent to the PCs in a bit- this one is for them manouevering around the ruined town without being spotted by the Goblins/Kobolds et al.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[Goonalan]

This is the second Skill Challenge I handed out- for keeping hidden as they investigate Kiris Dahn...

Keep Hidden in Kiris Skill Challenge.

This is a long Skill Challenge (no set number of Successes or Failures- see below), which comes in to play every time you attempt to journey around the occupied town of Kiris Dahn, or should I say Gorizbadd. It is paramount that you remain hidden, the number of enemies in the town- Goblin & Kobold , are certainly far too many that you should look to take them on or else betray your position, they would hunt you down and destroy you if they knew you were here.

This Skill Challenge is also different in that it uses two new terms-

Journey- the distance and/or difficulty between points A and B, as determined by the DM, for example the Journey between the ruined farmhouse and the Kiris Library is a difficulty 2- which means it requires two Turns of Skill Checks.

Turns- each turn all PCs must make a Skill Check (Primary or Secondary) of some sort, a Turn is successful if the PCs gain more successes than failures, a Turn counts as a failure if the PCs gain the same or less successes than failures; see below for failures and successes.

This is a Level 2 Skill Challenge, see below for Success & Failure.

All Primary Skill Checks are Standard Actions.

Athletics DC15- you climb old stone walls, swim rivers and/or leap from rooftop to rooftop.

Bluff DC15- a PC tricks a single enemy, or a small group of enemies, into believing that he or she has the right to be in Gorizbadd. Note bribery is an obvious option. Further note, while you can use this skill as many times as is needed, the DC increases by 5 each time- you can't fool them forever.

Diplomacy DC15- as per Bluff above.

Dungeoneering DC15- the PC determines the best way from point A to point B, keeping in cover of other ruins en route. Note this skill can only be used once per journey.

Endurance DC12- the PC keeps on going and urges his fellows to do likewise. Note this skill can only be used once per journey.

History DC12- the PC plots a safe route using his or her knowledge of the town, and town layouts in general. Note this skill can only be used once per journey.

Stealth DC12- the PC makes sure the group remain undercover and out of sight on their journey.

Streetwise DC12- the PC convinces a single enemy, or small group of enemies, that have successfully been convinced that the PCs are not enemies, to share information or offer specific advice. Note this skill can only be used once per journey.

Aid another DC10- you can chose to aid an ally in their attempt to to do any of the above. Success grants a +2 bonus to the ally's next Primary Skill check. Note only two characters can aid another per turn.

All Secondary Skill Checks are Standard Actions.

Insight DC15- observing the area and its inhabitants the PC can figure the safest time to move off. This grants a +2 bonus to your next Stealth check. This check can only be used once per journey.

Intimidate DC12- the PC threatens a single enemy, or a small group of enemies, this can only be used to negate a single failure, it does not grant a success. Each time it is used the DC increases by 5.

Perception DC12- the PCs observes closely the way ahead, looking for enemies. You grant a +2 bonus to the next Primary Skill check. This check can be used only once per journey.

Outcomes

One Turn Success- you continue your journey unobserved and in no present danger.

Journey Success- you arrive at your destination unobserved and in no present danger.

One Turn Failure- something bad happens- determined by your DM, depending on how many failures you have accumulated in total- remember the consequences of failure may not be immediate. Furthermore you have probably been spotted, the level of threat in Kiris increases, rumours of your presence begin to spread.

Journey Failure- as One Turn Failure, the likelihood of an encounter increases dramatically. Furthermore the threat grows.

Complete Failure- all creatures are on alert, almost impossible to surprise- furthermore they actively attempt to summon other groups nearby. The creatures may even attempt to hunt the PCs down- should this happen then all DCs for all Skill Checks increase by 5, making travel incredibly dangerous and encounters with large groups almost inevitable. You have been warned.

Note Skill Challenges are dynamic, I need you to tell me just exactly what your PC is doing, I don't want- 'I'll make an Arcana check', this is a narrative after all it's your job as well as mine to carry the story.

Any thoughts... too obvious, I know how I'm going to change things, but I'd like to hear any suggestions.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[ragingpeanuts]

Drinking game

Hi Goonalan,

I enjoy reading your reports, I learned a few things from them.

Question: you reference a drinking skill challenge. Can you point me in the right direction as to where I may find it? I'd like to run it myself, it sounds like a lot of fun!

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Ragingpeanuts

 

[Bob_NS]

b) Maldor getting frogged was hilarious to everyone accept Maldor's player. As a GM, i've used similar creatures (changed to large to make more sense) which shows and important part of the action economy.

Oh, on the contrary, Maldor getting frogged was hilarious to Maldor's player too (me). I just:
a) didn't want Maldor to die (and being digested is not a good way to go, especially for an avenger),
b) was bored after initial 2 rounds of laughter just watching other have all the fun.
c) was truly mad, and wanting nothing more than to get out of this frog so I can put my Oath of Enmity on it and chop it to pieces.

By the way, I can't believe I didn't remember to chop its legs off after we killed it. That would give me another day of food, and some extra pleasure while eating it (an eye for an eye).

And Paul (Goonalan) you couldn't have told me it wouldn't have tasted nice, because I had frog in Singapore, and it was bloody delicious.

 

[Goonalan]

Rogar's Diary entry for Session 3.

<session 03>
<these few pages of the dairy are stained with mud>

BULLYWUGS! Until today, they where only a creature of myth, a joke. Now I know they are real... but they are still jokes!

Bloody Bullywugs. If you thought goblins where dirty, they are like elves in cleanliness compared to Bullywugs. The only good thing I can say about Bullywugs, is that if you punch them in the right place, you feel better. And I’m not just saying that as an overly aggressive ex-criminal adventurer, it’s some type of magic! (ask a druid)

So, the Bullywugs poured in from the two doors. They didn’t try to drive us off or parley, just croaked, stabbed with spears and in time, croaked. One of them did manage to just catch me with a spear, opening the skin of my right arm. Nab burnt it down in response, and the last one tried to run. Maldor headed it off and I followed up. Cought up with it and slammed it in the lower back (called to the kidneys on a human, who knows on these things). It collapsed and while the body still stunk to high heaven... I felt better. Really better. The cut on my arm? It was no more than a bruise, even though I had only been cut seconds before.

Bloody Bullywugs. Well, we searched the place and collected some meager coin from the bodies (moving the bodies out of sight from both sets of stairs), I had a good look through the rubble and under the bed (it’s a classic) and it turns out the Bullywugs are crap at finding things, as there was a small sack of semi-precious stones in there. Would have been a decent haul for me, but a little weak for the lot of us. Still I showed them the loot and stowed it in my pack. I fully intend to share it out when we escape this place and return (triumpant) to civiilsiation, but for now, it’s another reason for my allies to look after me

Given that these things only see as well as we do, they light their lairs with poor torches, so I crept ahead of the group to try and scout. Unfortunatly, “try” is a key phrase. I mistook a big grey lump for a lump of mud, when it was another Bullywug and didn’t even try to hide from it. To make matters worse, I fumbled my sling and dropped the bullet, letting the thing get enough time to croak a warning.

This fight didn’t go as well as the last. The Bullywugs came from all sides, and worse where the frogs... Frogs big enough to almost swallow an Elf or a Githyanki whole! One of them just rolled up to Maldor at the start of the fight and... ate him! This was followed with a comedy moment of the frog leaping away and my going to help Maldor. I have to dodge past the other frog (which nearly swallows me up! Only luck and a reverse-scrabble jump got me away from it) then dodge past a feral Bullywug (who cut me, but was cut down later), so what happened after this stunning display of acrobatics and combat-sense? The frog just kept hopping a wobbling! I couldn’t hit it. It finally coughed up Maldor... but then it swallowed him again.

The rest of the fight is a bit hazy for me. I remeber being so very angry, wanting to hurt all these foes at once. I remeber yelling “Everyone, Stop getting eaten by giant Frogs!” The others said I walked (walked!) into the middle of the enemies and then let out this wave of force that buffeted just the Bullywugs and frogs; afterwards, the said my hair and clothes moved as if blown by an unseen wind.

But... that’s the type of thing you would expect to remeber, right? I’m not sure what happened there, but I think, in the long run, it’s for the best. Maybe I can control it. Well, from what they said, this didn’t last long, just seconds later the last Bullywugs fell and the quiet feeling of victory was with us.

The leader of this group of anphibians (Neb called them this, seemed scientific) had something useful up his sleeve. Healing potions! I hope they where looted from somewhere, not brewed in this place; their leader tried to drink our treasure, but I took him down before he could. Drake and Resolute took the potions, I think.

So, the rest of the place. I found a poorly-looted store room with decayed magical magical materials, spotted signs of Residium and pointed it out to Neb. The other rooms had even less. A single fine quill, some gardening/buildings tools. Two One thing of note, whoever built this place had an Ego the size of a moon! There was a 10’ tall statue of a wizardly-looking man in robes on the 1st level (well, basement-2), nothing wrong with that, but the 20’ tall statue and the 20’ by 30’ floor-mosiac on the level below? That my friends is “too much”. So who built this place? What name does he have other than “Mr double-ego”? Maybe we will find out. If we don’t I’m sure Treona will know.

After we exhamine (and laugh at) the floor-mosiac (what’s a “Pac-Man”?), we continue down. This place is a little cleaner (but that’s not saying much). We find two poorly locked bedrooms, one largish and well-appointed, although looted. Could be a good place to hide out and rest; the other one was comfy-sized for me, must have been troublesome for the others though; also looted, although some human-sized female clothing was left. Was this Treona’s room? Doesn’t seem... right.

Anyway. Next there was a kitchen-area and then things went both strange and wrong. I checked the last door and confirm it was locked before we check the kitchen out, and here I was expecting the lock to be of the same quality. But this was a lab and apparently more important. While the tallfolk watched me like a common thief (not a thief any more and certainly not common) I was confounded by this lock. Similar to the others, but better made and (as we whewre soon to learn) there was a significant weight behind the door, which kept the lock from opening until I put double-pressure on the tension bar and thumped the door.

That’s when the door opened. And opened it did! it exploded open with a couple of tons of MUD behind it! Resolute grabbed the door frame and stood strong, while I leapt up and secured myself above the door. Drake and Neb where not so lucky skilled and got a bit buried.

Resolute dug Drake out the mud, while Jeb blasted the mud off Neb and we all slowly slogged into the room. It was a big room, same size as the rest of the floor and with three four notable things: a chest, a stairway leading up to an overlooking balcony, another 4 or 5 tons of MUD and an ornimented quarterstaff that was floating a couple of feet above the ground had the mud shirling around it; you don’t have to a skilled ritualist to guess that this was the source of the problem. But, as we started to slog through the mud... the mud came alive and attacked us! Mostly-humanoid shapes, between my size and that of a dwarf rose out of the mud and tried to punch us! Made of mud... shaped like men... I called them “Mud-Men” and the others couldn’t think of anything better.

Despite the horrible conditions, danger organised us into competanceny, and the first few of these mud-men fell to our attacks, with the last two trying to move back. This just gave us the space to move freely and while I led with an impressive off-wall jump-kick, the rest followed and we cut the mud-men down. The magic staff that was apparently the source of all this lay ahead of us. Neb and Jeb warned that it was protected by a magical effect. I left them to it and took a moment of solace atop the large chest that was floating in the muck. Only a short moment though, as another mud-man leapt from the muck and attacked! Resolute grabbed it and...

 

[Aegeri]

Where did you get the tower maps from? Did you make those yourself?