Describe your last RPG session in more than 5 words.

[aramis erak]

Sun Jackals...
Natakan killed for being thieves...

Wait, wrong thread...
They head from the town they're in towards Sentem, the largest town in the region.
They interact with locals at the watchtower a day out from Sentem.
Three camp with a Gerwa Merchant; the fourth, having fumbled the storytelling, gave offense, and so stayed in the "inn"...

I have them roll perception at night, planning to have the three Natakan each steal 1d6 bracelets from each (at two sheckles of silver each, that's a lot but not a damaging lot)... but at both Zamir (the Luathi spellcaster) and Philon (a Melkoni swordsman) both woke, and each avoided the thefts and two of the three Natakan lay dead by the merchant's rugs...

We cut short by about 30 minutes... but it was a good session.

 

[Corinnguard]

It ended with a bang.

Literally. Last night my party encountered some Yuan-Ti while in search of a cultist wizard in the tomb of another wizard. There were a couple of Yuan-Ti purebloods, some of the snake-headed Yuan-Ti and one Abomination Yuan-Ti (who was holding a dagger to the cultist wizard's throat). At first my party tried to get the Abomination Yuan-Ti to give us the cultist peacefully, but the latter was only willing to hand the dwarf over for something of equal value. While the party's Empath (homebrewed class) did the negotiations, the party's Rogue/Fighter took a small sack and filled it with gunpowder and a vial of alchemist fire (which he hid by covering them with precious gems). He then took the 'offering' to the Abomination Yuan-Ti and pretended that he was giving himself up to the Yuan-Ti in exchange for the cultist. He was hoping to get close enough to get ahold of the cultist and use his scroll of Dimension Door while the latter took his offering.

The encounter almost went pear-shaped if it wasn't for the Empath casting a powerful form of Sanctuary to ensure that the party got out of the room and into the adjoining hallway. They couldn't attack us and we couldn't attack them while the spell was in effect. The Rogue/Fighter was successful in using Dimension Door to teleport away with the cultist just before my character, a Ranger/Rogue, shot and deliberately missed the Abomination Yuan-Ti in order to make it think it was under attack. It tried to avoid the arrows my character sent its' way and while doing so, threw the bag with the gems, gunpowder and alchemist fire onto the ground in the center of the room. Where it detonated.

All of the Yuan-Ti in the room received damage from the Rogue/Fighter's improvised bomb. A lot of damage. Lingering fire damage from the alchemist fire, piercing damage from shrapnel (the precious gems) and bludgeoning damage from the explosion itself. All of the pureblood Yuan-Ti died almost instantly from the explosion, leaving just the snake-headed Yuan-Ti and the Abomination Yuan-Ti alive but very hurt. They tried to hurt us, but the Sanctuary spell was still in effect. When the spell dropped the next round, we finished off the rest of the Yuan-Ti, found some treasure and then left the tomb.

 

[John Dallman]

AD&D1e, Avalon campaign:

Rescued an ancient petrified warrior.

On a hill outside the borders of Fairie, we found a very lifelike stone statue, in warrior's gear of ancient style, with no plinth and significant wear on exposed parts like ears and nose. Historical information is quite interesting in Avalon, because it's subject to occasional cataclysms that tend to destroy records.

So we tried Stone to Flesh. It took two attempts, because the first was resisted. We found out why when he turned back: the sword he was holding was "Cold Iron" the really anti-magical kind that exists in Avalon. Whoever petrified him must have been quite powerful. It wasn't done by a Basilisk, Cockatrice or Medusa, they create a different kind of stone.

He collapsed, so we hit him with a Heal spell, moved him behind the hill out of sight from Fairie, and put up a summoned house. We put him to bed in front of the fire, made soup and let him recover. He's from about 2,500 years ago, and speaks an archaic version of the local Common. The village where he was born is now a major city, where we are based. He was a guard to a lord of the time on a diplomatic mission to Fairie. The last thing he remembered was fighting something he hasn't described clearly yet.

We're going to let him recover a bit, look at the site to see if there is any trace of his comrades, and then take him back to the city to get bits regenerated. The School of Ancient Knowledge will want to talk to him a lot.

 

[Golden Bee]

Nefertiti versus the mob! based on “The Doorway of Cats” by Peter Schweighofer.

“You look the opposite of hung over!” said Devi. Steel Eagle tilted his cowboy hat.
“I know maybe you don’t wanna hear it, but partying is good for you.”

The Irish mob does not have 50-year-old leg breakers. It's an organization where you move up steadily or you run into problems. Thaza was ready to move up.
That's why she was searching the wall safe of Italian patron Paulino Gambartzi. The rest of the party was knoshing in the next room. They (actress Lala Santinella, photographer Javid Kulfi, Steel Eagle the Tibetan spirit of Brooklyn) were happy to shmooze. They persuaded Paulino to ignore Brooks Belasco and not revive No, No, Nanette, and made him swear to look for a new play.

Thaza’s burglary showed Gambartzi was spreading his money a bit too freely, funding some unsavory factions (unsavory in the eyes of Clan O’Rourke, anyway). This gave her an idea… She could clean up Cairo for the family, and get the party to help.
The ZSS was smarter than she gave them credit for. They figured out the plan, but because it involved exclusively going after black market smugglers, they agreed provisionally. But there was no way they were going to confront Zahir Adwani without a gift. so they spent a lot of time and effort making a pecan pie.
They were very excited to give this pie, with the minor setback that Advani was dead with his ears cut off, his nose removed, and his stomach impaled. Thaza decided to go through his safe (a very profitable endeavor; she looted a solid gold bar with a Nazi insignia and some illegal grenades.) Lala distracted a nearby police patrol by offering them the pie… and Steel Eagle distracted the shop boy, who was returning with firewood.

“Who are you, mister?”
“I'm Steel Eagle from the Bronx, New York City, America.”

Hard to say you're not involved in a crime when you say your full name to witnesses!
Back at base, Professor Callahan was peeved to see the group. He thought he would use the Cairo base for privacy.
He had a lead though, that the social types might like: there was going to be a huge party, held by art snobs and blue bloods just north of the city. Not that he would go … Unless they invited him, or even if they didn't.
The group mollified the police (mostly through haranguing) and put on their best clothes, excited for the shindig.

The host’s secluded home consists of a walled estate with several gardens surrounding a modest but well-appointed house. The public rooms contain a quaint mix of ancient Egyptian and Islamic artwork. The servants have set up one parlor for refreshments while the library contains several comfortable chairs surrounding a central pedestal upon which sits the figurine of Isis and the infant Horus. A small crowd of interested people from Cairo’s upper society gathers for cocktails before the auction.

There were a few familiar faces, including Stavros “the Bull” Papadopoulos. The Turkish smuggler decided to pick on the wimpy Callahan, much to the delight of the rest of the party! The Brit barely kept from crying as his hand was crushed in the grip of the former wrestler.

Some social interactions went better. Steel Eagle partied hard with Ernest Hemingway. And Lala was wooed by the mysterious, cape-wearing Count Vladimir Korga. The actress looked into the eyes of the white Russian and asked what he wanted at the party.

“You.”

How dreamy! Unfortunately, she had to rush to another room, where her adopted daughter Devika was bidding like a maniac. She stood up to the 13-year-old, telling her that buying things she didn't want was classic spoiled behavior.
Meanwhile, Thaza stole the priceless necklace off the Georgette de Crussel, the Duchess d'Uzes.
Because Devi stopped bidding, the auction was won by Stavros. He didn't have long to celebrate though, since he was in a car accident an hour later that cost him his nose, ears, and life. And guess who he was last seen arguing with? Professor Callahan of course!
The rest of the case went a bit better. The artifacts were being taken from a nearby tomb by an incompetent group of childhood friends, led by locals Hanna and Giram. Someone tried to run the gang down in an alley (only the clumsy Callahan was hit). The group headed into the tomb.
Callahan and Giram agreed to watch the car, which everyone agreed should be parked far away. Unfortunately, that meant they didn't catch the perpetrators who caved in the entrance tunnel!
Thaza, after making sure the chambers didn't have any traps, blew up a plaster wall with (stolen) grenades. The medjays behind the killings might've been prepared for criminals… But they stood no chance against a professional stunt driver and a sniper. Thaza could barely get into position before the fight was over.
---
Back in the states, Naomi was more than impressed.

“An entire underworld taken over in less than two weeks. You ain’t no gam.”

Uptown, the Cotton Club was jumping. Brooks had a brilliant idea, an All-Star winner. He could pay a lot of money to Javid and Lala to help. The Gray Gargoyle musical!

 

[aramis erak]

Sunday Jackals:
Finding evil in village; executions.

 

[tomsonn2015]

getting together, exploring the home base, taking a contract, travelling, fumbling