Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 8655014" data-attributes="member: 6809274">23rd session of Monte Cook's 3E Banewarrens campaign run with Shadow of the Demon Lord on Owlbear Rodeo.Five player characters at Level 5:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dwarf Fighter/Warrior. Heir to a lost kingdom. His trinket is half of a treasure map. However, after being kidnapped by mysterious forces, his consciousness has somehow transferred into a Clockwork Rogue/Artificer. The whereabouts of his body are unknown.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Elf Wizard/Magician. Outcast from elven lands, raised in Ptolus, keeper of a dark secret. His magical traditions are Arcana, Teleportation, Chaos, and Fey.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Goblin Oracle/Magician. Responsible for the destruction of his tribe. Specialized in the Fire and Forbidden magic traditions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Changeling Spellbinder/Rogue. Created by House Vladaam to replace a child they kidnapped and held in servitude. Naturally, she wants revenge. Two weapon fighter with the Battle tradition.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Human Paladin/Priest. Cleric of Lothian, the primary god of Ptolus. His magical traditions are Life, Theurgy, and Battle. His wife was murdered by undead and now he seeks answers.</li> </ul>This group hasn't played in a month so we spent a lot of time catching up. Actual play time was short.The player characters entered the Sepulchre of Dalen, the founder of Ptolus who slew Ashkragal the Witch King a thousand years ago. (I'm mashing up the lore of Ptolus and Shadow of the Demon Lord, which fit together surprisingly well.) They were seeking a second piece of the staff of shards, wielded by the elf wizard. The sepulchre is located beneath a graveyard in Oldtown. The human paladin is the caretaker of the graveyard and the sepulchre.In the previous session, the characters laid to rest the corpse of an angel they recovered from the Banewarrens. As a result, I decided that the characters encountered no resistance in the sepulchre. The protective spirits knew they were heroes, not looters. (Also, I was kind of tapped out of ideas for a dungeon protected by the forces of good.) Exploring, the characters discovered the sepulchre held the sarcophogi of the greatest heroes of Dalen's era -- his protectors in the afterlife. These were not holy warriors, but rather ordinary heroes from across the continent. Those who fought back against the evil of Ashkragal.In the final chamber, the characters were welcomed by the ghost of Dalen. Surrounding him were the four companions that together destroyed Ashkragal. So -- five sarcophogi for five player characters. Dalen warned them that evil was once again rising in the Spire. The greatest evil they would face was not the Dread One but rather his corrupting influence. He would attempt to turn the characters against each other.Dalen bid them to take the enchanted artifacts of his companions. The characters opened each sarcophogus and claimed the magic item within. (Here, I did something unusual. I had each item grant the abilities of a master path. For example, the magic cloak claimed by the changeling rogue gave the benefits of the Infiltrator path. The path system of Shadow of the Demon Lord is one of its greatest strengths, so I decided to lean into it.)The characters exited the sepulchre and emerged into the graveyard above. Waiting for them was the barrow wight they encountered in their very first session. It's a guardian of the Banewarrens, hunting down anyone who takes an item from within. Well, the changeling rogue was in possession of a corrupted weapon looted from the Banewarrens. The wight told the changeling she would pay with her life and her soul. The wight was not alone -- three priests from a death cult the characters had previously tangled with invoked a dark ritual to raise the dead within the graveyard. The hands of the dead erupted from the earth.And that's where we ended.Next session: Night of the living dead!</blockquote>

Verification