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My Dark Sun 4e Game Experience Updated 01/22/2013
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<blockquote data-quote="Raunalyn" data-source="post: 5591170" data-attributes="member: 72670"><p><strong>Session 5</strong></p><p></p><p>I know it's been some time since I've written about my Dark Sun game. Unfortunately, we had a small hiatus while one of the group got his computer fixed, and scheduling conflicts, etc. However, yesterday, my group finally got to return to the burning sands of Athas.</p><p> </p><p>Ah...what to say? This was, by far, my favorite session to date. While it was a short session, there were so many things that happened, some great role-playing, and some really tense moments.</p><p> </p><p>When we last left our band of intrepid adventurers, they had just defeated a nasty band of marauding gith, all bent on trying to capture the caravan that the party was helping to defend.</p><p> </p><p>As the group watches the Gith flee, a rousing cheer erupts from the Argosy. While some of the Caravan guards were killed in the attack, due to the party's efforts, many were saved. Bezrak and Holten Phen emerge and congratulate the party and promise them bonuses upon their journey's end.</p><p> </p><p>The party rests for the night. The following morning, they resume their investigation. They decide to speak with more of the crew in hopes that someone can give them some clue as to where the smuggled cargo would be. After speaking with the quartermaster (who was thankful and impressed with the group's prowess in the attacks) the party decides to try to talk to Holtet Phen in the hopes that they could gain more permanent employment on the caravan.</p><p> </p><p>After their guard shift, the party gathers in the common room of the Argosy to eat and discuss their next step. A slave woman named Ekarga whispers to Kratas that she knows what they are looking for and is willing to help them for a price. All she wants is her freedom. The group agrees to buy her freedom.</p><p> </p><p>Kratas, Katrie and Dryder follow Ekarga while Tor Val and Gundrek decide to talk with Holtet Phen. Bezrak is talking with Holtet when the two of them arrive, but quickly dismisses himself so that they can talk with Holtet. Meanwhile, Ekarga shows the rest of the party a secret wall that opens into the room where the caravan's secure cargo is located. They can all hear chittering coming from one of the crates. Just as Dryder gets ready to try to destroy the beetles, Bezrak steps in.</p><p> </p><p>Angrily, Bezrak demands to know what the group is doing in there. He accuses them of trying to steal from him, and by extension, Marius Amketch. Dryder tries to talk his way out of the situation, and succeeds only in convincing Bezrak that they didn't know what was in the room. The party leaves.</p><p> </p><p>The following day, as the sun is getting ready to set, the caravan arrives at the Crimson Sands Oasis. Bezrak, in celebration, orders that the wine and ale casks that he had on the Argosy be cracked open, and all members of the caravan should partake and enjoy. Bezrak and Holtet then head to the village that surrounds the oasis.</p><p> </p><p>While the rest of the party makes merry, grabbing drinks and socializing with the caravan crew, Dryder sneaks back into the argosy so that he can attempt to find where the beetles are hidden. Meanwhile, the rest of the party discovers, to their horror, that the wine and ale that they have been drinking is poisoned. Soon, all of the caravan crew and Kratas, Gundrek, Tor Val, and Katrie are drugged into a deep sleep. Dryder, unsuccessful in his attempt to find the hidden cargo, exits the Argosy just in time to witness a large group of House Shom guards grabbing his companions and the rest of the caravan crew, stripping them of all valuables, and tossing them into cages. Wisely, Dryder hides and watches, waiting for his opportunity to rescue his companions.</p><p> </p><p>The following morning, the captured party members awaken inside a guarded cage. There, they see Bezrak, Holtet, a man dressed in the livery of House Shom named Agristes, and a very beautiful woman dressed as a Templar Wife of Nibenay who looks vaguely familiar. After a few moments, they discover that her name is Dreus, and she is the sister of their old friend Triona. Dreus is purchasing the party as slaves.</p><p> </p><p>Agristes enters the cage and explains to the party that it is more profitable to sell the group as opposed to killing them, but he would take the time to weaken them so that they wouldn't cause trouble. He then explains that the beetle trade was highly profitable, but very controversial. So, it was in his best interest to use rival merchant houses to profit from his discovery. He then places one of the Shaqat beetles on each of the party members. Gundrek and Kratas are infected by cerebral parasites. Their cage is then loaded on a wagon, and the party is taken east from the Oasis, followed closely by Dryder. Meanwhile, the stolen caravan continues on to the west.</p><p> </p><p>Dryder follows them stealthily, waiting for the right time to rescue them. That evening, the prisoners and their captors make camp. The group is able to determine that these are probably members of the Severed Eyes mercenaries, and that Dreus probably wished to enslave them in retaliation for them ruining her plans to find the Slaying Stone. They also overhear two of their guards discussing Gundrek and how he used to be a gladiator in Tyr. They mention how he escaped (by killing his master).</p><p> </p><p>One of the guards gets bored and heads over to the main camp area, where the group is celebrating their capture and their victory, to get some alcohol. At this time, Dryder uses the distraction to make his assault.</p><p> </p><p>Because the guard was nearly asleep and was distracted by the celebration, I allowed a Coup De Gras. Dryder delivered with spectacular results. He takes the guard's weapons and leaves the body, slipping back into the shadows. He moves to the party's cage and begins working to free them. He throws Tor Val the short sword he got from the dead guard, and hands Gundrek his spare short sword, and the party quickly jumps out to attack their captors.</p><p> </p><p>This fight was FUN! Their captors were mostly drunk, and the group was practically naked and nearly defenseless. Gundrek and Kratas were also under effect of Cerebral Parasites; Gundrek was only in stage one, so it was more expensive for him to augment his powers while Kratas was in Stage 2 and took damage whenever he augmented or used his powers. I gave a penalty to defenses and attacks to the mercenaries to reflect their inebriation.</p><p> </p><p>As the guard who left earlier for drinks returns to his post, the party attacks. Dryder attacks him, followed closely by Tor Val, who crits, killing the guard. He immediately uses his Rampage to charge a second captor. Kratas grabs the Guard's spear and attacks another guard. Meanwhile, Gundrek moves in to mark and distract the guards. Katrie moves along the outskirts of the camp so that she can get into better position, and Dryder moves to the opposite side so that he can attack from the shadows. And, this was just the surprise round!</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the mercenaries retaliate, and the party is fighting for their lives. Tor Val is nearly surrounded by mercenaries, and one of them hamstrings him, causing him to be slowed. Gundrek and Kratas team up together to fight off 3 more mercenaries, and Katrie summons her Toad to assist. Dryder remains on the outskirts of the camp, attacking with ranged weapons. At this point, the mercenary leader, a Defiler, steps from his tent and starts attacking the group. Katrie uses her Toad to help distract him, and Tor Val is nearly killed by the group he is fighting. Kratas uses his Artent Surge to help, then continues to help Gundrek. Meanwhile, Dryder rushes in to attack the Defiler, and Katrie steps up to assist Tor Val. Gundrek is continually slammed by his enemies due to his mark, and eventually falls unconscious from the repeated attacks (and fails 2 death saves before Katrie can get to him and do a heal check). Eventually, though, all of the enemies are dead. The group gathers as much equipment as they can and force marches back to the Crimson Sands Oasis with Katrie leading the way as a scout.</p><p> </p><p>This extended skill check went well. Katrie rolled EXTREMELY well on her nature and perception checks (a critical success on her perception...she was able to stop the party from encountering some pretty nasty critters), but their endurance checks weren't so great. By the time they reach the Oasis, they are all a bit dehydrated and exhausted. Fortunately, Gundrek and Kratas are able to overcome their parasite infection.</p><p> </p><p>Dryder, since he hadn't been seen by anyone in the Oasis, decides to go into the town to discover if he could find where the Caravan went, and to resupply. The party rests the night, and the next day begin to try to track down the Caravan.</p><p> </p><p>All in all, this was an excellent session. Dryder gets the MVP for avoiding my trap, and rescuing his companions. The party, due to the difficulty of this session, was able to achieve 4th level.</p><p> </p><p>The date is now the 4th day of the Festival of the Soaring Sun in the season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age.</p><p> </p><p>Next Session: Return to the Caravan and the Beetles...where do they come from?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Raunalyn, post: 5591170, member: 72670"] [b]Session 5[/b] I know it's been some time since I've written about my Dark Sun game. Unfortunately, we had a small hiatus while one of the group got his computer fixed, and scheduling conflicts, etc. However, yesterday, my group finally got to return to the burning sands of Athas. Ah...what to say? This was, by far, my favorite session to date. While it was a short session, there were so many things that happened, some great role-playing, and some really tense moments. When we last left our band of intrepid adventurers, they had just defeated a nasty band of marauding gith, all bent on trying to capture the caravan that the party was helping to defend. As the group watches the Gith flee, a rousing cheer erupts from the Argosy. While some of the Caravan guards were killed in the attack, due to the party's efforts, many were saved. Bezrak and Holten Phen emerge and congratulate the party and promise them bonuses upon their journey's end. The party rests for the night. The following morning, they resume their investigation. They decide to speak with more of the crew in hopes that someone can give them some clue as to where the smuggled cargo would be. After speaking with the quartermaster (who was thankful and impressed with the group's prowess in the attacks) the party decides to try to talk to Holtet Phen in the hopes that they could gain more permanent employment on the caravan. After their guard shift, the party gathers in the common room of the Argosy to eat and discuss their next step. A slave woman named Ekarga whispers to Kratas that she knows what they are looking for and is willing to help them for a price. All she wants is her freedom. The group agrees to buy her freedom. Kratas, Katrie and Dryder follow Ekarga while Tor Val and Gundrek decide to talk with Holtet Phen. Bezrak is talking with Holtet when the two of them arrive, but quickly dismisses himself so that they can talk with Holtet. Meanwhile, Ekarga shows the rest of the party a secret wall that opens into the room where the caravan's secure cargo is located. They can all hear chittering coming from one of the crates. Just as Dryder gets ready to try to destroy the beetles, Bezrak steps in. Angrily, Bezrak demands to know what the group is doing in there. He accuses them of trying to steal from him, and by extension, Marius Amketch. Dryder tries to talk his way out of the situation, and succeeds only in convincing Bezrak that they didn't know what was in the room. The party leaves. The following day, as the sun is getting ready to set, the caravan arrives at the Crimson Sands Oasis. Bezrak, in celebration, orders that the wine and ale casks that he had on the Argosy be cracked open, and all members of the caravan should partake and enjoy. Bezrak and Holtet then head to the village that surrounds the oasis. While the rest of the party makes merry, grabbing drinks and socializing with the caravan crew, Dryder sneaks back into the argosy so that he can attempt to find where the beetles are hidden. Meanwhile, the rest of the party discovers, to their horror, that the wine and ale that they have been drinking is poisoned. Soon, all of the caravan crew and Kratas, Gundrek, Tor Val, and Katrie are drugged into a deep sleep. Dryder, unsuccessful in his attempt to find the hidden cargo, exits the Argosy just in time to witness a large group of House Shom guards grabbing his companions and the rest of the caravan crew, stripping them of all valuables, and tossing them into cages. Wisely, Dryder hides and watches, waiting for his opportunity to rescue his companions. The following morning, the captured party members awaken inside a guarded cage. There, they see Bezrak, Holtet, a man dressed in the livery of House Shom named Agristes, and a very beautiful woman dressed as a Templar Wife of Nibenay who looks vaguely familiar. After a few moments, they discover that her name is Dreus, and she is the sister of their old friend Triona. Dreus is purchasing the party as slaves. Agristes enters the cage and explains to the party that it is more profitable to sell the group as opposed to killing them, but he would take the time to weaken them so that they wouldn't cause trouble. He then explains that the beetle trade was highly profitable, but very controversial. So, it was in his best interest to use rival merchant houses to profit from his discovery. He then places one of the Shaqat beetles on each of the party members. Gundrek and Kratas are infected by cerebral parasites. Their cage is then loaded on a wagon, and the party is taken east from the Oasis, followed closely by Dryder. Meanwhile, the stolen caravan continues on to the west. Dryder follows them stealthily, waiting for the right time to rescue them. That evening, the prisoners and their captors make camp. The group is able to determine that these are probably members of the Severed Eyes mercenaries, and that Dreus probably wished to enslave them in retaliation for them ruining her plans to find the Slaying Stone. They also overhear two of their guards discussing Gundrek and how he used to be a gladiator in Tyr. They mention how he escaped (by killing his master). One of the guards gets bored and heads over to the main camp area, where the group is celebrating their capture and their victory, to get some alcohol. At this time, Dryder uses the distraction to make his assault. Because the guard was nearly asleep and was distracted by the celebration, I allowed a Coup De Gras. Dryder delivered with spectacular results. He takes the guard's weapons and leaves the body, slipping back into the shadows. He moves to the party's cage and begins working to free them. He throws Tor Val the short sword he got from the dead guard, and hands Gundrek his spare short sword, and the party quickly jumps out to attack their captors. This fight was FUN! Their captors were mostly drunk, and the group was practically naked and nearly defenseless. Gundrek and Kratas were also under effect of Cerebral Parasites; Gundrek was only in stage one, so it was more expensive for him to augment his powers while Kratas was in Stage 2 and took damage whenever he augmented or used his powers. I gave a penalty to defenses and attacks to the mercenaries to reflect their inebriation. As the guard who left earlier for drinks returns to his post, the party attacks. Dryder attacks him, followed closely by Tor Val, who crits, killing the guard. He immediately uses his Rampage to charge a second captor. Kratas grabs the Guard's spear and attacks another guard. Meanwhile, Gundrek moves in to mark and distract the guards. Katrie moves along the outskirts of the camp so that she can get into better position, and Dryder moves to the opposite side so that he can attack from the shadows. And, this was just the surprise round! Soon, the mercenaries retaliate, and the party is fighting for their lives. Tor Val is nearly surrounded by mercenaries, and one of them hamstrings him, causing him to be slowed. Gundrek and Kratas team up together to fight off 3 more mercenaries, and Katrie summons her Toad to assist. Dryder remains on the outskirts of the camp, attacking with ranged weapons. At this point, the mercenary leader, a Defiler, steps from his tent and starts attacking the group. Katrie uses her Toad to help distract him, and Tor Val is nearly killed by the group he is fighting. Kratas uses his Artent Surge to help, then continues to help Gundrek. Meanwhile, Dryder rushes in to attack the Defiler, and Katrie steps up to assist Tor Val. Gundrek is continually slammed by his enemies due to his mark, and eventually falls unconscious from the repeated attacks (and fails 2 death saves before Katrie can get to him and do a heal check). Eventually, though, all of the enemies are dead. The group gathers as much equipment as they can and force marches back to the Crimson Sands Oasis with Katrie leading the way as a scout. This extended skill check went well. Katrie rolled EXTREMELY well on her nature and perception checks (a critical success on her perception...she was able to stop the party from encountering some pretty nasty critters), but their endurance checks weren't so great. By the time they reach the Oasis, they are all a bit dehydrated and exhausted. Fortunately, Gundrek and Kratas are able to overcome their parasite infection. Dryder, since he hadn't been seen by anyone in the Oasis, decides to go into the town to discover if he could find where the Caravan went, and to resupply. The party rests the night, and the next day begin to try to track down the Caravan. All in all, this was an excellent session. Dryder gets the MVP for avoiding my trap, and rescuing his companions. The party, due to the difficulty of this session, was able to achieve 4th level. The date is now the 4th day of the Festival of the Soaring Sun in the season of Sun Ascending, in the Year of Enemy's Vengeance, 190th King's Age. Next Session: Return to the Caravan and the Beetles...where do they come from? [/QUOTE]
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