Creamsteak
Explorer
After a great deal of frustration, I was witness to one of the better moments in intuition and creative use of equipment about a week ago during a session. The setting is an underdark campaign where a group of mind-flayer cultists (using the Elan race from the XPH) had conquered and enslaved the Duergar. There armies were ready to make war with the Drow and the surface simultaneously, already conquering the desert giants (half-giants) and desert tribes of Xeph and Maenads.
The group had gone from slave miners to escapees in the first few sessions. Once they had achieved near freedom, however, one of the few bounty hunters after them sprung a trap. Not only did it succeed, but he was able to avoid killing all but one of them. Those that survived found themselves thrown into a gladatorial arena (discussed in another thread). After defeating a psionic manticore in the arena, they were "permitted" (forced) to fight for the title of king of the arena immediately after. That meant a fight with a really powerful ogre. After succeeding with the help of a handful of other gladiators (NPCs), they chose to betray their new comrades. This was much to my dismay, and bothered me a ton since they were very useful tools at the time. Looting these NPCs, however, yielded an oversized adamantium greatsword. This was something my little brother (the half-giant of the group) was smiling ear to ear over. I have no doubt in my mind that the greedy little munchkin (in the proper sense of the word!) would have been much less interested in killing the NPCs if he hadn't seen this weapon.
A month or two of weekly sessions later, they have finally been able to avoid capture long enough, and they are thought dead. After encountering a group of Sivak Draconians (dragon-lance creatures that take the form of those they kill and the person that kills them), they were able to fake their deaths. Too bad they were in one of the main tunnels leading into the Drow controlled territory. They could hear the war-drums of the duergar armies beating from a mile away. They could escape into the underground mountain regions (giant stalagtites and stalagmites), but my brother would have none of that.
Poised on a quarter-mile long stone bridge made of solid granite and elevated over 500 feet over an underground canyon, the half-giant started to attack the bridges foundation. Being as it was at least 5 feet thick and 10 feet wide, the bridge had a huge hit point total and reasonable hardness... but harness doesn't mean anything at this point. The Half-giant layed into the bridge till it was at half strength. And he waited. And waited.
Finally, when the marching formation of about 500 duergar conscripts with officers reached the bridge, he stood alone at the other end. He taunted the army, grinning from ear to ear with his shiny knife. Their range of vision was limited (120 ft. darkvision), so they couldn't tell where the noise was coming from at first. Once they finally closed into range, they were armed and ready for whatever lay in wait at the end of the bridge. The commanders were reluctant, ordering their front gaurd to fire into his open (unarmored) chest. Volley after volley was deflected by the mages wind wall. Soon the commanders ordered their ranks (4 men abreast, as would best occupy the 10 feet) to step forward. More than three-fourths of the men were crowded onto the bridge, and the half-giant let his sword come down on the last few feet of the stone support. He had to strike twelve times in total, enough for a handful of the dwarves to warn the others and start back from the bridge. Those that couldn't tried to force their way past the half giant, or better yet try to kill him before he could finish his work.
Enough of the dwarves survived to tell the story at least, but as 400 dwarves fell screeming into the black canyon below, they couldn't help but admire the work of a well made sword. Although this 500 man unit was not enough to stop the duergar, their supplies and additional gear cost them dearly in a fight soon to come with the Drow. I illustrated to the gang that, "by rumor" they heard that it was their very own actions that may have swung the battle.
I just flat-out awarded 2 levels after that session. It was worth the price of admission to me. And I totally didn't expect it from my younger brother (14) of all the players there.
The group had gone from slave miners to escapees in the first few sessions. Once they had achieved near freedom, however, one of the few bounty hunters after them sprung a trap. Not only did it succeed, but he was able to avoid killing all but one of them. Those that survived found themselves thrown into a gladatorial arena (discussed in another thread). After defeating a psionic manticore in the arena, they were "permitted" (forced) to fight for the title of king of the arena immediately after. That meant a fight with a really powerful ogre. After succeeding with the help of a handful of other gladiators (NPCs), they chose to betray their new comrades. This was much to my dismay, and bothered me a ton since they were very useful tools at the time. Looting these NPCs, however, yielded an oversized adamantium greatsword. This was something my little brother (the half-giant of the group) was smiling ear to ear over. I have no doubt in my mind that the greedy little munchkin (in the proper sense of the word!) would have been much less interested in killing the NPCs if he hadn't seen this weapon.
A month or two of weekly sessions later, they have finally been able to avoid capture long enough, and they are thought dead. After encountering a group of Sivak Draconians (dragon-lance creatures that take the form of those they kill and the person that kills them), they were able to fake their deaths. Too bad they were in one of the main tunnels leading into the Drow controlled territory. They could hear the war-drums of the duergar armies beating from a mile away. They could escape into the underground mountain regions (giant stalagtites and stalagmites), but my brother would have none of that.
Poised on a quarter-mile long stone bridge made of solid granite and elevated over 500 feet over an underground canyon, the half-giant started to attack the bridges foundation. Being as it was at least 5 feet thick and 10 feet wide, the bridge had a huge hit point total and reasonable hardness... but harness doesn't mean anything at this point. The Half-giant layed into the bridge till it was at half strength. And he waited. And waited.
Finally, when the marching formation of about 500 duergar conscripts with officers reached the bridge, he stood alone at the other end. He taunted the army, grinning from ear to ear with his shiny knife. Their range of vision was limited (120 ft. darkvision), so they couldn't tell where the noise was coming from at first. Once they finally closed into range, they were armed and ready for whatever lay in wait at the end of the bridge. The commanders were reluctant, ordering their front gaurd to fire into his open (unarmored) chest. Volley after volley was deflected by the mages wind wall. Soon the commanders ordered their ranks (4 men abreast, as would best occupy the 10 feet) to step forward. More than three-fourths of the men were crowded onto the bridge, and the half-giant let his sword come down on the last few feet of the stone support. He had to strike twelve times in total, enough for a handful of the dwarves to warn the others and start back from the bridge. Those that couldn't tried to force their way past the half giant, or better yet try to kill him before he could finish his work.
Enough of the dwarves survived to tell the story at least, but as 400 dwarves fell screeming into the black canyon below, they couldn't help but admire the work of a well made sword. Although this 500 man unit was not enough to stop the duergar, their supplies and additional gear cost them dearly in a fight soon to come with the Drow. I illustrated to the gang that, "by rumor" they heard that it was their very own actions that may have swung the battle.
I just flat-out awarded 2 levels after that session. It was worth the price of admission to me. And I totally didn't expect it from my younger brother (14) of all the players there.
