Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Flynn" data-source="post: 3951847" data-attributes="member: 1836">Good Morning, All:Due to some last minute work issues, I had to skip last week's game. Fortunately, I was able to pick back up with the campaign last session. Overall, the session was mostly roleplay oriented, but I got to drop a lot of background stuff of the players so that they could get a glimpse at what was coming in the weeks ahead.The Synopsis:The brave adventurers rowed for shore in the growing light of dawn, the Enchanted Isle collapsing behind them as they rushed for dry land, trying to avoid the attentions of the pirate vessel, the Crimson Lady. The lookout noticed them, sadly, and the sails began to rise up, only to falter as the sounds of fighting carried across the waters from the distant ship. A black raven flew from the ship to the heroes' rowboat, bearing the message that the ship had fallen to mutiny. Quaseo, the magical companion of the now-dead Grand Magus Sisuthros, had apparently been on the ship and had noticed the mutiny begin.The party rowed furiously for shore, landing on the beach about halfway up the shore between Trader's Point and Dagon Bog. Exhausted, the adventurers decided to set up camp, as they knew that the Crimson Lady had eventually set sail for the northeast, and so would not be bothering them. Despite the effort to set up guards, all fell into a deep sleep of sheer fatigue, and did not awaken until the sun was high in the sky. Calyt (the rogue) noted with his tracking skills that a large reptilian creature roughly thirty feet tall had approached the encampment, but stopped some distance away and then ran off back onto the plains towards Dagon Bay. Taking it as a sign that dangerous creatures dwelled in this region, he urged the party to travel on towards Trader's Point.When the adventurers arrived at the tent city, they found that an inordinate number of funeral pyres burning to the north of the community. Some investigation revealed that a number of noteworthy and heroic leaders had died in the early hours of the morning, presumably not much before dawn. The tent city was frantic with activity, as various parties tried to determine who or what had done this. Suspicions of mass assassinations, curses under the dark arts, and even plague ran rampant, and many were packing up their tents to head back to their homelands.The party quickly turned over the unconscious pirate queen Veridia the Render to Lieutenant Gareth, a Valefolk defender who had stepped up when his superiors passed away that morning with the other heroic leaders. Then they set about investigating the matter. Quite quickly, the party came to the conclusion that their actions had, either in part or in whole, been responsible for the deaths of the heroes, as the great wave of energy surged out from the collapsing tower, and only the presence of the Blood of Meritus had saved them a similar fate.Calyt also encountered a friend of his from the old Tax Collector's Guild in Pasalovakia, who had been sent north into Synovia and Trader's Point to reconnoiter for an upcoming war against Synovia, and who was present on the morning of Midsummer when the local heroes had died. Involving Calyt, the rogue-ish Dominik organized a secret assault on the Valefolk jail cells, freeing the wounded Veridia and sneaking her back to a mercenary caravan, the Blue Shields, where they would attempt to sneak her south to Pasalovakia and recruit her for the upcoming war. Calyt helped, but requested that he not be involved beyond her release, so that he would have plausible deniability in case his new-found comrades learned that she was free.The band made contact once again with Rufius, the former servant of the Grand Magus Sisuthros, and made arrangements with him to research the Blood of Meritus and the Grand Magus's quest for two more artifacts, in the hopes that perhaps this might help them atone for the acts that they had unwittingly participated in. The Scholar-Magus Chrysander penned a letter explaining the recent events in Trader's Point and sent it with Quaseo to the capital city of Synovia to prepare them for the party's arrival.The next morning, the band, along with Rufius, met with Captain Azareus of the Blue Shields and joined his caravan as they headed south towards Greenfell, the northern-most village of the City-State of Synovia. A few hours out, the caravan noted the presence of more funeral pyre smoke columns in the general direction of Greenfell, indicating that the deaths were more widespread than the immediate area about the Enchanted Isle. They also noted a campfire from a goblin patrol in the area, and so were dispatched to deal with the little orange-skinned raiders.The fight was fast and furious, and the party emerged victorious and unscathed against a force twice the size of their own party. Searching through the goblin's encampment, they discovered a crude map that seemed to indicate that the goblins were planning a massive strike on Trader's Point and the Vale of the Lady, the home of the halfling Valefolk.And that's where the session ended...Commentary:This session was almost entirely roleplay. The Savage Worlds rules are not heavy, and there is very little in the way of game mechanics that are used for social interaction, aside from the usual Streetwise and Persuasion. I found this aspect of the gaming experience to work much like a D20 RP session: the PCs talked a a bit, made a roll, and I gave them information based on the RP and the results.The gamers felt that I had given them a few Rat Bastard DM moments with this session, but they seemed to enjoy the storyline overall. They are responsible for the deaths of thousands of heroes, and some day soon, the oracles will be consulted, so they don't know what will happen then. The players know above game that Veridia is travelling with the party in a supply wagon as part of the Blue Shields caravan, and are okay with Veridia being a recurring villain in the future, but are playing it cool in-game by keeping the knowledge out-of-character. The players are interested in the two remaining quests that Sisuthros was engaged in, but must now choose between pursuing that or going back to Trader's Point to stop the goblin assault. The player of the Warlord Andrus is pumped about commanding halfling troops and trying out the mass combat rules, so I imagine that they will return south, leaving the caravan and Veridia behind in order to become the heroes that they are destined to be. However, I won't know until our next gaming session, so it's hard to tell.Goblins are pretty much cannon fodder in Savage Worlds, but in numbers and using tactics, they had great potential for taking down a party member or two, especially at two-to-one odds. Only below average dice rolls kept the party from taking some wounds in that combat. Still, I think that the low-powered nature of the goblins lends itself well to massive attacks. Next time, I'll probably use big numbers like that, and try a single Wild Card along with them, just to test the waters.The next game should be a lot of fun, with the potential for massive combats. If, however, the party decides not to go back to Trader's Point, I have other plans in the works, based on the backstories of several of the characters, as well as a small adventure along the way to Synovia proper. No mass battles, but it should still be fun, and I get to use a new monster that isn't common to D20, the Sasquatch, against them. Hehehe. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I continue to be pleased with the feel and progress of the game, and the players are having a blast with it. I am definitely using some new GMing tips this time around, such as "Leading with the Cool Stuff" (not saving the cool stuff to some future session when it might not be used, but rather using it right off the bat) and "Keep It Moving" (always have the game moving forward, even if it's all about RP). This more active approach to DMing has me stepping it up for my players, and I hope that the game proves to be rewarding to them as a result. I know I'm having fun, and getting to stretch myself a little.The next session will begin with them making the decision as to what they want to do, and then moving forward from there.Wish Them Luck,Flynn</blockquote>

Verification