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Playtest: Curse of Xu'Set
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<blockquote data-quote="Gargoyle" data-source="post: 6110476" data-attributes="member: 529"><p>Naturally suspicious, but confident of their abilities they accompanied Maniko into the the deep shadow of the area of the huts. None of the villagers were visible outside the huts, and they entered the largest circular one. A firepit with dim embers provided the only light inside. The natives of the oasis were clothed head to toe with barely any skin on their pale hands visible. Maniko did all the talking, offering them a seat at a round bar laden with food and drink encircling the fire pit. A couple of henchmen they brought with them were given a large pallet of food and supplies to bring back to their camp on the water, and the henchmen were glad to leave the creepy natives and bring it back. </p><p></p><p>As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they realized that the eyes of the natives weren't reflecting the light of the firepit, they were glowing with a very dim red light. These natives were clearly not human like Maniko. </p><p></p><p>Conversation and dinner extended into the late afternoon, and the deep shadows outside grew even longer and deeper. The leader of the natives introduced himself, as Laslo, and seemed interested in their mission and anything else they chose to talk about. Just as the party was getting comfortable, the sudden scream of a woman in pain and terror was heard from somewhere outside. None of the natives reacted and continued talking. At this point the player characters realized they and Maniko were the only ones eating.</p><p></p><p>This scene was a lot of fun for me (and for them) as they were gradually getting more and more creeped out. There were a lot of the natives, and they didn't know what they were dealing with exactly. No initiative rolls or anything, just roleplaying. "What was that scream?" "Oh nothing to be concerned about. Tell me more about this mercenary company you left?"</p><p></p><p>Zeros walked out to investigate the source of the scream. Out of character, he knew he was committing the deadly sin of splitting up the party, but in character he did it anyway. Good roleplaying.</p><p></p><p>Helga was questioning one of the natives who gently touched her arm, asking her to come see the hut they had prepared for her. (Wis save failed, and she was charmed). </p><p></p><p>Zeros made an Intelligence check to discern where it came from, and I told him it seemed to come from one of the huts but he wasn't sure which one. One of the natives beckoned him to come back inside, so they could show him to his hut. He ignored this and guessed correctly and looked in to see one of the natives sucking blood from the arm of a tanned female human who was moaning in ecstasy. "Vampires. Why did it have to be vampires?"</p><p></p><p>These vampires weren't straight out of the bestiary. I knocked them down in level and took away most of their abilities. No gaseous form. Domination became a charm that they could use once per day on touch. Most of them had 20 hp. I kept the same bite attack, making them dangerous. And there were a lot of them, at least a hundred, far too many to fight. </p><p></p><p>Maniko covered for Zeros before the vampires realized they had been discovered. "Oh friend, you should gather your other friends from your camp at the lake and get them to come back here." Zeros saw Helga being led away and grabbed her arm and steered her back to toward the camp. "Yes, Helga come and help me retrieve so that they too can enjoy the hospitality of our kind hosts..." </p><p></p><p>Zeros smacked Helga out of her charmed state as they returned to the others. Maniko turned out to be one of the original expedition to the tomb of Xu'Set who was captured by the vampires of the oasis and kept like others as cattle for many days; he begged them to take him with him. "And the others?" "They are too far gone and there are too many vampires...I alone have resisted their magic" And he knew where the expedition was heading. They hatched a plan to escape the oasis with the guide Maniko, but they had to be quick. The sun had already slipped below the highest point of the stone teeth ringing the top of the small valley, and the shadows were deepening into night.</p><p></p><p>I glossed over it here, but there were lots of Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence checks during this encounter as the players were trying to figure out what they were dealing with, and who to trust. Their skills didn't help him much here, and the party could have benefited greatly from someone with a more social skill set. But it was quite entertaining to see them squirm, especially when that girl screamed and none of the natives paid any attention, and the slow realization that they were dealing with something insidious. Again, I feel like the rules worked for me by not getting in the way, and because reducing the power of vampires was easy to do. Rather than punish them for splitting up the party repeatedly, I decided to just unnerve them a bit and have Maniko rescue them from a potentially bad situation. It came together quite well and set them up to be motivated to do something you don't see D&D characters do much: try to escape the bad guys.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gargoyle, post: 6110476, member: 529"] Naturally suspicious, but confident of their abilities they accompanied Maniko into the the deep shadow of the area of the huts. None of the villagers were visible outside the huts, and they entered the largest circular one. A firepit with dim embers provided the only light inside. The natives of the oasis were clothed head to toe with barely any skin on their pale hands visible. Maniko did all the talking, offering them a seat at a round bar laden with food and drink encircling the fire pit. A couple of henchmen they brought with them were given a large pallet of food and supplies to bring back to their camp on the water, and the henchmen were glad to leave the creepy natives and bring it back. As their eyes adjusted to the dark, they realized that the eyes of the natives weren't reflecting the light of the firepit, they were glowing with a very dim red light. These natives were clearly not human like Maniko. Conversation and dinner extended into the late afternoon, and the deep shadows outside grew even longer and deeper. The leader of the natives introduced himself, as Laslo, and seemed interested in their mission and anything else they chose to talk about. Just as the party was getting comfortable, the sudden scream of a woman in pain and terror was heard from somewhere outside. None of the natives reacted and continued talking. At this point the player characters realized they and Maniko were the only ones eating. This scene was a lot of fun for me (and for them) as they were gradually getting more and more creeped out. There were a lot of the natives, and they didn't know what they were dealing with exactly. No initiative rolls or anything, just roleplaying. "What was that scream?" "Oh nothing to be concerned about. Tell me more about this mercenary company you left?" Zeros walked out to investigate the source of the scream. Out of character, he knew he was committing the deadly sin of splitting up the party, but in character he did it anyway. Good roleplaying. Helga was questioning one of the natives who gently touched her arm, asking her to come see the hut they had prepared for her. (Wis save failed, and she was charmed). Zeros made an Intelligence check to discern where it came from, and I told him it seemed to come from one of the huts but he wasn't sure which one. One of the natives beckoned him to come back inside, so they could show him to his hut. He ignored this and guessed correctly and looked in to see one of the natives sucking blood from the arm of a tanned female human who was moaning in ecstasy. "Vampires. Why did it have to be vampires?" These vampires weren't straight out of the bestiary. I knocked them down in level and took away most of their abilities. No gaseous form. Domination became a charm that they could use once per day on touch. Most of them had 20 hp. I kept the same bite attack, making them dangerous. And there were a lot of them, at least a hundred, far too many to fight. Maniko covered for Zeros before the vampires realized they had been discovered. "Oh friend, you should gather your other friends from your camp at the lake and get them to come back here." Zeros saw Helga being led away and grabbed her arm and steered her back to toward the camp. "Yes, Helga come and help me retrieve so that they too can enjoy the hospitality of our kind hosts..." Zeros smacked Helga out of her charmed state as they returned to the others. Maniko turned out to be one of the original expedition to the tomb of Xu'Set who was captured by the vampires of the oasis and kept like others as cattle for many days; he begged them to take him with him. "And the others?" "They are too far gone and there are too many vampires...I alone have resisted their magic" And he knew where the expedition was heading. They hatched a plan to escape the oasis with the guide Maniko, but they had to be quick. The sun had already slipped below the highest point of the stone teeth ringing the top of the small valley, and the shadows were deepening into night. I glossed over it here, but there were lots of Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence checks during this encounter as the players were trying to figure out what they were dealing with, and who to trust. Their skills didn't help him much here, and the party could have benefited greatly from someone with a more social skill set. But it was quite entertaining to see them squirm, especially when that girl screamed and none of the natives paid any attention, and the slow realization that they were dealing with something insidious. Again, I feel like the rules worked for me by not getting in the way, and because reducing the power of vampires was easy to do. Rather than punish them for splitting up the party repeatedly, I decided to just unnerve them a bit and have Maniko rescue them from a potentially bad situation. It came together quite well and set them up to be motivated to do something you don't see D&D characters do much: try to escape the bad guys. [/QUOTE]
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