WizarDru
Adventurer
![url]](http://[url]http://drmcninja.com/comics/2010-05-24-17p70.jpg[/url])
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D&D 4E Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign - Heroic tier (finished)
Shieldhaven
Explorer
You! Get back to the first page where you belong!
Haven
Haven
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
We haven't played in a month due to GenCon. We're on for gaming tomorrow, assuming this ferschluggin' cold doesn't sideline me. I'm hoping it doesn't; I'm slowly feeling better.
I had Hypersmurf visiting from New Zealand after GenCon, but the timing was off and we weren't able to schedule him into a game.
I had Hypersmurf visiting from New Zealand after GenCon, but the timing was off and we weren't able to schedule him into a game.
You mean like 11 secret herbs and spices kind of extra crispy evilness?! Yes, do tell!
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
It's my writeup this week, as (a) Sagiro is super-busy and (b) we had no combat, and most of his analysis is tactical. I'm not sure why I love the non-combat sessions so much. This particular game was heavily roleplaying, temporarily tying several plot threads (and pushing the plot forwards) while introducing some puzzle elements to the next game or two. I did my regular "what do you want to see more of in the game?" question recently, and "more puzzles" were mentioned by several people. I'm working to rectify that.
We'd left the PCs headed north to the city of Iskendam, with about 15 people under their guard amidst the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the crushed city of Bressail. This game started with Eli Caldwell having a near-shouting argument with his father. In his backstory, Caldwell had been forced into the Grey Guard because he was "working on a patient who died under his care" (what that means is slightly unclear.) He probably could have avoided joining the Guard if a noblewoman named Dierdre Graceburn hadn't forced the issue. Caldwell wanted to know why; his parents said that she had claimed it was a "religious issue." Caldwell's house was recently burned by the illegal chaos-embracing cult of Vodis, and the cult leader claimed that it had been his sister whom Caldwell had been doctoring; if so, could the Graceburns be Vodisians as well? Caldwell's father Obidiah planned to use this rumor to extort assistance from the Graceburn warehouse in Iskendam.
Instead, Caldwell and the PCs started spreading the rumor that the Graceburns worshipped Vodis; a petty revenge, and one that made Obidiah furious. He gave Eli a lecture about how to play "the game." Eli took it badly. I got to have a bitter in-character argument with Blackjack (Caldwell's player) where all sorts of bitter acrimony and buried resentment bubbled up to the surface. Caldwell is in a deep state of denial about why he's in the guard, and it's a delight to watch it play out in game.
While in line to enter the city, a fellow refugee sold Cobalt a treasure map and a riddle-inscribed plaque for 50 GP. (There's a certain delight in having a character be utterly impulsive. Cobalt will leap at every shiny adventure opportunity I dangle in front of him.) The group was fairly sure the map was legitimate, though, and it was said to be stolen from a flooded basement in the swamp more or less on their way east, guarded by some sort of crazed swamp man. I supplied about 4/5ths of the rhyme on the plaque, with the last few lines broken off. After some debate they decided to make a detour to check it out.
Iskendam is a city at the southern edge of Rusted Lake, the large body of water where most of the refugees are hoping to find someplace to hide from the advancing imperial troops. This is where my players wowed me. "We can't find or afford a boat, but we have this boat-fixing ritual we got from the halflings at first level. Can we find a sunken boat and buy that?" Brilliant. They lowered water, hired 50 people for a copper a piece to haul the sunken boat out of the lake, cast the ritual, and voila! had their own ship. Then they charged little more than expenses to fix seven other sunken boats in the city. When they were finished the PCs were local heroes and several hundred previously-stranded refugees could get the hell out of Iskendam.
A note here about treasure parcels. I love these things. If I want to give the group an award for their heroism, or a PC says "are there any alchemical reagents out here in the swamp?", I have a simple and convenient method to assign value and track the reward. The only trick is keeping track on a master list, so I pre-write them and check each parcel off when it is rewarded.
The PCs avoided the Graceburn warehouse - this time - and left the city the next day. They got to Mudtunnel, the town situated inside a vast elemental vortex, and found that only refugees who knew someone important / had a place to stay / could afford a bribe were being ferried inside. Luckily the Grey Guard could say yes to all three, so they got their friends and family into relative safety. We tied off some dangling plotlines here; the local Grey Guard assassin had sobered up and was doing vital research on mirrors in witchwater towers, and homes and/or jobs were found for all of the NPCs that were traveling with the heroes. This was really rewarding to me; the province is falling apart, but the PCs took the time to get their loved ones (as many as possible, at least) to a defensible town. Cool.
Heading east into the swamp, the group nailed a navigation skill challenge with no failures and found the sunken basement first try. It turned out to be guarded by an elderly half-elven Grey Guard member named Grimble Thimbletick. Grimble had been stationed here, in the swamp, for 130 years; a little crazy, he thought there was still an empress. He was delighted the PCs had come to relieve him of duty. He was appalled that wasn't why they were there. Grimble spoke at length about how nature itself had told him all about the dark squirming things from Outside that want to get in. Cobalt is fairly sure that Grimble is hosting a "devourer of intellect," since all the symptoms of possession (odd pauses, absent mindedness, eccentricity) turn out to be symptoms that Grimble is showing. then again, he has lived in the swamp for 130 years.
Much roleplaying ensued as the PCs lowered water on the witchwater foundation, clearing it out from accumulated muck and debris (via a fast skill challenge) and finding a large iron drain at the bottom. The plaque riddle said:
"When mirrors are not
and shadow reigns
should sunlight fall
upon the drain
the vault will crack
and open wide
the riches tumble
death abides."
Turns out the big drain wasn't the one mentioned in the riddle; ripping it apart and swimming down the tunnel revealed a much larger room underneath. We'll start next game with a question: how do you reflect sunlight onto a spot 50' underground when there's muddy water in the way, and bringing mirrors into a witchwater structure can somehow summon monsters?
We'd left the PCs headed north to the city of Iskendam, with about 15 people under their guard amidst the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the crushed city of Bressail. This game started with Eli Caldwell having a near-shouting argument with his father. In his backstory, Caldwell had been forced into the Grey Guard because he was "working on a patient who died under his care" (what that means is slightly unclear.) He probably could have avoided joining the Guard if a noblewoman named Dierdre Graceburn hadn't forced the issue. Caldwell wanted to know why; his parents said that she had claimed it was a "religious issue." Caldwell's house was recently burned by the illegal chaos-embracing cult of Vodis, and the cult leader claimed that it had been his sister whom Caldwell had been doctoring; if so, could the Graceburns be Vodisians as well? Caldwell's father Obidiah planned to use this rumor to extort assistance from the Graceburn warehouse in Iskendam.
Instead, Caldwell and the PCs started spreading the rumor that the Graceburns worshipped Vodis; a petty revenge, and one that made Obidiah furious. He gave Eli a lecture about how to play "the game." Eli took it badly. I got to have a bitter in-character argument with Blackjack (Caldwell's player) where all sorts of bitter acrimony and buried resentment bubbled up to the surface. Caldwell is in a deep state of denial about why he's in the guard, and it's a delight to watch it play out in game.
While in line to enter the city, a fellow refugee sold Cobalt a treasure map and a riddle-inscribed plaque for 50 GP. (There's a certain delight in having a character be utterly impulsive. Cobalt will leap at every shiny adventure opportunity I dangle in front of him.) The group was fairly sure the map was legitimate, though, and it was said to be stolen from a flooded basement in the swamp more or less on their way east, guarded by some sort of crazed swamp man. I supplied about 4/5ths of the rhyme on the plaque, with the last few lines broken off. After some debate they decided to make a detour to check it out.
Iskendam is a city at the southern edge of Rusted Lake, the large body of water where most of the refugees are hoping to find someplace to hide from the advancing imperial troops. This is where my players wowed me. "We can't find or afford a boat, but we have this boat-fixing ritual we got from the halflings at first level. Can we find a sunken boat and buy that?" Brilliant. They lowered water, hired 50 people for a copper a piece to haul the sunken boat out of the lake, cast the ritual, and voila! had their own ship. Then they charged little more than expenses to fix seven other sunken boats in the city. When they were finished the PCs were local heroes and several hundred previously-stranded refugees could get the hell out of Iskendam.
A note here about treasure parcels. I love these things. If I want to give the group an award for their heroism, or a PC says "are there any alchemical reagents out here in the swamp?", I have a simple and convenient method to assign value and track the reward. The only trick is keeping track on a master list, so I pre-write them and check each parcel off when it is rewarded.
The PCs avoided the Graceburn warehouse - this time - and left the city the next day. They got to Mudtunnel, the town situated inside a vast elemental vortex, and found that only refugees who knew someone important / had a place to stay / could afford a bribe were being ferried inside. Luckily the Grey Guard could say yes to all three, so they got their friends and family into relative safety. We tied off some dangling plotlines here; the local Grey Guard assassin had sobered up and was doing vital research on mirrors in witchwater towers, and homes and/or jobs were found for all of the NPCs that were traveling with the heroes. This was really rewarding to me; the province is falling apart, but the PCs took the time to get their loved ones (as many as possible, at least) to a defensible town. Cool.
Heading east into the swamp, the group nailed a navigation skill challenge with no failures and found the sunken basement first try. It turned out to be guarded by an elderly half-elven Grey Guard member named Grimble Thimbletick. Grimble had been stationed here, in the swamp, for 130 years; a little crazy, he thought there was still an empress. He was delighted the PCs had come to relieve him of duty. He was appalled that wasn't why they were there. Grimble spoke at length about how nature itself had told him all about the dark squirming things from Outside that want to get in. Cobalt is fairly sure that Grimble is hosting a "devourer of intellect," since all the symptoms of possession (odd pauses, absent mindedness, eccentricity) turn out to be symptoms that Grimble is showing. then again, he has lived in the swamp for 130 years.
Much roleplaying ensued as the PCs lowered water on the witchwater foundation, clearing it out from accumulated muck and debris (via a fast skill challenge) and finding a large iron drain at the bottom. The plaque riddle said:
"When mirrors are not
and shadow reigns
should sunlight fall
upon the drain
the vault will crack
and open wide
the riches tumble
death abides."
Turns out the big drain wasn't the one mentioned in the riddle; ripping it apart and swimming down the tunnel revealed a much larger room underneath. We'll start next game with a question: how do you reflect sunlight onto a spot 50' underground when there's muddy water in the way, and bringing mirrors into a witchwater structure can somehow summon monsters?
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KidSnide
Adventurer
Malachite? I've played in a lot of games with Blackjack, and it's not that hard to tell his characters apart.
-KS
Blackjack
First Post
Eli thinks his father is being absurdly unrealistic about how much "game" his family can play now that they are refugees with no money, no house, no income and no business. The Graceburns apparently have a grudge against the Caldwells -- and have a warehouse and at least some of their former resources. So better to take down a foe who has every upper hand before said foe strikes again.
Eli's playing the game. It's just a different game.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
I find it utterly bizarre that the campaign is already 40 games in. The game summary, courtesy of Sagiro:
[sblock=All 40 games]1. [LEVEL 1] Crocodile trolling; light in swamp spotted
2. Investigating the Dog Gobblers; fight with the "doll."
3. Fights with Dog Gobblers; about to descend to their lair
4. Defeating the Gobbler king and rescuing the halfling baby
5. Discover the submerged weapon tower; enemy force approaching!
6. [LEVEL 2] Tower Defense Part 1 - defeated Sarothic, exploded a barrel
7. Tower Defense Part 2 - War God vs. Dragon. Alene departs.
8. Battle at the Floodford Armory
9. Floodford Armory Part 2; saving the mayor from his treacherous advisor
10. [LEVEL 3] Interrogating Scrit by the river.
11. Off to the Bubbling Fens; fight against the lizard "party" + stirges
12. Finding Aline's camp; fight "Weed of Sklar"; meet gargoyle; into hut
13. Weedy prison; free Xiras and destroy Dragon; fleeing the Tide of Sklar
14. Returning Xiras; fight against the Gargoyle
15. [LEVEL 4] Introduce Bramble; entering Aleph's crypt
16. Forced through Cobblestones; WISC; learn of Alpeh's return(s)
17. Big fight vs. Myconids
18. Dash through the streets; boss fight vs. Aline; Pikeline and others killed
19. Battle with Nils Riverlimb & Co.; Strontium escapes the Claws of the Librarian
20. [LEVEL 5] Battle with the Kenku assassins sent to kill Bramble.
21. Animated objects attack in the Tower basement!
22. Approach to Mudtunnel; fight against Bullywugs
23. Mudtunnel murder investigation; drunk Grey Guardsmen; mirrors bad!
24. Approach Bressail; fought "Beloved of Bullywugs": in current
25. [LEVEL 6] Convinced the Necromancer to leave town
26. Battle in the sewers; huge explosion; chased down a halfling wizard type
27. Battle against carrion crawlers and 1st half of beholder fight
28. Fled from beholder; Toiva died; learned Logan's tragic backstory
29. Return to the Beholder! Kicked ass with movement-inhibitors. Gilran intro.
30. [LEVEL 7] Reymos makes Logan an offer, then sends assassins to kill him
31. The Empire Strikes Back; tree-port into the palace to rescue Logan's friend.
32. Skill challenge into the throne room, avoiding combat. Rescued friend.
33. Party temporarily split; another Kenku assassin targets Bramble.
34. Grey Guard sneaks onto the wall, storms guard house, opens city gate!
35. Rescuing Logan's and Caldwell's family; attacked by demons of Vodis.
36. [LEVEL 8] Fleeing Bressail; saving boy from bully; down into ghoulish tunnels
37. Ghoul battle continues; ghoulish school marm and oddler swarm... yuck!
38. Ghoul battle finishes, vs. Bride and bridesmaids. Caldwell menfolk rescued.
39. Battle with du Chenoselle and a host of minions as we continue toward Iskendam.
40. Arrive in Iskendam; fix some boats; buy treasure map; meet Thimbletick[/sblock]
That's 40 out of a planned 150 games. I'm about on track plot-wise where I thought I'd be, and I'm already rejecting certain fun sideplots that I probably won't have time to include. It's kind of painful.
[sblock=All 40 games]1. [LEVEL 1] Crocodile trolling; light in swamp spotted
2. Investigating the Dog Gobblers; fight with the "doll."
3. Fights with Dog Gobblers; about to descend to their lair
4. Defeating the Gobbler king and rescuing the halfling baby
5. Discover the submerged weapon tower; enemy force approaching!
6. [LEVEL 2] Tower Defense Part 1 - defeated Sarothic, exploded a barrel
7. Tower Defense Part 2 - War God vs. Dragon. Alene departs.
8. Battle at the Floodford Armory
9. Floodford Armory Part 2; saving the mayor from his treacherous advisor
10. [LEVEL 3] Interrogating Scrit by the river.
11. Off to the Bubbling Fens; fight against the lizard "party" + stirges
12. Finding Aline's camp; fight "Weed of Sklar"; meet gargoyle; into hut
13. Weedy prison; free Xiras and destroy Dragon; fleeing the Tide of Sklar
14. Returning Xiras; fight against the Gargoyle
15. [LEVEL 4] Introduce Bramble; entering Aleph's crypt
16. Forced through Cobblestones; WISC; learn of Alpeh's return(s)
17. Big fight vs. Myconids
18. Dash through the streets; boss fight vs. Aline; Pikeline and others killed
19. Battle with Nils Riverlimb & Co.; Strontium escapes the Claws of the Librarian
20. [LEVEL 5] Battle with the Kenku assassins sent to kill Bramble.
21. Animated objects attack in the Tower basement!
22. Approach to Mudtunnel; fight against Bullywugs
23. Mudtunnel murder investigation; drunk Grey Guardsmen; mirrors bad!
24. Approach Bressail; fought "Beloved of Bullywugs": in current
25. [LEVEL 6] Convinced the Necromancer to leave town
26. Battle in the sewers; huge explosion; chased down a halfling wizard type
27. Battle against carrion crawlers and 1st half of beholder fight
28. Fled from beholder; Toiva died; learned Logan's tragic backstory
29. Return to the Beholder! Kicked ass with movement-inhibitors. Gilran intro.
30. [LEVEL 7] Reymos makes Logan an offer, then sends assassins to kill him
31. The Empire Strikes Back; tree-port into the palace to rescue Logan's friend.
32. Skill challenge into the throne room, avoiding combat. Rescued friend.
33. Party temporarily split; another Kenku assassin targets Bramble.
34. Grey Guard sneaks onto the wall, storms guard house, opens city gate!
35. Rescuing Logan's and Caldwell's family; attacked by demons of Vodis.
36. [LEVEL 8] Fleeing Bressail; saving boy from bully; down into ghoulish tunnels
37. Ghoul battle continues; ghoulish school marm and oddler swarm... yuck!
38. Ghoul battle finishes, vs. Bride and bridesmaids. Caldwell menfolk rescued.
39. Battle with du Chenoselle and a host of minions as we continue toward Iskendam.
40. Arrive in Iskendam; fix some boats; buy treasure map; meet Thimbletick[/sblock]
That's 40 out of a planned 150 games. I'm about on track plot-wise where I thought I'd be, and I'm already rejecting certain fun sideplots that I probably won't have time to include. It's kind of painful.
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