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The Risen Goddess (Updated 3.10.08)
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<blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 1127" data-attributes="member: 41"><p><strong>16-- When meat goes bad . . . </strong></p><p></p><p>-----</p><p>"I came in the door / I said it before / I never let the mic magnetize me no more." </p><p><em>-- Eric B. and Rakim, Eric B. For President </em></p><p></p><p>"We kicked in the door / We've done it before / I hope that isn't all *my* blood on the floor." </p><p><em>-- Taran and Thel, This Session </em></p><p>-----</p><p></p><p>The party stashes their loot, and follows the old trade-road through a rugged (and often very narrow) mountain pass that finally leads out through a narrow rift into a bowl-shaped mountain valley, almost completely occupied by a clear and serene lake. </p><p></p><p>On the opposite side of the lake, if the goblin was telling the truth, is the front doors to the Great Delve, the Mountain Fastness. In the middle of the lake, barring the way, is the structure that had blunted the Ishlokian's attempt to attack the Delve. </p><p></p><p>Sitting on four supporting pillars, and rising some thirty feet from the surface of the lake is the single most impressive engineering feat anyone present had ever seen. A huge keep on massive stilts, the structure culminates in four watchtowers surrounding a large central spire. </p><p></p><p>Taran and Gorquen are made <em>invisible</em> and <em>fly</em> to the structure to have a closer look. Nearing the keep, they see that the watchtowers are covered but open to the air and manned by ballistae-wielding bugbears. The giant furry goblinoids don't seem to enjoy the bright afternoon sun, and do not notice the flying duo. </p><p></p><p>The base of the keep is open to the water, and a cursory examination shows a portcullis guarding a 20' wide opening at water level designed to allow boats to sail into the building itself. </p><p></p><p>A plan is formed and the next day, put into action: At high-sun, Thelbar and Indy make the party <em>invisible</em>. Kyreel casts <em>silence 15' radius</em> on a pebble, which Taran places in his mouth. Taran has several 10-foot lengths of rope in his hand, one for each PC (save for Kyreel's 20-foot rope), and thanks to Kyreel's <em>water walk</em> spell, the group sets out for the bugbear's keep on the double. Upon attaining the front gates, Kyreel walks out to the length of his rope, and <em>stoneshapes</em> an opening at the side of the portcullis. He then returns to the source of his rope, and pats the <em>invisible</em> Taran on the head, signaling that it is time to move in. </p><p></p><p>A repeat of the procedure at a second portcullis gains the party entrance to the interior docks. </p><p></p><p>A pair of bugbear guards dicing there never get a chance to reflect on how unlucky they were to draw front-door duty this day. With Gorquen, Taran and Indy taking advantage of their invisibility, the guards never sound the alarm. </p><p></p><p>The only exit from the room is an open shaft in the ceiling covered by a metal grate some 30' above the floor level. There is a platform attached to chains that run up through the grate. As the party dispatches the two guards, they move to cover this opening. Bugbear voices are heard from the room above. The grate slides open with a rasping hiss, and a furry bugbear head peers down into the room.</p><p> </p><p>The bugbear is shot six times, including a sneak attack, a <em>flaming burst</em> arrow, and a critical hit. </p><p></p><p>He's dead, Jim. </p><p></p><p>The party bursts into action, with Gorquen and Taran flying through the grate into the room above. Indianichus and Kyreel follow closely behind, climbing the chain. Taran and Gorquen start the mayhem by laying about them with heavy *thwackings* from a bastard sword and greatsword. Kyreel bull-rushes a bugbear into the elevator shaft, then handily operates the elevator, allowing Thelbar to get into the battle. Thel sucks at climbing. </p><p></p><p>He doesn't suck at <em>fireballing</em> bugbears, though, and he single-handedly eliminates the bugbears further up the elevator shaft who are peppering the general melee with javelins. </p><p></p><p>The main brawl is happening in a large room with exits at the four corners. Each exit leads to a hot-spring well and a narrow spiral staircase going up. In the center of the room is a larger elevator shaft, this one fully 20' square. </p><p></p><p>Bugbear rogues start sneak attacking, and Taran and Indy split off from the main group to hunt them down and kill them. In that order. </p><p></p><p>General all-out slashing and hacking commences, but by the time the PCs have exhausted their best spells and defeated all the bugbears in front of them, they have come to 2 conclusions: </p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1. the leader is still in the building, and <br /> 2. they have no exit strategy.</li> </ul><p></p><p>Gorquen decides to fly up the shaft on the solo in order to take the fight to the enemy. A brave choice. Unfortunately, the enemy was planning to take the fight to the PCs, and shortly after Gorquen disappears, bugbears start pouring into the room from the four passageways leading to the spiral staircases. </p><p></p><p>The bugbear's vile clerical leader leads one of the groups. He is a big, bad mother even amongst his big, bad species, and his morningstar crackles with a repulsive black aura. He has apparently kept the . . . er, 'macho sticks' from some of his foes, and these grisly trophies decorate his armor. </p><p></p><p>"Look at the size of that . . ." Taran begins, before Thelbar cuts him off by punishing the cleric's group with his last <em>fireball</em>. </p><p></p><p>Many of the bugbears look hurt, but not the cleric. Obviously, this is not a bugbear to be trifled with. Hairy goblinoids surround the group, with more on the way. Bugbears are chopped, and cleaved, but they score telling blows of their own. </p><p></p><p>Overwhelmed, Thelbar has no choice but to cut the battle in half with a <em>wall of fire</em>. This strands Gorquen in the elevator shaft, but it must be done. Things are starting to look up for the PCs when suddenly Taran shakes his head once, and goes limp; apparently the subject of some fell <em>domination</em> effect. Indy and Kyreel both rush to his aid with <em>protection from evil</em> spells (to prevent possession) but the dominated fighter manages to summon his willpower at the wrong time, and resists both spells. </p><p></p><p>Time to run? You bet. </p><p></p><p>But first, Indy and Kyreel take Black Lisa away from Taran and try to coax him along. When this results in the cleric giving the telepathic command to "kill your friends", Taran is abandoned. The remaining bugbears make trouble, however, and Kyreel falls to the ground, killed by a blow from a morningstar. </p><p></p><p>Or so they think. The wily cleric was playing possum, and takes the opportunity to use her <em>hat of disguise</em> to flee, but she flees in the opposite direction of the others! </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . </p><p></p><p>Gorquen has sliced a pair of <em>featherfalling</em> skirmishers into ribbons, and flies down into the main room only to find that her friends are on the other side of a <em>wall of fire</em>. As her wings are particularly vulnerable to fire, she won't be getting through there. </p><p></p><p>To her way of thinking, there is only one honorable course of action: Attack the unwounded high priest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(contact), post: 1127, member: 41"] [b]16-- When meat goes bad . . . [/b] ----- "I came in the door / I said it before / I never let the mic magnetize me no more." [i]-- Eric B. and Rakim, Eric B. For President [/i] "We kicked in the door / We've done it before / I hope that isn't all *my* blood on the floor." [i]-- Taran and Thel, This Session [/i] ----- The party stashes their loot, and follows the old trade-road through a rugged (and often very narrow) mountain pass that finally leads out through a narrow rift into a bowl-shaped mountain valley, almost completely occupied by a clear and serene lake. On the opposite side of the lake, if the goblin was telling the truth, is the front doors to the Great Delve, the Mountain Fastness. In the middle of the lake, barring the way, is the structure that had blunted the Ishlokian's attempt to attack the Delve. Sitting on four supporting pillars, and rising some thirty feet from the surface of the lake is the single most impressive engineering feat anyone present had ever seen. A huge keep on massive stilts, the structure culminates in four watchtowers surrounding a large central spire. Taran and Gorquen are made [i]invisible[/i] and [i]fly[/i] to the structure to have a closer look. Nearing the keep, they see that the watchtowers are covered but open to the air and manned by ballistae-wielding bugbears. The giant furry goblinoids don't seem to enjoy the bright afternoon sun, and do not notice the flying duo. The base of the keep is open to the water, and a cursory examination shows a portcullis guarding a 20' wide opening at water level designed to allow boats to sail into the building itself. A plan is formed and the next day, put into action: At high-sun, Thelbar and Indy make the party [i]invisible[/i]. Kyreel casts [i]silence 15' radius[/i] on a pebble, which Taran places in his mouth. Taran has several 10-foot lengths of rope in his hand, one for each PC (save for Kyreel's 20-foot rope), and thanks to Kyreel's [i]water walk[/i] spell, the group sets out for the bugbear's keep on the double. Upon attaining the front gates, Kyreel walks out to the length of his rope, and [i]stoneshapes[/i] an opening at the side of the portcullis. He then returns to the source of his rope, and pats the [i]invisible[/i] Taran on the head, signaling that it is time to move in. A repeat of the procedure at a second portcullis gains the party entrance to the interior docks. A pair of bugbear guards dicing there never get a chance to reflect on how unlucky they were to draw front-door duty this day. With Gorquen, Taran and Indy taking advantage of their invisibility, the guards never sound the alarm. The only exit from the room is an open shaft in the ceiling covered by a metal grate some 30' above the floor level. There is a platform attached to chains that run up through the grate. As the party dispatches the two guards, they move to cover this opening. Bugbear voices are heard from the room above. The grate slides open with a rasping hiss, and a furry bugbear head peers down into the room. The bugbear is shot six times, including a sneak attack, a [i]flaming burst[/i] arrow, and a critical hit. He's dead, Jim. The party bursts into action, with Gorquen and Taran flying through the grate into the room above. Indianichus and Kyreel follow closely behind, climbing the chain. Taran and Gorquen start the mayhem by laying about them with heavy *thwackings* from a bastard sword and greatsword. Kyreel bull-rushes a bugbear into the elevator shaft, then handily operates the elevator, allowing Thelbar to get into the battle. Thel sucks at climbing. He doesn't suck at [i]fireballing[/i] bugbears, though, and he single-handedly eliminates the bugbears further up the elevator shaft who are peppering the general melee with javelins. The main brawl is happening in a large room with exits at the four corners. Each exit leads to a hot-spring well and a narrow spiral staircase going up. In the center of the room is a larger elevator shaft, this one fully 20' square. Bugbear rogues start sneak attacking, and Taran and Indy split off from the main group to hunt them down and kill them. In that order. General all-out slashing and hacking commences, but by the time the PCs have exhausted their best spells and defeated all the bugbears in front of them, they have come to 2 conclusions: [list]1. the leader is still in the building, and 2. they have no exit strategy. [/list] Gorquen decides to fly up the shaft on the solo in order to take the fight to the enemy. A brave choice. Unfortunately, the enemy was planning to take the fight to the PCs, and shortly after Gorquen disappears, bugbears start pouring into the room from the four passageways leading to the spiral staircases. The bugbear's vile clerical leader leads one of the groups. He is a big, bad mother even amongst his big, bad species, and his morningstar crackles with a repulsive black aura. He has apparently kept the . . . er, 'macho sticks' from some of his foes, and these grisly trophies decorate his armor. "Look at the size of that . . ." Taran begins, before Thelbar cuts him off by punishing the cleric's group with his last [i]fireball[/i]. Many of the bugbears look hurt, but not the cleric. Obviously, this is not a bugbear to be trifled with. Hairy goblinoids surround the group, with more on the way. Bugbears are chopped, and cleaved, but they score telling blows of their own. Overwhelmed, Thelbar has no choice but to cut the battle in half with a [i]wall of fire[/i]. This strands Gorquen in the elevator shaft, but it must be done. Things are starting to look up for the PCs when suddenly Taran shakes his head once, and goes limp; apparently the subject of some fell [i]domination[/i] effect. Indy and Kyreel both rush to his aid with [i]protection from evil[/i] spells (to prevent possession) but the dominated fighter manages to summon his willpower at the wrong time, and resists both spells. Time to run? You bet. But first, Indy and Kyreel take Black Lisa away from Taran and try to coax him along. When this results in the cleric giving the telepathic command to "kill your friends", Taran is abandoned. The remaining bugbears make trouble, however, and Kyreel falls to the ground, killed by a blow from a morningstar. Or so they think. The wily cleric was playing possum, and takes the opportunity to use her [i]hat of disguise[/i] to flee, but she flees in the opposite direction of the others! Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . Gorquen has sliced a pair of [i]featherfalling[/i] skirmishers into ribbons, and flies down into the main room only to find that her friends are on the other side of a [i]wall of fire[/i]. As her wings are particularly vulnerable to fire, she won't be getting through there. To her way of thinking, there is only one honorable course of action: Attack the unwounded high priest. [/QUOTE]
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