We played another session yesterday.
We started with Golin and Fea-bella lost in the Troll Fens. Fea-bella's player recounted a prologue, and removed Hungry and Thirsty. I then told them that in escaping from the tricksy Troll Haunt they had lost track of time and distance, but that now, as the sun rose (late in the morning due to the season and the mountains to the east), they could see the silhouette of a moathouse to the east. Golin took a drink to remove his own Hungry and Thirsty.
They decided to head to the Moathouse. This required a Pathfinder test to find their way through the mire, and Fea-bella failed this. So (as per my notes for approaching the Moathouse off the path) they found themselves attacked by giant killer frogs! In the ensuing kill conflict, the PCs did in the frogs with no loss of disposition on their part (they recovered their one lot hit point via Defend, and they cemented their kill when the last of the standing frogs opted to rout, and suffered an unopposed Attack action as a result). This conflict ticked over the Grind, making both character Hungry and Thirsty. They drank their remaining water.
They got a 2D chipped precious stone as their loot - at one point during the conflict I had narrated Fea-bella slashing a frog's tongue with her half-moon glaive, and I describe the stone as being embedded in the frog's tongue, as if it had tried to ensnare a well-dressed noble - but not food as such, and so I called for a Scavenging check to actually recover the bodies of the dead frogs. Which they did. And as they were collecting their frog meat, who should turn up but Telemere! (Whose player arrived late.) It turned out (as per the player's narration of his PC's absence and arrival) that in the dome of the Tower of Stars Telemere had seen a constellation and comet that he had not seen for decades, but he had sworn then to follow the signs if he ever saw it again (hence the character's Star-wise!). Thus he had left the Tower without explanation, and now arrived in this most unlikely of places! He eliminated Hungry and Thirsty (but remained Exhausted).
The PCs had amassed 4 camp checks at this stage, and so were going to use them. Fea-bella performed a Survivalist check to find fresh water in the swamp, helped by both the other PCs (Telemere's survivalist; Golin's Cook to help identify clean water). This failed, and so they found water but not before Fea-bella became Sick from testing some less-than-fresh water, with Telemere regaining Hungry and Thirsty as a consequence of his helping, and Golin becoming Afraid.
They then had to haul their recovered frogs to their camp site: Golin, helped by Fea-bella, failed, and so the hauling left them Hungry and Thirsty again. And so they made camp one turn short of more Grind. I decided that this was an Unsafe camp (being in the middle of the Troll Fens and not too far from the moathouse). They got a +1 for camping in the Wilderness (Telemere is a Ranger) but no one wanted to keep watch, as they all had conditions to recover: Fea-bella H+T, Exhausted and Sick; Golin H+T, Exhausted, Angry and Afraid; Telemere H+T and Exhausted. So the net modifier was -1 to the camp events roll. Which was a 7, -1 = 6: Wandering monsters - remain in adventure phase as camp ends with a stand off!
The wandering monster was a single Dire Wolf, which was trying to capture the PCs. The PCs succeeded in the conflict, and Golin captured the Wolf and bound it with his trusty rope; but a minor compromise was owed, and Telemere's bow was broken in the skirmish. (The fiction did establish that the Wolf had closed with him as he was trying to hold it off with his archery.) This made Telemere (and his player) very Angry, something consistent with the Grind ticking over. Fea-bella was Angry also, and Golin accrued the dreaded Sick.
They all took a sip from their camp's fresh water (thus eliminating H+T) while contemplating what to do with their bound Dire Wolf. They decided to bargain with it for service. Golin, who being a Shrewd Dwarven Outcast suffers no Precedence penalty when bargaining (and the Dire Wolf being Precedence 1 vs the PCs' zero), was conflict captain.
The PCs offered to free the Wolf, if it would join their party ("pack"); and were offering it plenty of frog to eat. As the Wolf explained in the common tongue, it wanted them to come with it to the Moathouse. The PCs succeeded, but owed a major compromise - the Wolf allied with them (and chowed down on frog), but they would go with it to the Moathouse.
They now camped. The Wolf took watch, but I decided that the danger level had stepped up from Unsafe to Dangerous (given that they were within Dire Wolf-tracking range of the Moathouse), so the modifier was still -1. The result was 9-1 = 8, Lost - "Lose your bearings while you rest. You must make a Pathfinder or Cartographer test to get back on track." As I narrated, their camp was in something of a hollow, and mists were rising off the swamp.
The PCs again drank water, to eliminate Hungry and Thirsty. Three checks were then spent for three successful recovery tests - all the PCs recovered from Angry. The fourth check was spent so that Golin could use frog meat to create preserved rations, but the test failed - and as Golin was getting ready to smoke the frog with his improvised cooking gear (all his real gear having been lost with his satchel while escaping from the Troll Haunt), the camp was approached by 3 bandits who demanded that the PCs surrender and come with them - a camp-ending twist!
Golin's player decided that Golin, being Afraid, could not lead resistance - but Fea-bella aided Telemere as conflict captain. I described my bandits - two crossbowmen and a halberdeer - and explained that crossbows get +1s on Attack, and an additional +1D on Attack vs Defend. Fea-bella's player advised that the upshot of this was that a mad charge was the only viable strategy, to get in close and stop the crossbows being brought to bear, and so we resolved the players' Attack/Attack/Attack vs my bandits' Attack/Attack/Manoeuvre. The PCs were victorious in this conflict, but took quite a bit of hurt in the process (reduced to 2 of 7 disposition), and so a major compromise was owed. Given their strategy, and the narration that had accompanied it, I declared that they had all been Injured, by crossbow bolts and halberd blows.
In this conflict, I also had to decide how to include the Wolf. I treated it as Golin's companion, giving +1D help when appropriate, but also able to help the other PCs even when Golin couldn't due to his being Afraid.
I asked the players what they did with their captured bandits - in a display of bloodthirstiness, they asked the Dire Wolf to dispatch them, which it did rather gleefully, if also a bit surprised by the nature of its new pack.
The PCs filled their waterskins, and Telemere also successfully Scavenged to recover a sword that had been carried by one of the crossbowmen, to replace his broken bow.
The players then discussed their options. In various conversations with the Wolf they had established that the moathouse housed Gnolls, and Bugbears, as well as human bandits - and about this time they also learned that the leader ("alpha", in Wolf terms) was a Half-Elf. The Wolf couldn't tell them the Half-Elf's name ("two-legs" have unmemorable names from the Wolf's perspective), but recognised Lareth when Fea-bella suggested it.
Not being sure of the way to Nulb, and in desperate need of provisions, the PCs decided to head for the Moathouse. This required a Pathfinder test (due to the camp event result), which failed despite an "Ah-hah!" moment from Stars-wise (as Telemere could make out the comet he was following reflected in a pool of water). So they found their way to the Moathouse, but were Hungry and Thirsty as a result. So full waterskins became empty again.
I described the Moathouse, and they decided they had three options: frontal assault, stealth infiltration, or trickery. They decided to go for trickery: they were emissaries from Roy (Megloss's bandit underling whom they had driven off at the Tower of Stars), seeking to establish an alliance of Lords of the North, banding together for greater security and profit. Fea-bella equipped her half-truths and evasions (improvised weapon); Golin equipped the fact that he was already allied with the Dire Wolf (+1D defence, I decided); and Telemere equipped a "prop", namely, his knowledge of the stars and omens that revealed that the tie is right!
The PCs approached the gates and announced themselves, and a bandit underling ran of and fetched their leader. But even thought the bandits were all without "weapons" (and so -1D) and had to use Beginner's Luck Lore Master for their Manoeuvres and Defence, it all went badly for the PCs (which will happen when you are all Injured (-1D) and two of you are Sick on top of that (-1 further D) and one of you can't help because Afraid). Their disposition of 4 was eliminated while the bandits had lost only 2 hit points of their starting 6, and so owed only a minor compromise.
The bandits' response to the PCs' lies had been incredulity, and an insistence that they surrender. Which, having lost the conflict, they did.
The compromise I suggested, which the players accepted, was that as they were marched off to the dungeons, the bandits would not realise that the Dire Wolf was the PCs' ally - so they have a Wolf on the inside!
This conflict tripped over the Grind again, and so all were Hungry and Thirsty.
I described the PCs being marched up the steps into the ruined great hall, then down the stairs into the dungeon. When the bandits instructed them to stick to the side of the stairs, Telemere (who instinct is to check to see if he is being watched when entering somewhere new) made a Scout check (on the Grind, given that he was Exhausted) and saw the Creeping Ooze clinging to the wall and ceiling on the other side of the stairs.
From the stairs, they were led through the old, ruined storeroom past the cells, through the Gnolls' chamber and into the captives' room, where they were given some water (recovery from Hungry and Thirsty) but stripped of most of their gear, and locked away.
At some stage Fea-bella had accrued a camp check, and so the PCs lit a candle (Golin's candles and Telemere's tinderbox had not been taken) and camped in the dungeon. The result of the camp event roll was only that some of their flask, vials, bottles and the like were broken - having no such luxury items, they laughed that off. And Golin succeeded at a Will test to recover from being Afraid. They also met their fellow captives - some merchants, who offered a reward if they were freed; and a Dwarf, who spoke to Golin in the Dwarven tongue, explaining that he had been caught by Gnolls while spying for the Herbalist cult (from the Forgotten Temple Complex). When Golin said that he would free the Dwarf, the Dwarf gave him a ring, saying that he was clearly a powerful Dwarf who should be the wearer of it.
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We ended the session there, and allocated rewards.
Fea-bella got 1 Fate for gallows humour (during the capture conflict with the Wolf), and 3 Persona, for mouldbreaker (when she relied on Golin even though Dwarves are greedy and cannot be trusted), for Creed (because she had certainly aided Telemere in these dark times) and for achieving her Goal of escaping the swamp.
Golin got 2 Fate, for using his Instinct to forage when the opportunity arises (to recover the frog bodies) and for acting on his Belief that Elves are fickle and unstable, and 3 Persona, for achieving his Goal of exiting the swamp, for wrestling with is Creed (that Elves are lost in dreams and need grounding in reality; during the camp he had been encouraging Fea-bella to re-memorise her Wizard's Aegis, which she used when fighting the frogs), and for MVP (as he was the one who had secured the alliance with the Wolf).
Telemere got 4 Fate, for using his Instinct (to spot the Creeping Ooze), for acting on his Belief that one should see things through to their end, for pursing his Goal of finding the meaning of the comet omen, and for gallows humour in the bargaining with the Wolf. He got 1 Persona, for teamworker.
Next session will probably see an escape attempt.
We started with Golin and Fea-bella lost in the Troll Fens. Fea-bella's player recounted a prologue, and removed Hungry and Thirsty. I then told them that in escaping from the tricksy Troll Haunt they had lost track of time and distance, but that now, as the sun rose (late in the morning due to the season and the mountains to the east), they could see the silhouette of a moathouse to the east. Golin took a drink to remove his own Hungry and Thirsty.
They decided to head to the Moathouse. This required a Pathfinder test to find their way through the mire, and Fea-bella failed this. So (as per my notes for approaching the Moathouse off the path) they found themselves attacked by giant killer frogs! In the ensuing kill conflict, the PCs did in the frogs with no loss of disposition on their part (they recovered their one lot hit point via Defend, and they cemented their kill when the last of the standing frogs opted to rout, and suffered an unopposed Attack action as a result). This conflict ticked over the Grind, making both character Hungry and Thirsty. They drank their remaining water.
They got a 2D chipped precious stone as their loot - at one point during the conflict I had narrated Fea-bella slashing a frog's tongue with her half-moon glaive, and I describe the stone as being embedded in the frog's tongue, as if it had tried to ensnare a well-dressed noble - but not food as such, and so I called for a Scavenging check to actually recover the bodies of the dead frogs. Which they did. And as they were collecting their frog meat, who should turn up but Telemere! (Whose player arrived late.) It turned out (as per the player's narration of his PC's absence and arrival) that in the dome of the Tower of Stars Telemere had seen a constellation and comet that he had not seen for decades, but he had sworn then to follow the signs if he ever saw it again (hence the character's Star-wise!). Thus he had left the Tower without explanation, and now arrived in this most unlikely of places! He eliminated Hungry and Thirsty (but remained Exhausted).
The PCs had amassed 4 camp checks at this stage, and so were going to use them. Fea-bella performed a Survivalist check to find fresh water in the swamp, helped by both the other PCs (Telemere's survivalist; Golin's Cook to help identify clean water). This failed, and so they found water but not before Fea-bella became Sick from testing some less-than-fresh water, with Telemere regaining Hungry and Thirsty as a consequence of his helping, and Golin becoming Afraid.
They then had to haul their recovered frogs to their camp site: Golin, helped by Fea-bella, failed, and so the hauling left them Hungry and Thirsty again. And so they made camp one turn short of more Grind. I decided that this was an Unsafe camp (being in the middle of the Troll Fens and not too far from the moathouse). They got a +1 for camping in the Wilderness (Telemere is a Ranger) but no one wanted to keep watch, as they all had conditions to recover: Fea-bella H+T, Exhausted and Sick; Golin H+T, Exhausted, Angry and Afraid; Telemere H+T and Exhausted. So the net modifier was -1 to the camp events roll. Which was a 7, -1 = 6: Wandering monsters - remain in adventure phase as camp ends with a stand off!
The wandering monster was a single Dire Wolf, which was trying to capture the PCs. The PCs succeeded in the conflict, and Golin captured the Wolf and bound it with his trusty rope; but a minor compromise was owed, and Telemere's bow was broken in the skirmish. (The fiction did establish that the Wolf had closed with him as he was trying to hold it off with his archery.) This made Telemere (and his player) very Angry, something consistent with the Grind ticking over. Fea-bella was Angry also, and Golin accrued the dreaded Sick.
They all took a sip from their camp's fresh water (thus eliminating H+T) while contemplating what to do with their bound Dire Wolf. They decided to bargain with it for service. Golin, who being a Shrewd Dwarven Outcast suffers no Precedence penalty when bargaining (and the Dire Wolf being Precedence 1 vs the PCs' zero), was conflict captain.
The PCs offered to free the Wolf, if it would join their party ("pack"); and were offering it plenty of frog to eat. As the Wolf explained in the common tongue, it wanted them to come with it to the Moathouse. The PCs succeeded, but owed a major compromise - the Wolf allied with them (and chowed down on frog), but they would go with it to the Moathouse.
They now camped. The Wolf took watch, but I decided that the danger level had stepped up from Unsafe to Dangerous (given that they were within Dire Wolf-tracking range of the Moathouse), so the modifier was still -1. The result was 9-1 = 8, Lost - "Lose your bearings while you rest. You must make a Pathfinder or Cartographer test to get back on track." As I narrated, their camp was in something of a hollow, and mists were rising off the swamp.
The PCs again drank water, to eliminate Hungry and Thirsty. Three checks were then spent for three successful recovery tests - all the PCs recovered from Angry. The fourth check was spent so that Golin could use frog meat to create preserved rations, but the test failed - and as Golin was getting ready to smoke the frog with his improvised cooking gear (all his real gear having been lost with his satchel while escaping from the Troll Haunt), the camp was approached by 3 bandits who demanded that the PCs surrender and come with them - a camp-ending twist!
Golin's player decided that Golin, being Afraid, could not lead resistance - but Fea-bella aided Telemere as conflict captain. I described my bandits - two crossbowmen and a halberdeer - and explained that crossbows get +1s on Attack, and an additional +1D on Attack vs Defend. Fea-bella's player advised that the upshot of this was that a mad charge was the only viable strategy, to get in close and stop the crossbows being brought to bear, and so we resolved the players' Attack/Attack/Attack vs my bandits' Attack/Attack/Manoeuvre. The PCs were victorious in this conflict, but took quite a bit of hurt in the process (reduced to 2 of 7 disposition), and so a major compromise was owed. Given their strategy, and the narration that had accompanied it, I declared that they had all been Injured, by crossbow bolts and halberd blows.
In this conflict, I also had to decide how to include the Wolf. I treated it as Golin's companion, giving +1D help when appropriate, but also able to help the other PCs even when Golin couldn't due to his being Afraid.
I asked the players what they did with their captured bandits - in a display of bloodthirstiness, they asked the Dire Wolf to dispatch them, which it did rather gleefully, if also a bit surprised by the nature of its new pack.
The PCs filled their waterskins, and Telemere also successfully Scavenged to recover a sword that had been carried by one of the crossbowmen, to replace his broken bow.
The players then discussed their options. In various conversations with the Wolf they had established that the moathouse housed Gnolls, and Bugbears, as well as human bandits - and about this time they also learned that the leader ("alpha", in Wolf terms) was a Half-Elf. The Wolf couldn't tell them the Half-Elf's name ("two-legs" have unmemorable names from the Wolf's perspective), but recognised Lareth when Fea-bella suggested it.
Not being sure of the way to Nulb, and in desperate need of provisions, the PCs decided to head for the Moathouse. This required a Pathfinder test (due to the camp event result), which failed despite an "Ah-hah!" moment from Stars-wise (as Telemere could make out the comet he was following reflected in a pool of water). So they found their way to the Moathouse, but were Hungry and Thirsty as a result. So full waterskins became empty again.
I described the Moathouse, and they decided they had three options: frontal assault, stealth infiltration, or trickery. They decided to go for trickery: they were emissaries from Roy (Megloss's bandit underling whom they had driven off at the Tower of Stars), seeking to establish an alliance of Lords of the North, banding together for greater security and profit. Fea-bella equipped her half-truths and evasions (improvised weapon); Golin equipped the fact that he was already allied with the Dire Wolf (+1D defence, I decided); and Telemere equipped a "prop", namely, his knowledge of the stars and omens that revealed that the tie is right!
The PCs approached the gates and announced themselves, and a bandit underling ran of and fetched their leader. But even thought the bandits were all without "weapons" (and so -1D) and had to use Beginner's Luck Lore Master for their Manoeuvres and Defence, it all went badly for the PCs (which will happen when you are all Injured (-1D) and two of you are Sick on top of that (-1 further D) and one of you can't help because Afraid). Their disposition of 4 was eliminated while the bandits had lost only 2 hit points of their starting 6, and so owed only a minor compromise.
The bandits' response to the PCs' lies had been incredulity, and an insistence that they surrender. Which, having lost the conflict, they did.
The compromise I suggested, which the players accepted, was that as they were marched off to the dungeons, the bandits would not realise that the Dire Wolf was the PCs' ally - so they have a Wolf on the inside!
This conflict tripped over the Grind again, and so all were Hungry and Thirsty.
I described the PCs being marched up the steps into the ruined great hall, then down the stairs into the dungeon. When the bandits instructed them to stick to the side of the stairs, Telemere (who instinct is to check to see if he is being watched when entering somewhere new) made a Scout check (on the Grind, given that he was Exhausted) and saw the Creeping Ooze clinging to the wall and ceiling on the other side of the stairs.
From the stairs, they were led through the old, ruined storeroom past the cells, through the Gnolls' chamber and into the captives' room, where they were given some water (recovery from Hungry and Thirsty) but stripped of most of their gear, and locked away.
At some stage Fea-bella had accrued a camp check, and so the PCs lit a candle (Golin's candles and Telemere's tinderbox had not been taken) and camped in the dungeon. The result of the camp event roll was only that some of their flask, vials, bottles and the like were broken - having no such luxury items, they laughed that off. And Golin succeeded at a Will test to recover from being Afraid. They also met their fellow captives - some merchants, who offered a reward if they were freed; and a Dwarf, who spoke to Golin in the Dwarven tongue, explaining that he had been caught by Gnolls while spying for the Herbalist cult (from the Forgotten Temple Complex). When Golin said that he would free the Dwarf, the Dwarf gave him a ring, saying that he was clearly a powerful Dwarf who should be the wearer of it.
******************************
We ended the session there, and allocated rewards.
Fea-bella got 1 Fate for gallows humour (during the capture conflict with the Wolf), and 3 Persona, for mouldbreaker (when she relied on Golin even though Dwarves are greedy and cannot be trusted), for Creed (because she had certainly aided Telemere in these dark times) and for achieving her Goal of escaping the swamp.
Golin got 2 Fate, for using his Instinct to forage when the opportunity arises (to recover the frog bodies) and for acting on his Belief that Elves are fickle and unstable, and 3 Persona, for achieving his Goal of exiting the swamp, for wrestling with is Creed (that Elves are lost in dreams and need grounding in reality; during the camp he had been encouraging Fea-bella to re-memorise her Wizard's Aegis, which she used when fighting the frogs), and for MVP (as he was the one who had secured the alliance with the Wolf).
Telemere got 4 Fate, for using his Instinct (to spot the Creeping Ooze), for acting on his Belief that one should see things through to their end, for pursing his Goal of finding the meaning of the comet omen, and for gallows humour in the bargaining with the Wolf. He got 1 Persona, for teamworker.
Next session will probably see an escape attempt.
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