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Torchbearer 2e - actual play of this AWESOME system! (+)
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8920589" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>We played another (relatively short) session today.</p><p></p><p>The session started with Fea-bella's player giving us the recap, which cured her of hungry and thirsty.</p><p></p><p>The players had about three turns left before they ran out of light (from their candles) and accrued another condition on the Grind. They searched the burial alcoves in the middle of the dungeon, where the aptr-gangrs had come from. The first thing they found was sun signs, but when Fea-bella read them (successful Theologian made using her Instinct to read every word) she realised they were <em>abnegations</em> of the sun, thus explaining why in this area bright light was rendered dim, and dim light became darkness. Telemere the elf took out his hammer and an iron spike, and marred the signs (the test failed, and I adjudicated this as success but with Exhaustion from the effort required). This had the desired effect, of ending the darkness enchantment over this area.</p><p></p><p>In the alcoves, the PCs also found some other loot: a jar of honey (cooking supplies, plus a recovery buff); and a spellbook, which Fea-bella took and read (again, instinctually), recognising that it contained two spells (Wizard's Aegis and Flames of the Shroud). I reminded the player that, as a Dreamwalker, Fea-bella can't copy spells from a spell book into her dream library, unless she can somehow find a way to get the book into her dreams. Golin's player's response: "We need to get the shadow that came out of your heart to merge with the book and take it into your dreams!" My response: "Cool!"</p><p></p><p>The PCs then went back to the entrance cave with the pool of water to camp. They had one check, and agreed that Telemere would use it to recover from Exhaustion. Everyone else took watch. They didn't have any fuel for a fire without making a Scavenging or Survivalist test, which they chose not to risk, and so it was a dark camp. I told them it was dangerous, given the Demon, the evil shadow spirit, etc. The Camp Event roll was therefore -3 for danger, +1 for dark, +1 for watch, +1 for Dwarf in a dungeon, for no nett modification. The roll was a 9, and the follow-up rolls showed that Fea-bella had lost her tinderbox through an annoying tear in her backpack.</p><p></p><p>Telemere's recovery roll was a success - no more Exhaustion. And everyone refilled their waterskins and bottles.</p><p></p><p>When the camp phase ended, the characters talked in the dark a bit. Fea-bella's Goal was to get Megloss to help her, and I decided to open up that possibility. Fea-bella had talked multiple times about wanting to find her missing Elfstone, and so I decided that Megloss asked what the Elfstone was that she kept going on about. There was a bit of back-and-forth, and the upshot was a Persuader check, helped by the other PCs (mostly Persuader, but Korvin used Manipulator with some slightly obsequious flattery of Megloss), whereby Fea-bella persuaded Megloss to say what he knew about the Elfstone possessed by the spirit of a Dwarf (ie Mim, the petty dwarf). He responded that that must be the stone that Gerda, Golin's Dwaven protege who used to work for Megloss before the PCs recruited her, keep banging on about.</p><p></p><p>This was a surprise to the PCs and also the players: it hadn't occurred to them that a relatively innocuous NPC would be the thief, even though she was the only named character (other than two PCs) present when the Elfstone went missing, <em>and</em> was a bandit. I told Golin's player that this probably explained why Gerda didn't seem perturbed by his lack of expediency in getting her a job in the Alchemist Guild, seeming happy to sit in her room and brood. The player was highly amused by this whole turn of events.</p><p></p><p>The players then lit their last 3 candles (with Telemere's tindebox)- and Fea-bella pulled out her stick of glowing fungus - so they could go to the doors they hadn't yet ventured through. Fea-bella instinctually read the Elvish writing on the door (successful Scholar test): it said "Here lies Celedhring, in communion with the Outer Dark". There was some discussion of what this might mean - demons, liches, portals, etc. The playes decided that it was worth checking out. Korvin inspected the doors and (with a successful Criminal test, though he would probably have preferred to fail) identified that they were not locked and would open easily. So the PCs went through.</p><p></p><p>They saw the black tapestry hanging at the end of the hall (pack 5). Golin rolled it up and tied it with a rope, ready to haul it out in a hurry if necessary. I treated this as a good idea.</p><p></p><p>Korvin took the silver cup (pack 1, draught 1, 2D) from the altar and put it in his pack.</p><p></p><p>Telemere the Elven Ranger was intrigued by the Ritual tools (bespoke tools, for performing rituals to the Outer Dark) that were also on the altar, and put them in his pack.</p><p></p><p>Then - with a bit of goading from me, reminding them that every sarcophagus they'd looked in so far has had something valuable in it - they decided to lift the lid of the sarcophagus that was sitting in the middle of the room. This freed Celedhring the Barrow Wight. The players thought this was a bad idea, and so tried to put the lid back on - a capture conflict!</p><p></p><p>Golin as conflict captain rolled 5 hit points for the players, while I rolled 8 for the Wight. I was feeling a bit confident, and the players were feeling a bit worried. But my Wight got hosed!</p><p></p><p>Golin equipped the sarcophagus lid as his weapon (+1s Attack). Telemere equipped the ritual tools that he'd taken from the altar to Darkness in the sarcophagus chamber - the players' point was that a Barrow Wight is the result of an <em>improper</em> burial, and so the Wight would be sensitive to the possibility of more ritual, and after some discussion I agreed these granted +1D Feint and Manoeuvre. More importantly, Telemere's player - in only his third session - worked out that paying 1 persona to put his 5 Nature dice into an unopposed attack roll might work. And so the PCs won the conflict with no hit points lost: their previous action was a Defence with lots of open-ended and so everyone rallied behind the Skald and his Voice of Thunder (even Megloss, who prior to being knocked out of the conflict had not been helping, my view being that he was too scared). They couldn't actually capture the Wight as per their intention (3 vs 5 Might) but shoved the lid back on long enough to get clean away. (The rules for what happens if an opponent's Might is to high for the players to get their conflict goal expressly say that a successful capture conflict might allow the PCs to escape, and that's what they wanted.)</p><p></p><p>The Wight did get three successes on a Manoeuvre, disarming Telemere and taking back its ritual tools. And shoving the Wight back into its sarcophagus did mean that the PCs missed out on scoring its mithril sword (+1 Might to a mortal wielder). I offered as consolation that they now knew the location of a mithril sword; Golin's player retorted that they knew the location of a wielder of a mithril sword!</p><p></p><p>The PCs decided to leave the dungeon - which meant going back up the rope into Megloss's house - Golin successfully hauling the tapestry behind him (Ob 3 Labourer). Fea-bella's player had to leave, and I decided that Megloss also hung back a bit, so it was only three PCs - Korvin, Telemere and Golin - who heard the housekeeper Krystal asking them, in a slightly raspy voice, how they had done.</p><p></p><p>I took a minute or two to decide how I wanted to handle this, but decided to do it as opposed Scout tests - Krystal possessed by the Spiteful Spirit commanding the three aptr-gangrs, vs each PC rolling individually. Telemere succeeded, and so thwarted the ambush the Spirit had in mind (ie a Kill conflict). I told him that he was conflict captain, and after a discussio among the players he decided to go for a capture instead, so that the players could sell the aptr-gangrs again (having already sold them to Megloss last session).</p><p></p><p>This was another success for the players - I scripted an ill-judged Feint which ended up against an Attack and the NPCs were out, while the players, open-ending some 6s, had once again been able to restore their lost hp with a successful Defend.</p><p></p><p>The session ended there. I can't recall and so won't recap all the Fate and Persona awards, except that there had been general agreement that Fea-bella had earned gallows humour Fate - I think our second ever, and the first for Fea-bella - with a cheesy "box"-related joke ("out of the box"? "back in the box"?) directed at the Barrow Wight. She also got Teamworker, while Telemere got MVP having made the huge successful concluding attack against the Wight.</p><p></p><p>I think our next session is likely to involve a Town Phase.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8920589, member: 42582"] We played another (relatively short) session today. The session started with Fea-bella's player giving us the recap, which cured her of hungry and thirsty. The players had about three turns left before they ran out of light (from their candles) and accrued another condition on the Grind. They searched the burial alcoves in the middle of the dungeon, where the aptr-gangrs had come from. The first thing they found was sun signs, but when Fea-bella read them (successful Theologian made using her Instinct to read every word) she realised they were [i]abnegations[/i] of the sun, thus explaining why in this area bright light was rendered dim, and dim light became darkness. Telemere the elf took out his hammer and an iron spike, and marred the signs (the test failed, and I adjudicated this as success but with Exhaustion from the effort required). This had the desired effect, of ending the darkness enchantment over this area. In the alcoves, the PCs also found some other loot: a jar of honey (cooking supplies, plus a recovery buff); and a spellbook, which Fea-bella took and read (again, instinctually), recognising that it contained two spells (Wizard's Aegis and Flames of the Shroud). I reminded the player that, as a Dreamwalker, Fea-bella can't copy spells from a spell book into her dream library, unless she can somehow find a way to get the book into her dreams. Golin's player's response: "We need to get the shadow that came out of your heart to merge with the book and take it into your dreams!" My response: "Cool!" The PCs then went back to the entrance cave with the pool of water to camp. They had one check, and agreed that Telemere would use it to recover from Exhaustion. Everyone else took watch. They didn't have any fuel for a fire without making a Scavenging or Survivalist test, which they chose not to risk, and so it was a dark camp. I told them it was dangerous, given the Demon, the evil shadow spirit, etc. The Camp Event roll was therefore -3 for danger, +1 for dark, +1 for watch, +1 for Dwarf in a dungeon, for no nett modification. The roll was a 9, and the follow-up rolls showed that Fea-bella had lost her tinderbox through an annoying tear in her backpack. Telemere's recovery roll was a success - no more Exhaustion. And everyone refilled their waterskins and bottles. When the camp phase ended, the characters talked in the dark a bit. Fea-bella's Goal was to get Megloss to help her, and I decided to open up that possibility. Fea-bella had talked multiple times about wanting to find her missing Elfstone, and so I decided that Megloss asked what the Elfstone was that she kept going on about. There was a bit of back-and-forth, and the upshot was a Persuader check, helped by the other PCs (mostly Persuader, but Korvin used Manipulator with some slightly obsequious flattery of Megloss), whereby Fea-bella persuaded Megloss to say what he knew about the Elfstone possessed by the spirit of a Dwarf (ie Mim, the petty dwarf). He responded that that must be the stone that Gerda, Golin's Dwaven protege who used to work for Megloss before the PCs recruited her, keep banging on about. This was a surprise to the PCs and also the players: it hadn't occurred to them that a relatively innocuous NPC would be the thief, even though she was the only named character (other than two PCs) present when the Elfstone went missing, [i]and[/i] was a bandit. I told Golin's player that this probably explained why Gerda didn't seem perturbed by his lack of expediency in getting her a job in the Alchemist Guild, seeming happy to sit in her room and brood. The player was highly amused by this whole turn of events. The players then lit their last 3 candles (with Telemere's tindebox)- and Fea-bella pulled out her stick of glowing fungus - so they could go to the doors they hadn't yet ventured through. Fea-bella instinctually read the Elvish writing on the door (successful Scholar test): it said "Here lies Celedhring, in communion with the Outer Dark". There was some discussion of what this might mean - demons, liches, portals, etc. The playes decided that it was worth checking out. Korvin inspected the doors and (with a successful Criminal test, though he would probably have preferred to fail) identified that they were not locked and would open easily. So the PCs went through. They saw the black tapestry hanging at the end of the hall (pack 5). Golin rolled it up and tied it with a rope, ready to haul it out in a hurry if necessary. I treated this as a good idea. Korvin took the silver cup (pack 1, draught 1, 2D) from the altar and put it in his pack. Telemere the Elven Ranger was intrigued by the Ritual tools (bespoke tools, for performing rituals to the Outer Dark) that were also on the altar, and put them in his pack. Then - with a bit of goading from me, reminding them that every sarcophagus they'd looked in so far has had something valuable in it - they decided to lift the lid of the sarcophagus that was sitting in the middle of the room. This freed Celedhring the Barrow Wight. The players thought this was a bad idea, and so tried to put the lid back on - a capture conflict! Golin as conflict captain rolled 5 hit points for the players, while I rolled 8 for the Wight. I was feeling a bit confident, and the players were feeling a bit worried. But my Wight got hosed! Golin equipped the sarcophagus lid as his weapon (+1s Attack). Telemere equipped the ritual tools that he'd taken from the altar to Darkness in the sarcophagus chamber - the players' point was that a Barrow Wight is the result of an [i]improper[/i] burial, and so the Wight would be sensitive to the possibility of more ritual, and after some discussion I agreed these granted +1D Feint and Manoeuvre. More importantly, Telemere's player - in only his third session - worked out that paying 1 persona to put his 5 Nature dice into an unopposed attack roll might work. And so the PCs won the conflict with no hit points lost: their previous action was a Defence with lots of open-ended and so everyone rallied behind the Skald and his Voice of Thunder (even Megloss, who prior to being knocked out of the conflict had not been helping, my view being that he was too scared). They couldn't actually capture the Wight as per their intention (3 vs 5 Might) but shoved the lid back on long enough to get clean away. (The rules for what happens if an opponent's Might is to high for the players to get their conflict goal expressly say that a successful capture conflict might allow the PCs to escape, and that's what they wanted.) The Wight did get three successes on a Manoeuvre, disarming Telemere and taking back its ritual tools. And shoving the Wight back into its sarcophagus did mean that the PCs missed out on scoring its mithril sword (+1 Might to a mortal wielder). I offered as consolation that they now knew the location of a mithril sword; Golin's player retorted that they knew the location of a wielder of a mithril sword! The PCs decided to leave the dungeon - which meant going back up the rope into Megloss's house - Golin successfully hauling the tapestry behind him (Ob 3 Labourer). Fea-bella's player had to leave, and I decided that Megloss also hung back a bit, so it was only three PCs - Korvin, Telemere and Golin - who heard the housekeeper Krystal asking them, in a slightly raspy voice, how they had done. I took a minute or two to decide how I wanted to handle this, but decided to do it as opposed Scout tests - Krystal possessed by the Spiteful Spirit commanding the three aptr-gangrs, vs each PC rolling individually. Telemere succeeded, and so thwarted the ambush the Spirit had in mind (ie a Kill conflict). I told him that he was conflict captain, and after a discussio among the players he decided to go for a capture instead, so that the players could sell the aptr-gangrs again (having already sold them to Megloss last session). This was another success for the players - I scripted an ill-judged Feint which ended up against an Attack and the NPCs were out, while the players, open-ending some 6s, had once again been able to restore their lost hp with a successful Defend. The session ended there. I can't recall and so won't recap all the Fate and Persona awards, except that there had been general agreement that Fea-bella had earned gallows humour Fate - I think our second ever, and the first for Fea-bella - with a cheesy "box"-related joke ("out of the box"? "back in the box"?) directed at the Barrow Wight. She also got Teamworker, while Telemere got MVP having made the huge successful concluding attack against the Wight. I think our next session is likely to involve a Town Phase. [/QUOTE]
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