OnlineDM
Adventurer
Since I wrote a thread documenting my party's journey through the Scouring of Gate Pass, I thought it would make sense to continue the story as they move into the Fire Forest (I don't use the name Innenotdar, as I think it's just too hard to pronounce).
The party entered the forest during the last session two weeks ago and encountered the indomitable dire bats and the elemental goblin. This was an easy battle, as the PCs understood that the goblin was under attack and that the bats were the real enemy. The most fun was that the bats both rekindled - a nice surprise. I like the idea of an automatic rekindle for this first encounter, just to give the party a taste of the flavor of the fire forest.
Tonight's session began with the Dangerous Crossing encounter. The party understood that the bridge was unsteady but didn't roll a high enough Dungeoneering check to figure out where the fragile spots were. The gnome shaman in the party decided to walk on across and fell right through - bam, 33 damage (max HP of 37). Ow. The bat swarms were awakened, and I gave each party member a full turn before the bats attacked.
I ruled that a prone character on the cavern floor would take no damage from the smoldering grass down there, as otherwise the gnome would have just died (though Torrent did start climbing down to help right away). The gnome managed to get up, get to the cavern wall and start climbing. Meanwhile, the rest of the party stepped up to the hole that the gnome found and started fighting the bats.
The minotaur druid successfully noticed two more fragile spots, and then promptly chose to shift right onto one of them when he hit with a power that allowed a free shift. Down he went, falling unconscious. It was a great moment! Fortunately, the shaman summoned his spirit companion down there and shared some healing, and Torrent came down to do the same. After that, the party was able to get their fallen allies back up, finish off the bats and tiptoe the rest of the way across.
Next, the party was greeted by a hell hound with a bone in its mouth. (Note that I made this just on a normal part of the elfroad rather than a bridge - there are too many bridges on this road!) The hound rolled the highest initiative and used its turn to walk up to the party, drop the bone, and back off. The PCs picked up the bone and read it and then debated what to do. They quickly realized the loophole - that the message said to leave the CASE, not necessarily the CONTENTS. They tried to bluff the removal of the contents (and failed), left the case, picked up the bone and walked on. The dwarf fighter tried to distract the hell hound and nearly sparked a combat but ultimately managed to walk away.
A little while later, the demon revealed himself, praised the party for their clever thinking with the empty case, and attacked. The party made quick work of the lemures (even after I changed them into 2-hit minions) and started beating on the demon, so I had the demon thank them for a good battle and teleport away.
We ended the evening with the party meeting Khadral and agreeing to help him get the mushrooms he needs in order to liberate the dryad's glade from the fire. The minotaur druid in the party has an artifact that wants him to be good to nature, so he was all over this (and was rewarded with more concordance).
Unfortunately, I hadn't prepared the maps for the next set of encounters yet (the fungal caves), so we called it a night. Tonight's session was a lot of fun, especially the collapsing bridge. I need to make sure there's always a real sense of danger, and even though the party is just now getting to level 4, they're still breezing through things unless they have bad luck or I adjust the difficulty. Still, I'm liking the fire forest a great deal so far.
The party entered the forest during the last session two weeks ago and encountered the indomitable dire bats and the elemental goblin. This was an easy battle, as the PCs understood that the goblin was under attack and that the bats were the real enemy. The most fun was that the bats both rekindled - a nice surprise. I like the idea of an automatic rekindle for this first encounter, just to give the party a taste of the flavor of the fire forest.
Tonight's session began with the Dangerous Crossing encounter. The party understood that the bridge was unsteady but didn't roll a high enough Dungeoneering check to figure out where the fragile spots were. The gnome shaman in the party decided to walk on across and fell right through - bam, 33 damage (max HP of 37). Ow. The bat swarms were awakened, and I gave each party member a full turn before the bats attacked.
I ruled that a prone character on the cavern floor would take no damage from the smoldering grass down there, as otherwise the gnome would have just died (though Torrent did start climbing down to help right away). The gnome managed to get up, get to the cavern wall and start climbing. Meanwhile, the rest of the party stepped up to the hole that the gnome found and started fighting the bats.
The minotaur druid successfully noticed two more fragile spots, and then promptly chose to shift right onto one of them when he hit with a power that allowed a free shift. Down he went, falling unconscious. It was a great moment! Fortunately, the shaman summoned his spirit companion down there and shared some healing, and Torrent came down to do the same. After that, the party was able to get their fallen allies back up, finish off the bats and tiptoe the rest of the way across.
Next, the party was greeted by a hell hound with a bone in its mouth. (Note that I made this just on a normal part of the elfroad rather than a bridge - there are too many bridges on this road!) The hound rolled the highest initiative and used its turn to walk up to the party, drop the bone, and back off. The PCs picked up the bone and read it and then debated what to do. They quickly realized the loophole - that the message said to leave the CASE, not necessarily the CONTENTS. They tried to bluff the removal of the contents (and failed), left the case, picked up the bone and walked on. The dwarf fighter tried to distract the hell hound and nearly sparked a combat but ultimately managed to walk away.
A little while later, the demon revealed himself, praised the party for their clever thinking with the empty case, and attacked. The party made quick work of the lemures (even after I changed them into 2-hit minions) and started beating on the demon, so I had the demon thank them for a good battle and teleport away.
We ended the evening with the party meeting Khadral and agreeing to help him get the mushrooms he needs in order to liberate the dryad's glade from the fire. The minotaur druid in the party has an artifact that wants him to be good to nature, so he was all over this (and was rewarded with more concordance).
Unfortunately, I hadn't prepared the maps for the next set of encounters yet (the fungal caves), so we called it a night. Tonight's session was a lot of fun, especially the collapsing bridge. I need to make sure there's always a real sense of danger, and even though the party is just now getting to level 4, they're still breezing through things unless they have bad luck or I adjust the difficulty. Still, I'm liking the fire forest a great deal so far.
