|
Author
|
Comment
|
Roland the red
A cup of coffee
(5/14/03 9:35 pm)
Reply
|
New Campaign Started - Probably Long
I'll get to the point rather quickly...
First off, the campaign takes place in the Forgotten Relams. The Location is Between Mulmaster and Tantras, in the area around the Flooded Forest. Ylraphon is 'hommlet', with Nulb and the Old Temple inland towards the Glacier of the White Worm (but in the lowland forests there). Rastor and the Temple of All Consumption are actually in the foothills.
Note: They are not linear with Ylraphon, more like a triangle, but you get the idea.
The Party Roster:
Hunter, a farmboy turned fighter/mercenary from Hallowdale. A veritable hayseed whose training was at the hands of his ex-adventuring uncle.
Nyther, a local human ranger who has a hatred for goblinoids. A two-weapon/archer type who can't wait for 3.5...
Devarshi, a Half-Elf (moon) Sorcerer from Aglarond, on the lam for some mysterious reason.
Homium, an moon elven rogue from Impiltur. An urbanite whose life was spent mostly among humans, and who seeks to "re-discover" his heritage in Myth Drannor someday...
Nate, a local human Druid closely aligned with the gnome clans in the region. Nate seeks to someday drive the evil in the Flooded Forest away someday, and restore the balance to this largely 'evil' region of Faerun.
The Campaign started at 1st level, and the group made it about halfway through 3rd before starting the adventure. Some of the Characters in Ylraphon (hommlet) were met early on, such as Chatrilon, and good ol' Redithidoor (Red for short).
The actual module began with Chatrilon urging his 'friends' to go to the Old Temple of Elemental Evil, playing on Nythers hatred of the Hobgoblins that lair there. The party was split: Nyther and Nate, the local boys, wanted to go after the Hobgoblins. But Homium and Devarshi wanted to explore the 'old moathouse we saw down the road' - their previous adventures revealed the history of the region and the Old Temple of Elemental Evil role in it. Homium and Devarshi felt it would be a be an ideal place to "make their own"...This left the farmboy, hunter to decide. So he asked Chatrilon, whom he distrusted, and decided to do the opposite! Chatrilon quickly asked to join the party, arguing that their enthusiasm surely masked knowledge of more riches than expected in the ruined moathouse. It worked, and the Party accepted him...watched closely by the astute Hunter.
On the road, the druid decided to cast Charm Person (due to Hunters suspicion) on Chatrilon, who failed his Saving Throw. Chat was Nate's loyal friend! But his agenda still held, and he would betray the others at the right time.
Since the party was without a cleric, and only 3rd level, I decided to have them encounter Ol' Del...(Who, by the way, is a Rogue/Ranger/Harper Scout of about 6th level, charged with keeping an eye on things for the Harpers). He warned the party of the Utreshimon, giving them the ability to rest a night and prepare...
This ended up nearly as a TPK. They split into three teams: Hunter and Chatrilon (who said he was a "light fighter") through the main entrance, Devarshi and Nate over the ruined wall, and Homium and Nyther through the hole in the ruined tower (where the ooze lurks).
Hunter dropped in the initial Lightning Blast, with Chatrilon avoiding harm. Since no one could see him, he turned invisible and hid. Nate and Devarshi Climbed the rocks and came face to face with the dragon. Nate took a blow for the team, then ran out with Devarshi on his heels. Homium and Nyther were busy with an ooze.
The Dragon Took flight, so Devarshi and Nate decided to cross the moat to where Homium and Nyther were somewhat protected...long story short, they were all in a straight line with a blue dragon behind them. Homium and Devarshi dropped, but were revived by Nate's Cure Light Wounds and Nythers Potion of the same. They dragged themselves into the Moathouse the following round, once Nyther finished the ooze off, and the dragon circled around.
Big U used his burrow ability to bring the rest of the tower down, driving the party deeper into the moathouse. He then circled and entered. The battle was on again. It went better for the group at this point, and Nate managed to go outside and revive hunter, who drank his potion and entered the fray. At this point, Chatrilon began studying Hunter for a Death Attack. On round three, Big U had a breath ready again, but Homium and Hunter (who had refocused earlier) had the initiative. The moved such that Hunter was in front and Homium was behind Hunter (healing himself) and Chatrilon was behind homium...I felt like not letting Big U breathe, but hey, I its what I planned, so...Big U let loose, and wouldn't you know it. Chatrilon failed his save and died...
The others made their saves, and thanks to the endure Lightning, Hunter survived as well. Big U was pretty wounded that round, so following round, he escaped into the sky...
|
 Siobharek 
A guitar
(5/14/03 10:55 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
|
Re: New Campaign Started - Probably Long
That sounds like a very, very good session! I like the idea of introducing some of the NPCs early - while I haven't read all of the campaign logs here, I'm pretty sure that not too many have thought of that before.
When I began reading, I thought, "3rd level?! Even though they're 5, Big U is gonna fry them for sure." He didn't - good for them.
I look forward to reading more installments of your logs. Oh, and welcome to the boards 
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
smetzger
A song from the sixties
(5/15/03 7:38 am)
Reply
|
Re: New Campaign Started - Probably Long
Quote:
The others made their saves, and thanks to the endure Lightning, Hunter survived as well. Big U was pretty wounded that round, so following round, he escaped into the sky...
Good thing they heeded O'l Del, that Endure Lightning was a great idea.
BTW My Big U. also escaped (with about 5hp I believe). He layed low in the forest until he healed up. He then approached the Hobgoblins and an aliance was formed. My PCs skipped the temple and went directly to Rastor. If my PCs don't go back to the temple until 'the end' when the cultists have opened up the node; they will find Big U's corpse in the farmhouse. The cultists will have killed him when he noticed the activity at the farmhouse.
|
Roland the red
A cup of coffee
(5/15/03 7:53 am)
Reply
|
...continued...
Thanks Siobharek, I tried not to pull any punches, but I didn't use the "hover and blind" tactic...I could have have a couple of times, but it seemed less likely for Big U to do so. Especially with the players running around like the keystone cops...plus, I had Ol' Del warn 'em...
So, they finished Big U and fled the Moathouse after searching the bodies in the main hall, as well as Chatrilons. They camped on a hill that looked across the marshy plain towards the moathouse. No Fire, and Double watch. They spotted some torch light in and around the moathouse that night that winked out after about an hour or so...They knew of the stairs down, and assumed (correctly) that denizens deeper in the complex came up to investigate.
This time, they approached rather brazenly, and once all were in the courtyard, the arrowslits came alive with arrows from Gnolls stationed there. Most ran back out across the 'drawbridge', but Nyther the ranger ran inside to face the other Gnoll Ranger (what is his name...I am at work right now...) in a toe-to-toe battle.
Seeing little use for the arrow slits, about half ran around to the main gate and past the dueling Rangers to pursue the others. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew decided to come in through the 'tunnel' where the ooze onced laired. Inside, they found the Gnolls who heard their approach and a the battle was on in earnest as the main group soon found itself surrounded.
But, they are, after all, only Gnolls, and the battle was short-lived. But I did put the scare in 'em at first. And boy, do you need to be careful in this module!
Soon, the upper levels were thoroughly searched, although the secret door was not discovered. The group then descended the stairs. The gnolls knew the group was coming, and were prepared. The rogue was ambushed as he led the way looking for traps on the staircase. This time, both Hunter and Nyther charged in, dispatching with the Gnolls forthwith and running deeper into the complex to dispatch any 'others' that might be waiting down the columned hall...and the ran smack into the GHAST AND HIS GHOUL CRONIES.
A hurt was put on the Ghast, but he managed to paralyze both the fighters. One Ghoul pinned the sorcerer into a corner and paralyzed him. One ghoul went down by the rogues decent combat ability. The druid was paralyzed by another.
This left the ELVEN rogue to face the Ghouls and Ghast by himself...He tumbled past and into a corner to keep from getting flanked. He then readied an attack against the Ghast when it approached. Damaged, and good rolls dropped the Ghast and a cheer went up! But he still had three Ghouls to face.
Fighting Defensively, he managed to survive long enough and to drop two, but was damaged and one hi9t could kill. He tumbled past to the paralyzed druid and looked in his pack for a potion. The Ghoul attacked, but missed (only one attack...moved). Homium the Rogue drinks the potion, provoking an attack of opportunity, that hits, but for a lousy 2pts. With a wild cry, the rogue attacks the ghoul and drops it...
A few minutes later, the rest of the group is deciding what to do...during that time, the rogue heard Noises to the Northeast that where pretty loud and disturbing..He guesses something is laying an ambush. To the Western doors, he heard some stirring earlier, but when he opened the door to look, all was quiet (spugnoir).
Thats where the sessio ended. Its sort of funny, but Spugnoir is a Red Wizard of Thay who operates from the tiny enclave in Ylraphon. They met him just before the War in Iraq broke out, and so the running Joke is that the Wizards of Thay are French...I played Spugnoir like this and its been some great comic relief. I think next session will open up with Spugnoir coming out and saying "Aha, I'll get you now, Gnoll scum!" and then feign suprise at seeing the group. He will then describe how he was 'about' to dispatch them all himself, etc...He'll probably join the group, be of little help, and demand most of the magic as his share, lest they face the wrath of Mighty Red Wizards of Thay...
'Till Next Wednesday...
|
Grumgarr
A boxing glove
(5/16/03 7:09 am)
Reply
|
Re: ...continued...
Good stuff - aah! memories.
It's so long since I ran this part, I'm feeling kind of nostalgic.
Sounds like you've got a good rich campaign setting going - you know about the increase in 'ooze creatures' etc. in the flooded forest, right? And the 'old temples' angle? Are you linking that in with Zuggtmoy or Big T (tentacle rods and all)?
I guess it no longer matters with Chat being dead and all, but 3e Charm Person only lasts a few hours (1 hour/level) IIRC - one to watch for if it comes up again.
Keep the logs coming - I'll be watching closely as I'm about to launch another low-level camapign (vaguely Big-T-related) in Ylraphon and the flooded forest soon - I may get to pinch an idea or two
Grumgarr
|
Roland the red
A cup of coffee
(5/16/03 6:19 pm)
Reply
|
I remember
Grumgar...yeah, I remembered, but it was roleplayed well, so when the spell wore off, it fir that Chat just sort of 'liked' the druid...Remember, he still wanted to sabotage the group, and once Ol' Del talked of the dragon, he knew these dupes would be good to rid the cultists of this problem.
As far as the Flooded Forests 'Ooze' Angle, I am playing it as a Zuggtmoy angle (who is actually in service to ...Ghaundahar? in the realms). There are also supposedly lots of monsters that appear in the swamp that should really be there...I think a Deepspawn fits that nice, but its more of a background flavor...unless they really get interested...the poor saps...
I plan on having the cultists "freeing" Imix about the same time 3.5 comes out, doing the whole wave of Purple force thing at that time (I'd give credit wheres its due, but can't remember) to introduce the changes...
I plan on running City of the Spider Queen immediately after RttToEE...they will be a bit higher level, buts thats cool...letting them blow through the beginning chapters easily will feel good after the temple, I am guessing.
Once The temple is defeated, and the orb of Oblivion is destroyed, an earthquake will strke the area. Two things happen: One, the Flooded Forest will begin to drain (into the large lake in City of the Spider Queen, and Two, the Lolth Disapearing act begins...but I digress...wrong area to discuss this...
|
|
Okay -- Your Turn
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies 
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies