So a lot of stuff happened between blog posts that you shouldn't ignore. But Harvey is big. Here is a list of places where you can donate. What can you do on that other stuff? Lots, actually. But on to D&D.
Unfortunately Kiana failed to make it again. She was an awesome player, but life is life. Just hoping she can come back again.
Since AL allows it, I restated Lydia into the Warlock class with the Great Old One as her patron. This actually facilitated a change in her backstory that I think would be more interesting. Want more details? That'll be a Patreon donors only thing from now on. Tell me you'll sign up for a Patreon for this blog in the comments, I'll set it up, and add that backstory to the available rewards.
I'd also like to take a moment to point out that Shannon is an awesome artist. She painted some tokens and crafted and painted some custom minis for the game. She even painted minis for Auryx, Phox, and Lydia. Wanna see? Again, I think that's another good thing for Patreon donors.
We took the goblin chieftain's head back to Yusdrayl, and she let us have more of the treasure.
After that, we took a long rest and went back to exploring. We found another locked door. Phox, being Phox, tried to bash it open with her sword. And damaged her sword. Vrinn came up and picked the lock. We found an empty pit trap and nothing else.
So we went back to the well. We lowered Phox on a rope, like a worm, into the deep well where we fought the chieftain. She found a bit filled with bio-luminescent fungus and other plants being tended by some skeletons. The skeletons moved to attack her. I supported her from the top of the well with some eldritch blasts. One even cause a skelesplosion, getting some bone dust in Phox's hair. Poor baby complained about getting bone dust in her hair. She's got so many worse things in there. Once the skeletons were dead, a bunch of twig blights. The other melee characters joined her by climbing down some convenient Legend of Zelda vines on the walls of the well.
We explored further down one corridor and found some well fed, well-groomed, and strangely behaved rats. It turns out they were pets for a bugbear with a thing for antlered head wear. The thing (of course) went for Phox, and nearly killer. Poor Kyla and bugbears, ever since one dropped her first character on her first session on a critical hit. DM tip: That should have killed her character, and she was a good sport about it. But don't let dice kill a first time players character. That's just bullshit.
Hiro burned a psychic blast to kill a rat. Apparently Mystics take on quirks, and one of Hiro is needing to know the name, or name his kills. We learned he killed the rat named Grip. And Auryx was the one that ultimately dropped the bugbear.
Phox did get a consolation prize: she found the bugbear's treasure in his bed. Plus we found a weapon rack where Phox found a new sword, and Squiz found a bunch more random weapons to haul around. We found a long tunnel into the Underdark but left well enough alone.
So we took the other corridor and found an ancient rift, remnant of the cataclysm that sunk the citadel. The floor was filled with small holes. When someone suggested I look in one, I pointed out that this is how people die. Instead I chucked a pebble down one. It went down the hole, and we didn't hear a landing sound.
Further up the rift we found an alcove containing a resting fire snake. Although thanks to the likes of Squiz and Bruennor, we failed to sneak up on it. But we did swarm it. Its nest contained a pair of sapphires.
We continued on the other side of the cleft corridor. It ended at a stuck door. Squiz shoved it open. It was room covered in mosaic tile with a dragon statue holding an empty tray. We pulled out some archaeological excavator picks and searched that thing up and down. We put the sapphires in the tray. We dumped in a bunch of gold. We put some magic items in. We even put some oil in it and lit it on fire. Nothing happened.
We continued exploring along the rift, finding another corridor lined with doors. Me, the player, got up to use the bathroom at this point. While I was in there, the rest of the group decided to line up in front of the doors and have Bruennor use Thaumaturgy to slam them all open at once. We should have thought that through a bit further. I did raise an objection when I sat back down, but the character on auto-follow doesn't get a say.
The rooms had goblins in them.
First of all, one of our tanks, Phox, found an empty room. Then some of our softer characters, like Auryx and Hiro, stood in front of doors containing three goblins, while tougher characters, like Squiz, only stood in front of a room with two. Yes. It sucked.
First, Squiz got dropped by not one, but two sequential critical hits. Not since the era of DJ have we seen the dice this furiously against the players. I did get to use a cool, creepy spell called arms of hadar, but then got swarmed by the goblins I was hoping to kill and got dropped. Auryx also got dropped by a swarm of goblins. Later, so did Hiro. And towards the end, they even got Phox. In keeping everybody up, Bruennor and Auryx managed to burn through our healing, including a potion. Afterwards Bruennor got dropped. I kept myself on my feet by ducking in and out of an empty room while firing eldritch blast. Fortunately, what was left of myself, Squiz, Auryx, and Vrinn managed to finish off the goblins, including the last one that we pinned in a corner, and we got everybody stabilized.
Alec had taken into account we were a big party, and had buffed the goblins hit points, accounting for how hard they were to kill. And they rolled way too high while we rolled way too low. FATE points, people!
In the mean time, we retreated to that fire snake's alcove for a long rest, and Alec told us we hit level 3. I took Pact of the Tome, so they found me perusing a book with cover seemed to be made of moldy rose petals stitched together with rotting, thorny vines, a green sigil on the cover resembling an open hand, palm out, with a mouth in the center. Poor, curious Phox asked to look. I clutched it closer, warning the foolish human that the book's contents would break her mind.
As I close out: I set this up. It is my contribution to Walmart's annual Children's Miracle Network drive. I do not yet know how to tie it back to the company and my store in particular. Even if I can only tie it to Walmart, we'll see if we can't get the donated totals distributed to stores from participating and contributing associates. Gaming for the kids, internetland!
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Saturday, August 26, 2017
A Little Passion Project
So I recently dug out a battered old soft-bound book. It happens to be a copy of The Palladium Fantasy Role-playing Game. While perusing it, I remembered it had a starter adventure at the end, like a lot of games do. It's a decent adventure, using a combination of site-based and event-based encounters with multiple factions for the players to interact with.
I re-read the credits, and it was written by none other than Erick Wujcik, creator of Amber Diceless Role-playing. It is fair to say that game was highly influential. Not to me directly, but to game designers whose products I admire.
Since it's not the adventure's fault it got saddled to a, let's be honest, bad rules set, I think I'd like to write an adaptation of it for 5e. The goal is to make it available sometime next year as a free download.
I re-read the credits, and it was written by none other than Erick Wujcik, creator of Amber Diceless Role-playing. It is fair to say that game was highly influential. Not to me directly, but to game designers whose products I admire.
Since it's not the adventure's fault it got saddled to a, let's be honest, bad rules set, I think I'd like to write an adaptation of it for 5e. The goal is to make it available sometime next year as a free download.
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
A Very Special Post
I hate to say it readers, but it's come to this:
I work for an evil corporation. And even though the branch I work at is one of the most successful in our market right now, they're squeezing us for hours. My managers rock (part of why we're so successful!) and are trying to get Corporate to back down. But it's stressful.
Put it simply: I need money. I have a car to pay off. I have D&D books to buy. I need to get a new wireless router. Hell, I need to contribute money towards improving the internet speed at the place I'm living. Plus food. Food is good.
I've resisted putting ads on the blog. And that doesn't seem like a viable option for income for much longer anyway.
So readers: I'm pondering setting up a Patreon for this blog. But I don't want to spin my wheels for nothing. I wasted time going to school for useless pieces of paper. I waste time volunteering and networking only to still lose out on better jobs and promotions.
IF I set up a Patreon, WILL YOU contribute?
Comment yes is you will.
I work for an evil corporation. And even though the branch I work at is one of the most successful in our market right now, they're squeezing us for hours. My managers rock (part of why we're so successful!) and are trying to get Corporate to back down. But it's stressful.
Put it simply: I need money. I have a car to pay off. I have D&D books to buy. I need to get a new wireless router. Hell, I need to contribute money towards improving the internet speed at the place I'm living. Plus food. Food is good.
I've resisted putting ads on the blog. And that doesn't seem like a viable option for income for much longer anyway.
So readers: I'm pondering setting up a Patreon for this blog. But I don't want to spin my wheels for nothing. I wasted time going to school for useless pieces of paper. I waste time volunteering and networking only to still lose out on better jobs and promotions.
IF I set up a Patreon, WILL YOU contribute?
Comment yes is you will.
Monday, August 21, 2017
Goblins, Dragons, and Trolls
A new player joined us: Kiana. She made a Wood elf finesse/duel weapon fighter named Rat-eyes. This is the third time someone has made a character using the Urchin background: Temerity from Kyla, Remy from Shannon, and now Rat-eyes from Kiana.
In any case, the party opted to take another long rest. This seems to be to restore Phox's rage and Bruenor's spell slots. Or something. I could advise Kyla and Calvin to just conserve these resources better, but 30 minute workdays have always been a thing in D&D.
The new character joined us during the long rest. Alec also summarized more of what we had learned from Erky. When we were ready to continue: we found the goblins' larder, filled with all kinds of disgusting things like something called "wine" that smelled like vinegar and something called "elf pudding." Erky tried a bit of that and found it tasty. Gnomes.
Past the larder were more goblins! Phox raged and used her reckless attack to crit one to death. This happened a lot, actually. Hiro also managed to get a killing blow with one of his psychic powers. Yes, that happened. Once the goblins were dead, further exploration revealed the barracks they had come out of. I also managed to find a pit trap with my face, but it was only 10 feet deep. The only thing injured was my pride.
We came to a locked door. Rat-eyes just walked right up to the thing and unlocked it. Rolling natural 20s is great for that! Behind that was room lined with mounted heads and antler trophies, including a few kobold heads. We spotted a white dragon taking cover behind a busted table. I walked in and, speaking Draconic, said, "Calcryx, we're here to take you home." It hissed at me and attacked. For some reason my dice do not like rolling high on initiative with Lydia, so Phox and Rat-eyes were first through the door.
Jokes on them, though. white dragons breath cones of cold! And they got struck by it while I was out of reach. Rat-eyes tried a neat trick, using a length of chain in the room to try and hold the dragon's mouth closed. She failed. At this point we had it surrounded, then it used it's special skill: burrowing. It came up next to Meepo and tried to kill the poor kobold, knocking it to 0 hp. Then Vrinn knocked it out. Erky provided healing to Meepo and Phox.
In the meantime, we found some valuables in a nest the dragon had made for itself: a figurine, some silverware, and a scroll case marked "Khundrukar," and containing a cryptic message on a water-damaged parchment. This, incidentally, is the breadcrumb to Forge of Fury, the next adventure in the book. Originally they were the first 2 in a linked path published for 3rd edition. The path of adventures was meant to bring a party to 20th level. They were not very well linked.
There was another locked door in the dragon's room. Again, Rat-eyes opened it, proving to be a better rogue than Vrinn. At this part of the job, anyway. There was a corridor lined with columns carved in the images of dragons. Torches set in sconces lit the place. We decided now would be a good time to return Meepo and the dragon.
Yusdrayl was true to her word and gave us the key. We examined more of the treasure she had. I offered the jade figurine we had found in exchange for an intriguing looking feather. It turned out to be a Quall's feather token (tree). Now I can grow an insta-oak tree, while out doors. Like most greedy murder hobos, we started bargaining for the rest. Ultimately, she would give us some scrolls and a potion for handling her goblin problem in the form of returning with the goblin chieftain's head.
But first we back-tracked with Erky, showing him the way back to the surface. He thanked us and went on his way. Then we opened that locked door. We thus began a classic: the gauntlet of trapped rooms.
The first one seemed innocuous enough. The north wall held alcoves containing cracked glass orbs. The south wall had a similar alcove containing an intact orb glowing with a pale blue light. Hiro decided this obviously dangerous thing would be good to touch. It started playing brooding music, probably along the lines of this. It constantly cast a charm person effect, and Squiz and Phox were the first hit by it. While charmed, they decided that leaving the citadel would be a good idea. Eventually, Bruenor threw the damn thing on the floor, breaking it.
Next we found a corridor, containing a trap we quickly spotted. Throwing a rock down the hall we found it was a pressure plate attached to an arrow trap. We had pitons! We wedged that pressure plate open and continued onward.
We found a dust covered room with a dragon statue at one end. As we moved in, the dragon statue spoke a short riddle:
We come at night without being fetched;
we disappear by day without being stolen.
What are we?
After answering this painfully obvious riddle, we found another long corridor, lined with alcoves filled with statues of robed elves, members of the dragon cult. There was a spike filled pit at one end. Auryx made an ice bridge (hopefully with guard rails) crossing the pit. Before we reached the door on the other side of a pit, an invisible quasit, a tiny minor demon, appeared, attacked, then fled, laughing. It apparently discharged it's duty.
We now found ourselves in a mostly purple room with a sarcophagus in the middle. The sarcophagus was clamped shut. We're adventurers. Schmuck bait is what we live for! We unclamped it and slid it open. There was a troll inside dressed in the robes of a dragon priest. It didn't like being in there, so it thanked us by trying to kill us, as is their way.
Trolls in D&D aren't cute little naked people with colorful hair. Their mean giant-like monsters that regenerate. It takes fire or acid to shut down that regeneration. For whatever reason, everybody forgot to bring a fire or acid spell. So Squiz and Hiro poured lantern oil on it and set it on fire. That works, too. We looted it's stuff, then found a secret door with a crawlspace, letting us know that this was where a disgraced dragonpriest had been interred.
Great! We went in through the back door. Dungeon design doesn't always have to make sense.
We decided to get back on task with goblin killing. We passed through the columned hall and found a room full of goblins. They were mostly noncombatants. I decided to play Drow matron mother and stepped into the room, acting like I was in charge, and demanded the goblin slaves show us where their chieftain was. It worked. Sort of. The goblins did show point us toward their chief. But as we started toward it, the noncombatants backed off and the warriors came forward. They started attacking us, because, yeah.
So, in an MMO, when doing a dungeon, while you're clearing one room, whatever you do, you don't pull another. Jeff must not have played MMOs. Hiro opened the door to the next room as we were clearing the first.
It was okay. Squiz and Hiro took on that room. Squiz, proving that Will is playing a WWE character and not a straight-up fighter, tried to grapple the chieftain and throw him down a deep well in his room. Unfortunately, he failed. But he sure did pull all the aggro in that room!
Jeff did whip out one of Hiro's big guns: a psionic blast attack that does 2d8 damage. There's no attack roll. No saving throw. Apparently, the designers did this on purpose. It is a single-target, and limited use. Still felt a tad over-powered.
We managed to clear both rooms. A party of 8 characters can do that, even at low level.
What happens next? What's at the bottom of the well? We'll find out next time.
In any case, the party opted to take another long rest. This seems to be to restore Phox's rage and Bruenor's spell slots. Or something. I could advise Kyla and Calvin to just conserve these resources better, but 30 minute workdays have always been a thing in D&D.
The new character joined us during the long rest. Alec also summarized more of what we had learned from Erky. When we were ready to continue: we found the goblins' larder, filled with all kinds of disgusting things like something called "wine" that smelled like vinegar and something called "elf pudding." Erky tried a bit of that and found it tasty. Gnomes.
Past the larder were more goblins! Phox raged and used her reckless attack to crit one to death. This happened a lot, actually. Hiro also managed to get a killing blow with one of his psychic powers. Yes, that happened. Once the goblins were dead, further exploration revealed the barracks they had come out of. I also managed to find a pit trap with my face, but it was only 10 feet deep. The only thing injured was my pride.
We came to a locked door. Rat-eyes just walked right up to the thing and unlocked it. Rolling natural 20s is great for that! Behind that was room lined with mounted heads and antler trophies, including a few kobold heads. We spotted a white dragon taking cover behind a busted table. I walked in and, speaking Draconic, said, "Calcryx, we're here to take you home." It hissed at me and attacked. For some reason my dice do not like rolling high on initiative with Lydia, so Phox and Rat-eyes were first through the door.
Jokes on them, though. white dragons breath cones of cold! And they got struck by it while I was out of reach. Rat-eyes tried a neat trick, using a length of chain in the room to try and hold the dragon's mouth closed. She failed. At this point we had it surrounded, then it used it's special skill: burrowing. It came up next to Meepo and tried to kill the poor kobold, knocking it to 0 hp. Then Vrinn knocked it out. Erky provided healing to Meepo and Phox.
In the meantime, we found some valuables in a nest the dragon had made for itself: a figurine, some silverware, and a scroll case marked "Khundrukar," and containing a cryptic message on a water-damaged parchment. This, incidentally, is the breadcrumb to Forge of Fury, the next adventure in the book. Originally they were the first 2 in a linked path published for 3rd edition. The path of adventures was meant to bring a party to 20th level. They were not very well linked.
There was another locked door in the dragon's room. Again, Rat-eyes opened it, proving to be a better rogue than Vrinn. At this part of the job, anyway. There was a corridor lined with columns carved in the images of dragons. Torches set in sconces lit the place. We decided now would be a good time to return Meepo and the dragon.
Yusdrayl was true to her word and gave us the key. We examined more of the treasure she had. I offered the jade figurine we had found in exchange for an intriguing looking feather. It turned out to be a Quall's feather token (tree). Now I can grow an insta-oak tree, while out doors. Like most greedy murder hobos, we started bargaining for the rest. Ultimately, she would give us some scrolls and a potion for handling her goblin problem in the form of returning with the goblin chieftain's head.
But first we back-tracked with Erky, showing him the way back to the surface. He thanked us and went on his way. Then we opened that locked door. We thus began a classic: the gauntlet of trapped rooms.
The first one seemed innocuous enough. The north wall held alcoves containing cracked glass orbs. The south wall had a similar alcove containing an intact orb glowing with a pale blue light. Hiro decided this obviously dangerous thing would be good to touch. It started playing brooding music, probably along the lines of this. It constantly cast a charm person effect, and Squiz and Phox were the first hit by it. While charmed, they decided that leaving the citadel would be a good idea. Eventually, Bruenor threw the damn thing on the floor, breaking it.
Next we found a corridor, containing a trap we quickly spotted. Throwing a rock down the hall we found it was a pressure plate attached to an arrow trap. We had pitons! We wedged that pressure plate open and continued onward.
We found a dust covered room with a dragon statue at one end. As we moved in, the dragon statue spoke a short riddle:
We come at night without being fetched;
we disappear by day without being stolen.
What are we?
After answering this painfully obvious riddle, we found another long corridor, lined with alcoves filled with statues of robed elves, members of the dragon cult. There was a spike filled pit at one end. Auryx made an ice bridge (hopefully with guard rails) crossing the pit. Before we reached the door on the other side of a pit, an invisible quasit, a tiny minor demon, appeared, attacked, then fled, laughing. It apparently discharged it's duty.
We now found ourselves in a mostly purple room with a sarcophagus in the middle. The sarcophagus was clamped shut. We're adventurers. Schmuck bait is what we live for! We unclamped it and slid it open. There was a troll inside dressed in the robes of a dragon priest. It didn't like being in there, so it thanked us by trying to kill us, as is their way.
Trolls in D&D aren't cute little naked people with colorful hair. Their mean giant-like monsters that regenerate. It takes fire or acid to shut down that regeneration. For whatever reason, everybody forgot to bring a fire or acid spell. So Squiz and Hiro poured lantern oil on it and set it on fire. That works, too. We looted it's stuff, then found a secret door with a crawlspace, letting us know that this was where a disgraced dragonpriest had been interred.
Great! We went in through the back door. Dungeon design doesn't always have to make sense.
We decided to get back on task with goblin killing. We passed through the columned hall and found a room full of goblins. They were mostly noncombatants. I decided to play Drow matron mother and stepped into the room, acting like I was in charge, and demanded the goblin slaves show us where their chieftain was. It worked. Sort of. The goblins did show point us toward their chief. But as we started toward it, the noncombatants backed off and the warriors came forward. They started attacking us, because, yeah.
So, in an MMO, when doing a dungeon, while you're clearing one room, whatever you do, you don't pull another. Jeff must not have played MMOs. Hiro opened the door to the next room as we were clearing the first.
It was okay. Squiz and Hiro took on that room. Squiz, proving that Will is playing a WWE character and not a straight-up fighter, tried to grapple the chieftain and throw him down a deep well in his room. Unfortunately, he failed. But he sure did pull all the aggro in that room!
Jeff did whip out one of Hiro's big guns: a psionic blast attack that does 2d8 damage. There's no attack roll. No saving throw. Apparently, the designers did this on purpose. It is a single-target, and limited use. Still felt a tad over-powered.
We managed to clear both rooms. A party of 8 characters can do that, even at low level.
What happens next? What's at the bottom of the well? We'll find out next time.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Traps Suck!
While I was drafting this, a gathering of Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA turned violent, leaving at least 3 dead. Remember, these are the people who voted POTUS 45 into office. So he couldn't very well be seen condemning them. So he didn't. He tweeted something non-committal about "many sides" and how we should "come together."
There are not many sides. There are two sides, the right one and the wrong. The wrong one carried Confederate, KKK, and Neo-Nazi flags. They also carried torches. The right one was attacked by a terrorist in a motor vehicle, leading to a death.
I normally like to save the political bits for my other blog, but this has my blood boiling. You done messed up bad POTUS 45. When Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Orrin Hatch, and Lindsey Fucking Graham tell you that this is evil, terrorism, two-sided, and you need to distance yourself from one side, maybe you should listen.
Know this, everyone at my table condemns the actions of the Neo-Nazi Terrorists in Charlottesville. This makes us all, in their eyes, snowflake SJW libtards. They'll also call the guys in the group virtue-signaling beta-cucks. Thanks for letting us know we're good people and trying to turn it into insults, Neo-Nazi Terrorists!
On to D&D!
Seems Blake and Hillary have found a D&D group of kids their own age. More power to you, kids! Wish I could have done it when I was your age. Have fun.
So we played adult D&D, where the adventurers get day jobs, pay bills, live lives of quiet desperation as their childhood dreams die on the vine, and try to contribute the best they can to society.
Ha! No. We got our murder hobo on. As in we were hobos that wandered into a murder basement.
Meepo led us to the backdoor into goblin territory: another empty room. We checked for traps on the door and found none.
The room beyond was empty except for a dry, ruined fountain carved in the form of a diving dragon. Opposite that was a door carved in the form of skeletal dragons. Auryx examined the fountain more closely and poured some water in. It caused a reddish liquid to pour out of the dragon's mouth. We left that alone and examined the door. Runes in Draconic said "Rebuke the dead, open the way." Bruenor couldn't do it yet; in 5e Clerics can't turn undead until 2nd level.
Further down was a corridor lined with partially open, musty-smelling doors. Bruenor used the cantrip thaumaturgy to slam those doors closed. An unsubtle way to substitute for mage hand. We went through the corridor and found another dry fountain and a pair of jammed-open pit traps. The whole thing exuded a smell of rot.
Before going forward, we opened those slammed doors one on one. They were jail cells, and few had giant rats in them. We easily slaughtered them.
In the meantime, I continued examining the fountain, spotting some faint lettering in Draconic: "Let there be death." Don't say words aloud, apparently. It caused a cloud of poison gas to emerge from the mouth of the dragon. Vrinn examined the mouth and found some canisters containing more of the poison. Then he examined the other fountain, finding faintly carved letters in Draconic: "Let there be fire." We decided to leave that alone. While we were doing that, Auryx tried to open the cold, bony door and got hit by a scything blade trap.
Then we reset one of the pit traps, and opened a door passed the poison fountain. We found more rats, including an extra-large, apparently diseased rat. They charged at us, then Bruenor used another casting of thaumaturgy to slam the door behind a rat, knocking it across the pit trap. Then Squiz decided to shove the poor thing into the pit trap. With that, we were able to handily slaughtered the other rats, then leveled up!
Once we were done with all the paperwork, we explored the rat room further, finding some corpses. One of them was human equipped as a ranger. He wore a gold ring on his finger bearing the name "Karakus," one of the adventurers that went missing. We took his ring, and (of course) his stuff. We cleared out some kobold and goblin corpses, and found their stuff in a stinky rat's nest.
We decided to open one more door before trying the scary, scary bone door. We found a field of caltrops in front of a ramshackle crenelated wall. There were some goblins behind the wall. The shot bows at us, hitting Squiz with a critical and dropping him. I got the door closed. Auryx froze the locking mechanism, and we took a short rest. We peeked in afterwards, finding the goblins still on guard.
So we decided to go back to the scary, scary door. Vrinn tried to disarm the trap and got a scythe-blade to the face for his trouble. Bruenor finally just used turn undead on the damn thing, and it opened. It was a small, cold room. The walls were lined with stone sarcophagai with an altar on the far wall. Bruenor called for another short rest to recharge his turn undead.
Then we started messing around in the room that just so obviously contained undead monsters, somewhere. Squiz looked for secret doors. Meanwhile, the rest of us examined stuff on the altar: a candle with a blue continual flame spell cast on it. A crystal whistle shaped like a dragon with the name "Nightcaller on it." There was also a crystal flask containing a red liquid similar to the one from the fountain. We thought it might be a potion of fire resistance. Bruenor picked it up, causing the sarcophagai to open, with more angry skeletons. Bruenor turned some of them, making it a little easier to fight them. Afterwards, Auryx and Phox started wailing on the altar, revealing a secret compartment with more rich stuff inside.
Bruenor cast identify on the whistle, learning it could cast animate dead. The idea of animating the ranger or one of the goblin corpses was floated, and Phox was clearly not on board with this idea. Honestly, neither should Bruenor, and Lydia wouldn't have been on board either. Eventually, Phox was convinced the whistle didn't do anything, and we pressed on.
We went back to kill us some goblins. Auryx used thunderwave to push the caltrops back against the wall. Phox finally used the barbarian signature ability to get mad and raged. During the charge up, at one point both Squiz and I were standing on the wall, Wuxia style, killing goblins. We found another, abandoned guard post past that one, this one set up with archery targets. We found an empty corridor, and, finally, a little prison.
There were a bunch of kobolds there along with a gnome named Erky Timbers, an acolyte. Erky told us about a human named Belak, who apparently lived in the deeper levels of the fortress and tended something called a Gulthias tree, the source of the fruit the goblins sold. He confirmed that the adventuring group including the Hucreles, had been captured by the goblins. Eventually Belak had taken Sharwyn and Sir Braford into the keep depths for some unknown purpose.
On that note, we packed for the night. Next time: dragons, trolls, and goblins, oh my!
There are not many sides. There are two sides, the right one and the wrong. The wrong one carried Confederate, KKK, and Neo-Nazi flags. They also carried torches. The right one was attacked by a terrorist in a motor vehicle, leading to a death.
I normally like to save the political bits for my other blog, but this has my blood boiling. You done messed up bad POTUS 45. When Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Orrin Hatch, and Lindsey Fucking Graham tell you that this is evil, terrorism, two-sided, and you need to distance yourself from one side, maybe you should listen.
Know this, everyone at my table condemns the actions of the Neo-Nazi Terrorists in Charlottesville. This makes us all, in their eyes, snowflake SJW libtards. They'll also call the guys in the group virtue-signaling beta-cucks. Thanks for letting us know we're good people and trying to turn it into insults, Neo-Nazi Terrorists!
On to D&D!
Seems Blake and Hillary have found a D&D group of kids their own age. More power to you, kids! Wish I could have done it when I was your age. Have fun.
So we played adult D&D, where the adventurers get day jobs, pay bills, live lives of quiet desperation as their childhood dreams die on the vine, and try to contribute the best they can to society.
Ha! No. We got our murder hobo on. As in we were hobos that wandered into a murder basement.
Meepo led us to the backdoor into goblin territory: another empty room. We checked for traps on the door and found none.
The room beyond was empty except for a dry, ruined fountain carved in the form of a diving dragon. Opposite that was a door carved in the form of skeletal dragons. Auryx examined the fountain more closely and poured some water in. It caused a reddish liquid to pour out of the dragon's mouth. We left that alone and examined the door. Runes in Draconic said "Rebuke the dead, open the way." Bruenor couldn't do it yet; in 5e Clerics can't turn undead until 2nd level.
Further down was a corridor lined with partially open, musty-smelling doors. Bruenor used the cantrip thaumaturgy to slam those doors closed. An unsubtle way to substitute for mage hand. We went through the corridor and found another dry fountain and a pair of jammed-open pit traps. The whole thing exuded a smell of rot.
Before going forward, we opened those slammed doors one on one. They were jail cells, and few had giant rats in them. We easily slaughtered them.
In the meantime, I continued examining the fountain, spotting some faint lettering in Draconic: "Let there be death." Don't say words aloud, apparently. It caused a cloud of poison gas to emerge from the mouth of the dragon. Vrinn examined the mouth and found some canisters containing more of the poison. Then he examined the other fountain, finding faintly carved letters in Draconic: "Let there be fire." We decided to leave that alone. While we were doing that, Auryx tried to open the cold, bony door and got hit by a scything blade trap.
Then we reset one of the pit traps, and opened a door passed the poison fountain. We found more rats, including an extra-large, apparently diseased rat. They charged at us, then Bruenor used another casting of thaumaturgy to slam the door behind a rat, knocking it across the pit trap. Then Squiz decided to shove the poor thing into the pit trap. With that, we were able to handily slaughtered the other rats, then leveled up!
Once we were done with all the paperwork, we explored the rat room further, finding some corpses. One of them was human equipped as a ranger. He wore a gold ring on his finger bearing the name "Karakus," one of the adventurers that went missing. We took his ring, and (of course) his stuff. We cleared out some kobold and goblin corpses, and found their stuff in a stinky rat's nest.
We decided to open one more door before trying the scary, scary bone door. We found a field of caltrops in front of a ramshackle crenelated wall. There were some goblins behind the wall. The shot bows at us, hitting Squiz with a critical and dropping him. I got the door closed. Auryx froze the locking mechanism, and we took a short rest. We peeked in afterwards, finding the goblins still on guard.
So we decided to go back to the scary, scary door. Vrinn tried to disarm the trap and got a scythe-blade to the face for his trouble. Bruenor finally just used turn undead on the damn thing, and it opened. It was a small, cold room. The walls were lined with stone sarcophagai with an altar on the far wall. Bruenor called for another short rest to recharge his turn undead.
Then we started messing around in the room that just so obviously contained undead monsters, somewhere. Squiz looked for secret doors. Meanwhile, the rest of us examined stuff on the altar: a candle with a blue continual flame spell cast on it. A crystal whistle shaped like a dragon with the name "Nightcaller on it." There was also a crystal flask containing a red liquid similar to the one from the fountain. We thought it might be a potion of fire resistance. Bruenor picked it up, causing the sarcophagai to open, with more angry skeletons. Bruenor turned some of them, making it a little easier to fight them. Afterwards, Auryx and Phox started wailing on the altar, revealing a secret compartment with more rich stuff inside.
Bruenor cast identify on the whistle, learning it could cast animate dead. The idea of animating the ranger or one of the goblin corpses was floated, and Phox was clearly not on board with this idea. Honestly, neither should Bruenor, and Lydia wouldn't have been on board either. Eventually, Phox was convinced the whistle didn't do anything, and we pressed on.
We went back to kill us some goblins. Auryx used thunderwave to push the caltrops back against the wall. Phox finally used the barbarian signature ability to get mad and raged. During the charge up, at one point both Squiz and I were standing on the wall, Wuxia style, killing goblins. We found another, abandoned guard post past that one, this one set up with archery targets. We found an empty corridor, and, finally, a little prison.
There were a bunch of kobolds there along with a gnome named Erky Timbers, an acolyte. Erky told us about a human named Belak, who apparently lived in the deeper levels of the fortress and tended something called a Gulthias tree, the source of the fruit the goblins sold. He confirmed that the adventuring group including the Hucreles, had been captured by the goblins. Eventually Belak had taken Sharwyn and Sir Braford into the keep depths for some unknown purpose.
On that note, we packed for the night. Next time: dragons, trolls, and goblins, oh my!
Monday, August 7, 2017
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons...
...For you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
Alec couldn't make it. So I volunteered to run a boss rush. Everybody broke out their high level characters, and I set up an encounter with an adult blue dragon. For those of you unfamiliar with D&D dragons, blue dragons live in deserts and breath lightning bolts. In past editions, they had affinity for illusions.
Not a lot to tell. But for a DM running a high level "boss" like this:
1) Dragons need room to use their maneuverability.
2) Legendary actions and lair actions are your friend.
3) Players are jerks.
After letting my dragon fly around, Jornath trapped my dragon in a forcecage with Maveith. Maveith jumped onto the dragon's back and chained himself to it before the cage was cast. I managed to kill most of their summoned berserkers with breath weapons, legendary actions, and lair actions. I also buried poor Tathora at one point.
The next dragon will be higher level, and I think I will use the spellcasting variant.
Next week Alec will be back. I can continue my DMing hiatus. Whew!
Alec couldn't make it. So I volunteered to run a boss rush. Everybody broke out their high level characters, and I set up an encounter with an adult blue dragon. For those of you unfamiliar with D&D dragons, blue dragons live in deserts and breath lightning bolts. In past editions, they had affinity for illusions.
Not a lot to tell. But for a DM running a high level "boss" like this:
1) Dragons need room to use their maneuverability.
2) Legendary actions and lair actions are your friend.
3) Players are jerks.
After letting my dragon fly around, Jornath trapped my dragon in a forcecage with Maveith. Maveith jumped onto the dragon's back and chained himself to it before the cage was cast. I managed to kill most of their summoned berserkers with breath weapons, legendary actions, and lair actions. I also buried poor Tathora at one point.
The next dragon will be higher level, and I think I will use the spellcasting variant.
Next week Alec will be back. I can continue my DMing hiatus. Whew!
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