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Samizdata posted:Wait. ELITE Stormtroopers. So they can miss more quickly and more stylishly than the grunts? Stormtroopers are pretty tough opponents in FFG Star Wars: a group of three or four of them can take out a low-level PC in one shot.
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Feb 16, 2018 14:51
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Man, reading that makes me nostalgic for the old FFG Star Wars game I was in. We didn't do anything THAT crazy, but my group did get in a lot of trouble.
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Feb 16, 2018 22:15
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Mister Bates posted:Star Wars FFG Part 1 When the lightsaber comes out, pretty much the entire crew drops what they were doing to focus on the guy flinging tanks around with his brain. What I was hoping for as a GM was an epic and dramatic climax to the fight, a difficult encounter with a tough and intimidating villain. What I got was the party getting a series of unbelievably good rolls, scoring multiple solid hits with a ludicrous fusilade of blaster fire. Deflecting blaster shots with your lightsaber costs strain, and by the time the commandant came up in the initiative order, he was already utterly exhausted from deflecting full bursts from multiple repeating blasters all hitting him at once. Too exhausted to charge into saber range, he settled for attempting to force-pull a friendly fighter out of the sky, and ultimately failing, as the pilot made a successful piloting check to stay airborne. The pilot (a PC) then came up in the initiative order, wheeled around, and blasted the Sith full-on with the TIE's main cannon, hitting him directly - and he had no strain left to deflect the shots with his saber. My poor big bad fortunately managed to survive into the beginning of his second combat round, during which another PC unceremoniously shot him in the head with her sniper rifle and put him down permanently with a critical hit. He died having failed to even injure anyone in the party, with the exception of the APC crew, all of whom survived; he never used his lightsaber to do anything except deflect blaster shots. It was all downhill from there for the Empire. Many of the prison guards scattered and retreated, and the Stormtroopers, badass though they were, didn't last long under the withering fire from two stationary AA guns, an APC, three fighters, the lasers on a shuttle parked on the landing pad the prisoners had just captured, and a bunch of infantry. One of their officers rallied some of them and attempted a counterattack - running right into the party's supply officer (another PC), who promptly whipped out a disruptor rifle and evaporated him. That pretty much ended the battle, giving the rebels control over nearly half the prison and the remaining guards holed up in other buildings waiting for reinforcements. It was time for Phase II of this ridiculous plan. The players had timed their prison break so that a civilian passenger liner, the Joy Bringer, would be passing directly overhead in low orbit preparing to jump away. It had just finished being serviced at the local dockyard, so it had no passengers and was running a skeleton crew. The plan was to take a small team, board and capture the liner, land it in the middle of the prison (the ship was far too large for the prison's landing pad and also not really designed to land on planets, so this was a risky proposition), and load everyone onto the ship - all while holding off the remaining prison guards, and the Imperial reinforcements who were already inbound, until the last people were onboard and they could escape. The boarding team (about half the PCs) took control of the ship surprisingly easily, while the ground team began organizing the evacuation and setting up defenses and the prisoners continued rioting. Forward scouts reported approaching Imperial ground troops tearing rear end towards the base - disorganized and spread across a long stretch of road, as they'd been assembled hastily out of whatever forces were in the area, but well-equipped and extremely numerous, with more behind them. One of the PCs on the boarding team hopped on the sensor station on the liner's bridge while they prepared for deorbit, and when he noticed the extremely large triangle-shaped ship contact moving on an intercept course he just shouted 'CAPITAL SHIP INBOUND' over the general comm. Another one of the boarders adjusted the fuel mix and overloaded the engines for maximum speed, while a third overrode the safeties on the the ship's garbage ejection systems, massively overpressurized the tubes, and began dumping things into the garbage chutes as fast as he and his team could stuff them in. This ship didn't have any guns installed, but with a bit of elbow grease, it had trash blunderbusses. The ship was coming down extremely quickly, and the pilot was trying to land this very fast-moving, very large ship, which had not even been designed to land on planetary surfaces, on an extremely small target with little room for error. She burned a Destiny Point, said a little prayer, made the roll, and failed. Crunch. With those overloaded engines, she just couldn't quite decelerate in time. Fortunately all the prisoners had cleared out from the yard, so she didn't kill anyone, but she did temporarily deafen anyone nearby, send up an enormous butt of dust and debris, crush several of the lower decks, and rip a few huge holes in the hull. Prisoners started swarming onto the ship through these new access points before the dust had settled. One more post after this and we'll conclude the story of the prison break.
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Feb 17, 2018 03:14
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echopapa posted:Stormtroopers are pretty tough opponents in FFG Star Wars: a group of three or four of them can take out a low-level PC in one shot. I imagined as much. I was just making fun of the traditional issue with stormtroopers.
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Feb 17, 2018 06:30
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Samizdata posted:I imagined as much. I was just making fun of the traditional issue with stormtroopers. To be fair, in the Star Wars FPS games the traditional rifle is about as accurate as throwing your shoes at someone after having had 12 or 14 pints.
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Feb 17, 2018 18:19
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"Be a man, charge!" my party's valiant Cleric said to our Ranger as he charged a Decapus. The fact that the Cleric had recently been polymorphed into an octopus did not hinder him. At least until he got crit and brought to 0 
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Feb 17, 2018 21:09
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Noir Orleans Session 3: Sessions one, two, and two point five. I recently gave my players homework: Find an image that they feel is evocative/representative of their character - drawing or photo, doesn't matter. Superheroes and supervillains are defined by their costumes as much as their powers, after all, so I figured this would help us all visualize things better. This is what they sent me... -Doctor Delphi, the leader, with the powers of local precognition and short-range telepathy (though he dislikes using the latter power.)  -Click, a hacker extraordinaire whose skills are enhanced by cyberkinesis. He can speak to machines, and they generally do what he asks them – though for some reason, his powers don’t work when he’s outside of structures. He can also induce what he calls his “ice cream headache attack” – basically a very minor psychic blast.  -Snarl, the muscle. Born and trained on Mars, she’s blessed with super-strength and invincibility. She has has some pretty serious anger issues.  -Baskerville, the ghost. A G2 (second-tier engineered life form – in his case, a human-dog hybrid) with ability to phase himself and other objects/people through non-moving objects.  -Gateway, the rookie. Also from Mars, she has the power to create two-way teleportation portals. She’s also a skilled investigator.  * * * After the meeting most of the other villain teams left, but the Crimson Key decided to stick around when Doctor Delphi called a quick, impromptu meeting. quote:Doctor Delphi: “Alright, quickly, we don’t have much time. Click, I need you to track the Knights of the Storm and find out what they’re up to, can you do that? I don’t trust them.” Doctor Delphi rushes out to meet with the Cowboys; when they see him, Scrawl and Ram hang back to see what he wants while Ladybird keeps an eye out for tricks. The Doctor expresses his team’s desire to work more closely together, maybe coordinate their anti-Nightclaw efforts. Scrawl is initially hostile, pointing out the theft the Crimson Key ran against them, but with his keen conversation skills Doctor Delphi manages to turn things around – Scrawl still doesn’t like them, but if they want to earn the Cowboys’ trust, then he’s open to the idea. They’ll work together on the Nightclaw issue and see how it goes. Meanwhile, Click hits OpNet, looking for a nearby drone he can “borrow” to follow the Knights of the Storm. He lucks out better than he could hope – there’s a nearby News Stream nanocloud recorder that’s on standby. These things are very rare and incredibly expensive, but just about the best way to spy on people available. Given the cost involved in making and maintaining one, a megacorp would raze the earth to find one that’s missing, or to destroy the person responsible for taking it... But he’s pretty sure he can use it for a while, then get it back soon enough that no one even notices it was missing. He sends the nanocloud recorder after the Knights of the Storm, and follows them back to their headquarters – a Burb-clave shopping strip in the Noir Orleans East district – where Blitzkrieg, Ironclad, and Hookwolf report in to the Knights’ mysterious leader, Schawtzenhexen. Blitzkrieg expresses his distaste in the whole arrangement regarding Nightclaw, but Schawtzenhexen explains that it’s less about helping the Alpha Assembly and more about maintaining the Knights’ social position among the villain groups of the city – they’re not the Dagon Society, they can’t afford not to participate without others thinking that they’re weak. Plus, they need to know if the temporary truce among villain groups becomes something bigger, and that’s only going to happen if they keep a hand in things. After the meeting, most of the other groups leave the club, but the PCs stick around for a bit as the 18:00 crowd begins making their way into the bar. One flame-haired woman in a green evening dress draws their attention, and Doctor Delphi introduces himself to her – he learns she’s Maman Brigitte of the Loa, a team of sometimes-heroes-sometimes-villains with a mysterious (and some would say mystical) reputation. She flirts with him relentlessly... Though he’s left disappointed when she mentions that her wife is due to arrive any minute. (“It’s fine,” DD says, “She was much too young for me anyway... *sighs*”) The Crimson Key return to their base and talk about the team’s needs. They determine they have three tasks on the go: Finding the biochemist Carolyn Vandever (a personal project of Click’s), working with the other teams to end the threat Nightclaw poses, and gain some territory they can call their own, since it’s hard to have a rep without having turf. They decide to work on the last one first, and after some discussion choose the Frobozz Science Group as their best target, since that corp has valuable territorial holdings in the same district – they figure if they strike the corp hard enough, Frobozz will consolidate and leave other prime territory up for grabs. First, they need to find another weak point in Frobozz security, since they assume the last one was plugged. With Click’s help, Baskerville identifies the head of security for the research complex and shadows him for a while, and in doing so finds him meeting with a business rep for the Watchguard – the largest hero team in Noir Orleans. Even with his powers, Baskerville has a tough time getting into the civilian areas of the Watchguard HQ – a big concrete tower complex in the brutalist style with some bleeding edge security tech – but eventually manages to get a closer look at things, and discovers that the two have signed a contract wherein the Watchguard will act as back-up for the Frobozz security team in the event of any future cape attacks. With that a dead end, Click creates an identity for Gateway as an independent reporter, and she tries to contact Frobozz to ask some questions about the facility. She lucks out and catches not the head of the company, but Hans Fellner - the VP of HR for the Frobozz’s parent megacorporation, MMN Solutions, who just so happens to be passing through town. He’s a friendly, gregarious middle-aged fellow who mercifully keeps his flirting with the young, attractive reporter to a minimum, and he’s in a generous mood so he agrees to give her a tour. quote:Gateway: “I understand you set up this research centre to study the Crimson Claw phenomenon?” While on the tour, she learns more about the contract with the Watchguard – the hero team will be sending support staff tomorrow to get everything set up. So the Crimson Key will need to act soon... Obviously, the timing on this is pretty bad. The Crimson Key have a rapidly-closing window for their mission. But they still need a weak point to target... Luckily, in the process of the tour Gateway gets a visitor pass (that will destroy itself after three hours). She takes it back to Click and he not only coaxes a year’s more life out of it, he’s able to dupe copies for every other member of the team. They’ve got their point of entry, so they embark on the mission. The automated security registers them as friendlies. The only real resistance outside right now, while everything is in flux as the Watchguard-Frobozz deal goes down, is a couple of guards on the complex perimeter. Snarl knocks them unconscious, and Baskerville ties them up – though Snarl has to impersonate one of them over their radios when their team leader radios in (she does a middling but successful job at it). Once in the complex, the objective is really just to do as much damage as possible before leaving, so they make their way to the small nuclear generator in the lower sub-levels – the power source for most Frobozz holdings in the district. The idea is to damage it in a way that it’ll take some time to fix, but not that will trigger a meltdown. There’s some debate whether or not they should actually mess with it at all... quote:Click: “I’m just saying, I’m more of a hacker than a nuclear engineer.” While a meltdown is overkill, it still gets the job done. Sort of... Of course, power is only one of the things the Frobozz Research Centre does. There’s also the, y’know, research, and Click is eager for another chance to delve into their systems and get his hands on any juicy secrets the centre has unearthed. Once again, they make their way to the data centre at the very bottom of the complex – a large, coliseum-style room that still shows battle damage from the last time they were here. They came prepared to fight another Walker Drone, but none appears. Click sets to work, but then Lynx and Chassis of the Watchguard show up – the end of the tour the head of security was giving them of the complex, in preparation for the new relationship between the corp and the cape team. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re obviously not supposed to be here, and you’re not supposed to be doing that,” Lynx says to them. Obviously, a battle ensues. It’s a tough one. Chassis is one of the weaker members of the Watchguard – he has powers of object attraction and tactile telekinesis, meaning he can build a “suit” of debris for himself and use the extra mass as both protection and a means of attack. Useful, but not the most powerful power, and not the most experienced member of the team.  Lynx, on the other hand, is a long-time Watchguard crimefighter – a real pro veteran. In addition to enhanced senses of smell and hearing and superhuman reflexes, she can project force from her claws at a distance. Additionally, the more adrenaline in her system, the larger and stronger this force projection becomes – meaning that at the start of a fight, she can cut into you from forty feet away and give you a nasty scratch, but if the fight goes long enough pretty soon she’s putting twenty-foot-long gouges in concrete and steel.  Chassis doesn’t last long – he suits up for protection, but he needs to leave an opening around his face to see through. Baskerville fires at Chassis with his guns, striking a weak spot and winging him. Gateway then tackles Chassis’ and sends him through a disorienting series of portals, depositing him nauseous and disoriented in the corner of the room. Lynx is trickier; Snarl tangles with her, and gets in a couple of good licks at first, but Lynx manages to keep ahead of Snarl for the most part. With Lynx’s greater experience, range, and the way her attacks build in strength, Snarl is soon left bleeding and panting with exhaustion. Just as Lynx is about to bring Snarl low with a final blow, Baskerville grabs Snarl and phases her out of the room – and leaves here there where she’ll be safe. Doctor Delphi looks into Lynx’s mind for a weakness he can exploit – he discovers that her power has a obvious downside, that the stronger it gets the less precise it becomes, and this lead to her accidentally taking an innocent bystander’s life about a year back. She’s still guilt-ridden by this event, so the Doctor presses her on the matter. It does cause Lynx to hesitate, but it’s not enough – she’s still managing to take on the entire team and is winning. Meanwhile, Click has managed to grab all the info he can about the Crimson Claw Phenomenon research the facility has done, then shuts down the coolants on two of the three main data towers. The best stuff, he can tell, is subject to some heavy-duty encription, but he figures he can deal with that in a less battle-heavy time and setting. The Doctor is wounded and on the ropes, Gateway can’t outmanoeuvre Lynx even with the help of her portals, and Baskerville can’t quite tag Lynx with his pistols due to the latter’s superhuman reflexes. Eventually, Lynx corners Baskerville in an area with too many live wires for him to phase through. quote:Lynx: I think you’re all out of tricks, villain... With that, Gateway portals in a killdozer that Baskerville had parked nearby. He phases into it, and hits it full-tilt – Lynx is forced to dodge out of the way, and Baskerville demolishes the last data tower. Click viruses out of existence the automated security system’s friend-foe discriminator – Lynx and Chassis are forced to focus on rescuing the few staff that are now trapped inside the deadly building. With them distracted, Gateway teleportals the team out of the complex, leaving everything in a state of melting and demolished data centers, a melting down nuclear power generator, and a security system that wants to kill everyone that enters the sub-levels. A successful mission, even if they end up inadvertently irradiating the complex's sub-levels. It's going to take months to rad-scrub it back into a habitable place. * * * Just as expected, Frobozz is forced to consolidate their holdings in the Bywater district, which causes a territory shift among many groups in the area – and it leaves a small slice of territory ripe for the Crimson Key to claim. The area is full of squatters in derelict buildings, but it’s close to where the Motley Cruise is docked, and it’s in fairly decent shape, relatively speaking. quote:Baskerville: “Hey, we have territory now... We can start working at getting informants!” Of course, like most of the Bywater District, the area lacks power. They also hear of a local, charitable street doc who’s suffering through a med shortage. The Crimson Key convene at their conference room to discuss the matter, though beforehand Snarl takes Baskerville aside to have words... quote:Snarl: What the hell do you think you were doing back there, during the mission?! The power issue seems like a big problem to tackle, so instead they decide to focus on making friendly with the street doc as a way of earning the trust of the locals. Baskerville and Click leave to collect (read steal) some medical supplies, and in the process do some bro bonding. Unfortunately, half of what they steal are expired, and when they bring them to the street doc (a twenty-something woman with blonde dreadlocks and vague medical training named Zoe), she doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. quote:Baskerville: “Look, you can just have these. I know some of them aren’t any good, but...” Rebuffed, Baskerville and Click leave with their tails between their legs (in one case, literally) – a disappointing denouement to their successful mission. Next Time: The Crimson Key and the Cache Cowboys try to take down Nightclaw. It goes really well... until it doesn't. e: forgot to include a killdozer link for the curious. Falstaff fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Feb 19, 2018 |
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Feb 18, 2018 16:50
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Our party almost TPK'd tonight to a flying broom. So nice to see the Crimson Key banging away on their quest for villainy!
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Feb 19, 2018 03:37
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I ran the latest episode of Funhavers last night, and folks, the reviews are coming in https://twitter.com/inurashii/status/965640025600876544 I'll try and have a writeup ready a little later this week Jenny Angel fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Feb 20, 2018 |
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Feb 20, 2018 00:46
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Hi thread I haven't forgotten about finishing the stories of Brodie the 10 year old revolutionary mad man. I've just been busy. Promise I will post more soon.
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Feb 20, 2018 03:50
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Jenny Angel posted:I ran the latest episode of Funhavers last night, and folks, the reviews are coming in 
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Feb 20, 2018 08:34
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Kid at work got punched by a Brachydios (a biped dinosaur with punchfists that make explosions) into a poison swamp lake, which exploded. Kid had 3hp lefts, stepped out of the lake drenched and burned, but victorious... until I had him make a CON save, which he failed, passing out from the fumes.
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Feb 20, 2018 09:58
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My players are in the middle of the Decisive Final Battle™ between the elder evil god-beast whose cults they've been fighting for most of the campaign. It only takes 1 action every initiative, but it gets (so far) 5 initiative counts in a round. Being a creature of primordial darkness, sunlight and light-based spells deal extra damage to it and can stun it for one initiative count, but also creates a monster of rust and cosmic ichor that will, in short, gently caress them up if not dealt with quickly. Also of note is that every time it takes any damage, the wound sprays out blood which then animates and begins to crawl back to its master. or towards a nearby PC where it attaches, dealing damage/negative levels and randomly dispelling buff spells until slain. This last ability is a huge concern because everyone drank a potion that deals 1d10 damage to anything that hits them. The bloods when slain create a 20ft radius chaos storm, which causes random horrible effects and persists 1-3 rounds. They also got some one-time-use toys from certain friends they've made along the way: A smart bomb that wipes out all of the adds and clears conditions like frightened/sickened/etc., a gem-encased leaf that restores them like a full night's sleep and gives one round of Time Stop to rebuff, a gem that heals them to full and gives one reroll of an attack or save, and a dragonshard that when activated lets them (once per round) spend 30hp to get a second standard action. Lastly, they each have a potion that restores all of their spells/power points/maneuvers/dragonmark powers but deals 1 damage to each ability score. The party popped most of these pretty early, clearing out something like 15 animate bloods with the bomb, throwing their biggest spells out and then using the magical power nap, and of course getting the option of hp -> action almost immediately. This gave them a pretty quick push into phase 2. Phase 2 sees the elder god gain another action (at the top of the round), which is uses to call down a shard of concentrated anti-reality. Follow (psion) & Mevil (archivist) quickly shoot it down before it makes landfall, causing it to explode for a bit of damage and release yet another chaotic surge. They also find out that it can do this in lieu of an attack. They currently have 18 animate bloods and 10 active chaos storms, and the bloods are quickly nearing the god-beast's body. Skurrg (warblade) is currently raging and on "fire"; he's taking increasing damage from it and the type of damage changes every turn, Jimmy (factotum/chameleon) has a blood attached to him and is Fascinated, Follow has three bloods attached and is on "fire" but not as bad, and Mevil had to run back and It's a pretty hectic fight, and it's only going to get more so once they get to phase 3. 
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Feb 20, 2018 18:21
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We are all going to die. Some of us more times than the others.
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Feb 20, 2018 21:17
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senrath posted:We are all going to die. Some of us more times than the others.
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Feb 21, 2018 00:09
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Mister Bates posted:One more post after this and we'll conclude the story of the prison break.
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Feb 21, 2018 04:55
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Man I just had a really great session in my campaign inspired by Sunless Sea, even though it was really long it was a blast. The crew of HMS Lightbringer were trying to stop an evil sea fascist (that is also a vampire) from destroying the simple crablike inhabitants of an island filled with the ruins of some former civilization destroyed by some ancient evil. At about the midpoint of the session, one player decides to cut a deal with the ancient evil that probably destroyed the civilization. Meanwhile, the ship's captain accidentally feeds a captive to a primordial force of unlimited malevolence towards all things that exist, and then accidentally saves the same captive from non-existence. There was a lot of fun goofing off with members of the crew loving around on the island while they prepared for the big battle, and the big fight at the end of the session was both fun and exciting, with the crew and the native inhabitants of the islands beating back the mad science horrors that the sea vampire brought. I wish I wasn't so tired right now, but maybe I'll write up something more detailed tomorrow.
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Feb 23, 2018 23:09
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Mister Bates posted:Star Wars FFG Part 2 So the party had just crashed a passenger liner into the ground. Evacuees were swarming the ship, debris was arcing through the air, there was a huge billowing cloud of smoke and dust. The party's supply officer and mechanic were coordinating teams of prisoners to loot as much of the prison as possible before leaving, while one of the PCs rescued from the prison, an elderly disgraced Republic Navy admiral, attempted to keep the evacuation as coordinated as possible. It is at about this point that the first Imperial reinforcements entered weapons range. The guys on the wall pulled some real Thermopylae poo poo. The party's three precious E-Web heavy repeating blasters were deployed and did wonderful work, slowing down the enemy advance significantly, especially when combined with accurate fire from the other troopers on the wall. It's a losing battle, of course, there are more and more Imperials coming every second, but they bought precious time. In the distance the Star Destroyer loomed, having dropped low enough to be clearly visible from the ground, on final approach and nearly within bombardment range. The first turbolaser shots were inaccurate and missed the prison widely, but the huge explosions they sent up made it clear to everyone that it was time to leave. Remember how I said there were hundreds of people dead or wounded? Well, not all of the wounded were ambulatory, and some of the uninjured people were either trapped or very far away from where the ship had landed. The Admiral (whose Duty is Loss Prevention; he sent many people to die under his command in his youth, and has committed himself to never wasting another soldier's life again) used his leadership abilities to conscript a bunch of passing prisoners into a search-and-rescue team, frantically dragging as many injured people onto the ship as possible There were just too many of them, and not enough time. As the last people who were able clamber onto the ship, the Admiral tried to go back to keep searching, even as another turbolaser shot vaporized a huge section of the prison wall. He eventually had to be literally picked up and carried onto the ship by a pair of convicts. The Star Destroyer stopped firing, not wanting to hit its own troops, who by this point had reached the breached walls. The teams who had been holding the walls were the last to board, firing while retreating, as their PC squad leader (who was already on board) screamed 'IT'S TIME TO GO!' and similar things into the comm over and over again, and the group's pilot, on the bridge, loudly counted down the seconds before lift-off. The group's remaining small ships, overloaded with evacuees and barely able to fly, landed in the hangar bays, the countdown hit zero, and everyone held their breath and waited to see if the drat ship could even get back off the ground again. As it so happened, the engines still worked just fine, much to the chagrin of the front ranks of the Imperial counterattack who were caught in the engine wash as they throttled up to full. The ship pulled away from the surface with some difficulty, losing a bunch of hopefully-nonessential parts as it left. Bulkheads sealed many of the hull breaches; the Admiral sealed many more by using his knowledge of starship mechanics to aim the ship's maneuvering thrusters at the hull and melt the hull plating shut. All this time they're taking fire as they rise through the atmosphere. An approaching TIE squadron decided to be brave and were obliterated by a cloud of hypervelocity garbage (if I remember correctly it was mostly silverware from the mess hall). As soon as the ship broke atmosphere, they quickly plotted a hyperspace jump (destination: anywhere but here), flipped on the hyperdrive, and burned sky. They were gone. They'd done it. In the end they only saved about 2/3 of the prison's inmate population, and lost some people doing it - but that still means they got away with nearly two thousand people, many of them political dissidents and rebel sympathizers, and they did it right under the Empire's nose. I wasn't sure what exactly they intended to do with two thousand escaped convicts until they gathered everybody in the grand ballroom, and the party - who at this point started referring to themselves as the 'War Council', completely without prompting by me - took turns giving an epic and inspiring speech. Anyone who wants to leave can leave, they said, but we intend to continue fighting the Empire, and everyone who wants to stay and fight will have a place in our army. They made some rolls, they blew them away, the crowd cheered, and I guess my players' rebel cell is an army now. They are largely unarmed and have major deficits in the areas of armor, starfighters, ships, supplies, intel, and contacts, but they do have over a thousand highly motivated recruits (the rest will be leaving as soon as we can find a safe place to drop them off). They've had a few more cool adventures since then, and we're playing every week; I have a few more stories from this game worth posting if people want to hear them.
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Feb 24, 2018 04:16
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Mister Bates posted:I have a few more stories from this game worth posting if people want to hear them. 
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Feb 24, 2018 06:31
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Mister Bates posted:They've had a few more cool adventures since then, and we're playing every week; I have a few more stories from this game worth posting if people want to hear them. Your party is a damned good party. Also, from the sound of things, it's not that they have a shortage of equipment; it's just that they haven't gotten around to stealing said equipment yet. Which is just how it should be, in Star Wars.
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Feb 24, 2018 10:07
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Previously on Tanicus – the party ventured into the sewers of Fallcrest to investigate a rash of missing children, proceeding to save them from the clutches of an evil otyugh. ***** Hale and Typhomine had their hot baths while Aya and Krowe scandalized the sisters of the Temple of Arwin by stripping off and scrubbing down in the courtyard of Krowe’s manor which sits directly across from her temple. Kynwal took advantage of a nice high-end spa down the lane. And Biff headed to the Temple of Lethik so to inform his superiors in the church of the events regarding the disappearances and the otyguh’s makeshift cult. As the party reconvenes at Krowe’s the next morning for breakfast, Biff brings up a topic that is of both professional and personal interest to him regarding a notice that had been posted on the public board in the Lazy Wyvern the first night the party had been in town. quote:Investigators sought to inquire on reports of restless dead in battlefield northwest of Fallcrest. Inquire with Halberd Captain Aislin Ironsky. Krowe knows all about the battlefield in question – the Battlefield of the Hounds. A parcel of low-rolling plains sitting at the edge of the Serpent Hills, the Battlefield of the Hounds is not one battlefield but a series of them in close proximity, akin to the American Civil War battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and North Anna. The area was given its name as the site of a large number of gnoll and kobold invasions launched throughout history as various tribes would pour from the rolling hills to raid and plunder the southern cities. The area has also seen numerous other conflicts, from clashes between barbarian tribes and the armies of the city-states, civil wars between various kaerns, and crusades against the occasional undead incursion from the Kingdom of the Frozen Dead to the south, although it has been some time since the last battle as a tribe of bullywugs have established themselves between the Battlefield and the gnolls and kobolds of the Serpent Hills. Paladins and Clerics will spend time throughout the year wandering and blessing the battlefield, appeasing any remaining spirits and ensuring the bodies of those who have fallen in battle stay fallen. Any rumors of the restless dead are of great interest to Biff as a Cleric of Lethik, Lawful Neutral god of judgment and ministry over the dead. He meets with Aislin Ironsky, who directs him to speak to a caravan guard who had been travelling through the Battlefield along one of the minor trade routes. Between Aislin and the guard, Biff discovers that several trading groups had seen forms shuffling about in the far distance, their distinct form of jerking movement evident even from the road. The forms never approached the caravans and the caravans wisely kept to the path. Biff marks the spot on the road and the rough area where the forms were seen on a map, and along with Hale and Typhomine make preparations for the party to head out to the battlefield in a few days. Why a few days, and why only those three? Because Krowe, Aya, and Kynwal were to attend a party.  Lady Koraline Stormchapel, daughter of Kegan Stormchapel, Baron of Fallcrest. Koraline is a very prim and proper noblewoman, the kind who keeps the curtains drawn as she rides through the city and takes full advantage of all the perks that come with her position. She also sees Krowe as a drunken buffoon, having actually SEEN Krowe acting like a drunken buffoon once, twice, five or six times. Nevertheless Krowe receives a very brief invite to Koraline’s birthday celebration and invites Aya as his “plus one” so that she may see the higher echelons of Fallcrest society first hand. Kynwal receives a formal invitation based upon both his family name as well as the various connections he had made during his brief time in Fallcrest. The party took place via Facebook group, and the highlights were… - Kynwal meeting Rebekkah Steelhilt, nobility and longtime friend to Krowe, as well as her cousin Alidia Steelhilt, house abjurer to Baron Stormchapel. The pair would strike up a friendship over drinks. - Krowe and Aya surviving the receiving line as Krowe presented Koraline with a small gift, a bracelet with a topaz in the middle, that was enchanted by Typhomine to cast the “Guidance” cantrip once a day, which Koraline handed off to her lady-in-waiting before Krowe could fully explain what it was and how to use it - Krowe introducing Aya to Kerirose, the only member of Krowe’s family he gets along with. Kerirose is a member of the Knightly Order of the Golden Griffin, a theocratic order of martial archetypes dedicated to the protection of the theocracy and veneration of the goddess Arin and her eidolons. Aya shows unease at Krowe mentioning two of his brothers being identical twins, and she quickly takes her leave. While catching up with each other Kerirose introduces Krowe to her commanding officer, Kaedrian Silverbrook, who inquires to her “decision about his offer.” She explains once he has left that she has been offered a new position to serve at Knight-Captain of Stonebridge, an increase in rank and responsibility, however she is torn at the thought of offending her current liege, Baron Kormac of Chapel Hill, if she left. - Aya would meet Sir Kallus Blackstone (”Just Kal”), newly knighted bodyguard to Count Kennet Greywinter, the ruler of the country of Eastwyld. The elder Greywinter and his family were murdered by bandits along the Queen’s Road, and a young nameless bodyguard managed to save the eleven-year old in an act of heroism. Uncomfortable among the nobility, Kallus and Aya would hit it off, with Aya’s bluntness causing Kallus to blush a little bit as she took her leave. Krowe and Aya would meet Baron Kegan Stormchapel, where Aya would once again bluntly speak of the Red Arrow Syndicate, informing the Baron of the disappearances in the South Ward to his surprise - And the evening ended with Kynwal meeting a mysterious indigo clad woman who would attend the Lazy Wyvern tavern with him, where he watched her act as a bit of a rabble rouser towards the patrons and the lady’s party. The next morning, after recovering from the hangover and other physical activities the party sets off on a roughly three-day journey to the battlefield. It’s easy to find the spot along the trade road where the various caravans had seen the shuffling forms. The ground is covered with a layer of fog, and the lack of animal sounds is noticeable by their absence. It’s very easy to feel the weight of centuries while standing on the battlefield, conflict after conflict leaving their mark on the land. quote:Aya – ”Krowe, is it possible some of your ancestors fought and died here?” Aya chooses this moment to show off her new toy, something she discovered in the sewers amidst the “treasury” of the otyugh - a Bag of Tricks.   Seen here – Badger. Not seen – Mushroom. Soon to be seen – Snake? Having spent the past few days getting acquainted with the menagerie of animals inside, a badger springs from the bag. Aya commands it to go forth and track down the undead as Biff consults the map and points towards a low rise in the distance. Both badger and Biff had in the same direction. About a mile from the road we would come across the forms in question.  Biff’s Detect Undead spell confirms that the party is definitely looking at real, physical skeletons. They shuffle in a small circle, swaying back and forth with stiff, jerking steps. The party closes to attack, easily smashing the front line of skeletons. The remaining skeletons…fail to attack, instead stepping to one side or swinging their weapons in a wide arc. It’s Typhomine who eventually notices that one of the skeletons isn’t a complete skeleton. Instead, the skeleton is missing one leg, and the arm holding its weapon doesn’t match the rest of the body. The weapon has been lashed to the bones of the skeleton’s hand, the arm has been lashed to the skeleton’s shoulder, and the skeleton itself has been lashed to a wooden pole that’s been set into a small groove on the ground. The pole would slowly slide back and forth within the groove, giving the appearance of movement to anyone watching from a distance. Indeed all the skeletons are in a similar condition, each one jury-rigged to some sort of contraption and imbued with enough necrotic energy to appear undead to magical scrying. The badger sniffs at the air at Aya’s command, and after a moment slowly heads deep into the battlefield. The party follows the badger northwards about another half-mile heading towards a substantial mound of dirt that slowly appears out of the gloom. Aya notices a spectral looking wolf sitting atop the mound, water dripping from shoulders cover in snow, however she is the only one in the party who sees the creature. When she turns back to the mound, the wolf is no longer there. Just beyond the mound is a large hole, about 10 feet deep. It appears to have been dug within the past few weeks as patches of grass have begun to grow around the outer edges. Krowe slides in and finds a stone staircase leading down into the earth. The staircase has been carved out of the bedrock and the walls along its edges done with fine granite tiling. quote:Krowe – ”I’m guessing it’s a tomb of some sort.”  The stairs lead down to a long corridor. This time however Krowe is hanging back, offering to bring up the rear in case whoever set up those fake skeletons decides to throw some tricks at us from the back. Torch in hand, Aya sends the badger down the tunnel to check for traps. The badger soon disappears beyond the circle of torchlight. quote:Aya – ”Growl if you’ve made it all the way dowm!” The party moves down the hallway, not quite realizing that the weight of an adult badger is probably not enough to set off a trap.  Expert at finding traps; less so at communicating that information.  One pit trap later, oh it’s a snake!   The passive threat of being level two raises its head(s) as the snake wraps itself around Hale and squeezes her into unconsciousness. quote:Hale – ”Hrrk!” Fortunately one of the perks of being a Cleric who follows the Grave Domain is not only the ability to cast Spare the Dying as a bonus action but to be able to do it from a range of 30 feet. Our dice were a little on the lousy side… quote:Typhomine – “I’m going to cast Hypnotic Pattern as my way of providing a Help Action to Krowe for his attack. ‘Krowe, hit it while it’s distracted!’” We were able to do enough damage to the snake to force it to retreat through a perfectly circular hole carved into the wall of the pit. A short rest was in order however we decided to make it past the end of the corridor to find a safer place…  The floor of the corridor was a repeating set of colored tiles. After some deliberation Typhomine recruited Krowe to be a fellow guinea pig as both of them still had full hit points. The pair proceeded to walk down the corridor in tandem, stepping on only the colored tiles. About halfway down the corridor Typhomine looked up and noticed that for a ceiling of rough stone, it appeared to shimmer slightly. When he pointed this out to Krowe, Krowe’s response was to take out his crossbow and shoot the ceiling.  Immediately two figures dropped down from the ceiling, landing in front of Typhomine and Krowe with daggers in hand. From his place at the beginning of the corridor Kynwal threw a Chill Touch at the one on Typhomine only to miss, while Krowe also missed with his attack on his target. The figure attacking Typhomine held up his dagger, which had begun to glow with black necrotic energy, and attempted to stab Typhomine only to miss entirely. From the back Aya and Hale took their shots as well, also missing both targets. A third figure dropped in front of Aya after her attack, a dagger in his hand as well. On Typhomine’s turn he threw a Fire Bolt at the one in front of him, only for it to miss. The figure’s dagger began to glow with a bright orange flame before he stabbed Typhomine in the shoulder… quote:DM – ”Make an Intelligence check.” ”Basement” has become our DM’s way of saying “come downstairs, this is for your ears only.” After a minute both come back upstairs, take their seats, and Typhomine proclaims in a voice that’s a mix of pride and annoyance ”just ignore them, they can’t do anything to us” and continues to walk down the corridor. As the party watches the figure walks backwards, dagger at the ready, keeping in step with Typhomine until the Artificer reaches the end of the colored tiles, at which point the figure vanishes. ”It’s all an illusion and psychic damage. They return the damage you attempt to inflict upon them. It’s quite safe.” Krowe goes next and does the same thing, walking down the corridor and forcing his ‘attacker’ to disappear. The rest of the party follows, the third figure vanishing as well. The corridor takes a 90 degree turn at this point, giving us a secure place to take a short rest. As we heal up Typhomine takes the time to study the corridor. The illusions and psychic trickery had been the result of a Phantasmagoria spell that appeared to have been set up over a couple of days. Between the skeletons-on-sticks, the spectral wolf that only Aya saw, and the corridor of trickery, it’s obvious that whoever has been clearing out the tomb has been planning this excavation for a very long time and has taken numerous steps to deter anyone from interrupting their dig. Before the party has a chance to put two-and-two together… quote:Biff – ”DUDE! At the end of the corridor, a figure in brown robes quickly scuttles back around the corner, and Biff quietly hears him mutter ”oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap.” We quickly gather our things and head down the corridor with Aya throwing a new creature from the Bag of Tricks to replace the departed badger and assist us in tracking the robed figure – a lioness.    The rooms beyond were part a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. The party carefully cut the corners to ensure no ambushes were waiting for us. The robed figure was nowhere to be seen, even as the lioness sniffed the ground and tracked something that smelled human. Krowe had been at the front of the party as they turned to the last nook in the hallways. Tucked into the corner was an ornate granite sarcophagus, the lid slightly askew. From the opening rose a spectral knight, eyes burning red, wearing blue-and-silver armor with a silver peryton emblazoned on its chest. At the sight of the peryton Krowe proceeds to freak the [BLEEP] out, stumbling backwards and falling down as the knight swings its great sword…only for the weapon and form to vanish at the last moment as Krowe makes his Wisdom save against the Phantasmal Killer.   The rest of the party is rushing to see why Krowe is screaming like a little kid, however it Biff who sees the robed figure, this time accompanied by another figure as well as a flying broom, rushing in the opposite direction. The trio passes through a solid wall that turns out to be an illusion, making a straight shot towards the exit to the tomb. As they attempt to flee the robed figure hands their partner, a smaller human, a long object wrapped in brown canvas. ”Get this to her,” he yells before turning to face the rest of the party. The magic broom manages to hold off Biff and Kynwal as the party continues to roll poorly.  quote:DM - “The broom attempts to smite you mightily. You take 4 points of sweeping damage and your armor is now dusty.” Krowe, shaking off the effect, used his Action Surge in an attempt to cut off the little guy from running away, only for what turned out to be an illusionist to also turn out to be a War Mage and slam Krowe with a bunch of level 3 Magic Missiles as an attack of opportunity all the way to unconsciousness, allowing the second guy to make a run for it with whatever he was carrying.  Luckily the lioness was right there to chase the guy down, leaving the rest of us to deal with the illusionist and a magic broom that refused to get hit. It took Kynwal, Biff, Typhomine, and Hale to put the drat thing down, while Aya avenged her cousin-in-law by driving her greatsword deep into the illusionist’s shoulderblade. quote:
  While the party is dragging Krowe back to his feet the lioness come back around the corner with the long object clamped in its maw. Unrolling the canvas reveals a blue-and-silver scabbard with four metal studs inlaid with the leather. The sword within the scabbard is untarnished by time, with metal studs embedded near the base of the blade and five tines holding a sapphire in place just below the hilt. As an Artificer Typhomine has the ability to cast Identify as a ritual, so he takes ten minutes with Hale watching over to study both the sword and the illusionist’s spellbook (DM – ”I’m so happy I have a Wizard in this campaign. I get to come up with spellbooks again!”). Hale stands watch over him as the rest of the party goes to investigate the sarcophagus. The lid is askew as it two people who weren’t really strong levered the covering off. A thin outline of dust rests atop the lid in the outline of a scabbard, suggesting the sword had lain on top of the sarcophagus. Krowe and Aya carefully remove the lid. Inside is a skeleton dressed in royal finery, a golden griffin sewn into the red fabric, with a crown resting on its head. Kynwal determined that the skeleton was easily centuries old, perhaps older than a millennia, and had both killed and preserved by a strong amount of necrotic energy. With that knowledge as well as a strong grasp of Kaern’s history, Kynwal says that the skeleton can only be one person – High King Kel the Fourth. ***** Nearly 1000 years before present day, High King Kel III of Kaeryn died and left the throne to his daughter Kalliana, the first High Queen. Kalliana would fall in love with her vizier, Pendin Vistani, and they produce two heirs, Kel and Kallysta. When Kalliana died at the age of 40 she would leave the throne to her son who would become Kel IV. Kallysta would leave to form her own Kaern (the city-states that make up Kaeryn), however she disappeared along the way. Kel IV left the throne to investigate his sister’s disappearance and avenge her death if necessary, but would vanish as well. With no other heir apparent, Kaeryn mourned for 30 years before selecting a new High Queen. On the day of her coronation however a young man claiming to be Kel V appears to claim his father’s throne. Dorria Vistani, the Royal Vizer, confirms his parentage through magic means and crowns him High King Kel V. Three years later Dorria Vistani is found murdered in the palace. Her brother Kevin discovers that the killer is none other than High King Kel V, the half-demon son of Kel IV and a succubus named Shellaera. Kevin and his companions would destroy the succubus and banish Kel V to the lower planes before setting out to locate Kallysta who had been in hiding for 33 years. Before the year is out Kallysta is crowned High Queen. One hundred years later when her descendant Kel is proclaimed High King, he is named Kel V in denial of the three-year reign of the Demon King. ***** So as the party takes in the fact that they’ve solved one of the continent’s greatest mysteries, Typhomine finishes his ritual. The sword was indeed that of Kel IV – a weapon known as Angrimar, the Vindicator. He also found a letter tucked into the illusionist’s spellbook…  The party debates what to do with the sword, the body, and the letter, boiling it down to decided WHO should decide what to do with the sword, the body, and the letter. Take them to Kegan Stormchapel, Baron of Fallcrest, the Kaern in which the party members currently reside? Take it to Chapel Hill and Baron Kormac Oathsworn, the Kaern closest to the tomb? Take it to Count Kennet Greywinter, who even though he is only eleven years old is the ruler of the county of Eastwyld? Take it to Kaern Korrina and High Queen Kaelynn Dragonhall? Or lock the sword back in the sarcophagus, leave quietly one at a time, and pretend none of this ever happened? Taking the sword to one could possibly be seen as a slight to the others. Plus whoever carried the sword would be a target, either as someone to be murdered or someone to be turned into a pawn for the nobility. In either case, the possibility was there that the revelation of the sword’s existence could easily be the spark that ignites a civil war in a kingdom already beset by theocratical and mercantile tension. As the party settles down for a long rest, vowing to debate matters further after a long night’s rest, Biff takes up position next to the body of the High King to keep watch and make sure his spirit has been properly sent to its final reward… quote:DM – ”Basement.” As the party prepares to break camp, Biff calls everyone together. He explains that during the night he had received a vision from Lethik. His god told Biff that the sword could go to “no Count nor no Baron, lest conflict rear its head.” The revelation definitely narrowed down the party’s options to taking the sword to the High Queen as well as brought up the discussion of rumors – Kynwal explaining that he had heard rumors that a high ranking advisor to Count Greywinter himself was sworn to Caradoc, the god of conquest, as well as being directly on the payroll of Korvis, Kaeryn’s historical enemy, a Lawful Evil empire to the north who venerated Caradoc as their patron diety. Krowe stated that he himself had heard that the ambush and murder of Kennet Greywinter’s parents was simply a cover to replace Kennet with a doppelganger. Before leaving the tomb, Krowe placed his hand on the now-covered sarcophagus. quote:Krowe – ”I swear to you on my honor that we will not allow your kingdom to fall into civil war. Oh, and landing a succubus? Nice…” After some discussion about who would carry the sword… quote:Krowe –”No way am I carrying that sword. That’s the weapon of a High King. Arwin would probably smite me down if I so much as even thought about touching it.” …the party headed towards Kaern Korrina on their horses (Aya – “You know we’re low level when we’re not only riding horses but actually concerned for their welfare.”). It was a two day ride to the capital city and the party arrived just after dark. Kaern Korrina was once a thriving port city until the Worldquake saw the ocean recede, leaving it high on the mountainside overlooking what would become known as the Forlorn Pass, one of the few passages into the evil elven nation of Ancellyon, another nation with enmity towards Kaeryn. Griffins flew overhead as the guards called out for identification, and thankfully the combination of the Starkweather name, the Dragonhall legacy, and Biff’s status as a Cleric of Lethik not only got us entry into the city but a promise from the officer on duty that he would see to arranging an appointment with the High Queen for the next day. The party would manages to find room and dinner at the Queen’s Roost, a ridiculously high end establishment where the food alone cost five gold a meal, and that was before getting into the ale and wine! Another sign that we were in a low level campaign where you have to actually count your money for things like lodging… As we enjoyed our dinner after five days of trail rations, there was a loud commotion at the entrance to the inn. The maître d was arguing with a barbarian, speaking in hushed tones about not being allowed to bring a weapon into the establishment without being a guest and the old woman yelling about needing to see Aya Bearmantle. Aya would invite the old woman to dinner in order to circumvent the rule. It turned out that barbarian, a woman named Dreem from the Circle of the Shepard, had tracked Aya to Kaern Korrina because it was time for her to be ritually marked with the mystical tattoos of her barbarian totem, Grandfather Lion. In other words – [Adam Cole]level three bay-bee![/Adam Cole] The next morning, Aya appears at breakfast, her skin red after a night of having her new tattoos literally hammered into her skin. quote:Krowe – “Wow…those are some impressive tattoos Aya.” As Biff watches over the sword, Kynwal takes the morning to exchange our coinage and gemstones for gold. Krowe and Aya head to the estate of Konrad Dragonhall, Krowe’s oldest brother who is being groomed to take over the family someday, in order to obtain formal clothing for the audience with the High Queen. The encounter consists of Konrad’s butler (the father of Cavendish, Krowe’s butler) opening the front door, coldly acknowledging Krowe, handing him a set of clothing in fashion two seasons ago that’s slightly big on Krowe, and closing the door. quote:Aya – ”That's a very lovely dress your brother has given you Krowe. Your family really does not like you, do they?” That afternoon the party walks up the hill towards the palace, a fortress like structure with knights soaring overheads on the backs of griffins. Above the palace looms the peak of a large mountain with the entrance to the griffin’s rookery carved into the stone. A young page greets the party and escorts them down a long hallway filled with the busts of previous High Kings and Queen, the most recent ones holding the Dragonhall last name. He brings them to a large sitting room where a small group of courtiers stares daggers at our party for jumping the line in front of them to meet the High Queen. The party is met by the Queen’s personal diviner, Aiden Featherstone, and offered a bottle of rare wine which Kynwal turns down on behalf of the party. The diviner smiles and retreats back into the throne room. quote:Biff – “I know we should be sober for our meeting, but why turn down the wine?” After a few moments, the page ushers us into the throne room. To one side of the throne sits Dorian Starkweather, personal abjurer to the High Queen, while Aden has taken up a position on the other side. On the throne itself, looking down on the group with a professionally warm smile, sits High Queen Kaelynn Dragonhall.  DM – "Because if you’re making a half-elven High Queen with arcane abilities, you use Natalie Dormer for the play-by.” Kaelynn welcomes us as well as thanking us ”for allowing me to delay attending a state dinner for a few moments.” The party recaps the discovery of the tomb and the message from Lethik as they present the sword to the High Queen and hand over the letter that was found on the illusionist. Kaelynn retreats with her advisors to another room to ponder the information. Upon their return, the High Queen informs the party of her decision. quote:”Based upon the information that you have brought to me, I decree that the discovery of Angrimar must be kept secret. The Dragonhall line has ruled Kaeryn for centuries even since Kendrick Dragonhall was declared King after Queen Korrine died without an heir. If this sword’s identity were to be revealed, it could add legitimacy to any claimants who wish to take the throne, or provide a rallying point towards any nobles who wish to launch a rebellion against Kaern Korrina. Our nation is currently experiencing great tension. The south is becoming more progressive and moving away from the theocratic tendencies of the northern kaerns while the merchant guilds are attempting to flex their muscles against the nobility. Perhaps someday when our kingdom has become stronger and united once again, Angrimar’s true identity could be revealed. Until that day, Aiden has cast spells to ensure Angrimar’s identity remains secret, immune to any attempt to magically identify it. While we could keep the sword safe and hidden here in the capital, the revelation of Korvin spies in the high levels of our government gives me pause. Korvis would love nothing more than to get their hands on the weapon of a High King and press their claims on our territory. The same goes for sending the sword to a Baron or Count for safekeeping, especially in light of Lethik’s message to his follower. No, the sword must be kept out of the hands of anyone with a claim to being High King or the desire to become High King. And since the sword had been laying on top of Kel’s sarcophagus and not inside of it, technically there has been no grave robbery. Queen Korrine dismisses us, the last words the party hears as they depart her throne room are ”and now, for the state dinner,” said in a weary voice. quote:Aya – ”Congratulations Krowe! You will make a wonderful wielder of the sword!”  ***** At breakfast the next morning, the party discusses their next course of action. It’s Kynwal who sets the party’s direction by asking if they could head towards Chapel Hill as he has business there he wishes to take care of. By noon the party is off on a two-day trip towards Chapel Hill, a city of law and order that thrives on commerce at the gateway to the southern cities of the Eastwyld. Along the way the party passes by the newly constructed Shrine of the Fallen, a sixteen-pillared pavilion containing the eight icons of the gods who had fallen during the Third Incursion of Kaos. Later in the day, the party finds itself riding along the road as it winds between two low lying cliffs when Hale notices something sticking out of the high grass…   Orcs. The dice luck finally turns during this combat as the party carves its way through the raiding party as everyone claims a kill. Aya’s new tattoos pulse with primal energy and her features take on a feline cast as the rages, Krowe gets knocked down to 1 hit point twice during the combat but ends up killing more orcs on his reactions than his actions thanks to Angrimar, Kynwal shows off his new spell Snowball Swarm, Typhomine burns one while Biff sends another one to meet its ancestors, and Hale headshots the sole survivor who tried to flee back into the high grass. The session would end with the party arriving at the gates of Chapel Hill just after nightfall… CobiWann fucked around with this message at 12:38 on Mar 5, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 19:59
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CobiWann posted:Previously on Tanicus – the party ventured into the sewers of Fallcrest to investigate a rash of missing children, proceeding to save them from the clutches of an evil otyugh. Some day, when I grow up, I hope I can be as good as your referee. I also love all the political subtones to all your guys' campaigns.
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Feb 24, 2018 20:47
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4 points of sweeping damage lol
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Feb 24, 2018 20:47
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Alright, here it is! Welcome to Episode 6 of my goofy-assed 4e D&D game, Funhavers. This episode is called Sun's Out Fun's Out: A Funhavers Beach Adventure. Looking for a refresher on the setting and main characters? You can find it in this post Before we get started, there's another NPC that's worth introducing. I didn't mention her last episode because she didn't appear in it, but she's been the main recurring NPC so far in a game that's mostly about self-contained episodic plots. She's a Satan (that's that Devils are called in this setting, as opposed to Demons who are called Crime Satans) named Reginald working for the Grimdark who doesn't seem to take her dark missions very seriously, instead preferring to act like a super-cheerful Instagram fitness model and make friends with everybody. Fortunately for her, her flagrant derelictions of duty always get interpreted by Grimdark higher-ups as ruthless mastermind betrayals, and they always end up benefitting the Grimdark anyway in some weird roundabout 12-D chess way, so she's kinda just been failing upward every time she's appeared in an episode. Unsurprisingly, the party fell in love with her almost instantly, with Janey's player referring to Reginald as a "glorious success babe" literally as I'm typing this, and Xehu's player beginning a slow-burning and extremely heartwarming romance plot with her over the course of the episodes we've played so far. Will Reginald show up and get into some antics during this episode? Well yeah obviously, that's why I'm introducing her here With that out of the way, let's get to the episode recap! In Episode 6, most of the World After is caught in that awkward place between "winter wonderland" and "glorious resurgence of spring", so Argo's convinced the party to head over to the World After's perpetually warm and sunny beach zone and have a day of fun in the sun. Pretty much everyone else has had the same idea, so the party spends like the first fifteen minutes just having extremely chill and pleasant beach times with NPCs that they befriended in previous episodes. Argo lounges in a beach chair reading what his player described as "Tom Clancy but for evil sorcerers", Janey helps Argo's kobold minions build some charming sand castles, Jau wades out into the shallows in hopes of befriending a sea monster or two, and Xehu looks out of over the ocean smolderingly and mysteriously (which is really mostly a cover for the fact that xe has no idea what to do at the beach). For her part, Reginald is mostly making Xehu's heart flutter by surfing in the middle distance Eventually there's a beach volleyball game (for those keeping score, the team with Argo and Janey beat the team with Jau and Xehu), and after it's over, the party and Reginald are all just standing on the shoreline, congratulating each other on some star volleyball performances. It's then that something very odd begins to happen - the sun shouldn't be going down for another few hours, but it starts dipping in the horizon way ahead of schedule, filling the sky with a lovely purple tint. The sand, on the other hand, takes on a faint cyan tone. In the midst of all of this, an enormous blue whale leaps out of the water and in front of the sun, causing the party and Reginald to stare in transfixed awe until the whale comes barreling downward and swallows them all up where they stand When the party comes to, they're on a similar beach to the one they just left, with a few exceptions. First, the purple and cyan tints are much more pronounced here. Second, there are grayish spatial tears streaking across the sky everywhere they look, looking like arcane scanlines. Third, they're all alone here - even Reginald is nowhere to be found, though soon enough Argo's various minions wash up ashore as well, having followed him into the whale because they love their boss and want to help him out in this time of need. Argo aces an Arcana check to recognize what kind of foul sorcery has befallen the party, and growls out his answer ominously... Vaporwave. Xehu also aces a Religion check to recognize that these spatial tears sound vaguely similar to the ancient "glitches" mentioned in some creation myths for the World After, but that's about all the info the party can gather on where exactly they are. Steeling themselves against their predicament, the party begin to explore up the shoreline in an attempt to escape this pleasant whale zone Soon enough, they encounter a young boy wearing some patchwork armor running in their direction and crying out for help. As the kid hides behind the massive swole-wall that is Jau, his pursuers come into view: five people in a dune buggy, looking like fantasy warriors who have gone very post-apocalyptic. Their leader is a man in a white hooded robe and gas mask, who brandishes his lightning-crowned staff menacingly at the party and introduces himself as Averno, Hierophant of the Wailing Host. He explains that they're all stuck in a pocket dimension they call the Whale After, and that they have a plan to destroy this cursed prison and get everyone out. All the party has to do is hand over the boy right now and ignore his insistence that the Wailing Host is trying to hurt him Unsurprisingly, the party are kind sweethearts that are not about to hand over this scared kid to face some severe pain and probably death. Argo cleverly manipulates Averno by asking him if "Wailing Host" is meant to be a pun on "Whale" or not, causing him to get worked up by a joke that he's heard a million times by now, and causing his warriors to turn their backs to the party as they do their best to calm him down and get him to focus. The party takes full advantage of this distraction, and wipes the floor with the Wailing Host crew in the span of a surprise round and change. Averno manages to escape in the dune buggy, but the rest are knocked out cold as the kid's eyes light up and he runs circles around the party, proclaiming them the most awesome people he's ever seen The kid introduces himself as Duso and offers to repay them however he can, but the party tells him that they helped him because it was the right thing to do, not because they expected any kind of payment. This of course only makes Duso think they're even cooler, so he offers to tell them as much as he knows about this place - which isn't a whole lot, since his memories are really scattered and hazy, but it's better than nothing. He explains that this entire place is a beach - if you try to head inland, you'll just hit another beach before it stops being sandy - and that everyone says they got here by being swallowed up by a giant whale. He himself can't recall how he ended up here due to his amnesia, but he figures it was probably a whale too if that's what everyone else says According to Duso, there are three important factions here in the Whale After. There's the Wailing Host, whom the party's already met. They say they need Duso for some kind of ritual that's going to free everyone from here, but that doesn't make any sense because he's just a kid. What's more, Duso's pretty sure he can remember that he used to be great friends with the Wailing Host's leader, a woman named Mari. But since Mari and her Host are trying to kill him now, Duso suspects that maybe she got replaced by an evil imposter version of her... which means they have to accompany Duso to find and save the real Mari! As soon as he's come up with that idea, though, he remembers what he's actually trying to do: meet up with the Commonweal, a group dedicated to making life within the Whale After as peaceful and safe and happy as possible. He also thinks he used to be friends with their leader, a dragonborn knight called Dorzhan, and hopes that she doesn't also turn out to be evil like Mari did The third group is the one that scares Duso most - they're called the Feral Hearts, and they're much newer and more mysterious than the other two. People only know bits and pieces and rumors about them, because apparently nobody's ever come back alive after encountering them, but from what Duso knows they're a mad cult that believes in an endless cycle of blood and violence. Their mysterious leader claims to have knowledge of some apocalyptic figures who will arrive in the Whale After soon and return everyone to their homes, but given how the Feral Hearts apparently act, that claim of salvation's even less reassuring to Duso than the one that the Wailing Host makes. In fact, Duso's so worked up by talking about the Feral Hearts that the party, in their attempts to soothe and reassure him, don't even notice the storm of spatial tears gathering around them What follows is a big old skill challenge set piece where the party are trying to save themselves and Duso from getting battered by a bunch of uprooted sand dunes and flung into endless space by localized gravity distortion. Argo creates a stable "safe zone" by stabbing his lightning blade into the ground and emitting anchoring arcane pulses, Jau flings a sand dune into the sky in order to propel himself backwards and touch down on the safe zone, Janey grabs onto Argo's blade with her lasso and pulls herself in, Xehu telekinetically deflects oncoming dunes to keep everyone safe. Eventually they all make it to safety, with a somewhat calmer Duso in tow and the Commonweal camp just ahead The Commonweal camp itself is mostly a series of Greek columns and busts that have been arranged to form ramshackle shelters, with some nice palm trees for shade and a faint grid overlaying the sand (an artificial network of leylines, designed to mitigate the effects of the scanline storms). The residents are mostly pastel-colored nautical types - we got some merfolk, some crab-people, some intelligent dolphins, the works. Dorzhan, flanked by her elite guards, approaches Duso and asks hopefully if he remembers her.Duso hesitates himself, but then rushes forward to hug her, saying “You’re Dorzhan the Dragonrider, Paladin-Commander of the Blue Cliffs, and my friend!” Dorzhan is stiff at first in her reply, but quickly warms up: “Well, I don’t have my dragon here with me, and the Blue Cliffs were from my World Before, but… yeah, I think we’re friends too.” Dorzhan thanks the party for bringing Duso to safety, and takes them down to a little cave so they can see the room that the Commonweal has prepared for him. It's a facsimile of a child's bedroom that gets an A for effort: a bed with racecar sheets and a bunch of stuffed animals stacked on it, a bookshelf packed with slightly soggy books, a couple weather-beaten board games... they've done their best. One element unnerves the party a little bit, though: the walls to this bedroom seem to be gold-covered prison bars, with a big lock over the only exit door. Janey points out that they've built something of a cage here, but Dorzhan counters that it can't be a cage because the little wall columns are a beautiful shade of gold. When the party collectively points out that "gilded cage" is an existing phrase that describes what she's trying to do here on a number of levels (including Argo pulling out a pocket dictionary full of useful clichest to show her the entry for gilded cage), she starts to bristle and warn them to tread lightly Not wanting to see his old friend and his new friends fight, Duso hops into the cage and insists he's happy to stay here! That changes quickly, however, when the Commonweal elites lock the door on him and their chief arcanist starts casting a binding ritual on the cage. As Duso starts to freak out again and plead to be let out, Dorzhan tries to explain that this is the only way to protect everyone here from the spatial tears. Even as the party are realizing exactly what's going on here, they can't brook this kind of treatment, and they insist that the Commonweal let Duso out of the cage so they can all talk this over. Dorzhan's not budging, so we get our second battle of the episode! It's a pretty straightforward fight up until Xehu lands a hit on the Commonweal mage and disrupts the binding ritual, which makes the whole battlefield erupt in damaging spatial warps that both sides spend the rest of the battle trying to force-move each other into. Duso immediately leaps into one of these warps and is gone, but the battle continues with all sorts of ping-pong portal nonsense until Dorzhan runs out of HP and directs her allies to yield. Dorzhan apologizes for her hubris and begs the party to find Duso before the Wailing Host does, saying she trusts them to keep the kid's best interests in heart much more than she trusts Mari. The party wholeheartedly agrees with that assessment, and ascends out of the cave to start their search for Duso There are two big problems awaiting them, though: a Commonweal army who's upset at them for beating up their beloved leader and filling their camp with spatial warps, and a Wailing Host army who's upset at them for snatching Duso away when they almost had their hands on him. The party realize that they'll need an army of their own to hold these warriors off, but thankfully that's exactly what arrives. Reginald sails over the party on her surfboard and lands in front of them, greeting them with a hearty, "I missed you guys!" The Commonweal and Wailing Host forces recognize the symbol painted on her surfboard and recoil in horror - it's an endless cycle of violence around a beating red heart. As Reginald's loyal Feral Hearts emerge from behind the cave and charge the other two armies, she explains that she just drew a Retweet around a Like on her board and started telling everyone that her cool friends were gonna show up and rescue everyone pretty soon. She's not sure how everyone got so carried away with acting like her and her new pals were this unstoppable murder force, but suspects that the "nobody comes back alive after meeting the Feral Hearts" came about because people kept joining up with her cause rather than returning to their previous affiliation With the Feral Hearts providing cover for the party's escape, the party thanks Reginald for the assist and runs off to start their investigation. It's not too hard for them to pick up Duso's trail, but they run into one last obstacle blocking their way: a woman in impressive bronze plate armor, with Averno the Hierophant cowering behind her. The party realize that this must be Mari, and sure enough she draws her blade, but to their surprise she tosses it into the sea and raises her hands, saying she just wants to talk. After getting Averno to apologize for his earlier behavior toward them, she asks the party if they know who Duso actually is. After they confirm that they've figured out that he's the whale, Mari can't understand why they're going to bat for him so hard when he's the one keeping them all trapped here. They sympathize with her situation, but insist they want to talk to Duso and convince him peacefully to let everyone out, rather than killing him That really sets her off: "You think I haven’t tried that already? I loved that kid! I was the coolest aunt he could ask for! And when I found out what he is, I begged him to let us out of here. I don’t know if he won’t, or can’t, or just loses his memory too fast. But you know what? I don’t care anymore. I’m getting her out of here. I can’t bear to see her like this any longer. And you can’t stop me.” When the party confirm that they do in fact intend to stop her, she transforms into her true form: a massive bioluminescent sea serpent. The party must now face the final boss of this episode: Thraximari, the Wailing Wyrm This was probably the hardest fight that the players have handled thus far, with Thraximari being the first multi-initiative Solo enemy they've fought in the campaign. At the end of each round, the whole battlefield would skip backwards in time, with Mari back in her human form telling the party again that she just wanted to talk. With each loop, she realized quicker and quicker what was happening, and got more and more agitated as she blamed the party for keeping them all stuck here. For the party's part, they managed to tap into some safe temporal bubbles in order to avoid getting reset themselves, and set some fortifications against Thraximari's repeated charges. It was a tough fight, with Jau getting knocked into negative HP after he went hard in melee range and got covered in the dragon's acidic blood, but the remaining three managed to hold onto their last HP and finish the fight off After she’s subdued, the party try to reassure Mari that they’re going to get everyone out of here no matter what, and to press her a bit on her backstory. She grudgingly tells them about how Dorzhan was once a dragonslayer in the World Before they shared, but fell in love with Mari when sent to assassinate her. The two shared a tempestuous romance in said World Before, and were eventually reunited when they both showed up in the World After, but then Dorzhan got herself swallowed up by a whale like an idiot about five years ago. Mari had no choice to follow her in and try to rescue her. The two of them shared a somewhat happy life with Duso for a little while, but once they realized who Duso was, they had a falling out about what to do. Mari says she knows from experience that Dorzhan is just as miserable here as she is, but her stupid paladin heart will never let her admit it. They need to get out of this whale at all costs, because it’s really bringing out the worst in both of them Moved by Mari’s story, the party promises they’ll talk some sense into Duso. Sure enough, they find him shortly, hugging his knees on an outcropping that looks out over endless sea. When he hears them coming, he asks if they’re going to hurt him now that they know that this is his fault, and Janey takes the lead in reassuring Duso that they still care about him and will never agree to a plan that hurts him. Duso remembers all the kind things that the party has done for him in the brief time they’ve known each other, and his memories solidify for long enough that he can give a full accounting of how they all ended up here Duso had created this pocket dimension five years ago to not be so lonely all the time, reasoning that everyone likes the beach and they’d enjoy their time here. Things were going great at first, but it turned out that even with his considerable psychic whale power, he wasn’t quite up to the task of maintaining the realm for so long and with so many people inside it. The more it went on, the worse his memory and the storms both got, and he knows full well that he only has a bit of time left with everyone on this endless beach. He’s still scared of letting everyone go, though, wondering if anyone would want to be friends with a big psychic whale. Jau chimes in enthusiastically, pointing out that before they all got swallowed up, he was literally trying to make friends with giant sea creatures. The rest of the party offers to get him a psychically-controlled social media device, to organize regular offshore get-togethers, to use the Mindcrime device from last episode to pop into his head occasionally… there are all sorts of ways for them to stay friends after he collapses this realm! At long last, Duso is convinced. He thanks the party for everything they’ve done and asks him to pass his apologies on to everyone else here - especially Mari and Dorzhan. The psychic realm quickly collapses around them, and they’re all plopped back onto the shoreline. There are still plenty of issues that aren’t going to get resolved overnight - Mari reconciling with Dorzhan, and the two of them reconciling with Duso - but overall everyone’s incredibly grateful to the party for saving the day in a way that left no one behind. The gathered crowd enjoys some pleasant evening beachside bonfires as the episode comes to a close That’s it for Episode 6! It’s easily the most emotionally intense session I’ve run so far, even if everything ended on a wholesome and uplifting note. Accordingly, I’m going to be taking it easy for the next couple sessions with character-specific episodes - first up is Argo leading the party through a Tomb of Horrors-type hell dungeon pastiche to recover his stolen sword (this one is called Fools! You Will Rue the Day you Stole my Prized Blade! My Wrath Will Know No . . .), and then Janey investigating a whodunit aboard a big old locomotive. Thanks for reading, everyone who got this far!
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Feb 25, 2018 17:50
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Funhavers maintaining its status as the most wholesome thing I have ever read or shall continue to read 
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Feb 25, 2018 18:17
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Funhavers is a delightful twist on the whole murderhobo game trend. Good, good stuff and a treat to read (and hopefully continue to read). The only downside is being reminded I didn't get to play.
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Feb 25, 2018 19:04
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Seriously, the last few stories have been gold, thread, gold!
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Feb 25, 2018 19:16
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My Star Wars group is putting together a plan for a strike on an Imperial drydock facility, at which a Star Destroyer which has been giving the party trouble for months is docked for emergency repairs after it blew out its primary hyperdrive chasing them. What I was expecting them to do was infiltrate a small commando team and blow it up. They elected not to go with that plan. They are infiltrating commandos (although not 'a small team', several hundred people in separate ships from different directions staggered over multiple days), but they're also going around calling in favors from every Rebel cell and Rebel-sympathetic fringer in the sector, putting together a scratch fleet of light warships, armed freighters, and a bunch of motley fighter squadrons. The commandos aren't tasked with blowing up the Star Destroyer or the drydock, they're tasked with subverting the defenses - disabling the defensive satellites, the shields, the gun emplacements, the sensors, anything else they can shut off covertly (or gain control of). They are then going to attempt to board and capture as much of the Star Destroyer's flotilla as possible - the SD itself requires too many crew and is also kind of in pieces right now, but the other ships assigned to support it are (as far as the players know) just docked at the station waiting for the overhaul to finish, so they're prime, juicy targets. If all goes according to plan, when the signal goes up, the defenses will come down, the boarding parties will begin storming ships, and at that precisely coordinated moment, the fleet will jump in, as close to the dock as possible, and attempt to overwhelm the defensive fleet. Faced without support from the stationary defenses, and hopefully also being shot at from the ships the players just stole, they should hopefully go down quickly. I gave them a mission to destroy a drydock, and their response was 'but what if we capture the drydock?' They can't hold it long-term, of course, but they could hold it for a few hours, which is all the time they need to strip it for valuables and then set a bunch of explosives everywhere. The plan has gone through multiple iterations so far, and they've been discussing and debating all week with minimal input from me except occasional clarifications of the intel I gave them. I kind of wish they'd gone with their earliest plan, which involved thousands of escaped convicts in EVA suits with blasters, being loaded into cargo containers with droid brains and thrusters and then firing them en masse at the dockyard. The Admiral quashed that idea immediately (the guy whose whole character motivation is to preserve the lives of his men isn't about to back a suicidal human-wave attack), and the plan has been getting more and more sensible with each revision, while still being plenty audacious. They also eventually gave up on their second plan, which was the same as the first plan, except they would first wait two weeks for the Star Destroyer's hyperdrive to be repaired, then time their raid immediately after it launched, and fire the cargo pods at the ship rather than the drydock. Our intrepid revolutionaries will not be stealing a Star Destroyer just yet. Mister Bates fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 03:59
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Mister Bates posted:Our intrepid revolutionaries will not be stealing a Star Destroyer just yet. I wanna watch a trilogy about your group more than I want Ep7-9 right now.
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Feb 26, 2018 04:04
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Mister Bates posted:I gave them a mission to destroy a drydock, and their response was 'but what if we capture the drydock?' They can't hold it long-term, of course, but they could hold it for a few hours, which is all the time they need to strip it for valuables and then set a bunch of explosives everywhere. These are good players. I say this as someone who got lots of good feedback on my own group's Star Wars campaign, stories of which often involved the phrase "yeah, we could blow that up, but what if instead we just stole it?" It is always a good plan.
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Feb 26, 2018 04:24
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Can... can I give you a hug? I promise not to squee too loudly.
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Feb 26, 2018 04:54
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Jenny Angel posted:Alright, here it is! Welcome to Episode 6 of my goofy-assed 4e D&D game, Funhavers. Oh god and it keeps getting better
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Feb 26, 2018 06:30
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Jenny Angel posted:Argo aces an Arcana check to recognize what kind of foul sorcery has befallen the party, and growls out his answer ominously... Vaporwave.  I cannot wait for more stories from this.
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Feb 26, 2018 19:53
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Bieeanshee posted:Can... can I give you a hug? I promise not to squee too loudly. [extremely Grimdark voice] What’s your angle, friendo
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Feb 27, 2018 00:35
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[meekly] Overexuberant fangirlism?
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Feb 27, 2018 01:59
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Aw jeez well, c'mere you I'm seriously incredibly humbled to hear all these kind words, and have passed them on to my players. I'm sure they'll endeavor to be extra wholesome now that they know they have fans
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Feb 27, 2018 05:05
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Jenny Angel posted:Aw jeez well, c'mere you Yes, and make sure it doesn't go to their heads and they go all murderhobo just to make sure we click like and subscribe, okay?
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Feb 27, 2018 05:34
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Jenny Angel posted:I ran the latest episode of Funhavers last night, and folks, the reviews are coming in This post was like a promise too big to possibly be kept, and yet it was. Godspeed, Funhavers. Samizdata posted:The only downside is being reminded I didn't get to play.
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Feb 27, 2018 06:06
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The only critique is that those werent two dragon lovers, one was a dragon lover and the other was a dragon lover.
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Feb 27, 2018 06:18
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| # ? Jun 3, 2024 14:32 |
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Anyone else have a campaign derail because the DM ended up in jail? My regular DM got wasted and did some crime and is now looking at felony charges. Campaign was going fairly well, too.
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Mar 2, 2018 07:26
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