Key Our Cars

Everyone is present and accounted for in this session, Biminey, Stak, T’Balktu, Torel, Visra. Our heroes have reached level 10 in the quest to end the dangers to their little corner of the world.

We join them in Aricee’s lair where the dragon, shifted into human female form, instructs them in their tasks, how they must defeat the Guardian of the Lance of Unmaking, recover the Lance and then go to Darkmith to destroy the Chaosborn.

T’Balktu and Aricee spend a few hours alone while the rest work on their gear and Biminey crafts magical items. Aricee gifts T’Balktu for his performance with a matching set of axes, the greataxe known as Ghost Slayer and the throwing axe known as Splintertree. He is pleased as was she. And it’s not everyone who gets to lay with a dragon. Which I’m sure will have no dire consequences…

They proceed toward the Guardian’s lair after Aricee assures them that she will help them return after they find out it’s a chute down into a room. Biminey uses his Ladder ritual to make it easy to descend into the depths.

There they find a floorless room with flipping platforms on gears and pistons to stand on. As the fourth one comes down the platform flips and almost tosses Biminey [I think] into the bottomless darkness but a quick grab by one of the other’s saves him from certain death. [Yes this was a return to the Save or Die of the old days but it is the season finale and the dangers are ramped up accordingly.]

They spread out and defeat the constructs that are attacking them for serious damage, inadvertently spreading out and reducing the risk of any particular platform flipping over. [A platform flipped on a roll of 15 or high, +2 for each person on the platform over 1. By splitting up they made it a lot less likely that a platform would flip. Purely unintentional on their part.]

They moved around the room, jumping from platform to platform with Biminey working his way closer to the central brain to shut it down but the amount of damage the party can pump out swiftly overwhelmed the mobile portions of the construct. There was another bit of a hair raiser as T’Balktu jumped on the platform that Biminey was on and caused it to flip over sending T’Balktu plunging to his death only to be snagged at the last second by Bimney’s Acrobatics roll (which he has no skill in) saving T’Balktu’s player from having two deaths in the campaign.

Under the platforms they uncovered the Lance and retrieved with T’Balktu nimbly climbing the pistols and gears to get to it. There was no sign of Aricee so they left the room of the guardian by T’Balktu using the lance to open a passage through the shielding magic.

Aricee was waiting at the top and she had a bit of an interlude with T’Balktu in a frozen moment of time where she gave him her True Name so he could destroy the crystal binding her to her service as the tunnel’s guardian. When he destroyed the crystal embedded into her chest a two headed dragon shadow was cast from the explosion of light. T’Balktu kept this bit of information to himself.

They talked with Aricee about what they were supposed to do, “Kill the chaosborn” and she was going to get them to their destination and bring their airship to them and support them in their battle.

[In an aside, with herself free from her captivity she didn't give a rat's ass about the chaosborn, a minor annoyance only to her and simply wanted the party out of her hair figuratively speaking. When she didn't show up to help, when they had to walk back because there was no airship, and later on as Biminey figures out the whole 'explode the airship' was bullshit the light began to dawn on the group. "Never trust a dragon." isn't a phrase that came about by whim and whimsy.]

The group found themselves in Darkmith where a war was going on. They spotted the central power area and headed that way, failing their attempts to sneak through town and were surrounded by undead, summoned by Phy’el Fleshwalker for the battle. They defeated a huge swarm of undead only to seem hundreds more running after them. When the undead all stopped and Phy’el himself appeared. “If you win, remember I did you no harm when I could have.” he says and all the undead drop motionless to the ground as the cut the strings binding them to him. Phy’el has long held a grudge against Liloth and her King and like all good evil people is more than happy to screw them over for slights they have done him. And he’s also hedging his bets, he senses the magic artifact the group possesses, trying to curry a little future favor perhaps.

They push on and reach the ziggurat of power where the Chaosborn is being reborn. Liloth his lover is climbing the tower toward him.

T’Balktu kicks on his Ghost Slayer ability and charges the Creature, slaying it, at least it’s human form, releasing the chaosbeast within. He continues to use the Lance of Unmaking against the creature, finally destroying it and the group turns its attention to Liloth who’s a little upset at the events. But the group has grown too strong for this little regional hazard and mops up the floor with Liloth and the pet shadows.

They recover a Shadowblade, a dreadful greatsword from the shadowfey that was the Chaosborn’s weapon and very gingerly maneuver it into a bag of holding without touching it.

They help mop up the city, joining in with the hobgoblin tribes battling the minor darkness’s still released in the city alongside the strange eyeless, mouthless priests of the white king.

Leaving the city, on foot, they trudge through the swamps surrounding the city and stop off to spend a couple of days with the Soul Eaters in their home range, the tattoo’s on their arms are extended by the tattoo artists of the tribe, depicting their battles against the darkness in stylized abstracts.

They continue back to Larkson where they find Teagon working a power play to take over the city and remove the Council. He’s hired more mercenaries from Anvil and after all the fighting his forces outnumber the Watch. With the group informing him that the deed is done and the city is safe he bargains with them to join in.

The group does and become partners with Teagon. They arrange for Garon and the just appointed Merchant faction Councilor Neev to be moved out of power gently as possible. They work a deal to keep the Watch alive and in their control and direct all martial activities in the city, although everyone understands that with Teagon holding the purse strings that feeds the mercenairies that that control could be tenuous. But Teagon is smart and wise and understands the power that the group presents so the deal is made and at this time both sides appear to be genuinely interested in keeping it. The group will receive a 1000 golds a month each for their portion of the bargain, a fortune really for this town although Biminey is going to donate his income to the Watch to help train, equip and restore them. The Watch lost most of their men, dead or injured beyond fighting ability, and what’s left are the lucky, green and inept without only a small cadre of veterans.

They bring the airship into town and then fly out to the slaver stronghold searching for the two ships full of the town’s women and children, finding only a work crew lead by a slaver working on rebuilding the islands buildings. They capture them all, interrogate them and then destroy the newly constructed works and building materials and fly back to their city.

Sushanna tells Biminey that one of the until now dead lights on the ship’s consoles lit green for a few hours one day while they were gone (during their walk back to Larkson).

When they get back to the city, there is talk of a flying creature spotted in the skies out to sea, seen more by it’s blocking out the stars than any direct visual. It was assumed to be the group’s airship but when word got around that it wasn’t then other people stepped forth saying it was a vast flying creature, a dragon certainly.

What it was, what the green light means, where the slavers took the slaves, where did Phy’el wander off to, where the slavers main bases are and what they’re doing, the rebuilding of the city of Larkson and the outcome of the battle of Darkmith, these questions and more will have to wait till we pick up this campaign and enter the Tier of the Paragon’s…

Image Credits

May 28

CATS Podcast Episode 16 – Part 3

4:51 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, PodcastNo Comments »

Episode 16, part 3 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

May 28

CATS Podcast Episode 16 – Part 2

4:51 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, PodcastNo Comments »

Episode 16, part 2 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

May 28

CATS Podcast Episode 16 – Part 1

3:58 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, Podcast, UncategorizedNo Comments »

Episode 16, part 1 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

May 17

CATS: Interlude Lord Volk

12:05 pm by Dennis | Against the Slavers, Campaign, FictionNo Comments »

Interlude – Island Fortress….

The blind woman’s eyes blinked, the milky white hidden for an instant behind pale flesh. The unseeing eyes turned to point to the back of the heavily robed figure standing at the window, looking out at the rolling waves of the seas below.

“Yes I felt it, Lady, Bokka Jothan is no more. It seems our lowest Captain has met something he couldn’t entice, enslave or destroy. Or bore to death with his petty scheming.” Lord Volk said without turning from the view. “His line has proven itself weak…” the high lord over the slavers mused.

Around the room, shadows stirred where they lay in deep pools, spots darker somehow than the deepest of shadows flickered in each and they all seemed to turn toward the still form by the window.

“Yes my pets, the line of Jotham has failed us.” At his words the shadows began writhing and swirling. If one had to make an analogy then perhaps the closest would be a pack of puppies about to be given a treat. If the puppies were comprised of the stuff of nightmares given substance. “Go, you have your freedom to seek out all of of the Jotham line until the sun falls and rises one time and teach them that failure is not an option.”

Before Volk’s words were finished the shadows began streaming out of the room flowing over the stone like night made liquid. Soon the chamber was empty aside from Volk and the woman.

She spoke, “Is that wise love?”

Volk turned away from the window and approached her, the rich silks of his robes sliding across the pristine floor without a sound. He reached out and cupped the woman’s chin, tilting her head up to his. “Wise, Lady? Perhaps not but not terribly unwise. And my irritation with Bokka’s losing of the airship is well known. To ignore his failure would weaken my position. Loosing the shades on his line will give the rest something to fear for awhile and perhaps put a stop to their plotting and planning my downfall. What says the warp?”

The woman, Lady Sethra, stepped in toward Volk and put her arms around him, “The lines are… cloudy now love. A Great One has become involved and its presence stirs and fragments the now and the future into so many strange shapes that it becomes impossible to make sense of them.”

“Truly…” Volk’s deep baritone rumbled in his chest against her cheek. “What would have peaked the interest of the one of the ancient reptiles?”

“I know not love but its actions impact the lines of everything. I would advise activities in the north, the warp and web there are convulated beyond all untangling at this time. Perhaps in time its attention will focus elsewhere.”

“Perhaps. I’m reluctant to give up the quest for that ship. If we can duplicate its craftings, imagine the power we could wield. The very air would become our oceans and our raiders could go anywhere they wished, descending where they would, taking what is rightfully ours by our very predation.”

“I advise time love. It changes all things and the situation to the north will change in time.”

“Perhaps you are right Lady, perhaps.” Lord Volk absently stroked the inky black hair of the woman, eyes focused and at the same time not seeing the far wall of the chamber. He snapped his fingers, the sound belling out, louder than such a slow gesture should generate. Before the echoes stopped resonating around the chamber the gilded doors opened.

“Yes mi’lord?” questioned the man who stepped through.

“Summon the captains who first issued the reports of the airship. I wish to question them, personally.”

“So it will be mi’lord.” the man bowed, waiting to be dismissed.

Lord Volk brushed his hand over his neatly trimmed beard, “And bring up one of the virgins from the last ship. I found another gray hair this morning Jovan. It is past time I renewed myself. Now go.”

“As you command mi’lord.”

May 16

CATS Session 17

10:42 am by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, DnDNo Comments »

Dragon Lady

We start our little soiree with everyone present, Biminey, Stak, T’balktu and Visra. The group meets with the Council and founds out all the bad news, the town was attacked shortly after the group left by portals pouring through undead inside as funnel clouds descended and ripped up the protective stonework even as an army of undead swarmed over the outside walls.

The priests of the temple of Eris were able to eventually sever the controlling strings of the undead and they all dropped to the ground motionless and the citizen rose up in arms to destroy those wandering the city streets.

As the group arrived back they found Captain Werrick missing one of his legs from the knee down and discovered that he led a force against three figures that seemed to be commanding the forces as well as breaching the walls, a female in white, a mostly nude man who’s flesh morphed and wavered and a dark shadow figure.

They also learned that ‘merchant ships from the south’ had arrived and were taking on women and children to sail them to safety. Two of the three ships had already left filled to the brim with children and women and the third was still loading.

The group jumped to the conclusion that the ships were slavers picking up an easy profit and headed to the harbor.

They ran into a group of sailors and approached them. A noble looking individual confirmed that what the group suspected and delivered an ultimatum, the group delivers the airship to the island and they give the women and children back. If they don’t deliver the airship then they’re going to infect all the captives with the parasites and give them back.

The discussion rapidly went downhill. The noble turned out to be a fake, while the real noble, a fire mage of some power was dressed as a sailor. The sailors were quickly put down leaving the fire mage and the slaver lashmaster. As things took a turn for the worse for the slavers the firemage made his escape using a contingency teleport ring to teleport back to the ship leaving the lashmaster who surrendered to the group. As he made his getaway he told the group that they’d just doomed one ship full of children and if they wanted the others returned then bring the airship to him.

The gruop took a few minutes to recover, loot and discuss the thing and smoke started rising from the harbor. They rushed to the harbor and found several of the small fishing ships on fire as well as the docks and warehouse. People rushed in to quench the flames. Once it was clear the flames were under control the group got out their longboat and sailed out to the airship and set off after the fleeing slaver ship.

after an attempt to set the ship’s sails on fire failed, the firemage simply doused the flames, Stak shot a note down to the ship demanding the slavers debark in the ships boats and leave the captives onboard. The slavers failed to listen so the group started riddleing it with ballista bolts. The slavers quickly retaliated by lashing their captives to the sides of the ship. This failed to deter the group and they continued to try and sink the ship. And yes their ballista bolts hit more than one captive.

On board the ship the firemage weighed his options and found them wanting and performed a ritual that exploded the entire ship, killing everyone on board rather than see group rescue a single one.

The group turned the air ship around and headed back to its usual place with a rather somber atmosphere. They re-entered the city. Torel’s new found ability to see the lines of power protecting the city while holding the battle standard lead them to an old reading room now in use by the high priest as a bedroom as he didn’t feel comfortable taking the last high priest’s bedroom.

They found a mosaic in the floor and using the key they’ve been carrying for so long they triggered a lift, the entire floor of the room that dropped them down deep into the earth into a chamber.

There they were accosted by constructs demanding a pass phrase, when it wasn’t forthcoming they fought the constructs. Torel in his infinite avenger wisdom opened a door and added in another set of constructs. But with clever use of the Deamon Heart amulet and a failed reaction roll the new buzz saw construct fought with one of the other’s and the two ended up dealing something like 150+ points of damage to each other which was probably one of the few things that could have saved the group. In total the encounter ended up a level 15 against a level 9 party which would typically result in someone or all someone’s dying. But by setting two of them on each other they removed roughly 300 damage the group would have had to absorb and added 300 damage to the group’s output. Call it luck if you will but it saved them.

Inside the second chamber they found the Book of All Things and Biminey was able to recover an ass load of residium from the cylidners powering the protections on the room as well as enough parts to make a new construct, a mobile buzzsaw that he can deploy in combat.

As they left the temple they were met by Aricee, a strange being in the form of a plain looking woman but with the eyes of a dragon. She opened a portal leading them into her lair where they waded through piles of gold and jewels to a side chamber where they were fed a great meal.

Aricee told them that their best chance in the upcoming battle was to recover the Lance of Unmaking which is located deep in her lair guarded by a creature. She tells them she guards the lair, the guardian guards the lance and she has a device embedded in her chest that protects the lance from her.

The group is located in an instant between the past and future and will have several days grace before the time in the world ticks over and the chaosborn is freed. This gives them time to prepare, recover the lance and save the world.

She also tells them that the lance and the banner may not be enough and that it is possible to destroy the airship in a single cataclysmic event that will unmake everything in the blast radius.

We leave our group there as they prepare to descend into the tunnels after the Lance of Unmaking for their final climatic battle against the chaosborn and go down in a ball of flame or emerge victorious.

Image Credits

May 14

CATS Podcast Episode 15 – Part 3

7:47 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, DnD, PodcastNo Comments »

Episode 15, part 3 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

May 14

CATS Podcast Episode 15 – Part 2

7:46 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, DnD, PodcastNo Comments »

Episode 15, part 2 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

May 14

CATS Podcast Episode 15 – Part 1

6:26 pm by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, DnD, PodcastNo Comments »

Episode 15, part 1 of the Key Our Cars group’s 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons podcast gameplay session.

Subscribe to the feed – http://www.keyourcars.com/feed/podcast/

Also available through iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Apr 27

Interlude – Undead Army

10:34 am by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, FictionNo Comments »

The dead fight hard

Even the burning rains couldn’t conceal the odor of death as Stak moved up the last rise before reaching the cleared ground around the city. If anything the rains added another layer of stench, one of sulfur and brimstone. As he crested the hillock the scene he pulled up, momentarily shocked at the grisly scene stretching out before him.

Bodies, hundreds of them, most long dead it looked like from their appearance lay scattered, ripped and torn on grounds around the city walls. The walls of the city beyond were breached in several places but the holes were filled and blocked with everything handy from what he could see. Wagons, push carts, crates, timbers and the rubble of the walls themselves were piled high in the breaches. The main gates lay twisted and shattered but what looked like ship timbers filled the opening. There was a sudden pop of light and sigils flared along the walls, twisting red arcane symbols floating above the walls that reminded him of the barrier wardings that Utha had cast in her lair.

The others joined him atop the hill each pausing to stare at the battlefield in silence for several moments. The bodies lay sprawled, filled with arrows, blasted and burnt by fire or other forces. They covered a wide spectrum, what were obviously farmers and peasants mixed with hobgoblins and goblins and even larger creatures as here and there a hill giant formed a large mound of dead flesh.

Most appeared to have been dead for days even weeks, at odds with the time of length the group had been out of the city, obviously foul magics were at work here and the undead army they’d feared for such a long time had materialized, only in their absence.

“What do you make of those?” Torel asked Biminey as the strange symbols flickered into visibility atop the walls of the city.

The artificer narrowed his senses, reaching out toward the city with that inner force that gave his creations life. His voice was uncertain when he finally spoke, “They’re wardings and artificer origin but they’re… odd. I get a sense of great age about them but they’re weak, weakening even, running down.”

Stak spoke up, “Those figures on the walls, they’re townies. I can see the Watch and the Anvil mercs up there along with normal folk. They’re armed but just barely, a lot of fishing spears and table legs by the look of it.”

Everyone glanced at Stak and then at the minuscule forms, little more than dots in the distance. Visra said, a little incredulously, “You can tell that?”

In answer Stak held up his left hand, the stylized eagle beak running up his forearm from the swirled red patterns across his hand.

T’Balktu grunted, “So we won.”

The avenger shrugged, “Looks like. Let’s get down there and find out what’s going on.”

The group picked their way through the corpses, the stench even worse close up and it was obvious that all the combatants had already been dead by the time they dropped on this battlefield at least. The wounds were mostly dry or oozed a black ichor rather than the vats of blood that should have been covering the ground.

A crowd gathered on the walls as they approached and Torel made sure the city standard was unfurled and visible. A small cheer went up from inside as they made their way closer.

The Captain, his left arm held in a sling next to his body along with Sargent Driskul met them atop the barricade filling the gap where the main gates had been.

Stak nodded at the upraised eyebrow of the grizzled warrior, holding up his left hand, displaying the red tattoo of the Soul Eaters. The Sergeant blinked then slowly nodded back.

“Hope we get a better reception than these got, Captain.” Biminey joked as they stopped at the base of the rubble.

“Depends on what news you have to give me. Come on, Council wants you. Sergent!”

Driskul glanced behind, “Pyotr and Jenna, get that ladder up here and over the side. The rest of you lot, get back to your gods damned posts. Move it or you’ll be defending this wall from outside!”

A long wood ladder came clattering down and quickly the group went up it and over the barricade. The scene inside was grim, the citizens mixing with Watch and Anvil mercenaries alike atop the wall. The large courtyard inside, that typically held all manner of carts and vendors was torn up, the cobblestones ripped and torn in a huge circle that encompassed easily a 30 yards across. Biminey and Visra both flinched at the magic residue lingering over the circle, magic twisted and broken in feeling.

“What happened?” Visra asked holding out a hand, feeling the energies that lay in fragments over the courtyard.

The Captain shot her a look, “Funnel cloud sprung up, ripped up the cobblestones in that circle. Priests say that let them use it as a summoning circle and creatures poured into the city. We beat’em but it cost us. It costs us a lot. Bodies are piling up in a couple of warehouses on the docks waiting burial. Same thing happened in four different spots around the city at roughly the same time, same day you left. That night, an army of undead showed up. We almost went under but then those showed up” he said jerking a thumb at the flickering wardings, “and the bodies all dropped like someone had cut their strings.”

“Where’d the wardings come from?” Biminey asked.

Captain shrugged, “Not sure on that one, Eris folk weren’t too clear, all I got out of it was they disrupt whatever powers the enemy is using to power the undead. Surprised you made it through, every time I sent a squad out to try to destroy the bodies they roused long enough to drag them down or force them to retreat.”

Torel glanced up at the standard he held in his left hand and pursed his lips in contemplation.

“We’ll go over everything at the Temple, the Eris priests say we shouldn’t talk in the open, the rain can act as an extension of the enemy they say. Temple’s supposed to be shielded from it.”

Image Credits

Apr 22

Extended Hiatus

10:46 am by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, Campaign, Savage WorldsNo Comments »

Scheduling

Due to scheduling difficulties and my desire to do what we can to make sure that everyone is available for the next two sessions the CATS campaign will pick up again on May 15th and 22nd. These next two will be the last two of this season and will end I hope on an appropriate high note (assuming they survive) as well as a bit of a cliff hanger.

The campaign is/was designed to end at level 10 as our doughty heroes enter the Paragon tier of play after having faced the regional Big Bad. I have some thoughts on season two that should be entertaining for the players and take the play in a new direction.

In the interim I’m going to be taking a look at Savage Worlds with a, as usual, home brew setting. It’ll be a horror campaign with crazed asylum escapees, dark deeds and strange symbols inscribed on the victims although with the usual goat skin leggings crew making an appearance.

Savage Worlds is a ‘light’ game system with a decided different take on things. The fans (dare I say fanbois?) are pretty rabid about the system but then so are [insert game system here] fans typically. Myself I like to think I look at the good points of a system and modify the points I don’t like to something I do. Rarely do I just hate on a system, if you’re having fun with it, then it’s a good system, it just might not be good for me. Also rarely do I take any game system as written as a System From On High and the rules are sacrosanct and never to be trifled with. Any reasonably complex system can always (with)stand change.

Anyway, one thing I’m not thrilled with in Savage Worlds is the mandatory need for multiple dice. With a blind player, dice can be an issue. Right now since we only use a d20 I wrote a audible dice roller for the player such that he just presses a button and rolls a dice and the results are spoken out loud. But with Savage Worlds, we’re looking at sequences like “Okay to shoot him, roll a d8 and a d6. Okay the d8 got an 8 so roll it again. Okay you ended up with 13 total. That’s a hit plus a raise so your pistol is going to do 2d6-1 damage and an extra 1d6 for the raise. One of the dice got a 6, roll it again and add the total.”

That kind of sequence is far from unusual with this system. It’s only when you can’t see the dice that it becomes a significant issue. Not a game breaker but significant.

Another thing with Savage worlds is it falls back to the “My turn? I hit him with my bat / shoot him with my pistol.” as the basic go-to option for combat. Not good or bad in and of itself but it will be interesting in seeing how things go after having a laundry list of things you can do combat with 4th Edition. Yes I know there are “Trick Maneuvers” you can do in Savage Worlds but those really only add one option, “Opposed check to get a +2 to hit” basically.

On the plus side you have a natural combat speed up since the possible options are a…bit… less to choose from mechanically.

One thing that sticks out to me at first glance as I go over character creation about Savage Worlds RAW is that Agility is King with a huge effing K. Agility influences the most skills, determines your skill at hitting with every possible attack as well as determines how hard you are to hit. Strength’s only function is to add damage to melee hits and let you carry more. There’s but a single skill associated with it, Agility has something like 10 skills and Smarts 9′ish.* (see below) which makes the ‘dex monkey’ or ‘wizard’ cock of the walk in combat by far.

Vigor, the semi equivalent of constitution has no skills. With this system the strong hero pretty much sucks as a character concept. He either has to spend double the points to keep his Agility high compared to the Agile or Smart character or he has a huge skill cost penalty, has trouble hitting things and is easily hit. Strength doesn’t even let him absorb damage better, that’s the demesne of Vigor. So a melee fighter has to raise three skills, Agility, Vigor, and Strength, where as a ranged fighter only needs Agility and Vigor and a caster typically only Smarts and Vigor or Spirit and Vigor. All three of them can be equally tough but to be equally effective the melee fighter has to spend 33% more resources than the others.

The biggest source of the problem is that perhaps too much is tied in with Agility. It heavily influences a characters ability to hit with Melee, Ranged and Thrown weapons by making those with low agility have to spend more points in those skills (double the cost) as well as making them take more damage.

In 4th Edition they avoid the problem by strictly tying Strength to Melee and Agility(Dexterity) to Ranged attacks. Perhaps it might sense to try it here as well by simply moving Fighting over under Strength? But then we screw with the swashbuckler character concept. 4th Edition avoids that issue by simply using Str or Dex as attack modifiers by class power, only the basic attacks are strictly Str and Dex based per Melee and Ranged. A rogue could be using Dex to stab you with a knife.

Ahh tis a conundrum.

* – House Rule Changes (so far) –

Combined Swimming, Climbing into Athletics under Strength
Combined Survival and Tracking into Nature
Changed Notice to Perception
Changed Persuasion to Diplomacy
Changed Lockpicking into Thievery and move Pickpockets from Stealth into it.
Added Insight Skill

Apr 18

Cats: Session 16

11:34 am by Dennis | 4th Edition, Against the Slavers, CampaignNo Comments »

A Key?

With everyone present and accounted for we zoom into the world finding Biminey, Stak, T’Balktu, Torel and Visra sitting around the fires of He Who Walks The Night. They talk of the foes they face and one of the shaman on watch in the world of spirits is possessed by the Strongest Foe. He mocks the group and then notices Biminey. Nightwalker lops off the head of the shaman before the Strongest Foe can determine more of the oddities about the artificer.

With the blood of one of his shaman’s staining his rugs, Nightwalker bids the group good night and they sleep in one of the hobgoblin tents. Rousing in the morning they set off on a hunting / bait trip taking a small hunting party of hobgoblins with them.

A herd of Dark Horns or One Horns attacks them, 5 of the beasts sweeping over a rise and charging into the middle of them. The creatures focus on the hobgoblins during the initial wave but swiftly engage the players as it’s painfully obvious that they, the dark horns, are suddenly vulnerable to the blade and edge of their foes unlike the past.

The hobgoblins are killed but the party emerges victorious. With incredible skills at combat they manage to prevent not one but two of the dark horns from fleeing the combat at the last possible second with an amazing throw of a tanglefoot bag by T’Balktu and a foot race performed by Visra and Biminey after the last one. [Actions points for the win here, without them at least one if not both of the one horns would have escaped and then been in the battle with the Hunter]

The group cuts the three foot dark horns from the creature’s and stows them away as proof of the encounter and collects the personal effects of the hobgoblins that fell in battle and then burn the corpses.

Stak goes ahead to determine the tracks and see where they lead. He overhears two voices, hard to pinpoint speaking the toungue of the dragons. The voices refer to each other as sister and from the snippet of conversation Stak comes away with the thought that they do not like the Spirithunter, referring to him as a trespasser on their domain. They also reference the group, “they bear that which can give us the true death sister.” before he catches a glimpse of a shrouded shape, seen more by displaced air than sight. A dragon like shape although with two heads.

They do not travel far before they find themselves in a clearing, dimly lit, dimmer than the day’s light would make it seem.

[Although no one remarked on the coincidence of without searching they ran into the Hunter, it was because he was twisting reality to bring the two of them together.]

Diplomatic talks fail rather quickly and the battle is joined. The hunter unleashes his deadly bow shots on the party, never missing while his flayed bulls and a single dark horn engage them in melee. The bulls although formidable proved to be a mere roadblock in the group’s path as they engage the hunter.

The hunter, although he could have fled the battle, elected to stay. His chaotic nature or a lust for vengeance against the group that has killed his ‘children’ or a sense of invincibility may have driven him to his death. Or perhaps something else entirely.

The group recovers the Hunter’s bow, Fatebringer. A gleaming black greatbow with strange properties. As well as the hunter’s cloak which blends one in with the surroundings as well as for a momentary time can render one invisible completely.

[This encounter could have actually ended without a fight if the party had taken the right tack with the hunter and they could have steered to other pastures. But "Enough talk!" and the fight was on.]

They head back with their trophies to the Soul Eater tribe and there was much rejoicing, well as much as a on the brink of starving group can rejoice. NIghtwalker brings them into his sacred tent and totems are set up around the edges. He tells the group that for their deeds they are being made honorary members of the tribe and can elect to take a totem creature. Each member does and as they touch one of the totems the red dye on the wood smoothly curls up and out over their left hands and halfway up their forearm, then recedes leaving behind a abstract tattoo that twines about their skin. The tattoos lend a minor touch of the creatures power to the members of the group. T’balktu gains the strength of the ox which lets him ignore the hindering weight of his armour, Stak gains the vision of the eagle allowing him to see that which might be missed, Visra gains the silent stealth of the hunting owl that glides on soundless wings before grabbnig its prey, Torel gains the wolves ability to recover from damage that would kill most creatures and Biminey gains the slyness of the fox that lets it slip through a pack of dogs without getting bitten.

[The players did not know the effects of the tattoo's before making their choices. Mechanically they gained the following - T'balktu isn't subject to armour penalties to skill checks or movement, Stak makes two perception rolls and keeps the highest any time he needs to make one, Visra can make two stealth checks and keep the highest, Torel recovers +2 hit points when he spends a surge and Biminey can dodge one opportunity attack that he might incur during his movement. These were intended as cool features for the players as well as make them stand out a little more.]

After the ceremony they talk with Nightwalker about their next steps and the Soul Eaters are going to send out messengers to cease hostilities against the town and outlying settlements while the group seeks the missing knowledge that holds the ka or soul of the Strongest Foe. Biminey translates that as a Book that holds Hash’Kar’s true name. He mistakenly assumes it’s the amulet he’s been holding onto these long months and hauls it out of its warded and protecting spot in his heavy flail. Nightwalker looks puzzled, “Why would you give me this?” and then all the shamans keeping watch in the spiritworld start having siezers, muttering or crying out that “He’s coming!”

Three of the spiritwatchers manage to rally but one of them is possessed and Nightwalker is forced to kill him before the Strongest Foe can take over and manifest. But not before the Strongest Foe, King Hash’Kar, chaosborn again, knows what it is that Biminey was hiding, knows that the group has the key that could unlock his doom.

[It was missed during this session by everyone but the Hobgoblins kind of ate the group's horses after they left on the hunting trip. I completely forgot to mention it an no one else made any note of the fact that they were missing.]

They pack up and rapid travel back to the city of Larkson. Nightwalker doesn’t seem to happy with them, he’s lost two of his shaman brothers because of the party although he does realize that he’d of likely lost them all if the party hadn’t of shown up and killed the hunter. [Or did they?] After two days travel they run into Liloth in her travel form who unleashes a prince of the abyss on them, a minor one admittedly but still. The beast almost destroys T’Balktu several times but the persevering healing of Biminey keeps the goliath alive and they destroy the deamon prince’s corporeal form sending its essence back to the abyss there to spend 66 years pulling its tattered form back together.

[This was a triggered encounter that's been pending for a long time awaiting the bad guys finding out the group has the amulet. mechanically it's leveled up with the party as it waits its turn in the limelight]

The group arrives back at Larkson to find it has been under attack, the walls have been breached in several places as well as the main gates. Bodies of animated corpses litter the grounds in front of the walls but the city still holds. The gaps have been blocked with makeshift barricades and strange wardings flicker along the walls.

The group makes it way down through the grisly battlefield, the stench of long dead flesh strong and harsh, something finally able to overthrow the smell of fish that lay about the town.

As they clamber over the rubble and littler that block the main gate we leave our heroes to find out exactly what happened in future sessions.

[Overall this was a little collapses as I want to get to the season ender in the next two sessions as Torel is going to be unavailable for awhile after that so I'm going to compress my kind of planned out 3 or 4 sessions worth of gaming into the next two but I think it'll still be coherent and logical progression.

For the curious Fatebringer has the following stats: Greatbow - Properties: On critical hit the target is restrained. Critical damage: 3d8. On a miss the wielder gains +1 to hit to a maximum of +4. The bonus goes away once the wielder hits the target or switches to a new target.

Hunter's Cloak - Property: +3 to Stealth skill. Power - Daily - Minor action: Gain invisibility until the end of your next turn. The invisibility is lost if you attack or are hit by an attack. ]

Apr 17