I love D&D, and I've got a lot of books on my shelf to prove it. I don't want to stop playing D&D just because the new edition is crap and the number of players have dwindled to smaller number. I say thee nay!
Although the title of this post is misleading. Instead of D&D 3.5 I'd like to go with Pathfinder RPG, which is also known as D&D 3.75. With the Age of Worms campaign I used a few of the ideas presented in Pathfinder, including the skill system which didn't really work, but for the new "thing" I'm going with Pathfinder completely. And not just with the system - the setting as well.
More details at www.paizo.com, but in essence I'm going to run a home game of the Pathfinder Society mega-campaign. This is similar to the RPGA, but it's organized by Paizo with fewer restrictions. There are still a few things I'd change, including using the Pathfinder RPG rules rather than the D&D 3.5 rules, but the changes aren't that major.
I'm going to pick up the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, which has more details in it on the world of Golarion, and sometime soon I'm going to start up a more or less free-for-all campaign. Probably on Mondays, maybe Sunday evenings ... ? The hook for the campaign will be the Pathfinder Society.
Gotta go. Bacon popcorn calls.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Great Funk
I'm at somewhat of a loss. With the close of the Age of Worms campaign (and indeed, D&D in general) I'm feeling very much adrift in a sea of gaming apathy. I don't want to stop gaming, and I don't think I will, but I'm not sure if I'm the only one who feels this this way.
It's quite ironic that at the point where I'm starting to break into the RPG industry that my core gaming group would, more or less, collapse. Perhaps it's just finding the right game to interest people, the right setting that captures peoples' imaginations. I'm just not sure what that setting is just yet.
So in the interest of creating lists, I'm going to create a list of everything that I would want to GM with a "name-system-description" format. In no particular order:
* Deadlands - Deadlands - Finishing up the Deadlands campaign, which is a western horror RPG with its own rule set.
* Ravaged Earth - Savage Worlds - This is where most of my freelance work is being done set within a 1936 pulp hero setting where Martians invaded in 1898.
* Slipstream - Savage Worlds - Space pulp in the vein of early Star Wars
* Star*Drive - GURPS - A more realistic sci-fi setting in the year 2501, kind of a Firefly feel
* Day of the Beast - Call of Cthulhu - We've already started this, so I have no intention of stopping, but I really need to know if the interest is there
* Rise of the Runelords - D&D 3.75 - If there is interest in a new D&D campaign I've got everything I need to get going at the drop of a hat. I'm interested, but only if there is player interest
* Dark Heresy - Dark Heresy - This is a Warhammer 40K game set in the way distant future where you play inquisitors traveling across the vast gulf of space hunting heretics, aliens, and conspiracies. Very gothic, very dark, very violent
* Iron Maiden - Shadowrun - New Shadowrun campaign set in Europe based on Iron Maiden tunes
* Necessary Evil - Savage Worlds - A superhero game where you play supervillains! Most of the heroes of the world were killed by an alien force and now the villains are all that are left to stop the invaders.
* 7th Sea - Savage Worlds - A migration of the excellent 7th Sea setting to the Savage Worlds rules. 7th Sea is a swashbuckling game set in an alternate world - pirates, corsairs, spies, and sorcery all exist, along with a strange new continent beyond the 7th sea itself ...
* RunePunk - Savage Worlds - Dark steampunk fantasy set in a giant city. Very easy to run, could be done with very few people, very Final Fantasy VI (from what I've heard)
There it is. 11 campaigns across 7 game systems. You'll notice that D&D 4th Edition is not up there - this is intentional. Having now played in a full session of 4th Edition my apathy towards it has grown into full disdain - I don't want to play 4E. Brrr.
So there it is. I don't expect anyone but Harris to read this.
It's quite ironic that at the point where I'm starting to break into the RPG industry that my core gaming group would, more or less, collapse. Perhaps it's just finding the right game to interest people, the right setting that captures peoples' imaginations. I'm just not sure what that setting is just yet.
So in the interest of creating lists, I'm going to create a list of everything that I would want to GM with a "name-system-description" format. In no particular order:
* Deadlands - Deadlands - Finishing up the Deadlands campaign, which is a western horror RPG with its own rule set.
* Ravaged Earth - Savage Worlds - This is where most of my freelance work is being done set within a 1936 pulp hero setting where Martians invaded in 1898.
* Slipstream - Savage Worlds - Space pulp in the vein of early Star Wars
* Star*Drive - GURPS - A more realistic sci-fi setting in the year 2501, kind of a Firefly feel
* Day of the Beast - Call of Cthulhu - We've already started this, so I have no intention of stopping, but I really need to know if the interest is there
* Rise of the Runelords - D&D 3.75 - If there is interest in a new D&D campaign I've got everything I need to get going at the drop of a hat. I'm interested, but only if there is player interest
* Dark Heresy - Dark Heresy - This is a Warhammer 40K game set in the way distant future where you play inquisitors traveling across the vast gulf of space hunting heretics, aliens, and conspiracies. Very gothic, very dark, very violent
* Iron Maiden - Shadowrun - New Shadowrun campaign set in Europe based on Iron Maiden tunes
* Necessary Evil - Savage Worlds - A superhero game where you play supervillains! Most of the heroes of the world were killed by an alien force and now the villains are all that are left to stop the invaders.
* 7th Sea - Savage Worlds - A migration of the excellent 7th Sea setting to the Savage Worlds rules. 7th Sea is a swashbuckling game set in an alternate world - pirates, corsairs, spies, and sorcery all exist, along with a strange new continent beyond the 7th sea itself ...
* RunePunk - Savage Worlds - Dark steampunk fantasy set in a giant city. Very easy to run, could be done with very few people, very Final Fantasy VI (from what I've heard)
There it is. 11 campaigns across 7 game systems. You'll notice that D&D 4th Edition is not up there - this is intentional. Having now played in a full session of 4th Edition my apathy towards it has grown into full disdain - I don't want to play 4E. Brrr.
So there it is. I don't expect anyone but Harris to read this.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Cowboys, Spaceships, or Cthulhu?
The Age of Worms campaign has but one session left and then it will be wrapped up. With it we will be wrapping up the general D&D campaign that has been going for almost 15 years. Quite an achievement, and certainly one worthy of praise.
But looking to the future I don't want to stop gaming on Sundays. It seems to be a pretty reliable day where nothing else goes on, so why not keep going with something? I can find no reason to not. That does leave us with the question of what to do now, however.
In answer to that question I have three possibilities. I'll outline each in brief:
1. Deadlands: I've got a couple of Deadlands scenarios I'd like to do to wrap up that campaign completely. Probably four or five sessions at most, so not terribly long. New characters welcome, as well as the existing posse.
2. Traveler GURPS: I have been itching to play a space game for quite a long time. This would be a GURPS campaign set in the Traveler: Interstellar War setting. It would have a very Firefly-esque feel to it, but would probably take the route of freelancer traders/smugglers in a wide galaxy dominated by an imperialistic regime at odds with the Terran Federation. Unknown campaign length as of now, but I envision it being more open and freestyle than others.
3. Day of the Beast: We started my Call of Cthulhu campaign a few weeks ago on a Friday, and the original idea was to play it on Fridays when we weren't playing Star Wars. Well, we seem to be playing Star Wars most weeks and the weeks we're not there's something going on occupying most of the people's time. So we could move it to Sundays as a regular game. About twelve sessions in total is what I anticipate.
So - cowboys, spaceships, or Cthulhu? What's the vote?
But looking to the future I don't want to stop gaming on Sundays. It seems to be a pretty reliable day where nothing else goes on, so why not keep going with something? I can find no reason to not. That does leave us with the question of what to do now, however.
In answer to that question I have three possibilities. I'll outline each in brief:
1. Deadlands: I've got a couple of Deadlands scenarios I'd like to do to wrap up that campaign completely. Probably four or five sessions at most, so not terribly long. New characters welcome, as well as the existing posse.
2. Traveler GURPS: I have been itching to play a space game for quite a long time. This would be a GURPS campaign set in the Traveler: Interstellar War setting. It would have a very Firefly-esque feel to it, but would probably take the route of freelancer traders/smugglers in a wide galaxy dominated by an imperialistic regime at odds with the Terran Federation. Unknown campaign length as of now, but I envision it being more open and freestyle than others.
3. Day of the Beast: We started my Call of Cthulhu campaign a few weeks ago on a Friday, and the original idea was to play it on Fridays when we weren't playing Star Wars. Well, we seem to be playing Star Wars most weeks and the weeks we're not there's something going on occupying most of the people's time. So we could move it to Sundays as a regular game. About twelve sessions in total is what I anticipate.
So - cowboys, spaceships, or Cthulhu? What's the vote?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
New Shadowrun Campaign
I think I'm going to put to rest the current Shadowrun campaign. We've had 19 sessions (2 with Harris, 17 with me) and it's been a good run. The main crutch of this first campaign was set in North America, specifically Seattle, and focused on runs based on Metallica song titles. This worked exceedingly well in my mind, allowing me to focus a scenario on an aspect of a really cool song for each session.
Here's a quick recap of the Metallica songs that turned into runs:
"Trapped Under Ice"
"Where the Wild Things Are"
"Stone Dead Forever"
"Holier Than Thou"
"Hit the Lights"
"Whiplash"
"Ain't My Bitch"
"Leper Messiah"
"Invisible Kid"
"Wherever I May Roam" 3 sessions in Africa!
"The Frayed Ends of Sanity"
"The Thing That Should Not Be"
"The Call of Ktulu"
"The End of the Line"
I know I'm missing a few, but those were the big ones. So now it's time to look to the future. I'd like to start a new Shadowrun campaign, this time set in the unstable patchwork continent known as Europe. In keeping with the theme of musically inspired runs, I've decided to use Iron Maiden tunes for these runs.
The new "Iron Maiden" campaign will be more focused on travel as well, since there are a lot of interesting places in Europe to run the shadows (Europort, Brussels, Paris, London, most of the Allied German States, Prague, etc., etc.) and you can expect to hit the highlights and lowlifes. I'd like everyone to make new runners, though you will be starting with a bit of experience under your belts. Many options are available, including new metatype variants - comb through the Shadowrunner's Companion book for ideas.
More details to come.
Here's a quick recap of the Metallica songs that turned into runs:
"Trapped Under Ice"
"Where the Wild Things Are"
"Stone Dead Forever"
"Holier Than Thou"
"Hit the Lights"
"Whiplash"
"Ain't My Bitch"
"Leper Messiah"
"Invisible Kid"
"Wherever I May Roam" 3 sessions in Africa!
"The Frayed Ends of Sanity"
"The Thing That Should Not Be"
"The Call of Ktulu"
"The End of the Line"
I know I'm missing a few, but those were the big ones. So now it's time to look to the future. I'd like to start a new Shadowrun campaign, this time set in the unstable patchwork continent known as Europe. In keeping with the theme of musically inspired runs, I've decided to use Iron Maiden tunes for these runs.
The new "Iron Maiden" campaign will be more focused on travel as well, since there are a lot of interesting places in Europe to run the shadows (Europort, Brussels, Paris, London, most of the Allied German States, Prague, etc., etc.) and you can expect to hit the highlights and lowlifes. I'd like everyone to make new runners, though you will be starting with a bit of experience under your belts. Many options are available, including new metatype variants - comb through the Shadowrunner's Companion book for ideas.
More details to come.
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Journal of Theodore Wilson Burns, vol 1.
This is the personal diary of one Theo W. Burns, student at Miskatonic University, a record of the "Day of the Beast" campaign, of which the first session was January 30, 2009.
5/30/1927
Another semester completed. I am beginning to enjoy my choice of Ancient Greek as my new course of study; much more dignified than English. The Greeks always were wise in matters of the spirit. Explains the majesty of their mythology as such a primal force in human culture. Madame Dulagi’s consultation was hopeful today, and it echoes my own reading of the cards.
7/8/1927
A perfect opportunity to further my explorations of the occult has opened to me! In the Arkham paper, I came upon an advertisement that invited those interested to “experience the supernatural.” For the nominal fee of fifty dollars, I could finally put first hand knowledge of these subjects behind all of the books I have studying so avidly. For so long, I have felt certain that mystical ideas are hidden behind the façade of the mundane, that humans have abilities that the stolid businessman and the scientist scoff at. Oh, if the gray citadels of temporal power are correct and the universe remains the sole domain of the “jealous God” and we have only to keep to the path and not question, then the world will remain as dead to me as the November skies of my northern homeland. If even worse, as the skeptics purport, the universe is under the sole custodianship of blind chance and the idiot rule of pure natural law, than all life is meaningless and without reason at all. Such a thing I cannot accept! We humans are gifted with wonderful eyes for the symbolic, and as Jung and Fraser have shown, these themes remain remarkably consistent through the world.
In short, what some would dismiss as a mere “haunted house,” well, in it I see a total confirmation of my beliefs! I could never pass up such an opportunity! It is scheduled to be held in a small Massachusetts village. Next week, I shall travel to New York City to meet Paul Lamont, the acclaimed spiritualist who will be guiding us on this endeavor.
7/12/1927
I have arrived at Carrington House and I am impressed both with the house and with the famed spiritualist Paul Lamont. He appears to be a gentleman of unquestionable honor and if what he says is correct, he has a rare skill with communicating with the afterlife. His agent on the other hand is a most disagreeable sort, the kind of annoying toad of a man that gives critics of the mystical arts call to condemn the lot of them. He is a self absorbed, greedy nitwit of a man interested only in his own fame. I don’t know what Paul is thinking for working with him, but I will try not to let his ill presence interrupt my appreciation of the mysteries.
The Carrington House itself certainly looks like a place where the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living. Several hundred years old, it has long been the host of unexplainable apparitions, our host George Carrington attesting to them himself. His family owns the house, but his is not a man taken to flights of fancy. Ah, tonight’s séance promise to be most interesting. Perhaps only half as interesting, though, as Cecelia, the most beautiful member of the female species that ever I have laid eyes on! Oh, Cecelia, forever more will the acrid odor of harsh European tobacco be associated for me with the pangs of love! A young lady of the most sensitive and sophisticated nature, I feel a kindred spirit with Cecelia. We both share the pain of lost loved ones, and are both deeply interested in the unseen world as well. If all goes well, I shall propose to Cecelia when the opportunity presents itself.
I should mention the other members of our little party as well. There is a strange artist, Junker. German, I think. His work seems very skilled, but of the recognizable style of the New Objectivity, not to my taste. He seems a good sort though, as I definitely feel akin to artists of all types. Then there is a mysterious older woman by the name of Audrey. She is quiet and rarely associates with the rest of us. She is one to watch I think. Finally, there is Graeme, a common and annoying man. He appears to have little knowledge or interest in the occult at all. It is a mystery to me as to why he is here, but he seems to stick his nose into everything. It is very vexing. Definitely should end here for now, I hear dinner is being called. Our host’s housekeeper has been esteemed for her cooking and I haven’t eaten anything all day!
Later
Tonight’s séance was far more than I ever could have hoped! As soon as John began, he quickly got into contact with a spirit; it proved to be none other than our host’s young sister, who died in the house. He was quite beside himself with unbidden memories at her easily recognized voice. I have never seen such a successful channeling. However, our young guest was frightened herself by the appearance of another apparition, this one in the physical! Graeme was strangely affected and ran upstairs to an empty room, where the air had become unnaturally cold. It was at least 40 degrees in there, and in the middle of July! Here, at John’s suggestion we performed another séance and this time he got into contact with another spirit! This was that of an old Puritan woman who called herself Catherine. She claimed to be protecting the house from some kind of demon spawn and seemed much less pleasant than the little girl. I think that devotion to such a savage and crude religion as the Congregational church could certainly keep an angry spirit here on this plane (in fact, they burnt a witch in this very town!). Catherine claimed to have murdered a child to keep the Devil at bay. How horrific, such a self deluded spirit. It is no wonder she clings to this world.
7/13/1927
What a strange night! While I was having trouble sleeping in the spooky old house, I heard a noise from deep in the house. I summoned the others before we investigated, discovering old Margaret the housekeeper in the basement carrying an axe! I am concerned that she may be being affected by the house. She did do us the favor of bringing our attention to a strange locked door in the basement, behind which we found some profoundly disturbing evidence. A nail was found to ooze spectral blood. Even worse, a human skeleton was unearthed in the corner. Audrey was able to determine it as a child, the cause of death being blunt force trauma to the head (she is quite knowledgeable about anatomy, it seems). These, no doubt, are the sad remains of Catherine’s young victim. I wonder what proper procedure is in this case. Should we notify the authorities? It is nearly breakfast, after which Cecelia and I will take a walk into the village to see if we might be able to find out more about the history of the Carrington house.
Afternoon
Much was discovered in the records of the old church in town, coupled with some documents we have found in the Carrington house itself. I believe I am beginning to peace together the tragic history of the house. Built for Catherine’s husband, the childless colonial woman claimed the son of an executed witch for her own, later going mad and killing him as she believed he had his mother’s “curse.” After her death, she stayed on in the house and later drove others mad, including George Carrington’s sister, whom she forced to commit suicide in the belief she too was a witch. Tonight we shall attempt to contact the spirit of the murdered boy. Oh, and Margaret continues to act strangely; her meals are not up to normal standards. She may be in spiritual danger.
Late
Tonight we were not able to accomplish much; Paul Lamont is physically drained from his encounters with the spirit realm. We cannot ask much more of him, he has earned our money and more. We can only hope now to put some of these poor spirits to rest. The young boy seems to be especially difficult to contact. Tomorrow shall be the last day of our visit, so I hope we are able to succeed.
7/14/1927, very early
Another long night; again Margaret was found wandering the house with an axe, muttering to herself. Audrey put her on some medication, so I hope her episodes are over. I do believe that the spirit of Catherine is having a malign influence on her. In the morning I shall propose we attempt to force the Puritan ghost from the house.
Later in the Day
The day has proved to be the most event and successful we have had; all are satisfied by Paul Lamont’s wonderful gifts (save for his agent, who selfishly wanted to keep the house “haunted”) and we are all linked in our spiritual accomplishments. The morning started when Paul attempted to contact the boy, succeeding! He answered our questions through knocking and he and George’s sister appear to be friends in the world of the dead. They both have an undying fear of Catherine, and imply that she is always near. We determined to rid the house of her malign influence and we all joined our thoughts to forcing her to move onto her final rest, Paul’s mind linking with ours. Without warning Margaret came bursting through the room as we were near to completing our task, attempting to strike Greame with an axe. He attempted to defend himself with a pistol, but fortunately missed as Catherine’s evil ghost was forced from the old housekeeper leaving her in control of her actions once more. It was a miracle no one was injured, but all fear was extinguished when we saw the graceful spirits of the two murdered children dissipate gratefully into their final reward. I feel that we did a very good thing in helping these restless ghosts to move along in their spiritual progression. I have never felt more accomplished in my life, Lamont has helped to show me how right I was in holding that the world held great spiritual power. I can only imagine what wonders he will lead us to next!
Cecilia has agreed to visit me Arkham as well, so I am nearly floating on a cloud right now. I cannot remember when I last was so happy, probably not since mother and father died. Perhaps I can finally improve myself to the place I know I should be.
5/30/1927
Another semester completed. I am beginning to enjoy my choice of Ancient Greek as my new course of study; much more dignified than English. The Greeks always were wise in matters of the spirit. Explains the majesty of their mythology as such a primal force in human culture. Madame Dulagi’s consultation was hopeful today, and it echoes my own reading of the cards.
7/8/1927
A perfect opportunity to further my explorations of the occult has opened to me! In the Arkham paper, I came upon an advertisement that invited those interested to “experience the supernatural.” For the nominal fee of fifty dollars, I could finally put first hand knowledge of these subjects behind all of the books I have studying so avidly. For so long, I have felt certain that mystical ideas are hidden behind the façade of the mundane, that humans have abilities that the stolid businessman and the scientist scoff at. Oh, if the gray citadels of temporal power are correct and the universe remains the sole domain of the “jealous God” and we have only to keep to the path and not question, then the world will remain as dead to me as the November skies of my northern homeland. If even worse, as the skeptics purport, the universe is under the sole custodianship of blind chance and the idiot rule of pure natural law, than all life is meaningless and without reason at all. Such a thing I cannot accept! We humans are gifted with wonderful eyes for the symbolic, and as Jung and Fraser have shown, these themes remain remarkably consistent through the world.
In short, what some would dismiss as a mere “haunted house,” well, in it I see a total confirmation of my beliefs! I could never pass up such an opportunity! It is scheduled to be held in a small Massachusetts village. Next week, I shall travel to New York City to meet Paul Lamont, the acclaimed spiritualist who will be guiding us on this endeavor.
7/12/1927
I have arrived at Carrington House and I am impressed both with the house and with the famed spiritualist Paul Lamont. He appears to be a gentleman of unquestionable honor and if what he says is correct, he has a rare skill with communicating with the afterlife. His agent on the other hand is a most disagreeable sort, the kind of annoying toad of a man that gives critics of the mystical arts call to condemn the lot of them. He is a self absorbed, greedy nitwit of a man interested only in his own fame. I don’t know what Paul is thinking for working with him, but I will try not to let his ill presence interrupt my appreciation of the mysteries.
The Carrington House itself certainly looks like a place where the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living. Several hundred years old, it has long been the host of unexplainable apparitions, our host George Carrington attesting to them himself. His family owns the house, but his is not a man taken to flights of fancy. Ah, tonight’s séance promise to be most interesting. Perhaps only half as interesting, though, as Cecelia, the most beautiful member of the female species that ever I have laid eyes on! Oh, Cecelia, forever more will the acrid odor of harsh European tobacco be associated for me with the pangs of love! A young lady of the most sensitive and sophisticated nature, I feel a kindred spirit with Cecelia. We both share the pain of lost loved ones, and are both deeply interested in the unseen world as well. If all goes well, I shall propose to Cecelia when the opportunity presents itself.
I should mention the other members of our little party as well. There is a strange artist, Junker. German, I think. His work seems very skilled, but of the recognizable style of the New Objectivity, not to my taste. He seems a good sort though, as I definitely feel akin to artists of all types. Then there is a mysterious older woman by the name of Audrey. She is quiet and rarely associates with the rest of us. She is one to watch I think. Finally, there is Graeme, a common and annoying man. He appears to have little knowledge or interest in the occult at all. It is a mystery to me as to why he is here, but he seems to stick his nose into everything. It is very vexing. Definitely should end here for now, I hear dinner is being called. Our host’s housekeeper has been esteemed for her cooking and I haven’t eaten anything all day!
Later
Tonight’s séance was far more than I ever could have hoped! As soon as John began, he quickly got into contact with a spirit; it proved to be none other than our host’s young sister, who died in the house. He was quite beside himself with unbidden memories at her easily recognized voice. I have never seen such a successful channeling. However, our young guest was frightened herself by the appearance of another apparition, this one in the physical! Graeme was strangely affected and ran upstairs to an empty room, where the air had become unnaturally cold. It was at least 40 degrees in there, and in the middle of July! Here, at John’s suggestion we performed another séance and this time he got into contact with another spirit! This was that of an old Puritan woman who called herself Catherine. She claimed to be protecting the house from some kind of demon spawn and seemed much less pleasant than the little girl. I think that devotion to such a savage and crude religion as the Congregational church could certainly keep an angry spirit here on this plane (in fact, they burnt a witch in this very town!). Catherine claimed to have murdered a child to keep the Devil at bay. How horrific, such a self deluded spirit. It is no wonder she clings to this world.
7/13/1927
What a strange night! While I was having trouble sleeping in the spooky old house, I heard a noise from deep in the house. I summoned the others before we investigated, discovering old Margaret the housekeeper in the basement carrying an axe! I am concerned that she may be being affected by the house. She did do us the favor of bringing our attention to a strange locked door in the basement, behind which we found some profoundly disturbing evidence. A nail was found to ooze spectral blood. Even worse, a human skeleton was unearthed in the corner. Audrey was able to determine it as a child, the cause of death being blunt force trauma to the head (she is quite knowledgeable about anatomy, it seems). These, no doubt, are the sad remains of Catherine’s young victim. I wonder what proper procedure is in this case. Should we notify the authorities? It is nearly breakfast, after which Cecelia and I will take a walk into the village to see if we might be able to find out more about the history of the Carrington house.
Afternoon
Much was discovered in the records of the old church in town, coupled with some documents we have found in the Carrington house itself. I believe I am beginning to peace together the tragic history of the house. Built for Catherine’s husband, the childless colonial woman claimed the son of an executed witch for her own, later going mad and killing him as she believed he had his mother’s “curse.” After her death, she stayed on in the house and later drove others mad, including George Carrington’s sister, whom she forced to commit suicide in the belief she too was a witch. Tonight we shall attempt to contact the spirit of the murdered boy. Oh, and Margaret continues to act strangely; her meals are not up to normal standards. She may be in spiritual danger.
Late
Tonight we were not able to accomplish much; Paul Lamont is physically drained from his encounters with the spirit realm. We cannot ask much more of him, he has earned our money and more. We can only hope now to put some of these poor spirits to rest. The young boy seems to be especially difficult to contact. Tomorrow shall be the last day of our visit, so I hope we are able to succeed.
7/14/1927, very early
Another long night; again Margaret was found wandering the house with an axe, muttering to herself. Audrey put her on some medication, so I hope her episodes are over. I do believe that the spirit of Catherine is having a malign influence on her. In the morning I shall propose we attempt to force the Puritan ghost from the house.
Later in the Day
The day has proved to be the most event and successful we have had; all are satisfied by Paul Lamont’s wonderful gifts (save for his agent, who selfishly wanted to keep the house “haunted”) and we are all linked in our spiritual accomplishments. The morning started when Paul attempted to contact the boy, succeeding! He answered our questions through knocking and he and George’s sister appear to be friends in the world of the dead. They both have an undying fear of Catherine, and imply that she is always near. We determined to rid the house of her malign influence and we all joined our thoughts to forcing her to move onto her final rest, Paul’s mind linking with ours. Without warning Margaret came bursting through the room as we were near to completing our task, attempting to strike Greame with an axe. He attempted to defend himself with a pistol, but fortunately missed as Catherine’s evil ghost was forced from the old housekeeper leaving her in control of her actions once more. It was a miracle no one was injured, but all fear was extinguished when we saw the graceful spirits of the two murdered children dissipate gratefully into their final reward. I feel that we did a very good thing in helping these restless ghosts to move along in their spiritual progression. I have never felt more accomplished in my life, Lamont has helped to show me how right I was in holding that the world held great spiritual power. I can only imagine what wonders he will lead us to next!
Cecilia has agreed to visit me Arkham as well, so I am nearly floating on a cloud right now. I cannot remember when I last was so happy, probably not since mother and father died. Perhaps I can finally improve myself to the place I know I should be.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Call of Cthulhu: Day of the Beast
I'd like to start up a new Call of Cthulhu campaign for Fridays when we're not playing Star Wars. The campaign is "Day of the Beast" - a more traditional Cthulhu campaign, rather than the action-pulp oriented "Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep". It's not terribly long either, probably about 12 sessions in total give or take a few.
The campaign begins in July of 1927. Create an investigator who would be attracted to the following New York City newspaper ad:
"Experience the Supernatural!
Responsible persons of both intrepid and open-minded nature are invited to join famed New York spiritualist in a weekend of observation, investigation, and verification of a haunted house in New England. Contact with the spirit world is guaranteed. Not for the faint of heart. No experience necessary.
Write Box G 28 New York
* $50 fee, inclusive of full catering and transport to the site"
Characters of all types are welcome to join. This campaign will span several years in game time, and there exists the possibility of death and madness 'round nearly every corner. We'll be using the traditional Call of Cthulhu BRP system - it's just simpler that way, and I've never had a chance to use that system.
The campaign begins in July of 1927. Create an investigator who would be attracted to the following New York City newspaper ad:
"Experience the Supernatural!
Responsible persons of both intrepid and open-minded nature are invited to join famed New York spiritualist in a weekend of observation, investigation, and verification of a haunted house in New England. Contact with the spirit world is guaranteed. Not for the faint of heart. No experience necessary.
Write Box G 28 New York
* $50 fee, inclusive of full catering and transport to the site"
Characters of all types are welcome to join. This campaign will span several years in game time, and there exists the possibility of death and madness 'round nearly every corner. We'll be using the traditional Call of Cthulhu BRP system - it's just simpler that way, and I've never had a chance to use that system.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 12/14/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20081214, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Planting 18, 596 CY
Holed up in the giant city of Kongen-Thulnir, the companions contemplated their next course of action. They held in their possession both of the keys necessary to open the vault, behind which they presumed lay the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich. One key was given to them by King Achaime Silvereye, and the other they had just taken from the corpse of the hill giant Charlgar in the pit of the Mother Worm.
The vault lay within the Citadel of Weeping Dragons towards the southern side of Kongen-Thulnir. It was a rocky outcropping rising from the canyon floor, with a natural stone bridge arching from the cliff-side city of giants. According to their map given to them by Loncer Amorocco the bridge was about a half-mile south of their current position. Argo poked his head out of the Undercity where they currently were and noted that the dragons attacked the city in regular intervals of about a half hour.
Utilizing this information, the companions - Duke, Kong, Drake, and Argo - made their way through the winding tunnels of the Undercity to the main level of the City of Kings, dodging falling debris along the way. From there they ducked and hid amongst the ruins of the buildings during the dragon raids and ran through the rubble when there was a lull. It took several hours, but they managed to get to the stone bridge with little or no incident.
This side of the bridge was capped with a large archway. Upon it were ancient runes in old dialect of Giant, that Duke was particularly fascinated with. His companions, however, urged him not to tarry as they had a several hundred foot bridge to cross.
They could see the Citadel of Weeping Dragons fairly clearly from their vantage point. It was a foreboding structure, easily four or five stories high with several probably extending into the base of the spire. Fire, stone, and hill giants stood at catapults and ballistas awaiting the inevitable new attack from the rampaging dragons. Two fire giants stood guard at the entrance to the citadel on the other side of the bridge, and it was these two that caused the heroes the most worry.
Should they launch a straight-up attack? Or try to parlay? There wasn't a lot of time in either case, but if they could somehow reason with the leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada - a fire giant named Kagro Thundersmiter - their going through the citadel would be much easier. The four companions decided to sneak as much as they could around the sentries and hopefully catch them off guard.
With that in mind, Duke cast a spider climb spell on each of them from his spellbook, as it was agreed by everyone that walking across the bridge was a bad idea. But climbing underneath the bridge ...? Much better idea. So, empowered by magic, the four climbed as fast as they could along the bottom of the natural stone bridge. Argo especially was a shadow amongst the rocks, moving quietly and stealthily.
Once they reached the other side they stealthily climbed around the sentries to a higher point just beyond them. Upon reaching this outcropping, however, Drake scraped his hand against the rock and let loose a shower of debris. This alerted the two fire giant sentries, who immediately gripped their weapons for attack. One of them shouted an alarm, and his voice carried through the citadel.
Deciding that there was little choice in the matter, Drake hefted his sword, gave a shout, and ran forward. He had the advantage of the higher ground, which he used when he leapt off the small ledge and brought his greatsword down in a powerful stroke. The giant was taken aback by the powerful maneuver and staggered.
Kong, not to be outdone, gave a shout announcing his furious barbarian rage and jumped - sword held high overhand - at the other sentry. His blow struck true and the giant was mortally wounded. Argo dropped into the fray as well, cutting the giant with his blades. Duke, however, decided to try a more diplomatic approach - he figured that if they could talk to the guards they could be convinced to take them inside.
The dwarf wizard cast Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter on the giant fighting Kong, sending the sentry into spasms of uncontrollable laughter. The other giant fought valiantly against Drake, and the fighter came to a startling realization. Him and Kong were still very wounded from the fight with the Mother Worm!
Seeing death approach at the hands of their giant opponents, Drake used the last of his wishes granted from the Deck of Many Things to heal the companions. It turned out to be a good idea, as Argo heard the sound of wings beating on the wind nearby. Suddenly a huge blue dragon appeared out of invisibility, breathing a cone of electricity on the hapless combatants! The two giants were no match for the attack and died in that initial onslaught, but the rest of the heroes steeled themselves and shifted focus to the dragon.
The dragon announced itself as Vermirox (a particularly vain move, but not uncommon amongst dragonkind) and promised a slow death. But he ate his words as Drake and Kong moved forward to engage it in melee, Argo taking up a flanking position. Duke stayed out of claw range and lobbed orbs of acid at the dragon, and after a few furious exchange of blows Vermirox's lifeless draconic corpse fell to the canyon floor below.
Knowing that the rest of the dragon raid was on its way, the four heroes beat feet towards the entrance to the citadel. Pushing open the doors revealed a wide corridor, and Drake and Kong took the lead side by side. In anticipation of trouble, Duke created a mirror image of himself to walk alongside his companions.
Disaster struck when the two warriors trigged a trap. They looked up just in time to see a gargantuan gelatinous cube creature fall from the ceiling! Neither ducked out of the way fast enough and they were both engulfed by the creature's gelatinous mass. Kong managed to struggle free, fighting with his barbarian might against the creature's oozy interior, but Drake was not so lucky. Paralyzed by the thing's ooze, the fighter could do nothing but float there and be slowly eaten away by the acid.
Argo and Kong faced off against the gelatinous cube, unsure as to how to proceed. Sadly, the thing proceeded instead, surging forward with a massive schlucking sound and engulfing both the halfling and the barbarian. This time Kong's limbs went stiff, but Argo held his breath and fought to escape the creature's insides.
Duke was left outside the gelatinous cube, lobbing spell after spell at the thing. While the creature did not seem to possess any inherent resistance to his arcane will, it was a long fight that forced the dwarf wizard outside the citadel to avoid being sucked inside. All the while his companions were slowly being eaten away by the cube's acidic digestive juices. Finally, after a particularly well-thrown orb of acid, the gelatinous cube's structure collapsed, sending a small tidal wave of crystalline ooze flowing in all directions. Luckily the creature's death ended the paralysis and capture of the three heroes.
Duke used charges from his wand of cure moderate wounds to patch up his companions as best he could. They forged onward, finding little on the first floor. The second floor also contained no giants, but they did not pause for full investigation. The third floor held a chamber right in front of the stairs, and Kong kicked its door open to find out what was inside.
It appeared to be some sort of meeting room, with a giant-sized table and chairs dominating the center. Seated at one of the chairs was a fire giant, who had been gripping the sides of the chair so hard that there were visible grip marks. One of his eyes was bigger than the other and twitched incessantly. He said nothing, simply staring at the intruders.
Duke ventured a phrase of greeting when suddenly the giant leapt on top of the table, bellowing in rage! He pulled out a giant battleaxe and handaxe, each wreathed in flames, and charged the heroes. Clearly deranged and mad with battle lust, the four companions stood their ground and fought the insane giant. He was a clever opponent, but Argo finally dropped him after several intense exchanges of blows.
As the giant fell to the ground, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Inside stepped another fire giant, but this one held a more regal pose and carried a massive greataxe. He announced himself as Kagro Thundersmiter, clan leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada, and demanded to know what the companions were doing here, and if they were the ones who stole the key. Argo stammered out a few suggestions when Kagro noticed the body of the fallen giant.
His eyes turned fierce and he stepped forward, raising his axe in a killing stroke. Just as the heroes prepared for a tough melee Drake's last ability from the Deck of Many Things kicked in. He shouted that they had both of the keys to the vault and that Charlgar was the one who stole it. This caused Kagro to stop and consider the situation a bit more carefully. He lowered his axe and demanded an explanation.
Argo and Duke explained that they met with King Achaime Silvereye and were given one of the keys to the vault, and got the other from the body of the hill giant Charlgar. Kagro indicated that Charlgar was seen in the company of Vercinabex Tor, the frost giant sorcerer and advisor to the Tiamakal Nul-Shada. The fire giant explained that Tor had been obsessed with the contents of the vault, with which the clan was tasked with defending against all foes. He had no idea what was behind it and he didn't want to. But Tor needed to be confronted.
Kagro demanded that the companions follow him to confront the frost giant sorcerer in his chamber in the lower levels of the citadel. Seeing little option, and wanting to go along anyway, they agreed and the five of them followed the winding staircase to the lower levels. There, Kagro kicked down the door to a chamber.
Inside was a large room, clearly the dwelling place of a frost giant - it was noticeably colder than the rest of the citadel. Vercinabex Tor sat at his desk poring over volumes of lore when Kagro Thundersmiter demanded to know the truth of the situation. The heroes slowly entered the room and took up flanking positions on either side of the fire giant. Tor sighed and stood up, saying that it was time to finally end the charade. With blinding speed he shouted arcane words and a blast of prismatic color burst from his hands, encapsulating everyone!
Luckily there were no terrible effects from the spell, and Kong, Drake, and Kagro charged forward to engage the frost giant in melee. Tor carried a massive warmace and was no pushover in melee, but it was his spellcasting that caused the most trouble. Duke lobbed a few orbs of acid at the sorcerer, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Vercinabex Tor unleashed another prismatic spray at his opponents and things did not go so well this time.
Drake the Slayer and Kong of the Mountains died after being hit by the green ray of the frost giant sorcerer Vercinabex Tor's prismatic spray.
Kagro Thundersmiter fell to the spell as well, but Argo and Duke escaped without too much permanent damage. Seeing an opportunity to end the fight, Argo lunged forward in a rage and stabbed at Tor repeatedly with his daggers and sword. Combined with the spells of Duke the frost giant sorcerer collapsed against the side of his chamber, dead.
Argo and Duke were left standing in the chamber, their two dead companions lying nearby. They knew the vault containing Dragotha's phylactery was not far beyond his chamber, but they also knew that they didn't want to confront the traps and guardians with their friends. So, gathering up everyone, Duke cast a teleport spell and transported the four of them to Bloodstone.
There they managed to get an audience with King Toka, who understood the plight they were in and decided to help. He needed to rest for a few hours, but afterwards he would be able to bring back the dead companions with a powerful resurrection spell. Seeing little choice Duke and Argo slept fitfully, knowing that the dragon siege of Kongen-Thulnir could be over and the phylactery of the dracolich claimed before they could return.
After a few hours Toka called upon the grace of Pelor and restored Kong and Drake to their bodies, whole and unhurt. With nary a moment to waste Duke cast another powerful teleport spell that took them right back to Vercinabex Tor's chamber. Descending the last flight of stairs they came to the entryway to the vault in the depths of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
As they approached they were suddenly confronted by the spiritual form of Shanks Dar'Rill, the halfling warrior who died in the gladiator arena of Greyhawk! Shanks explained that he had been traveling in the spirit world since then and had learned much about the upcoming Age of Worms. He told the story of what had happened so far, including a recap of Kyuss' rise to godhood and his bid to bring about the apocalypse many centuries ago. Luckily, descendants of the mighty Wind Dukes of Aaqa - the druids of the Order of the Storm - were there to stop him then. And now, it fell the companions, who Shanks believed had the blood of the Vaati in them as well.
Shanks warned the heroes that behind the vault door was indeed Dragotha's phylactery, but by opening the door they were inviting a world of trouble. Firstly, once it was opened Dragotha would know of the phylactery's precise location, and would certainly send his draconic minions that raided Kongen-Thulnir even now to retrieve. Secondly, and more important, he told them that if they chose to destroy the phylactery, Dragotha might be able to regain some of the escaping essence to grow even more powerful.
With that the ghostly halfling disappeared with a smile. The four heroes approached the doors to the vault, which seemed to detail Kyuss' final defeat at the hands of the druids. They also found carvings representing themselves, fighting the undead horde beside the druids! It was an eerie feeling, but they pushed past it to open the doors.
Beyond lay a magnificent chamber, at the far end of which rested a strange multi-facteded box. The sides of the box were carved to resemble leering draconic faces and strange whispers echoed in the room constantly. They knew they had found the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich.
The four companions gathered around the phylactery, trying to decide what to do. They faced a tough decision - destroy it now and risk Dragotha being more powerful, or keep it and risk the safety of everyone around them. It was eventually decided to keep it for now, at least to study, and Duke reached out with eager hands to grasp the box and place inside his bag. As his flesh touched the sides, the dwarf's head was rushed with shouting words, nothing distinct but mind-numbing. He barely managed to shove it into his bag before his will gave way completely.
The deed done, they prepared to leave. Fate, it would seem, had other ideas, as the four discovered when the side of the chamber melted away like so much butter. Suddenly, bursting forth from the rock now made mud, an enormous red dragon emeged, bellowing in rage! Argo recognized it as the largest of the dragons leading the assault on Kongen-Thulnir. The dragon announced itself as Brazzemal the Burning and demanded the phylactery in exchange for quick deaths.
Argo wasn't have any of that, and charged forward to confront the new threat. Unfortunately Brazzemal was quicker and snatched up the hapless halfling in one snap! Too close for comfort the remaining three companions attacked the dragon, but after a moment it spat Argo out onto the group in a torrent of fire!
The blast was devastating, sending Duke into unconsciousness. A powerful barbarian rage gripped Kong and he fought on heedless of his wounds. His sword, made of crackling energy, cut through the dragon's thick hide and connected with true blows on every swing. Drake, though stronger, had a difficult time piercing the beast's side, and only landed a few telling blows. Argo managed to dump a potion of healing down Duke's throat, reviving the dwarf, but the halfling was knocked aside like a ragdoll and sent into unconsciousness.
Duke, Kong, and Drake were now faced with a difficult decision. Duke had the phylactery, and he could teleport away, but he would be leaving some of his friends behind - the time it would take everyone to gather in close proximity before the dragon breathed again was too short. Kong was in the throes of his rage and fought on, sending dragon blood flying and Brazzemal into a fury. Drake fought desperately, and when it was decided he was going to grab the halfling his mad dash was stopped when Brazzemal snatched the fighter up in his powerful jaws!
Duke closed his eyes and prepared to teleport away, hoping he could have his friends brought back from death, when suddenly the red dragon bellowed out a deafening cry - a death cry! Kong's barbarian rage induced blows had finally struck home, and his sword cut through the dragon's heart. Brazzemal the Burning's eyes went dark and the gargantuan dragon corpse fell to the valley floor below.
Quickly Duke healed Argo and Drake enough to bring them to consciousness. It was decided at that moment that breaking the phylactery was the better option - they simply couldn't risk the safety of everyone around them. Dumping the box out onto the ground, Drake raised his sword and brought it crashing down onto the phylactery. It cracked and after another blow broke, sending wisps of essence disappearing into the ether around them.
They decided to teleport to Bloodstone to regroup before setting off to confront the general of Kyuss' army and keeper of the Wormgod's physical presence - Dragotha, the first dracolich in existence.
Session Updates
Whew! Good session, good session. We start in on the end game here - the end is finally in sight. Will it be for better or worse? Good or evil? Glorious triumph or horrendous defeat? We find out soon.
XP Recap
17th-level 25,500
18th-level 18,900
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Planting 18, 596 CY
Holed up in the giant city of Kongen-Thulnir, the companions contemplated their next course of action. They held in their possession both of the keys necessary to open the vault, behind which they presumed lay the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich. One key was given to them by King Achaime Silvereye, and the other they had just taken from the corpse of the hill giant Charlgar in the pit of the Mother Worm.
The vault lay within the Citadel of Weeping Dragons towards the southern side of Kongen-Thulnir. It was a rocky outcropping rising from the canyon floor, with a natural stone bridge arching from the cliff-side city of giants. According to their map given to them by Loncer Amorocco the bridge was about a half-mile south of their current position. Argo poked his head out of the Undercity where they currently were and noted that the dragons attacked the city in regular intervals of about a half hour.
Utilizing this information, the companions - Duke, Kong, Drake, and Argo - made their way through the winding tunnels of the Undercity to the main level of the City of Kings, dodging falling debris along the way. From there they ducked and hid amongst the ruins of the buildings during the dragon raids and ran through the rubble when there was a lull. It took several hours, but they managed to get to the stone bridge with little or no incident.
This side of the bridge was capped with a large archway. Upon it were ancient runes in old dialect of Giant, that Duke was particularly fascinated with. His companions, however, urged him not to tarry as they had a several hundred foot bridge to cross.
They could see the Citadel of Weeping Dragons fairly clearly from their vantage point. It was a foreboding structure, easily four or five stories high with several probably extending into the base of the spire. Fire, stone, and hill giants stood at catapults and ballistas awaiting the inevitable new attack from the rampaging dragons. Two fire giants stood guard at the entrance to the citadel on the other side of the bridge, and it was these two that caused the heroes the most worry.
Should they launch a straight-up attack? Or try to parlay? There wasn't a lot of time in either case, but if they could somehow reason with the leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada - a fire giant named Kagro Thundersmiter - their going through the citadel would be much easier. The four companions decided to sneak as much as they could around the sentries and hopefully catch them off guard.
With that in mind, Duke cast a spider climb spell on each of them from his spellbook, as it was agreed by everyone that walking across the bridge was a bad idea. But climbing underneath the bridge ...? Much better idea. So, empowered by magic, the four climbed as fast as they could along the bottom of the natural stone bridge. Argo especially was a shadow amongst the rocks, moving quietly and stealthily.
Once they reached the other side they stealthily climbed around the sentries to a higher point just beyond them. Upon reaching this outcropping, however, Drake scraped his hand against the rock and let loose a shower of debris. This alerted the two fire giant sentries, who immediately gripped their weapons for attack. One of them shouted an alarm, and his voice carried through the citadel.
Deciding that there was little choice in the matter, Drake hefted his sword, gave a shout, and ran forward. He had the advantage of the higher ground, which he used when he leapt off the small ledge and brought his greatsword down in a powerful stroke. The giant was taken aback by the powerful maneuver and staggered.
Kong, not to be outdone, gave a shout announcing his furious barbarian rage and jumped - sword held high overhand - at the other sentry. His blow struck true and the giant was mortally wounded. Argo dropped into the fray as well, cutting the giant with his blades. Duke, however, decided to try a more diplomatic approach - he figured that if they could talk to the guards they could be convinced to take them inside.
The dwarf wizard cast Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter on the giant fighting Kong, sending the sentry into spasms of uncontrollable laughter. The other giant fought valiantly against Drake, and the fighter came to a startling realization. Him and Kong were still very wounded from the fight with the Mother Worm!
Seeing death approach at the hands of their giant opponents, Drake used the last of his wishes granted from the Deck of Many Things to heal the companions. It turned out to be a good idea, as Argo heard the sound of wings beating on the wind nearby. Suddenly a huge blue dragon appeared out of invisibility, breathing a cone of electricity on the hapless combatants! The two giants were no match for the attack and died in that initial onslaught, but the rest of the heroes steeled themselves and shifted focus to the dragon.
The dragon announced itself as Vermirox (a particularly vain move, but not uncommon amongst dragonkind) and promised a slow death. But he ate his words as Drake and Kong moved forward to engage it in melee, Argo taking up a flanking position. Duke stayed out of claw range and lobbed orbs of acid at the dragon, and after a few furious exchange of blows Vermirox's lifeless draconic corpse fell to the canyon floor below.
Knowing that the rest of the dragon raid was on its way, the four heroes beat feet towards the entrance to the citadel. Pushing open the doors revealed a wide corridor, and Drake and Kong took the lead side by side. In anticipation of trouble, Duke created a mirror image of himself to walk alongside his companions.
Disaster struck when the two warriors trigged a trap. They looked up just in time to see a gargantuan gelatinous cube creature fall from the ceiling! Neither ducked out of the way fast enough and they were both engulfed by the creature's gelatinous mass. Kong managed to struggle free, fighting with his barbarian might against the creature's oozy interior, but Drake was not so lucky. Paralyzed by the thing's ooze, the fighter could do nothing but float there and be slowly eaten away by the acid.
Argo and Kong faced off against the gelatinous cube, unsure as to how to proceed. Sadly, the thing proceeded instead, surging forward with a massive schlucking sound and engulfing both the halfling and the barbarian. This time Kong's limbs went stiff, but Argo held his breath and fought to escape the creature's insides.
Duke was left outside the gelatinous cube, lobbing spell after spell at the thing. While the creature did not seem to possess any inherent resistance to his arcane will, it was a long fight that forced the dwarf wizard outside the citadel to avoid being sucked inside. All the while his companions were slowly being eaten away by the cube's acidic digestive juices. Finally, after a particularly well-thrown orb of acid, the gelatinous cube's structure collapsed, sending a small tidal wave of crystalline ooze flowing in all directions. Luckily the creature's death ended the paralysis and capture of the three heroes.
Duke used charges from his wand of cure moderate wounds to patch up his companions as best he could. They forged onward, finding little on the first floor. The second floor also contained no giants, but they did not pause for full investigation. The third floor held a chamber right in front of the stairs, and Kong kicked its door open to find out what was inside.
It appeared to be some sort of meeting room, with a giant-sized table and chairs dominating the center. Seated at one of the chairs was a fire giant, who had been gripping the sides of the chair so hard that there were visible grip marks. One of his eyes was bigger than the other and twitched incessantly. He said nothing, simply staring at the intruders.
Duke ventured a phrase of greeting when suddenly the giant leapt on top of the table, bellowing in rage! He pulled out a giant battleaxe and handaxe, each wreathed in flames, and charged the heroes. Clearly deranged and mad with battle lust, the four companions stood their ground and fought the insane giant. He was a clever opponent, but Argo finally dropped him after several intense exchanges of blows.
As the giant fell to the ground, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Inside stepped another fire giant, but this one held a more regal pose and carried a massive greataxe. He announced himself as Kagro Thundersmiter, clan leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada, and demanded to know what the companions were doing here, and if they were the ones who stole the key. Argo stammered out a few suggestions when Kagro noticed the body of the fallen giant.
His eyes turned fierce and he stepped forward, raising his axe in a killing stroke. Just as the heroes prepared for a tough melee Drake's last ability from the Deck of Many Things kicked in. He shouted that they had both of the keys to the vault and that Charlgar was the one who stole it. This caused Kagro to stop and consider the situation a bit more carefully. He lowered his axe and demanded an explanation.
Argo and Duke explained that they met with King Achaime Silvereye and were given one of the keys to the vault, and got the other from the body of the hill giant Charlgar. Kagro indicated that Charlgar was seen in the company of Vercinabex Tor, the frost giant sorcerer and advisor to the Tiamakal Nul-Shada. The fire giant explained that Tor had been obsessed with the contents of the vault, with which the clan was tasked with defending against all foes. He had no idea what was behind it and he didn't want to. But Tor needed to be confronted.
Kagro demanded that the companions follow him to confront the frost giant sorcerer in his chamber in the lower levels of the citadel. Seeing little option, and wanting to go along anyway, they agreed and the five of them followed the winding staircase to the lower levels. There, Kagro kicked down the door to a chamber.
Inside was a large room, clearly the dwelling place of a frost giant - it was noticeably colder than the rest of the citadel. Vercinabex Tor sat at his desk poring over volumes of lore when Kagro Thundersmiter demanded to know the truth of the situation. The heroes slowly entered the room and took up flanking positions on either side of the fire giant. Tor sighed and stood up, saying that it was time to finally end the charade. With blinding speed he shouted arcane words and a blast of prismatic color burst from his hands, encapsulating everyone!
Luckily there were no terrible effects from the spell, and Kong, Drake, and Kagro charged forward to engage the frost giant in melee. Tor carried a massive warmace and was no pushover in melee, but it was his spellcasting that caused the most trouble. Duke lobbed a few orbs of acid at the sorcerer, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Vercinabex Tor unleashed another prismatic spray at his opponents and things did not go so well this time.
Drake the Slayer and Kong of the Mountains died after being hit by the green ray of the frost giant sorcerer Vercinabex Tor's prismatic spray.
Kagro Thundersmiter fell to the spell as well, but Argo and Duke escaped without too much permanent damage. Seeing an opportunity to end the fight, Argo lunged forward in a rage and stabbed at Tor repeatedly with his daggers and sword. Combined with the spells of Duke the frost giant sorcerer collapsed against the side of his chamber, dead.
Argo and Duke were left standing in the chamber, their two dead companions lying nearby. They knew the vault containing Dragotha's phylactery was not far beyond his chamber, but they also knew that they didn't want to confront the traps and guardians with their friends. So, gathering up everyone, Duke cast a teleport spell and transported the four of them to Bloodstone.
There they managed to get an audience with King Toka, who understood the plight they were in and decided to help. He needed to rest for a few hours, but afterwards he would be able to bring back the dead companions with a powerful resurrection spell. Seeing little choice Duke and Argo slept fitfully, knowing that the dragon siege of Kongen-Thulnir could be over and the phylactery of the dracolich claimed before they could return.
After a few hours Toka called upon the grace of Pelor and restored Kong and Drake to their bodies, whole and unhurt. With nary a moment to waste Duke cast another powerful teleport spell that took them right back to Vercinabex Tor's chamber. Descending the last flight of stairs they came to the entryway to the vault in the depths of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
As they approached they were suddenly confronted by the spiritual form of Shanks Dar'Rill, the halfling warrior who died in the gladiator arena of Greyhawk! Shanks explained that he had been traveling in the spirit world since then and had learned much about the upcoming Age of Worms. He told the story of what had happened so far, including a recap of Kyuss' rise to godhood and his bid to bring about the apocalypse many centuries ago. Luckily, descendants of the mighty Wind Dukes of Aaqa - the druids of the Order of the Storm - were there to stop him then. And now, it fell the companions, who Shanks believed had the blood of the Vaati in them as well.
Shanks warned the heroes that behind the vault door was indeed Dragotha's phylactery, but by opening the door they were inviting a world of trouble. Firstly, once it was opened Dragotha would know of the phylactery's precise location, and would certainly send his draconic minions that raided Kongen-Thulnir even now to retrieve. Secondly, and more important, he told them that if they chose to destroy the phylactery, Dragotha might be able to regain some of the escaping essence to grow even more powerful.
With that the ghostly halfling disappeared with a smile. The four heroes approached the doors to the vault, which seemed to detail Kyuss' final defeat at the hands of the druids. They also found carvings representing themselves, fighting the undead horde beside the druids! It was an eerie feeling, but they pushed past it to open the doors.
Beyond lay a magnificent chamber, at the far end of which rested a strange multi-facteded box. The sides of the box were carved to resemble leering draconic faces and strange whispers echoed in the room constantly. They knew they had found the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich.
The four companions gathered around the phylactery, trying to decide what to do. They faced a tough decision - destroy it now and risk Dragotha being more powerful, or keep it and risk the safety of everyone around them. It was eventually decided to keep it for now, at least to study, and Duke reached out with eager hands to grasp the box and place inside his bag. As his flesh touched the sides, the dwarf's head was rushed with shouting words, nothing distinct but mind-numbing. He barely managed to shove it into his bag before his will gave way completely.
The deed done, they prepared to leave. Fate, it would seem, had other ideas, as the four discovered when the side of the chamber melted away like so much butter. Suddenly, bursting forth from the rock now made mud, an enormous red dragon emeged, bellowing in rage! Argo recognized it as the largest of the dragons leading the assault on Kongen-Thulnir. The dragon announced itself as Brazzemal the Burning and demanded the phylactery in exchange for quick deaths.
Argo wasn't have any of that, and charged forward to confront the new threat. Unfortunately Brazzemal was quicker and snatched up the hapless halfling in one snap! Too close for comfort the remaining three companions attacked the dragon, but after a moment it spat Argo out onto the group in a torrent of fire!
The blast was devastating, sending Duke into unconsciousness. A powerful barbarian rage gripped Kong and he fought on heedless of his wounds. His sword, made of crackling energy, cut through the dragon's thick hide and connected with true blows on every swing. Drake, though stronger, had a difficult time piercing the beast's side, and only landed a few telling blows. Argo managed to dump a potion of healing down Duke's throat, reviving the dwarf, but the halfling was knocked aside like a ragdoll and sent into unconsciousness.
Duke, Kong, and Drake were now faced with a difficult decision. Duke had the phylactery, and he could teleport away, but he would be leaving some of his friends behind - the time it would take everyone to gather in close proximity before the dragon breathed again was too short. Kong was in the throes of his rage and fought on, sending dragon blood flying and Brazzemal into a fury. Drake fought desperately, and when it was decided he was going to grab the halfling his mad dash was stopped when Brazzemal snatched the fighter up in his powerful jaws!
Duke closed his eyes and prepared to teleport away, hoping he could have his friends brought back from death, when suddenly the red dragon bellowed out a deafening cry - a death cry! Kong's barbarian rage induced blows had finally struck home, and his sword cut through the dragon's heart. Brazzemal the Burning's eyes went dark and the gargantuan dragon corpse fell to the valley floor below.
Quickly Duke healed Argo and Drake enough to bring them to consciousness. It was decided at that moment that breaking the phylactery was the better option - they simply couldn't risk the safety of everyone around them. Dumping the box out onto the ground, Drake raised his sword and brought it crashing down onto the phylactery. It cracked and after another blow broke, sending wisps of essence disappearing into the ether around them.
They decided to teleport to Bloodstone to regroup before setting off to confront the general of Kyuss' army and keeper of the Wormgod's physical presence - Dragotha, the first dracolich in existence.
Session Updates
Whew! Good session, good session. We start in on the end game here - the end is finally in sight. Will it be for better or worse? Good or evil? Glorious triumph or horrendous defeat? We find out soon.
XP Recap
17th-level 25,500
18th-level 18,900
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
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