In this session the party entered the laboratory, learning that they could perhaps find a way to permanently revive Deckard inside, and also needing to deactivate the lightning barrier blocking access to the next level of the tower. Their first encounter was with a creature known as a zombie cactus in a greenhouse-like section of the lab, which constantly dominated them. Though the domination effects wore on them, they defeated it easily enough.
Next they found a puzzle involving 3 specimen tanks - 2 50-gallon ones, one of them empty and one of them full, and a 30-gallon tank which was full. They had to put 40 gallons into the empty 50-gallon tank. They managed to do this easily enough, and gained access to a wealth of potions, as well as a potion which allowed them to properly revive Deckard. Lukash also regained the use of his body, though it is now an undead body.
In the final encounter of the night, the party entered a room full of corpses, and were attacked by rot grub zombies. The zombies proved simple enough - until the room began to lose its floor and dump the party into the offal-filled pits below, where a charnel otyugh awaited them. They managed to defeat these challenges, though it took awhile, and decided to head back to the main hall to extended rest, putting them on day 2 of the 3 days they have to stop Ctenmiir. Everyone save Deckard resolved their memory loss; Deckard's worsened, locking out one of his daily powers. Vorgym was cured of his greater moon frenzy by Deckard. Cyrus, who had also been infected by filth fever in the encounter with the otyugh, did not manage to cure any of his conditions. Deckard & Shivra's nightmare visions both worsened, and have begun to affect them physically.
The party is very near the end of the laboratory, and access to the next floor...what horrible monstrosity will serve as the final challenge of the labs, and what awaits them on the next floor? We shall see next week...we shall see indeed.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Session #46: The Vampire in the Tower, Part 2
This week, the party awoke to find that Ctenmiir would now be following their progress through the tower, and had released one of his laboratory "experiments" into the courtyard to waylay them. Now on Day 1 of the 3 days they would have before Ctenmiir attacked Falconia, they set out back through the courtyard and found that the topiaries in the topiary garden resembled their party. When they went to investigate, the topiaries attacked, along with their master - an oblivion moss mindmaster. This encounter didn't prove terribly taxing on the party, but did saddle all but one of them (Amnon being the one) with a memory loss disease which has locked out one of their encounter powers.
Continuing on, the party found the kennels - inside they found a hill giant werewolf, Varrg, the kennel master they had been searching for. He had 3 large gravehounds which sicced on the party - this battle proved challenging, but ultimately manageable, as despite Varrg's regeneration ability, the party took him down. Cyrus & Vorgym were infected with a disease from Varrg's bite. After returning to the main hall, the party had their first feast, which went off without a hitch.
With their ability to advance to the next floor secured, they opened the way and ascended to the second floor. There they found a beholder waiting for them, and were "congratulated" by Ctenmiir on defeating "a hobgoblin that wallows with spiders" and "a hill giant who runs with a pack of rotting curs". The beholder then attacked, using its eye rays to inflict a bevy of conditions on the party. Through petrification, blindness, near death and near disintegration they prevailed, and the beholder fell.
We stopped at this point, as my ping had been driven too high for us to continue and we had run up against our time limit anyhow. An update on the ping situation: it wasn't a result of the virus as I feared, but rather my sister attempting to video chat with someone. Hopefully it won't become a regular problem =) See everyone next week: the laboratory awaits!
Continuing on, the party found the kennels - inside they found a hill giant werewolf, Varrg, the kennel master they had been searching for. He had 3 large gravehounds which sicced on the party - this battle proved challenging, but ultimately manageable, as despite Varrg's regeneration ability, the party took him down. Cyrus & Vorgym were infected with a disease from Varrg's bite. After returning to the main hall, the party had their first feast, which went off without a hitch.
With their ability to advance to the next floor secured, they opened the way and ascended to the second floor. There they found a beholder waiting for them, and were "congratulated" by Ctenmiir on defeating "a hobgoblin that wallows with spiders" and "a hill giant who runs with a pack of rotting curs". The beholder then attacked, using its eye rays to inflict a bevy of conditions on the party. Through petrification, blindness, near death and near disintegration they prevailed, and the beholder fell.
We stopped at this point, as my ping had been driven too high for us to continue and we had run up against our time limit anyhow. An update on the ping situation: it wasn't a result of the virus as I feared, but rather my sister attempting to video chat with someone. Hopefully it won't become a regular problem =) See everyone next week: the laboratory awaits!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
New Houserule: Feasts
Starting next session I'm going to be testing a new houserule: feasts. A feast is, essentially, an intermediary point between extended rests and short rests. When the party decides to feast, they must spend one hour in the same location and eat a meal. By doing so, characters can recover 2 healing surges, or their Con mod in healing surges, whichever is higher.
To provide an example: Deckard has a Con mod of 3. When Deckard feasts, he recovers 3 healing surges. Conversely, Vorgym has a Con mod of 0 - when he feasts, he only recovers 2 surges. This should help ease the necessity of taking extended rests.
Feasting can be done a maximum of twice per day, and characters cannot feast a second time for 4 hours after their first feast. If a feast is interrupted, characters only regain half the surges normally gained, and cannot resume the feast after the encounter.
Rather than having characters track the amount of food in their possession, I will be having everyone pay 5 gold pieces, the standard price for a feast, every time they do this. We'll be testing this out, as I said, so I may tweak this rule as we go along. Thanks for reading, see everyone Wednesday!
To provide an example: Deckard has a Con mod of 3. When Deckard feasts, he recovers 3 healing surges. Conversely, Vorgym has a Con mod of 0 - when he feasts, he only recovers 2 surges. This should help ease the necessity of taking extended rests.
Feasting can be done a maximum of twice per day, and characters cannot feast a second time for 4 hours after their first feast. If a feast is interrupted, characters only regain half the surges normally gained, and cannot resume the feast after the encounter.
Rather than having characters track the amount of food in their possession, I will be having everyone pay 5 gold pieces, the standard price for a feast, every time they do this. We'll be testing this out, as I said, so I may tweak this rule as we go along. Thanks for reading, see everyone Wednesday!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Cyrus' Backstory
Full Name: Cyrus Dythan (adopted name)
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 305 lb.
Hair: Black
Skin: White
Eyes: Icy Blue
Body Build: Solid
Distinguishing Features: Unusual ice-blue eye color, Turathi slave brand on his chest
Cyrus was born in the former territories of Arkhosia, in the early stages of the empire's resurrection, on a continent to the south of Titania, across the Strait of Dragons. He knows little of the dark days the dragonborn faced before this point in time; an only child, he lost his parents at a very early age, and was taken in by Dythan's Legion, a 500-man army groomed by its leader, Legatus ("General") Darius Dythan, as an imperial expeditionary force. Cyrus took to his training as a squire of the legion, and by his teenage years, he was a bona-fide legionary himself.
By his 16th year, Cyrus had become one of Dythan's most trusted soldiers: Dythan was with the group that first found young Cyrus, and became as a surrogate father to him. Cyrus was raised primarily by Thaenar ("Major") Cairith, Dythan's wife. Though his youth held his ascension in check, Cyrus managed to attain the rank of Farang ("Sergeant"). The most tragic incident of his youth came when he and Cairith were scouring the Moon Hills for artifacts, not long after Cyrus had been promoted - they encountered a pack of dark drakes, vile beasts of shadow and death. Cyrus & Cairith were alone, and they fought bravely - but in the end, Cairith fell. Cyrus survived, having fled at Cairith's urging, but he grappled with that retreat, something he continues to do even today.
To Cyrus' surprise, Dythan handled Cairith's death with little ceremony - aside from a token funerary service, it seemed he did not care that she had died. He was more concerned with their failure to locate any artifacts: when Cyrus confronted Dythan about his lack of concern over the death of one of his most trusted officers, Dythan discharged Cyrus from the legion. Stripped quite quickly of his purpose in life, Cyrus took the first job he could - a job as a bodyguard for an Arkhosian dignitary by the name of Zanuss, who had himself been disgraced and was being shipped off to the ruins of Io'vanath, a former dragonborn colony.
Cyrus served with the dedication and loyalty he'd learned in Dythan's Legion, and after a decade of service, he is a personal friend to Zanuss. With the recent surge of Arkhosian interest in Io'vanath, Cyrus is as busy as ever. With the Wintersend Assembly imminent, he has spent most of him time with Zanuss in Falconia. Though he resents Dythan for discharging him, he tells no one of his true feelings, not even Zanuss, for his upbringing as a soldier precludes him from believing he has the right to do so. He is a moral, good-hearted individual who believes in duty, but also believes that the mission should not be completed at the cost of the individual - he is loathe to compromise his morals or endanger others to accomplish his goals. He carries with him the permanent mark of a Turathi slave, a brand all members of Dythan's Legion are given as a reminder of their history, in the center of his chest.
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 305 lb.
Hair: Black
Skin: White
Eyes: Icy Blue
Body Build: Solid
Distinguishing Features: Unusual ice-blue eye color, Turathi slave brand on his chest
Cyrus was born in the former territories of Arkhosia, in the early stages of the empire's resurrection, on a continent to the south of Titania, across the Strait of Dragons. He knows little of the dark days the dragonborn faced before this point in time; an only child, he lost his parents at a very early age, and was taken in by Dythan's Legion, a 500-man army groomed by its leader, Legatus ("General") Darius Dythan, as an imperial expeditionary force. Cyrus took to his training as a squire of the legion, and by his teenage years, he was a bona-fide legionary himself.
By his 16th year, Cyrus had become one of Dythan's most trusted soldiers: Dythan was with the group that first found young Cyrus, and became as a surrogate father to him. Cyrus was raised primarily by Thaenar ("Major") Cairith, Dythan's wife. Though his youth held his ascension in check, Cyrus managed to attain the rank of Farang ("Sergeant"). The most tragic incident of his youth came when he and Cairith were scouring the Moon Hills for artifacts, not long after Cyrus had been promoted - they encountered a pack of dark drakes, vile beasts of shadow and death. Cyrus & Cairith were alone, and they fought bravely - but in the end, Cairith fell. Cyrus survived, having fled at Cairith's urging, but he grappled with that retreat, something he continues to do even today.
To Cyrus' surprise, Dythan handled Cairith's death with little ceremony - aside from a token funerary service, it seemed he did not care that she had died. He was more concerned with their failure to locate any artifacts: when Cyrus confronted Dythan about his lack of concern over the death of one of his most trusted officers, Dythan discharged Cyrus from the legion. Stripped quite quickly of his purpose in life, Cyrus took the first job he could - a job as a bodyguard for an Arkhosian dignitary by the name of Zanuss, who had himself been disgraced and was being shipped off to the ruins of Io'vanath, a former dragonborn colony.
Cyrus served with the dedication and loyalty he'd learned in Dythan's Legion, and after a decade of service, he is a personal friend to Zanuss. With the recent surge of Arkhosian interest in Io'vanath, Cyrus is as busy as ever. With the Wintersend Assembly imminent, he has spent most of him time with Zanuss in Falconia. Though he resents Dythan for discharging him, he tells no one of his true feelings, not even Zanuss, for his upbringing as a soldier precludes him from believing he has the right to do so. He is a moral, good-hearted individual who believes in duty, but also believes that the mission should not be completed at the cost of the individual - he is loathe to compromise his morals or endanger others to accomplish his goals. He carries with him the permanent mark of a Turathi slave, a brand all members of Dythan's Legion are given as a reminder of their history, in the center of his chest.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Session #45: The Vampire in the Tower, Part 1
This week the party started the final adventure of the heroic tier - "The Vampire in the Tower", their final battle with the tier's villain, the vampire Ctenmiir the Cursed. This one went well over, which I think is a good thing - I think the party had a lot of fun this week!
We started by finishing up the Dead Man's Dagger ritual with Elanath; the party was quick to leave afterward, making their 4-day trek to the tower and crossing the mire. There they found wyverns with zombie archer riders flying, scouting the region below - Vorgym bluffed their way past one, and they reached the tower to find a puzzle chamber guarding the entrance. They were presented with a slide puzzle with one missing tile, and hundreds of replacement tiles scattered through the chamber. There were also four pictographs under the puzzle - each representing a wizard's cantrip (though it took awhile for the party to figure this out). The tile puzzle was merely a red herring - the answer was to cast one of any of the mage's cantrips on the door, which would cause it to open.
After figuring this out, the party entered to find Lukash, the tower's spectral castellan, who explained to them some of the workings of the tower as well as some of its history. He also offered to provide them with "lodging", which he does by using an item called an Exodus Knife to carve out a doorway to a dimensional bedroom. They learned that they would have to kill two of Ctenmiir's lieutenants to advance to the next floor of the tower: Gokof, a hobgoblin totemist leading Ctenmiir's spiders in the tunnels; and Varrg, a hill giant kennel master in charge of tending to Ctenmiir's many hounds in the kennels past the tower's courtyard. These lieutenants had crystalline "keys" which, when used together, would shut down the lightning barrier blocking their ascension to the next level.
They headed into the tunnels first, finding a sarcophagus in which a great vampire had been sealed by a dwarven hero who sacrificed himself to seal the vampire in; this hero's name was lost, but it was clear from the inscriptions on the sarcophagus that he wielded an ancient dwarven warhammer known as Whelm. Passing through the tunnels, the party was ambushed by a pair of ropers and a number of umber ravagers - this encounter proved to be somewhat difficult, but they overcame. The next encounter was more difficult, as the party ran into Gokof - they defeated him easily, but found that defeating him threw his small army of spider minions into a rage, and they dealt 105 dmg to Cyrus in a single round. The spiders turned out to be the true boss of this encounter, but the party prevailed in the end, and recovered Gokof's key and spider totem, which had a valuable black pearl in its mouth.
Next, they returned to the main hall and slept in the room Lukash provided. Thereafter they headed into the courtyard, which seemed quite peaceful...until they ran into a roving pack of hounds. This pack, composed of hounds of ill omen, war hounds and howler dread hounds proved to be the end of Cyrus & Deckard, who both died in this difficult encounter. Deckard was saved by an unlikely rescuer, however...Lukash, who possessed Deckard's body in order to return him to life. The party then hauled Cyrus back to the main hall, and Lukash provided them with his dimensional bedroom again, temporarily killing Deckard again in the process by leaving his body. Cyrus was revived by Deckard's resurrection power, and the party seems to be back together again. Ctenmiir is now aware of their presence within the tower, however, and has advised them that they have 3 days before he attacks Falconia; he also implied that Lukash possibly has ulterior motives for possessing Deckard, which could be a problem later. They have hit level 10, however, which should be a vital extra level for the challenges ahead...
Oh, and we came up with a couple minigames...Chess and a card game called Liar's Tongue.
We started by finishing up the Dead Man's Dagger ritual with Elanath; the party was quick to leave afterward, making their 4-day trek to the tower and crossing the mire. There they found wyverns with zombie archer riders flying, scouting the region below - Vorgym bluffed their way past one, and they reached the tower to find a puzzle chamber guarding the entrance. They were presented with a slide puzzle with one missing tile, and hundreds of replacement tiles scattered through the chamber. There were also four pictographs under the puzzle - each representing a wizard's cantrip (though it took awhile for the party to figure this out). The tile puzzle was merely a red herring - the answer was to cast one of any of the mage's cantrips on the door, which would cause it to open.
After figuring this out, the party entered to find Lukash, the tower's spectral castellan, who explained to them some of the workings of the tower as well as some of its history. He also offered to provide them with "lodging", which he does by using an item called an Exodus Knife to carve out a doorway to a dimensional bedroom. They learned that they would have to kill two of Ctenmiir's lieutenants to advance to the next floor of the tower: Gokof, a hobgoblin totemist leading Ctenmiir's spiders in the tunnels; and Varrg, a hill giant kennel master in charge of tending to Ctenmiir's many hounds in the kennels past the tower's courtyard. These lieutenants had crystalline "keys" which, when used together, would shut down the lightning barrier blocking their ascension to the next level.
They headed into the tunnels first, finding a sarcophagus in which a great vampire had been sealed by a dwarven hero who sacrificed himself to seal the vampire in; this hero's name was lost, but it was clear from the inscriptions on the sarcophagus that he wielded an ancient dwarven warhammer known as Whelm. Passing through the tunnels, the party was ambushed by a pair of ropers and a number of umber ravagers - this encounter proved to be somewhat difficult, but they overcame. The next encounter was more difficult, as the party ran into Gokof - they defeated him easily, but found that defeating him threw his small army of spider minions into a rage, and they dealt 105 dmg to Cyrus in a single round. The spiders turned out to be the true boss of this encounter, but the party prevailed in the end, and recovered Gokof's key and spider totem, which had a valuable black pearl in its mouth.
Next, they returned to the main hall and slept in the room Lukash provided. Thereafter they headed into the courtyard, which seemed quite peaceful...until they ran into a roving pack of hounds. This pack, composed of hounds of ill omen, war hounds and howler dread hounds proved to be the end of Cyrus & Deckard, who both died in this difficult encounter. Deckard was saved by an unlikely rescuer, however...Lukash, who possessed Deckard's body in order to return him to life. The party then hauled Cyrus back to the main hall, and Lukash provided them with his dimensional bedroom again, temporarily killing Deckard again in the process by leaving his body. Cyrus was revived by Deckard's resurrection power, and the party seems to be back together again. Ctenmiir is now aware of their presence within the tower, however, and has advised them that they have 3 days before he attacks Falconia; he also implied that Lukash possibly has ulterior motives for possessing Deckard, which could be a problem later. They have hit level 10, however, which should be a vital extra level for the challenges ahead...
Oh, and we came up with a couple minigames...Chess and a card game called Liar's Tongue.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Session #43: Going Along With It
Speaking to the wizard's guild in Falconia, the party learned an alternative way into Elanath's Tower - they could hire a ship, sail to the cliffs below the tower, scale the cliffs, and navigate the caves until they find the tunnels below the tower. With this and their other option, speaking to Elanath, in mind, they opted to head to speak to Elanath in Nogram. Along the way, their carriage was stopped at Blackhammer's Watch, and they learned that only dwarves were being allowed into Kinsfort as a result of the royal wedding going on between Queen Coratra Redbeard and Gihren Amberforge, son of Thanos Amberforge - a family the party has some familiarity with.
They had to set out on foot from there, and the first night, they were attacked by bandits - the bandits were easily trounced, however, and the next day, the party arrived in Nogram. There, they fought a group of zombies until Elanath came out and stopped them, revealing that the zombies were actually people disguised by a ritual. Speaking to Elanath, the party learned that the vampire cursed to be unable to leave the tower was indeed Ctenmiir, and that the Mire of Deathly Grasp, a mire of skeletons and acidic quicksand, could only be crossed by undead. Elanath explained that he could perform the same ritual on the party that he did on the village's defenders. Cyrus took serious issue with this, and had to be convinced to go along with it, but he now mistrusts Amnon's motives and will be keeping an eye on him, which could be an issue for the party down the road.
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