We continued our foray into the Wave Echo Cave system. There were skeletons and bugbears and stuff in there. It's a good thing we have Malinda in the party - she whittled five bugbears down to one in one round of burning hands. Result!
We also managed to find a door that said bugbears had barricaded. Turned out there was a big, flaming skull behind there. We decided to close the door and explore one of the other directions ...
Bacon-flavoured breakfast ale needs to be a thing
We are now in the final dungeon, a big cave system called the Wave Echo Cave, because we're still trying to find Gundren's missing brothers. So far, we've met an ochre jelly and assorted map-making.
We left this session being attacked by some ghouls. Two out of five characters are paralysed ...
We left this session being attacked by some ghouls. Two out of five characters are paralysed ...
The appropriate barbecuing of goblin chefs
Having liberated an owlbear by killing it rather than setting it free, we continued to explore Cragmaw Castle with our new friend Theren. We found the kitchen, where we basically stormed in and killed a bunch of people without warning, thus making one of us remark, "You realise this is like someone running into Chimera and gunning us all down, right?" or words to that effect.
Well, in D&D you kill first and ask questions later. It's like a rule and everything.
In one of the rooms, we came across some scrolls - one of which was Revivify, which allows you to resurrect a dead character within a minute of their demise. If only we had had one of them to hand last session ...
It would appear that we have finished exploring the castle, so can now be on our way back to Phandalin to hand in the quest and get rewarded.
Well, in D&D you kill first and ask questions later. It's like a rule and everything.
In one of the rooms, we came across some scrolls - one of which was Revivify, which allows you to resurrect a dead character within a minute of their demise. If only we had had one of them to hand last session ...
It would appear that we have finished exploring the castle, so can now be on our way back to Phandalin to hand in the quest and get rewarded.
Adventurers are the worst kind of people
After having named the goblin hostage Sooty, we continued through the woods with him (her? it?) as a guide. It took us through some dangerous bits, and in one particular place, we encountered a wolf pack.
The wolves (there were five of them) surrounded Rhogar. He went down, and failed the first Death Saving throw. As the rest of the party tried to get the wolves off him, what should have been a fairly easy "we have two rounds to heal him" didn't work out as planned, when Rhogar - after the GM prophesised he'd roll a one - rolled a one, thus instantly failing two Death Saves. As you only get three shots at not dying, Rhogar actually died. The rest of the players seemed more upset about this than Rhogar's own player, who immediately started working on rolling up a new character.
Meanwhile, the party went on to find Cragmaw Castle. We managed to find the boss room almost straight away. In it, we found the boss (King Wossname) and a few of his assistants. We also found Gundren, one of Hematite's missing cousins, and a chained-up elf.
Heroic battle win. Gundren was healed, and the elf turned out to be a rogue by the name Theren Siannodel. How fortuitous, we didn't have a rogue in the party before!
We'll miss Rhogar and his weirdly awesome Russian accent, but the adventure isn't over yet.
The wolves (there were five of them) surrounded Rhogar. He went down, and failed the first Death Saving throw. As the rest of the party tried to get the wolves off him, what should have been a fairly easy "we have two rounds to heal him" didn't work out as planned, when Rhogar - after the GM prophesised he'd roll a one - rolled a one, thus instantly failing two Death Saves. As you only get three shots at not dying, Rhogar actually died. The rest of the players seemed more upset about this than Rhogar's own player, who immediately started working on rolling up a new character.
Meanwhile, the party went on to find Cragmaw Castle. We managed to find the boss room almost straight away. In it, we found the boss (King Wossname) and a few of his assistants. We also found Gundren, one of Hematite's missing cousins, and a chained-up elf.
Heroic battle win. Gundren was healed, and the elf turned out to be a rogue by the name Theren Siannodel. How fortuitous, we didn't have a rogue in the party before!
We'll miss Rhogar and his weirdly awesome Russian accent, but the adventure isn't over yet.
Do orcs need toes?
We nearly died in an attack - two players down, yay - but managed to get back up and win the day. We found the Wyvern Tor and a cave full of orcs and an ogre, and finally managed to take a hostage. Unfortunately, the spitting little git didn't know anything, so the "Lawful Good" Tan cut off his thumb, which Hematite dutifully bandaged. Then the party decided to dangle the orc over the side of a cliff and let him drop ... only to cast Feather Fall.
Long story short, he's now pining for the fjords.
On the way back to the Yellow Brick Trail, we encountered a group of goblins. Since goblins were the ones who actually had something to do with the Rockseeker brothers, we managed to take another prisoner who DID know stuff. He was hogtied in a very ... umm ... imaginative way. Let's just say it would appear Karak-Dag has some very exotic interests ...
Long story short, he's now pining for the fjords.
On the way back to the Yellow Brick Trail, we encountered a group of goblins. Since goblins were the ones who actually had something to do with the Rockseeker brothers, we managed to take another prisoner who DID know stuff. He was hogtied in a very ... umm ... imaginative way. Let's just say it would appear Karak-Dag has some very exotic interests ...
Can I buy that die off you and chuck it away?
After more travelling, we came to the house of Agatha the Banshee. We gave her a nice comb and she answered the question we posed. We just had to try to remember (as players) whose magic book we were supposed to ask her about. As it happened, the person who always writes everything down hadn't written that particular bit down.
The GM "helped", saying it was a funny name and it began with "Bow", because apparently, when it had been mentioned in passing many weeks out-of-game previously, the person who heard it had said "it's funny, because it sounds like Bojangle". Let's just say the clue didn't help, because the name wasn't actually funny.
Aaaaanyway. We then came across a wizard in a tent, guarded by zombies. We got rid of the zombies, and instead of sticking around and getting information from the wizard, we got rid of him too. Oh the things we do for XP ...
The GM "helped", saying it was a funny name and it began with "Bow", because apparently, when it had been mentioned in passing many weeks out-of-game previously, the person who heard it had said "it's funny, because it sounds like Bojangle". Let's just say the clue didn't help, because the name wasn't actually funny.
Aaaaanyway. We then came across a wizard in a tent, guarded by zombies. We got rid of the zombies, and instead of sticking around and getting information from the wizard, we got rid of him too. Oh the things we do for XP ...
How much XP do we get for rolling 0 on initiative?
Having solved the Redbrand problem for Phandalin, we decided it was time to get back to looking for the Rockseeker brothers. Without having really investigated what it was, we went down the Miner's Trail to look for more information.
We found some, and went to follow up on them going down another trail. And then we were attacked a couple of times in the middle of the night, because XP. The first time went pretty well for the party, and the second time ... Hematite the cleric would've died if it hadn't been for the quick-thinking of Malinda, who emptied a healing potion down her neck. "It wasnae the best night ever."
We found some, and went to follow up on them going down another trail. And then we were attacked a couple of times in the middle of the night, because XP. The first time went pretty well for the party, and the second time ... Hematite the cleric would've died if it hadn't been for the quick-thinking of Malinda, who emptied a healing potion down her neck. "It wasnae the best night ever."
Door Murderer - Scourge of the Side Quests!
We finished up in the caves/tunnels/dungeons and decided to burn assorted weaponry in a room. How the weapons would manage to melt in an enclosed room with limited oxygen supply ... well, never mind.
In the cellar under the Redbrand mansion, we found the wife and children of a man who had been murdered. We tried to be reassuring and sympathetic, but it perhaps didn't pan out very well.
At any rate, we got rid of (in an Al Pacino way) most of the Redbrands, strongly suggested others might want to skip town and never return, and took a few as prisoners. Said prisoners were then hastily juged by the person we saved from that other cave, who assumed control of the town and Mayor Spineless didn't mind this at all, and executed.
Pats on the backs all 'round.
In the cellar under the Redbrand mansion, we found the wife and children of a man who had been murdered. We tried to be reassuring and sympathetic, but it perhaps didn't pan out very well.
At any rate, we got rid of (in an Al Pacino way) most of the Redbrands, strongly suggested others might want to skip town and never return, and took a few as prisoners. Said prisoners were then hastily juged by the person we saved from that other cave, who assumed control of the town and Mayor Spineless didn't mind this at all, and executed.
Pats on the backs all 'round.
Follow that hovercraft!
Because we've been boardgaming a couple of weeks in a row, here are a couple of filler posts of games we've played previously, namely the Jurisfiction adventure "Life, the BookWorld, and Everything", in which four Jurisfiction agents were sent on a team-building mission inside The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
This second and final instalment goes from the Heart of Gold spaceship landing on the ancient planet-building planet of Magrathea to ... well, the point at which the narrative ends, which also concludes their mission. Roll call:
We've never felt quite the same about saying the word "Belgium" after this ...
This second and final instalment goes from the Heart of Gold spaceship landing on the ancient planet-building planet of Magrathea to ... well, the point at which the narrative ends, which also concludes their mission. Roll call:
- Arthur Hastings, senior agent and a former military man and now occasional assistant to Agatha Christie's Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot.
- Captain Haddock, an old seadog fond of grog from Hergé's Adventures of Tintin graphic novels.
- Kaa, a snake from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
- Macbeth, a mighty king of Shakespearean fame.
We've never felt quite the same about saying the word "Belgium" after this ...
We’ll cut the narrative off at the pass and leg it
We were half the team down last Wednesday, so those who were left played the Shadowrun card game in what we later discovered was the hardest mode possible, because we drew opponents from the wrong deck. Oops. Anyway, this is why this week's post instead is going to be a trip to Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and what happens when a group of Jurisfiction agents are told to go on a team-building exercise inside its pages.
The agents were told to strictly stay out of the narrative ... and while roleplayers would normally decide to completely ignore this, they didn't, so I never got to inflict my specially prepared Vogon poetry on them. I are still disappoints, two years later.
Here's the crew:
The agents were told to strictly stay out of the narrative ... and while roleplayers would normally decide to completely ignore this, they didn't, so I never got to inflict my specially prepared Vogon poetry on them. I are still disappoints, two years later.
Here's the crew:
- Arthur Hastings, senior agent and a former military man and now occasional assistant to Agatha Christie's Belgian super-sleuth Hercule Poirot.
- Captain Haddock, an old seadog fond of grog from Hergé's Adventures of Tintin graphic novels.
- Kaa, a snake from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
- Macbeth, a mighty king of Shakespearean fame.
Why are we cooking the goblin?
After much ado, we decided to pick one of the many questing opportunities and try to sort out those Redbrands. Or something.
We entered into a cave system (this is D&D after all) with a rickety bridge over a chasm to kill unweary adventurers. Fortunately, we have a mage in the party, and the mage decided to pick Feather Fall when levelling up. It paid of pretty much straight away. Hooray!
In the cave, wemet eliminated a Nothic aberration and some bugbears, and set a goblin thrall free. We're nice that way, but not nice enough to heal the poor fellow's bleeding hands first. We also found a room where a rat looked at us and then disappeared when it was shot at. It's an animagus, I tell you!
We entered into a cave system (this is D&D after all) with a rickety bridge over a chasm to kill unweary adventurers. Fortunately, we have a mage in the party, and the mage decided to pick Feather Fall when levelling up. It paid of pretty much straight away. Hooray!
In the cave, we
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