D&D Post game 12-16-17 Part 2

The party arrives at the forge of the gnome Dimble Greenbottle.

As they enter the forge they are welcomed by a gnome working a desk. His face is red from the heat, he is wearing an apron and has several mouse traps attached to his belt. This is odd, but he is a gnome and they have a reputation for being eccentric. After introductions they are introduced to one Dimble Greenbottle. He is also wearing atypical forge attire but has an elaborate headpiece comprised of multiple telescoping lenses and has mouse traps along his belt as well. AS the party looks around they notice all the workers have traps, bells, padlocks on belt pouches or various other minor deterrents on their person.

That is when the barbarian notices a small dragon humanoid creature trying to rifle through his pack. Kobolds! The forge is infested with kobolds! Well not infested as Dimble tells them. They are the lesser labor for the forge. It seems he once saved a small band of them and they are indebted to him. They act as “gophers” for the smiths and artisans. They are loyal and useful, but they have a knack for grabbing small objects that are not secured or hidden away. That explains the traps on all the workers belts. The party secures their pouches and packs as Dimble shows them around the forge.

They soon realize why this forge is located ½ mile outside of Ferrous Spur. The forges are not fed with coal, they are magma fed. Dimble has somehow (company secret) been able to run pipes dep into the mountain and pipe magma into and through his forge. This way they have an unlimited supply of fire and heat for the forges. They can run the forges 24-7 if they want. They have a constant source of heat for their metal work.

The downside is that occasionally there is a breach. What is a breach? Well the party soon discovers that!

As they are about to seal their deal for  the equipment and cost, a horrible wailing siren begins. A mass of dwarves, gnomes and kobolds rush up from the lower forges. Their clothes and hair is singed and in places still on fire. The shift manager screams breach and pulls a series of levers. Door slam shut and several gnomes rush down a hallway.

Dimble turns to the party and asks for some assistance. He explains that  occasionally elemental creatures will travel up with the magma. He would be eternally grateful if they would help. He even offers to discount his prices for any assistance. Well that is enough to get the party motivated. They head down to the lower level to see what help they can offer.

Once downstairs they see several forges where all manner of weapons, armor, equipment and contraptions are being created. They also see several small cracks in the stone where magma is pouring out into the forge. The middle of the room appears to house a giant furnace with several pipes protruding out of it. The furnace is glowing red and has a  plethora of magical runes carved into it. The runes are glowing blue and then occasionally blink out of existence. This is  what Dimble and his crew are racing to fix. The party is tasked with stopping the small humanoids made of lava and fire that are setting the room ablaze.

Several minutes later and the lava men have been dispatched. It was then that a second wave of lava men arrived and the runes on the main furnace all “blinked” out of existence. This lead to a small explosion and the unleashing of the fir elemental housed within it. Dimble and his crew raced off down a hallway. The party had no idea what the gnomes were doing, but they did have a fire elemental facing them so they did what they are known for. The leapt into combat with it and the next wave of lava men.

D&D Post Game 12-16 Part 1

After the real world holiday break….

 

Our intrepid party has dwindled down to the dragonborn rouge, ½ orc barbarian and human monk. The bard, paladin and mage have all gone off in search of stuff, study, vision quests, drunken benders etc.

 

After a lively discussion a while ago, the party had decided that they wanted to throw their hat into the alcohol creation and distribution ring. They wanted to build a brewery. They began by getting some quotes for the build and settled on a dwarf construction crew. They also would need materials for the creation of alcohol. You know all the big metallic bits, bins, vats and such. Of course the dwarves all pointed them toward their home city of Ferrous Spur located in the Frost Peak mountains. This meant a journey and they went the fastest way possible, steam carriage beneath the earth.

 

Two days and change later they arrived outside of the mountain city of Ferrous Spur. The giant gates set into the mountainside were open and all manner of equipment, carriages, carts and people were moving to and from the city. The party walked into the mountain and began to explore the town. 

 

They first noticed that the city layout was circular and had various levels. The top level being the home to various forges, shops , stores, eateries and taverns. The second level down was mostly residential and a public works sector. The third level down was where the nobility and religious temples were found. The final level was home to the various mine entrances and a small garrison of troops. Then the smell hit them. It was a mix of sweat, oil, smoke and stone. The lighting was next as the city was lit by oil lanterns making it pretty dim, with an almost a constant dusk look. Then the temperature was next. It was warmer like late summer warm without the refreshing breeze. Finally the constant din of hammers hitting metal, steam whistles, singing and  yelling were ever present.

 

Post X-mas 2017



Another holiday here and gone.
I discovered that I am the child in the house as I received more toys than the two kids living here.
The family thought I needed the new Playmobil Ghostbusters sets. Now I have to find somewhere, or buy somewhere to display them.


The new DM screen I am very excited about as it looks a lot more useful than the previous version.


Baze Malbus is still in the mail, but will arrive to join with Chirrut.


Exploding Kittens is fun and the kids will enjoy it too!


A good little holiday with the fam. Now it is over and the year moves toward the end.

MERRY X-MAS

Something..something...stocking stuffer..something...something

The Last Jedi

I’m not mad about The Last Jedi, I’m just disappointed.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out and boy howdy has it fractured the fan base. I’ll keep this simple as not to spoil anything right away.

PLOT

Starting almost immediately after The Force Awakens…..

The First Order slowly chasing the remains of the Resistance in a plodding space ship chase.

Finn and Rose (a lowly maintenance worker and escape pod guard) plot a mission to stop the First Order from following the Resistance fleet.

Rey has found Luke Skywalker and wants to learn more about the Force.

Kyo Ren is all worked up about not being a better Sith, he doesn’t have the respect he needs, still has parental issues and is upset about a girl besting him in a sword fight.

Supreme Commander Snoke has a nefarious plan.

Leia and Poe are at odds about what they should be doing against the First Order.

More conflict.

Action.

Final resolution.

The short and skinny about The Last Jedi.

I have seen this twice, once as a starry eyed fan and then as a guy who has been burned by a Star Wars film before.

I do recommend seeing The Last Jedi. Hell if you are a nerd you already have. If you are a casual fan go see it. If you are a hardcore fan and haven’t seen it….what is wrong with you?

If you are from the haven’t seen it camp, go in open minded. Don’t let the reviews skew your opinion. Form your own thoughts. Don’t listen to the internet prior to screening.

Now I have more to say on the film, but I’ll say it after the break.

There will be some plot talk and potential spoilers.

Go see the film.

Everyone else follow me…….

D&D Pregame 12-16-17

The days have grown shorter and the nights have grown longer and colder. Winter is slowly creeping into the realm. The sky is a near constant shade of grey as the clouds prepare to begin their yearly delivery of snow.

The paladins and crusaders of Torm, Tempus and Tyr have gone to the Dead Lands to investigate the occurrences there. They have left behind a small contingent of knights to act as reinforcements, re-supply and as a collecting station for any other holy warriors willing to join their cause.

The townsfolk are still oblivious to the events that occurred below the city just a month prior. The city guard managed to round up the remaining citizens associated with the death cult. The information garnered by our intrepid adventures was beneficial in this.

The only news that is concerning has come from lands to the South West. It seems that a band of tribal hills folk have begun to raid the local farms in that region. The collection of small forts, collection of farming communities and the one large fortified keep in the region have mobilized to respond to and stop any further raids. This is not an uncommon event before a harsh winter. The attackers will sweep in and grab food stuffs and livestock before returning to the foothills.

 

Other than that disheartening news, the realm is quite and stable again…..but for how long?

D&D motivation win!

Motivation.

When it comes to gaming where do you get it?

For me it is after finishing a book, comic, paging through a gaming manual past or present, after a movie or a long hike.

The best place to get motivation though is the players.

Right now I am running through a series of games that will eventually (hopefully) become connected. Then at the last gaming session the party tossed a curve ball my way.

They have accumulated some money like all D&D gamers do. After monthly expenses, replenishing sundries and buying any cosmetic items; they have little use for the remaining pile of coins. Well that is until the idea of starting a brewery is tossed out by the barbarian.

BY THE GODS A GENIUS IDEA IS BORN! It is so simple and yet has so many bits to make complicated!

Star Wars Battlefront II review

Alright now with all the noise out there before release I still picked up Star Wars Battlefront II.

Why?

Well it a Star Wars shooter and I like Star Wars, even though  I was a bit disappointed with the first game.

Battlefront II is still a first person shooting online PVP game. That is the biggest draw. You can play through battles from the prequels and into The Force Awakens. These fights can be 8 or up to 40 players. They can be on land with troopers or in space with star fighters. It has all the PVP one wants and needs with a Star Wars skin draped over it.

This time around there is also a single player campaign. You play as Iden Versio the leader of the Imperial special forces unit Inferno Squad. You start off during the battle of Endor and play through the battle at Jakku. One can easily guess what happens to Iden during her adventures, well unless you are dense, have never seen a movie or read book. Ever. Yup, eventually Iden joins the rebellion/ Republic and fights the remains of the Empire. It was no surprise and a twist that anyone could/should see coming. 

Story aside the single player campaign is alright. It functions a tutorial and gives you something to do for a few hours. It is short and there is little to no replay value. If this is what you bought the game for then I’m sorry. It is not long enough to be worth the cost.

Dumbest plot point in the single player.

PVP in Battlefront I

This is where the action is and where the frustration begins.

I have a love hate relationship with the PVP in the first Star Wars Battlefront. There is no balance and that is stupidly frustrating! The more you play the more you unlock abilities and weapons. This leads to opposing players being able to shoot you just a few times and kill you. While on the opposite side I could unload a barrage of shots into a player and do very little damage. You could shoot a heavy blaster into the face of an enemy and he doesn’t fall. He shoots you twice and you die. It made playing wildy not fun most of the time.

Well what about Battlefront II PVP?

Yup the same problem in PVP. I have been advancing the heavy trooper  and still can unload into an opposing player with a heavy blaster and he barley takes any damage. Then he shoots me no more than three times and I die. It makes no sense. I know I need to unlock all the fun little abilities and weapons to make my guy better, but….. if I hate playing or get 1-3 shot killed all the time why bother. I’ll never kill enough guys to wrack-up the points to unlock all the fun stuff to make my guy better.

This is my experience with the game and I know two other guys that have the same problem. Either this is just what Battlefront games are, or it is just three of us that have an issue all the time.

Shadow Run, I am trying this game again.

Instead of playing the Iron Kingdoms RPG we have now taken a break and switched over to Shadowrun.


Fantasy meets cyber-punk is fun and all that, but the rules. There are just too many rules! I like the idea of this game, but I have no idea what I’m doing when I play it. Well I know you need to roll like a bazillion D6 and hope for 5+. Once again if you stuck around long enough here from my 40K days, you know I abhor 5+ rolls. Sadly that is all Shadowrun is.


All this means, is that you need to roll as many D6 as possible to ensure even a moderate chance of success. That is the main part of the rule system, a lot of D6's and a lot of hope for 5+. Everything else is just insanely complex for the sake of complexity.


My guy

Well I had just watched Hacksaw Ridge so I thought some sort of combat medic for a character might be fun. Even better, I would play him as a pacifist. He would be a mix of Hacksaw Ridge and Lifeline from G.I.Joe. Once I mentioned this game master guy sat down with a character creator (hero lab maybe) and busted a build out for me. I had no input, but then again character creation in this game is coco-la-bonza! Looking at the rule book I had no idea where to start. Thankfully a computer program and a guy familiar with the game built a character for me. He was close enough to my idea so I didn’t change anything.

Well like this, but without all that red coloration.

Hell I don’t know what half my skills di besides guns and first aid/medicine stuff. Yeah I have a gun, a tazer and a stun baton. I’m playing a pacifist but have a gun. All the ammo is stun based so I won’t kill anyone if I need to use it. I also have a bit of cybernetic stuff to enhance brain power to make rolls better for first aid. I have some positive and negative traits to flesh out the character. Then there is a bunch of gear and med stuff that I will have to look up in a separate healing/doctor book-PDF document.

I guess this all looks good. Since this guy was built for me be a guy who knows the game I’ll use him. Plus it keeps me from having to muddle through character creation. It is seriously wonky in this game. I can see the need for a computer program when trying to make a guy. The main rulebook isn’t really too user friendly for new players.


So….yeah I’m trying Shadowrun again. We shall see if they guy survives, if he can (or even needs to try) to keep the party alive and if a pacifist can work in game where shooting to kill seems to be a mainstay.

IT the book review

……or “Cocaine is a powerful drug.”

I decided to sit down and read “It” since I have seen both movie incarnations.

A giant 1100+ page novel by Stephen King.

He started writing the book in 1981.

This was published in 1986.

These where the Stephen King booze, cocaine and pill years.

Oh yeah, I have Stephen King Alzheimer’s. I read his stuff and forget that I really don’t enjoy 90% of them. Yet I still pick up a story of his and try again forgetting everything I dislike about his writing.

PLOT

A quick hit here as everybody should have some idea by now what this is about.

Alright this is a story about an entity that awakens every 27-28 years in the small town of Derry, Maine. Once awake it feeds on kids (mostly) by turning their fears into reality. This It primarily appears in the guise of a clown  known as Pennywise, before turning into something else to attack and devour prey.

The story is set between two time periods 1958 and 1986. It follows a group of kids as they survive the killer clown in 1958 and then return 28 years later to face It again.

THOUGHTS

I.

Hate.

This.

Book.

Seriously, go see the new movie and enjoy. Don’t read this giant turd! I never say see the movie when it is based on a book. The book is always better. Well not this time. The movie hits all the fun high points and moves along rather well.

This book first is just too damn long and slow. If 700 pages were cut from this it would be a good tight story. Instead there are just pages upon pages of needless description. Entire chapters of needless information and character building that are unnecessary. There is so much unneeded world building in this book that leads to nothing.

Seriously did I need so much information about Stan Uris, how he met his wife, their lives and everything else before we get to the scene where he kills himself? NO!

Do I need the annotated histories of Derry, Maine? Maybe one quick hit that the town is wyrd and bad. Then stop!

Do I need the intricate little details of every person place and thing in this town? NO!

Do I want scary creepy wyrd stuff with a clown monster and terrorized kids? Yes!

Did I get that? Well for about 400 hundred pages sprinkled through the novel.

Just too much fat that needed to be trimmed but nobody would tell Stephen King to do that.

Shadow of War review

Played and really enjoyed Shadow of Mordor. 

You can read about it.....Shadow of Mordor review click here!

Now the sequel  Shadow of War is out and I grabbed it since I really loved the first game.

Shadow of War

 

The game takes up again with Talon and his Celebrimbor wraith buddy that lives inside him.  They have forged a new ring of power and are on the way to stop Sauron and save Gondor, Talon’s home.

Well that is until everything goes sideways. Well more sideways than creating a new ring of power that is identical, but not corrupt like Sauron’s.

The second One ring to rule them all!

Shelob decides to get involved since she has an axe to grind with Sauron and is still a power player in Mordor. Plus she is a woman and has the ability of foresight. Yeah she can shift from big creepy stupid spider to a long dark haired version of Cersei Lannister with future seeing powers.

Wait! This sounds stupid?!

Well yes it is and it the plot only get sillier after this a ton of Middle Earth history is cast aside for a bunch of crazy shit.

Now she wants your ring in order to help you defeat Sauron so you toss it over because why not.

Now we jump to the last Gondor held city in Mordor, Minas Ithil. This is where Shelob sets your path for revenge to start. Why here? Well because the city is besieged by orks and you have to save it since you are Talion! The Gondor ranger who loves his country!

This leads to a plot that has you once again killing the forces of Sauron only to build an army out of said forces of Sauron so you can then go fight the forces of Sauron.

Wha?!

The three main characters in Shadow of War.

-You have to (sometimes) team up with Galadriel’s elf assassin, Eltariel,  to fight the Nazgul that are set loose in Mordor.

-You help a giant female talking tree-plant lady fight the dark menace that is invading Mordor. A tree-plant lady who is not an Ent, but some elder nature spirit thing or basically Middle Earth Gaia. Blerg!

-There is a quest chain to stop a ork who can raise the dead, like zombie dead. You know magic like that is nowhere in the Middle Earth history. Plus wouldn’t Sauron or anybody either nab this dude or stop him since he could raise a giant army of undead. This seems like an ability the Dark Lord would want to have or squash.

Orc necromancer? In Middle Earth? Wha?

-You have to save Minas Ithil but of course you can’t since it has to become Minas Morgul, but that takes place now instead of thousands of years earlier.

-You also are tasked to hunt down the 9 Ringwraiths and the Witch King. Of course you have to kill a few of them…I mean banish them. The worst bit being that you are tasked with fighting the Witch King of Angmar and defeating him.

-You know since you can defeat him being a dude and all that. Lore be damned!

-Also the 9 wraiths are not wholly comprised of the original 9 kings of men that were given rings of power. Nope. Isildur and Helm Hammer hand are tossed in as members of the 9. Lore be damned!

-Oh yeah! None of these characters are cannon. The events of the Hobbit haven’t happened yet. We all know the Hobbit and Lord o’ Rings story. This makes anything you do in this  game essentially pointless. You should know the ending before you even play this. There is this attempt to make you think you are changing the course of Middle Earth history. Spoiler! You are not doing that at all.!

This is Bruz. he is awesome!

GAMEPLAY

Shadow of War plays just like Shadow of Mordor.

It is Middle Earth Assassins Creed clone with a fantasy RPG element.

You start off as drek in combat again and have to kill your way through enough orks and missions to gain XP to bolster your abilities. Abilities that are on a makeshift skill tree, albeit sideways and not vertical like a tree.

Once you add enough points to combat skills, then you can become a quasi-undead wraith infused nigh unstoppable death machine!

You can once again ride giant cat wolf lizard monsters, giant not troll trolls and there are even drakes to mount. Mordor is littered with drakes during this era. Hell you can even climb on the new Ologs, which are intelligent smaller looking cave trolls. That are a new larger grunt enemy that just appeared after the first game.

There is a healthy stealth element still because this is fantasy Assassins Creed.

You have quest chains to help Gondor, stop Nazgul, help Mordor Gaia tree lady, search for various bobbles and Shelob secrets to hunt down for personal gain and XP.

There is an online element to attack other players castle/forts they have. There are also little persona vendetta missions to kill orks that have previously killed other players. I guess doing a lot of these gives you gear and such, but I was too busy grinding through to pay these much attention. I tried them both and get why people might find this fun, but it looked like it would get repetitive. There would be enough time for repetition later.

There is the same Nemesis system here again. You might kill ork or get killed by one and it leads to having a new enemy to pester you throughout your travels. It is fun once to have an enemy after you. However, after the third or fourth ork that survives death to hunt you, it becomes tiresome. Sometimes you just want a goon to stay dead and not return to give a speech about how they survived and how you are going to die by their hands.

Yup orcs die and and don't stay dead. This is fun like twice and then is nothing but irritation after that.

This is the majority of the game’s first couple of Acts.  Then they toss in a feature to capture and control castles in four different regions of Mordor. This is fun at first and then it becomes something different. It becomes the game’s attempt to keep you from completing it through tedious tiresome repetitive castle sieges.  Also known as……

D&D Post game , day after turkey Part 2

Stop me if you have heard this before.

A dragonborn, a human and two ½ orcs walk into a sewer…..

The party descended once again, into the tunnels and sewers beneath Stonekeep. They were looking for a rat catcher, the last loose end of a plot to further the ends of some unnamed death cult.

They made their way along the route they told this rat catcher travels. After a few miles of trekking through poo water they saw a bit of light up ahead. They rounded a bend and entered a big sewer cistern. There was an out-pipe but the poo water level hadn’t reached it yet. There they found two city watchmen and a ragged gentlemen with a squirmy potato sack and two large live traps full of rats. The party began to approach and talk to them, but there was no response. As the moved closer they could see that these three men looked awake and alive but were not breathing. It was then that three giant tentacle legged worm monsters dropped from the ceiling, crawled up from  the cistern and came walking down the tunnel. A group of Carrion Crawlers and behind them down the tunnel was a group of cultists drive them forward with spears.

 

The battle began with the party splitting up to take down the big angry tentacle caterpillars. The rouge and warrior tried to dislodge the crawler on the ceiling, but had little luck with that. The barbarian began attacking the cistern and other ceiling crawler. He was able to shake off the creature’s paralytic tentacles. The monk moved toward the advancing crawler and cultists. The creatures lashed out with their tentacles and managed to paralyze a few party members, but never for very long. This group was just not having any of that! Eventually the creatures all fell to a combination of swords, daggers, fists, maces and  a dwarven greatsword.  The cultists also followed suit.

 

The rat catcher and guardsmen eventually broke free from their paralytic stupor. The guardsmen were here on their monthly patrol with the rat catcher guild. The rat catcher was questioned about the cedar boxes. He mentioned how a blond tall human came and offered him 30 gold to go place an order for a small cedar box. That was all. He never returned to pick it up. He had no idea what it was for or who wanted it . he was a bit tipsy at the Slaughtered Hog when this guy walked in and offered him this job. He said his name was Mr. Johnson.  It was easy money. The party now had a  description of a potential threat, some blonde human dude named Mr. Johnson. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

They continued down the tunnels with the guards and rat catcher until they found a section of tunnel where the wall had collapsed. Behind it was another tunnel somewhat rough cut, but with a cobblestone floor. The rat catcher walks these tunnels all the time, and this wall collapse was new. The party decided to have the guards escort the rat catcher back to their tower to keep him safe. They then moved down this side tunnel.

After walking and descending further down they found a door. The rouge found no traps and they opened it. As the door swung open an alarm sounded! Yup missed that check for sure. They cut the rope setting off the small ringing bells. They cautiously moved on until they saw the familiar sight of bloated dead bodies moving toward them. The same bodies that explode with worms and poison they had fought before. They knew to keep their distance and attack with a barrage of ranged weapons. They dropped the quartet of bloated zombie bombs without getting near them. They continued onward.

 

Eventually , they arrived at a large  dimly lit room. From the entry way they could see the floor undulating. Throughout the room were no less than twenty of the maggot pits they had encountered at the farm last week. Along the walls were another dozen of the bloated walking corpse bombs, but they were not moving. The group began to make their way through the room. The barbarian and monk arrived safely to the other  side. The warrior and rouge both stepped on loose stones. Once this happened they were showered with giant centipedes, worms and maggots from the ceiling. The bloated corpses also began to shamble forward. The centipedes began to bite and inject a weak poison. The bloated bodies moved ever closer. The rouge and warrior ran forward slapping worms, centipedes and maggots from their face, clothes and gear. They were able to shake off the poison being injected into them and easily out distanced the bloat zombies shuffling their way.

That was until they reached a dead end. Well a dead end with a secret door built into it. Once again no traps were found so they slid it open. Inside they discovered a giant room with a deep dark pit in the center. Suspended in midair above the pit was a large platform. Atop this platform were all manner of candles, four hooded statues, two cages housing twitchy undead, three fancy robed figures and roughly a dozen cultist all in some state of ritual chanting.

Knowing this couldn’t be good the party drew weapons and launched into battle!

D&D Post game day after turkey Part 1

Having thwarted some crazy plot by evil monks, the party decided it was time to head back to their tower home for some much needed rest. As they arrived they saw a multitude of gifts, flowers and foods piled outside. These were all gifts from the citizens of Stonekeep for the actions of last fall. The found all manner of incense, blankets, baskets of fruits and breads, small baubles, wheels of cheese, garlands of fresh herbs, bouquets of flowers, small music boxes, fragrant candles, a few small casks of ale, a few bottles of vine and a trio of hand crafted cedar boxes.

They drug all this into the tower and began to rummage through it. Foods were sampled. Alcohol was tried. The blankets were tossed on the floors for inspection. Eventually everything was tasted or inspected. That left only the three small cedar boxes. They were of fine make and must be fairly expensive since there are no cedar trees in this part of the realm. The boxes were opened and inside was the most horrible smell ever. The room filled with an odor that was equal part rotting flesh, dung, putrid water and a hint of bad cheese. The boxes each contained a small wet cloth pouch. These pouches contained all manner of meat bits and wet paste mix of unknown reagents. They quickly took these three boxes several hundred feet outside the tower and lit them on fire to dispose of them. As they lit them on fire they were still working through what this was all about and the idea of bait bags came to mind. The party rushed to the top of the tower to see if anything had followed the smell.

Minutes later and the thick black smoke from the burning boxes was starting to dissipate and still nothing had followed the smell. The dragonborn rouge decided to investigate and snuck down to the fire. The monk and pair of ½ orcs watched from the tower roof. The rouge approached the small fire and still there was no sign of anything. However, from the tower, the party noticed the ground begin to swell in a couple of spots near the thief. They yelled to warn him, but it was too late. There was an explosion of dirt and grass. From beneath the ground a huge armored and segmented worm/bug-like creature. It’s large many faceted eyes stared down at the rouge. It’s large pincered mouth began to click wildly. That is when a second of these creatures exploded from the earth. The party on the roof top began to sprint down to the stairs to help.

 

The rouge drew weapons and attacked the armored bug-worm. The creature returned the favor by grabbing him in his oversized pincers, holding him in place and biting into his chest. The rouge struggled to break free as the creature continued to hold and bite him.

The rouge eventually was able to break free from the jaws of the bug-worm. He jumped to safety and began to sprint toward the tower. It was then the creature unleashed a gout of fluid at the retreating rouge. The green fluid barley missed the fleeing rouge, but some did manage to splash on his leg. It quickly began to burn through his leather leggings and sting the scales beneath. Acid. The things spit acid as well.

D&D Pre-Game 11-24-17 2 games this month!

“What do you mean this is my fault?”

“You know the watch where you were covering for me last weekend. The same watch where Captain Bartholomew found you sleeping. The same watch where you ratted me out for not being there. Any of that information ring a bell Kenneth? That is why we are both down her tonight.”

“Well Franklin! If you weren’t so set on chasing after the new barmaid at the Round Robin then we wouldn’t be here either.”

“Well I had a good chance with her.”

“Yeah she waiting for you back at the barracks is she?”

“Shut up! I think I heard something.”

“Well of course you heard something we are under the damn city. There are all manner of rats, frogs, drifters and guttersnipes down here Franklin.”

“Shut it!”

The two city guards stood with lanterns raised. The slow drip of water could be heard along with Franklin’s heavy breathing.

“Hold your breath for a minute would ya?” Kenneth whispered. “There is someone down the tunnel.”

Between the water drops the sound of something dragging or shuffling could be heard. Both guardsmen heard it. They shared a look and drew their swords.

It wasn’t uncommon to have a large beastie make their way into the sewers. That is what this patrol was for. The city sweeps the sewers monthly. No guardsman wants to do it. It is boring and smelly work and occasionally they dredge up some angry forest creature that is lost and hungry. There are even stories of horrible monsters, the living dead, fanatical cults, roving bands of flesh carvers, guilds of assassins, and unnamed horrors just waiting to devour one’s face. Truth be told, this patrol rousts some homeless people, drunks, rats, opossums and the occasional big bitey lizard.

The two guards rounded the next corner and sway a couple figures standing in the tunnel a small fire crackled at their feet.

“Relax Kenneth it is just some drunks or drifters. Look at ‘em. Just standin’ they is. Look at him sway back and forth. Let’s go roust them up top and get them to one of the shelters or into a cell to sleep it off.”

Franklin sheathed his sword and approached the two figures.

“Hey, you two! No sudden moves.’

“Franklin! Come back here. This doesn’t look or feel right.”

“Just relax Kenneth. Look they are so out of their gourd they don’t even realize we’re here. Ain’t that right boys!” Franklin yelled toward the two people standing in front of him.

Still there was no response.

As Kenneth approached he could see that the two men in front of him were staring with wide eyes, breathing slowly, but they were not moving. He waved the lantern in front of them, but they didn’t respond.

“Hey Ken! You need to see this! These two are just...it’s like they are frozen. Come take a look!”

Happy Thanksgiving!

D&D post game 11-18-17 Part 2

Our intrepid adventurers rode off the next morning looking for a Temple to the god Torm.

After a long Lord of the Rings like travel montage with the music and scenery, they arrived at the temple. Of course they arrived during a battle outside in the courtyard. There they saw five knight/crusader types facing off against a small horde of ninja/monks from the Dark Moon.

They rode in and joined the battle!

 

The Dark Moon increased their attacks and even had a pair of members rush toward the temple. The barbarian and rouge teamed up to assault the forces to the right. The new ½ orc warrior and monk rushed to aid the holy knights/crusaders on the left. The battle raged until the Dark Moon losses started to rise. A quartet of them disappeared into the shadows and made their escape. The pair that made their way into the temple were hunted down and killed before they could do whatever it was they were trying to do.

As the battle ended, they two parties met to discuss events. The crusading warriors of Torm had been at the temple for only  a few weeks. It was their turn to man this area, maintain the land, provide assistance and do all the daily rituals until this time next year. They had no idea why they were attacked and who was attacking them. There was nothing of value here to steal so they were incredibly confused by this attack.

The party began to police the bodies and found them to be a mix of humans, the body modification humans and a few more of those greenish pointy eared creatures. The crusaders attened the wounded and recovered their fallen bretheren.

By dusk the group was inside the temple searching for anything of worth. The rooms were all searched. The two small out buildings contained provisions and food stuffs. They found nothing to explain why the Dark Moon had attacked.

By now it was getting on toward night. Watches were set and the waiting began. Waiting for the inevitable attack…that eventually happened.

It was the ½ orc warriror who first heard the sound of scratching at the front door. Drawing one of his maces he pulled open the door and swung at the figure kneeling by where the door lock had been.

Then the night erupted with the sound of shattering glass!

D&D post game 11-18-17 Part 1

The party returned after thwarting a creepy death cult that was really really fond of worms. 

They  discovered in their absence that there was an attack on the funeral procession on the recently deceased high cleric of Lathander. Of course the city guard and a handful of adventurer chased off the attackers but not before they defiled the coffin and corpse inside.

One such random adventure type helping was a wandering ½ orc warrior who was stopping in Stonekeep looking for information about various orc tribes. Once the attack on the parade started he waded into the fracas. It wasn’t because it was the right thing to do. It was it was a fight and it seems this guy loves him a good fight!

The day after the party consisting of the rouge, barbarian and monk returned to town. The bard decided to travel north a bit to see what he could find for inspiration there. Once back the party split to investigate the disturbance, to relax and drink, investigate a bit into the ninja/monk medallion they found and why there was also a giant conclave of armored paladins, crusaders and holy warriors arriving in big numbers.

So many guys looking like this coming into town.

-The monk had some historical knowledge about the ninja medallion guy. The attire and medallion show his allegiance to the Order of the Dark Moon. Bad monk types.

-The priest body was stuck with several long thin hollow needles.

-The dead monks were being held by the city guard. They consisted of several humans, a tall thin no nosed pointy eared humanoid, several other humans with pale greyish skin, many tribal tattoos and a lot of body piercing, and finally a pair of drow. The city was keeping the drow information secret as not to cause more panic.

-The holy guys were from temples of Tyr, Torm and Tempus. They were setting off toward the Dead Lands and to the various shrines and temples in the lands, Why? Well to see if they had been defiled like a few of their temples in the North had been. To find the culprits. To discover the evil stuff that was all evil. (This was a big plot hook for the paladin, but he was absent this game so……) They were also hiring anyone willing to travel to the outlying temples in the region to see if there were any issues there, and to call to action any holy warriors that would want to help.

D&D Pre-game 11-18-17



A halfling in all manner of silk finery quickly walks down a dimly lit hall. Several armed guards stand to attention as he moves past them. He approaches a set of round iron doors and removes a key from within his robes. He quickly works the door lock and pushed them open.

He walks into a large Spartan room. A few stone benches and a dozen small oil lamps line the walls. The aid is thick with incense, steam, flute music, hushed feminine voices and the sound of water being poured. The tiny figure pulls a silk handkerchief from his pocket to cover his mouth and nose. He takes a few steps forward and lets his eyes adjust to the room.

As he moves he can see three scantily clad humanoid females dancing and gyrating throughout the room to the music. He knows the other women attendants are nearby large shallow pool giving his master his daily steam bath.

“My lord. I apologize for the interruption, but I have news.” says the gnome. His voice a bit muffled and muted due to the handkerchief.

“Let me guess.” replies a wet guttural voice from within the steam. “That cockamamie death cult failed to summon anything of worth.”

“Well yes and no master. They did fail to summon any of the lower denizens and their deity did not answer. Still, they did manage to fully weaponize the dead with various poisons and those hideous worms they use to infest themselves and others.

“That same group of heroes ,that has been harrying your plans, stopped them. It seems our informant had a change of heart at the last minute and wanted to protect his city. He has since been found and dealt with accordingly. Master.” The gnome braces himself for the bellow that usually follows bad news. Strangely that doesn’t occur this time.

“What of the monks?” asks the voice from within the steam.