Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
The following is the DM's bringing everyone up to speed for the campaign, inasmuch that we are scheduled to start next Wednesday.
As I am the only one I know of that has a completed character, I don't know if said start date will actually fly, but here's hopin'...
Quote:
The story* so far:
* Retconned to use the party you guys will be designing, to the extent you would like to involve your character - I will assume your character has been involved from the get-go, though you should feel free to come in at a a later point if there is a good reason.
Chapter 1: There Is No Honor
You currently reside in the city of Sasserine. Sasserine is a port city at the westernmost edge of the Amedio jungle. It is still trying to find its feet after emerging a decade ago from a century of oppressive rule under the Sea Princes.
Something about you attracted the attention of Lavinia Vanderboren, a minor noble in the city. She sent you an invitation to dinner at her manor. When you arrived, you found yourself there with a group of people. After dinner, Lavinia explained her situation and made you an offer of employment to help her gain access to her family vault.
You reclaimed her father's ship from a ring of smugglers who had hijacked it, and retrieved the signet ring that allows access to the vault. On entering the vault, getting past the guardian and deciphering the puzzle lock, Lavinia found that most of the expected money was missing, though she did find a number of debts owed to her family along with a notebook full of her Mother's writings.
On leaving the vault, she spoke to the clerk, who recalled Lavinia's brother, Vanthus, visiting the vault multiple times recently. Lavinia offered you a monthly retainer to act as her agents in Sasserine, and asked you to track down her brother and bring him back to her so she could try to talk some sense into him.
Thanks to a money hungry associate of his, you tracked him to a forgotten smugglers cave under Parrot Island where he was setting up a base of operations, but he was already suspicious you were seeking him and through some subterfuge, he killed your guide, dumped the body down on you in the cave and sealed you in, telling you to "Say hello to Penkus!". As if you hadn't had a bad enough day, the place was haunted by undead pirates and giant crabs, which you had to fend off while finding your way out of the caves (via an underwater tunnel). In the process you found Penkus - dead, bloated from the action of a poison. From the note he was clutching, it looked like he was a 'business associate' of Vanthus, a smuggler of exotic animals connected with an upcoming thieves organization in Sasserine called 'The Lotus Dragon Guild' that Vanthus was try to join. The note also gave the location of the guild headquarters (below the city, with an entrance in the Taxidermist's Guild Hall.
After escaping from Parrot Island, and telling Lavinia what you discovered, she asked you to track down her brother and return him to her alive, though if he forced you into killing him that you be make it quick and merciful. You entered the Lotus Dragon Guild headquarters and after making your way through the complex, ended up facing the leader of the Lotus Dragons, Rowyn Kellani. She is the eldest daughter of the Kellani noble family. After killing her felldrake, Gut Tugger and wounding her badly, she fled using a potion of gaseous form, leaving you to the riches of the Dragon Lotuses. Searching through her chambers yielded some letters (handout #5 on page 11) from her lover, Vanthus, explaining much of their relationship, where the Vanderboren fortune went and how Vanthus killed his own parents, as well as detailing his next move. After giving the information you gathered to Lavinia, her attitude changed - she now asked that you track down her brother and bring him to justice.
NEXT: Chapter 2: The Bullywug Gambit!
Quote:
Chapter 2: The Bullywug Gambit
You quickly arranged passage to Wyvern's Watch, a spit of beach near the pirate's lair of Kraken's Cove, since no Captain in their right mind would go into the Blood Bay, an area frequented by pirates, and few non-pirates know how to navigate the maze of reefs that protect the cove.
It was a short hike to the cove, but things quickly added up to equal something horribly wrong. There was a plume of smoke coming from the area of the cove, and as you hiked toward the cove you started seeing recently dead, mutated animals. Then the monkeys attacked. They were strange, covered in bone spurs sticking through their fur, lesions and mouths filled with needle like teeth. They attacked savagely and shrugged off normal attacks. After overcoming the monkeys, your path led you to the top of the cliff surrounding the well hidden Kraken's Cove. The ships in the cove were on fire (except one, moored further out in the cove than the burning ships) and you made your way down to the beach.
You fought your way into the complex, fighting ex-pirates (and other creatures including a terrible lizard) mutated horribly and thirsting for blood. You finally located someone unaffected by whatever it is that happened, and fought off a pile of mutant pirates. She introduced herself as Harliss Javel, and captain of the ship Vanthus was attempting to rob. According to Javel, Vanthus and a woman had met with Javel to arrange some trade in exotic animals. A ship was supposed to come in that day with the goods from the Crimson Fleet (a feared organization of pirates). Vanthus dumped some whale oil into the cove though, lighting it on fire, and attempted to make off with a black pearl the size of a man's fist in the ensuing chaos.
Harliss caught him at it and stabbed him. He dropped the pearl and it cracked, then Vanthus' blood dripped on the pearl which caused a reaction. The blood boiled and flashed and green acidic gas started pouring off the pearl. Javel grabbed it and threw it in the water, but as it hit, it exploded and things got weird - people started changing into the things you had just fought - Javel's crew and Vanthus' girlfriend too., Vanthus and Javel dove from the ship - Vanthus got away, while Javel swam for shore. Javel found her first mate, a half-orc named Drevoraz, on shore, unaffected, and she sent him to Sasserine to kill Vanthus and his family as retribution for the mess he caused. Javel ended up retreating deep into the caves, fighting for her life.
Realizing your employer was in trouble (since Vanthus was not at all likely to be at Vanderboren manor), you decided to set off back to Sasserine, in a race to save Lavinia's life, but checked out the only remaining ship before leaving. It was named the Sea Wyvern - in good condition but needed a minimum of seven people to crew it, which meant you couldn't use that to get back. Fortunately you had arranged for the ship that had dropped you off to come back and look for a signal fire at Wyvern's Watch beach, so you headed back there and met up with your ship.
You arrived back in Sasserine to find it in the middle of the the "Wormfall Festival" - celebrating the year anniversary of the defeat of a cult of Vecna who had been attempting to destroy the world. You navigated your way through the revelers from the docks to Vanderboren Manor, with some distractions along the way - a runaway float from the parade that crashed into a tavern as you were walking past, a short (gnome) drunken reveler with a big ego who didn't like being jostled by the crowd and tried to start a fight, and then an attack by assassin street performers, hired by Heldrath Kellani (Rowyn's mother) to repay you for breaking up the Lotus Dragons and making her family look bad in the eyes of the Dawn Council (the ruling council of the city).
After all this you made it to Vanderboren Manor, and found it in disarray, overrun with bullywugs. You fought your way through the frogmen, to find Lavinia and another group of adventurers that her parents had sponsored and who still work for Lavinia (they call themselves the Jade Ravens) tied up and being held by Drevoraz and some of the bullywugs. You handily rescued them and drove off Drevoraz and the remaining bullywugs.
You were honored by the Dawn Council with a banquet at Castle Teraknian and awarded the Spire of Sasserine award for crushing the Dragon Lotus guild and exposing the Kellani famiy's indiscretions.
Next: Part 3 - The Sea Wyvern's Wake - the current situation!
Quote:
Chapter 3 - The Sea Wyvern's Wake
After a couple of days to relax and enjoy your new found fame, you receive a message from your patron, Lavinia Vanderboren (she pays you 100 gp per month to remain in her employ as her personal troubleshooters, agents and guards), requesting your presence for a meeting at her manor. The manor has a busy vibrant feel when you arrive - workers are repairing damage from the bullywugs, and a new staff of servants are busy with their own tasks. They direct you to the main dining room where you find Lavinia, with all manor of papers strewn across the table in front of her. She looks up from the papers and smiles, inviting you to have a seat.
"Do you recall the journal we recovered from my family vault?", Lavinia asks. "It turns out that it was my mother's. My parents, may the gods rest their souls, were brave - foolish and rash some would say, but I have never been one to criticize and adventurous spirit. On the contrary-"she casts a wry smile at you all, "I admire it. In any event, it would seem that about four years ago, my mother and father undertook a risky endeavor. They sailed the Blue Nixie, along with a sjip full of colonists, down south and across the Vohoun Ocean to a place they refer to as the Isle of Dread."
"You may have heard of this place - if you haven't, it seems apparent from reading my mother's journals that the place is aptly named. A jungle-covered hell infested with immense reptilian monsters, feral svages, and peril at every turn. Yet the southern peninsula reminas relatively sheltered from the menaces on the isle mainland, and it was here, among the villages of several friendly locals, that my parents founded the colony of Farshore."
"The Isle of Dread represents an untapped trove of resources - exotic lumber, spices, animals, foods, and even minerals like silver and gold. Once Farshore was up and running, the influx of trade would have guaranteed my family a relatively uncontested flow of wealth. Yet before my mother and father were able to return to Farshore with supplies and more colonists... my brother made his move and left me in the stat you found me in a few short weeks ago."
Lavinia indicates her mother's journal. "Since we have recodered this journal, I have not been idle. If Farshore fails, then my parents' last legacy fails. I intend to carry on their work, and have planned for a journey south to the Isle of Dread to resupply and join the colonists at Farshore for the rest of the year. I have the Blue Nixie readying in the harbor to take fresh supplies to the colony, but I find myself a vessel short." Lavinias face breaks into a glowing grin as she continues, "You wouldn't know of anyone with stout hearts who might happen to be interested in helping me mount this expedition, do you? I fear the journey itself might grow dangerous at times, and there's no way of knowing what state or condition Farshore is currently in, but I suspect that danger is a vice you have."
You recall the Sea Wyvern, moored in Kraken's Cove. There was no one from that ship left alive after the incident there, and Jarliss Havel couldn't sail the caravel by herself, no matter how good a pirate she is. If it is still there, it is abandoned, and could be yours by maritime traditions if you claim it as salvage at a port.
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
So it sounds like the other party members will be a Sorcerer, a "straight-up" Fighter and then maybe a Beguiler/Spellthief (betcha' can't tell which one was made by the guy most familiar with the rules...).
More on them as I find it out, which I suspect will be Wednesday.
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
“The Hard Reset”
We gathered last night to begin once again our weekly gaming sessions, and restarted the Savage Tide campaign as if it had already been in progress.
Our now players (other than my character, referenced previously):
Egeo – Human Sorcerer, with raven familiar Ein Zeidel – Half-dragon (gold) Monk, who has a Hat of Disguise that he uses to make himself appear human (until he gets it as a natural ability or something) Edrik – Human Spellthief/Beguiler (pages 162 and 148, respectively)
Apparently everyone has backstory, so when I get it I will share.
We began by making sure that everyone (DM included) was on the same page with the various house rules, and came to a decision on how to work Natural Armor with our Armor as DR rules – we are going to try the rules as written in the SRD. Obviously if we find that it isn’t working well for us we will figure out a change, but that seems to be an easy fix for the moment.
Lavinia’s proposed trip to the Isle of Dread (to the colony of Farshore) was planned for, and it was decided that two vessels would be taken – Lavinia would take the Blue Nixie with the “Jade Ravens” and some colonists, and then the party would take the Sea Wyvern.
After some brief discussion, Rafe chose captainship of the Sea Wyvern, as he was the PC with the highest bonus in “Profession: Sailor.” Edrik was First Mate (as he had the second highest bonus), and the Navigator was a woman named Amella. Amella had been married to a sea captain and accompanied him on many voyages before his death, and the running of the ship was largely left to her.
Rounding out the crew was a somewhat shifty looking man named Skald and a tomboyish woman named Lirith.
Egeo and Rafe looked into Skald’s background (read: Gather Information and Knowledge: Local) and discovered that he was wanted in Sasserine for arson – he had burnt down a warehouse owned by one of the Council members and wanted to “get away” for a bit.
Also aboard the SW were fifteen colonist couples and the following personalities:
• Father Feres – Human Priest of Heironeous
• Urol Forol (which had me immediately thinking of the “Rural Juror” – a Gnome who is immensely interested in all things natural, with a particular predilection for his venomous spider collection (more on that in a little bit). Like to talk at great length about his…likes
• Avner M…something – Human noble whose father was partially bankrolling the colony
• Tavey Nesk – Human cabin boy; the jokes made about him are probably better left untyped up
On the day of departure Avner showed up half an hour late with two servants and his warhorse in tow. He immediately ordered that said horse be brought aboard and for the crew to show both him and his servants to their respective quarters. As the SW isn’t particularly large (and the cargo hold was packed with something in the range of “tons of supplies”), we weren’t about to let a horse on board.
Egeo tried to discuss this with him (Diplomacy 10) and was rebuffed – Avner wanted to know who this was to be speaking to him as such.
Rafe took the opportunity to explain that the SW wasn’t really equipped to handle an animal of such magnificence (Diplomacy 20) and then gave Avner a tour of the ship to drive the point home. It was also pointed out to Avner that he would be staying in the Captain’s quarters with Rafe as a guest – something that is quite an honor as ship space is something of a premium.
After the tour, Avner relented (muttering something to the effect that “Thunderstrike shouldn’t be allowed on such a shoddy vessel”) and then sent his servants to drop the horse back off at his estate – which was another hour delay.
At this point I would like to bring up the alternative plan that Rafe struck upon for the removal of said horse from the ship if Diplomacy wasn’t an option (poor rolls, etc.). Remember how Urol liked venomous spiders, and he had a bunch of them with him? Yeah, if it looked like it was going to be a real pain in convincing Avner not to bring the horse, it would have come along and developed a nasty case of something in the first few days of the voyage.
Mind you, the same was thought about dealing with Avner himself, but that was more wishful thinking.
Edrik was sent to the Blue Nixie and explain to Lavinia the delay – she expressed some surprise that Avner had been convinced that bringing the horse was a bad idea; I believe her exact words were, “He is insufferable and that’s the reason he won’t be traveling with me.” Ah, passing the buck.
Once that was settled, we were off.
The first few days of travel passed smoothly with the BN and SW staying with sight distance of each other; Egeo struck upon the method of using Ein to communicate messages from our ship to theirs (sweet talking birds).
On the third day toward evening a rowboat was seen leaving the BN. As the crew aboard the rowboat approached the SW, they explained that Lavinia wanted to invite the captain, crew and Avner to the BN for dinner. Of course we accepted and dropped anchor about 60 feet apart. Egeo left Ein on the ship “to keep an eye on things.” A rope was sent over from the BN and a hemp seat was then used to pulley people across the two boats.
At least, that’s what most people used – Zeidel, seeing the taut rope, took the opportunity to run across it.
Dinner was a pleasant affair with only a marginal amount of insulting toward the “Jade Ravens” by the party. The purpose of the dinner was to celebrate the furthest that Lavinia had actually been from Sasserine. Avner drank much Elven wine and made a pass at Lavinia (rejected!). After dinner Egeo entertained with card tricks and Prestidigitation (apparently he used to be a "carnie" - look forward to reading that).
The evening drew to a close and the party once again went to use the hemp seat. Well, sort of – Zeidel decided to again run across it, and about halfway over the rope it parted and he fell in the water. It was easy to fish him out, but while getting him out of the water Edrik noticed something flying up off the SW.
Ein?
Duhn duhn DUHNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
More next week (or as I get character backstories)!
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
Because I've been a pain in the ass about it...
The Tale of Egeo
Quote:
My life started out much like any one else in Fenhold. Born to a farmer, expected to become a farmer and eventually die a farmer. The only excitement ever came from the traveling shows that rolled through our little village every fall around harvest time. The brightly colored wagons, the exotic smells of strange food and perfume. The cacophony of festive music, story tellers and roars of strange beasts. My favorite of all were the Tricksters. Performers who were quick of tongue and quicker of hand. Slight of hand they called it, and I watched ever one of them endlessly, trying to see the truth behind the ruse. Not to ruin the trick mind you, but to repeat it. When I was eight I bought a deck of cards with my hard earned coppers and practiced all summer the tricks I witnessed every year. The more mundane slights where easy to figure out. Most of them involved palming small objects which I eventually managed to do with regular success. The cards where harder to figure since you could never really see what was happening as the Trickster flit them between this wily fingers.
After months of playing the cards I began to become frustrated with my inability to figure it out on my own. One fateful evening of failed attempts at trying to guess my current and only fan's card (my youngest sister Zin age 5) I slammed the deck down in annoyance and let out a huff of defeat. With that the deck of cards blew into the air and scattered about the room. Zin clapped in wonder. I just sat dumb founded.
During the next few weeks I learned that I could make little gusts of wind, sparkling little lights and even move small objects. Over time I learned to control them with some skill, but I kept it to myself. Only Zin ever saw me preform the less mundane magic, and only because she insisted that I let her watch or she'd tell Ma and Pa. I figured they would only react with fear or anger, so I figured it be best just to placate her.
During my eleventh year, when the traveling show came to town as it did every year, I sneaked into the performers camp after the show ended for the day. I sought out the tricksters to show them what I could do, or at least the slight of hand stuff. I was still too afraid of how people would react to my real magic, even from these supposed “magicians”. They were all just trickery and speed. I was something else, and even they might react with fear. I don't know what I was expecting to gain other then maybe being let in on the secret of their card tricks which I still could not reproduce even tho I was able to shuffle the cards with out touching the deck, albeit slowly.
I found the man who called himself the Jack of Diamonds. He still wore his glittery frock and cape. He had just settled down for his supper. I gathered up my nerve and introduced myself. At first he just took me as a star struck country bumpkin looking for an autograph and tried to shoo me off. But after I pleaded my case to let me show him what I learned from watching men like him all my young life, he obliged begrudgingly. As I did my simple and crude imitation of his craft, he looked on with weak interest. I was probably one of hundreds of kids who had interrupted his dinner. He politely stifled a yawn and patted me on the shoulder. “Looking good. A few more years and you might have your own show.” I could hear the half hearted tone in his enthusiasm. He just wanted to finish his dinner in peace. I asked to let me show him my final trick. My best. My real trick. He let out a sigh knowing that agreeing was the only way he'd get rid of me and sat back down across from me. I set my deck of cards on the ground in front of me. Their edges worn fro constant use. Jack huffed impatiently when nothing happened after the first few seconds but was quickly replaced with stunned silence as the deck slowly began to cut and shuffle itself. I'll never forget his words. “I'll be damned kid. You have the touch we tricksters only dream of!” He then asked me to return the next night before the show left town. He wanted me to show the troupe leader what I had shown him. I happily agreed, completely forgetting my fear of showing others what I could do.
The next day dragged on. I was too excited about the coming meeting with Jack and his boss. After dinner I ran off before my parents could even tell me to clear my plate.
It was a little harder to repeat my trick for the troupe leader, being too nervous and excited to focus. But after a minute I got the same reaction from the man as I got from Jack the night before. He looked at me with a strange sparkle in my eye. “How'd you like to join my show kid?”
I never even stopped to think of how my disappearance would make my parents feel. I figured being the middle child of seven I was overlook enough as it was and expendable. He was my chance to escape the cycle that every man in my family lived. My only thought of Zin and how it would break her heart if I just vanished with saying a word.
I waited to return to my house until after I was sure everyone was in bed. I crept into my room, shared with my three older brothers. It was easy to collect my few worldly possession with out much worry of waking them under the cover of Gort's snoring. I then slipped into Zin's rooms. I had to be careful not to wake the two youngest. I roused her quietly and motioned her to follow me outside.
I told her my plan as tears welled up in her eyes with every detail. I half expected her to beg to follow me or threaten to wake the whole town. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown and looked me in the eyes. “You'll come back some day, right?” I nodded.
“Of course I will. Here” I pulled my deck of cards from my pocket. “Keep an eye on these while I'm gone. I'll want them back when I return. OK?” She only nodded and sniffled. Then grabbed me in a big hug. “You can tell Ma and Pa in the morning. I'll be long gone by then.”
That was the last I ever saw Zin. I traveled the land with Jack and the troupe. He taught me all the mundane tricks he knew and I added flourish with my own special style. As the years passed I learned new tricks of my own. Became a master trickster in my own right and then some. After ten years I decided to return home. I began to miss my family, epically Zin.
Upon my arrival home I learned the horrible news that Zin was dead. She also had the spark and practiced as I did, however she was caught by a local boy as she levitated some twigs about. Terrified, he ran to the elders crying witch. He riled a mob, many who began to claim having seen Zin do other things normal girls should be able to do. They demanded her tried and despite my families pleas the elders allowed it. She was found guilty of witchcraft and was burned at the stake.
I never told my parents about my own powers. They had been through enough. They didn't need any more burdens. I placed the blame on myself. I should have never let her watch me. Or maybe if I had taken her with me, she would be alive today. I found the deck of cards I left her in a old drawer full of other bits of junk. I took it and left. I never returned to Fenhold. There was no reason to any more.
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
So after not playing last week because someone (myself) couldn't make it, the decision was made to continue on with STAP...even tho' another player couldn't make it.
We were also expecting a different possible fourth - a work colleague of Edrik's player - but apparently he had something better to do (get paid for work) than "play."
Evening repast: Black-eyed pea gumbo with jalapeño & cheese bread
"Mephit in a Jar - Oh!" (to the tune of "Message in a Bottle" by the Police)
As the party shouted encouraging words to Zeidel ("Hey, get the hell out of the water!"), Edrik began to look more carefully for the motion he had seen fly up from the Sea Wyvern. It became all to apparent what it was when "it" popped up in front of Rafe and gave him a blast of nasty, acidy breath.
"It" happened to be a water mephit, in this case in the form of what looked to be a "winged creature with bulging fish eyes" (my best guess of what it looked like is here).
After blasting Rafe with its breath weapon, the rest of the party acted...sort of. As we were largely unarmed, at least ranged weapon speaking, Edrik stepped up to the side of the Blue Nixie and cast Color Spray at it. As stunning the creature prevented it from "taking actions," the DM indicated that it stopped flying - thus plunging into the drink for the maximum number of rounds.
The party then hurried over to the SW in the rowboats of the BN, keeping an eye out for the beast. A quick Search of the deck yielded an open jar tucked into a coil of rope filled with a rank fluid that could have conceivably held the creature inside. The jar had been screwed shut, and it did not appear that it had been unscrewed from inside the jar - meaning that likely there was a saboteur aboard.
The crew was roused and after Edrik and Egeo couldn't make any determinations as to what the creature may have been, Urol stuck his finger into the jar, then into his mouth and announced, "Mmmmm. That's a mephit alright."
Rafe caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and as he turned to look the mephit shot Edrik in the back with an Acid Arrow. There was a scramble aboard the deck to retaliate until it was realized that we still hadn't procured much of any sort of ranged attack options, and the mephit was flying about 30' away from the edge of the ship. Edrik cast Mirror Image and then attempted to remove the acid from his back.
Zeidel, Edrik and Rafe were the only ones not affected by said Cloud, and thus the large part of the crew took their turns being nauseated and running below decks. Rafe called to Tavey to "Bring me my bow!!" while keeping the mephit in sight. Egeo moved out of the Cloud and fired Magic Missiles at the mephit, causing it to again fly away, splashing into the water.
The next few rounds were largely devoted to keeping an eye out for the mephit, getting crew members armed with bows and the having Edrik check to make sure that the creature wasn't attempting to somehow get in through the hull somewhere.
After a time it popped up in front of Egeo, who was standing close to Zeidel. It attacked with its claws, and Zeidel leapt to Egeo's defense, pummeling the creature with a Flurry of Blows. Egeo backed away, unleashing a Fiery Burst at the creature - and then it was finished off by a shot from the longbow of Skald (who managed to crit on the mephit).
Some minor discussion as to what to do with the corpse was had, and after summoning Father Feres to determine what to do with it - his response: "What is it?" - it was decided that putting it back in the jar was likely the best way of making sure it didn't come back around. The jar was secured, and then Edrik suggested we search the ship to see if there were any other "unaccounted" magical sources.
Egeo swept the ship, and a stash of magical equipment was found - leather armor, boots, buckler, rapier and a scroll (of Summon Nature's Ally III).
Rafe ordered the crew and colonists on deck to see if anyone would fess up to having brought the equipment aboard; while he did so, Edrik cast Detect Thoughts to determine which of the 22 people aboard may have been responsible.
DM: You sense 23 minds aboard, and none of the ones that you are scanning seem to indicate that they are responsible...
Edrik, Egeo and Rafe then did a deck-by-deck search of the SW, and eventually came across said mind in the forwardmost hold of the ship. The door to the hold was opened, and as nothing appeared to be immediately out-of-the-ordinary in the hold, Edrik cast Glitterdust.
The Glitterdust settled and the form of a humanoid female came into view - a form that, as the DM put it, "Looks like she'd been ridden hard and put up wet."
As the form came a little more into focus, we realized that it was none other than a familiar face from our recent past - Rowyn Kellani (see page 4 - there're pics of some of the other crew members to boot). It was rouhgly at this point that the DM also remarked, "Who the hell takes - or even uses - Detect Thoughts??"
Rowyn cursed us for having brought down her family and came at Edrik (who was standing in the doorway) with a dagger. She Feinted and he fell for it, and she thrust into him with a mighty Sneak Attack (so not only was she a Bard, but a Rogue - hello, low HD!).
Egeo responded with a blast of Scorching Ray, burning two Hero Points to max out two of the damage die ("Bring the Pain") and hitting her overall for 22 points of damage.
Rafe went last in the round, and himself burned two Hero Points for a +4 ("Lady Luck Smiles) to his already high Tumble of +14 - which was good, since he went to Tumble through her square on rolled a mere 7. Upon flanking her, he struck with a SA of his own, scoring a hit.
Edrik then cast Whelm on her. For those not familiar (as none of us happened to be):
Whelm (PHBII)
You launch a magical assault that wears at the target’s mind, dealing 1d6 points of nonlethal damage if it fails its saving throw.
For every two caster levels beyond 1st, you deal an extra 1d6 points of nonlethal damage to the subject, to a maximum of 5d6 at 9th level.
This felled Rowyn, and he ensured she was no longer armed and dragged her up to the main deck. Several vials of liquid were discovered on her person (which Egeo, alchemist supreme failed to identify other than being "Maybe some liquid").
After securing her to the main mast of the SW, Urol announced that the vials were full of arsenic. Delightful.
Father Feres tended to Rowyn's wounds so she would at least be stabilized.
Rafe called for Tavey to bring him a bucket of water, and this was then thrown in Rowyn's face to awaken her.
Egeo proceded to try to Intimidate her - which went poorly. Rafe took up the role of "good cop" using some Diplomacy - also poorly.
As she seemed hell bent on vengeance for what the part had done to her family (how did we know this? She gave Harliss Javelle a run for her money with the very ladylike cursing and telling us what to do with ourselves and where), Rafe took a different tack in appealing to her better judgment. Rafe informed her that - as they were at sea, and she was aboard his vessel - his word was pretty much law with regard to what was to be her fate. Sure, we could tie her up and throw her overboard, or keelhaul her, or likely even just hang her for both what she had done and what she was likely intending to do.
But life is about choices, and her choice was to either accept whatever Rafe decided as punishment or start her life anew as a Farshore colonist. It wouldn't be an easy life, but surely someone that knew of smuggling and how to make deals for needed goods would be well needed by a trade colony. As at least one noble was along on this journey in an attempt at redemption (see: Avner's worthless ass), she could also start fresh with her family name, and try to make something new of herself.
The choice was to be hers, and she was to decide by dawn.
DM: Make a Diplomacy roll.
[Note: the party - as a whole - had been largely rolling piss poor for Skill checks the entire evening]
Rafe's player: Ah, dammit. How about a natural 20, with a +10 bonus?
Yeah, that would change some NPC Attitude - BOO YA!
Her demeanor changed, and she said she would think about it. We untied her from the mast and put her in a small hold in the ship for the evening, and then Egeo sent Ein to inform Lavinia of the transpirin's.
Morning came, and after a knock on the hold door Rowyn said she wanted another hour to think about what she was going to do. Shortly after this Lavinia arrived on the SW and she announced that she wanted to speak privately with Rowyn.
Rafe brought Lavinia up to speed (and the DM brought the players that hadn't been present for the first portion of STAP up to speed with regard to the relationship of Lavinia, Vanthus and Rowyn). After realizing that Lavinia wasn't too likely to place much of the blame squarely on Rowyn for the actions of Vanthus, Lavinia entered the hold and they spoke privately.
After awhile they came out and Lavinia informed us that Rowyn would be traveling with her on the BN until we reached Farshore. Rafe said that her equipment would be kept aboard the SW, under his care, until this happened - and then went on to inform Rowyn that both he and his "crew" (read: the party) didn't feel particularly bad for their role in what had happened with her family, since it was pretty much her own damn fault. A Sense Motive check indicated that:
"If looks could kill, Rafe would be lying on the floor
He'd be begging, please please, Rowyn don’t hurt me no more..."
Or something.
In any event, Rowyn and Lavinia depart to the BN and both ships get back underway.
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
Wellllllllll, it would appear that once again familial obligations cause me to miss yet another session. Hopefully someone will give me something to put up tomorrow as I won't be able to attend tonight.
[edit] Turns out that the Zeidel's player will no longer be able to join us on any sort of routine basis (as he is in law school and is taking a heavy courseload), so nothing happened that I need to try and pry from the other players. Which is probably good, since it would have been the "Party of Two Magic Users," which usually don't work out so well if there's combat...
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
It would appear that we have a lead on a new player, so next week's session might be all sorts of entertaining (seeing as how well some of our previous players have clicked with the rest of the group).
However, given the contact e-mail of the individual in question I have high hopes that he will work out quite well.
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
Last night started off with the DM asking for some suggestions with regard to some metagaming/handwaving that was needed to be done, mostly with the inclusion of the new PC to the party.
The DM informed us that the new player was going to be a ranged fighter.
Players: "Sure, okay."
He also had a bear animal companion.
Players: "Ooooookay."
And a donkey.
Players: "Wait, what?"
Turns out the backstory for said character was that he - like Egeo - used to be part of a traveling circus and that the bear in question was an old trained bear that he would "wrestle" for money but was otherwise pretty harmless; apparently the donkey was also important, but not nearly so much as the bear - who would be needing to come with us on the ship.
As we had already dissuaded Avner from bringing a large animal aboard the ship, the DM was looking for suggestions from us as to how to get around this so that the bear could tag along (pretty much as moving scenery).
After some thought, I came up with the rationale that - after consulting with Urol - the bear would be invaluable in helping to possibly sniff out any other stowaways that might be trying to come aboard, seeing as how that had already been proven a problem. While not a fantastic idea, it was met with a, "Sure, why the hell not," attitude from both DM and players.
At least, until I suggested the name of such action as instituting "Ship-'bear'-d security."
Yes, I did work this into conversation several times more during the evening, to the dismay of all.
That pretty much brings us to the start of last night's session...
"When the Party Gets Huff, the Huff Gets Rough (With Surgery)"
As the extended colonization party approached Fort Blackwell, the Sea Wyvern and Blue Nixie got boarded and inspected by Fort Blackwell officialdom to ensure that we weren't smuggling; as we didn't offer a bribe, it was pretty much assumed that we had nothing to hide and thus the search was fairly half-assed.
The SW and BN docked, and Avner made sure to push his way off the ship first, saying that he was going to finally "get some privacy." Lavinia came over and announced that after reprovisioning, the plan was to leave in the morning, so we should keep the carousing at a minimum. Amella and Tavey stayed aboard the ship while the colonists went and did sightseeing (or whatever); Urol and another crewmember, Lirith, would bargain for provisions; Father Feres was off to either the Shrine or Monastery of Heironeous; Skald was off...hopefully not setting the town on fire; and the party was off to stock up on arrows/crossbow bolts and the Big Bag o' Spell Components for Egeo.
While doing the Spell Component shopping, it was inquired "what the going rate for a pickled mephit" was, to which the response was, "Buying or selling?"
Oh, at this point I should bring up that while we still had the jar for the mephit, the mephit itself was missing from said jar. No clue where it went.
As there wasn't much demand for pickled mephit juice, the party wandered the town a bit more, and during the wanderings came across a somewhat...odd bit of business.
In one of the larger squares a large bamboo cage had been set up, and in the cage was an old-ish looking brown bear. Outside the cage, talking up the ferocity of the bear was a "strong looking guy, but whose muscles look like they're in the wrong places - like Andre the Giant." As the party and others watched, the man proceeded to enter the cage with the bear and then put on a remarkably unconvincing show of "wrestling" it, ending with an obvious hand signal upon which the bear flopped to the ground and was "pinned."
After such a display of bravado several of the members of the crowd tossed coppers; Rafe threw a gold, which then prompted the man - Huff Covington - to thank Rafe for his generosity and inquire as to his status in the town (Huff being hard up for cash). Rafe informed him that he was captain of the Sea Wyvern and that they were part of an expedition for the further colonization of Farshore.
Huff then confided in Rafe that his performances weren't exactly paying the bills, and inquired if Rafe could offer him any work. He then explained that the bear - Cherpa - was actually trained and not the dangerous beast he had made her out to be.
After sizing him up, Rafe offered up a spot as crew, since having someone else along to haul things around was always a plus. He was then introduced around to Edrick and Egeo.
This continued the amazingly below-average rolling by Egeo's player, who when hearing Huff's background was asked to make a Knowledge: Local check at a DC 10.
Nope.
As the newly assembled party continued to wander back toward the ship, Huff's descriptions of what he had been doing with himself prompted another Knowledge: Local from Egeo at - again - a DC 10, which he just barely made. Something Huff mentioned made Egeo remember that his mentor - the Jack of Diamonds - had performed similarly (the trick in question? Pulling an egg from his rear...) and it turned out the two had been trained by the same man.
Huzzah for party unity!
Then we went through the process of ingaming the previously mentioned "ship-'bear'-d security" measures (hey, I work with what I got). When the DM asked, "Have we resolved the bear issue?" he was informed by Edrik's player, "Barely."
I was informed I wasn't allowed to say anything about that owing to my previous use of "ship-'bear'-d."
Ship-'bear'-d, ship-'bear'-d, ship-'bear'-d.
During the exchange with Urol the gnome informed Rafe that he had obtained a map "from a one legged sailor who found it on a dead elf" of the Olman Ruins of Tamoachan.
[As this didn't trip any recognition from the players, the DM explained that apparently this was a redoing of Module C1, and he was quite excited about getting to run it.]
Urol explained that apparently in said ruins there was an "eight-legged reptilian creature that could turn men to stone" that he wanted to get some venom sacks from as they were quite valuable. He had already discussed this with Lavinia, so it was to be the next stop (prior to our last provisioning stop at Fort Greenrock). The party looked up the prices of Stone Salve - which was just a shade out of our collective price range - but were informed that Urol had some so we "shouldn't need to worry."
How comforting.
Rafe then decided to take the whole crew out for the evening to a restaurant called "Terwalls" (no clue if that's important or not, but I wrote it down so up I type it), which cost 70 GP.
The next morning came and the ships got underway. The first day Huff went to the trouble of sneaking Cherpa on the main deck to poop unnoticed - and succeeded.
As we sailed along, it was noticed that there appeared to be a haze in the trees along the coast. Upon investigation with a spyglass, the haze was actually lots and lots of spiderwebs, and the spiders that had presumably spun said webs appeared to be at least the size of large serving platters.
Thankfully, we didn't have anything further to do with them.
On the 6th day out of Fort Blackwell Tavey came and work Rafe sometime after midnight, saying that Father Feres had taken ill and that Amella had sent for Rafe. Rafe went to see what was the matter and Father Feres did indeed appear to have fallen ill - feverish, writhing in pain, complaining of brightness in a darkened room, etc. A call for someone with any sort of Healing knowledge was put out first to the crew and passengers of the SW, and since that turned up nothing then to the BN.
Still nothing.
Huff made an untrained Heal check on Feres (which consisted largely of giving him a calming mixture of rum, sugar and something else that had been cooked down) ad discovered that there was a pulsing, squirming something in Feres' abdomen.
Rafe sent for Lavinia and Rowyn; Lavinia to tell her that they were going to cut whatever was in Feres out (because one way or another it wasn't any good), Rowyn to inquire of her if she knew any "healing arts" (read: Bard related healing spells) once said cutting was completed.
As Rafe was determined to be "best with a knife," the process of random surgery on Feres commenced. Mostly this consisted of rolling a d20 and then a d4 - the d20 determined some measure of success, the d4 was damage to Feres.
After cutting over the pulsing thing (which was observed to be getting bigger during the surgery) and exposing it, it appeared to be a leathery-scaly covering form something that squirmed inside.
Loooooong story short, poor rolls were had by most; Rafe pulled the thing out of Feres but it was still attached to his insides, and eventually it was freed from his insides, but not before killing Feres in the process.
The squirming sack was dispatched and opened to see what it was; it appeared to be a scaly bluish creature with a frog-like head and large claws coming out of the back of its upper limbs...
Of course, in addition to no one knowing anything about Healing, there was also general cluelessness about "Knowledge: Planes" to boot and the creature was unknown to all.
If I were a bettin' man, I'd wager that the creature in question was an anagram of salad as the DM informed us that had we not dealt with it it could have resulted in a TPK.
There was some discussion as to whether or not to go back to Blackwell and figure out what the hell had happened, but this was shot down. Lavinia then asked if we had gone through Feres' belongings to see if those might give us any clues.
Of course we hadn't.
A search of Feres' belongings yielded the following:
3 light blue potions (Cure Light)
1 light green potion (Lesser Restoration)
An unidentified wand that was a bluish crystal with a silvery wire wrapping wound around it
A simple dagger with the initials "C.H" carved in the handle
A bunch of letters
The letters were all addressed to a "Conrad Horst," and when we found a wanted poster from the city of Caulderon with Feres' likeness stating that one "Conrad Horst" was wanted for swindling, we got the impression that Skald may not have been the only shady crew member. There was also a note that indicated that Feres/Horst was to meet with someone for something in Blackwell.
Further discussion determined that while it was sad that he died - and weird the manner in which he died - taking at least 2 weeks out of our voyage (for merely getting there and back to where we were) was pretty much out of the question, so on we traveled.
The next day Amella suggested that we stop and get fresh water from a larger river that was coming up the coast, and so the SW and BN anchored and sent teams up the river for the better part of a day doing so. This worried Huff to some extent, as he had heard that there were "River strumpets; you know, freshwater trollops..." to be concerned about, but sadly this turned out not to be the case.
Upon finishing this rather dull task the ships got back underway, but soon were stopped owing to a very thick fog rolling in. Urol remarked that this wasn't uncommon for the area and as visibility was reduced to a few feet word passed back and forth between the BN and SW to drop anchor until it cleared.
Some time later, the SW lurched violently to one side as if we had struck something underwater - which bodes badly, as we weren't the ones moving...
Re: [D&D] Savage Tide Actual Play by the Iron Gamers Guild
Last night started with some discussion on the OoG use of Hero Points (namely with regard to purchasing Skills, Feats, etc.) and one of the players suggested an additional HP expenditure.
As he's going to have to write it up and name it, I don't have access to the exact verbiage as of yet, but the general idea is that for 5 HP's you can roll two of whatever HD your character may have and add them together, not to exceed the total max of the HD (i.e., a Rogue would roll two D6's, but the combined result of said roll could be no higher than a six). A more expensive way of getting higher than average VP's, and I guess we'll see how it may work in play.
I think that was it for discussion, which brings us to...
When last we left our intrepid band of ne're-do-wells, the Sea Wyvern and Blue Nixie had been anchored owing to an extraordinarily thick fog rolling in; right before it started to get "nighttime" dark the SW lurched hard to one side as if it had struck something under the water.
Rafe summoned the crew onto the deck to look and see if they could find anything in the water that might explain such an occurrence, and as he peered over the side he was struck violently in the head, failed a Str check and then was pulled off the ship and down into the...water? What he landed on was apparently a 15' square blob of not-water, which gave like a waterbed.
Egeo noticed something large parting the fog before he saw Rafe get pulled over the side, and Edrik, Huff and Zeidel rushed to the side of the ship to see what was going on.
Rafe appeared to have landed on a patch of...something in the water that was strewn with various ship debris and portions of dead animals. Rafe also discovered that he was stuck to the Jell-O jiggler-like consistency of...whatever it was that he had landed on. Thankfully he was stuck face up; unfortunately an attempt to free himself was not so effective and he was struck again.
Had we not been using the Armor as DR rules, this would have put Rafe into WP's since whatever it was hit hard; thankfully, one of the other players brought this up and Rafe wasn't limited to partial actions (whew!).
After some initial salvos of arrows (courtesy of Huff) and Scorching Ray (courtesy of Egeo) and Edrik tossing a line down to Rafe, Huff was also struck by...whatever it was (the party was making some amazingly bad "Spot" checks) and pulled down onto it. As Huff was significantly more burly than Rafe, he was able to pull himself to his feet with significant more ease.
At this point Zeidel leapt from the ship and attacked the translucent glop, feet and legs a-flailin' (read: Flurry of Blows). He in turn was struck for his efforts, and resulted in him being stuck face down on the...stuff.
Somewhere in all of this Urol managed to inform everyone that it was a Flotsam Ooze. Hoo-ray! We had a name for our doom!
Zeidel cut loose with his breath weapon, damaging the ooze further, and Huff managed to get Rafe to his feet. Edrik cast Spider Climb and started down the side of the ship to aid in the battle. Having freed Rafe, Huff went to collect his bow.
To make a somewhat rest of the combat less painful, Zeidel was brought to WP's and dragged off the ooze by Huff, who basically tackled him into the water and then swam around to get raised up closer to the bow of the ship. The other crew members had been firing arrows at the ooze and it finally expired.
Egeo called down to Rafe that he had noticed something shiny in the ooze, and Rafe quickly "Searched" it (as it was starting to disperse/dissolve in the water) and came up with an untouched ring and pair of gauntlets (with bones of hands still attached).
Zeidel was given a potion of Cure Moderate and regained consciousness (read: brought him back to VP). Upon climbing back up the ship, it was noticed that the ooze had been sending tendrils up several portions of the side of the ship, and Rafe ordered that Tavey and some of the other crew examine below decks to see if anything sprung a leak. Egeo sent Ein over to the BN to inform them of what had happened; as it was believed that said oozes were solitary organisms, it was not so much of a worry that they may be encountering a similar fate.
Edrik and Egeo worked together and were able to determine that the gauntlets were Gauntlets of Ogre Power (shocking!) and the general consensus was that Rafe might get the most use out of them...which he would have, were he not already wearing Gloves of Dexterity.
Stupid magic item slots.
The ring proved to be more puzzling and they decided to try again the next day. Everyone rested up, and Rafe gave orders to inform him if the fog cleared during the night (which it did).
Morning came and a more thorough examination of the outer hull was made, and it was determined that there was no serious damage. Edrik and Egeo were able to finally piece together (using "Knowledge: Arcana") that the ring was a Ring of Mind Shielding - something that I'm betting Rowyn probably wished she had before we discovered her stowing away by Detecting her Thoughts, plotting to kill us all.
In any event, both ships then sailed again, and after another 10 days of travel ruins were sighted from the crow's nest. After consulting with the map that Urol had, it was determined that said ruins weren't the ones we were looking for, and that we had another 5 days or so more of travel to go. To be sure, Ein was sent to fly over the ruins and report should he see anything interesting (read: people or large critters) and after half a day more travel he caught back up with the ship with a big "negative" to report.
On the evening of the 5th day the twin pyramid-looking ziggurats were spotted and it word was sent to the BN that: we found the ruins in question, that we were anchoring for the night, and planned to strike out in the morning to look for...the basilisk.
Maybe it's just me, but the party seems to have enough problems without going and actively looking for trouble.
Lavinia also sent word that Urol was an old family friend and requested we look out for him on the inland jaunt.
Thus, the party and Urol left to the ruins and the rest of the NPCs stayed aboard the ship where it was reasonably safer. The party traveled along game trails through the jungle until we could push over to the larger pyramid. We entered a clearing where the pyramid had partially collapsed and the pyramid interior was somewhat exposed (see page 2, area 1). As we had passed several very realistic "statuary," we figured that this was a likely place for the basilisk to have set up shop. The party was undergoing some discussion on how to cover both entrances that were not largely blocked with rubble (the ones leading to areas 3 & 4) so that we could try to draw the creature out as opposed to having to hunt it down on unfamiliar territory when a terrible clamor arose from just past the party.
Said clamor was Urol banging and hollering and generally making an ass-ton of noise - to rouse the beast to make it easier to find.
We quickly spread out, theoretically far enough away to make it difficult for us to get turned to stone while still being within bow range and watched at the two open entrances.
You can imagine our somewhat surprise when the basilisk emerged from the second-from-the-left "blocked" entrance, sniffing at the air.
Initiatives were rolled, and just about everything on the planet beat the basilisk's roll. Rafe held action, Huff ran to the "upper" open entrance and "Hid," Egeo held and Edrik ReadiedBlinding Color Surge, which reads (from the PHB2):
Quote:
Illusion (Glamer) Level: Beguiler 2, sorcerer/wizard 2 Components: V, S, F Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Targets: You and one creature Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: Will negates Spell Resistance: Yes
You strip the color from your body and gear, turn it into a lance of energy, and hurl it at a target. When you cast this spell, you target a creature with the colors stripped from your form. The target must make a Will save or be blinded for 1 round.
You also gain the benefit of invisibility, for the duration of this spell, even if the target creature succeeds on its save or if its spell resistance protects it.
Anyhoo, when it was finally the basilisk's turn it started ambling over to the tunnel where Huff was hiding - which prompted Egeo to throw up a Flaming Sphere in front of it (and said tunnel). This was followed shortly by arrow fire by both Rafe and Huff.
Then Edrik cast Blinding Color Surge and went invisible.
The basilisk became visibly agitated and began backing away from the tunnel that Huff was in, sniffing the air. Rafe ran up to it (charging) and hewed at it with a mighty (for a kukri) strike, wounding it. Egeo directed the Flaming Sphere to block the basilisk's retreat into the blocked tunnel, and Edrik moved to attack the basilisk as well.
The basilisk lashed out and bit Rafe on the leg.
Players: "You mean, after he made his total concealment chance of failure from being blind, right?"
DM: [rolls] "Or not... Wait, what does Blind-Fight gain you?"
Players: "Re-roll concealment miss once."
DM: [rolls] "Nevermind. He comes pretty close to almost biting you."
Rafe then unleashed the full power of the "Sneak-Attack, Kukri, Double" (I will henceforth refer to such an attack as a "SAKD" because that's how I roll) and the beast was felled, which seemed surprisingly easy.
I will give credit where credit is due here - for all our teasing of Edrik being "Cap'n Nonlethal," his spells have made most of the fights we have been in significantly easier in our favor owing to their somewhat unexpected-ness. Kudos.
So the party cut out the venom sacks we had come for in the first place, and then were drawn to the room behind where Huff had been hiding, with walls covered with images and statues (actual ones) of cat-like figures with tendrils of smoke coming from various places.
Yeah, not nearly as much a "Duhn duhn DUHNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" as the last few adventure breaks have been, but it works for us.
Linear Mode
