Naturally, Freyja wants a hippogriff.
The party looted and searched. Maendir and Zook had Merosska's room, and Maendir went straight for the desk, so he found the letter from Aerisi regarding the noblewoman from Waterdeep that they took from the Black Earth cult. Since Hazel the rescued halfling was from Waterdeep, this led to some speculation that the letter referred to her, in the absence of any noblewoman on the premises. Liliandra mentioned that the delegation from Mirabar included a noblewoman from Waterdeep, which seemed to put the question to rest.
Hazel told them how the air cult threw people off the roof to sacrifice them to the air, sparing her only so she could cook for their upcoming feast. Freyja and Thoril flew down to the base of the tower and found the grisly remains confirming her story. Hazel also described how some of cultists would breathe steam, trying to "become one with the air." No one knew what to do with that.
There had been some discussion about occupying the keep, but Hazel's story got them to think about destroying it. Unfortunately, it was too solidly built for easy vandalism, so they had to put that idea aside. So no long-term plans at this point, but they decided to return Hazel to Red Larch so she could go home.
Before they left, they released most of the hippogriffs to the wild, but Freyja decided to keep one. The rest of the party is not so enthusiastic about the addition, but Freyja is impervious to hints, and no one was in a position to forbid her.
Along the way, the party was attacked by a couple of ankhegs, one of the reprisal options. I considered hell hounds but ankhegs seemed a better choice given the timing and environment. The problem is that they have a lot of clues pointing them to the earth temple, but the next temple in terms of difficulty is the water temple. Also, they're still 3rd level because I'm having trouble compensating for the size of the group. It would be good to get them to 4th level before the next temple. I'm okay with them going to the earth temple next. It's possible they would come across the water temple if they travel south around the hills toward the earth temple, but there are clues there to send them to the water temple if they go to the Stone Monastery directly.
Since they're in town, I'm going to do the Tomb of Moving Stones next. If nothing else, it will show Freyja that hippogriffs are not always a practical choice for companion. I upgraded the Bringers of Woe to bandit captains, added the Sentinel feat and cut their hit points by 10. I'll start with 4 of them and add one or two more if the fight is going well. Otherwise, I can give Larrakh a couple of guards. After that, I'll hit them with 4 hell hounds, and that should get them to 4th level.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
PotA Sessions 11 and 12
We played two weeks in a row this month, which was handy for finishing the Battle of Feathergale Keep. The party wound up taking on the entire tower during the day, which was a deadly encounter even for a party of 8. I played it pretty straight for the first session but wound up pulling my punches during the second session because a TPK would violate the social contract.
We left off with the party separated. Su'uvarax was on the ground floor in the conservatory, with Hazel the captive halfing, Merosska, an initiate and the hurricane. He had cast Darkness to protect himself (since he could still see through it). In the great hall, the rest of the party had defeated an initiate and a knight, while another knight jumped out the window.
After making his way out of the dark to the central stair, Merosska organized the defenses. He placed three initiates and a knight in the foyer, to block the exit. Three more initiates took position in the kitchen, in case Su'uvarax tried to escape that way. He sent the last initiate to the stables, where most of the knights were gathered. Two were delegated to go up the stairs to the party; the rest mounted their vultures to fly to the roof and come down the stairs. Merosska positioned himself at the base of the stairs.
In the great hall, Freyja threw a mounted head after the knight who jumped out, but missed. Liliandra tied her rope around the foot of the table so Freyja could pursue. The rest of the party started dealing with the two knights who came up the stairs, although Truth took a moment to give Thoril a little healing -- the initiates were surprisingly effective with their little daggers.
Freyja and Liliandra climbed down the rope. The four mounted knights in the stable took off for the roof and the fleeing knight headed into the stable. Freyja pursued, arriving as he took off on his vulture, so she commandeered a hippogriff and went after him. Liliandra wasn't interested in flying, so she looked in the windows of the conservatory, where the rumbles of thunder had been heard. At the first window, she just saw a blob of unnatural darkness. When she arrived at the second window, the darkness was gone -- the hurricane's Thunderwave had disrupted Su'uvarax's concentration on his Darkness. Once Su'uvarax was visible, the initiate stabbed him and then the hurricane punched him unconscious. Liliandra cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter at the hurricane, but he saved, so she had to climb into the room and fight him.
Upstairs the bulk of the party was rolling poorly against their knights. Maendir chose to Dodge past the knights, only to find himself facing Merosska. They exchanged blows and discovered that Merosska hit harder. We ended the session with the party in a difficult situation.
During the interval, I trimmed the knights' HP by 6 and Merosska's by 11. I wound up having them attack once instead of twice a round, which made the fights more balanced. I also reviewed the party's resources and came up with some ideas to deal with Merosska. As for the knights, we were about to get Freyja back into combat, so that would probably give the party some traction. Starting out, I let a couple of close misses hit, just to move things along, but once the party got some momentum, I backed that off.
Downstairs, Liliandra used Healing Word to bring Su'uvarax around. He fried the initiate with an Eldritch Blast and closed the door to the stairwell, leaving just the hurricane as an opponent. Hazel aided Liliandra by throwing things at him, but it turned out that Liliandra didn't need advantage -- she rolled a critical hit and dispatched him. Hazel shoved a table across the door to the kitchen, so no reinforcements from there. Meanwhile, Merosska knocked out Maendir.
In the great hall, the group managed to drop a couple of knights. Truth took advantage of the gap to move down the stairs and send a Fire Bolt after Merosska. Su'uvarax moved into the central stair room and hit Merosska with an Eldritch Blast for a little damage, but he had plenty of HP in reserve. He stepped out of the stairwell and Truth's line of sight, and told Su'uvarax if he surrendered, "We won't kill all of you."
This is where Plan Turning Point came into effect. Liliandra cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Merosska. When he saved, I let her use Cutting Words to reduce his save (technically illegal). So Merosska was temporarily out of the picture. I was hoping the downstairs people would take the opportunity to rejoin the upstairs people, but no. They wanted to finish off Merosska. Fortunately, they came up with the idea of disarming him and tying him up before collectively beating on him. Liliandra got Maendir conscious and he healed himself a bit. Su'uvarax found the three initiates in the kitchen, confused by the laughter, and intimidated them into staying put. Hazel escaped upstairs with Merosska's great sword, Liliandra handled the rope, Maendir and Su'uvarax got ready to attack if Merosska stopped laughing. Which he did, but he was prone and tied. Acouple of readied actions, and then a bunch of regular attacks, and Merosska had 3 HP left when his turn came around again. He had Misty Step, but he could only jump to a point he could see. So I sent him down the stairs.
Meanwhile, four knights had landed on the roof. Two made it down to the first floor and engaged the group in the stairwell outside the great hall; two more lurked on the second floor. The knight who jumped out the window arrived on the roof, followed by Freyja. Once they started fighting, one of the lurkers headed up and the other headed down to fill in for a fallen comrade. In the hall, Zook ran out of spells, switched to his crossbow and finished off a couple of battered knights. Silaqui was bladesinging but rolling terribly, so she started using Thunderwave. Thoril happily stabbed away and they made their way through the pile of knights. Silaqui cast Thunderwave on the last one and pushed him back 10' into the wall, so I rolled a d6 for damage -- 6 points, which killed him. This left Thoril free to head downstairs, while Zook and Silaqui went upstairs.
Truth pursued Merosska and found him crawling down the stairs. He stabbed him with a rapier, but only did 2 points of damage, so Merosska was clinging to life. The initiate downstairs pulled him away and Truth missed the opportunity attack. But then Su'uvarax ran downstairs and fried him with an Eldritch Blast. Thoril arrived to find Merosska dead and had to content himself with squishing the initiate. Maendir arrived to find everyone dead, so he went back upstairs. Truth, Thoril and Su'uvarax did some searching and looting.
On the roof, Zook strategized with Silaqui on how to help Freyja, but she finished off her second opponent before they could act, and collected a wristband as a trophy. Then she climbed aboard her trusty hippogriff to find more prey.
Liliandra had been left on the ground floor. Since it had been quiet for a couple of rounds, the three initiates in the kitchen emerged. I gave them Insight checks to read her body language; one realized that the jig was up and ran to join the group in the entry; one closed with Liliandra but missed; one started to circle around the stairs to get her from behind, ran into Maendir and stabbed him. Liliandra dispatched her attacker and Su'uvarax arrived to dispatch the other.
Truth came upstairs to find the drawbridge down and the door guard running away. He and Su'uvarax sent some long-range spells after them. The circling vultures landed to pick up their passengers. Freyja flew her hippogriff into one of them. The guard and four initiates mounted the remaining five vultures and escaped while Freyja's hippogriff finished off the vulture. Truth and Su'uvarax fired parting shots but didn't manage to bring anyone down.
Between them, Silaqui and Maendir made sure the rest of the tower was clear. Next week, we start with the searching and looting and discoveries and explanations.
And that is the story of how I cheated at D&D.
We left off with the party separated. Su'uvarax was on the ground floor in the conservatory, with Hazel the captive halfing, Merosska, an initiate and the hurricane. He had cast Darkness to protect himself (since he could still see through it). In the great hall, the rest of the party had defeated an initiate and a knight, while another knight jumped out the window.
After making his way out of the dark to the central stair, Merosska organized the defenses. He placed three initiates and a knight in the foyer, to block the exit. Three more initiates took position in the kitchen, in case Su'uvarax tried to escape that way. He sent the last initiate to the stables, where most of the knights were gathered. Two were delegated to go up the stairs to the party; the rest mounted their vultures to fly to the roof and come down the stairs. Merosska positioned himself at the base of the stairs.
In the great hall, Freyja threw a mounted head after the knight who jumped out, but missed. Liliandra tied her rope around the foot of the table so Freyja could pursue. The rest of the party started dealing with the two knights who came up the stairs, although Truth took a moment to give Thoril a little healing -- the initiates were surprisingly effective with their little daggers.
Freyja and Liliandra climbed down the rope. The four mounted knights in the stable took off for the roof and the fleeing knight headed into the stable. Freyja pursued, arriving as he took off on his vulture, so she commandeered a hippogriff and went after him. Liliandra wasn't interested in flying, so she looked in the windows of the conservatory, where the rumbles of thunder had been heard. At the first window, she just saw a blob of unnatural darkness. When she arrived at the second window, the darkness was gone -- the hurricane's Thunderwave had disrupted Su'uvarax's concentration on his Darkness. Once Su'uvarax was visible, the initiate stabbed him and then the hurricane punched him unconscious. Liliandra cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter at the hurricane, but he saved, so she had to climb into the room and fight him.
Upstairs the bulk of the party was rolling poorly against their knights. Maendir chose to Dodge past the knights, only to find himself facing Merosska. They exchanged blows and discovered that Merosska hit harder. We ended the session with the party in a difficult situation.
During the interval, I trimmed the knights' HP by 6 and Merosska's by 11. I wound up having them attack once instead of twice a round, which made the fights more balanced. I also reviewed the party's resources and came up with some ideas to deal with Merosska. As for the knights, we were about to get Freyja back into combat, so that would probably give the party some traction. Starting out, I let a couple of close misses hit, just to move things along, but once the party got some momentum, I backed that off.
Downstairs, Liliandra used Healing Word to bring Su'uvarax around. He fried the initiate with an Eldritch Blast and closed the door to the stairwell, leaving just the hurricane as an opponent. Hazel aided Liliandra by throwing things at him, but it turned out that Liliandra didn't need advantage -- she rolled a critical hit and dispatched him. Hazel shoved a table across the door to the kitchen, so no reinforcements from there. Meanwhile, Merosska knocked out Maendir.
In the great hall, the group managed to drop a couple of knights. Truth took advantage of the gap to move down the stairs and send a Fire Bolt after Merosska. Su'uvarax moved into the central stair room and hit Merosska with an Eldritch Blast for a little damage, but he had plenty of HP in reserve. He stepped out of the stairwell and Truth's line of sight, and told Su'uvarax if he surrendered, "We won't kill all of you."
This is where Plan Turning Point came into effect. Liliandra cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on Merosska. When he saved, I let her use Cutting Words to reduce his save (technically illegal). So Merosska was temporarily out of the picture. I was hoping the downstairs people would take the opportunity to rejoin the upstairs people, but no. They wanted to finish off Merosska. Fortunately, they came up with the idea of disarming him and tying him up before collectively beating on him. Liliandra got Maendir conscious and he healed himself a bit. Su'uvarax found the three initiates in the kitchen, confused by the laughter, and intimidated them into staying put. Hazel escaped upstairs with Merosska's great sword, Liliandra handled the rope, Maendir and Su'uvarax got ready to attack if Merosska stopped laughing. Which he did, but he was prone and tied. Acouple of readied actions, and then a bunch of regular attacks, and Merosska had 3 HP left when his turn came around again. He had Misty Step, but he could only jump to a point he could see. So I sent him down the stairs.
Meanwhile, four knights had landed on the roof. Two made it down to the first floor and engaged the group in the stairwell outside the great hall; two more lurked on the second floor. The knight who jumped out the window arrived on the roof, followed by Freyja. Once they started fighting, one of the lurkers headed up and the other headed down to fill in for a fallen comrade. In the hall, Zook ran out of spells, switched to his crossbow and finished off a couple of battered knights. Silaqui was bladesinging but rolling terribly, so she started using Thunderwave. Thoril happily stabbed away and they made their way through the pile of knights. Silaqui cast Thunderwave on the last one and pushed him back 10' into the wall, so I rolled a d6 for damage -- 6 points, which killed him. This left Thoril free to head downstairs, while Zook and Silaqui went upstairs.
Truth pursued Merosska and found him crawling down the stairs. He stabbed him with a rapier, but only did 2 points of damage, so Merosska was clinging to life. The initiate downstairs pulled him away and Truth missed the opportunity attack. But then Su'uvarax ran downstairs and fried him with an Eldritch Blast. Thoril arrived to find Merosska dead and had to content himself with squishing the initiate. Maendir arrived to find everyone dead, so he went back upstairs. Truth, Thoril and Su'uvarax did some searching and looting.
On the roof, Zook strategized with Silaqui on how to help Freyja, but she finished off her second opponent before they could act, and collected a wristband as a trophy. Then she climbed aboard her trusty hippogriff to find more prey.
Liliandra had been left on the ground floor. Since it had been quiet for a couple of rounds, the three initiates in the kitchen emerged. I gave them Insight checks to read her body language; one realized that the jig was up and ran to join the group in the entry; one closed with Liliandra but missed; one started to circle around the stairs to get her from behind, ran into Maendir and stabbed him. Liliandra dispatched her attacker and Su'uvarax arrived to dispatch the other.
Truth came upstairs to find the drawbridge down and the door guard running away. He and Su'uvarax sent some long-range spells after them. The circling vultures landed to pick up their passengers. Freyja flew her hippogriff into one of them. The guard and four initiates mounted the remaining five vultures and escaped while Freyja's hippogriff finished off the vulture. Truth and Su'uvarax fired parting shots but didn't manage to bring anyone down.
Between them, Silaqui and Maendir made sure the rest of the tower was clear. Next week, we start with the searching and looting and discoveries and explanations.
And that is the story of how I cheated at D&D.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
PotA Session 10
In the morning, Su'uvarax finally confronted Merosska about the halfling woman and the evidence of the caravan attack, and demanded to speak to Hazel. Merosska claimed that his knights found the remains of the caravan during a patrol, and they rescued the halfling who was wandering the area. He wouldn't dream of subjecting her to an interrogation without her agreement. He then went off to talk to her. When he came back, he accompanied Su'uvarax to the greenhouse room, where Hazel and the hurricane waited.
After they left, Truth tried to follow, saying he needed to tell Su'uvarax something, but the initiate at the top of the stairs told him he had to stay in the great hall. Thoril had enough standing around and took a swing at him, but missed. Maendir took the precaution of spiking a bedroom door, in case someone came out to surprise them, and Zook hid in another bedroom. The others more or less lined up with the two knights in the hall, but didn't actually swing. The initiate managed to stab Thoril with a dagger and run down the stairs, yelling. Su'uvarax excused himself politely, came upstairs and yelled at them to behave. He then charged Truth with keeping Thoril in line, leaving Thoril feeling very put upon. So no battle yet.
Su'uvarax returned to the greenhouse. Hazel was watering plants, not meeting anyone's eyes and giving terse answers, but going along with Merosska's party line. However, Su'uvarax used Awakened Mind to let her know he was here to help, and asked to her spill water if she needed help. She promptly did. Su'uvarax used his Sending Stone to tell Silaqui that they needed to rescue Hazel. This raised the question: can you send a message without speaking out loud? The recipient hears it in their head, but does the sender need to speak? It isn't spelled out in the spell description, and strangely has not been argued to death on the Internet. In the end, I went with silent mode.
Upstairs in the great hall, Silaqui told the party that Su'uvarax said wanted them to join him, but they needed to clean up first. Finally, the party started rolling well for Insight and got the message, so they weren't caught flat-footed when Silaqui launched her attack on one of the knights. In the end, one knight went down but the other was able to jump out a window before he could be killed; he joins his comrades in the stables. Some of them will be heading up the spiral stairs while others will fly to the roof and come down from the top.
Down in the greenhouse, Su'uvarax cast Darkness, which protected him from attack, and Hazel took the opportunity to hide. Merosska made his way out of the darkness, and out of the room. He's in position to hold the staircase. The hurricane cast Thunderwave since he couldn't close with Su'uvarax.
That's as far as we got with the battle, so we'll have to see how things develop. The tower architecture is really the defining element, with the central staircase and the opposing sides on different floors. Team Feathergale has the advantage of mobility, so we'll see if the party can avoid getting gridlocked on the stairs.
After they left, Truth tried to follow, saying he needed to tell Su'uvarax something, but the initiate at the top of the stairs told him he had to stay in the great hall. Thoril had enough standing around and took a swing at him, but missed. Maendir took the precaution of spiking a bedroom door, in case someone came out to surprise them, and Zook hid in another bedroom. The others more or less lined up with the two knights in the hall, but didn't actually swing. The initiate managed to stab Thoril with a dagger and run down the stairs, yelling. Su'uvarax excused himself politely, came upstairs and yelled at them to behave. He then charged Truth with keeping Thoril in line, leaving Thoril feeling very put upon. So no battle yet.
Su'uvarax returned to the greenhouse. Hazel was watering plants, not meeting anyone's eyes and giving terse answers, but going along with Merosska's party line. However, Su'uvarax used Awakened Mind to let her know he was here to help, and asked to her spill water if she needed help. She promptly did. Su'uvarax used his Sending Stone to tell Silaqui that they needed to rescue Hazel. This raised the question: can you send a message without speaking out loud? The recipient hears it in their head, but does the sender need to speak? It isn't spelled out in the spell description, and strangely has not been argued to death on the Internet. In the end, I went with silent mode.
Upstairs in the great hall, Silaqui told the party that Su'uvarax said wanted them to join him, but they needed to clean up first. Finally, the party started rolling well for Insight and got the message, so they weren't caught flat-footed when Silaqui launched her attack on one of the knights. In the end, one knight went down but the other was able to jump out a window before he could be killed; he joins his comrades in the stables. Some of them will be heading up the spiral stairs while others will fly to the roof and come down from the top.
Down in the greenhouse, Su'uvarax cast Darkness, which protected him from attack, and Hazel took the opportunity to hide. Merosska made his way out of the darkness, and out of the room. He's in position to hold the staircase. The hurricane cast Thunderwave since he couldn't close with Su'uvarax.
That's as far as we got with the battle, so we'll have to see how things develop. The tower architecture is really the defining element, with the central staircase and the opposing sides on different floors. Team Feathergale has the advantage of mobility, so we'll see if the party can avoid getting gridlocked on the stairs.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
PotA Session 9
The anniversary feast of the Feathergale Knights wound down, and the party promptly demonstrated its propensity for splitting up. Truth and Maendir camped on the roof level; Zook, Su'uvarax, Silaqui and Liliandra took bedrooms; Freyja and Thoril camped outside on the edge of the canyon. If the knights had been inclined to turn on the party, they would have been in trouble. Fortunately, the knights think they will be better used to mess with the earth cult.
The dice took a dim view of people sleeping outside a perfectly defensible tower, so Thoril and Freyja had a quick fight with three gnolls. Freyja was somewhat encumbered by not being able to see in the dark, but fortunately charged off in the right direction and ran across an attacker. Once the matter was resolved, one of the sentries arrived to check on things (it's not like the gnolls presented any threat to the tower), leaving Thoril increasing disgusted with their uselessness in battle.
The bedroom team exchanged information and decided that Something was Up with this halfling woman in the kitchens. Silaqui and Liliandra decided to sneak down to the kitchen to talk to her. On the ground level, they had three doors to choose from. Silaqui fumbled her roll to stealthily open the chosen door, which belonged to the initiate dormitory. They were discovered by the hall guard, not to mention all the initiates. Silaqui claimed they were looking for a drink of water, and Liliandra wondered if they could present their compliments on the feast to the chef. They were shooed back upstairs.
In the morning, Merosska was ready to send the party on its way, preferably to the Sacred Stone Monastery. They had to stall by taking their time assembling the party and their gear. Silaqui remembered to prepare Invisibility; in the general confusion she cast it on herself and snuck downstairs again. This time she found the kitchen, where the halfling woman and various initiates were working. She turned visible in the hall and stepped inside, on the pretense of looking for provisions for the road. Then she said that the woman looked familiar and asked if they had met; the woman refused to look at her and said she was mistaken. This is when disappointing Insight rolls became a running theme. Silaqui got shooed back upstairs.
In the meantime, Freyja was downstairs with the hippogriffs and will need to be pried away.
At this point, the players discussed how to proceed -- do they go away and try to find out more about these knights and this halfling, or do they confront the knights? (At one point, someone speculated that the halfling was a plant working for the knights to take out caravans, which was an unexpected turn.) Two points seem to have tipped the consensus to confrontation: first, it will be difficult to get back into the tower once they leave; second, since they were clearly interested in talking to her, the woman might not be available when they came back. Also, Thoril is getting tired of all the talking and wants to hit someone.
Fortunately, the schedule worked out so the next session is just a week later, so hopefully we can transition from planning right into action. I've worked out positions for the NPCs, based on the idea that they'd like to get the party outside of the tower, which allows them to use their mounts in combat. The central spiral staircase is a good place for Merosska to hold, so they can't spread upwards, and most of the knights are on the stable level with their mounts. So the main question is whether the party will descend to the drawbridge level before the fight starts.
The dice took a dim view of people sleeping outside a perfectly defensible tower, so Thoril and Freyja had a quick fight with three gnolls. Freyja was somewhat encumbered by not being able to see in the dark, but fortunately charged off in the right direction and ran across an attacker. Once the matter was resolved, one of the sentries arrived to check on things (it's not like the gnolls presented any threat to the tower), leaving Thoril increasing disgusted with their uselessness in battle.
The bedroom team exchanged information and decided that Something was Up with this halfling woman in the kitchens. Silaqui and Liliandra decided to sneak down to the kitchen to talk to her. On the ground level, they had three doors to choose from. Silaqui fumbled her roll to stealthily open the chosen door, which belonged to the initiate dormitory. They were discovered by the hall guard, not to mention all the initiates. Silaqui claimed they were looking for a drink of water, and Liliandra wondered if they could present their compliments on the feast to the chef. They were shooed back upstairs.
In the morning, Merosska was ready to send the party on its way, preferably to the Sacred Stone Monastery. They had to stall by taking their time assembling the party and their gear. Silaqui remembered to prepare Invisibility; in the general confusion she cast it on herself and snuck downstairs again. This time she found the kitchen, where the halfling woman and various initiates were working. She turned visible in the hall and stepped inside, on the pretense of looking for provisions for the road. Then she said that the woman looked familiar and asked if they had met; the woman refused to look at her and said she was mistaken. This is when disappointing Insight rolls became a running theme. Silaqui got shooed back upstairs.
In the meantime, Freyja was downstairs with the hippogriffs and will need to be pried away.
At this point, the players discussed how to proceed -- do they go away and try to find out more about these knights and this halfling, or do they confront the knights? (At one point, someone speculated that the halfling was a plant working for the knights to take out caravans, which was an unexpected turn.) Two points seem to have tipped the consensus to confrontation: first, it will be difficult to get back into the tower once they leave; second, since they were clearly interested in talking to her, the woman might not be available when they came back. Also, Thoril is getting tired of all the talking and wants to hit someone.
Fortunately, the schedule worked out so the next session is just a week later, so hopefully we can transition from planning right into action. I've worked out positions for the NPCs, based on the idea that they'd like to get the party outside of the tower, which allows them to use their mounts in combat. The central spiral staircase is a good place for Merosska to hold, so they can't spread upwards, and most of the knights are on the stable level with their mounts. So the main question is whether the party will descend to the drawbridge level before the fight starts.
Monday, August 1, 2016
PotA Session 8
Summer is still making it hard to get into the twice-a-month schedule.
I skipped the Tomb of the Moving Stones so there was nothing to stop the group from proceeding to Feathergale Spire. I described how the tower rose up from a canyon, and offered them the choice of heading to the base or staying along the edge of the canyon; they opted for up on the ridge, so they arrived at the front door. Then they were polite about seeking entry, so they got to meet the Feathergale Knights on good terms and visit the rooftop.
The sentries on the roof were accompanied by their giant vultures, which put Freyja on guard, but she didn't do anything overt. Su'uvarax asked about the odd phenomena, but Merosska disclaimed much knowledge. He did point the party toward the Sacred Stone Monastery as people who were probably up to no good.
Not everyone stayed on the roof. In the hall, Maendir and Zook observed the preparations for the feast. As the kitchen staff started bringing up food, Maendir recognized a halfling woman from his caravan from Phandalin to Triboar; this caravan continued south immediately and the party found the remains where it had later been attacked. Maendir spoke to Zook quietly but again avoided any overt action. Zook flubbed his Insight check and didn't notice how scared/nervous she was.
During the feast, Su'uvarax asked Merosska a leading question while Truth cast Detect Thoughts on him. Truth read: He feels smug, they don't know anything, it will be fun to set them on those earth dolts. Truth was not very subtle in his casting; Merosska didn't notice but some of the knights did.
We finished up with the manticore hunt, which is perhaps more intriguing in theory than in practice. Freyja, Thoril, Silaqui and Truth took part. The manticore rolled like a champ against the attackers's mounts and forced the knights to withdraw pretty quickly. Truth used some healing spells to keep himself and Thoril in the chase a little longer, but the manticore rolled more consistently and escaped.
I'm still wrestling with the nature of the air cult. The knights are described as law-and-order types who have been seduced by having the power to act against enemies of peace, but Aerisi is spoiled and self-delusional. I'm tending toward the more childish side, people who feel special and entitled and thwarted, who construct fantasies of revenge. However, this could be wasted effort -- does the party really need to understand the nature of the cult? Or is it enough for them to get in a fight?
So I have a couple of conversations planned that might be set aside in the end. Being into birds, Freyja helped out with the injured mounts. So there's an opportunity for one of the knights to see if she could be recruited, and introduce the idea of seeking power to avenge herself on her oppressors (in Freyja's case, her backstory is that her brother's wife is trying to have her shunted into a more traditional woman's role in the tribe). I think Merosska would feel out Su'uvarax as a possible recruit, and he'd have an eye on the bard for Aerisi.
The big question is whether the air cult would decide to try to sacrifice the party, and I think they'd find it more entertaining to use them against the earth cult first, with the thought of either recruiting or sacrificing the survivors. But the knights are feeling a little suspicious and could tip over to sacrificing if they seem nosy. The likeliest goad to a confrontation will be the party trying to investigate this halfling spice merchant in the air cult's kitchens. So I'm waiting to see what the party does next.
I skipped the Tomb of the Moving Stones so there was nothing to stop the group from proceeding to Feathergale Spire. I described how the tower rose up from a canyon, and offered them the choice of heading to the base or staying along the edge of the canyon; they opted for up on the ridge, so they arrived at the front door. Then they were polite about seeking entry, so they got to meet the Feathergale Knights on good terms and visit the rooftop.
The sentries on the roof were accompanied by their giant vultures, which put Freyja on guard, but she didn't do anything overt. Su'uvarax asked about the odd phenomena, but Merosska disclaimed much knowledge. He did point the party toward the Sacred Stone Monastery as people who were probably up to no good.
Not everyone stayed on the roof. In the hall, Maendir and Zook observed the preparations for the feast. As the kitchen staff started bringing up food, Maendir recognized a halfling woman from his caravan from Phandalin to Triboar; this caravan continued south immediately and the party found the remains where it had later been attacked. Maendir spoke to Zook quietly but again avoided any overt action. Zook flubbed his Insight check and didn't notice how scared/nervous she was.
During the feast, Su'uvarax asked Merosska a leading question while Truth cast Detect Thoughts on him. Truth read: He feels smug, they don't know anything, it will be fun to set them on those earth dolts. Truth was not very subtle in his casting; Merosska didn't notice but some of the knights did.
We finished up with the manticore hunt, which is perhaps more intriguing in theory than in practice. Freyja, Thoril, Silaqui and Truth took part. The manticore rolled like a champ against the attackers's mounts and forced the knights to withdraw pretty quickly. Truth used some healing spells to keep himself and Thoril in the chase a little longer, but the manticore rolled more consistently and escaped.
I'm still wrestling with the nature of the air cult. The knights are described as law-and-order types who have been seduced by having the power to act against enemies of peace, but Aerisi is spoiled and self-delusional. I'm tending toward the more childish side, people who feel special and entitled and thwarted, who construct fantasies of revenge. However, this could be wasted effort -- does the party really need to understand the nature of the cult? Or is it enough for them to get in a fight?
So I have a couple of conversations planned that might be set aside in the end. Being into birds, Freyja helped out with the injured mounts. So there's an opportunity for one of the knights to see if she could be recruited, and introduce the idea of seeking power to avenge herself on her oppressors (in Freyja's case, her backstory is that her brother's wife is trying to have her shunted into a more traditional woman's role in the tribe). I think Merosska would feel out Su'uvarax as a possible recruit, and he'd have an eye on the bard for Aerisi.
The big question is whether the air cult would decide to try to sacrifice the party, and I think they'd find it more entertaining to use them against the earth cult first, with the thought of either recruiting or sacrificing the survivors. But the knights are feeling a little suspicious and could tip over to sacrificing if they seem nosy. The likeliest goad to a confrontation will be the party trying to investigate this halfling spice merchant in the air cult's kitchens. So I'm waiting to see what the party does next.
Monday, July 4, 2016
PotA Session 7
The Great Cockatrice Battle has come to a close. In the end, they decided to let three sleeping cockatrices lie. Marco the caravan master was not entirely happy with leaving any alive, but their nests were off the road. He will have to be satisfied with warning his fellow traders.
The shepherds didn't want to abandon the petrified dog and sheep, especially since Su'uvarax told them the condition would wear off. I decided the dog was a border collie, which is fairly small, so they could lift the statue and put it on a wagon. Silaqui knew Tenser's Floating Disk, which can be cast as a ritual and lasts an hour. That was enough to move the shepherds and flock away from the cockatrices, where they could wait for the effects to wear off. Since this is a game full of engineers, some of us spent most of the dessert/put-the-child-to-bed break googling and calculating the weight of the sheep statue. If a petrified creature has the same density as concrete, then a sheep statue should come in under 500 pounds, which is the limit of Tenser's Floating Disk.
The caravan arrived at Red Larch after dark. Another caravan from Secomber had arrived, bringing news of the lost delegation from Mirabar which failed to arrive at Goldenfields. Since most of this caravan was heading south for Waterdeep, and the territory south of Red Larch is more settled, Marco was able to let a lot of guards go, and the characters cashed out.
Red Larch has a ton of detail, but most of it doesn't come into play. I described some of the main businesses as the players came down the Long Road, until they hit the inn. There was a travelling priest of Lathander staying at the inn, so Truth found a comrade. Most of the others headed across to the tavern for gossip. Su'uvarax was still interested in books, and was directed to Valivoe's Sundries. The party went out the next morning to explore and Su'uvarax was shown the dwarven book. Since they brought Liliandra along, she was able to identify it as belonging to the dwarven sage from the missing Mirabar delegation. Su'uvarax got the info that it had come from Womford.
While at the tavern, the characters heard about the Haunted Keeps again; that got the attention of Su'uvarax, so it looks like they'll be headed there next. No need for shepherds to point out graves in illogical locations.
So now I'm wondering if I should bother with the Tomb of Moving Stones, since it will only redirect their focus toward the town rather than the keeps and I don't want to disrupt their momentum. It might be more effective after they've discovered the existence of a cult or two, to illustrate how the cults are at work throughout the region.
In that case, the next thing on the agenda is the Feathergale Keep. The main question there is whether they sneak around for a stealthy military approach or go the diplomatic route of talking to people. I need to study the maps. The tower is built in a canyon and rises above its walls; there's a bridge from the top of the canyon to the front door. So it matters if the party goes through the canyon to the base, or stays along the edge of the canyon and finds the front door. I'm not sure yet if I want to direct them one way or the other.
The shepherds didn't want to abandon the petrified dog and sheep, especially since Su'uvarax told them the condition would wear off. I decided the dog was a border collie, which is fairly small, so they could lift the statue and put it on a wagon. Silaqui knew Tenser's Floating Disk, which can be cast as a ritual and lasts an hour. That was enough to move the shepherds and flock away from the cockatrices, where they could wait for the effects to wear off. Since this is a game full of engineers, some of us spent most of the dessert/put-the-child-to-bed break googling and calculating the weight of the sheep statue. If a petrified creature has the same density as concrete, then a sheep statue should come in under 500 pounds, which is the limit of Tenser's Floating Disk.
The caravan arrived at Red Larch after dark. Another caravan from Secomber had arrived, bringing news of the lost delegation from Mirabar which failed to arrive at Goldenfields. Since most of this caravan was heading south for Waterdeep, and the territory south of Red Larch is more settled, Marco was able to let a lot of guards go, and the characters cashed out.
Red Larch has a ton of detail, but most of it doesn't come into play. I described some of the main businesses as the players came down the Long Road, until they hit the inn. There was a travelling priest of Lathander staying at the inn, so Truth found a comrade. Most of the others headed across to the tavern for gossip. Su'uvarax was still interested in books, and was directed to Valivoe's Sundries. The party went out the next morning to explore and Su'uvarax was shown the dwarven book. Since they brought Liliandra along, she was able to identify it as belonging to the dwarven sage from the missing Mirabar delegation. Su'uvarax got the info that it had come from Womford.
While at the tavern, the characters heard about the Haunted Keeps again; that got the attention of Su'uvarax, so it looks like they'll be headed there next. No need for shepherds to point out graves in illogical locations.
So now I'm wondering if I should bother with the Tomb of Moving Stones, since it will only redirect their focus toward the town rather than the keeps and I don't want to disrupt their momentum. It might be more effective after they've discovered the existence of a cult or two, to illustrate how the cults are at work throughout the region.
In that case, the next thing on the agenda is the Feathergale Keep. The main question there is whether they sneak around for a stealthy military approach or go the diplomatic route of talking to people. I need to study the maps. The tower is built in a canyon and rises above its walls; there's a bridge from the top of the canyon to the front door. So it matters if the party goes through the canyon to the base, or stays along the edge of the canyon and finds the front door. I'm not sure yet if I want to direct them one way or the other.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Planning Past Session 7
Once again, scheduling has proven tricky and we're only playing once in June, and not until the end of the month. This has given me time to work on the story progression. Reading through the Red Larch section of Chapter 2 and the early investigations in Chapter 3, it looks like the shepherd's discovery of graves outside Red Larch is the most useful, since they point to the air cult and Feathergale Spire is visible. However, since the published errata have moved the earth cult's headquarters farther north (and closer to the ambush site), it's even harder to see how the air cultists could have skirmished with them as they returned from their ambush of the delegation. Possibilities: this was the result of a skirmish between the cults entirely unrelated to the ambush, or the air cult did a lightning raid on the earth cult before they reached their monastery and the earth cult gave chase. If there aren't any Mirabar corpses in the graves, that leaves the situation somewhat ambiguous; the party might make a polite approach rather than assail the spire, which would be entertaining.
So, at Feathergale Spire they should determine (thanks to the halfling spire merchant in the kitchen) that the air cult has raided caravans, but there are no indications that they interfered with the Mirabar delegation. That should send the party to Beliard, the delegation's last known location. They can discover the remains from the attack. If they proceed to Summit Hall, they'll get the location of the monastery. Otherwise, tracking might lead them to the river, and we'll have to see how they proceed from there.
In preparation for the caravan's arrival in Red Larch, I used a highlighter to mark significant buildings on a printout of the town map. That will help me identify points of interest as the characters move through the town.
The owner of one of the wagon works has seen the fire cult symbol and has directions to their base. The party saw the fire cult symbol on the arsonists at the inn. If the characters don't pick up this clue while investigating the town, I'll have Rosemary make the connection and tell them on their return. And I can always have Liliandra point them to the shepherd and his graves to get things going in the direction, if need be.
So, at Feathergale Spire they should determine (thanks to the halfling spire merchant in the kitchen) that the air cult has raided caravans, but there are no indications that they interfered with the Mirabar delegation. That should send the party to Beliard, the delegation's last known location. They can discover the remains from the attack. If they proceed to Summit Hall, they'll get the location of the monastery. Otherwise, tracking might lead them to the river, and we'll have to see how they proceed from there.
In preparation for the caravan's arrival in Red Larch, I used a highlighter to mark significant buildings on a printout of the town map. That will help me identify points of interest as the characters move through the town.
The owner of one of the wagon works has seen the fire cult symbol and has directions to their base. The party saw the fire cult symbol on the arsonists at the inn. If the characters don't pick up this clue while investigating the town, I'll have Rosemary make the connection and tell them on their return. And I can always have Liliandra point them to the shepherd and his graves to get things going in the direction, if need be.
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