Much progress within the campaign has been made by the players. First, the party overcame the aboleth Acanthus after their first attempt faltered. They didn't kill him, of course, but forced him to surrender and give up the lair. There is now a very dangerous aboleth with a lot of slaves and a bruised ego wandering the Underdark, but I'm sure nothing bad will come of that...
Next, the party managed to pick up and follow the hanging thread of Pelltar's Boot, using magic to locate its partner in Pelltar's Redoubt (level 12A in Castle Whiterock), and exploring said redoubt. They even managed to get access to his spellbooks and ingredient cabinet. The party wizard won out on that deal, as (unsurprisingly) most of the loot on this level is oriented towards wizards - grey robes of the archmagi, a staff of conjuration and the motherlode - 12 spellbooks with every spell of levels 0 through 5, as well as a strong collection of spells in the 6th to 9th level range.*
Next, the party managed to pick up and follow the hanging thread of Pelltar's Boot, using magic to locate its partner in Pelltar's Redoubt (level 12A in Castle Whiterock), and exploring said redoubt. They even managed to get access to his spellbooks and ingredient cabinet. The party wizard won out on that deal, as (unsurprisingly) most of the loot on this level is oriented towards wizards - grey robes of the archmagi, a staff of conjuration and the motherlode - 12 spellbooks with every spell of levels 0 through 5, as well as a strong collection of spells in the 6th to 9th level range.*
Now, safely ensconced in their new 9th level class duds, with not one but TWO secret lairs at their command within the dungeon, and not-quite-unlimited travel due to having both the teleport spell and the reunited boots of teleportation, the party proceeded into dungeon level 9, the Immense Cavern.
Having visited these caves a few times before, they stopped by to visit their "friend" Gar & Nar. Luckily, Gar was in ascendance and was feeling chatty, as he had been alone for quite some time; since the party first met him and plied him with food and companionship. They learned a bit more about the denizens of the cave and of the hazards ahead of them, as well as a few behind them which they had managed to miss.
Having visited these caves a few times before, they stopped by to visit their "friend" Gar & Nar. Luckily, Gar was in ascendance and was feeling chatty, as he had been alone for quite some time; since the party first met him and plied him with food and companionship. They learned a bit more about the denizens of the cave and of the hazards ahead of them, as well as a few behind them which they had managed to miss.
Departing the abandoned ettin village, they made their way - forewarned - the bridge across the river that divided the chasm and met with "Goldy" the kobold knight. It was apparent that something was off about the kobold, who conducted itself within the utmost standards of chivalry, and a knightly(ish) duel to first blood ensued, which the party's knight (samurai) easily won.
Upon further conversation with the kobold they determined that it must have been the target of a curse or perhaps a baleful polymorph, and they expended every resource they could muster to break it... but all to no avail. Their highest level magical resources spent, they decided to spend the night there inside the wizard's Secure Shelter. Not much rest was to be had, though, as the first night's watch was disrupted by a large, gelatinous ooze squeezing its way through the cracks of the cabin. The party quickly existed the cabin to deal with the threat - perhaps a bit cavalierly - and found themselves facing the granddaddy (mommy?) of all gelatinous cubes, one big enough to engulf the entire house with room to spare. The party managed to dispatch it, but not without some effort and cost. Another few watches went by with nothing but irritating bats to keep them from sleeping.
Upon further conversation with the kobold they determined that it must have been the target of a curse or perhaps a baleful polymorph, and they expended every resource they could muster to break it... but all to no avail. Their highest level magical resources spent, they decided to spend the night there inside the wizard's Secure Shelter. Not much rest was to be had, though, as the first night's watch was disrupted by a large, gelatinous ooze squeezing its way through the cracks of the cabin. The party quickly existed the cabin to deal with the threat - perhaps a bit cavalierly - and found themselves facing the granddaddy (mommy?) of all gelatinous cubes, one big enough to engulf the entire house with room to spare. The party managed to dispatch it, but not without some effort and cost. Another few watches went by with nothing but irritating bats to keep them from sleeping.
The next day they tried again to break "Goldy's" curse, and finally met with success! The kobold was revealed to be a semi-angelic being who had been cursed decades ago. Backstory to be filled in later, there was at first a notion to bring the being, named Galdiera, with them, but it soon became apparent that she was in no condition to be more than a hindrance.
So, it was off to the other secret lair where the angelic creature could recuperate and gather her wits while the party made their way to the cave entrance which, according to Gar, would lead to the Bleak Theater...
Upon entry to that cave and a climb up a steep staircase, they found themselves in a rather nasty trap. A modestly sized, smooth floored stone chamber with a solitary stalagmite in the center of the room. A dead roper decomposing along the right wall.
Once the party worked up their courage to enter the room, one of them triggered the trap; both exits were blocked by enormous slabs of stone which slid seamlessly into place, and an Incendiary Cloud spell was set off.
To make matters worse, the party had all but hung billboards out on the road announcing their presence, like a band promoting its concert tour for the summer, so I added a little something special into the mix: Two mercenary zealots of the orcish Bloodfire tribe, a sorcerer and a warpriest, who had been hired to obstruct the path of the party, and had been tipped off by Alarm spells and the devious mephit, Grime.
The two casters, fully prepared for what was about to transpire, leveled their worst attacks at the party. Trapped, unable to escape the room, unable to dispel the Incendiary Cloud, had no choice but to deal with the most immediate threat. They made short work of the warpriest once they found him, but had more trouble with the sorcerer, who was lurking near the top of the ceiling with a Fly spell, concealed by the incessant smoke of the Cloud. Casting fireballs every round, he was making a bad situation worse until the cleric rose up on her boots of levitation and bumped right into him. Firing off her last Dispel Magic, he plummeted to the ground and was quickly ended by the rest of the group.
Luckily, the wizard (with some prompting by the DM) remembered he'd brought Communal Protection from Energy, and bought the party several rounds, which they spent searching fruitlessly for a hidden release which would allow them to exit the room. There was none to be found; the trap was set to be released from the outside only.
Eventually, the cleric used stone shape to make a slim exit for the party to escape. Beyond, a pitch black corridor leading down, ostensibly to the Bleak Theater.
And the Theater knows they are coming...
Luckily, the wizard (with some prompting by the DM) remembered he'd brought Communal Protection from Energy, and bought the party several rounds, which they spent searching fruitlessly for a hidden release which would allow them to exit the room. There was none to be found; the trap was set to be released from the outside only.
Eventually, the cleric used stone shape to make a slim exit for the party to escape. Beyond, a pitch black corridor leading down, ostensibly to the Bleak Theater.
And the Theater knows they are coming...
It looks like this group probably won't meet again until August, so I will be taking my time getting things ready. Hopefully this game will be in person, and I'm planning to get a bunch of minis painted and built for that eventuality. I also need to make sure my dungeon tiles are sufficient to the task. I may have to skim the Youtube channels of Wyloch, DM Scotty and Black Magic Craft for terrain ideas.
This is why we can't have nice things.
However, one conclusion I've arrived at after last night's game is that I need to find a way to make combat more manageable. Pathfinder is a very crunchy, statistical game, and every die roll devolves into a 20 minute discussion of every possible modifier and permutation of cause and effect. There's too much going on for my old brain to allow for in-game naval-gazing.
I'm going to institute a timer for our games. It's one I've seen used to great effect in-game before, and it's one I use as a scrum master at work also. When we are in combat, and I go through the initiative order and get to you, you have 6 seconds to say what you are doing. Think about what you want to do on your own time when I am dealing with the other PCs and NPCs.
I'm going to institute a timer for our games. It's one I've seen used to great effect in-game before, and it's one I use as a scrum master at work also. When we are in combat, and I go through the initiative order and get to you, you have 6 seconds to say what you are doing. Think about what you want to do on your own time when I am dealing with the other PCs and NPCs.
The other thing I need to do is find a more compressed and DM-friendly way of managing monsters. All the aforementioned crunch just taxes my brain, so I will likely be boiling things down a bit. What do I really need to know about that NPC fighter beyond his basic stats; AC, hp, hits/damage and saves? Need to work on that...
*I decided to temper that down a bit, restricting "every spell" to mean "every spell published in the core rulebook" which is still sufficient to keep the wizard busy decoding and learning spells for the next TWO YEARS of game time. Really. I did the math!
No comments:
Post a Comment