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View Full Version : Player's Campaign Journal: Undead Greyhawk((Beware: Spoilers not marked))



Shade Kerrin
2011-05-14, 02:41 AM
The setup:
Some time ago, a member of my local Roleplaying club aqquired the complete collection of the old Living Greyhawk modules(And I mean complete...Apparently he wants to find some bilingual people to run a fair portion of them for us). As a result, we resolved to setup an entirely local LG revival. The preparations have been made, and a slot in our time schedules has finally opened, and so it begins!(Two weeks ago)

The Cast:((Note that all characters are merely according to my perceptions))

Myself


Character: Claire Forte, human hexblade.
Relations: Grek(Protector)
I intend to produce other characters for other reasons, but for now Clare is my only one. She is a music-loving young girl, who has since birth held an unnatural power. Curiosity finally overwhelming all else, she has set out on a journey of self discovery. That and to listen to the performances of the great bards of the time. Her weapon of choice is a heavy crossbow, which she deploys in a reckless manner on the battlefield.

Despite not getting much support, the hexblade is a class I've always wanted to give a shot at playing. Even though it's UG, the GM has even approved the use of of the Hexblade fix (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466#332210466), so I am not hopelessly oumatched. Ironically, the character who wound up taking this role was originally intended to be a Paladin.
Also, GM for the Region of Bissel


Mr. B
The one who obtained the modules. A charismatic man, who was apparently somewhat famous in the live-run of LG.
Character: Grek, dwarven fighter.
Relations: Claire(Charge)
A fun-loving dwarf, and an old adventuring companion of Claire's father. Knowing firsthand how dangerous the world can be, he asked Grek to act as a bodyguard in her journey, and wanting a bit of time away from his wife, Grek accepted. Unfortunately, his time of inactivity has dulled his skills somewhat. His stoic nature curbs Claire's reckless streak...or would if he was actually stoic. Grek's weapon of choice is his trusty axe, or failing that a plate of his wife's cooking.

Not having the time to put a character together on the day, Grek was a pregen handed to Mr. B on the day, which he quickly made his own.

Mr. O
An artist and friend of Mr. B, Mr. O is knows how to drive a story from both sides of the screen.
Character: Orgulus Frogmorten, halfling sorcerer.
A deft hand in Lore despite his class(class is meta anyway), Orgulus seems set on not just learning the great tales of the land, but starring in one himself. He is never without writing materials, and narrates his life as he goes. His preferred weapon is his magic, which seems to mostly involve making things explode.

Another player without the time to put a character together, however the GM designed this one on the spot.

Mr. Z
A man who has on more than one occasion admitted that whilst he has pretty much memorized the entirety of Dragon Magazine, the core PHB is for the most part hazy territory to him. He also freely admits to seeing characters as statistics first, characterization second.
Character: Tel Fieldyonder, human druid.
A druid who focusses on the healing side of nature, though he has a pet snake with a habit of fatally poisoning NPCs. That's about all there is to say on him right now, though a few details about the character might be illegal.

Mr. H
A potential GM for UG, but not one just yet. Though he strongly denies the fact, he is an RL troll.
Character: ???, human cleric of pelor
Cannot make an appropriate summary right now, check back later.

Mr. C
The GM as at now. Another old hand from LG, with a solid mastery of the rules and of optimization. Apparently a lurker on these forums, so hi, Mr. C!

Mr. A
A proud, aggressive(in a good way) man, with a tendancy to play proud, aggressive barbarians. He does branch out from time to time, though.
Character: Kordinfir, human barbarian.
Cannot make an appropriate summary right now, check back later.

Mr. J
A good natured man with a nice hat. Also current head of our group.
Character: Camdour Lothario, elven barbarian.
Cannot make an appropriate summary right now, check back later.


All characters who don't have a description are as such because I haven't seen enough of them in action. More specifically, as at now it's only been two sessions, and they have only played in one so far.

Session recaps to follow

Shade Kerrin
2011-05-16, 12:57 AM
Session the first: "Aren't we supposed to be on a quest to kill some orcs?"

Attending: Mr. C(GM)
Me(Claire), Mr. B(Grek), Mr. O(Orgulus), Mr. Z(Tel), Mr. H(???)(Will get the character's name by tomorrow)

Scene opens, as so many games do, in a tavern. It is about lunchtime, some are drinking, some not. Claire is waiting for the evening performances. Orgulus and ??? are merrily chatting together(I should point out that at this point Orgulus was a human - we have been given the right to modify characters as we wish for the first month), it seems they have been working together for at least another while. All of a sudden, a loud commotion is heard from outside. Being curious adventurers, the assortment of adventurers(not yet a party) head over to investigate.

The cause of the fuss seems to be a pair of Xvart(Some sort of blue-skinned goblin demon thing, never heard of them before today. Apparently quite common in Greyhawk, though. Pronounced 'sv-art), who are having problems with two priests of a certain religion(cannot remember which, but it involves being overzealous). The Xvart cry out that they have licenses, but the priests aren't listening...So the adventurers all decide to try talking them down, which gives the little guys a chance to slip out of notice and disappear into the crowd.

A few minutes later, just as the collection of adventurers(still not a party) are about to get back into the act of drinking, a pair of 'gnomes.' They thank the group for their help in voices revealing themselves to be the Xvart from earlier, which is quite amusing to Claire. Anyway, apparently they need help, and are willing to pay for the troubles. Since Claire and Grek are both a little short on cash after their journey, they are happy to listen to the request. It seems that a band of orcs have been uniting the monstrous races on the nearby plains for war, forcibly if needed. The Xvart just want to continue living the way they have for several generations, and will pay a fair price to break up the orcish assault plans. Considering the risk-vs reward of this venture, Claire and Grek accept this offer, at which point the other three ask if they can join in the fun. And so, the adventuring party is formed.

While Orgulus and ??? pick up some rations for the two-week journey ahead, Claire heads to the tavern's stables to pick up 'Bessy,' a rather stubborn mule she uses to carry her gear around. When all are together again, the group begins to head through the city towards the exit, but are distracted by a couple of interesting sights on the way. Firstly, a pair of priest from an "Earth Dragon" religion are evangelizing in the streets. They claim that they are here to cleanse the city of an illness that has been sweeping the land, in the name of their dragon. The party watches for a couple of minutes, but ultimately it is just a pair of evangelists.

Next, they notice another Xvart running desperately through the city. Curious, the party follows until he ducks into a guarded warehouse, from which several Xvart emerge soon afterwords. The leader gives a speech about how the Xvart are not merely foes of mankind, claiming they can just as easily aid them. He follows on to say that the service he is performing here can be replicated for anyone else willing to pay, then steps back into the warehouse. Finally, he marches out, followed by a small army of rats, followed by more rats, followed by more rats. Apparently he is going to lead them to the fields to live a peaceful life that does not interfere with humans.

The party is quite interested in following the rats, but in Grek's words, "Aren't we supposed to be on a quest to kill some orcs?" Fortunately, the rats are heading in the same direction as the group, so they get to observe the strange procession all the way to the river, where a couple of keen eyes notice another interesting sight: a strange black liquid running through the river, surrounded by dead fish. They ask a local guard, who shrugs and says it has been going on for a while now, it's no big deal as long as you don't touch the liquid. The rat procession has moved on in this time, so the group heads on in their quest, only to be halted once again, this time by a group of beggars. As various members fish around for spare coin, Tel instead utilizes his magic to create a handful of good-berries instead, offering them to the hungry street folk. The lead gratefully accepts, and offers his left hand to shake with Tel's. Claire mentally notes that using one's left hand for this is a bit odd, though, which by GM ruling apparently let me autopass the spot checks to notice the hidden weapons these guys were drawing, and thus not be caught flat footed when combat began.

Some of the group noticed the charade in tome, some didn't. The beggars sapped Tel hard enough to down him, and knocked Orgulus out before he was even aware of the danger. Claire opened by firing a shot from her weapon(which unfortunately went wide), but managed to lock one of the others down with her piercing glare(read:Hexblade Hex). Grek then stepped into the fray, managing to knock one out with a single swing of his axe. Finally ??? gave some medical(CLW) aid to Tel, before the beggars made their move. As it turned out, those poor beggars weren't nearly as effective against a prepared foe, failing to even land a hit in their countermeasures. The group took a couple more out, Myself deciding that taking an AoO from these guys was preferable to a -4penalty for firing into melee, thus creating up Claire's reckless trait. Finally, only two remained standing, locked into combat with Grek and Claire respectively. Grek's opponent was taken out with normal ease, however when Claire moved to shoot her final shot, the opponent managed to land a hit....a critical hit(only hit that would work, to be honest). He deals a hefty 11 damage...Claire has 12 HP. Stating, "You've done it now...", Claire fired her final shot, which does not quite deliver enough damage to take her foe out....However he now clearly realizes what situation he is in, and flees.

While the party pulls themselves together after the unexpected battle, a plopping noise is heard from the river. The black ooze on the river is now bubbling, but a few shots fired into it don't seem to provoke any reaction. Further questioning of the guards(who were called over to arrest the beggars(All of whom survived, don't look at us like that)) revealed that there was actually a reward in place for dealing with the source of the problem. Quite tempting, but in Claire's words, "Aren't we supposed to be on a quest to kill some orcs?" In the end though, the orcs are weeks away, the sludge is right here. Another day can't hurt.

The party slowly heads upriver, following the path of the sludge. After about an hour, they discover a clay pipe that seems to be where the substance is oozing from. No method to access it seems to be available, but one of the group happens to know enough about architecture(cannot remember who, sorry) to trace the piping back to a location in the city...The shop of those two Dragon Evangelists from before. The group checks the entrance, but it is closed with a sign reading, "Closed." Thinking on it a few seconds, Claire rotates the sign to the "Open" side, and steps into the (unlocked) door, followed shortly by everyone else.

The room is small, and packed with various alchemical apparatus. The first thing noticed is a small clay pipe, which is quite suspicious but not immediately damning. ??? picks up on the cloaks hanging on the wall, sporting a mark that resembles that of the Earth Dragon, but isn't a true match. Not finding anything else of note, the group decides to act on their suspicions. Borrowing Grek's axe, Claire shatters the pipe, at which point the two evangelists burst in from the back room, clearly quite angry at this turn of events. Claire passes Grek's weapon back, while offering the evangelists a chance to come out without a fight....fat chance.

The male cleric bears down on Grek and channels dark energy into him in his attack(obviously ILW), but he manages to shake off most of the effect. The other, meanwhile casts a spell to cause a band of skeletons to burst in from another room, effectively surrounding the party. Grek swings his axe into the man, who to his credit is able to sidestep the blow, whilst Hatia simultaneously fires a wild shot at the woman, and curses her. Orgulus is not going to have his presence left unknown this time around, and shoots a golden ball of pure energy(read:Magic Missile) towards the man, who still manages to take the blow. ??? finds himself mildly amused at the thought of attacking a Cleric of Pelor with skeletons, dusting them all with one blow. Finally, Tel wakes up a snake he was wearing about his neck, which slivers in the direction of the fight.
The two clerics deliver another burst of dark energy into Grek and Claire respectively, the second case missing her target. Grek delivers another swing and a miss, while Claire reloads her weapon and shoots a curse into the man. Orgulus delivers a repeat performance while ??? patches up Grek, and Tel's serpent delivers what is(for now) an insignificant strike to the man.
The man shoots a third burst of dark energy at Grek, who manages to sidestep the attack this time, while the lady steps over to patch up her ally. The group is getting serious now, though. Grek finally hits, and it's a good one(though his opponent is still standing). Claire fires off a shot, which strikes a critical point on the lady, and takes her down. Orgulus' third missile, combined with another strike from Tel's snake, put the man out of commision.

Now that the danger has been dealt with, the party searches about the place, quickly finding a large pot containing the dark substance from the river. At this point town guards burst in to arrest the party, but once they see the ooze the group is let off. During the confusion, though, the snake's venom runs its course through the man, claiming his life. The party asks itself, what to do now, then remembers, "Aren't we supposed to be on a quest to kill some orcs?"


What was meant to happen:
Apparently, we actually managed to follow the module. If we had gone off to fight the orcs, that would end the session with a net XP/Wealth gain of 0. Rather direct for a red herring....One aspect in which we veered from the course, though, was in entering the place without announcing ourselves. Apparently, we were expected to knock like lawful little adventurers, before having to fight the clerics in a slow retreating battle, until they summoned their skeletons out of desperation. Instead, we caught them with their pants down, and forced them to pull out their trump card at the start of combat.