[Hackmaster] Back to the Keep (a semi-log)

[LibraryOgre]

So, we gathered last week for an inaugural Hackmaster session; we're likely to be monthly, what with the pressures of being grown-ups and all (sitters, work schedules, etc). I was hoping to make a mage or fighter/mage, but the best stats (under a house rule) I rolled had a 10 Intelligence... could've fiddled around, but went with a dwarf fighter/thief, bolstering a very lackluster Wisdom and Looks so I kept my 16 strength, 15 Con, and even managed a 12 Charisma despite my (modified) 6 Looks. Overall, he's got great stats, but I wound up spending a number of points on rerolls for his quirk/flaw... I didn't want to play Compulsive Liar, Colorblind, Missing Ear, or... one other that I forget. I stuck with a Superstition about birds being unlucky.

The party is:
Elwyn - Elven thief with some OCD
Ava Cado - Human priestess of the Bear
Grimwulf - Fhokki javelin who wants to be a paladin
Flint Goldheart - a dwarf fighter/thief with a rather pronounced dislike of birds.. much more a fighter who knows about traps (and backstabbing) than a sneaky fighter. Was very nearly named "Flintheart Glumgold", but the thought of laughing every time I said his name talked me out of it. This is srz bznz.

So, it's late winter in Vew, and a group of travelers is stuck in a blizzard. Flint has lived in the area for years, mostly as a caravan or claim guard, but also happy to chip in with general labor and the like when necessary. Since he's had a lean season, he's leaning on the friendship of Marotti, the innkeeper for the last five years, doing odd jobs in exchange for food and a place by the fire. Just before the storm hit, Ava and Elwyn came in (separately); Ava looking into some reports of ravaged nature, and Elwyn searching for the place her brother died, years ago. Also staying is a minor lord, a very old friend of Marotti, who is very ill.

One evening, the lordling won't get up for his dinner; Ava, a priestess, is called in to examine him, and finds that he's some sort of malignancy in his belly, but she lacks the ability to cure it. She does her best to make him comfortable, and is charged with delivering a letter to someone the next morning... and then the lordling slips into a coma. She faithfully delivers the letter, then returns to keep watch on him... partially because this ensures Marotti will let her stay, rent free, for a while longer. (We is po')

A few weeks pass. There's not much we can do during this time... the road to Frandor's is washed out and snowed in, no one is going anywhere that needs a guard, and it's not a good time for exploring, so we spend time around the inn, with me trying to convince Marotti to let me expand his root cellar this winter. He keeps putting me off, but we play a lot of cards and dice and not much happens. Soon, however, just in front of another blizzard, the Red Priest arrives. He's a follower of the Eternal Lantern, and has a "bodyguard" in young Grimwulf. The Red Priest (who has a name, but I have forgotten it) goes to visit the lordling, an old friend of his, though Marotti requests that they disarm before visiting his sick friend.

Then, no , ninjas attack. Five priests in brown robes and studded leather come into the inn and begin to attack the Red Priest, also trying to sap the curious Elwyn (who was attacted to the Red Priest's fancy golden holy symbol). I, being the industrious individual I am, go up and backstab one of the Brown priests, then bash his head in with my axe. The immediate threat to her ended, Elwyn retreats to clean her sword. Ava defends the unconscious lordling, Grimwulf gets ToPed, and I wade into melee, protecting Grimwulf and making another kill myself. The Red Priest takes down two, but the final brown priest... the one with the long sword, who seems to be the leader... runs. I miss hitting him as he runs, but tag him with a throwing axe on the way out.... but he gets away.

The Red Priest clears us from the room, insisting that he will sit vigil over his friend. He blocks the door with an armoire, releases Grimwulf from his service, and begins a three day pray-a-thon, complete with spare voices in the room and the occasional muffled explosion. We let him pray, though I get a little paranoid and start making a club, and figuring out how to put silver pieces as studs to make it a viable anti-undead weapon. The blizzard rages outside, but, on the third day, it stops. Silence comes from the room where the Red Priest kept his vigil. Grimwulf, concerned for his former master, forces open the door, to find the corpse of the lordling looking weeks dead, the Red Priest still kneeling... and, in another room, Moratti lies with his throat cut.

Cue a flurry of investigation, where we find out that Moratti killed the previous owner and buried him in the root cellar, was, himself, the murderer of the lordling, using some exotic plant-based poison that our Bear-priestess couldn't identify, and had summoned the brown priests. We learn that Elwyn's brother was at some place named Salt Haven, which also seems to be the source of trouble that the druid was interested in. I want more insight into Moratti (I was his friend for five years), and Grimwulf is at somewhat loose ends, but the potential to confront undead seems to cheer him.

We've got a good dynamic going. The elf and I have a snarky relationship, with me having made several cracks about her impatience ("What, are you afraid you're gonna grow old waiting for it?"), and her tending to make fun of my smell and beard. Not outright violent... I recognize her as generally "good people", even if we don't get along. With two humans, we tend to be a bit more aloof, but we're settling into a relationship with them, as well.

[angry_bear]

Sounds like the start of an interesting adventure. I'm playing in a Hackmaster campaign right now, and loving every minute of it. Definitely one of my favourite RPG's out there right now.

[LibraryOgre]

I'm really enjoying it, and I like her compromise on stats.

Basically, you start with 43 BP, instead of the standard 40. If you roll a full set of stats you like, you keep it and all 43 BP. But you can spend 1 BP for up to 3 complete rerolls, then take the best set of the lot, and manipulate it like normal.

The results is that you get to roll 3 sets of stats, but have a slight advantage if you stay with the first. I wound up rolling OK on my first set, decent on the second, and horribly on the third (not shopkeeper, but damn near) and so went with the second set. Since I kept them in order, I got the same bonus 50BP.

[angry_bear]

That's pretty cool. When I run a session down the line I might have to use that. Although one thing that's really nice about Hackmaster is, stats aren't as vital as they are with other games. It's still nice to have good stats of course, but if I had the stats my thief has in a 3.5 game I'd probably reroll the character to be honest.

How do you like the fighter/thief class? Haven't really heard much about the Not-Multiclass classes. I've been using the free demo for the most part. I ordered the PH, kinda excited about getting that.

[LibraryOgre]

I'm kind of on the fence about it, because while it has some thiefly features, it doesn't necessarily have the ones I want.

As a F/T, I get backstabs, an improved TOP, faster CoD, and a reduced DR when I attack someone from behind. Which is great when it happens... but my rolls are going into Lockpicking, ID Trap, and Disarm Trap. I don't do a lot of sneaking, and I'm likely going to wear decent armor down the line. Give me the Improved Near Perfect Defense. Give me the option to backstab when someone runs away from me. Because, chances are, I'm not going to be running after them.

[angry_bear]

Sounds like it's alright, but yeah... Definitely lacks some of my favourite features of a Thief.

Have you had issues with the tier system yet? As much as I love the game, it does still seem to have a bit of a balancing issue in terms of arcane casters... Not as bad as D&D, but it still seems to be there.

[LibraryOgre]

We don't have an arcane caster in this group, but our previous one had a mage.

Mages can be horribly awesome, but they've got some real drawbacks. They're fragile, lousy with most weapons, and can't specialize worth a damn. Our mage was an elf... only time she was hit in several months of play, she ToP'd and that almost cost them the fight.

[angry_bear]

See, we've got an elf mage who's also a semi capable archer. So while the bulk of it's utility comes from casting (There's a funny story about Bar Portal, a barn, fire, and 2 dozen orcs) they're also capable of doing a bit of damage without magic as well...

I wouldn't say the mage overshadows the party yet; but it seems to be on the cusp of getting out of hand... I might be mistaken, but it just seems like a possibility.

[LibraryOgre]

See, we've got an elf mage who's also a semi capable archer. So while the bulk of it's utility comes from casting (There's a funny story about Bar Portal, a barn, fire, and 2 dozen orcs) they're also capable of doing a bit of damage without magic as well...

Ja, I'm on the Kenzer boards; I've seen the story. ;-)


I wouldn't say the mage overshadows the party yet; but it seems to be on the cusp of getting out of hand... I might be mistaken, but it just seems like a possibility.

Let me know; the slower curve leads me to think it's less likely to happen quickly.

[angry_bear]

Ja, I'm on the Kenzer boards; I've seen the story. ;-)



Let me know; the slower curve leads me to think it's less likely to happen quickly.

Haha, that's kind of great actually. Has the GM posted about the ogres from last session yet? Not as awesome as some of our other exploits, but still pretty cool.

[LibraryOgre]

Haha, that's kind of great actually. Has the GM posted about the ogres from last session yet? Not as awesome as some of our other exploits, but still pretty cool.

The ones y'all hammered? Yeah. He's also scheming for revenge!

[angry_bear]

The ones y'all hammered? Yeah. He's also scheming for revenge!

If he throws wasps at the party I fear for my PC's life... Fun fact, my thief has only been significantly (Actually only like 4 points of damage) injured when fighting wasps.

He's a great GM, but I think he needs to start throwing a combination of enemies at us to make combat more challenging. Like, rather than just a group of goblins, add some wargs as well, or an ogre or two. I kept expecting to come up against orkin wardogs when we were fighting the orcs as often as we did. Not really sure how to broach that subject with him without sounding like "that guy" though ya know?

[LibraryOgre]

He's a great GM, but I think he needs to start throwing a combination of enemies at us to make combat more challenging. Like, rather than just a group of goblins, add some wargs as well, or an ogre or two. I kept expecting to come up against orkin wardogs when we were fighting the orcs as often as we did. Not really sure how to broach that subject with him without sounding like "that guy" though ya know?

He's actually been given that advice... combined arms, fast dudes plus heavy hitters, etc.

And, I'm certainly not trying to drive you away from the Playground, but players ARE allowed to post on the Kenzerco boards.

[angry_bear]

I've thought about posting there, it seems like a good community. Just haven't gotten around to setting up an account yet. :smallsmile:

It's kind of funny, all the people I've talked to who also post on the Kenzerco boards are also mods on other boards I go to. Just kind of a funny coincidence.

[LibraryOgre]

I've thought about posting there, it seems like a good community. Just haven't gotten around to setting up an account yet. :smallsmile:

It's kind of funny, all the people I've talked to who also post on the Kenzerco boards are also mods on other boards I go to. Just kind of a funny coincidence.

It's because Hackmaster players are inherently superior to everyone else. Says so right in the book. :smallbiggrin:

[angry_bear]

It's because Hackmaster players are inherently superior to everyone else. Says so right in the book. :smallbiggrin:

See, I feel obligated to become a mod on a forum somewhere before I join those boards. Otherwise I'll just not be good enough to post with everyone else. lol

Have you heard about the magic items in the beta for the DMG? I'm kinda excited about how they're going about that... It actually sounds like a big deal when you get one rather than just dumping gold at a market.

[LibraryOgre]

Have you heard about the magic items in the beta for the DMG? I'm kinda excited about how they're going about that... It actually sounds like a big deal when you get one rather than just dumping gold at a market.

I've got a beta at home, but haven't looked through it. And magic items are designed to be more rare, and less of a market, in HM. The version I like (and tend to use) is that magic items do have a market... but it's more akin to the art market than Wal-mart.

They've also introduced some non-magical healing... spend your days getting drunk at the tavern and you can actually heal yourself much faster than the standard.

[angry_bear]

Yeah, the new healing seems like it can be pretty interesting. It's something like 5 hit points each day you spend relaxing and drinking. Which has benefits for just about any character, but our group currently has a barbarian who can't accept any healing from the clerics. So I can see my group doing really well with that new feature... Seriously, one of them is bound to fail their move silently when healing him while he's sleeping eventually.

That's an interesting way to look at the magical weapons, but I still prefer the idea of having to quest for one... Especially since the weapons are apparently pretty powerful. The way I see it is; it's one thing to buy a fancy gun or whatever, it's something else entirely buying a Hind D. :smallwink:

[LibraryOgre]

Yeah, the new healing seems like it can be pretty interesting. It's something like 5 hit points each day you spend relaxing and drinking. Which has benefits for just about any character, but our group currently has a barbarian who can't accept any healing from the clerics. So I can see my group doing really well with that new feature... Seriously, one of them is bound to fail their move silently when healing him while he's sleeping eventually.

And this, my friend, is why everyone creates together. ;-)


That's an interesting way to look at the magical weapons, but I still prefer the idea of having to quest for one... Especially since the weapons are apparently pretty powerful. The way I see it is; it's one thing to buy a fancy gun or whatever, it's something else entirely buying a Hind D. :smallwink:

When I say "art market", I mean more like "the market for rare and valuable art". You MIGHT find some prints at the local garage sale (something like a potion that can be created in relative quantaties and without a specific maker's touch), but you're unlikely to find anything really valuable without the owner being very ignorant.

[angry_bear]

I suppose... I'll have to wait and see how powerful the magical items are before I form a major opinion though.

[Greylond]

I've thought about posting there, it seems like a good community. Just haven't gotten around to setting up an account yet. :smallsmile:

It's kind of funny, all the people I've talked to who also post on the Kenzerco boards are also mods on other boards I go to. Just kind of a funny coincidence.

Hey! Howareya?! I'm a long time member over at the K&Co boards, but not a Mod... ;)

HM is a great game and your GM is getting some advice from some of the best GMs I know over there... :)

I haven't chimed in on that thread yet, mostly cause I'd just be repeating what others have told him.

It does sound like a cool campaign though. Have Fun with it!

[angry_bear]

Really loving Hackmaster so far. I'm excited to run a one off game when my copy of the PH comes in the mail. :smallbiggrin:

Also, it's definitely one of the coolest ongoing game I've ever played in. Not to mention it's the most fun I've had playing a thief in a long time.

And can I just say, my mind is being blown from talking to people who know other people I know purely from messageboards and gaming? Kinda crazy, gotta say. lol

[LibraryOgre]

Grimwulf and Flint head to Salt Haven, where they find that there's reports of grave robbing from the cemetery near the old wizard's tower. This, of course, gives Grimwulf a religiously motivated war-boner. We go halfsies on a lantern (neither of us being able to afford 20sp for a lantern and a ~50 hours of oil), and get to work.

After interrogating several colorful hicks, they head up to the old wizard's tower labyrinth and begin to explore. After a few tense minutes (using the ancient dwarven technique of "always follow the right hand wall" and "watch where you step, you clod"), they encounter two ghouls. After landing a mighty blow, Grimwulf is paralyzed. Flint continues to fight for a couple more exchanges, but is ToPped. At that point, a pixie-faerie (who had passed out after using Bar Portal to keep the ghouls at bay) bolts past, leading the ghouls (fortunately) towards the exit, where she escapes after some fancy flying. She begins to look for blueberries, the ghouls being unwilling to venture into sunlight.

Flint comes to, and bars the door, protecting the downed Grimwulf until he unfreezes, and they loot the corpses and coffins, getting a tidy sum of coins and a few gems. However, Flint has 3 wounds, two of them ten or higher, and a grand total of 3 HP to his name. Grimwulf, who got paralyzed early from a small scratch, is in better shape... but both a kinda feeling exposed, and don't know where the ghouls got off to, or what happened to the pixie-faerie.

[LibraryOgre]

And Then There Were Three: Hackmaster Campaign
When last we left our heroes, Flint Goldheart and Grimwulf were in a dungeon, with Flint severely injured (a 10pt, an 11pt, and a 5pt wound, with 3 HP to his name). Ava and Elwyn came up from Vew a few hours behind us, and they start looking around Salt Haven for where we went. They reach the graveyard just as Flint and Grimwulf limp out of the dungeon, no sign of the ghouls. Whew. After a bit of banter between Flint and Elwyn, they head back to the inn for a few days of healing, aided by magic and some Honey Brew. Flint made it back to 20 HP, and decided that was good enough to head back down.

We retraced Flint and Grimwulf's steps, and met with the ghouls where we did before. Flint took a couple scratches, but avoided being paralyzed, then waded in and DESTROYED one of the ghouls with a single axe-blow... 46 points with a hand axe, due to a massive critical. (Grimwulf's player asked where this dwarf was last time). The second did manage to TOP me, but our party brought it down. Once Flint recovered (with some critical care from Ava Cado), we headed through one of the doors, encountering a room full of mouldering carpets and the like. Flint realized he had a spear (found on a corpse last time), so he offered to poke it.

"I've got a spear, I'll poke it" is going on his tombstone.

Two giant ticks exploded from under the carpets and attacked him. Flint, with his massive 8 HP, took 31 points... 2 more than his maximum HP. Despite burning all his Luck Points to avoid this, he's dead. He's not pining for the fjords, he's an ex-parrot. The party fought the ticks to smashy, and then retreated, having looted the only thing of value (Flint's corpse).

I started work on a new character; leaning towards one of my favorites: A halfling cleric of the Traveler.

[angry_bear]

We have one of those in our game. It seems like a fairly solid class/race combination.

So then there really wasn't anything of value in the dungeon? It's always a kick to the boys when you're stuck exploring a dungeon like that... Especially when you lose a PC because of it. :smalleek:

[LibraryOgre]

We have one of those in our game. It seems like a fairly solid class/race combination.

So then there really wasn't anything of value in the dungeon? It's always a kick to the boys when you're stuck exploring a dungeon like that... Especially when you lose a PC because of it. :smalleek:

So far, not much. A bit of cash, a few gems, but we've only gotten two rooms in.

[angry_bear]

So far, not much. A bit of cash, a few gems, but we've only gotten two rooms in.

Well, on the plus side a cleric of The Traveler should help with the healing. Hopefully you guys wind up with a decent payoff without any more PC deaths. :smallsmile:

[LibraryOgre]

More I think about it, the more inclined I am to be human... the extra 25 BP that halfling clerics have to pay is gonna HURT, and I'm not getting a ton out of it.

[angry_bear]

How were the stats you rolled? By the sounds of things, your group might do alright with a battle cleric of some kind... Cleric of the True maybe?

[LibraryOgre]

How were the stats you rolled? By the sounds of things, your group might do alright with a battle cleric of some kind... Cleric of the True maybe?

Str 13
Int 10
Wis 13
Dex 10
Con 12
Lks 8
Cha 10

Averagest stats around. ;-)

If I go Halfling, it becomes

Str 9
Int 10
Wis 14
Dex 12
Con 13
Lks 8
Cha 10

A real loss in Strength, but a gain in Wis, Dex, and Con. I could go Eternal Lantern, which would fit with our Fighter, but I really like the stats on the Traveller.

[angry_bear]

I'd stick with the Traveler, you could have a relatively solid priest of any kind with those stats; but I don't see anything favoring a specific faith. Best to go with what you'd enjoy the most. :smallsmile:

[LibraryOgre]

I opted for a human priest of the Traveler named Sevlen; his background is here. (http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2013/09/momma-tried-character-intro-for.html)

But, a log from yesterday's game:
Sevlen and (insert elf wizard name here) were travelling west along the river when they reached Salt Haven, a tiny town at the confluence of two rivers. Not quite the last navigable point, but certainly working on it. We arrived just in time for the funeral of a dwarf, and spent some time in the local tavern, the Green Gizzard, learning that the dwarf had been killed in the ruins* of a wizard's tower (actually, the ancient basement beneath the tower). Choosing to confront the evil and maybe find some useful gadgets, Sevlen and (Iewnh) joined with the adventurers to explore the basement complex.

Meanwhile, Ted the wizard woke up in a dark cell, stripped of most of his possessions, with no idea how long he had been there. With ghouls approaching his cell, he used magic to break out, then ran lost for several days through a maze of twisty passages, all alike.

After some rest and healing, the party returned to the complex. They explored the rooms from before, aided by Sevlen's ability to map and keep his sense of direction. They searched the room where Flint died, finding an expensive ornamental dagger, then continued on. Unsatisfied with their cautious speed, (Iewnh) decided we could leave off searching for traps. He promptly fell into a 15' pit trap, pulling Grimwulf down on top of him, injuring himself severely. Sevlen climbed down, and nursed the worst of their wounds, and they were briefly sealed in while Elwyn sought a way to open the trap. Soon after she did, Ted burst into the corridor. A brief and tense standoff was interrupted by the ghouls that had chased Ted, but our Elwyn had learned how to work the pit trap... the ghouls were dropped, roasted, then smashed with Sevlen's sling stones (my argument being "Arrows cost money. I'm throwing rocks."), while the rest of the party fought some largish spiders sneaking up from behind. Examination proved that one of the ghouls was the elf thief's brother, lost 20 years ago. Further examination proved that the spiders were edible, and so we had a bit of a spider-meal at a driftwood campfire near the entrance.

Fortified with cooked spider, we advanced, disturbing some giant rats, who also fell to the pit trap and ranged weapons (with most of the rats being sealed inside the pit trap; with two dead ghouls and their own injured to feed on, they had time.) Our priest of the bear, Ava Cado, opted to befriend one of the remaining rats, and we turned up a few silver in copper in the trash they'd abandoned.

Continuing on, we found astrological calculations that predate the tower on the floor of a long-abandoned bedroom, Ted's old cell (which seemed to be converted storage), and a room with a statue that controlled the doors. Heading out from the statue room, we found a ginormous storage room. Cooking smells wafted across the room, so the thief and Sevlen (who picked up a little stealth) snuck forward. Sevlen had some terrible misfortune, and failed to avoid detection (I rolled 01 more than is statistically probable last night) and the goblins are closing in...

Grimwulf, our fighter, didn't have much to do last night, as most of our combat involved "Let them fall into the pit and kill them from afar." However, with two people exposed and goblins advancing... and pretty much EVERYONE out of spells ((Iewnh) has enough for 1, he said)... Grimwulf is soon going to find himself very valuable.

*RIP Flint Goldheart, of whom Elwyn, our elven thief, said "His smell wasn't that bad and his sense of humor was acceptable." A fitting eulogy.

EDIT: The player of (Iewnh) informs me that the character is named Fredikya.

[angry_bear]

I like the back story, interesting, well developed, non epic, very Hackmaster from what I've learned of the game. It's something I've come to appreciate after several years of "Lone survivor of a lost clan, tapped for destiny by the divine power known as Steve the God of Epicness and Melodrama," in D&D. lol

Sounds like a decent payoff so far, hopefully the goblins don't give your group too much trouble.

[LibraryOgre]

Oh, I'll lay odds we're proper ****ed. The goblins have the drop on us, and our GM tends to be a bit stingy with the Initiative dice.

[angry_bear]

Is there any place that you can bottleneck them? If you can manage to force them into fighting on your terms, you might be able to beat them....

[LibraryOgre]

Is there any place that you can bottleneck them? If you can manage to force them into fighting on your terms, you might be able to beat them....

We're hoping for a conga-line of doom, but I'm fairly exposed and slow, so we're probably going to have to advance, then fall back for the conga-line... and that's gonna suck.

A couple lucky tops might be what saves us.

[angry_bear]

Goblins are a fun enemy in Hackmaster, but they usually go down easily enough. Your fighter will probably be able to dish out enough damage to take out a few of the goblins.

Or you could try diplomacy. It's not as sexy as combat, but it could save your life in this situation. Even if they demand a tribute of some kind, you'll be coming back in a few hours to kill them all anyway. lol

[LibraryOgre]

Goblins are a fun enemy in Hackmaster, but they usually go down easily enough. Your fighter will probably be able to dish out enough damage to take out a few of the goblins.

Or you could try diplomacy. It's not as sexy as combat, but it could save your life in this situation. Even if they demand a tribute of some kind, you'll be coming back in a few hours to kill them all anyway. lol

Right now, I'm counting on the fact that every hit is likely to knockback... because my Speed is horrible. I might switch to my knife.

****

Scary Spider, Levels, Flying Dagger
So, we reconvened on Saturday to play a bit more Hackmaster. When last we left our heroes, there were a group of goblins that we were failing to sneak up on, and we'd just rolled some initiatives (in my case, truly horrible initiatives). I was bit annoyed at my GM, because I figured she'd screwed me on the initative die... but that's before the spider exploded into the room and started trying to eat me. Grimwulf charged forward to distract the spider, taking a slight wound in the process, but we then retreated, leaving the goblins (who came out to attack the spider) to play with our new friend.

At this point, we concede that most of us are out of spells, lowish on HP, and kinda tired of the dark, so we head back to Salt Haven to spend a couple weeks licking our wounds and learning a few things (all except Ted, who didn't quite have the XP). While there, Fredykai acquired a crossbow, and we got a request from the mayor/innkeeper/sheriff to deal with the river pirates once the days warmed up and they started preying again. This is right in line with the Traveler's ethos, so I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Rested and leveled, we returned to the Tower Basement. This time, however, we chose not to tread well-worn paths, and continued into the other parts of the basement. We came to realize that the ruins were far older than the tower had been (bolstering our observation from last session about the age of the astrological charts), and stumbled across a room of sarcophagi. Being cheery tomb robbers (see my article Corpses and Caches to understand the theological underpinnings of "It's ok to loot dead people if no one knows their name"), we levered one of the sarcophagi open, with Grimwulf standing ready to smash the skeleton inside if it objected to our stealing the pretty dagger on its chest. Instead, the dagger objected, chasing us around the room for a moment. We smacked it down, and it got back up in a moment. We bound it in a sheath, it popped out and started chasing us again. Finally, we sealed it back in the sarcophagus, and had to call it a night. Five sarcophagi and many rooms await us, with a need to smash pirates ahead.

[LibraryOgre]

Seems it's been too long since I posted, and the old one fell to age. So, here's the old log...

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291290

So, here's the log I forgot to post:

http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2013/10/skeletons-spiders-pirates-and-rescue.html

So, we pushed on tonight in Hackmaster. Due to a Florida vacation, Fredikya's player wasn't with us, but we soldiered on. We began in the room of the sarcophagi, where we'd encountered the flying dagger, before. We explored the next, and a skeleton arose, trashing our remaining mage while the rest of the party gathered around and beat it with sticks (except the thief, who kept trying to kill it with a short sword... not so effective, though she hit more often than we did with our staves and maces). The mage was so banged up that we retreated to town, curing him of his wounds and taking a break.

Returning to the sarcophagi, we discovered more skeletons, but with no animation, just treasure. A well-made broadsword (which no one can use, but I intend to use as a rich gift), and a suit of chainmail that fit our fighter. He felt a lot more confident in the better armor. We also found a necklace (which the priest of the Bear refused to test for choking properties on her pet rat), two rings, and a coronet (which we determined was a crown, not a small trumpet). Now well swimming in rich stuff, we pressed on. We fought a massive spider, and my priest of the Traveler got his first initiative under 10! But the fighter took a single point of damage early in the fight, and managed to pull off two strikes in short order, both of which massively penetrated, dropping the brute to the ground. Searching the spider, we found a nice dagger (that I'll probably learn how to use, just because).

We soldiered on, finding the equipment of our mage (who had been kidnapped and tied up sessions ago), then an underground river (that we declined to cross) and a way back to the room whose doors are controlled by a statue. Exploring further, we found our way to a grotto where four pirates argued. A daring plan had Elwyn and Sevlen lead the pirates back to our fighter, shooting slings and arrows (literally) to draw them back. Three of the four were game; the fourth tried to get away, but was TOPped by a shot from Elwyn. I swam out towards the boat... but got caught by the octopus of the grotto. As he pulled me closer, I managed to cast a Safe Haven and wriggle free, swimming back to the pirate's boat.

In the boat was a TOPd pirate and a tied-up girl, so I rowed back to the shore, where we found some of the pirate's booty, including a scad of silver and copper, some gems and jewelry, and a few bits of sundry treasure. We will start the next adventure sans Elwyn and Ted, but with Fredikya back, freeing a fair maiden and planning our return with loot.


And here's the link to the new one (which is repeated below):

http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2013/11/talky-talky-walky-walky-lizard.html

Oh, boy, it's been a long time since we played, and some developments in my life have curtailed a few of my other gaming pursuits. However, we got together on Saturday to play a bit of Hackmaster.

When last we played, we'd just freed a young woman from her pirate captors. Cutting her gag and bonds, we find that she's the daughter of the mayor/innkeeper/store owner back in Salt Haven/View/Flat/whatever (we sort of lost track of what town it actually was). She wasn't so much "kidnapped" as "ran away from home with her now-dead pirate boyfriend". Deciding that it's impractical to boat down to town, we trek back through the dungeon to bring her home to her father. As we're leaving the dungeon, we're stopped by at least a dozen goblins who, in pigin Merchant (and, eventually, some dwarven, which is close to goblin), they demand we leave their home and never come back. We bring girly back to dad, and they promptly throw a screaming hissy fit at each other, which we somewhat manage to cool, or at least get them on shouting terms. Grimwulf offers her hire as his cook, if she doesn't want to stay with dad.

Then begins a very long discussion about bringing tribute to the goblins that I never quite got the reason for. We felt unable to fight the lot of them, I get that, but someone wanted to negotiate with them for some damn fool reason, and decided to give them a chunk of our treasure. The goblins, however, decided that they didn't want our treasure, they just wanted us to leave them alone. Fair enough. Deciding that there wasn't much we could do there, we headed towards the county seat, known as Frandor's Keep, after purchasing a mule from our friendly innkeeper.

Long trip; many days. We mostly walked, encountering pilgrims who told us how horrible the goblin problem was, and encountering nothing ourselves save a derelict gate to nothing, some anomalous tracks of a giant lizard coming from the river (in what amounts to Idaho in March), and miles and miles of miles and miles. We stopped at Kar Mandri, failing to marry off the tag-along village girl to any of the innkeeper's sons, and then headed towards the keep. We were denied entrance, however, as someone had tried to kill the Count, and they were requiring papers to enter the keep proper. We spent some time talking with folks outside the stockade, and adjourned for the evening, our eyes turned towards Quarrytown. described by the guards as "A den of thieves, if you ask me."

[LibraryOgre]

http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2013/12/leveling-up-surprise-pregnant-lady.html

So, we play again tonight, but I forgot to update on what happened in our Hackmaster campaign last week, given the frentic orgy that is finals week.

A good portion of the party was ready for a level, either 2nd or 3rd, so we sat down and worked through that. Since most of the group is not familiar with the system, that took a while to raise attributes, refigure things, and spend BP. For his part, Sevlen picked up the basics of blacksmithing (I figure he's been making a living as a tinker since he left home; blacksmithing is part and parcel of his General Repair), plus some more languages, religions, and the Local History proficiency for the Earldom of Reyifor. Since I'm familiar with the module, I've purposely built Sevlen so he can metagame about the setting a bit without cheating. I'm usually dropping a BP each level to learn about churches we encounter... I've got the party's religions covered (due to some fortuitous penetration, I now know the Bear's religion better than my own), and plan to pick up the Caregiver, as we interact with him a bit.

After that, we debated what we should do to get into the keep, but it seems our adventures against the vampire earned us a friend; we got a note saying that looking into Vespin Tower might result in enough favor to get let into the keep. So, with Evlyn and Fredi having sold our stuff, we started up the mountain, just the seven of us (Grimwulf, Fredi, Ava, Sevlen, Evlyn, Tedi and Grimwulf's cook, who we don't trust being left alone in a town full of rough men). We set out towards the tower, but late on the first day, we encountered a woman.

She was bloody and beaten and very pregnant. She raved that the child inside her was a beast and, as we calmed her, we learned that she and her family merchant caravan had been taken by orcs late last fall. Her family had been killed, but she'd been kept and raped. She'd escaped in a harrowing climb to freedom when a cloaked man had come for her (for reasons she did not know). We decided we couldn't leave her there, nor let her walk back alone, so we started towards town, and dropped her with a Brandobian cleric of the Caregiver... and learned that the keep had opened in our absence, as they'd found someone to blame the assassination attempts on. We decided to enter the keep, and got ourselves registered as an adventuring company, the Bleeding Hearts, because most of our other name ideas were stupid. ;-)

[LibraryOgre]

http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2014/01/busy-busy-busy-four-quests.html

I have tendency to write these just before our next game; helps to remind me of what transpired, and speaks to my overwhelming laziness.

Our brave party (Elwyn the Elf, Fredi the Fearless, Ted the Terrible, Grimwulf the... Grim, Sevlen of the Journeymen, and Ava Cado) ventured forth to Vespin Tower, this time not encountering any pregnant escaped slaves, and instead running into some fire beetles, who scared the crap out of us, but failed to do much more than eat Ted and Fred's spell points. Upon arriving at Vespin tower, we found that the guard detachment there had been killed by goblins, who we quickly dispatched. Returning to the keep, we collected our silvers and started poking around town (though we've been keeping our main residence in Quarrytown... cheaper, and with easier access at the end of a long day).

We used a couple days of downtime to get Grimwulf's friend into the guard, and looked into the crime of Raishtlyn, who had tried to claim a bounty on a centaur's head (mistaken for a man's by the keep). We found the corpse of the centaur, and his hound, and brought back a guard to witness that there was, indeed, a creature with a body of a horse and the top of a man, as Raishtlyn described. We gave him a bit of healing, and he set out.

Also leaving town was Grond, who found out about the trick played on him by the scribes... and proceeded to trash the scriptorium. We got the commander of the watch to agree to keeping him overnight, and releasing him in the morning, given the harm that had been done to him. He left town, though we'd thought about giving him a job as meat shield.

Lastly, we saw to the matter of the totem at Falcon Tower. The foul creation was dedicated to the Strifelord, and would reassemble itself each night. The guards at the tower had been severely lashed for allowing it to remain, though they insisted it sprung up on its own. We tore it down, then laid in wait for the totem to rebuild itself. Instead, we got a quartet of orcs appear, including a shaman, all of whom we beat savagely. Taking them briefly prisoner, we learned that the spot was sacred to the Creator of Strife; since revealing that we'd taken down the totem meant the lives of the men guarding the tower, we're keeping mum for now... their lives are worth more than our fame, and it's nice to have folks owing us.

[angry_bear]

Haven't heard much about the actual details of Frandor's Keep aside from that it's a fun adventure... Sounds like your party has had some interesting experiences so far.

I do disagree with letting the goblins live though. They're just going to be a threat to any good aligned races in the area, and the group you encountered later on are probably connect to the same ones you didn't drive off earlier.

[LibraryOgre]

Haven't heard much about the actual details of Frandor's Keep aside from that it's a fun adventure... Sounds like your party has had some interesting experiences so far.

I do disagree with letting the goblins live though. They're just going to be a threat to any good aligned races in the area, and the group you encountered later on are probably connect to the same ones you didn't drive off earlier.

I disagree, too, but there were a lot of them, and we've got some moral relativists in the party.

[angry_bear]

I disagree, too, but there were a lot of them, and we've got some moral relativists in the party.

Heh, makes me think of one of my groups sessions where the lawful evil mage and our cleric of the true didn't see anything wrong with cannibals... We had to tell the cleric to roll on his law skill before we could deal with the threat lol.

[LibraryOgre]

http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/2014/02/several-sessions-ago.html

Oh, boy, we've had a busy month with a lot of playing, leading to me getting way behind on session logs.

Soon after our time at Falcon Tower, we decided to head west to check out the pregnant woman's story of a den of orcs (and also wanting to investigate rumors of kobolds who robbed some miners). We headed west down the road, but found only a long-abandoned camp of kobolds. We briefly met with the "witch", Valdershenk, who told us that she knew the kobolds well enough, but that orcs were always trouble. She also gave us a bit of a potion, that most of us survived pretty well. We headed further west, past the river that marks the county border and into the mountains.

It was a fairly difficult trek, especially with the number of greenhorn travelers we had along. Being the strongest swimmer, Sevlan tended to lead our way across rivers, while the rest of the party would follow on a rope he carried, or ride a log downstream. There were some rough bits, but we made it to a small, protected cove beneath the cliffs, where we figured our lady must have come from.

Quite frankly, this is one impressive trek for her. She climbed down a sheer cliff, hundreds of feet tall, crossed two rivers, and walked down the road, all while heavily pregnant, with inadequate clothes and no shoes. We suspected that her captors were up near the top of the cliff, but we couldn't make it up safely, so we decided to head back to town and circle around. On the way back, we met Valdershenk again, still strolling happily through unsettled lands; she informed us that she had some cures and such at her hut near the old Has road, which we promised to keep in mind.

Since we were planning on heading back west, we talked to our friend, Captain Reymond, the captain of the guard at the Palisade, asking if he had anything that needed to be run out to the towers to the southwest... figured we'd get pay and the short-term use of a mule out of the bargain, and continue our good relationship with the captain. Before we headed out to Karpar peak, we retired to some rooms we'd rented in the keep itself... while cheaper to stay at the hostel in Quarrytown, I also worried about security, especially when we start picking up money (aaaaaaannnny day now, I swear). However, we got attacked by giant rats. Huge rats. Rats the size of medium-sized dogs. Ava, our priest of the Bear, got bit and fell ill. Since Balan was unable to cure her disease, and the disease wasn't fatal or contagious (so long as she didn't bite anyone), we chose to keep adventuring, figuring it would clear up and a few days on the road would give her time to heal. Then, we were going to go into the sewer to wipe out the rats.

We started to run supplies down to the tower, and Sevlen noticed someone picking one of our pockets. We caught him and presented him with a proposal: He could adventure with us, or we'd turn him into the guard. He was enthused by the prospect; he was Amnet, and his family was tradesmen, but died soon after arriving at the Keep. He'd been on his own ever since, stealing bits and, while never quite joining the Ravens, he was occasionally dependent upon their charity. We got him some armor and he came along with us on the supply run.

The supply run was... interesting. The Karpar tower is rumored to be haunted, so Grimwulf was interested in investigating it in his position as a dedicant on the Eternal Lantern. When we got there, we learned it wasn't so much "haunted" as "rumored to be a lousy duty station so those assigned there could party." Good food, good drink, even a prostitute out there. We partied with the Karpar guard, and they offered us a chance to join a "secret society", though they weren't clear about the nature of it.

After a good night (and looking west, since we're still worried about orcs out there), we headed back to the keep with an Ava whose symptoms were getting worse. Determined to exterminate the rats, we headed down below. We knew of several entrances to the keep sewers, but started with one well away from the privies. The first was a small complex, draining directly to the river below, but with one-way doors that we couldn't get open... but rats could. Heading to the lower bailey sewers, we found a vast complex... what seemed to be the remains of the old keep. We found a kennel, a jail (with evidence that someone named "Dirk" was executed by someone known as "Sir Trigger"), some storage and a great hall. The hall, Fredi told us had giant tapestries, some of them quite valuable, but all of them quite old and delicate. Exploring further, we found evidence of the rooms of several of Sir Trigger's "fingers", including Dirk, the Pointer Finger... who seems to have been the one executed. We thoroughly mapped the area, with Amnet (that thief we caught) finding a few traps, and Ava getting further diseased. This second one was more severe, but would clear up just fine... provided she went to spend a few months in the desert. Ava chose to leave us, then, heading south to the arid lands and her health.

After a couple weeks of training, and thoroughly exploring that remnant of the old keep, we decided to tell some of the authorities about it. And for this, we were torn. Did we tell the Earl, responsible for the keep and arguably the one who could inherit the treasures below? Or did we tell the Prefect, responsible for the protection of the keep, who would surely like to know about the passage between the lower and middle baileys? In the end, we chose to tell Greytar, the mage who was present for the last keep, and a possible friend of Sir Trigger. We kept some information from him, however... like the library below. Sevlen'd finally pieced out the Orcish writing in the diary we'd taken from the Orc priest, and had learned a different history of the keep... one that included Sir Trigger, the Grel Wizard, who had attacked the keep before he helped rebuild it. We weren't sure of Greytar's actual loyalties, but bribed him with a bottle of valuable wine to set up a meeting with the prefect and the Earl (figuring that telling them both at the same time would avoid appearances of favoritism, though Greytar clearly favored the Earl).

The Prefect react with bluster and anger to news of a complex beneath the keep, and the Earl with cautious optimism to word of artistic treasures below. We shared this discussion, and promised to spend more time mapping the deeps.