GoodPilgrim
2013-07-11, 04:45 PM
Yesterday I started a level-1 campaign to get a few people introduced to the game, with the intention that they would experience a wide gamut of the possibilities of Dungeons and Dragons, leveling up relatively quickly (read: I give a good deal of XP for good roleplaying).
The session went smashingly, and I'd like to share what occurred a) to share the entertainment factor with many people, b) to hear feedback on what is ultimately an introductory campaign.
So, the dramatis personae:
Torgal Puckwerth - - A dwarf bard, played by a friend of mine and former college roommate whom I've been hoping would one day be able to play with us. He majored in music and now teaches music, so we all thought bard was appropriate for him, but ultimately let him decide on everything. Torgal plays the bagpipes.
Arba Petalbrook - - A halfling druid, played by my wife who, frankly, I'm surprised agreed to play. Honestly it was probably the others who were involved who convinced her to do so; I had nothing to do with it. In any case, she's all about plants and animals and is studying to be an herbalist, so the druid seemed appropriate, and she adores Rosie Cotton and kind of looks like her with the gorgeous curly hair and blushing cheeks (forgive me, I have to boast about my wife a little bit), thus halfling.
Falthor Falthorson of the Northernmost Mountain - - A dwarf barbarian, played by the only other guy who really has experience playing D&D. Thus, after the others all chose their characters, he filled in the party gaps which, apparently, meant that we needed a meatshield who was also kind of an idiot. But Falthor's a fun character, as will be seen. It was also worked into the backstory here that Falthor was a member of the Blackaxe Tribe of dwarves from the mountains to the north, which traditionally plays the bagpipes to annoy monsters and goad them into fights. One day the tribe was playing and awoke a black dragon who devoured them all except for Falthor, who wandered off on his own, seeking to best the dragon in combat one day. He came into the town where Torgal currently resided, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
Wisteria Petalbrook - - A halfling ranger, sister to Arba (character-wise, not player-wise), and played by Falthor's player's wife. She has played before at her husband's suggestion, but usually just a kick-in-the-door campaign where she does what he tells her to. I wanted her more involved for this one.
So, we had this lineup of the shortest adventuring party ever, beginning in a town called Oakroot which I had previously decided was a relatively racist, highly human-populated city, a center of trade for this human nation with a major foresting business. Thus these four tend to hang out in the Tapped Keg, a tavern owned by a gnome and friendly to nonhumans, yet rarely very full. I won't go into all the politics now, but suffice it to say I have been building this world for the better part of five years now, and I still don't know everything about it.
Anyway, it's early one evening when these four are sitting around their ale (dwarves) and tea (halflings), the theme music to Friends playing in the background, when a shaken-looking human in a pointy hat and billowy robes bustles in, bumps against the counter and orders an ale, and turns to survey the occupants of the tavern. There aren't many besides our party. Falthor, Int score of 8 and extremely distrustful of humans, eyes the wizard warily. Despite his unfriendly gaze, the wizard shuffles over to the table, spilling his ale over his hand while his other hand searches inside his robes. Stammering uncontrollably he says, "I-I have a j-job for anyone who's willing."
Falthor, in what might be construed as a Russian accent, gruffly says, "Go avay, human."
The wizard takes out a purse heavy with gold and jingles it in front of them.
Falthor: "Okay, you have my attention. Vhat is job?" (And that's how he talked the entire session.)
Although Falthor intimidates the wizard, the party discovers that his name is Silla and he is in need of a sample of a certain type of poisonous pumpkin which he knows grows just outside a small village in the forest to the west. He doesn't need a whole pumpkin, because they can grow to the size of a halfling, but only about a 5-lb. portion. Arba is concerned that such a thing will have rotted by the time they get back (the village is a week away on foot), but Silla says that the rotten pumpkin would be more potent. He also drops the sack of gold which contains 20 gp on the table and says that he'll have 5 times that for them when they return.
Falthor is excited and says, "Okay, ve go slay pumpkin for you, and now you buy us drinks, yes?"
The wizard buys them a round, finishes his ale, and departs.
The party debates for a while that perhaps this wizard is up to something fishy - after all, he was very shaken and muttered about a client who could use what he would make with the pumpkin, sounding for all the world like he was running a meth lab, and upon consideration, Torgal and Arba figure out that he's probably making an alchemical substance known as devil's soap which gives resistance to fire, so they fear that he may be working for someone who intends to sabotage the lumber operation of the city. Torgal, however, most certainly a voice of reason for the group, says, "If we don't do it, he'll probably get someone else to, so we can keep an eye on what happens." The party sees the sense in this, and everyone decides to get to bed early so that they can get up early to start right away.
Everyone, that is, except Falthor, who buys as much ale as he can with his share of the gold, blacks out, and wanders away from the tavern. Torgal, who feels himself responsible for the illiterate dwarf, goes after him and brings him safely back to the tavern, where he sleeps it off and wakes up with a wicked hangover.
But the party heads out the next day, Falthor, Wisteria, and Torgal sticking together while Arba rides ahead each day on her wolf to gather herbs. The days pass mostly without incident, although one day they think they can hear howling in the distance. Arba asks her wolf what he thinks (speak with animals), and he says that he's not sure, but it's something big, but it shouldn't be that big. The party thinks along the lines of dire rat, but they hear no more of whatever it was as they continue traveling.
The fifth day of their travel they make it to the forest, and after heading through for a little while, a pair of orcs stumbles out of the brush onto the path, sees the party, and accuses them of trespassing on their territory. Torgal, who can speak orcish, wants to talk to them to reason things out, but Falthor rushes into the combat. They roll initiative.
Wisteria goes first. She shoots her bow and misses. Arba flings a stone at one orc's eye with her sling, making a hit so that he reels in pain. Falthor charges in and takes down the other one with one hit from his dwarven waraxe. Torgal plays the bagpipes. The other orc takes a swing at Falthor, although he's a blinded, and lands a blow, dealing a good amount of damage. Wisteria shoots and takes him out.
They take the loot and experience and head farther in. They notice a bunch of rats scurrying around in the forest, which strikes Arba as odd. She tries talking to them, but they repeat, "Food, food!" over and over. Eventually she finds out that they're not looking for food, but one of them says, "Daddy's gonna give us food!" They conclude, again, dire rat.
They make camp and light a campfire. As they get ready for bed the girls realize that Falthor sleeps naked, and Arba shouts, "Why don't you at least wear a loincloth under your armor?" Torgal responds, "Be glad you don't have darkvision!"
Fairly quickly they hear some rustling in the trees and Wisteria (favored enemy: orc) realizes that it's more orcs. They freak out, thinking that the campfire led the orcs to them, and stamp it out. Then Torgal hears them whisper, "They put it out! Let's get them!" because they hadn't considered the orcs' light sensitivity. Wisteria climbs a tree, Arba hides behind another tree (out of spells having healed Falthor), Falthor readies his axe, and Torgal sings a lullaby. The orcs start feeling drowsy and stumble out, confused. Torgal then casts dancing lights to simulate a campfire, drifting off into the woods, which the orcs follow. The party takes experience and sleeps peacefully. (I was honestly very proud of the beginners' role-playing here.)
The final day of their journey they hear more rustling up ahead. Arba sneaks ahead through the woods, hoping to see whatever it is and entangle it before it can attack, but she sees not an orc but a young human woman with tattered clothes, sobbing as she runs along the path. She reports this back to her party. They wait for the girl who, when she sees them, falls to her knees and cries. Wisteria offers her tea, while Torgal consoles her. They find out that she's from Netsurah (the village to which they are headed), and that the previous night her whole family was murdered in their sleep and she is considered a suspect. Instantly the party is sympathetic toward her, and Torgal heads to the village to gather information while the girl stays with the party.
Torgal learns that the girl's name is Cia, that her family was indeed murdered and she was found lying naked in a pool of her parents' blood, and that she is the prime suspect, along with two others - an elf and a half-orc who are considered outsiders by the rest of the town. Torgal talks to the elf, learns that the elf is fairly detached from the town, and then visits the village elder and the healer, who are in fierce debate. The healer wants to arrest the girl and question her thoroughly. The elder seems more sympathetic, since a murder is entirely out of her character. Torgal mistrusts the healer, but talks to the elder in private and asks him to follow him, intending to lead him to the girl.
Now while all this was occurring, Falthor got bored, threw the girl over is shoulder, and walked with her into the town, the halflings following to try to keep him out of trouble. The two groups meet each other in the center of town, where the elder immediately takes charge of the girl and leads her off. Falthor follows and says that he will protect the girl. The elder reluctantly agrees to post him along with the rest of the guard who will keep her under house arrest. Wisteria goes with Falthor, while the other two wander off in search of the pumpkin, which they find to the north of town. Arba chops off a piece of the pumpkin, which immediately lets out a sickening stench. Arba makes her Fortitude save, Torgal does not and feels sickened.
They wander back to town and find the house where Cia lives, a guard posted outside. The guard won't let them enter, but Arba tries to sneak past him. The guard takes a swing at her and misses, all within view of Falthor who is inside and looking out the window. He jumps down the stairs and tackles the guard, intimidating him and making him wet his pants. The party goes inside, leaving that guard outside. Two other guards are upstairs, oblivious to everything.
The party talks for a little while, when they hear footsteps coming inside. The village elder is followed by the guard who wet his pants as well as five others, and he asks whether Falthor actually attacked him. He admits to it, but they explain that they have especial interest in Cia and want to see to it that she is kept safe. The elder tells them that he understands and that if they leave the house quietly he won't press charges, but they are really only interfering. Falthor refuses to budge, as do the halflings, but Torgal is afraid things might escalate and tries to diplomance, which, due to his sickness, isn't working so well, and the rest of his party doesn't listen when he tries to convince them to leave. He pulls out his bagpipes, tries to fascinate the elder, which fails, and leaves, playing the bagpipes, heading straight to the tavern to hopefully sleep it off.
The guards move toward Falthor with longswords, and one rests a hand on his arm. Falthor takes a swing at him and misses, and the guards close in. Falthor rages.
Wisteria hangs back and watches, but Arba decides it would be better to leave and sneak back in later. She escapes unnoticed out the window. Falthor punches one of the guards out, but then is set upon by the others with their swords. As he is knocked to exactly 0 hp and is staggering, Wisteria follows Arba out the window, unnoticed. One of the guards punches Falthor into unconsciousness and he is arrested. The guards cannot find the halflings. Meanwhile Cia has been cowering in her room, sobbing at all the uproar.
And that is where our session ended. If enough people enjoy this, I may post more later on.
The session went smashingly, and I'd like to share what occurred a) to share the entertainment factor with many people, b) to hear feedback on what is ultimately an introductory campaign.
So, the dramatis personae:
Torgal Puckwerth - - A dwarf bard, played by a friend of mine and former college roommate whom I've been hoping would one day be able to play with us. He majored in music and now teaches music, so we all thought bard was appropriate for him, but ultimately let him decide on everything. Torgal plays the bagpipes.
Arba Petalbrook - - A halfling druid, played by my wife who, frankly, I'm surprised agreed to play. Honestly it was probably the others who were involved who convinced her to do so; I had nothing to do with it. In any case, she's all about plants and animals and is studying to be an herbalist, so the druid seemed appropriate, and she adores Rosie Cotton and kind of looks like her with the gorgeous curly hair and blushing cheeks (forgive me, I have to boast about my wife a little bit), thus halfling.
Falthor Falthorson of the Northernmost Mountain - - A dwarf barbarian, played by the only other guy who really has experience playing D&D. Thus, after the others all chose their characters, he filled in the party gaps which, apparently, meant that we needed a meatshield who was also kind of an idiot. But Falthor's a fun character, as will be seen. It was also worked into the backstory here that Falthor was a member of the Blackaxe Tribe of dwarves from the mountains to the north, which traditionally plays the bagpipes to annoy monsters and goad them into fights. One day the tribe was playing and awoke a black dragon who devoured them all except for Falthor, who wandered off on his own, seeking to best the dragon in combat one day. He came into the town where Torgal currently resided, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
Wisteria Petalbrook - - A halfling ranger, sister to Arba (character-wise, not player-wise), and played by Falthor's player's wife. She has played before at her husband's suggestion, but usually just a kick-in-the-door campaign where she does what he tells her to. I wanted her more involved for this one.
So, we had this lineup of the shortest adventuring party ever, beginning in a town called Oakroot which I had previously decided was a relatively racist, highly human-populated city, a center of trade for this human nation with a major foresting business. Thus these four tend to hang out in the Tapped Keg, a tavern owned by a gnome and friendly to nonhumans, yet rarely very full. I won't go into all the politics now, but suffice it to say I have been building this world for the better part of five years now, and I still don't know everything about it.
Anyway, it's early one evening when these four are sitting around their ale (dwarves) and tea (halflings), the theme music to Friends playing in the background, when a shaken-looking human in a pointy hat and billowy robes bustles in, bumps against the counter and orders an ale, and turns to survey the occupants of the tavern. There aren't many besides our party. Falthor, Int score of 8 and extremely distrustful of humans, eyes the wizard warily. Despite his unfriendly gaze, the wizard shuffles over to the table, spilling his ale over his hand while his other hand searches inside his robes. Stammering uncontrollably he says, "I-I have a j-job for anyone who's willing."
Falthor, in what might be construed as a Russian accent, gruffly says, "Go avay, human."
The wizard takes out a purse heavy with gold and jingles it in front of them.
Falthor: "Okay, you have my attention. Vhat is job?" (And that's how he talked the entire session.)
Although Falthor intimidates the wizard, the party discovers that his name is Silla and he is in need of a sample of a certain type of poisonous pumpkin which he knows grows just outside a small village in the forest to the west. He doesn't need a whole pumpkin, because they can grow to the size of a halfling, but only about a 5-lb. portion. Arba is concerned that such a thing will have rotted by the time they get back (the village is a week away on foot), but Silla says that the rotten pumpkin would be more potent. He also drops the sack of gold which contains 20 gp on the table and says that he'll have 5 times that for them when they return.
Falthor is excited and says, "Okay, ve go slay pumpkin for you, and now you buy us drinks, yes?"
The wizard buys them a round, finishes his ale, and departs.
The party debates for a while that perhaps this wizard is up to something fishy - after all, he was very shaken and muttered about a client who could use what he would make with the pumpkin, sounding for all the world like he was running a meth lab, and upon consideration, Torgal and Arba figure out that he's probably making an alchemical substance known as devil's soap which gives resistance to fire, so they fear that he may be working for someone who intends to sabotage the lumber operation of the city. Torgal, however, most certainly a voice of reason for the group, says, "If we don't do it, he'll probably get someone else to, so we can keep an eye on what happens." The party sees the sense in this, and everyone decides to get to bed early so that they can get up early to start right away.
Everyone, that is, except Falthor, who buys as much ale as he can with his share of the gold, blacks out, and wanders away from the tavern. Torgal, who feels himself responsible for the illiterate dwarf, goes after him and brings him safely back to the tavern, where he sleeps it off and wakes up with a wicked hangover.
But the party heads out the next day, Falthor, Wisteria, and Torgal sticking together while Arba rides ahead each day on her wolf to gather herbs. The days pass mostly without incident, although one day they think they can hear howling in the distance. Arba asks her wolf what he thinks (speak with animals), and he says that he's not sure, but it's something big, but it shouldn't be that big. The party thinks along the lines of dire rat, but they hear no more of whatever it was as they continue traveling.
The fifth day of their travel they make it to the forest, and after heading through for a little while, a pair of orcs stumbles out of the brush onto the path, sees the party, and accuses them of trespassing on their territory. Torgal, who can speak orcish, wants to talk to them to reason things out, but Falthor rushes into the combat. They roll initiative.
Wisteria goes first. She shoots her bow and misses. Arba flings a stone at one orc's eye with her sling, making a hit so that he reels in pain. Falthor charges in and takes down the other one with one hit from his dwarven waraxe. Torgal plays the bagpipes. The other orc takes a swing at Falthor, although he's a blinded, and lands a blow, dealing a good amount of damage. Wisteria shoots and takes him out.
They take the loot and experience and head farther in. They notice a bunch of rats scurrying around in the forest, which strikes Arba as odd. She tries talking to them, but they repeat, "Food, food!" over and over. Eventually she finds out that they're not looking for food, but one of them says, "Daddy's gonna give us food!" They conclude, again, dire rat.
They make camp and light a campfire. As they get ready for bed the girls realize that Falthor sleeps naked, and Arba shouts, "Why don't you at least wear a loincloth under your armor?" Torgal responds, "Be glad you don't have darkvision!"
Fairly quickly they hear some rustling in the trees and Wisteria (favored enemy: orc) realizes that it's more orcs. They freak out, thinking that the campfire led the orcs to them, and stamp it out. Then Torgal hears them whisper, "They put it out! Let's get them!" because they hadn't considered the orcs' light sensitivity. Wisteria climbs a tree, Arba hides behind another tree (out of spells having healed Falthor), Falthor readies his axe, and Torgal sings a lullaby. The orcs start feeling drowsy and stumble out, confused. Torgal then casts dancing lights to simulate a campfire, drifting off into the woods, which the orcs follow. The party takes experience and sleeps peacefully. (I was honestly very proud of the beginners' role-playing here.)
The final day of their journey they hear more rustling up ahead. Arba sneaks ahead through the woods, hoping to see whatever it is and entangle it before it can attack, but she sees not an orc but a young human woman with tattered clothes, sobbing as she runs along the path. She reports this back to her party. They wait for the girl who, when she sees them, falls to her knees and cries. Wisteria offers her tea, while Torgal consoles her. They find out that she's from Netsurah (the village to which they are headed), and that the previous night her whole family was murdered in their sleep and she is considered a suspect. Instantly the party is sympathetic toward her, and Torgal heads to the village to gather information while the girl stays with the party.
Torgal learns that the girl's name is Cia, that her family was indeed murdered and she was found lying naked in a pool of her parents' blood, and that she is the prime suspect, along with two others - an elf and a half-orc who are considered outsiders by the rest of the town. Torgal talks to the elf, learns that the elf is fairly detached from the town, and then visits the village elder and the healer, who are in fierce debate. The healer wants to arrest the girl and question her thoroughly. The elder seems more sympathetic, since a murder is entirely out of her character. Torgal mistrusts the healer, but talks to the elder in private and asks him to follow him, intending to lead him to the girl.
Now while all this was occurring, Falthor got bored, threw the girl over is shoulder, and walked with her into the town, the halflings following to try to keep him out of trouble. The two groups meet each other in the center of town, where the elder immediately takes charge of the girl and leads her off. Falthor follows and says that he will protect the girl. The elder reluctantly agrees to post him along with the rest of the guard who will keep her under house arrest. Wisteria goes with Falthor, while the other two wander off in search of the pumpkin, which they find to the north of town. Arba chops off a piece of the pumpkin, which immediately lets out a sickening stench. Arba makes her Fortitude save, Torgal does not and feels sickened.
They wander back to town and find the house where Cia lives, a guard posted outside. The guard won't let them enter, but Arba tries to sneak past him. The guard takes a swing at her and misses, all within view of Falthor who is inside and looking out the window. He jumps down the stairs and tackles the guard, intimidating him and making him wet his pants. The party goes inside, leaving that guard outside. Two other guards are upstairs, oblivious to everything.
The party talks for a little while, when they hear footsteps coming inside. The village elder is followed by the guard who wet his pants as well as five others, and he asks whether Falthor actually attacked him. He admits to it, but they explain that they have especial interest in Cia and want to see to it that she is kept safe. The elder tells them that he understands and that if they leave the house quietly he won't press charges, but they are really only interfering. Falthor refuses to budge, as do the halflings, but Torgal is afraid things might escalate and tries to diplomance, which, due to his sickness, isn't working so well, and the rest of his party doesn't listen when he tries to convince them to leave. He pulls out his bagpipes, tries to fascinate the elder, which fails, and leaves, playing the bagpipes, heading straight to the tavern to hopefully sleep it off.
The guards move toward Falthor with longswords, and one rests a hand on his arm. Falthor takes a swing at him and misses, and the guards close in. Falthor rages.
Wisteria hangs back and watches, but Arba decides it would be better to leave and sneak back in later. She escapes unnoticed out the window. Falthor punches one of the guards out, but then is set upon by the others with their swords. As he is knocked to exactly 0 hp and is staggering, Wisteria follows Arba out the window, unnoticed. One of the guards punches Falthor into unconsciousness and he is arrested. The guards cannot find the halflings. Meanwhile Cia has been cowering in her room, sobbing at all the uproar.
And that is where our session ended. If enough people enjoy this, I may post more later on.