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NontheistCleric
2019-01-11, 12:50 PM
Unlike most campaign journals, this one will not be written from the perspective of the DM, as I am not the DM of this campaign. Our group consists of three people, including the DM, playing D&D 3.5.

The campaign was started extremely hurriedly. The DM simply picked up Barrow of the Forgotten King (an adventure module) and we had 20 minutes to get characters ready. It's this DM's first time as DM.

Character Creation

Although Barrow is meant for 2nd-level characters, the DM decided that as there were only two of us, we would start at 3rd level instead.

What we came up with in 20 minutes, rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest for stats, were:

Darren

CN Female Human Warlock 3
Str 11, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 15
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Mortalbane
Skills: UMD 6, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 6, Sense Motive 6
Invocations: Baleful Utterance, Eldritch Spear
Carries a morningstar and wears a chain shirt.
50 gp

Darren was originally from a large family. Her parents and three siblings were tragically killed by burglars, which led her to dedicate her life to tracking down and killing the murderers using any means necessary. As she developed eldritch powers, the specific means became more clear.

She was successful, eventually finding the killers and blasting them into oblivion. Unfortunately, she then lost her life's purpose, and took to aimlessly wandering in search of it.

Nameless Anagram

LG Male (?) Tomb Mote RHD 3
Str 9, Dex 16, Con -, Int 16, Wis 11, Cha 20
Feats: Academy Graduate, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Bluff 6, UMD 6, Hide 6, Move Silently 6, Diplomacy 6, Listen 3, Search 3
SQ: Quickness, Disease (corpse bloat)
Wears leather armor and carries a heavy wooden shield (later realised that he wasn't actually proficient with the shield and he should have been hit a lot more, but it was too late)
10 gp

Nameless Anagram was created in a graveyard, from the covert necromantic experiments of a student at an academy that taught many things, including magic, in a large city. For a time, he haunted the academy, competing for space in the walls with the other pests, but a visiting warlock intrigued him, and he decided to hitch a ride in her backpack.

Session 1, Part 1

The session opens with the DM reading the introductory text about some mysterious individual forcing a varag to dig for something.

Then we get to Darren, whose latest wanderings have brought her to the town of Kingsholm, where she has just entered the Coronet and Cabbage Inn. She is approached by a large man, a uniformed woman, and a richly-clothed dwarf. The man asks if she is a mercenary or adventurer, as the town needs help with 'trouble up in the old graveyard'.

Nameless Anagram chooses this moment to make his entrance. Emerging from Darren's backpack, he proclaims himself to be 'The Graveyard Spirit' and that he has come to the town to assist with their graveyard-related troubles. Since this is, at the very least, not the truth, Nameless is made to roll a Bluff check. It succeeds against the trio's Sense Motive.

'Oh Great and Wise Graveyard Spirit, you have come to help us!', exclaims the woman. 'Tell us, what is happening to our graveyard? You must know, being its spirit!' The newly rechristened Graveyard Spirit deflects this by saying that he is more like an angel sent by the gods that govern graveyards, not a particular graveyard's spirit, but that he and Darren would be happy to help with their problem. The woman seems somewhat disheartened at this.

Darren, who was unaware of the Spirit's presence in her pack, is somewhat bewildered by this turn of events but goes along with it.

The trio are introduced as Ian Turbrand, the inn's owner, Mia Desarna, Captain of the Guard, and Gran Stoutbrace, a dwarven merchant. According to them, a family that went to the town graveyard's mausoleum two days ago to entomb a dead grandfather went missing. Two guards sent to investigate have also gone missing. Ian offers the PCs 50 gp each to investigate the disappearances or 300 gp each to catch and destroy whatever is causing the disappearances, although the benevolent Graveyard Spirit would surely require no payment. Spirit agrees, saying that his share should be used charitably.

Spirit brings up the issue of the pair having no healer. The town leaders can offer either healing potions (or in Spirit's case, inflict potions, which the townsfolk do not question) or the use of the town cleric, a worshipper of Olidammara they hold in low regard, resorted to only since the old Pelorite cleric died. Darren would rather have the potions, so they are granted 10 cure light wounds and 2 inflict light wounds potions.

Mia then leads the PCs on the road up to the graveyard. The DM reads a description of the ivy-wound cemetery gate, which is open.

'That's not good,' Mia remarks. Mia decides to leave the PCs to their work and starts back to town.

As the PCs move through the well-kept graveyard, they draw close to the mausoleum. Both PCs meet the DC 15 Spot check to notice gravel around the structure has been stirred up.

At the mausoleum, they find two bloody humanoid corpses in town guard uniforms, clearly savaged by beasts. Around the base of a nearby statue, they spot two wolves and a darker wolf-shape prowling behind them. The wolves attack first. Darren drops one wolf in two blasts, while Spirit has a high armor class but only does 1d4-1 damage per bite and so remains locked in combat with the other until Darren blasts it dead too.

Spirit, guessing that the dark wolf-shape may be something more, tries to speak to it in Common, Goblin and Sylvan. It responds to Goblin. The DM reveals that this is a worg. Spirit speaks soothingly to the worg and offers it 1 gp to go in peace. The worg accepts and Spirit decides to give it 2 gp as a reward for cooperation. It then bolts.

Spirit decides that Mia needs to be told about the death of her two subordinates, and Darren agrees to wait while Spirit runs back to town to report. Spirit leaves.

Darren, all alone, is then ambushed by the worg. After a brief struggle, Darren drops into negative HP and goes down. The worg is about to deliver the finishing blow when Spirit returns. Shouting to draw the worg's attention, he engages it in melee, while maneuvering to feed Darren a healing potion. Darren is conscious again. Spirit instructs her to stay back.

As he fights the worg, Spirit appeals to it to stop attacking and instead subordinate itself to him, citing the earlier gift of gold and the fact that the worg seems unable to hit him as proof of his great power and ability to reward fittingly. At the same time, Spirit manages to infect the worg with corpse bloat, calling it the 'curse of justice'. The worg is unconvinced and continues to attack, but as the fight goes on, Spirit only takes a single point of damage due to DR 2/cold iron or magic, while the worg is reduced to 2 HP. At this point, the worg surrenders and agrees to become what Spirit calls his 'apprentice'.

Spirit's first act as master is to confiscate the 2 gp, but it seems that the worg has eaten them, so Spirit settles for not healing its wounds in punishment for its belligerence. The worg is then instructed to wait for Spirit and Darren.

'You're not going to make me go with you?' asks the worg.

'I wouldn't ask such a thing of my wounded apprentice,' Spirit replies.

Then the PCs enter the mausoleum.

NontheistCleric
2019-02-20, 11:33 AM
Session 1, Part 2

The PCs, having entered the mausoleum, find themselves in a hallway of vaults. Fresh corpses are strewn about the place. A Search check reveals 100 gp worth of jewelry in various vaults. Spirit does not want to grave-rob and Darren just doesn't care very much about money, so they leave it alone.

One of the vaults appears to have been fastened shut with pitons. Darren can hear movement inside, so she uses baleful utterance to shatter the vault door. Inside, they find a distressed young girl. A strange creature of dust and bones and a large armored woman are not exactly the most calming sight, especially when one has spent the last few days sealed in a mausoleum, but apparently the girl is (understandably) so desperate that she accepts the PCs' explanation that they are there to help.

The girl's name is apparently Tyra and she is happy to give the two a description of a bunch of grave robbers that include someone called Xeron, a hobgoblin named Krootad and their entourage, a human woman, a ratlike individual named Garjuk and a man and a halfling, as far as she can remember.

Tyra is also very anxious about the fate of her parents. 'They must have gotten out alright,' she repeats in a kind of mantra.

Spirit and Darren aren't really sure as to whether any of the corpses outside are her parents, as at no point did any of the townspeople see fit to give the PCs any description of the missing persons, but unwilling to risk it, Spirit performs a successful Bluff check. 'Of course your parents are fine. We're bringing you back to them in town. There are some very distressing corpses outside, though, so close your eyes as we bring you out.'

As they escort Tyra out, the DM exclaims that there were supposed to be monsters in the area that she forgot.

Outside the mausoleum, a brief altercation ensues when Tyra freaks out at the sight of a bloodied worg sitting at the entrance. She screams and runs off, but Spirit shouts that the worg will not hurt her. Luckily, the rushed Diplomacy check succeeds and she calms down. Spirit seems to think it is a good idea to have the worg carry Tyra back, but Tyra is not at all keen to sit on the worg, though the worg is cowed enough to let itself be ridden. So in the end the party makes it back to the town on foot. Tyra and the worg are handed over to Captain Desarna with explanations of how Tyra had to be lied to regarding her parents and a command to the worg not to eat any townspeople.

Darren and Spirit then set off back to the graveyard.


>---------<

Back in the mausoleum, further examination reveals a side tomb. Once again, Darren shatters the door and is promptly ambushed by a quartet of what the DM describes as 'metal bees' and are probably clockwork menders. A protracted battle ensues in which Spirit exchanges a bunch of misses for the same from the bees while Darren picks them off with Eldritch Blast, also missing once or twice in the process. At one point, a bee tries to fly to the vault door with a key and lock the pair in, but unfortunately for it the door no longer exists. The vault yields nothing of value except more burial goods which again, neither Spirit nor Darren is willing to steal.

As the characters return to the main hallway, they are ambushed by two zombies and three skeletons.

'Can you talk?' is Spirit's opening statement. Attempts to negotiate in the midst of combat prove ineffectual; although it seems that these undead actually can talk and reveal that they are being controlled by a necromancer, Spirit's repeated exhortations to break free don't do much in the way of defusing the situation.

As one of the zombies notes, 'Maybe we just don't like you anyway.'

The zombies' higher HP prove challenging for a time, so that for once Darren is not faster to eliminate her portion of the enemies than Spirit. By the time the zombies go down, Spirit has won the battle of tiny-natural-weapon attrition against the skeletal trio.

Spirit and Darren leave the remains of their adversaries, with regret and indifference respectively.

At the end of the hall of vaults, two staircases descend to a stone door. Darren can see on it only a meaningless image, so meaningless in fact that it seemingly merits no description beyond that. Spirit, on the other hand, sees on it the image of a beholder, with some helpful images and inscriptions that appear to describe the various effects of its eye-rays. This is communicated to Darren.

Trying the door, Darren finds that it is not locked, and through it the two companions go.

PrismCat21
2019-02-20, 04:44 PM
I'm liking it so far. The Tomb-Mote is fun :)
Keep up the journals, many of us will be reading, only few will comment.

NontheistCleric
2019-02-20, 10:30 PM
Session 1, Part 3 (unfinished)

As Darren and Spirit step into the room, it illuminates with a white light. The room has a central area and three branching areas. The characters soon realize that the images on tiles on the floor of the room are a rough analogue to the image of the beholder on the door, with the central area having a singular tile emblazoned with an eye like the beholder's central eye, while the various branches have their own tiles that match the images of the eye effects on the door, though their arrangement is different from that of the door.

Spirit tries walking over the image tiles, starting with the one at the far right of the room, showing a bleeding man. The few hit points lost to the worg, bees and skeletons immediately heal. Seeing this, Darren starts forward for some healing too.

'Stay back,' says Spirit. 'If it heals me, it will hurt you.'

They decide not to test any of the other tiles, especially the one that seems to depict some kind of vanishing ray.

Re-examining the inscription on the door,

Magic dies,
Fast men slow,
The passage you seek is not below.

Eye of death,
Eye of stone,
The key to passage they haven't shown.

Fear and mind,
You can say,
Will move you around in the wrong way.

Friends are shy,
Sleep in rest,
Neither points to the passage that's best.

Enemy friend,
Painful wound,
Oblivion aids,
It is runed.
Spirit deduces that if there is a way forward, it probably lies under the vanishing ray tile.

Darren steps forward with her signature solution: baleful utterance.

The tile shatters, revealing a ladder and passageway leading further down. Then it re-forms. Darren tries to shatter it again, but the process repeats. Next, she tries carving a hole into the stone floor next to the tile with her eldritch blast, but the floor simply regenerates.

At this point, the DM admits that Darren's tactics don't actually have a reason not to work, but she wants the characters to complete the puzzle inherent in the room. Then she cackles at how long she imagines it will take to figure it out.

Spirit's first idea is that they should try shifting the tiles to match their positions on the door image.

As soon as the PCs complete this task, a green ray springs from the ceiling above the vanishing ray tile and vanishes it.

Down the ladder they go.