Musings: the Gathering ;)

Wow, what a busy time since my last post!

In the time since I last posted I went along to the Gathering in Spondon with my shiny new upgraded healer character Aurelian. He was the first character I had ever upgraded under the Lorien Trust system and was hoping to show off my awesome new healing abilities to help keep my group alive. This desire lasted about 3 hours, before being hacked down whilst on a rescue mission at our faction gate, dragged away and promptly killed. I knew I shouldn't have spent my OSPs! So with the untimely demise of Aurelian, it was time to get thinking of a new character sharpish.

I didn't want to repeat what i had already done (a heavy armour healer) and didn't wish to reuse the kit from the character, as to me, it would be too similar (not that I am recognisable in the Lions faction). So I decided to settle on a mage: enter stage right Pertinax: mage of awesome cosmic power. In a system like the LT system I always shied away from playing a mage, as it seemed to me that I would blow through all my (underwhelming) spells and be usefulness for the rest of the day. I can safely say (after 3 days of playing him) that this is not the case. i don't think i have ever enjoyed a LARP character so much. The tactical challenge of playing such a fragile character made for interesting fights, and my spells were far from underwhelming. The decision of what spell to use when is a lot of fun, and in many different situations, I felt I could have a decent impact on the fight. The highlight had to be stopping a member of the undead continuing his chant of wasting with a quick mute spell, thus saving his victim's life. That felt good!

This year's Gathering was probably the most enjoyable event I have been to. I think a combination of having more players (including a new one in the form of Anna's rogue type character), playing a character I really clicked with (despite my healer's death), and actually starting to do things as a group, have all combined to make it feel like we mattered as a group and that the event was a hit. Even leaving early on the Monday due to awful weather didn't dampen this feeling. Our group acquired it's first ever magic weapon (at a very reasonable price, thanks Ved!), and we were a useful and cohesive unit of the battlefield in both the set piece and the monster skirmishes. Our unit went along onto the plane of unlife on the Saturday morning, getting involved in some of the Lions plot of getting thoroughly beaten (but living). It was a fantastic event and I have come back with a renewed sense of keen for LARP and fantasy roleplaying. It was such a good event I only got one hand of Magic in!

The subsequent weekend has been taken up moving home to the West Midlands. I am now set up to work from home, and commute, meaning that I no longer have to reside in a flat on my own 5 days a week. What this means for gaming is hopefully a better focus on spending time writing/preparing for sessions and more chances to play. I got another session of Temple of Elemental Evil in this weekend and plans are afoot to get a second regular game on the go. Hopefully in my next post I should be able to provide more details on one or the other of these things.

Magic 2015

Well its the release day for the latest Magic: the Gathering core set today. I already have a pre-order in place for some of the cards that I found interesting (Sliver Hivelord I am looking at you), but more than anything I am looking forward to getting some boosters and seeing what I get!

The Sliver Hivelord, centre piece for my first Sliver Commander  deck.

I have wanted to get a long to a pre-release for a Magic set but never managed to make it yet, real life keeps getting in the way. It doesn't help that I live away from home during the week, so vanishing for a day at the weekend can be a little unfair on my wife I feel, but hopefully, very soon, that will no longer be an issue as I am moving home to Walsall. What this means is that I can hopefully get myself along to see a pre-release and give a go to playing some Limited, which is a format of Magic that I have never yet experienced, and would love to give a go to. I am looking to see if I can rope my brother in to attending the pre-release for the next block so that we can both get a chance at drafting and playing in a tournament environment for the first time.

The Magic 2015 promo image, featuring the newly changed Garruk.

In the meantime it's time to start looking at my decks and figuring out what I need to remove that has rotated out of Standard, and what i can put in to replace those cards that have gone. I have a week's holiday away with family next week, so I am hoping that I can use some of the time to look at my decks and see what changes need to be made. My holiday should also give me time to catch up on the session write ups for my Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil campaign, ready for the next session. I am looking forward to getting the campaign log up to date before I forget vital details of what has gone on! The final plan for my spare time, games wise, is to build my Sliver Commander deck, which will be focused around my newly acquired Sliver Hivelord. That should be enough to keep me going for a week away, and I should be able to present the decklist for my Sliver deck once I am back.

Still poking about in the Moathouse!

So, after the party'd nighttime ambush of the Gnolls, they retrace the Gnoll's steps down the main staircase and start to explore what looks to be a prison of some sorts. They quickly examine one or two of the rooms before arriving at what looks to be a disused armoury. A hint of movement puts the party on alert, and with weapons drawn and spells at the ready they challenge the hidden figure to show themselves... To then be faced with Spugnoir, a wizard and owner of Potions and Elixirs in Hommlet.

The wizard Spugnoir, potion maker and explorer.

Spugnoir had been exploring the Moathouse when he came upon Utrashimmon. After a short battle he was forced to retreat to the dungeon and seek refuge from the inhabitants he found there. Maudriel questioned this story with some disbelief, but Kielle quickly decided he was trustworthy and spent some of her magic patching up the injured wizard and earning a fast friend (as well as a 30% on potions in the shop). Spugnoir offered to show the party a secret exit from the dungeon before he left and so led the party deeper into the complex. The party passed through the dig recovery chamber (the sight of their battle the previous day, at the bottom of the hidden staircase) and on into what looked to be living chambers for a small company of gnolls and others. Adventus pointed out that it would be rude to leave with out at least having a little rifle through the belongings of their enemies, and so the party set about finding what they could. In one ares of the living quarters they chanced upon a chest, and Adventus, being the expert in these things, offered to open it. Every one gathered round whilst the human worked his skills on the lock. After a minute or so of work the gentle snick of a opening lock was heard, and Adventus, flushed with his success opened the chest... to be caught full in the face by a Glyph of Warding, spraying him in acid and making him recoil in agony.

They should have known!

(At this point it must be noted, I did warn the players that this is a Monte Cook adventure, so told them to expect traps. This wasn't just me being a d**k of a DM!).
Once Adventus had recovered from the shock of the acid in the face, the party discovered that the chest contained some useful items, but more importantly, the journal of a priest called Hedrack.In this he ranted about many things but revealed that these priests were excavating at the Moathouse to recover artifacts important to their god. He also revealed that a cell of cultists was present in Hommlet, hiding in the cellar of the mill.

The route out of the living area led to the south and it was here that Spugnoir pointed out the secret entrance to the dungeons, off in a side passage. With this done he departed to get back to Hommlet, whilst the intrepid adventurers headed off  toward the sounds of voices coming from a chamber nearby. On the way they were surprised by a pair of Gnoll guards who were quickly dispatched but proved to be little more than speed bumps to alert their nearby masters, the priests Geynor Ton and Ysslansh (a Troglodyte). A furious fight erupted around a circular pit in the southern-most chamber, with spells being flung and blows traded. However, for the two priests it was an uneven fight. They were worn down and defeated, but not before one of the was beaten backward into the pit, dropping off into the darkness.

With the immediate danger gone, the party took stock of where they were: the chamber was cold and had the loud sound of running water. Indeed, an underground stream seemed to flow out of the rock a meter or so down from the lip of the shaft and fell down into the darkness. In an effort to see down into the shaft, the armour on the body of the remaining priest was enchanted with a Light spell and pushed off into the dark, revealing a drop of more than 60 ft. Above the shaft was a rickety looking contraption that would lower them down with a pulley system. Being the brave sort, the party mounted this lift and slowly lowered themselves down into the gloom, getting ever colder as they went. Only one of them, Maudriel, had dressed in thick clothing and consequently the unnatural chill was having a nasty effect on the other three.

The shaft opened out into a huge underground cavern, extending off into the dark in all directions as they went down. The floor of the cavern they had seen from above proved to be a strange surface of a black, marble-like rock with odd violet veins in it. It also proved to be around 60ft in diameter, convex in shape, and not the true floor at all, but a platform of sorts. On the far side of it, another lift platform awaited.

The cavern beneath the Moathouse dungeon, viewed from the side.

The party set off across the surface of this platform only to reveal two things: firstly, the violet veins started to writhe and move toward them when they stepped onto the marble. Secondly, they were not alone in this cavern! A strange, floating creature with tentacles and a beak chose that moment to strike.

A grell, an aberration and a down-right bizarre one at that.

This bizarre and unexpected creature made a bee-line for Bronath, striking him and paralysing him with its tentacles. The rest of the party launched into an attack (from back on the lift platform) and managed to free Bronath from its grip. However the party were low on spells after their fight with the priests and were sorely pressed holding off the creature whilst winching themselves out of the cavern. The grell, seemingly unwilling to let it's prey escape pressed its attack, making the party fight with what they had left. Luckily Adventus had an unerring aim with his thrown knives and managed to finish the foul creature off, allowing the party to escape with their lives. With the majority of the party tired, low on spells and lacking supplies, it was decided that they would head back to Hommlet to recuperate before returning to find out what lay at the bottom of the cavern and investigate what the priests were looking for. Plus, this gave them chance to go and visit the mill!

Poking around the Moathouse Part 2

To follow up the post from Monday, I thought I would put out the next part of this campaign log. We finished the last one with the company discovering a hidden set of stairs down into the dungeons beneath the Moathouse. Here is what happened from there.

The company's first instinct was to send Maudriel's familiar down the steps to check out what lay beneath as he was unlikely to be discovered. This simple plan yielded the fact that the chamber beneath was occupied by humanoids, but little else (with the snake being unable to relay more precise information). To follow this up it was  decided that with Adventous being the sneaky, stealthy sort, he would be the best choice for going down the steps to scout out what lay ahead. With no further ado, he crept off down into the gloom, following the faint sounds of guttural, animalistic voices coming from the bottom. When he reached there he observed two black uniformed gnolls engaged in a game of dice and a human woman in robes meditating. They all appeared to be looking after a number of strange items laid out on a pristine white sheet in the otherwise empty chamber. Adventus decided to return and inform the rest of his companions what was going on and what they should do about it. They discussed who these people might be, and came to the conclusion the best thing to do was go with the diplomatic approach and talk to them. Once in the chamber, the woman leapt to her feet and demanded to know who the intruders before her were, whilst the gnoll guards quickly stood and readied themselves for trouble. Maudriel, speaking for his companions informed her that they were simple explorers who had rid the Moathouse of the dragon keeping those beneath penned in, and that she should explain her presence here. The woman stalked across to the south side of the room, opened a door, looked inside and yelled "Seize them!", at which point an almighty fight broke out, with skeletons pouring out of the southern door and rushing the company as they stood at the bottom of the hidden steps.

The undead rush the party!

 Team work between the company at this point meant that Adventus rushed out and engaged the woman, whilst the 3 other company members dispatched the gnolls and turned on the skeletons. The battle was somewhat longer than expected, with bad rolls on both sides contributing to the length, but finally the heroes gained the upper hand. The fight was finally won by a combination of Maudriel's magic and Adventus resorting to punching the skeletons with his fists to beat them down. With their opponents defeated, the company realised they were near the limit of their capabilities for the day; however there was much more of the Moathouse to explore. It was decided they would camp in the room above, after resealing the secret door, and continue to explore in the morning.

The party settled down for the night in their bedrolls, with a guard posted and rotating every couple of hours, enjoying the rations that Adventus had thought to bring along (this was only supposed to be a stroll out to explore a historic set of ruins after all!). However, unbeknownst to the company, movement was afoot beneath their feet: gnolls working for the robe wearing priests trapped in the dungeons had been ordered to sally forth to discover who had killed the guards who were looking after recovered artifacts (that the companions had pilfered after the fight), and were now moving up the main staircase to explore the ground floor of the moathouse. Maudriel's sharp ears picked up the sounds of the advancing gnolls, and thinking quickly, he cast Hold Portal on the door to the chamber they were in before rousing his companions. The heroes made ready and hid, hoping to ambush the creatures as they entered the chamber, and make short work of them before they could call for reinforcements.

The gnolls burst in.... straight into an ambush!

6 of the fearsome hyena-men advanced into the room, looking round for where the intruders could be, but were taken by surprise as Adventus lept out of the shadows to strike. He was quickly followed by Kielle, who cast Soundburst, stunning most of the gnolls before they could act. Bronath tripped the lead gnoll, and proceeded to dispatch him before he could get back to his feet. With the rest of the gnolls stunned, the rest of the company took care of them before they ever had a chance to act. What could have been a dangerous situation for the heroes turned out to be a white wash for their assailants. The party readied themselves for the day ahead, and stalked back into the dungeon beneath their feet, ready for action.

Poking around the Moathouse

Its about time I gave an update on my new Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil campaign for Pathfinder I reckon! We have now played 3 sessions of this campaign, and have the character roster completed; the company of heroes consists of the following:

Adventus Helios: A human who is an genius with all things poisonous and company "expert" on traps and locks.

Maudriel: An elven master of the arcane arts of Abjuration. He acts as the brains of this company

Rickaard of Axeport: A human priest of the god Pelor. Acts as the company's moral beacon, and patches them up when they inevitably get wounded.

Bronath: One half of the half-elven brother-sister combo in the company, Bronath is the man who hits hardest, using his guisarme to fell opponents. Goes by the title "Champion of Goldensprings".

Kielle: The other half of the brother-sister combo, Kielle acts as party adviser on magic and death, acting as back up for both Maudriel and Rickaard, being a priestess of the god Wee-Jas.

With most of the company assembled in the small town of Hommlet (just waiting for the arrival of the tardy Rickaard) they decided to go and explore the infamous Moathouse located near town. This ruined fort was the site of a famous battle 25 years ago that involved Bronath and Kielle's father and they wanted to see the site of his triumph, as well as keep themselves occupied (before Bronath tried to chat up any more of the locals).

The Moathouse, located near Hommlet

A pleasant stroll in the early summer sunlight brought them to the Moathouse by mid-morning and after a spot of lunch the company decided to head on into the ruins. No sooner had they reached the entrance when two things occurred to them. Firstly, there were new planks laid across the old, rotting drawbridge; secondly, the reeds were sure moving in a funny way! A short scuffle ensued with some of the local wildlife (a Giant Frog) and after a hairy moment for Bronath, where he was dragged into the water by the frog's freakishly long and strong tongue, the heroes managed to beat back the offending amphibian.

The company's first mighty opponent!

Once inside the courtyard of the ruins, it became apparent that the site was not as abandoned as the company had believed. A long drag mark was evident in the courtyard, leading into the ruins of the Moathouse itself. Proceeding with caution, the adventurous band crept up the steps and into the gloomy interior, where they noticed three things simultaneously: one dead body, one half eaten body and a blue dragon uncoiling as they peered in! This dragon, Utreshimmon, gave them one chance to leave his newly acquired lair or be added to his larder. The heroes, being brave and heroic declined his polite invitation and proceeded to engage him in combat. Adventus got the drop on him, flinging daggers at him, whilst Maudriel hammered him with spells; Bronath flailed ineffectively with his guisarme and Kielle kept an eye on every one whilst swinging her mace. The dragon fought ferociously, but in the end weight of numbers began to tell, and with his strength failing, he unleashed one final crackling blast of electrical energy before retreating, swearing revenge up the impudent humanoids who had dared to tangle with him.

The blue dragon Utreshimmon, now a sworn enemy of the party.

Flush with victory, the company proceeded to claim their spoils, finding an interesting collection of weaponry and minor items on the two dead bodies. What's more the bodies hinted that the Moathouse was not, in fact, abandoned. The party proceeded to explore the ground floor of the Moathouse, finding a large room where in the north-eastern corner of the building where damage from the battle 25 years ago had been crudely, and recently, repaired. A more detailed look in this room revealed a hidden trapdoor in the rubble, and a dark staircase leading down into the dungeons beneath....

A new campaign is launched

This last weekend I launched what will hopefully prove to be a new, long-term campaign with my regular gaming group: this is Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

This lengthy adventure, written by Monte Cook, way back when D&D 3.0 was released is something I have been hoping to run for a long time. Now finally I get my chance, and will be running it using the Pathfinder rules set. In future posts I hope to detail my adventuring party's progress through this, and also at some point I hope I can (with the player's permission) detail who the characters are in this.

The town of Hommlet

For now the characters are set up in the small town of Hommlet, with rooms at the Inn of the Welcome Wench. Their plans are to head out to the old Moathouse, a small fort around 10 miles from town. Two of the party, Bronath and Kielle, wish to visit as their father was involved in the original battle against the temple's forces at Emredy Meadows, and they want to retread the sites of his famous adventures. Despite the best efforts of one of the fellow patrons at the inn to join them, only the four colleagues will be going to the Moathouse, and it is expected to be little more than a sight-seeing trip.