New Year, New 3.5 FR Campaign

OK, so we actually played on 12/30/17, but let's not split hairs, shall we?

We wrapped up our long-running (2009-20017) 3.5 FR campaign last year in New Orleans. New characters were rolled up on 2/25/17, and then we took a long break to allow our DM time to decompress and regroup for another tilt. It seems only appropriate that we ended one campaign and started another to coincide with my birthdays, does it not? Here is our new party:

Human fighter
Half-drow cleric
Human rogue/sorcerer
Gnome rogue/wizard
Aasimar druid

The new campaign kicked off with our intrepid adventurers enslaved by drow in the Underdark! We were captured individually (at least my druid was alone when ensnared by a goblin trap and captured by some drow, so I'm just assuming the rest of us met similar fates). We slaves led predictably miserable lives as miners and laborers, doing our best to survive each day as we toiled for our harsh masters in Llurth Dreir.

We escaped our captors when we were attacked by some mind flayers and their humanoid minions. While the slavers were busy fighting off the incursion, we broke our shackles with tools and sheer strength and fled down a tunnel. It was a small gaggle that fled, with the five of us plus three orcs, three dwarves, and a human. Our armament consisted of some light picks and clubs.

The tunnel led to an open cavern at the edge of an unknown Underdark sea. As we were scrounging for food and water, some sahaugin raiders emerged from the sea and set upon us. The sea devils probably thought we looked like easy prey, but we fought with the frenzied determination of slaves who had no wish to return to that life. We prevailed, although a few NPCs died during the melee. Some tridents and a net were added to our arsenal, although we cut up the net in order to fashion a crude rude so the chimney in the ceiling above could be explored by our sneaky type.

Pressing on, we were attacked a second time by yet another band of sahaugin while crossing a narrow fjord. The fight whittled down our already meager resources, along with more dead NPCs. We added more tridents and another net to our equipment pool, and our fighter donned some seashell armor taken from a dead sea devil. It is the equivalent of banded armor. Perhaps our biggest score was the discovery of a spellbook looted from the dead sea devil wizard. It is waterproof, of course, and has a read magic spell that cycles through several languages on the page in real time! What this means for us is our rogue/wizard will now be able to cast his arcane spells that he was previously unable to use.
As we continued to work our way through the endless tunnels of the Underdark, we caught a break when we discovered an illusory wall that concealed a small, worked crawlspace that led to some stairs going up. We rested and recovered on the stairs, and then made the 1/4 mile trek up them until we reached a landing that branched off and continued up.

Sahaugin shell armor?

At the top of the stairs, we found the remains of an ancient city that was buried below ground and mostly covered by a lake. The side passages at the landing led to areas that were sealed off, as they were obviously below water level. So we entered the lake, swimming to and from stalactite and stalagmite alike, until we reached the top of a tower that was poking up from near the middle of the lake.

There wasn't much to see in the tower, as the lower levels were magically blocked (to keep the water out). In the one interesting room we found, the statues therein turned out to be very helpful! The warrior, rogue, and arcane caster statues are some sort of automated trainers, so the fighter and the hybrids were able to train up to level 2. The cleric and my druid were not so fortunate, but every little bit helps, so not to worry.

We left the tower and found a passageway that led upwards. A tower rising up through the ground alongside a river was discovered and explored. A pitched battle with many, many goblins was fought and barely survived. Pretty much the only reason we didn't perish was due to the fact that everyone was carrying a dose of healing goo (I think it came from some fungus that one of the dwarves was able to identify and harvest). As we somewhat foolishly continued up, an encounter with a few drow was enough to exhaust our spells and give us reason to leave the structure.

Drow. I hate these guys.

Our last encounter for the session nearly proved our undoing (again). We entered a cavern complex that was the lair for a tribe of goblinesque barbarians. Soon after we routed a small force of natives, reinforcements arrived from two directions, forcing us down a third passage. And OF COURSE that led to a dead end! Time to hold the narrowest part of the tunnel and make our last stand.

But how did we escape? Well, tucked back at the far end of the room attached to the tunnel was a creature that resembled an earth elemental. The elemental was shacked to a circle of runes on the floor and held by bonds of energy, it appeared. With nothing to lose, we attacked the bonds with our weapons and freed the elemental. It summoned the six of us (one lone dwarf remained out of the original count of 7 NPCs) to its side and whisked us away from certain death, right through the very earth itself!

Turns out the elemental was actually an earth genasi who was captured by the goblin things. He brought us to the hidden refuge of Earth's End, an enclave that is a haven for creatures of the earth and for a few friendly allies. There is no physical passage in or out of the area, so you need natural or magical abilities to move freely through the earth to come and go.

Once we rested up, our host was able to get us directly to the dwarven city of Iltkazar, where we leave off until next time.

We achieved our two main goals: escape captivity and survive the perils of the Underdark. I imagine we will be able to get portaled or safely escorted to the surface from here. There is a total of 66sp and 30gp in gems to share, along with the armor and weapons we liberated from drow, sahaugin, and goblin. Isn't it funny how a few simple upgrades make your 1st level characters feel almost invincible? Well, when you go from no armor to chain shirts and banded mail, and from light picks and clubs to tridents, a rapier, daggers, a shortbow and hand crossbows, you sure feel a lot more secure. There is also a magic cloak and three potions to identify.

Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap

12/28 Session Recap

You know an adventure that begins with a vague request by an unknown drow is NOT going to end well for someone. It ended rather well for our adventuring party which was of course quite smashing, and it ended in a bad way for the Red Wizards of Thay. This is good for us in the short term, but could potentially see us even more hated (and hunted) by the Red Wizards in the long run. But I skip ahead, so let me begin the recap where it started.

Nikola (our ranger) was heading home one evening, once again alone and once again at least partially in his cups. The appearance of an unknown drow at his side provided some instant sobriety. Drow seem to have that effect on non-drow races, especially on the surface of Faerun. He introduced himself as S’ilthantiz of Clan Maknatz, and implied that he was related to Nik. Oh, and yes, that the services of our intrepid little group was required. In the Underdark. Right away.

OK, so it turns out S’ilthantiz is kind of related to Nikola. He is apparently a second cousin to D'nayin, Garrity’s mother and Nikola’s adoptive mother. We don’t have much to go on, although the Red Sword is mentioned. Well, that’s the only enticement Nikola needs to head out on some damned fool quest to god knows where doing god knows what.

We are told to seek out a gnome by the name of Arte at the Dragon’s Ladle in Mulsantir. Traveling overland in Thesk and shadowing The Golden Way from Tammar to Two Stars, we manage to avoid patrols and prying eyes. One night a wagon is heard passing nearby, prompting us to investigate. Callum detects evil, but it is unknown who on the wagon is evil. With Garrity flying air cover above, the party charges into action. The wagon quickly springs ahead, but is forced to slow thanks to a blade barrier placed by Posht. One horse perishes in the whirling blades, while the other veers off in time along with the wagon.

The wagon guards fight back, but are forced to abandon their vehicle to us when the tide of battle turns in our favor. A search of the wagon shows us that we have intercepted a Thayan wagon, laden with treasure and ancient artifacts. Well, we do find a modest stash of loot, but no artifacts. The mere thought of sticking it to the Thayans, even in such a minor way, gives us reason to smile.

On the western shore of Lake Mulsantir we manage to draw the ire of the locals when one of the ferry guards challenges Nikola, probably just for looking at him or some minor offense. Instead of backing down or playing it cool, Nikola acts all tough and Palau wades in, blades flashing. The half-orc guard is cut to ribbons by the ill-tempered Halfling and panic and mayhem of the ferry landing ensues. The party scatters and melts away, using spells to bypass the ferry and head across the water to Mulsantir.

We rendezvous with Arte the gnome, but end up staying at the Dead Dwarf. Innkeeper Milo Hintar runs a decent joint and we manage to lay low until we venture into the Underdark, thanks to Arte.

As we head deeper into the Underdark, we of course encounter several natives who think we are their next meals. A greater basilisk and a pair of beholder/illithid hybrids give us some trouble, but we overcome the foul fiends. A manual of bodily health is recovered from the floating horrors, providing Nikola with a boost to his constitution.

The party finally reaches the drow city, and are ushered in to meet with S’ilthantiz and his people. There, it is learned that the drow are still mightily pissed at the Thayans for their earlier meddling that led to the destruction of Sith Morcane, along with the usual plots and machinations common to naughty types like drow, Thayans, Zhents, etc. Our part is to help the drow locate the mind flayer who is linked to Nikola. If they can triangulate on him, that should lead them to the high-value targets they wish to take out, or so the theory goes.

We agree to help, but mostly out of self-preservation. If we can rid Nikola of the constant beacon in his head, we suddenly make it that much harder for the Red Wizards to keep tabs on us. That, and no one in the party feels bad about sending a bunch of Thayans to their doom. Karma is a bitch and whatnot. So if we find ourselves temporarily allied with the drow, so be it. We know how to play their game, so we’ll be watching our backs the whole time for good measure.

For Callum, the dilemma was gut-wrenching. Here he was, in the Underdark, helping the drow to strike a major blow against his fellow surface-dwellers. True, the target is the Thayan brain trust, which somewhat deflects the sense of complicity and betrayal the paladin is feeling, but still…there was so much evil present, it was hard not to feel bad for the servant of Kelemvor.

Maybe it is just the taunting, the mere presence of cruel demons, loathsome driders, and the cruel servitors driven before the drow overlords that gnaws at the paladin’s soul. Callum steadies himself, and tries to focus on his comrades rather than allowing himself to be distracted by the overwhelming stench of evil that assails his every nerve. Kelemvor will be busy today, of that much the paladin is sure.

The party is able to pass some down time in the wonderful drow bazaar. A few minor weapon upgrades were completed, and Palau traded his Horned Ring for a ring of invisibility. I don’t think I would have traded a minor artifact for a lesser item, but we’ll only really miss it if we ever find ourselves back in Undermountain.

A series of spider-web portals are activated, and the drow assault force begins to take shape. If it weren’t for the evil nature of most of the players involved, it would have been a truly marvelous sight for any eyes to behold. From the seething masses of cannon fodder to drow regulars to elites such as powerful demons and drow high priestesses, we can tell this is a force to be reckoned with in any corner of Faerun. And if they can do this against the Thayans, they can do it against anyone. Food for thought.

Finally, the attack is launched. Target: Thaymount, the seat of Red Wizard power. There are multiple citadels and fortresses upon the plateau, and each one is attacked by a dedicated assault team. Stealthy drow appear, raining down poisoned bolts and spells and flashing blades. Massive demons shrug off spells and tear through defenders in sprays of blood and gore. Supporting drow spellcasters augment their allies with various spells, and send Thayans to their doom or scrambling for cover.

Dragons and other mounts/pets are visible as well. Flying creatures engage in dogfights, and stricken victims fall from the sky, plummeting down to land among (and sometimes on) the swarm of combatants below.

 

The battle against the Thayans unfolds...

Our heroes attack the small keep where the illithid we are connected to should be found. The defenders are fighting as expected – no quarter given, none asked for. Our frontal assault gives way to attacking from above, and we soon breach the keep’s defenses.  Inside, chaos and confusion reign. We encounter a pocket of defenders who put up a good fight, but we are able to come out on top. Even when we finally meet the mind flayer we are hunting, it is more relief than dread. We kill him, and the link with Nikola is finally severed!

"You're suffering from a Vulcan mind-meld, doctor."

The final scenes of the battle played out rather dramatically: the party was worn down, spells nearly exhausted, and still the Thayans fought on. Escape via teleport and similar means was impossible, so the party would have to slink away and hope they could make a break for it. Trapped in the heart of Thay, fighting Red Wizards, and keeping watch on our drow “allies” is not the best of situations to be in. And then came the dragon…

The ancient red dragon was dead, felled in combat somewhere above the outposts. It plowed into the keep, more or less shearing it in twain, burying the living and dead under tons of rubble. Our stalwart adventurers were tossed around like dolls, stunned and even trapped in the debris. Nikola found himself on the ground outside the keep, thrown clear by fate or luck. As he rose, he sensed he was not alone.

Also rising from the carnage was none other than T’See Larak! The drow was gravely wounded, missing one arm and suffering numerous cuts and gashes from head to foot. Even in such a state, the drow still glowered at Nikola with sneering contempt. “Come, weakling, let me send you to the lower planes. You have been seeking the Red Sword, and now you have found it. Allow me to show you how it works.”

With that, the two wounded combatants leapt at one another, eyes aglow with hate and fury. Nikola’s two-handed attacks were turned aside by the drow, which only made the ranger dig deeper into his resolve. “Your time is over, assassin.” said Nikola, as he slowly wore down the wounded drow’s defenses. “You have been hunted down and betrayed by your own kind. The Red Sword is mine!”

Nikola’s thrusting feint with his short sword worked, and he sent the keen edge of his longsword into the drow’s torso, skewering him just below the ribcage. The Red Sword fell from T’See’s grasp, and thudded onto the charred earth as the dead drow toppled over.

The party, battered and exhausted, gathers itself up and seeks refuge inside the ruined keep. Inside a wizard’s chamber, a portal is discovered. Garrity casts analyze portal and is able to activate it. Escape is at hand! The adventurers make the leap, leaving behind both the Thayans and the drow to finish what they started. I’m sure the Thayans will be looking for some payback down the road, and I wouldn’t put it past the drow to consider us loose ends that need to be tied up at some point. But for now, we are safe and the Red Sword is ours! Or Nikola’s, as he is quick to point out.

 

D&D coma. Life is good!

All in all, a good time was had by everyone. For my son Frodo (aka the painting prodigy), it was his first time to hang out with us during a gaming session. I didn't know how he would do, honestly. I figured he would hang out for a few hours, eat some food, drink some pop, and eventually get bored. But he stayed the entire night! He ate some chili and cornbread, drank many root beers, and had a selection of chips and snacks to choose from. When he wasn't rolling dice for our DM or me, he read The Two Towers, watched TV, and eventually passed out in a comfy chair. When it was time to head home at oh-dark-hundred, he was good to go. Next time, I think he wants to play! We'll see what we can do about that.

A Rogue, Paladin, and Ranger walk into the Yuirwood...

Since our regular DM has had his hands full of late, I was suckered into making a guest appearance by some of the players who were just itching to roll some dice. Well, I wasn't really suckered into it as much as begged/cajoled, and to be honest I enjoy a little DMing every now and then. I spent some time brainstorming during our vacation in Idaho and managed to come up with some encounters, as well as a rationale for the events that unfolded.

To explain the departure of our wizard (my character) and our cleric (otherwise busy), I decided to create a rift in The Weave that was caused by the forces of Chaos. It allowed quite a few nasty creatures to enter Faerun, as well as cause an increase in the general monster population - at least in Aglarond, where our characters are based.

Most of the spellcasters were summoned to Velprintalar to see if they could band together and close the rift, so off went Garrity (wizard) and Posht (cleric). The three remaining characters - Palau the halfling rogue, Callum the human paladin, and Nikola the human ranger - were left behind in Relkath's Foot to see what developed. The guards and patrols were increased and stepped up to meet with the surge in monster activity, leaving the trio of adventurers to help as needed. In this case, they would be needed to track down the perpetrator of a heinous crime.

According to the survivors, an elf (not a drow) walked into the temple of Corellon Larethian and killed a group of acolytes, along with the acting priest. The guards who attempted to stop him were likewise killed, and the assailant walked off into the woods, heading east. Palau, Callum, and Nikola are sent off after him/her.

After about a week in pursuit, they finally catch up with the mystery elf. It looks like an elf, speaks like an elf, wears elf armor - but it detects evil and is wielding a nasty-looking black greatsword. An intense battle ensues, with Nikola effectively incapacitated thanks to a word of chaos spell. I make my first error of the evening when I "kill" Callum - he had actually done enough damage to kill his enemy, but I made a simple math error, allowing one more attack that would have killed the paladin, but quickly catch the mistake.

The party is then able to discover that the elf is actually a death slaad! The unholy greatsword was as effective against the paladin as the paladin's chaotic bane bastard sword was on the slaad. Callum would like to destroy the evil blade, while Palau and Nikola seem to think they can somehow trade or sell it for something more useful to the party. I'll let Ned (regular DM) sort that one out!

Moving on, the boys run up against my next creation: a fiendish half black dragon ettin (!) and his plain vanilla ettin minion. The pair had been wreaking havoc on a small mining community, but the miners will be troubled no more. It was fun watching the players react to such an unusual template. The theme would be repeated later on down the road ;)

A random encounter with a pair of fire giants filled out the first leg of the trip, with the power trio arriving safely at The Watchwall. Callum trained to become a level 12 paladin, and picked up Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) so he can once again resume using his shield. Things at the wall are busy but under control, so the party decided to head back to Relkath's Foot.

On the first leg of the return trip, they come across an ogre, busy defiling a lovely elven grotto in the name of Baphomet. The characters attack the ogre in a sort of "hmm, it's only an ogre, but something must be up" sort of way. Right! The ogre in question is a 4th level barbarian ogre, who rages and attacks. It is joined by a 4th level ogre rogue and then their master - a ghour demon. The ogres are tough, but they aren't up to the combined fury of our brave adventurers. The ghour is a lot tougher and inflicts a large amount of pain, but in the end it falls.

Now just a couple of days from returning home, the party has its final encounter, and stunning one at that. Following a trail alongside a stream, they come to a smallish lake. As they move around it, they are met by the steely gaze of an abyssal greater basilisk rising out of the water. In a heartbeat, Palau is petrified and promptly dubbed "the garden gnome" by yours truly. The basilisk is TOUGH (almost 200hp) and provides a challenge to the paladin and ranger, denied the extra DPS from the sneak attacks of Palau.

Once the hellish basilisk is vanquished, and the garden gnome secured to the paladin's mount (a wingless hippogriff), Callum and Nikola complete the journey back to Relkath's Foot. There they learn that the rift has been closed (yay!) and all is back to normal. Well, with the small exception of an unknown quantity of chaotic-aligned creatures now running loose in and around Aglarond, that is to say.

All in all a successful evening of D&D for all concerned, I have to say. I had fun in my role as guest DM, even with all the extra work that comes along with the job. And the players gained a good amount of XPs, along with a modest amount of treasure (uber evil greatsword notwithstanding). Callum dinged 12 pally, Nikola is close to 12 (I think), and Palau has enough to ding 13 rogue - once we manage to un-garden gnome him, of course :P

Now that I'm back from my last major family vacation and school for the kids is nigh (only two more weeks of freedom!), I know the lead-oriented content on TLD will resume at my normal pace. Thanks for reading!

Phaerimm, the evil teleporting windsocks of Faerun

Session Recap 3/10/2012

 Winter has set in at Relkath’s Foot, and it shows on the faces of the inhabitants. Cloaks are drawn tighter, scarves cover faces up to the eyes, and gloves are on, all to ward off the frigid winds that blow in from Thay to the east. The guards and patrols are even more vigilant, because they know that some creatures will become more brazen and desperate in their search for food as the winter months drag on.

 The heightened state of vigilance seems to have overcome Nikola, as the patrol he set out with returned without him – it would seem that my ranger brother was either restless or on to something, because he insisted on staying out. The rest of the party heads back to Nikola’s last known camp, aided by the patrol members. We fan out and search, and eventually track him to a menhir ring. I cast analyze portal and determine that the portal has several properties: two-way, not creature-only, not password activated but instead elf-activated, and has two destinations. The most unusual property is detected by Callum when he employs his detect evil and discovers that the portal itself detects evil!

 Our efforts to activate the portal are for naught, and scrying fails as well. We return to Relkath’s Foot and seek counsel from my father, who in turn consults with the local portal magic scholar. The scholar returns with us to the menhir ring to see if he can help us activate it. Things seem to be going well when the portal scholar takes an arrow in the neck and one of the ½ elf rangers is killed! The now-familiar voice of T’see Larak is heard to ask “Where is my brother?” – is he talking about me [Garrity is ½ drow] or just messing with us? In any event, the wounded scholar activates the portal and we jump through. The surviving ½ elf ranger stays behind to care for the scholar.

 We land near a massive tower in Anauroch, across the Sea of Fallen Stars and well northwest of the Yuirwood. There is no visible entrance, so we head to the top of the tower via spells, potions, and the always-useful ebon fly. The top of the tower is the lair of a most unusual creature – so unusual, we can’t identify it or even attach a name to it – the thing has a head that resembles an octopus, a large beak, and several tentacles. Oh, and it seems to be able to summon lightning from the clouds above. We manage to defeat it, along with the three wights who were prowling around the corpse of a black dragon that the tower guardian was picking over. We descend into the tower and work our way down.

 Along the way our cleric and paladin get a chance to unleash their holy wrath on some undead who cross our path. Real wrath of the gods stuff, if you know what I mean. We eventually re-acquire Nikola (via scrying, I believe) and find that he has left the building. Fortunately, he is not far from the tower, and we track him to a smallish keep or outpost that is in disrepair. Unfortunately, Nikola is the captive of two phaerimm, who appear to be negotiating with some vampires and their undead minions – not good!

 With my brother in sight, we spring into action. The undead are tough, but we are tougher! Our blades and spells are able to vanquish them after a pitched battle. The phaerimm prove to be a bit more of a challenge, though. My disintegrate spell succeeds in vaporizing one of the phaerimm, but the other one teleports away with Nikola. In hindsight, we should have tried to grab Nikola during the melee, but we were so caught up in the action that we didn’t even think about that. Our redemption comes when we succeed in our scrying attempt, and we teleport into a tunnel the phaerimm is attempting to escape through. The lone phaerimm decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and flees once again – this time without Nikola.

 So we are once again a whole party, although the intrigue that seems to follow us around is even murkier and unsettling than ever. Hopefully Nikola has learned his lesson that heading off on his own, even in the relative safety of the Yuirwood, will never EVER be a good idea.

 On the lighter side of gaming, I really need to get myself a can of Unicorn Meat. When I attempted to read the description on the back of the can out loud, I failed. It was just too goddamned funny! Look, I love my pets and animals in general, and believe I will one day see them again across The Rainbow Bridge – but when I was reading about these poor unicorns and the DOUBLE Rainbow Bridge, I lost it. My stomach hurt from laughing, and I am always glad to provide some wheezing, laughing comic relief at our sessions. Best unintentional comedic line came from Dino who declared “I am going to eat the fuck out of that pizza!” – the poor pizza never stood a chance! I love my friends, and I know they love me. At least they treat me like the younger, dim-witted brother they are thankful they never had.

No Rest For The Wicked

Back in mid-December, the gang rallied for yet another spirited romp through Faerun as part of our ongoing 3.5 FR campaign. Then I got caught up in the spirit of the holidays and set aside my recap duties, so without further ado, here we go!

There was scant little time for our intrepid band of adventurers to down a few cold beverages at The Blazing Hearth in Mulmaster before it was time to saddle up and gaze into the eye of the dragon once more. Last time, it was the sights and sounds (and smells) of Myth Drannor. This time, we strike out for the scenic Galena Mountains at the eastern end of the Moonsea.

Our contact in Mulmaster, a crusty Loremaster by the name of Jotim, tells us there is a cave in the mountains that contains the Pillar of Fire, which may or may not be able to sever bonds in attuned items – say, for example, the Red Sword – so we head there, in search of information. Well, it’s also likely that T’See Larak may be looking for it as well, so perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone. Jotim comes with good references, as we were sent to him by Shimanit of Shadowdale, a woodland guide we met in Myth Drannor. We feel fairly confident that we are on the right path at this point in time, so off we go!

We are able to find the cave with minimal fuss and without running into any undesirable elements, so we begin our exploring at full strength. This is a good thing, because we are tested by three brief but violent encounters. First is a massive fire elemental that attacks us as we attempt to bypass it. The creature must be some sort of guardian, or so we surmise. We extinguish the elemental threat and continue on. Next up is a quartet of massive ogres who set upon us with quite a bit of vigor. They are, however, no match for our ranger and his little friend the rogue.

As we plunge deeper and deeper into the complex, we discover several more chambers guarded by more fire elementals. Garrity recalls that the Sarrukh were followers of Kossuth, so he invokes the Lord of Flames name and what do you know, the elementals hold their ground but do not attack! The last encounter in the caves is with four chimeras (what do you call multiple chimeras? A flock? A pride? A gaggle?) that our party is able to deal with without too much drama.

Finally, we enter a cavernous room with a massive stone pillar jutting out of a pool of water. The pillar rises some two hundred feet into the air, with stairs carved into the exterior that allow access to the top. We climb the stairs without trouble, and discover to our relief that we have, in fact, found the legendary Pillar of Fire! It is a modest altar topped by a pair of interlocking arches. There are runes on each side of the altar, and after thorough examination and rumination, it is determined that there are four slots (one on each side) where a tile could be seated. Said tiles are of course nowhere to be found.

We head back to Mulmaster to consult with our contacts there and attempt to find out more information about the Pillar of Fire and the missing tiles. There is an active dig site at a set of old ruins a day or three away from the Pillar of Fire cave, so perhaps the tiles can be found there. Rested, we resume our adventuring. Five wyverns are unable to hinder us, and we reach the dig site. It is cold, windy, and there is snow on the ground. Even more hostile than the elements are the inhabitants of the dig site – hill giants and their ogre servitors! The ranger seems nonplussed by this revelation. Rangers.

After Palau scouts the ruins, he reports back that 3 hill giants and 4 ogres we are watching are only the tip of the iceberg. There are at least a dozen hill giants and close to two dozen ogres in and around the encampment! It’s going to take some planning to tackle this lot. Putting our heads together, this is what we come up with:

Posht will cast spell immunity (fireball) on Callum and Nikola. Garrity will cast greater invisibility on himself and Palau. We will engage the first set of giants & ogres and attempt to dispatch them as fast as possible. If all goes as planned, we will eliminate the first set of guards before reinforcements arrive. As always, the battle hinges on things going as planned…


The giants wade into the party...

Wonder of wonders, things pretty much DO unfold as planned! Garrity is able to safely immolate the giants with multiple empowered fireballs without harming his comrades. Palau unleashes his deadly sneak attacks with impunity. The paladin and ranger hew into the giants while the cleric keeps them healed. The giants arrive in waves from their various locations around the dig site, and we are just barely able to keep pace with the tempo of violence. It was especially hairy when about 6 hill giants and 8-10 ogres all showed up at once, but somehow we managed. I think it was due in no small part to Posht’s blade barrier and smite spells that really made the difference.


...Garrity unleashes one of his more potent empowered fireballs...

Perhaps the most troubling part of the fight was when some unseen enemies started casting charms or confusion-type spells on Nikola, Callum, and Posht. At one point, Nikola succumbed to one of the spells and began seeking out Garrity, providing some rather humorous in-game dialogue. After the battle, we found large snake-like slither marks in the snow. So it would seem the yuan-ti were involved, if not running the dig site. Hmmm…


...and the giants feel the burn!

15 hill giants and 20 ogres later, the battle was at last over. It was a rip-roaring affair, a good old-fashioned brawl that left the snow stained crimson and the battleground littered with the corpses of the oppressors. After healing up and gathering ourselves, we poked around the dig site and found what the yuan-ti were looking for: a buried cache of ancient coins, baubles, and 4 magic tiles. It pays to dig in the right location, and also to correctly answer three questions posed by a magic mouth.

Returning to the Pillar of Fire, we don’t even have time to reveal the secrets of the altar, for as soon as we place the magic tiles, we are greeted by the taunting voice of our old friend T’See Larak! He and his minions are levitating in the darkness above us, and orders us to back off from the altar. As this exchange is taking place, a third party arrives: a half-dozen Thayans, led by a pair of Red Wizards.

Holy dilemmas, Batman! What do we do? Stay and fight? If we fight, do the drow and Thayans gang up on us, or will it be a true free-for-all? If we win, there’s a good chance we could even recover the Red Sword! Or do we flee, and live to fight another day? We manage to surprise our DM by the swiftness of our choice: turn tail and run. Garrity teleports and Posht word of recalls the party to safety, but only after we take one of the four tiles from the Pillar’s altar for good measure.

Leaving the tile with Garrity’s father in Relkath’s Foot for safekeeping, the party teleports back to the cave to investigate. We find several bodies at the scene of the battle, and we surmise that the Thayans appear to have come up short. Their meat shields are all dead (3 or 4 of them), while only a couple of drow bodies are present. The damage indicates a pitched battle, and even the altar has been battered. I’m not sure who would benefit more from destroying the altar, the Thayans or the drow, but now it would appear that the only way to un-attune the Red Sword from Nikola is to kill him. And I’m pretty sure that T’See has no qualms about that particular scenario.

Whew! That was a busy 16 hours. Sure, we weren't gaming every minute, and our cleric was AWOL for a couple of hours, but we still managed to wring every ounce of fun out of the time spent around the gaming table. My friends are the best! Happy New Year one and all, and may 2012 be a peaceful and prosperous year for you and yours. Thanks for stopping by.

Myth Drannor - The Palm Springs of Faerun?

We managed to once again rally the troops and pull together a full D&D session on the 6th. Last time we played, we ventured into the Underdark, one of the most dangerous places in all of Faerun. This session we ended up in Myth Drannor, perhaps THE most lethal place in Faerun, period. Well, it seems that way, anyhow...

The party is resting up back in Relkath's Foot when trouble once again is heaped upon us via Nikola and his murderous ways. Before we go there, however, there is first some information to disseminate. Garrity's parents (and Nikola's adoptive parents) had shared the news that Nikola's birth father was indeed dead, and that his sword - The Red Sword - was likely now in the hands of T'See Larak, the weaponsmaster of House Larak. Furthermore, the Red Sword is attuned to Nikola, and T'See wishes to change that. How? Funny you should ask. First, the drow assassin wishes to kill Nikola, and break the attunement the old-fashioned way. Second, it is rumored that T'See is heading to Myth Drannor, where another rumor is going around that there may be some ancient source of magic that allows attuned items to be re-attuned. Swell.

Before we can decide our next move, it is forced upon us by Nikola. We wake up with a dead Relkath's Foot guard in our quarters, and Nik seems to be the killer - although he has no memory of anything prior to falling asleep that night. The funny thing is, that this has happened once before to Nikola in Mithril Hall (yes, THAT Mithril Hall). Dead dwarf guard, bloody Nikola, hasty exit, etc. This time around, we have the power to fix the problem at hand, thanks to Posht's ability to cast raise dead. Long story short, we try to do some 'splainin, piss off the locals, and are quickly shown the exit (Menhir Ring, of course) by Garrity's father before all hell breaks loose. More on this mess later.

We portal out and head to a podunk fishing village, with the aim of hiring a boat to take us to Cormyr. We secure passage and set sail. As luck or fate would have it, we are sharing the trip with a couple of Zhents. Are they truly average Zhents on a trading mission to Aglarond, or are they Zhentarim? I'm sure that our DM just gets a kick out of watching us decide what to do. While we are dealing with the Zhents and attempting to scry on a certain drow assassin/weaponsmaster, we have yet another run-in (or should I say fly-in?) with our bestest enemies, the Thayans. Walked into that one, we did.

Leaving the cover of the Yuirwood, we no doubt popped back onto the Red's radar like the Spruce Goose buzzing the tower at Miramar. One fine evening, our ship comes under attack from above: a griffon-mounted Red Wizard comes alongside the ship, exchanges pleasantries with one of the Zhents, and then proceeds to launch fireballs into the ship from high above us.

While we run around on deck, trying to keep the crew alive and the ship more or less intact, Posht breaks out his Ebon Fly and takes a Zhent with him to engage the Thayan. The Thayan blasts away at his new targets, scorching the dwarf a bit, and doing enough damage to the fly to cause it to revert back to statuette form. The Zhent appears to off the Thayan before he and the dwarf plunge into the waters from several hundred feet up. This is fatal for the Zhent, and very painful for Posht.

Palau swims out to help the soggy dwarf (and relieve the Zhent of a few valuables). The Zhent, sadly, is lost at sea. Hmmm. With the soggy dwarf and halfling back on board, we do what we can to help the crew put the ship back into sailing shape and continue on. I should note that Posht used a make whole on the ship's severely damaged main mast the following day that made it possible for us to continue on at regular speed. We reach land and continue our journey to Suzail on foot.

Once in the royal capital of Cormyr, we consult with the War Wizards. They direct us to some learned colleagues who can help with these types of private endeavours (show them the money!). The wizard who is helping us with our search for T'See discovers that his scrying has been detected, and even worse, he thinks the target knows who is looking at him! He is more than happy to teleport us close to our quarry, if only to throw some bodies in between him and the drow. Normally, this would have been perfect for us. But we usually don't appear in the middle of a hill giant raiding party...

The giants are a tough lot, but we are even tougher. We are fine, except that a lot of Posht's healing has been expended. Pressing on, we aren't able to catch up with the drow, but we do reach the fabled city/ruins of Myth Drannor. We are pleased to discover that there is a large friendly presence here who are in the middle of a grand operation. They wish to reclaim Myth Drannor! Block by block, building by building, large bands of scouts, soldiers, spellcasters, and experts are clearing and cataloging the ancient city. We join up with them and enter the city, both to see what we can see and also try to catch T'See and his minions.

During one of our sweeps, Palau finds an old sealed hidden door. The reason why it was both hidden and sealed is quickly discovered: a pair of hezrou (or Type II, if you prefer) demons have been banished to this room for hundreds (if not thousands) of years! Their stench causes all sorts of problems for our heroes, and all the barfing and dry heaving that followed would have been comical if only the demons weren't trying to tear everyone apart. We FINALLY kill one, and some help arrives to rid us of the other one.

Searching the room, we find a pile of old silver pieces and a bastard sword. The sword turns out to be magic. VERY magic. Magic, as in the +4 Holy Chaotic Bane variety! These details are not lost on Callum. Callum is our paladin, by the way. Remember in Conan the Barbarian, when Conan finds that sword in the tomb?


(photo used without permission of conancompletist.com)

That's pretty much how Callum looked when he picked up his new sword. And it was soon put to good use! On another foray into the city, we finally meet up with T'See and his pals. They spring an ambush on us, sneak attacking Nikola and nearly killing him. In the ensuing clusterfuck, we come face to face with a monstrous retriever. This is actually good news for Callum, since the paladin's new sword is able to unleash its full potential on this evil, chaotic outsider. His +4 bastard sword is now +6, and does bonus damage against evil and chaotic outsiders. Booyah!

We kill the demonic spider, round up Nikola (who had r-u-n-n o-f-t with some elves) but lose track of T'See. We head back to the expedition's fortified base and contemplate our next move. Remember how our story began? Murder, Nikola, Relkath's Foot? Esteyr (Garrity's father) shows up and has some interesting news, to say the least. Turns out the dead guard we raised was a Thayan agent! So we are exonerated of that crime, and perhaps not outlawed from the haven of Relkath's Foot after all. But was still don't know how Nikola is being compelled to become a sleepwalking spykiller. Is it the Red Sword, reaching out to its human companion, guiding his sleeping hand? Is it the mind flayers who probed his gray matter when he was captive? The Thayans? Too many scenarios, in any event. At least for now.

So it was another fun and exciting session. We drank many quality beers (as always, thanks Steve, aka The Beer Meister), watched the Sounders slay Kansas City in the dying minutes of the match (Sounders 'til I die!), and best of all, a group of friends got to hang out with each other for a solid 15 or so hours of gaming and companionship. You guys have been, and always will be, my friends. Come on, Matt, you know you want to say it! 'uman (and look over the top of your reading glasses for good measure).

Monterey Madness and The Great Underdark Jailbreak Caper

As those of you who are following our 3.5 FR campaign will recall, we last played back in March. That is to say, the Washington state contingent played. In late May, the WA boyz flew south to join their California-dwelling brothers for a lively session in picturesque Monterey.

Much mirth was had over the weekend, starting with a delayed departure from SeaTac, a fun night drinking and BSing, gaming on Saturday and Sunday, and missing our planned flight home on Sunday. We all eventually got home late Sunday, so all's well that ends well. Standby FTW! It's always a hoot to get the whole gang together.

So without further ado, on to the latest recap:

With the party reunited in Relkath’s Foot, all is well once again for our small band of intrepid adventurers…or is it? Garrity is reunited with Esteyr (his father) only to learn that Thindara (his mother) has ventured into the Underdark on a mission and has not been heard from since. She was heading down to Sith Morcane to further investigate the whereabouts of the Red Sword, the blade last wielded by Nikola’s father who was battling the Thayans and their demonic minions. Esteyr and Thindara used their network of friends, peers, and informants to piece together the events leading up to the attack on their home, as well as news of the Red Sword.

Now why would a surface elf venture into the Underdark, seeking information about a sword from the inhabitants of a drow enclave? Well, if the surface elf is actually a drow, and her dark elf name is D’nayen Pa’az of the clan Pa’az, that might be why. Now at this point in time, one might wonder how a drow mother could pass herself off as a sun elf mother, fooling not only her friends and community but her own son as well. Thindara, as it turns out, is a druid/illusionist of no small talent. She used her powers and skills to disguise herself, as it might be hard for her husband to go about his duties in the defense of Aglarond if it was common knowledge he was married to a drow. Most drow, it seems, are still viewed by surface-dwellers with a high level of suspicion, if not downright hostility.

Esteyr had not heard from Thindara in over a week when Garrity & Co. showed up, so of course he did what any good son would do – gather up his friends and plunge into the Underdark! The brave band was given directions to Sith Morcane, and Garrity took a Pa’az clan brooch if needed. Beyond that, they were flying blind, so to speak.

The journey to the Underdark was brief and mostly uneventful, save an encounter with a trio of spectres. The first meeting ended with one spectre dead and two driven off by Posht, and several of the party drained a few levels. Round two ended much better, as the cleric and paladin were determined to put the undead to rest once and for all.

A pair of Maurs provided the first Underdark encounter for the group. One maur was able to expand to full height, but thankfully the second did not. As it was, the pair proved to be formidable foes, and quite a bit of offensive magic and divine healing was necessary to claim victory over the giants.

Less than a week after they set out, the party reached Sith Morcane. They expected the worst, because they found quite a few drow bodies along the way, mostly at overrun outposts. The bodies had all been stripped of clan brooches, piwafis, and boots. Thorough looters, or items taken for other purposes? Other would be the correct answer, once the city proper was reached. A massive battle had obviously taken place, as the city was all but a ghost town. Most of the activity noted was from scavengers, and a few survivors scampering away at our approach. The party headed straight to the clan Pa’az stronghold, and were met by a small handful of survivors.

Once the drow were convinced of Garrity’s heritage, they welcomed the surface-dwellers and shared news with them. Civil war had erupted, a not uncommon event in dark elf communities. What was different was the scale of the war – clan Larak, the main rival to Pa’az, had gathered the lesser houses and consolidated their power to attack Pa’az and two other clans. Bloodshed raged all across Sith Morcane, and well over half the population was destroyed. Survivors melted into the Underdark, or holed up in their clan strongholds to see what would happen next.

With regards to news of Thindara/D’nayen, news was not good: she had been taken captive by Larak, and transferred to Manzessine Prison, a notorious Illithid-controlled fortification. The wardens had a long-standing reputation of never breaking any pact or deal for any of their charges, quite unusual in the back-stabbing and double-dealing realms of Underdark politics.

About this time, a new threat emerged: an ancient wyrm, a massive red dragon had appeared at the main gate, accompanied by a small host of humans. Thayans, no doubt. Garrity took a stab, and decided that the Red Wizards had convinced Larak to attack with the usual promises of magic, profits, and power motivating them. Once the battle had ended, the Thayans would swoop in and mop up any and all survivors in their way, hell-bent on recovering the Red Sword.

One of the Pa’az survivors led the party away from this new threat, but was quickly lost in the darkness and tunnels. The party pushed on at a feverish pace, wanting to distance themselves from this latest threat. Along the way, a group of a dozen ogre miners and their mind flayer overseer were encountered and destroyed. Their lode of raw garnet was tucked into a recently-acquired bag of holding, so their work was not in vain. Callum also sent a prowling grick to a dark grave, earning the paladin some additional experience fighting the various denizens found here.

Finally, the party reached Manzessine. A narrow span crossed a chasm that was billowing green vapors – never a good sign. Across the span, a massive portal stood flanked by two large stalactites. Oh, and a pair of large creatures that looked like patchwork mockeries of huge mind flayers. Garrity rubbed his hands together, flexed his fingers, and began to think. How should the party go about breaking INTO a prison?

Option number one: full frontal assault. Pros – direct, decisive, immediate. Cons – 100% chance of alerting the guards, entry not guaranteed, and increased risk of never seeing the light of the sun ever again. Option number two: entry via stealth. Pros – diminished risk of alerting guards, chance to see what lies ahead, and actual chance of success. Cons – entry not guaranteed, success not guaranteed, chance of joining the other inmates for a long stay on the high side.

So against all odds, the party selects option number two. And lo and behold, not only does it turn out to be the right choice, the brave band actually executes their infiltration with near-perfect success! Palau gets cloaked in a greater invisibility spell, allowing the diminutive rogue to scope out the point of entry. He discovers that the stalactites are actually hollowed out observation points, connected to the prison via small corridors. There is one mind flayer guard on duty, watching the approach to the main gate. Down the corridor a short distance is the lift mechanism for the front gate. And because the jailers are a thorough lot, there are some shriekers growing just outside the main gate as well. Having secured this vital intel, the team hatches a plan…

The assault element will buff up with spells, potions, etc. and will execute a two-pronged assault on the sentries. The support element will silence the area around the main gate, and a fireball will hopefully subtract the shriekers from the equation. Nearly simultaneously, the rogue will attempt a sneak attack on the mind flayer, while the paladin, ranger, and cleric will meet the two strange guardians head-on, supported by Garrity’s arcane arsenal. If the attack is successful, Palau will take a gaseous form to allow him to enter the complex and open the front gate. If the attack fails, all is most likely for naught.

As the attack unfolds, the silence/fireball tactic works as advertised, quieting the area and scorching the shriekers to ashes. Palau’s sneak attack does NOT go as planned, only wounding the flayer with one hit out of three. Some magic missiles (fired through a tiny window in the stalactite) help take down the illithid.

Now on to the remaining guardians. They turn out to be constructs, patched together out of mind flayer, drow, and other not-so-recognizable parts. They also turn out to be totally resistant to spells, much to Garrity’s chagrin. The constructs and fighters trade blows, while the cleric keeps up a steady stream of healing. In the end, the adventurers prevail, toppling the constructs.

Against the odds, the adventurers have gained entry to the prison and so far they have not alerted any other guards! But the timer is now ticking, as sooner or later the relief for the front gate guard will no doubt notice that something is amiss. The team presses on, moving with a purpose while trying to remain as quiet as possible. Their next obstacle soon presents itself in the form of a simple corridor.

At the opposite end of the corridor is a gate. On either side of the corridor is a curtain. Just behind each curtain is a pair of mind flayers – that’s right, a quartet of illithids. So how do we get through here without dying? Vewwy, vewwy qwuietwy. No magic, no acrobatics, just walk down the middle of the hallway, moving as quietly as possible. Any other action would have brought four psionic blasts to bear on us in a heartbeat. To quote William Peterson in To Live and Die in L.A., “We lucked out, Johnny! We lucked out!”

Moving deeper into the complex, we head down a large, curving ramp and run straight into our next obstacle: an 11-headed cryohydra. It’s a fairly simple affair – kill the beastie before it grows back too many heads for us to handle. The party does well to dispatch it with minimal fuss, although our spells continue to dwindle.

Another pair of mind flayer constructs bar the way, and we have to slug it out with them to continue. They pound on the paladin and ranger, and I think the rogue took a few lumps as well. Healing continues to get used up, but at least Garrity doesn’t waste any spells on the patchwork lumps.

A pair of bodaks do their best to stop us cold, but they cannot defeat us, or more specifically, they cannot kill Callum. The paladin is money with on his save vs. death rolls, while Posht unleashes all his undead-hating fury on them too. The bodaks soon join the ranks of dead undead and we move on.

Around a bend, a mind flayer sits behind a large, ornate desk. Dunno if he’s filling out TPS reports or trying to arrange a meeting with The Bobs, but there he sits. Once again, Palau goes in for the sneak attack, and once again, his attack rolls are less than stellar. One for three if I recall correctly. But it matters not, because at this point we can seem to do no wrong. We kill this guard and finally enter the main cell block! We lock onto Thindara, release her from durance vile, and head for freedom.

At this point, one would expect the world to come apart and all sorts of hate come down on our heads. But it was not to be. We waltz out the main gate without any additional trouble and then pick up the pace and put some distance between us and the prison. Thindara is happy to see Garrity and thankful to be free. She fills us in on her journey into the Underdark and what she saw and found out. The Red Sword, created by the drow to combat the Red Wizards, has been sighted! Unfortunately, it seems to have fallen into the hands of notorious drow assassin who might be part of (or at least working for) the rival clan Larak.

Once clear of the Underdark (without any additional encounters), everyone heads back to Relkath’s Foot. Esteyr is reunited with Thindara, along with son Garrity and adoptive son Nikola. What our next move will be is uncertain at this point. The Red Sword is in the hands of enemy drow, and Nikola seems determined to reclaim his father’s potent magic blade. Sith Morcane is in a state of anarchy, and the Thayans seem to have grown so bold as to operate deep inside the Underdark with relative impunity.

I’m not sure what part our small band of heroes will play next, but I know it will be fun! I think everyone has reached 10th level, and we picked up several nice magic items along the way. Garrity even rolled his second consecutive 4 on his HD roll, so huzzah for that. Stay tuned for the next session recap coming sometime in early August.

Flaming Mummies, Friendly Fire, and Fun with Spell Crits

The WA state portion of our gaming group rallied for a lively session on Saturday. In February, Ned flew south to visit Dino and Craig and run those two through a bit of fun. They managed to avoid death, although Craig's ranger (my wizard's adopted brother) is now Craig's FEMALE ranger. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy ;)

So the three of us (paladin, cleric, wizard) took off in the same direction as the ranger and rogue, hoping to follow in their footsteps and catch up with them at the town they were heading to.

We took out a bugbear warband, and then entered a smallish temple/dungeon that our pals had previously passed through. They didn't leave much for us to do except kill the mummy and scoop up his treasure - sorry you missed it! I suggest scorching ray against mummies - makes 'em burn REAL good.

Towards the end of our journey, we came across a one-sided battle around an active portal. A dozen ogres and a pair of ogre-magi were thrashing three local elves. The paladin charged into the fray, followed by his grumbling dwarf medic. My elf hung back at the treeline, waiting for the right time to strike. When my companions became predictably swarmed, I unleashed an ice storm on everyone, friends included. It was a calculated risk, as was the fireball I tossed in there next round. Those two spells (coupled with the cleric's holy smite) spelled the end of all the ogres, leaving the magi to deal with.

That proved much harder, of course. The paladin and cleric were reduced to 1HP each at least once, possibly twice, and my wizard was toppled by a cone of cold. Steve's dwarf healed me, and I was back in the fight. A do-or-die attack by Matt's paladin produced a much-needed crit, and that took out one of the magi. The other one fled, as I was flinging fireballs all over the clearing, hoping for a lucky shot. And then a fire giant came through the portal...

The paladin and cleric did their best to soak up the giant's attacks while hammering away at it. I rattled off four straight shocking grasp attacks (delivered via spectral hand) and landed my first-ever spell crit on my fourth attack! Good times. We beat feet for town and joined up with the dynamic duo. Next time we play, it will be all six of us around the table in California. Can't wait for May!

At one point, we started talking about our favorite and/or most memorable adventures or gaming sessions over the past three decades. In no particular order, here are some notables: The Halls of Beol-Dur (Dragon #41), Tegel Manor, White Plume Mountain, The Village of Hommlet, Dark Tower, Ravenloft, Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, the G-D-Q sequence, and The Pit of The Oracle (Dragon #37). Oracle bears special mention. Somehow the party managed to locate the back door in this adventure and more or less stumble into the main treasure room with little to no opposition. I wasn't there, so don't ask me how...I was also told that Craig actually cried tears of joy, being the loot whore that he is. We love you, Craig.

Of course it goes without saying that there were many adventures and encounters created by Ned that do not have names, but live on in our collective gaming memories as good times. And speaking of Ned, it seems that Steve has been holding onto our "real-life characters sheets" all these years! At some point in the past, Ned created character sheets for each player, complete with nicknames, alignment, stats, and even a pencil sketch! Hopefully Steve scans then so we can all have them in electronic form. And I'm going to give Ned our ancient VHS tapes of one of our sessions so that he can transfer them to DVD. I'm sure they are long periods of boring geek footage, interspersed with brief moments of geek hilarity.

The icing on the cake was my wizard's HD roll for 9th level. After a truly woeful run of seven straight rolls of 1, I broke the streak with a 4! So huzzah for me, and hopefully I'll start rolling nothing but 4s for the next 11 levels.

Another Level, Another One

The other day my DM stopped by to pick up some campaign-related material. While he was here, I recalled that my elf wizard dinged 8th last time we played, but as it was late and we were smoked, we did not take care of any housekeeping. So I had him witness my HD roll for 8th, and as you may have now deduced by the post title, I rolled a 1. Again. For the SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE TIME!!!

According to Ned, that is about 1 in 16,000 give or take a bit. By all accounts, my poor wizzy should get killed by anything stronger than, say, a mortally wounded kobold. With no other bonuses, I should only have 11 HPs. Eleven. As it stands, I have 29. Let's break that down:

1st Level: 4 (all PCs in our campaigns always start with max HP at 1st level)
1st Level: 4 (Mind over Body feat; gives INT bonus as HP bonus @ 1st level [FRCS p37])
2nd-8th: 7 (that would be those seven straight ones rolled, in case you missed it)
3rd & 5th: 2 (+1 HP per Metamagic feat taken per Mind over Body)
Other: 12 (newly-acquired Ring of Robustness)
TOTAL: 29 HP @ 8th level

If I didn't have my new ring, I would be weighing in at 17 HP. Pretty close to average, which I think is what, 20? 2.5 x 8 = 20, if I remember my stat block generation standards correctly. I suppose I could always choose CON (currently 10) as my 8th-level ability increase, and then CON again at 12th. That would give me 11 extra HP (not 12, because of Mind over Body). Something to think about.

Anyone else ever have such shitty luck with the dice? Maybe I should buy a Powerball ticket, see if I can defy those odds and score a big payday. Then I could bribe Ned to let me re-roll all those ones. Of course I'd have to pay hush money to the other guys around the table, but it would be SO worth it.

"James, earn this...earn it."

I recently read a post over on Joethelawyer's Wondrous Imaginings that got me thinking a bit about life, death, and the endgame in our various campaigns.

Keep in mind a couple of things: 1) I've been gaming with the same group of friends for something like 25 to 30 years now, so we're all quite familiar with everyone's playing style as well as how our stalwart DM runs his campaigns. 2) We don't play on anything approaching a regular basis, mainly due to the fact that two of the guys live in California.

Our current campaign (most recently mentioned here) is a 3.5 game set in the Forgotten Realms. Everyone is at or close to 8th level. The storyline has us butting heads with the Red Wizards of Thay, but not just because we needed an enemy to fight. Two characters (including my wizard) are from Aglarond, which borders Thay to the southwest. Needless to say, family history more or less has us at odds with Thay going back before we were born. The intrigue and unanswered questions keeps our imaginations busy, for sure.

Historically, our DM has run a low-magic campaign. In past campaigns, magic items were hard to come by. You cherished each one, and it REALLY hurt if you ever had the misfortune of losing one (or all of them). Things have changed since then. Magic items are now more plentiful, but the LEVEL of the items is carefully controlled. And in my opinion, this is a good thing.

With a couple of exceptions, we are mostly outfitted with +1 and +2 armor and weapons, and miscellaneous magic of similar power. I have the feeling if we were all strapped with +3 and +4 items, we would breeze through encounters and there would be little challenge (and therefore little danger). In other words, I think we are appropriately equipped for a party of our level. I'm sure if we reach higher levels, then the +3/+4/+5 items will eventually come into play.

Leafing through my pile of dead and/or retired characters, I noted a trend: my last four characters were all 9th level. For whatever reason, double digit levels is a challenge for our group. Where did we go wrong? Well, for one, we sometimes just plain and simple fuck up. We managed a TPK with one group because we made a bad tactical decision in a frost giant lair. That was our bad, no more, no less. And if memory serves, I think we lost a couple of characters when they went off on a side adventure, or got split from the party. And then there's always the dice. Sometimes you just have a bad day rolling. A 1 on a crucial save, or a miss when you really needed a hit. You can't control that part of the game, so you just have to deal with it.

I guess I must be an optimist, because I have set up and planned for my wizard to eventually become an archmage (as in the prestige class). That won't happen until 16th level, when I will be Wiz15/Acm1. Of course, I still need to make it from 8th to 16th, but if you don't plan for it, how can you make it happen? Why even bother? Well, I don't think anyone in the group has ever pursued a prestige class before, so it's more of a "let's plan for it anyhow and deal with it if I ever get there" sort of mentality.

Bottom line, I think, is that in a campaign like ours, you need to EARN your rewards (hence my quoting Capt. Miller for my title). If I ever want to reach 10th, much less become an archmage, I need to play smart. So far, so good. But, no matter what happens, the game is still fun to play after all these years. If the game isn't fun for you, why would you even play?

What happens in Thay, stays in Thay

Had a great time gaming with my mates on Tuesday! It's always a challenge to get the whole crew together, especially with two living in sunny California. We play in a 3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign, with the party consisting of a dwarven cleric, human paladin, human ranger, halfling rogue, and an elven wizard (yours truly). We all started the night at 7th level. Once we got rolling, things happened pretty fast.

We warmed up with three battles: 8 ogres, 6 spiders, and 1 fell troll. The troll was NASTY! It was a tough, long battle that we finally won, but not before the ranger was killed. We were able to bring him back at our next stop, which pointed us in the direction we needed to go.

Without boring you with too much detail, a couple of the party members have some family history and background that has caused the Red Wizards of Thay to take an interest in our hardy band of adventurers. There have been several memorable encounters in past sessions, to say the least.

We head to Aglarond's Tannath Mountains, using the Watchwall as our jumping off point for an incursion into Thay. We are seeking a gnoll NPC known as Kurga Bloodfang (I think I got that right). Our strategy is to use forged passes and act like we belong in Thay. So of course everything goes to hell in a handbasket on the first encounter with a Thayan patrol when our paladin decides to deviate from the "low profile" plan.

The patrol is low-level, so it was not a hard fight. Of course a missing patrol will eventually be noticed, so now we are under a time crunch. We manage to keep our cool and use our passes (and a bribe) to get past a patrol of gnolls. We eventually track down Bloodfang and follow him until we are ready to attack.

Our goal was to capture Bloodfang (he has info on our ranger's missing father), but I guess speak with dead will need to be used to pump him for information. We defeat Bloodfang and his minions and flee, but are tracked by some Thayan aerial scouts.

Right as we are about to exit Thay, a small army appears between us and freedom. Wow, talk about a bummer! It was a scene right out of LoTR, with the forces of Mordor surrounding the good guys in front of the Black Gate. Of course when things look this grim, something just has to happen...right? Right. We are teleported out of harm's way by our benefactors, who have a lot riding on the success of our mission.

All in all, a fun and exciting session, and I can't wait to see what happens next time we play!