They Met at a Tavern 4: Another Visit to the Temple of Dynss

Had some unscheduled time during the long holiday weekend, so posted up a last minute Meetup one-shot session. Fell back on OSE as the Game of Choice for the evening. I had four participants, one of whom was a Repeat Offender from the "Atticus Stumps" session.

Who did we have?

• Varric the Dwarf (Jema)
• Father Seva the Cleric (Alex)
• Robert the Mage (Max)
• Faldo the Fighter (Tom)

We rolled for Random Headgear (both the dwarf and cleric received Fancy Top Hats), asked a few roleplaying questions to get into the minds of the characters, and were off.

I had my usual sheaf of potential scenarios and decided to run another play-through of the Temple of Dynss, since I had softened it for the 1st level Deathbringer play-through, and wanted to see how the "intended" character levels fared.

The party was hired by the local Council to check out the temple, per usual. The dwarf insisted on a down payment for expenses. Thus fortified, the party made their way towards the temple. The only event of note en route was encountering a very large viper that was, fortunately, put down without mishap. But that was a really large viper...

Upon finding the temple, the party accessed it via the main stairs, sending the dwarf first to check out the dark space. Finding nothing, she called the rest of the party in. They were impressed by the size of the space and the toolmarks where the chambers had been carved from the bedrock.

They spotted the tapestries covering the accesses to the western chamber. Varric considered their possible sale value while Father Seva recommended that, as depictions of Chaos, they must be burned. The tapestries were set aside for future conflagrations.

The party inspected the western chamber and its rusted door, but didn't probe much. The dwarf wandered out into the western landing, where she spotted the statue. (Here's a later-edition player moment - the question of can I roll perception to see if it's trapped? Let me describe the statue first - then you can decide. Well, there are scorch marks around the statue, what do you think?) The mage offered his 10-foot pole, which the dwarf used to poke the statue. ZOT! and the dwarf now holds a 7-foot pole. She picked up the loose change from the alter.

Source

D66 Relics

Relics. Artifacts, bodily remains, sacred ephemera... Often imbued with some divine or mystical power, representative of the relic's original bearer.

The Vendramin Family Venerating a Relic of the True Cross, Titian

Last session, the PCs were granted "Sister Sowena's Fist" a prosthetic gauntlet formerly owned by a crusader, that now is alleged to have the powers to locate restless dead who still keep watch against the forces of Chaos. The Sister's remains, themselves, reside in a coffer and provide protection against incursions. 

Arm reliquiary of the holy Niclas, 1225-1250.

So what relic may a party seek out on purpose, or find via chance? D66 relics, mostly alliterative in name, with a brief description, and a few bonus D6 lists...

Campaign Journal: Cobalt Lake, Part the Second

After the day's events, the party was welcomed to spend the night among Queen Adra's loyal subjects.

Who's partying tonight?

• Fulvus: halfling
• Frederick: thief
• Slick: thief
• Rondel: elf
• Jax: barbarian
• Miscellaneous Mooks 

Ok, let's get it on. Partying occurs. Jax and Flick took part in hobgoblin axe throwing contests, with mixed success. Goober was accosted by several goblin children. Fulvus tried out a few varieties of goblin 'small beer' without any deleterious effects, and got some inspiration for herbal amendments to his future brews. Rondel made association with a handful of gnolls, who were impressed with his language skills. Frederick communed in a sweathouse with Adra, her hobgoblin shaman, Shazen, and whatever aromatics he was tossing on the fire. 

Frederick's celebration was hampered by a premonition that an ally had been displaced or otherwise detained. Something to contemplate.

Everyone woke up, bleary, in the morning to a commotion at camp of the goblin tribe who the party had escorted into the settlement. The two tribal heads had been slain in the night, and their prized bow stolen! Murder most foul...

A search of the area turned up tht bow stashed among the party's gear in their wagon. Accusations flew, focussing on Murdar, the dwarven man-at-arms ("It's in his name!"). Murdar is a rather simple-minded dwarf, known for carrying a rag doll. He was questioned under the close inspection of Jax (with the help of Faith Perpetual), as were the other two mooks, Golman and Barlow. Alibis seemed to be consistent, although Faith was having a hard time getting a read on Barlow... Rondel attempted a charm, but the spell fizzled. The party described to Adra how they had been tracked by one or more Chaos assassins, who had slain a number of individuals who the party had made contact with. This stunk of their doing.

In any case, Queen Adra was not pleased with this development. The goblin camp and party camp were investigated, and few clues were uncovered. The bow was returned to the goblins.

Adra made council with her advisors, Shazen and Golandan the desert elf. The party would be allowed to leave, but in the light of the Chaos attack, and the mysterious deaths, they would be requested to leave a hostage advisor among their number to help keep an eye out for more Chaos incursions and aid in strategy. Flick volunteered/was voluntold that he would remain. Slick left him with a beloved (stolen) hat and Fulvus left him with a device known to stun chitin drakes. 

a better representation of Adra (source)

Campaign Journal: The Queen of Cobalt Lake

Who is on the road tonight?

• Fulvus, halfling
• Frederick, thief
• Rondel, elf
• Jax, barbarian
• Various mooks

The party rested and healed at Hardbrand Tower. Gladwin and his fellow undead knights prepared for their new watch at the tower. The spare node lens was secured within the reliquary, to be retrieved at a later time.

They continued their trek south along the overgrown trade road, clearing brush as necessary for their wagon (currently full of various monster heads for Fulvus' brewery). The road was uneventful until the dice said that there were a couple of burrows along the roadside. Followed by a quick clarification. Burros? Barrows? Burrows.

Fulvus poked at the BURROWS, pissing off a pair of ankhegs. There was a bitey struggle, and Fulvus has another head for his brewery wall (building on is pretty much a given at this point). Burrow searched, and the party recovered some valuables, a +1 crossbow, and an unidentified potion.

Onward.

The following day, the party caught up with a tribe of goblins, also moving south along the road. The tribe was a pathetic lot, with a few skinny wolves pulling travois with their meager belongings. Was the party also going to meet Da Queen? Who was she? Well, she had a small domain along the lake, and was protecting folks who cared to join her. Along the lake, you say? Well, she may be near where we want to go. So I guess we are meeting the Queen.

They Met at a Tavern 3: Clearing the Water Under Wyvernseeker Hill

Last Wednesday's Meetup one-shot only had two plays (#3 was a missed connection). One was a Repeat Offender, and spoke well of my GM skills, so that was a boost.

With just a pair of players, I had each make up a pair of Deathbringer PCs to run through the wringer. 

• Player 1: Ferris Mantlefall, Witchhunter and Niles, Plague Doctor
• Player 2: Amberlin, Scoundrel and Pentaxin, Grimscribe

Finally a Witchhunter! So no undead this week. 

I kid.

I pulled up "Four Visits to Wyvernseeker Rock," a collection I put together some time ago, but haven't run through. Of the four scenarios, I selected "Wraithful River" (spoilers, of course).

The PCs were tempted into the scenario by word that the river upstream of their village had become poisoned, with a fishkill and dead wildlife. Coincidentally, the old mausoleum of Wyvernseeker Rock had been disturbed, with unknown things moving about.

So be it. Let's go test the waters.

The party found the locale, and sussed out the main entrance behind a waterfall. They were immediately set upon be a Tumorous Spider: 

Hi!