Since I saw the other D&D post this morning, and since we have a bit of down time in game because the married couple we are gaming with decided to go on a honeymoon, I will post an update on what has happened in my D&D campaign (Imagine the nerve of putting off gaming for a ill ole honeymoon?)
Last update from March:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7605614The original update:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7232307When we last left our heroes and heroines, they were on the verge of being assaulted by a group of evil clerics of the Overlord, the god of slavery and tyranny, plus their hill giant and some drow for good measure.
The players were:
Delvaris, an elf fighter/paladin (2/2)
Narvareuth, an elf fighter (level 4)
Hurdan, a human rogue (level 4)
Janayla, a human cleric (level 4)
Garin, a human ranger, (also level 4)
Jinyth, a human sorcerer (level 4)
They also had allies in Thelia the dryad, plus Dawn Strider the unicorn and a few human NPCs.
With the success of their tactics from the previous session fresh in their minds, the players again went out to engage in hit & run tactics with the bad guys, using all of the players that had the fastest speed – meaning, all of the PCs, plus a couple of NPCs. Of course, they violated one of the cardinal rules of D&D – never split the party.
But, their tactics were again successful, as they managed to wear down several key NPCs from range, while getting little damage from range – one NPC got nailed by a boulder the giant tossed, but Janayla managed to heal him before he died.
The head evil cleric then sent his soldiers forward to engage the PCs in an attempt to let his forces break off from the withering arrow fire from the players. While the soldiers were slain to a man, the main bad guys managed to slip out of arrow-shot range while still advancing towards the dryad’s grove – it being a forest and all.
The players then quickly retreated back towards the grove to get some quick healing and hopefully engage in their hit & run tactics again.
This time, however, the party sorcerer and cleric and one NPC stayed behind, while the bad guys adapted their tactics – the evil cleric ditched his palanquin that the slaves were carrying, which allowed his group to speed up to the same speed as the players…
When they caught up to bad guys, they no longer had the palanquin and the drow were nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, this allowed the hill giant to be let loose among the PCs and NPCs, to dire effect.
Wham, with one mighty blow with its club, the party rogue was reduced to 4 hit points, and the NPC ranger was taken down to 8 or 9 with its next blow. The rogue retreated, but was forced away from the players and the grove due to his positioning.
Meanwhile, back in the dryad’s grove, the last band of orcs charged into their midst, but were stopped almost completely cold by the dryad’s entangle spell and the DM’s miserable saving throw rolls (failed 13 out of 14 saves!)
Soon after, the evil clerics and the slaves entered the grove, while the players remained fighting the hill giant. Two of the drow also appeared and started attacking into the grove.
As the two elves were retreating towards the grove, however, the drow duskblade Chovexani (who was now invisible) appeared behind them and zapped the elf paladin for a massive amount of damage when she channeled Shocking Grasp through her sword, dropping the paladin to -7 or -8… his life slipping away as the blood poured from his wounds.
The hill giant continued its destruction of the good guys, and nailed the NPC ranger for a massive critical hit, taking him down to somewhere around -30. The PC ranger then was next, dropping to -11 or -12 and also dead.
Fortunately, the evil cleric and his minions in the grove were having a difficult time with the dryad, unicorn, other NPCs and the two PCs… the bad guys were losing their numbers rather quickly.
This allowed an NPC cleric and an NPC fighter to break off from the grove to try and rescue the PCs outside the grove. The elf paladin managed to be saved at -9 due to his deity, the Guardian, intervening, but it was too late for the two rangers.
Meanwhile, the elf fighter also fell to the drow duskblade, dropping to -12, and dead. He managed to wound her severely, but twice missed killing blows by a whisker (meaning, he needed to roll 14s to hit, but twice in a row rolled 13s!)
The NPC cleric and fighter managed to stabilize the battle outside the grove, allowing the rogue to finish off the hill giant with a sneak attack, and then finishing off the duskblade (to exactly 0 hp) themselves.
The evil cleric was then dropped and also killed, and the remaining PCs and NPCs made short work of the remainder.
Unfortunately, two PCs were dead, one PC was almost dead and one major NPC was also dead.
The group insisted on continuing the campaign, though, and the two PCs were replaced with a dwarf fighter and a flamboyant Halfling psion.
Thelia the dryad then revealed to the players what she knew – the evil cleric was part of a radical faction of Overlord followers who had made a pact with some archdevils ages ago and created a powerful artifact that would supposedly allow the high priest of The Overlord to rule over the world as its slavemaster.
A group of heroes thwarted the Overlord those ages past, and sealed this artifact in a tomb, which unfortunately, was recently found in game by followers of this radical sect, who are attempting to activate it in a new attempt to rule the world.
The players were advised to consult a sage and were given four choices of where to go, but chose the nearest option (I had four separate adventures planned depending on each choice…)
The dryad then said she was told to present the players with “gifts” if they were able to successfully defend her and her grove – the elf paladin was given a magical glass-bladed sword; the rogue was given a magical rapier that gave him some nifty bonuses; the cleric was given a bow fashioned from a heroic unicorn that would allow her a limited teleport ability; the sorcerer was given a spear & armband that gave him access to more spells.
The players were then thanked by the now healed Cardor, whom they escorted back into town.
Back in town, the town guard, however, seemed over-run with were-creatures, and the guards still loyal to the Duke were barely holding on in his castle. The PCs managed to swing the tide against the wererats, defeating them rather handily with their newfound magical weapons.
Cardor, who was now Duke, rewarded them with a small home in town that used to belong to a knight, and gave the players a message to pass on to the king.
That is where we left off – the big battle took three full sessions to complete.
The party is now:
Delvaris, an elf fighter/paladin (level 2/4)
Scandalarian, a Halfling psion (level 5)
Hurdan, a human rogue (level 6)
Janayla, a human cleric (level 6)
Aerol Stonesplitter, a dwarf fighter, (level 5)
Jinyth, a human sorcerer (level 6)
The party is headed to the nearby Crondor Woods (home of some not too friendly wood elves) for an interesting encounter or three, then hope to catch a boat upriver into the capitol city of Ospolen to meet the king. They then will catch a boat to travel to meet the sage in the neighboring kingdom of Eldor.
For the longer term, when they find the sage, he will relate more info to the party, and they will then head to the island of Svimozhia.
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