Session #40

All right.

I'd like to start with links.
There are 3 types of links I have on the blog; WLD related links, general gaming links, and my personal favorites.

If you have a blog or website about the WLD, let me know and I'll add it.
If you have a blog or website about gaming in general that I might think is useful, put up a link for this site and I'll add it on here.
And to be one of my favorites...well good luck with that.
Also note that if your site is inactive for over a month, I may remove it to make room for others and general website cleanliness :)

The map this time around is a bit ugly. Region N is the size of 2 standard regions, so the map is split into 2. So that requires some creative playing with the map when the party does that much exploration. And if the party's explorations covers a wide area, that requires some creative editing on my part. So if it's too ugly for you, sorry. If it matter that much to you, I have the originals that I can e-mail to you.

And we reached a resolution for the accidental rules-breaking of polymorphing Thunderclease into Thundercat. The biggest cause for this is that this is the first campaign I've had for 3rd edition that went above level 12. So hiccups are to be expected.

But anyway, if you're wondering how the party had access to Polymorph Any Object, it's not that complicated. Krieg has access to it as part of his clerical domains. But it was too high of a level for him to cast, until he was able to buy a Candle of Invocation. While using it clerics get a level bump, so long as the wick is burning.

Resolution came with the final use of the candle. Krieg cast Miracle and paid 5000xp. So now Thunderclease is considered an outsider, and receives the good and bad that comes with that.

Now you might think to yourself that this is just too much. Yeah maybe, but it's fun. And games are supposed to be fun.

We are skirting the border of power-gamerism though. That I'm not cool with. And I'll be addressing that.

But on with the game.
Everyone made it this session.
Those who came to the game to kill some evil monsters were pretty disappointed for the first 2-3 hours. Because they killed the leader of the incorporeal undead, those under her control fled. This left quite a few empty rooms.

Map

Well first off the party sold their unused and unwanted gear and ill-gotten gains from killing monsters and taking their treasure. Then they ordered a few more items from those sales.

Then they burned off the rest of the candle as spoken about above, cast their breakfast spells, and Wind Walked to room N56.

Room N56: This is the central area for the Judge's domain. The party scoured the area looking for something, but weren't sure what it was. They weren't even sure it would be here. And to make it worse, they don't have a rogue-type that can search effectively.

Needless to say, they found nothing.

Hallway N68: The party began walking down the hallway in their usual manner. They then see a large statue-like object blocking their path.

Thunderclease and Senmonious, the 2 PCs with the longest dang names to type, move forward to investigate.

It doesn't appear to move as they get closer.

They move from 60' away to 30' and finally 20'. But the statue doesn't stir.
So Cleez, in his infinite wisdom score of 8, picks up a rock and tosses it at the statue.

And in classic Robocop ED-209 style it erupts into movement. It looks at the rock, then at Cleez, then goes back to its original position and ceases all movement.

Since it wasn't making any aggressive moves, the party turned around and left it alone. But the warmongers of the group kept urging the group to return and crush it.

Room N60: This area was relatively empty, there would have been combat had the Judge still been around. After a quick search, they moved on.

Room N89: This area was relatively empty, there would have been combat had Vinnara still been around. After a quick search, they moved on.

Room N91: This room had 4 grey skeletons piled together on the floor with dozens of demonic busts on the ceiling. Thunderclease and Dariel (for whatever reason) both investigate. Moments after they enter the demonic faces in the ceiling blast a tremendous cold blast on the two PCs. This adds up to 24d6 damage.

Luckily for Dariel, they both saved.

Some healing and anti-cold buffs later, Cleez searched the room and only found out that the bones were 100% stripped of life.

Thus begins the learning curve for Brian to play an arcane caster.

Room N92: This room appeared 100% empty, but did have quite a bit of mortar filling in countless cracks in the walls.

Just a few seconds after Cleez entered the room to search it; hundreds of voices began loudly babbling an insane torrent of voices.
Everyone that could hear the voices had to make a DC30 will save. And they had to save every round they remained near the room and heard the voices.
Cleez failed twice. Sen, Krieg, and Dariel failed once. And Valden didn't fail at all.
Each time they failed, they got a curse that gave them a -8 on one of their saves, attack rolls, ability checks, or skill checks (determined randomly).
Krieg quickly cast Break Enchantment that removed three of the five curses. In the end Cleez and Dariel have a -8 to their Will saves.

They don't return to the room.

Room N109:
Ok, if you haven't learned by now that I like screwing with the heads of the players, well this must be for you first visit, so "Hi."

The party opens the door to this room and sees a giant evil-looking stone skull with its mouth open and almost 7' tall.

Thunderclease enters the room, alone.
What Cleez see: After he gets a few feet into the room, the party disappears and the door slams shut.
What the rest of the party see: Cleez gets a few feet into the room, then he disappears and the door slams shut.

I then ask Justin to go upstairs so I can deal with him in a separately and throw in a feeling of urgency for everyone.

Round 1:
Cleez: Doesn't seem to worry about what's happening. He searches the room.
Party: They try to use their Wand of Knock. When that fails they try to bash it down, but hit an invisible wall.

Round 2:
Cleez: The room gets dark and black field takes a humanoid shape in the center of the room. Then a dark blast explodes from it and Cleez has to make a series of saves. He makes all but the last one and only loses his Deathward spell. A dread wraith now stands in the center of the room.

Party: They hear the sounds of a giant cat being ripped limb from limb behind the door.
They try to disintegrate the field blocking the door. The field fades in a small area, but then reforms.

Round 3:
Cleez: He and the wraith go at it. Some damage is handed back and forth, but Cleez makes his Fort save, so no constitution drain.
Party: Two Dispel Magics do nothing. A Greater Dispel followed by a Nat 20 gets rid of the field. More agonizing screams of Cleez.

Round 4:
Cleez: Cleez leaves the wraith with less than 20hp by the end of the round. Cleez has taken only 17hp of damage from the combat.
Party: The door is locked, so they unlock it with a wand of Knock, which doesn't work. So they open it with another Disintegrate spell. All they see is an empty hallway and no Cleez.

Round 5: Cleez finishes off the wraith.
He was pretty much not in any real danger. He has a Scarab of Protection with 2 charges remaining.
But here's the best part, I walked back downstairs after handing Justin a piece of blank paper. I instructed him to rip it up loud enough for everyone downstairs to hear it as I walked downstairs. I wanted to make everyone else think he was ripping up his character sheet and that Cleez had died again.
It worked perfectly, I brought everything back down with me (dice, clipboard, paper, pen, and WLD book), so it was obvious the fight was over.

Party: They begin casting buffing spells.
Justin comes downstairs with no emotion on his face whatsoever. He grabs his glass and goes back upstairs to get a drink, with nothing more than a gesture stating that he's going for a refill.

Round 6:
Party: The party casts another round of buffing spells.
Cleez: Appears to the party, and looks at them like they're crazy, with barely a scratch upon him.

I enjoy the moment in a job well done by Justin and me. I should probably give Cleez a boost in XP or something for that.

Room N108: The party begins another "charge through the dungeon".
This room had 3 skulls hanging over the doors that seem to "aim" at the center of the room.
Cleez steps into the center of the room. The skulls emit some white light at Cleez. He feels nothing more than a warm tingly feeling.

Otherwise the room is empty.

Room N107: This room is bare save for a serpentine rune on the floor with the Celestial word "Absolve" written by it. The faintest of magic is emitting from the rune. After some testing that turns up nothing, the party gives up and moves on.

Room N106: Another room that is empty because Vinnara is gone.

Room N103: Yet another empty room because Vinnara is gone.

Why did I make these rooms empty? There is not a challenge in these combats. A few dice rolls and 15-30 minutes gone all for no real gain or risk all adds up to boredom.

Area N158: The eastern hallway to this area was not an ordinary hallway. A visible wall of force blocked the party from investigating further.
They could see a bronze door behind the wall that no knob, but instead had an indentation in the door in the shape of an eight-pointed star.

The party notes this and moves on.

Room N157: Another room that is empty because Vinnara is gone.

Room N156: An actual empty room.

Room N155: This room was pretty much just a pit. It was a sprung trap that was never reset. There was a 1' ledge, but 4 of the 5 party members have Freedom of Movement cast on them.

Dariel cast Fly on Cleez who then investigated the pit.
At the bottom he found a +1 dagger that had a faint glow to it, a potion, and 24gp in coin.

Room N154: This room once held crates of food and other provisions, but now they are dried out and unusable thanks to the taint of the undead in the area.

Room N153: This room held the skeletal remains of man with a dog's head. The party believes it to be either a hound archon or a gnoll, either way they leave it alone.

Room N151: A once occupied room that is now empty, once again, thanks to Vinnara's death.

Room N146: This room contained many patches of dried blood, but was otherwise empty. So the party moves on.

Room N149: Powdered rocks, boulders, charred wood, and broken furniture litter this room. The party moves on.

Room N152: Another trap fills this room. A double-strength maximized fireball (120 fire damage) blasts in this room. Those who were in the room saved and then were healed by the walking band-aids.

Room N151: A lightning bolt trap was in this room. Read room N152...same thing.

Room N147: A statue made of red stones, green stones, and blackened metal stood at the southern door of this room. It is indeed a shield guardian with some powerful abilities added to it.

When Cleez tosses a rock at it, it immediately springs to life and attacks.

It is slow and goes last on the initiative.
Round 1: Cleez, Valden, and Senmonious move directly into melee.
Dariel casts a purified Disintegrate at the guardian. He makes the ranged touch attack, breaks through its spell resistance, and it fails its save. So Dariel does 28d6 damage to the guardian.

...target acquired...and it's within 10'

The guardian gets 4 swings, each with a Vampiric Touch added to it. But Dariel has Deathward, so Vampiric Touch means nothing. But the guardian's 2d6+12 is quite a bit of damage to a sorcerer.
By all rights, Dariel is dead. The fourth hit put him beyond the -10hp threshold. But I also understand that going from playing melee types to playing a caster type is a transition. So for the 2nd and final time, I cut Brian a break with this PC. Dariel is left at -9hp.

The rest of the fight is the standard back and forth melee damage that we all know and love. It takes a few rounds, but the 388hp guardian eventually falls to the might of the party.

Dariel, of course, was healed and got out of melee range ASAP.

Area N148: This area is very similar to are N158. A visible wall of force prevents the party from closely investigating a bronze door with no handle, but instead has wide circle of sparkly white diamond with a hole in its center.

The party makes note, and moves on.

Now it's getting late, and the warmongers got a taste of blood.
Soooo...

Hallway N68:
They want to take out ED-209. So they buff up with their remaining spells and charge.

ED-209 is an iron golem. It was an iron golem built by the celestials that made the prison. Had the leonal looking Thundercat, or the angelic looking Senmonious, both who have signed the charter, simply asked the golem to step aside, it would have.

But they wanted a fight...

Round 1: Dariel, this time from over 50' away, casts Disintegrate. For his ranged touch attack he rolls a natural 1...
Valden moves forward and casts a Blade Barrier where the golem is standing. The party isn't yet aware that this is an iron golem, so they aren't happy that all they see are a bunch of sparks.
Krieg tries another spell on the golem...to the same results.
Sen and Cleez jump into melee and do some minor scratching on its armor.
It slams at Cleez for maybe 10% of his hp. Hardly worth mentioning really.

Round 2: Dariel tries a purified Disintegrate this time. He hits this time, but there is once again no effect.

The rest of the fight is nothing much really. Standard back and forth melee damage, but the party has the benefit of the Power Attack feat to push the odds into their favor.

A short while later, it falls to the ground in chunks.

They check out the extent of the hallway, then Wind Walk back to the garrison and rest.

Until next week!