The Valley #27-28
Well we’re back to The Valley for a few sessions, and while session #27 happened almost 2 months ago, it fits best with session #28.
Also, due to our low number of players, we had to cancel two weeks because missing one person now can really hose up the game. But with at least one new player joining us, we shouldn’t have to worry about that too much.
One thing Dale did while his campaign was running was to give us a list of magic items to choose from rather than give us specific items (which leads to a high chance of us not wanting them) or just letting us pick items from of a specific level (which is a giant can of worms by giving too many options to players).
He made 3 lists and asked us to pick one from each list as our magic item treasure from the previous week’s fights. So I stole that idea, modified it, and made it my own.
It’s perfect for allowing me to control what I give to the party while giving them a fair chance at getting a useful item.
First I decide what level item to give out.
Then I trim items off the list I consider broken, too confusing, or not fitting with the campaign.
Then I trim the list down to 3 or so items that fit the flavor of the fight.
Then I give the items names for some role-playing flare.
So far it’s worked out quite well and I feel it adds to the fun and role-playing of the campaign.
Session 27
Admon (Scott); level 11 human war wizard
Edward (Aaron); level 11 human paladin of Brekaneth
Ander (Dale); level 11 halfling sorcerer
Kergan (Mike); level 11 dwarf rogue
We stopped just as the party killed Mayor Xavius Ryan and the devil Stefforri as her giant fire pyramid disappeared leaving only several empty barrels that once held the zombie elixir and the dead bodies of Xavius and Stefforri.
The party makes cleans up the area a bit to prevent accidents with the elixir and then picked up the bodies to begin heading back to town.
Then a hulking figure in full plate armor strode out of the polluted water.
It’s Girvan Torl and he’s angry and believes he’s just caught the party red-handed, having murdered a good friend of his and one of their accomplices in the evil act.
Before Girvan could bring the PC’s to justice, a squad of dwarves arrived.
The Silverhome dwarves still work a bit outside of the city’s control (and Xavius’s eyes), so they were able to create a formula that would neutralize the zombie elixir and they proceeded to dump it in the river and would soon spread it to the rest of the city before morning broke and any accidents could occur. (A “Boil Water Advisory” would be placed in effect as well.)
Admon questioned Girvan how he could survive in the river that had been polluted with the zombie elixir.
“The grace of Brekaneth protected me.”
Amazingly not a single person drank the polluted water, which added some more fame to the party’s already hefty supply of it.
While Admon, Edward, Ander, and Girvan headed to the Grand Temple of Brekaneth, Kergan took off in another direction.
Among the treasure they took from their fight with the mayor was a statue of Stefforri in all her devilish succubus form. So Kergan took the statue and planted it in the mayor’s house (which helped them in proving their innocence later).
When the group arrived at the temple, they found it on alert.
They went to see Father Adrek, and immediately Girvan accused the party of orchestrating the crisis, including murdering the mayor and cavorting with devils.
Father Adrek asked a few questions and believed the party’s story. They’ve done too many good things for the city and Girvan has no proof.
Girvan says “You are weak old man. You have done nothing but lead this church into oblivion.”, and then storms out.
They then tell Father Adrek that they believe Torl is “not well”.
Adrek admits that the man has been through some trauma but the sword he carries would reject him had he fallen from favor with Brekaneth.
He then suggests that everyone in the party get some legal representation. Even though he believes them, if the story of what happened were to be told (spun) in the right manner the party could be in real trouble.
The party did help someone who made deals with devils gain more power in the Valley. And they also killed him and that devil. Who’s to say that the party hadn’t just killed their accomplices? And so on.
So they each get some legal protection and put it to good use. Over the next few weeks each party member is absolved of any wrongdoing and thus all are still the heroes the citizens of the city believe them to be.
During the week the following is determined/discovered/revealed:
- Only the soft bits (wooden) of the Roaring Bull Inn were hurt. It is being rebuilt. Some of the party give Bull some money to help him in the rebuilding.
- Nothing more can be gleaned from Ivellios’s tomes. They now have permanent spot in Admon’s slowly growing book collection.
- Kergan is sent a note. “You’re a dead man traitor.” It is presumed to be from the Thieves’ Guild.
- Each PC is sent a letter. “Well done! Amazingly well! Exceedingly well! I had not expected this outcome, but it did happen. Luckily I have contingency plans.” Signed “XR”
- The city council is debating whether to remove the position of mayor from the government and thus may reduce the number of city council members to an odd number again.
- Duncan’s political career is either in jeopardy or potentially booming thanks to his friendship with Xavius Ryan.
- Ander gets back in contact with Bobby McDonaldson. He had to “disappear” for a while. He confirms that many sorcerers have disappeared and promises to help Ander find out what’s going on with them.
- Edward researches as much as he can about dragons (role-playing for the Dragonslayer paragon path).
- Kergan’s contact with the Thieves’ Guild, who never was his contact, has disappeared.
One day, about a month after the defeat of the mayor, each PC was going about their usual, mundane activities that we just glaze over (because role-playing every single detail of someone’s life would be more tedious than reality), when several dragon shapes flew overhead, blocking out the sun.
That is when 2 dozen red dragons attacked the city.
Each PC prepared to join in the fight, but then they noticed a smaller group of fliers heading to the center of the city.
The red dragons were a diversion to draw the city’s defenses away from the real target, the city’s teleporter.
The teleporter is a 10’x10’ stage that was created by members of the Magus Sanctus organization. For 100gp a person or parcels can be teleported to and from an identical teleporter in the port town of Theven’s Wharf. (The fee is for funding the Magus Sanctus’s other humanitarian activities.)
Theven’s Wharf had just been attacked by devils, red dragons, and orcs from Sordimar. But that town was not the real target, the Valley was.
A smaller group of dragons, abishais, and bloodfire harpies snuck to the teleporter to perform a ritual to remove need to pay 100gp each.
The aura of the harpies prevented most people from helping (5 fire damage per round), leaving only heroes able to help.
When the PC’s arrived on the scene, the ritual was almost complete as any of the fiery attackers could make a successful arcana check to convert one of the four pads on the teleporter. But PC’s (Admon) believed the damage could be undone just as easily.
The rules of the fight – once the harpies were dead the PC’s could call for aid from a city guard as a minor action (Bluff/Diplomacy check with DC = 15 + number of dead guard – the current combat round). Guards are a minion with a simple short sword or crossbow attack (3 damage)
The PC’s made quick work of the harpies, forcing the red dragons to finish the ritual.
This gave the party a chance to regroup thanks to the party’s lack of dedicated healing (Edward has Lay on Hands, but it is very limited in use).
When the dragons finished the ritual, up to 4 orc warriors appeared every round.
The PC’s were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed when suddenly the dragons just up and left. The dragons had been contracted for a job (distraction) and they weren’t about to stick around to die for the pay.
After that it didn’t take much to kill off the abishais, play whack-a-mole with incoming orcs, and return the teleporter to normal.
Of course this added much to the fame of the party, so Edward couldn’t help but try to get a dig in about Girvan Torl.
“Where’s Girvan?”
“He killed a dragon single-handed.”
“D’oh!”
The city was saved (again), but as of now the Valley is cut off from the outside world (again).
Session #28
This session was meant to be a mostly combat session.
Sometimes you have to do that to get the ball rolling.
Weeks have gone by in the Valley since the previous session and things are getting desperate.
Supplies are getting low and there is talk of returning to the old ways, where the town guards were just as apt to protect the city from goblins and to put down food riots.
The Church of Brekaneth has asked for volunteers to scout into Theven’s Wharf.
Now this had been tried previously in the past few weeks, but each time the scout never returned, and are presumed dead.
There even seems to be magic that protects the town from being scryed.
It is believed now that anyone attempting to scout must have a good means of escape. So each volunteer will be given a special enchantment upon them that will allow them to teleport to a possible safe spot outside of Theven’s Wharf (coming back to the Valley is too far for this kind of magic). All they have to do is say “Velserrad” (free action, must be able to speak).
Edward chooses to go for his church and the people of the Valley.
Admon chooses to go because this is hurting his family greatly.
Ander chooses to go because he hears rumors that his sorcerous allies have hidden nearby.
Erdrick chooses to go because it is the right thing to do.
(Erdrick is a player controlled NPC, designed to be relatively simple to run while still being useful to the party.)
The party’s tasks; scout the forces of the orcs, harms as many orcs as possible, and return safely home.
Admon (Scott); level 11 human war wizard
Edward (Aaron); level 11 human paladin dragonslayer of Brekaneth
Ander (Dale); level 11 halfling storm sorcerer
Erdrick (NPC); level 10 human priest (modified cleric)
The party finds out pretty fast why the previous scouts didn’t last very long.
Small white pellets on the ground release a toxin that acts very similar to a ghoul’s bite, paralyzing the person who stepped on them. You can choose to walk carefully through the area, or to not move much, but in a combat that’s almost as bad.
Once that begins, the orcs start to pour in. They are later joined by the orc chieftain Bromock, his bodyguards, and eventually a bone devil named Ozim. Those are in addition to 2d12 more orc warriors every round.
The party did a poor job of sticking together, forcing them to use their escape enchantments several rounds sooner than the DM expected.
The next thing the party knows is that their in a shaded nook in the middle of a hot, dry place, the badlands bordering Theven’s Wharf.
After resting and tending to their wounds they scout out their new location.
First they realize that they’re at the bottom edge of a cliff face.
Then they notice there are 2 armies about to engage in the distance. One army they can’t make out due the distance (and poor rolls). The other army has red dragons on its side.
Next they notice some cavalry getting ready to flank against the army with dragons.
And finally they notice five trolls laying in ambush for the cavalry.
Taking a small risk, they decide to help the unknown army by killing the trolls.
This goes exactly as planned. The trolls were heavily outmatched (even though 4 level 11 PC’s vs 5 level 9 monsters is a fair fight).
The cavalry rides up to the party and quickly thanks them. They have no time to explain what’s going on, but if they’re willing to join in their crusade to expel the orcs from Theven’s Wharf, Lieutenant Brand will buy the party a round of drinks later.
At this time they finally notice the symbol of Brekaneth on Lt. Brand’s shield.
That’s all the convincing it took to get the party on board.
There were no extra horses, but the party can be dropped off at an opportune time to raise as much hell as possible inside the flanks of the orc army.
This fight is pretty straight-forward with a small twist.
The combat map was very flat and the combatants are 4 orc warriors, a bearded devil, and a hellstinger scorpion.
But each round 1d4 more orc warriors will appear on each side of the map.
But on each corner of the map is an “x” and on each side of the map are two other “x”’s.
If the party does a single point of damage to an “x”, it will go away (all defenses 15).
If not a single “x” is on a side or corner, that side will stop creating its 1d4 orc warriors.
The combat ends when the devil and scorpion die.
Now this party claims to not be set up for clearing out minions.
My response to that is BS.
Not everyone in the group has to have minion clearing powers, but they do have to adapt.
My expectation of the combat was for Edward to occupy the devil and scorpion, Admon to clear out any nearby orcs, and Ander to blast each “x” away (all while Erdrick buffed and healed).
What the party did instead was to focus on removing each “x” they could as fast as possible, while dealing with orcs as they came to them.
In the end it didn’t matter. The party won. It just took longer and was more painful.
Afterwards the party joined the whole army as it gave no orc, devil, or dragon a chance to flee.
They saw the leader of the army, General Marcum Songrider, lead his troops and use his hammer to great effect on the heads of his enemies.
When the battle was over and the military-style celebrations begun, General Songrider admonished Lt. Brand for his near ambush, and praised the party and Brekaneth for their aid.
He felt he must reward the party for their deeds, as to not do so would be an insult to Brekaneth.
The reward was a gold ring with a symbol of Brekaneth, a Potion of Vitality, and a magic item from this list:
Faith’s Shielding Links
Chain Armor of Cleansing +3
Anan’s Folly
Luckblade Dagger +3
Brekaneth’s Saving Hand
Symbol of Hope +3
Brekaneth’s Wall
Shield of Protection
Brekaneth’s Grace
Cloak of the Chirurgeon +3
The party chose Anan’s Folly for Dale, since Dale does a wonderful job of missing important attack rolls.
General Songrider tells them to eat and prepare for tomorrow, because he intends to take back Theven’s Wharf and visit the Grand Temple of Brekaneth in the Valley.
Also, due to our low number of players, we had to cancel two weeks because missing one person now can really hose up the game. But with at least one new player joining us, we shouldn’t have to worry about that too much.
One thing Dale did while his campaign was running was to give us a list of magic items to choose from rather than give us specific items (which leads to a high chance of us not wanting them) or just letting us pick items from of a specific level (which is a giant can of worms by giving too many options to players).
He made 3 lists and asked us to pick one from each list as our magic item treasure from the previous week’s fights. So I stole that idea, modified it, and made it my own.
It’s perfect for allowing me to control what I give to the party while giving them a fair chance at getting a useful item.
First I decide what level item to give out.
Then I trim items off the list I consider broken, too confusing, or not fitting with the campaign.
Then I trim the list down to 3 or so items that fit the flavor of the fight.
Then I give the items names for some role-playing flare.
So far it’s worked out quite well and I feel it adds to the fun and role-playing of the campaign.
Session 27
Admon (Scott); level 11 human war wizard
Edward (Aaron); level 11 human paladin of Brekaneth
Ander (Dale); level 11 halfling sorcerer
Kergan (Mike); level 11 dwarf rogue
We stopped just as the party killed Mayor Xavius Ryan and the devil Stefforri as her giant fire pyramid disappeared leaving only several empty barrels that once held the zombie elixir and the dead bodies of Xavius and Stefforri.
The party makes cleans up the area a bit to prevent accidents with the elixir and then picked up the bodies to begin heading back to town.
Then a hulking figure in full plate armor strode out of the polluted water.
It’s Girvan Torl and he’s angry and believes he’s just caught the party red-handed, having murdered a good friend of his and one of their accomplices in the evil act.
Before Girvan could bring the PC’s to justice, a squad of dwarves arrived.
The Silverhome dwarves still work a bit outside of the city’s control (and Xavius’s eyes), so they were able to create a formula that would neutralize the zombie elixir and they proceeded to dump it in the river and would soon spread it to the rest of the city before morning broke and any accidents could occur. (A “Boil Water Advisory” would be placed in effect as well.)
Admon questioned Girvan how he could survive in the river that had been polluted with the zombie elixir.
“The grace of Brekaneth protected me.”
Amazingly not a single person drank the polluted water, which added some more fame to the party’s already hefty supply of it.
While Admon, Edward, Ander, and Girvan headed to the Grand Temple of Brekaneth, Kergan took off in another direction.
Among the treasure they took from their fight with the mayor was a statue of Stefforri in all her devilish succubus form. So Kergan took the statue and planted it in the mayor’s house (which helped them in proving their innocence later).
When the group arrived at the temple, they found it on alert.
They went to see Father Adrek, and immediately Girvan accused the party of orchestrating the crisis, including murdering the mayor and cavorting with devils.
Father Adrek asked a few questions and believed the party’s story. They’ve done too many good things for the city and Girvan has no proof.
Girvan says “You are weak old man. You have done nothing but lead this church into oblivion.”, and then storms out.
They then tell Father Adrek that they believe Torl is “not well”.
Adrek admits that the man has been through some trauma but the sword he carries would reject him had he fallen from favor with Brekaneth.
He then suggests that everyone in the party get some legal representation. Even though he believes them, if the story of what happened were to be told (spun) in the right manner the party could be in real trouble.
The party did help someone who made deals with devils gain more power in the Valley. And they also killed him and that devil. Who’s to say that the party hadn’t just killed their accomplices? And so on.
So they each get some legal protection and put it to good use. Over the next few weeks each party member is absolved of any wrongdoing and thus all are still the heroes the citizens of the city believe them to be.
During the week the following is determined/discovered/revealed:
- Only the soft bits (wooden) of the Roaring Bull Inn were hurt. It is being rebuilt. Some of the party give Bull some money to help him in the rebuilding.
- Nothing more can be gleaned from Ivellios’s tomes. They now have permanent spot in Admon’s slowly growing book collection.
- Kergan is sent a note. “You’re a dead man traitor.” It is presumed to be from the Thieves’ Guild.
- Each PC is sent a letter. “Well done! Amazingly well! Exceedingly well! I had not expected this outcome, but it did happen. Luckily I have contingency plans.” Signed “XR”
- The city council is debating whether to remove the position of mayor from the government and thus may reduce the number of city council members to an odd number again.
- Duncan’s political career is either in jeopardy or potentially booming thanks to his friendship with Xavius Ryan.
- Ander gets back in contact with Bobby McDonaldson. He had to “disappear” for a while. He confirms that many sorcerers have disappeared and promises to help Ander find out what’s going on with them.
- Edward researches as much as he can about dragons (role-playing for the Dragonslayer paragon path).
- Kergan’s contact with the Thieves’ Guild, who never was his contact, has disappeared.
One day, about a month after the defeat of the mayor, each PC was going about their usual, mundane activities that we just glaze over (because role-playing every single detail of someone’s life would be more tedious than reality), when several dragon shapes flew overhead, blocking out the sun.
That is when 2 dozen red dragons attacked the city.
Each PC prepared to join in the fight, but then they noticed a smaller group of fliers heading to the center of the city.
The red dragons were a diversion to draw the city’s defenses away from the real target, the city’s teleporter.
The teleporter is a 10’x10’ stage that was created by members of the Magus Sanctus organization. For 100gp a person or parcels can be teleported to and from an identical teleporter in the port town of Theven’s Wharf. (The fee is for funding the Magus Sanctus’s other humanitarian activities.)
Theven’s Wharf had just been attacked by devils, red dragons, and orcs from Sordimar. But that town was not the real target, the Valley was.
A smaller group of dragons, abishais, and bloodfire harpies snuck to the teleporter to perform a ritual to remove need to pay 100gp each.
The aura of the harpies prevented most people from helping (5 fire damage per round), leaving only heroes able to help.
When the PC’s arrived on the scene, the ritual was almost complete as any of the fiery attackers could make a successful arcana check to convert one of the four pads on the teleporter. But PC’s (Admon) believed the damage could be undone just as easily.
The rules of the fight – once the harpies were dead the PC’s could call for aid from a city guard as a minor action (Bluff/Diplomacy check with DC = 15 + number of dead guard – the current combat round). Guards are a minion with a simple short sword or crossbow attack (3 damage)
The PC’s made quick work of the harpies, forcing the red dragons to finish the ritual.
This gave the party a chance to regroup thanks to the party’s lack of dedicated healing (Edward has Lay on Hands, but it is very limited in use).
When the dragons finished the ritual, up to 4 orc warriors appeared every round.
The PC’s were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed when suddenly the dragons just up and left. The dragons had been contracted for a job (distraction) and they weren’t about to stick around to die for the pay.
After that it didn’t take much to kill off the abishais, play whack-a-mole with incoming orcs, and return the teleporter to normal.
Of course this added much to the fame of the party, so Edward couldn’t help but try to get a dig in about Girvan Torl.
“Where’s Girvan?”
“He killed a dragon single-handed.”
“D’oh!”
The city was saved (again), but as of now the Valley is cut off from the outside world (again).
Session #28
This session was meant to be a mostly combat session.
Sometimes you have to do that to get the ball rolling.
Weeks have gone by in the Valley since the previous session and things are getting desperate.
Supplies are getting low and there is talk of returning to the old ways, where the town guards were just as apt to protect the city from goblins and to put down food riots.
The Church of Brekaneth has asked for volunteers to scout into Theven’s Wharf.
Now this had been tried previously in the past few weeks, but each time the scout never returned, and are presumed dead.
There even seems to be magic that protects the town from being scryed.
It is believed now that anyone attempting to scout must have a good means of escape. So each volunteer will be given a special enchantment upon them that will allow them to teleport to a possible safe spot outside of Theven’s Wharf (coming back to the Valley is too far for this kind of magic). All they have to do is say “Velserrad” (free action, must be able to speak).
Edward chooses to go for his church and the people of the Valley.
Admon chooses to go because this is hurting his family greatly.
Ander chooses to go because he hears rumors that his sorcerous allies have hidden nearby.
Erdrick chooses to go because it is the right thing to do.
(Erdrick is a player controlled NPC, designed to be relatively simple to run while still being useful to the party.)
The party’s tasks; scout the forces of the orcs, harms as many orcs as possible, and return safely home.
Admon (Scott); level 11 human war wizard
Edward (Aaron); level 11 human paladin dragonslayer of Brekaneth
Ander (Dale); level 11 halfling storm sorcerer
Erdrick (NPC); level 10 human priest (modified cleric)
The party finds out pretty fast why the previous scouts didn’t last very long.
Small white pellets on the ground release a toxin that acts very similar to a ghoul’s bite, paralyzing the person who stepped on them. You can choose to walk carefully through the area, or to not move much, but in a combat that’s almost as bad.
Once that begins, the orcs start to pour in. They are later joined by the orc chieftain Bromock, his bodyguards, and eventually a bone devil named Ozim. Those are in addition to 2d12 more orc warriors every round.
The party did a poor job of sticking together, forcing them to use their escape enchantments several rounds sooner than the DM expected.
The next thing the party knows is that their in a shaded nook in the middle of a hot, dry place, the badlands bordering Theven’s Wharf.
After resting and tending to their wounds they scout out their new location.
First they realize that they’re at the bottom edge of a cliff face.
Then they notice there are 2 armies about to engage in the distance. One army they can’t make out due the distance (and poor rolls). The other army has red dragons on its side.
Next they notice some cavalry getting ready to flank against the army with dragons.
And finally they notice five trolls laying in ambush for the cavalry.
Taking a small risk, they decide to help the unknown army by killing the trolls.
This goes exactly as planned. The trolls were heavily outmatched (even though 4 level 11 PC’s vs 5 level 9 monsters is a fair fight).
The cavalry rides up to the party and quickly thanks them. They have no time to explain what’s going on, but if they’re willing to join in their crusade to expel the orcs from Theven’s Wharf, Lieutenant Brand will buy the party a round of drinks later.
At this time they finally notice the symbol of Brekaneth on Lt. Brand’s shield.
That’s all the convincing it took to get the party on board.
There were no extra horses, but the party can be dropped off at an opportune time to raise as much hell as possible inside the flanks of the orc army.
This fight is pretty straight-forward with a small twist.
The combat map was very flat and the combatants are 4 orc warriors, a bearded devil, and a hellstinger scorpion.
But each round 1d4 more orc warriors will appear on each side of the map.
But on each corner of the map is an “x” and on each side of the map are two other “x”’s.
If the party does a single point of damage to an “x”, it will go away (all defenses 15).
If not a single “x” is on a side or corner, that side will stop creating its 1d4 orc warriors.
The combat ends when the devil and scorpion die.
Now this party claims to not be set up for clearing out minions.
My response to that is BS.
Not everyone in the group has to have minion clearing powers, but they do have to adapt.
My expectation of the combat was for Edward to occupy the devil and scorpion, Admon to clear out any nearby orcs, and Ander to blast each “x” away (all while Erdrick buffed and healed).
What the party did instead was to focus on removing each “x” they could as fast as possible, while dealing with orcs as they came to them.
In the end it didn’t matter. The party won. It just took longer and was more painful.
Afterwards the party joined the whole army as it gave no orc, devil, or dragon a chance to flee.
They saw the leader of the army, General Marcum Songrider, lead his troops and use his hammer to great effect on the heads of his enemies.
When the battle was over and the military-style celebrations begun, General Songrider admonished Lt. Brand for his near ambush, and praised the party and Brekaneth for their aid.
He felt he must reward the party for their deeds, as to not do so would be an insult to Brekaneth.
The reward was a gold ring with a symbol of Brekaneth, a Potion of Vitality, and a magic item from this list:
Faith’s Shielding Links
Chain Armor of Cleansing +3
Anan’s Folly
Luckblade Dagger +3
Brekaneth’s Saving Hand
Symbol of Hope +3
Brekaneth’s Wall
Shield of Protection
Brekaneth’s Grace
Cloak of the Chirurgeon +3
The party chose Anan’s Folly for Dale, since Dale does a wonderful job of missing important attack rolls.
General Songrider tells them to eat and prepare for tomorrow, because he intends to take back Theven’s Wharf and visit the Grand Temple of Brekaneth in the Valley.
posted by BlueBlackRed at 12:39 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home