Saturday, May 23, 2015

My First 5E Campaign Session 3

Everyone was here this night. And we may have another join us soon (scratch that, since I originally wrote this the person who was going to join us has had his offer rescinded).

I was a bit more capable this session, able to think a little more on my feet instead of some “uh…um…er” moments like I had the week before.

I also handed out several magic items by the end of the night. I’m a DM that tends to put the good magic items and other equipment towards the big fight at the end. Of course I had the boss use the items, which can make things scary for the party.

I like that 5E is making sure the first couple of levels go kind of quick. I’ve never really liked the fragile low levels and tend to bypass them or make them go by quickly. The drawbacks of bypassing the lower levels are that you’ve not had a chance to grow into your PC and develop teamwork with the group, and you might be a bit overwhelmed if you bypass too much and have to deal with too many abilities all at once.

Aaron playing Rhoanel, half-elf bard (level 3)
Dale playing Rumi, wood elf monk (level 3)
Everett playing Markus, halfling rogue (level 3)
Justin playing Cedraic, wood elf archer ranger (level 3)
We started by fast installing Cedraic into the game.
He found his way to Newton and eventually heard about some people that sounded like Rumi and Rhoanel off to investigate The Overwatch. So he found his way there and did snuck into the place and found the party.

Unfortunately they did a bad job of being quiet about it. Between Rhoanel playing his music and the conversations by talking too loudly to each other, the goblin leader in the upper level of the place heard them. And Cedraic heard the sound of the door to the upper level being barred.

And then they all heard the all too familiar sound of a goblin battle horn.
And Cedraic was then not happy to see a large shadow outside of something flying, land on the top of the tower.

The group immediately got to work barring everything up and fortifying the place as best they could.

Within minutes there were at least two worg riding goblins circling the place and several other goblins hiding with bows waiting to shoot at a moment’s notice.

When the PCs took a shot through an arrow slit, the goblins shot back. The PCs killed a worg rider with this quick exchange, so the worg riders stopped circling and hid out of sight.

Then both groups waited.

After a time, the party decided to flee out of the backdoor.

The area behind the tower had a near mountainous section to it, with a giant vulture waiting for them with its keen eyes. It shrieked out a warning to its master and the goblins came running.

For this fight, there was too much for the party. So I staggered the goblins in. And that was still almost too much.

Round 1: 4 goblins in hiding, and 1 giant vulture
Round 2: 4 more goblins
Round 3: 2 worgs and 1 goblin (the other had been killed)
Round 4: 1 goblin boss and 2 goblins

The party pasted the vulture on round 1, so the goblins did the same to Rumi.

The next couple of rounds involved ranged attacks and maneuvering. And once again the party got a bit separated but Rhoanel was able to get Rumi back up.

By round 6 it was pretty much just some goblins and the goblin boss, and 4 very beat up party members.

Rhoanel goes up to the goblin boss and crits. The boss has a special ability where he can switch places with a nearby goblin and that goblin takes the hit. That goblin took 14 damage.

Three more goblins died thanks to that ability. Two of those 3 died by a crit as well.

The DM rolled poorly for the goblin bosses attacks, who was +8 to attack and did 1d6+7 damage thanks to all the bonuses it had. But it’s not like the party didn’t get hurt in the process. I think their total hit points were under 20.

They searched and collected their treasure (and finally got some real magic items).

Earlier, on his way to The Overwatch, Cedraic found the iron shipments; 10 carts full of iron bars and rods, with a lot of horse skeletons (stripped of meat by the goblins and the giant vulture).

Random encounter! I had the encounter chart set up already…and humorously they rolled the “Caravan of iron ore” encounter. This happened while the party was investigating the iron carts near the road, which made the initial bit of the encounter a little tense.

The party guarded the iron shipment and upon return to town they aided the return trip of the caravan to get the “lost” iron.

While the lost iron was being setup for the horses, Cedraic used the time to check out the stairs up the steep hills behind The Overwatch. At the end of the goblin boss fight, he found a wooden tower (or dread gazebo if you will). While investigating it he had made a nat 20 spot check he saw where the ocean and steep hills met, and what looked like a small landing at the bottom. While at town he bought out their rope (300’) and climbed down to investigate it more closely.

He found a small cave opening, but people were waiting on him, so he rejoined the group and noted this for later.

The party collected their rewards for getting rid of the goblins and returning the iron. And of course this added to their minor levels of local fame.

Quest reward: the party now received 5 temporary hp after a long rest for the duration of them being in this region, with a chance of that becoming permanent.

This made them targets for other people needing tasks done.

While Rhoanel was looking to buy a pearl, the jeweler, Merit, asked that the party check out the stories of sea monsters destroying boats to the point that no one would come to the town’s small pier.

While at the inn a few people approached them saying that there was a fork from the main road that some evil witch that kills anyone who enters her territory. Without a local militia, they’ve just stopped using the road.

A man named Talbert, from the church of Arimu, offers the party everything he has if they can find a golden candle holder relic he’s searching for. Legend says it was lost long ago in this area.

Rumors heard at the tavern:
- I saw a wrinkled old woman talking to a dead tree.
- The king fled from the capital to hide in his summer palace.
- The Church of Hallus is on another crusade, looking for some old cup or something.
- Old Merton is always looking for weird things. He once told me he’d pay 10 gold for live snake eggs. He thinks he’s going to train them or something.
- Mayor Sern is only mayor because I didn’t expose his secret about him being a warlock.

And they met a very old man named Tonus that many in the town are fond of. He mostly just sits on his porch and snoozes or watches. He was once a wizard, and was lucid enough to swap some scrolls for the party (something they couldn’t use, to something they could use…but random and of lower level).

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

My First 5E Campaign Session 2

Like all things 5E, this campaign is kind of laid back.

This is kind of a tester campaign. I’m using it to gauge how to balance 5E combats and other challenges, to test what the “proper” amount of treasure is (in magic items and gold).

When I first tried running a 3E campaign, it ended with me woefully overestimating the PCs. 2E monsters were a cakewalk compared to 3E. So I had a TPK on week 6.

So I’ve not invested as much role-playing data into the campaign.
It’s just a bunch of adventurers going about trying to do the right things (while killing monsters and taking their treasure).

And it showed this past week.

I was “off”. My excuse is that I’ve been exhausted and really need a vacation. (How interesting…I’m going on vacation soon. And why yes, gambling will be involved.)

This week we finally got a new player, and then Justin cancelled at the last minute.

So welcome aboard Everett.
He has played a few rpgs through the years, but mostly has played 4E, and we are his first 5E group.

Our cast:
Aaron playing Rhoanel, half-elf bard with aspirations to be a paladin (or fake it)
Dale playing Rumi, wood elf monk (female if that means anything to you)
Everett playing Markus, halfling rogue
(Justin would have played Cedraic, wood elf two-weapon ranger)

All PCs are level 2 at the start of the night, and level 3 by the end of it.

We stopped with the party having passed the dryad’s test, and looking for the village of Newton.

Cedraic scouted around and found the beach, making it a bit harder to get lost. Then he scouted out off and disappeared into my-player-isn’t-here-land.

Yes, these upcoming fights are generic and boring, but it’s the norm for level 1-3. I’ll more interesting things as time goes along; at least that’s my plan.

So we start with Rhoanel and Rumi traveling south along the beach for a ways until they hear screams for help.

They come upon 4 goblins threatening a pair of fishermen on a small pier.
Also responding to the cry for help was Everett, who’s been getting paid to patrol the roads.

The combat lasted maybe two rounds.
The three PCs did their introductions and swapped information.
Newton is only a few miles away.
Markus was also one of the soldiers to hold back the goblins, but his group managed to kill all the goblins and get back in time to flee on a boat.
The size of Newton has doubled thanks to refugees.
Newton hosts a large number of forges, in support for probable war.
The war has been quite good for Newton.

As the party is chatting, they hear another scream for help.

A middle-aged woman, Esmerelda, screams that there are goblins and rats in her house.

In true PC-RPG fashion the party kills the goblins and rats, and she thanks them and the party continues traveling about the road.

Random encounter!
That’s right I made sure to bring them back in true 1E fashion.

This was another pair of goblins each riding a worg.
The party played it smart and was lucky. No worg hit them, but the goblins got a few good hits in.

After resting for a few, they got back on the road and soon were in Newton.

It was pretty much what Markus said; a basic small town that has a few too many people.

The party rested a few days to level up and then the story pushed them along.

Between Markus, Esmerelda, and the fishermen, the party had become a good target to look to for help.

Most of the town’s soldiers have gone off to war. The few soldiers remaining guard The Overwatch, a tower protecting a fair section of the road.

Unfortunately for Mayor Hal Sern, The Overwatch has been taken.
And unfortunately for Leon, the head of the ironworkers guild, a shipment of iron bars has been delayed.
A scout sent out came back with an arrow, one of many he says, that were all about the place. The arrow looks like goblin-make, and reeks of goblin as well.
With promise of proper remuneration, the party heads out to The Overwatch.

Random encounter!
It was just a trio of monks heading to Newton.
Once the party confirmed there weren’t goblins under the robes, they moved on.

One thing about this group, they’re mostly set up for stealth. Leather armor or no armor equals no penalties for it, and poor rolling by the goblins, meant the party was able to sneak right up to the door.

And then they pounded it open.

Eight goblins were inside. Half of them didn’t survive the first round. The other half fled into a hole in the ground.
Three of the remaining four were killed in the next couple of rounds.
The fourth was able to open up some grates that held in some fire beetles and rat swarms before he was killed.
(Note: I feel like the rat swarms were done right in 5E.)
The party was mostly separated and they were forced to chug several of the healing potions I’d been giving them before they were eventually able to win.

And we stopped there.

So far I’ve given the party several magic items, but not a single permanent one.
Half of the items they’ve received are healing potions, with the other half being mostly scrolls, and a single Wand of Magic Missiles.

I’m hoping this is a balanced setup, and we’ll see soon.

Friday, May 08, 2015

This Campaign World

This campaign world will have nothing all that special to it, at least when compared to most of my previous campaigns.

Other than several basic ideas and notes, I’m going to make up a lot of it shortly before the game sessions or on the fly.

Whereas my previous campaigns had a lot of notes and plenty of information for the game, then I mixed PC backgrounds into the story.

The PC backgrounds may work to further the story, but are not necessarily integral to the game itself. It is very unlike the Endrin campaign I ran several years ago where I wove the PCs’ stories into the game and with resolutions to them. Or maybe the most recent Valley campaign where I somehow mixed roleplaying and PC histories into a 4E campaign.

(Note: I’ve wanted to return to a campaign like those again, but I need more players and a more sufficient understanding of 5E before I attempt that.)

Here are some basic notes that I have for the game world, some of which are being repeated from a recent blog entry:

The planet is smaller than earth size, but I’m not giving any dimensions because I neither need to nor do I feel like figuring that out.

There are 3 small continents, two of which are goblinoid dominated. The last continent is the largest and northernmost with its southern areas being temperate and northern being the edge of arctic areas.

About 100 miles from the shores of all land heavy fog conceals all but nearby water, nearly even blotting out the sun. Some ships return, and have even crossed around the world, but it’s not safe and only the most foolish or foolhardy have done so.

The planet has one small moon and a faint ring that can best be seen when the sun is moments from setting. This ring often causes shooting stars that people wish on.

Devils, demons, and similar monstrosities exist in children’s fables and other stories, but it is known that they are most definitely real and nothing positive has ever come from dealing with them. Their evil seems to know no bounds and even the smartest warlocks guard themselves carefully. Entire kingdoms have been brought to ruin by a single such foul creature. This is why both warlocks and any person thought to be dealing with, or having a bloodline of the hell-born creatures are not suffered to live.

Demons and other dark creatures are more rarely seen that dragons, and more rare are the angels that supposedly exist, but no one in this era have seen one.

(Hence in this campaign there are no tieflings or aasimar.)

There are stories of rises and falls of many civilizations on the three continents going back many generations. This gives many ruins of ancient times for adventurous types to investigate. The whispers of the goblin armies being the doom that brings the next fall are becoming louder.

Teleportation is similar to what I have done before. Several towns have enchanted fountains that decrease the risk of an error in teleportation. The only requirement is that you have visited the fountain and cast the teleport spell while at the fountain to attune you to it.

The “Great Wheel” cosmology does not exist. There are pretty much the stories of The Great Pit of Hell that wicked people go to, or they go to join their god.

The life spans of all humanoids I will have to rewrite, but while some races tend to live longer or shorter than humans, it’s not as drastic as per the rules as written. Elves and dwarves do live longer, goblinoids and such live shorter, just to a lesser extent – though their racial tendencies towards peace, violence, eating smartly affects this as well.

As with other campaigns, deities may or may not have names. I’m perfectly fine with simply having a “Church of Life”, a “Church of War”, or even a “Church of Ares”. That I’ll leave open to whatever is needed.

There is one church that is setup already, but it really isn’t a church per se. There is no one god or aspect to it. It attracts many different people to it, mostly to help those who are down on their luck. The Church of Arimu is often the last stop for those who have no other options. It has many success stories of bringing people back from ruin, and it has many failure stories of people whose fall they could not break.

The last continent, which I should really pick a name for, is not sitting idly by for the goblin armies to conquer it too. Many kingdoms, warlords, free cities, villages, and more are preparing for war.

This war preparation has created an economic boon for those who supply raw materials needed.