Session 3: AP

OK, so we played session 3 tonight, the mission to rescue Artemis's (the ranger) sister and to assassinate the Cabal sorceress Althea. The group were snuck into the Cabals tower by an insider while their contact, The Grub, sealed off magical communication to or from it.

Before the session I was very explicit with the players that this would be a combat heavy session. I wanted to test out the system a bit and give them a chance to improve their familiarity with their class abilities and party tactics. I also spelled out the need to be careful about husbanding resources, especially daily powers and healing surges. This would become important later on.

Their insider contact gave them a good idea of how the place was laid out so they knew where they were going. They decided to head up the tower first to take out Althea and then resuce Kallista, hoping to get out before reinforcements arrive.

They enter in their disguises and confront the first guardian, a tentacled oozing monstrosity which detaches parts of itself to chase people down and immobilise them so it can eat them at its leisure. Powerful melee attacks were foiled utterly by Morns (the Paladins) massive AC as its razor sharp beak failed to penetrate his armour time and time again. The tentacly pseduopods did their job but the main critter couldnt hold off against the powerful attacks for long and dissolved into goop leaving the way ahead open.

The first floor served as the Cabals summoning room and contained its own imprisoned Angel. Attempts by the Angel to get the group chatting failed and even my hinting that Assamber (the Wizard) could use the summoning circle to bind it failed to get them to hang around. Thats one plot hook down the drain for now, who knows, maybe it will turn up again later.

The second floor contained the quarters for the Cabals senior members and was supposed to be empty. Unfortunately one of those members was busy in the giant steaming hot tub with several naked slave girls. Raising the alarm brought a group of guardian demons along with another Cabal sorceress. Unfortunately they all turned out to be punks, the sorceress went down in about a round and a half to Twin Strike followed by action point Twin Strike from Artemis. She did manage to hit Morn with a confusion effect which could have been nasty if he hadnt saved at the first opportunity. We also got to see the first use of Expeditious Retreat which was impressively effective.

The third floor was Altheas room about which they had no intelligence. They burst in to find themslves in an ante chamber with another door in front of them, effectively alerting her to their presence. The fight with her was long and tense. She was my first use of a solo monster in the game and it showed. She had two big abilities, the power to summon up to 4 shadow minions and a nasty AoE. The recharge for both was set at 6. The minions kept getting ganked by Assamber but I recharged the power four times in a row. The big AoE recharged only once much to my frustration and I kept missing the Paladin with her main flesh eating necrotic attack.

By the end of the fight the players were almost completely tapped out. Only one of them had any healing surges left, all but one daily had been used along with all of the magic item dailies. There was a period when the players were mostly down to at wills but it still remained pretty intense, something I was concerned would cause the fight to really flag.

At this point I gave them a cut scene. Darius, leader of the Cabal is pacing around his scrying pool. His efforts are being obscured by The Grub although he doesnt know it. As Althea dies he gets a brief image of her falling into darkness and immediately summons his demonic servants. The players know they have at best 1o minutes or so before he arrives via Linked Portal and kills them all.

They have next to nothing left and they know the prisoners, and Kallista in particular, are being held prisoner by a powerful demon and his maniacal guards. They decide to go for it and hope for the best.

The fight is short and brutal. Jacurutu does a lot of damage but cant hit for shit (oh how I hate Paladin marks). Dragonbreath works for about the first time ever clearing a bunch of minions. The Demon also releases a bunch of enraged semi naked slaves into the fight which gives Assamber some real concern. The player is looking to play a character who really values life in a very grim setting. He refuses to wipe out the slave minions, instead dropping some icy terrain to slow them down and focusing on the demon. He hopes if he kills the demon the slaves will flee.

Things are looking pretty dire. Everyone is down on health, healing surges are used up and Artemis has just managed to get surrounded by 6 minions. The proverbial shit is about to hit the fan when Azhanti, the greataxe wielding dragonborn cleric splits the demons head in two. I had the slaves run off at this point, perhaps it would have reinforced the brutality of the setting if they hadn't but it was getting late.

We then get a flashback to earlier in the day. One of the ongoing issues relates to a Tielfing noble woman, Kyia, who is the former owner of Morn when he was a slave. She is also the daughter of Akaran, hated enemy of Artemis as he kidnapped and raped his mother. She turned up last session looking for help as her father was trying to marry her off. She twisted Morn around her little finger to get him to help her escape the city. Unfortunately for her events intervened before she could get out and two of the players sold her whereabouts to The Grub who kidnapped her.

The cut scene dealt with the aftermath of their return to the safe house after the last mission. Morn is furious and rages about the place destroying what he can. Assamber is trying to keep him calm while Azhanti and Artmeis try to conceal the fact that they both sold her out. They manage to do so and Morn subsides for now.

With Jacurutu dead the group is free to release the captives. There are three of them, the tiefling Kallista, a human woman and a tiefling called Typhon who Morn recognises as a member of House Turath. I set this as a skill challenge, the goal is to get the prisoners out of the cages hanging over a shaft down to the underways before Darius arrives and cuts off their escape route. They disturb some vicious looking bats in the process but quickly rescue Kallista and the human. Assamber is all for rescuing Typhon but both Morn and Artemis are against it. Azhanti is already heading out of the door with one of the captives. To cut the argument short Morn smashes the link holding Typhons cage up and he plummets into the dark waters below. Who knows, he may turn up again at a future point.

The group flee and hole up in the City having accomplished their mission and grabbed a bunch of loot. Lingering resentments remain between some of them which need to be resolved and a message arrives later in the day. The Rebeelion has called a meeting of its members and they are invited. The time to move against the Cabal is soon, especially now they are in disarray with the loss of one of their leaders.

Overall I was very pleased. We played for five hours and the game involved four fairly complicated battles each with multiple different opponents. The game ran quickly and smoothly, we barely needed to refer to the books and everyone enjoyed themselves. The players got a real chance to test themselves to the limits and picked up a number of new tactics. There was also some useful character development, particularly between Assamber and Morn which will need to be addressed next session.

I set the encounters using the guidelines in the DMG with levels around 3 - 5 with the PC's being level 3. Each of them felt like a real fight with players being brought to the brink but not quite over it. We got our closest yet to a death, a second failed death save. I am pleasantly pleased that it works this well although they did get very lucky in the fight with Althea. Looking back at the stats I also realised I missed a few things. In particular Altheas Lifedrain should have recharged and been free when she hit bloodied and I gave Jacurutu some regeneration. Easy things to miss, especially when you try and keep all of your game info on index cards to make organisation simpler.

I have also been focusing on Morn as a target but his high defences are making that a losing startegy. I am not certain that eating up the -2 to hit and radiant damage is a beter idea but maybe its time to start spreading the love about a bit.

Session 3: The man who loved too much

Quest: The Man who Loved too much
Quest Giver: Matthias
Time to Complete: One night
Completion Location: The Tower of the Inquisition

You have been hired by Matthias, a Cabal Sorceror, to kill Althea, one of the leaders of the Cabal and head of the Cabals secret police. He assures you that she will be found in her chambers in the northern Tower at midnight tonight.

Matthias has made arrangements for as many of the Cabal members present in the tower to be away that night. While Althea will not be alone there will be far fewer sorcerers present. He is also able to provide a number of amulets which will allow you to pass through the outer gardens surrounding the Tower without being molested by its guardians.

Matthias has agreed to negate the wards which Althea keeps on her private chambers and to lay a spell of silence outside of her room so that she will not be alerted to any disturbance. He explains that he cannot assist you directly as he is bound to her by certain blood oaths and tattoo magic, bindings he hopes to break by killing her. Matthias has provided detailed information on the layout of the Tower and its guards. There are four stories above ground and three below ground.

On entering the Tower you will find yourselves in a large circular meeting hall. Twin staircases wind their way up either side of the walls terminating in a large balcony and doors to the first floor. Guarding these doors is the demon Taltos, a mass of clawed tentacles, misshapen eyeballs and a vicious hooked beak. Taltos will only permit initiated members of the Cabal beyond this point. Assuming none of you wish to be initiated into the Cabal then you must overcome him. He has prodigious strength but is a slow moving creature. Be warned, he can detach smaller parts of himself to pursue his enemies much more closely.

On the first floor you will find the Chamber of Summoning. Here is where members of the Cabal seek to draw their guardian creatures from the minds of tormented dreamers. The room is unlikely to be in use but if it is beware the ritual candles. They produce incense designed to facilitate the travel of the mind to the outer realms of dream where demons lurk and will overcome those with weak wills. You will find a demon bound in this room. It is a creature of lies and deception, do not listen to it if you value your souls.

The second floor contains the personal chambers of the various ranking Cabal members living in the Tower. Currently this consists of Matthias, Korina and Yannis. All three will be out of the Tower that night on Cabal business. You are warned not to enter the various chambers on this level as many contain dangerous traps or bound demons. The third floor contains Altheas personal chambers. Matthias cannot tell you anything of this floor as Althea permits no-one in here.

Below the Tower lie two levels. The first level contains the guard and slave quarters. The demon Jacurutu is master here and very dangerous. He infuses the more violent prisoners with a fraction of his demonic might granting them great strength. He also holds the keys to the second level, The Punishment Cages. Jacurutu is personally bound to Althea and she will instantly know if he is slain.

On the second level are kept the various prisoners of importance to Althea who are not shipped off to the Walls for being too dangerous. It is here that Artemis will find his sister if she is still alive. The prisoners hang in cages, exposed to the darkness and below them lies a great fall into the depths of the City’s underways. Sometimes things crawl up from below to seek out the prisoners and one of Jacurutus tasks is to drive them back down. If you are cut off from the main entrance you may be able to escape this way.

Be warned that you may find slaves of all nations and types anywhere within the Tower. Few are likely to cause you any inconvenience. Mostly they are kept sedated with a variety of powerful narcotics.

Finally be aware that once Althea is dead the other leaders of the Cabal will become aware of it. They are linked to each other by sorcery. Both Darius and Belmondo will move to find out what happened, each suspecting the other of duplicity. It is likely they will arrive at the tower with reinforcements within 10 – 15 minutes. You must be out of there before they arrive or you will die.

The Grub has promised his assistance. This will be in two forms. Firstly he will raise a sorcerous cloud across the City, one which will prevent magical contact across the entire City as well as blocking most forms of divination. Secondly he will have people stationed outside the Tower. They will be able to intercept any human trying to escape with news of what is happening. If one of the guardian demons gets out then he cannot help you and you must cut short your stay accordingly.

Quest Rewards:

5000gp
The spell books of Althea the Sorceress
Kallista Antarion
Any other loot you manage to pry out of the place

Session 2: Romancing the Stone

We played Session 2 tonight so I thought I would sketch out how the events went. The PC's are currently unemployed having finished their last job so I left it for them to decide where they went next.

Assamber and Artemis both had bits of their personal quests to deal with. Assamber went looking for the old Temple of Mael and learned that the boarded up sea tower was now owned by The Grub, a powerful crime lord. Artemis went to sell off the loot from the Temple, earning a good chunk of change, some Kireshi armour and getting some more information about the Giants Cradle. Apparently the last time one sailed down the river the Cabal leader looted it and was killed that night in a fiery conflagration of doom. Azhanti went out to do some wandering in the City and was bushwacked by Urko, a Grub mercenary. The Grub wants to see him tonight to discuss his failure to deliver the stone.

While everyone else was out Morn received a visitor at their super secret base, Kyia, daughter of a Tielfing Noble and his former mistress. She has run away from her father as he wants to marry her off to some bug eyed nobleman. She seduces Morn and convinces him to help her get out of the city, all of her money having been stolen by one of her slaves and her fathers agents scouring the city for her.

When the rest of the group returns much discussion is had about Kyias presence. Artemes is most put out, Kyias father is his hated enemy. Much mockery is made of Morns agreement to not only get Kyia out of the city but to fund her escape as well. Plans are made but interrupted by the arrival of their Rebellion contact. The Heart of Fire has been revealed as a fake and an agent of The Grub was seen in the vicinity of the place it was being held shortly before. The Rebellion is desperate to recover the stone before the ritual tomorrow night and beg the players to reclaim it. They can offer the Grub 5k but are otherwise completely broke.

Plans for Kyia are scrapped (she is stuffed in a cupboard at this point, much to her annoyance) and more plans are discussed about selling her to The Grub. The group hot foot it to The Palace (The Grubs gambling den, opium house, arena and personal pleasure dome) to negotiate for the stone. Five lieutenants are identified as key to convincing him, Hamid his interpreater and aide, Cassius, mockingly titled Chief of the Palace Guard, Demos the Dragonborn pit boss and Lien and Lian the beautiful Lokarnos twins who act as bodyguards and day and night master for The Grub.

With the exception of Demos attempts to sway the lieutenants are complete failures however a few side deals are made. Morn makes some headway in converting Cassius to the Unfettered God (he has been indentured by The Grubs destruction of his family fortunes), Assamber manages to push some possible trade agreements with the Twins and both Azhanti and Artemes sell the location of Kyia to The Grub (he and her father are rivals). Azhanti also agrees to loot the Giants Cradle in order to expunge the rest of his debt for failure to bring him the stone in the first place.

Having failed to get the support of the lieutenants the group try and convince The Grub to sell them the gem. They dont have enough money and fail utterly to diplomacise him. He dumps them into a giant pit to fight one of his pet monsters. I gave the group 3 choices, a Thri Kreen Warrior, a Naga Witch or an enormous Carrion Crawler. They choose the Thri Kreen.

Battle is joined quickly and the warrior promptly finds himself on fire. He turns invisible, manouvers quickly into the middle of the party and begins laying down the smack. I must use invisibility more often as it had the players crapping themselves and shooting all over the place. Artemes goes down yet again, this is becoming a theme but eventually brute force wins out. The Grub is furious with them but makes them another deal. He explains that he doesnt have the stone, Kallista who he sent to steal it was captured by The Cabal and is likely going to be tortured by them. If they agree to loot the Cradle of everything they can carry he will forgive them the insult and help Artemes recover Kallista who is his half sister. The group completely miss the opportunity to flee through the sewers and be eaten by a giant aquatic roper.

They agree and quickly make their way through the City which is heavily distracted by the Night of Madness. People are out in the streets, lusts run rampant, a situation which causes some discomfort for Azhanti.

Getting onto the Cradle is easy enough, any watchers that were there have been swept up by the lust filling the streets. Entering the Cradle is simple and the group make short work of a Golem guardian with a tendency to bash people into spiky traps. Entering the main chamber they find the perfectly preserved body of a giant in full armour with mace and shield. The walls of the chamber record the histroy of creation from the Giants point of view on one wall and the history of this Giant on the other. Images show the giant fighting the Warlord Reptos, the crafting of his hammer by the Earth Titan and the construction of giant golems. They also identify five original Primordials, Vulcan (Azhantis God), Ashura (the dead God they killed last session), Maran Gor (the Titan of the earth), Mael (Assambers new God and apparently father of all monsters) and Sopias (Lord of Dreams and the games ultimate big bad)

Mostly ignoring the vast wealth of historical plot information they strip the giant of his weapon (taken by Morn as his Legacy Item), shield and helm as well as the remains of the Golem handily dragged onto a Tensers Floating Disk. Before they can leave they are confronted by the shadowy projection of a Cabal sorcerer guarded by a Demon. He has been sent by Althea to make them an offer, kill Darius leader of the Cabal and she will shower gold and jewels on them. The sorcerer has a counter offer, kill Althea and he will reward them richly and wont turn around and try to kill them afterwards as she is likely to. It also helps that she is currently holding Artemes sister.

Taking a scroll to contact him with at a later date the group high tail it out of there delivering the goods to The Grub (sans hammer) and begin to plot how to reclaim Kallista. Meanwhile unbeknownst to some of them The Grubs agents have grabbed Kyia from the safe house (which The Grub now also knows the location of).

Next week we get to see them assault a Cabal Tower and see how they do against Althea, a Cabal bigwig.

Issues that came out of this session:

The rp side of things ran quite smoothly. The different players all got to advance some of their issues, Assamber gets closer to accessing the Temple, Artemes and Morn get to confront their Tiefling issue and Azhanti resolves his problems with The Grub. He also has a possible lost sheep with Demos.

For the Palace session I had set out a pseudo skill challenge dealing with the lieutenants where the outcome of the negotiations for the stone was determined by the groups success with them and the Grub. They failed everything marveluosly so I got my Rankor pit fight.

There were a grand total of two fights, both relatively small against a single opponent. I shied away from using solos instead giving them solo like abilities but keeping their defences and HP as elites. I dont think I am quite ready for the full on solo experience and I think the PC's need more abilities to avoid turning it into an at will grind fest.

For future fights I think I need to include more monsters, particularly to give Assamber more to do. I did have one possible encounter planned which involved multiple waves of zombie minions but it got scrapped. Maybe next time.

For the Night of Madness I originally had an additional event planned which would have made them choose between The Palace and that. I decided against it for various reasons including time. The event would have provided them with protection against the effects of the night which is why I hadn't bothered detailing them so wasn't really prepared to deal with it when they were exposed to it. In the end I mostly ignored it giving it some flavour effects but nothing more. Next session I think I will try and fit in some repercussions from it.

Overall I enjoyed the session. I thought Kyia might produce some more sparks but it was fine, I did get to drop in that her dad is very comfy with some senior Rebellion figure although she couldnt tell you who as she is a self absorbed Princess with a giant ME complex.

Session 2: Bringing the Awesome

Its a well known fact that sequels rarely match the hype of their predecessors (and Empire still doesnt count, Return was better!). This I think can equally well apply to gaming sessions. A great starting session leads to higher expectations for subsequent sessions which can be hard to deliver on.

We play Session 2 tomorrow so I get to test that theory. Session 1 worked in part because it was (a) new, (b) very linear (c) massively over prepared and (d) had lots of enthusiasm behind it. Session 2 has (d), to a lesser extent (a) (newness wears off fast) and much less of (c). It also has almost no (b). I have various events which the players can get involved in but its entirely up to them what they do and I have been actively soliciting ideas from them for scenes they would like. I plan to adopt a PTA lite approach of giving each player (and me) the chance to set a scene and see where that takes us.

This means I have sketched out some outlines for various possible scenes, knocked together some stats for possible encounters (reusing some of the stuff we missed from Session 1) and am trying to second guess like crazy just what the players might decide to do.

I am also left wondering a little whether this is really necessary. My players seem inclined to accept a fair amount of viking hatedness (unusual for us) but I cant bring myself to do it. Its just a style of GM'ing I have moved away from a lot.

It may be a bit cathartic to give it a go again. Who knows, lets see what tomorrow brings first.

Session 2: The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul

Dawn finds our heroes basking in the warmth of the early morning sun as they congratulate themselves on a job well done. The Spirit of Ashura is subdued and the Heart of Fire is in the hands of the Rebellion. Their pockets are filled with gold and jewels with more to follow once the relics looted from the tomb are sold to a reliable fence.

They have good food, fine wine and gold aplenty. The vast delights of the most iniquitous city in all the world are open to them, what can possibly go wrong...

Well, theres lots of talk around town that someone went and killed a Hound of Shadow and that the Cabal is up in arms about it. Also, a Giants Cradle, a funeral barge of those titans of the mountains, is making its slow and stately way down the great river to the sea. Then theres the small issue of the Rebellion needing to complete the summer solstice ritual tomorrow night to banish the Hounds of Shadow from the City.

And of course who could forget The Night of Madness when spirits of lust and chaos descend for one orgiastic evening of debauchery. Did I mention that it was tonight....no, silly me.