Here are some of the new rule modifications that we developed to fix some issues that were bothering us.
Strength: 5 * strength = light load. For example, a strength of 12 will yield a light load of 60.
20 * strength = max (or heavy) load.
Wisdom: Primarily used for clerics. The wisdom value is their mystical total, which can be used to cast spells. Each level of spell uses one point of mysticism. The cleric cannot go below 0. Mysticism is recovered at a base rate of 2 points per hour of prayer.
Intelligence: Determines the base maximum number of spells a magic user can hold in memory.
Dexterity: The dexterity score determines the speed in a combat round (20 seconds). The speed score is 4 * dexterity, rounded down. For example, a dexterity of 12 will yield a speed score of 35 feet (or yards outdoors) per combat round. A character that is running only in light clothes can reach a top speed of 10 * dexterity.
Constitution: Determines both exhaustion and capacity for travel. The Constitution score is also the exhaustion score of the character. All characters will use exhaustion for travel, and other activities. 1/4 day's travel will cost one exhaustion point. Exhaustion is recovered, among other ways, by resting (2 points per hour of nominal rest) and also by consuming food; normal food and water consumption of rations preludes the loss of further exhaustion from travel; with non-travel, 1 point will be gained for one serving of normal rations and a quart of water.
Also, magic users will use exhaustion to cast spells. One point of exhaustion is used per level of spell. Magic users also have the option to spend hit points (once they are exhausted) to cast spells.
Charisma: Charisma will determine a luck score. Luck can be used to modify any dice roll (and perhaps other events). Luck can be used any time at a character's choice, before the dice have been rolled. Luck will be replenished in ways that are not yet known to the characters.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Map files
I have posted some map files to share. The first is the known area around Borderland Keep.
The second is a map of the known area, including the Silver Palace, Borderland Keep, and Kingsholm.
Here are the links:
Let me know what you think.
I will be posting further maps and information.
The second is a map of the known area, including the Silver Palace, Borderland Keep, and Kingsholm.
Here are the links:
Let me know what you think.
I will be posting further maps and information.
Caves Expedition Day 47 (September 16 game time)
11/27/2009 game session
Group of adventurers gathered at the Borderland Keep for an outing to the Caves of Chaos:
Breanna Cleric (Emily), Chieko Thief (Treasa), Picolo Fighter (Devan), Cassius Cleric (NPC controlled by Emily), Frederick Cleric (NPC controlled by Treasa).
The innkeeper at the Keep provided a tasty breakfast of bread, milk, and assorted meats (sausage, bacon, and ham). A trip was made to the trader to resupply oil for the party, the cost being 5 gp per vial of oil.
Nothing exceptional to report after leaving the keep and traveling east to the caves as normal. The party approached the easternmost cave at the north of the ravine, which had previously been partially explored. Breanna vaguely remembered kobolds residing at the cave. After gathering bearings, the party met a large group of kobolds at a cave down from the eastern passage at the entrance.
The kobold group was rather large but not actively aggressive. Rather, one of their number grunted out in common "to leave" as someone had killed their leader recently (not recognizing or grasping the fact that part of this party had been responsible for that act). The party beat a judicious retreat and were somewhat nonplussed.
After consulting the maps and the terrain, the party decided to attempt a cave at the south of the ravine. Based on the maps, it was thought that this was unexplored. However, their intuitions and finally flat out evidence indicated that it was part of the large cave complex that was previously explored. This was determined after locating a familiar dungeon / torture room and using a key (to verify that it was the same room).
The map and terrain were observed again and a cave up further on the ravine was chosen on the north side, to the west of the kobold cave. Although some caution was used in approaching the cave (as recommended by Picolo), nothing specific was done and the whole party tripped a weighted net about ten feet outside of the cave. It was covered in tar and had metal parts that clanged as it crashed onto them, alerting several orcs that quickly appeared.
Somehow, the clerics all were able to cast protection from evil, but to little avail. The orcs demanded that the party surrender, but the members were obstinate and pressed a fight, which the orcs gave gladly. A few members attempted to cut the net (Picolo with a great axe!!!). All of this was futile as the orcs easily subdued the party, knocking Frederick out. The party surrendered and were all bound and blindfolded and brought before what appeared to be the chief orc.
The most charismatic party member (it seems it was one of the clerics) talks with the chief orc and explains that the party was looking for kobolds. The chief must have been bored or tolerant (for an orc???) and gave the ultimatum that the party must kill a rival gnoll leader and bring the head to him, and then never intrude on the orc cave again. A couple of orc guides led the party from the cave (they were blindfolded back to the entrance) to the location of the gnoll cave, which was back at western edge of the ravine.
The party was much more careful approaching this cave, which was quite different from the other caves as of yet explored. It had a smaller entrance (about 8' high) and was all carved out of the natural dirt, later turning to worked stone about 20-30' in. The entrance of the party with light alerted four gnoll sentries, which immediately launched an attack by bow on the party. After a fierce battle, in which Picolo clumsily broke his short bow string, the party took out the four gnolls with minimal damage to the party. Picolo attempted to replace his bow string with the two available bow strings (from long bows!!!) but managed to ruin them both as well. It was found that two of the gnolls had been guarding with halberds (a kind of pole arm) and the other two had been firing with long bows.
Further exploration down the cave to the west and then the north uncovered a room with eight gnolls, all armed with broad swords. These gnolls initially hid back in their room from the immediate missile fire of the party. Then they charged in mass, but were quickly vanquished. It was found that five of their number were female and just as valiant as the males.
The party collected what little treasure was found and headed back to the Borderland Keep. It was a successful trip with Breanna approaching the 3rd level of experience.
Group of adventurers gathered at the Borderland Keep for an outing to the Caves of Chaos:
Breanna Cleric (Emily), Chieko Thief (Treasa), Picolo Fighter (Devan), Cassius Cleric (NPC controlled by Emily), Frederick Cleric (NPC controlled by Treasa).
The innkeeper at the Keep provided a tasty breakfast of bread, milk, and assorted meats (sausage, bacon, and ham). A trip was made to the trader to resupply oil for the party, the cost being 5 gp per vial of oil.
Nothing exceptional to report after leaving the keep and traveling east to the caves as normal. The party approached the easternmost cave at the north of the ravine, which had previously been partially explored. Breanna vaguely remembered kobolds residing at the cave. After gathering bearings, the party met a large group of kobolds at a cave down from the eastern passage at the entrance.
The kobold group was rather large but not actively aggressive. Rather, one of their number grunted out in common "to leave" as someone had killed their leader recently (not recognizing or grasping the fact that part of this party had been responsible for that act). The party beat a judicious retreat and were somewhat nonplussed.
After consulting the maps and the terrain, the party decided to attempt a cave at the south of the ravine. Based on the maps, it was thought that this was unexplored. However, their intuitions and finally flat out evidence indicated that it was part of the large cave complex that was previously explored. This was determined after locating a familiar dungeon / torture room and using a key (to verify that it was the same room).
The map and terrain were observed again and a cave up further on the ravine was chosen on the north side, to the west of the kobold cave. Although some caution was used in approaching the cave (as recommended by Picolo), nothing specific was done and the whole party tripped a weighted net about ten feet outside of the cave. It was covered in tar and had metal parts that clanged as it crashed onto them, alerting several orcs that quickly appeared.
Somehow, the clerics all were able to cast protection from evil, but to little avail. The orcs demanded that the party surrender, but the members were obstinate and pressed a fight, which the orcs gave gladly. A few members attempted to cut the net (Picolo with a great axe!!!). All of this was futile as the orcs easily subdued the party, knocking Frederick out. The party surrendered and were all bound and blindfolded and brought before what appeared to be the chief orc.
The most charismatic party member (it seems it was one of the clerics) talks with the chief orc and explains that the party was looking for kobolds. The chief must have been bored or tolerant (for an orc???) and gave the ultimatum that the party must kill a rival gnoll leader and bring the head to him, and then never intrude on the orc cave again. A couple of orc guides led the party from the cave (they were blindfolded back to the entrance) to the location of the gnoll cave, which was back at western edge of the ravine.
The party was much more careful approaching this cave, which was quite different from the other caves as of yet explored. It had a smaller entrance (about 8' high) and was all carved out of the natural dirt, later turning to worked stone about 20-30' in. The entrance of the party with light alerted four gnoll sentries, which immediately launched an attack by bow on the party. After a fierce battle, in which Picolo clumsily broke his short bow string, the party took out the four gnolls with minimal damage to the party. Picolo attempted to replace his bow string with the two available bow strings (from long bows!!!) but managed to ruin them both as well. It was found that two of the gnolls had been guarding with halberds (a kind of pole arm) and the other two had been firing with long bows.
Further exploration down the cave to the west and then the north uncovered a room with eight gnolls, all armed with broad swords. These gnolls initially hid back in their room from the immediate missile fire of the party. Then they charged in mass, but were quickly vanquished. It was found that five of their number were female and just as valiant as the males.
The party collected what little treasure was found and headed back to the Borderland Keep. It was a successful trip with Breanna approaching the 3rd level of experience.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
To the Silver Palace
11/11/09 Play Session
Rough notes
Players: Quint - DM, Lleuvonia; Emily - Emeline, Marcus; Channing - Troy, Aman Ra; Scott - Brandon
Day 1: Start in Kingsholm. Have good breakfast at inn that invigorates party. Go to armorer to ask about a bodyguard for Emeline. He says to go to the tavern. Finds Marcus and negotiates for new equipment and 2 gp a day. Leave town heading West and travel 24 miles with no incident through rolling, barren hills. Set up camp and have nothing happen during the night.
Day 2: Uneventful 16 miles of travel through similar terrain. No signs of food along the way. Camp that night with no incidents.
Day 3: During the morning, Brandon sees a very large group of small humanoids approaching while scouting ahead. Runs back to group to tell them and they prepare for battle. Brandon is able to take a few down with his bow as they rush toward the party, but it doesn't even seem to make a dent in their numbers. Lleuvonia prepares for the battle by casting Bless on the party and Protection from Evil on Brandon and Troy. Emeline and Aman Ra prepare an ambush for the creatures by throwing flasks of unlit oil on the ground in front of the party. As they rush across it, Emeline throws another flask of lit oil onto the patch of unlit oil just as the creatures, that can now be identified as kobolds, reach it. 18-20 of them go up in flames dying an agonizing death, but the majority of them surround the party and begin to attack in hand-to-hand combat. There are so many of them, that most of the party members have to resort to sweeping attacks targeting more than one kobold at a time to have any chance of surviving the encounter. They take out nine kobolds in the first round, but Aman Ra is taken down. The next round more creatures are dispatched, but Troy succumbs to being attacked by 12 of the creatures at once. Emeline, brandishing a torch, swings wildly at 3 creatures doing minor damage to them. Lleuvoina and Marcus dispatch several more of them, but Brandon misses. During the next round, Lleuvonia finally goes down right after giving Brandon a healing boost to his hit points that saved him from going down. Emeline uses a magic missile to send a kobold to the underworld while Brandon and Marcus take mighty swings dispatching several creatures with each blow. The battle is finally over. The party bandages and heals their wounded and spend the rest of the day recovering from the battle. After the battle, the party loots the bodies and counts 60 kobolds that were faced and dispatched. They find 660 silver pieces and 840 copper pieces among the dead creatures. They leave a huge pile of copper pieces lying on the side of the road because they are too heavy to take with them.
Day 4: Had to look for water for 6 hours. Travelled 16 miles.
Day 5: Lots of water from stream along road. A group of about 20 small gnomes hail party and want to parlay. Troy talks to them. Bobo is their leader. They describe Haven. They give each party member 1 days worth of food. Travel 16 miles. Heard strange mysterious noise during 1st watch. Troy and Aman Ra tell the 2nd watch what they heard, but the 2nd watch doesn't hear anything. They tell the 3rd watch and they hear the sound again. Brandon wakes party up during 3rd watch so they can all hear it. It goes for about 15 minutes and ends abruptly. It isn't heard again for the rest of the night.
Day 6: Did not find any food and supplies are running low. No incidents. Travel 16 more miles.
Day 7: Still no food to be found. Travel 16 miles. During the 1st and 2nd watch, the same noise heard two nights ago is heard again but nothing is seen. The party wakes in the morning after having troubled dreams that no one can seem to remember details of.
Day 8: Saw a lone deer, but it got away before it could be killed for food in the morning. As the party approaches the Silver Palace, their is a strange glow that surrounds much of the land including the castle. A large creature attacks the party. Lleuvonia recognizes it as a vile troll which can only be hurt by poison or fire. Brandon throws an unlit vial of oil at the troll which covers him in the flammable liquid. He then runs from the party to distract the troll. The troll follows him and hits him for 12 points of damage. Emeline lights a torch and passes it to Marcus who uses it to light the troll on fire. Splash damage from the troll igniting does enough damage to Brandon to knock him out. Troy attacks the thrashing troll doing enough damage to put it down. It continues to burn long after it is dead. The party travels on to the Silver Palace. As they approach, the Protectors meet them and tell them they can let them in through the red barrier around the castle and then let them out, but not much else. The party asks if they can help with any food and they agree to give 2 days worth of rations. They also point out the ruins of a farm house that the party can use to spend the night.
Day 9: The party awakes to notice that more of the land is glowing red as they get closer to the palace. They avoid touching anything glowing red after noticing a rat die when it touched something glowing red. As they search near the portcullis which leads into the palace, they notice a trip wire. They use their pole to make sure it is safe to step over the wire and do so. As soon as they get inside, the portcullis crashes down behind the party. As they search, they fight a giant rat and two skeletons in different rooms. They also find two switches. They use the poll to move one of the switches which releases a dart. When they pull the other switch, two portcullises open into the palace proper. Fight 5 kobolds in ransacked library. Find big, white ape chained to wall that appears to be guarding a passage. After trying to figure out how to subdue the beast without killing it for a little while, it gets so agitated that it breaks its chains and attacks the party. The party is forced to kill it.
Rough notes
Players: Quint - DM, Lleuvonia; Emily - Emeline, Marcus; Channing - Troy, Aman Ra; Scott - Brandon
Day 1: Start in Kingsholm. Have good breakfast at inn that invigorates party. Go to armorer to ask about a bodyguard for Emeline. He says to go to the tavern. Finds Marcus and negotiates for new equipment and 2 gp a day. Leave town heading West and travel 24 miles with no incident through rolling, barren hills. Set up camp and have nothing happen during the night.
Day 2: Uneventful 16 miles of travel through similar terrain. No signs of food along the way. Camp that night with no incidents.
Day 3: During the morning, Brandon sees a very large group of small humanoids approaching while scouting ahead. Runs back to group to tell them and they prepare for battle. Brandon is able to take a few down with his bow as they rush toward the party, but it doesn't even seem to make a dent in their numbers. Lleuvonia prepares for the battle by casting Bless on the party and Protection from Evil on Brandon and Troy. Emeline and Aman Ra prepare an ambush for the creatures by throwing flasks of unlit oil on the ground in front of the party. As they rush across it, Emeline throws another flask of lit oil onto the patch of unlit oil just as the creatures, that can now be identified as kobolds, reach it. 18-20 of them go up in flames dying an agonizing death, but the majority of them surround the party and begin to attack in hand-to-hand combat. There are so many of them, that most of the party members have to resort to sweeping attacks targeting more than one kobold at a time to have any chance of surviving the encounter. They take out nine kobolds in the first round, but Aman Ra is taken down. The next round more creatures are dispatched, but Troy succumbs to being attacked by 12 of the creatures at once. Emeline, brandishing a torch, swings wildly at 3 creatures doing minor damage to them. Lleuvoina and Marcus dispatch several more of them, but Brandon misses. During the next round, Lleuvonia finally goes down right after giving Brandon a healing boost to his hit points that saved him from going down. Emeline uses a magic missile to send a kobold to the underworld while Brandon and Marcus take mighty swings dispatching several creatures with each blow. The battle is finally over. The party bandages and heals their wounded and spend the rest of the day recovering from the battle. After the battle, the party loots the bodies and counts 60 kobolds that were faced and dispatched. They find 660 silver pieces and 840 copper pieces among the dead creatures. They leave a huge pile of copper pieces lying on the side of the road because they are too heavy to take with them.
Day 4: Had to look for water for 6 hours. Travelled 16 miles.
Day 5: Lots of water from stream along road. A group of about 20 small gnomes hail party and want to parlay. Troy talks to them. Bobo is their leader. They describe Haven. They give each party member 1 days worth of food. Travel 16 miles. Heard strange mysterious noise during 1st watch. Troy and Aman Ra tell the 2nd watch what they heard, but the 2nd watch doesn't hear anything. They tell the 3rd watch and they hear the sound again. Brandon wakes party up during 3rd watch so they can all hear it. It goes for about 15 minutes and ends abruptly. It isn't heard again for the rest of the night.
Day 6: Did not find any food and supplies are running low. No incidents. Travel 16 more miles.
Day 7: Still no food to be found. Travel 16 miles. During the 1st and 2nd watch, the same noise heard two nights ago is heard again but nothing is seen. The party wakes in the morning after having troubled dreams that no one can seem to remember details of.
Day 8: Saw a lone deer, but it got away before it could be killed for food in the morning. As the party approaches the Silver Palace, their is a strange glow that surrounds much of the land including the castle. A large creature attacks the party. Lleuvonia recognizes it as a vile troll which can only be hurt by poison or fire. Brandon throws an unlit vial of oil at the troll which covers him in the flammable liquid. He then runs from the party to distract the troll. The troll follows him and hits him for 12 points of damage. Emeline lights a torch and passes it to Marcus who uses it to light the troll on fire. Splash damage from the troll igniting does enough damage to Brandon to knock him out. Troy attacks the thrashing troll doing enough damage to put it down. It continues to burn long after it is dead. The party travels on to the Silver Palace. As they approach, the Protectors meet them and tell them they can let them in through the red barrier around the castle and then let them out, but not much else. The party asks if they can help with any food and they agree to give 2 days worth of rations. They also point out the ruins of a farm house that the party can use to spend the night.
Day 9: The party awakes to notice that more of the land is glowing red as they get closer to the palace. They avoid touching anything glowing red after noticing a rat die when it touched something glowing red. As they search near the portcullis which leads into the palace, they notice a trip wire. They use their pole to make sure it is safe to step over the wire and do so. As soon as they get inside, the portcullis crashes down behind the party. As they search, they fight a giant rat and two skeletons in different rooms. They also find two switches. They use the poll to move one of the switches which releases a dart. When they pull the other switch, two portcullises open into the palace proper. Fight 5 kobolds in ransacked library. Find big, white ape chained to wall that appears to be guarding a passage. After trying to figure out how to subdue the beast without killing it for a little while, it gets so agitated that it breaks its chains and attacks the party. The party is forced to kill it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Session 200: Rest and Rekindling in Orlane
Vilma's Whispers from the Foaming Mug: Day 10's Dawning Deeds Ah, dear readers, gather 'round! Old Vilma has stirred from her sl...
