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Post by Meph on Dec 20, 2015 20:28:38 GMT
We put this campaign on hold back last February because one of the other players wanted to DM. That didn't work out so well and someone else introduced the players to 5th edition and I ended up taking the summer off. If you have been following my other gaming thread I finally decided to take the reins back around October and try out 5th edition at the request of some of my players. That didn't quite work out for me and we are now on break until January 3rd and then will be returning to my homebrew 2nd edition campaign, right where we left off. So this thread will be active again.
So what didn't I like about 5th edition? For starters I think Bounded Accuracy is a real flaw in the system. Initially it sounded awesome and at low levels 5E seemed pretty brutal but as the players are leveling, they just hit 4th level, the game is quickly becoming a cakewalk. I thought maybe it was the way I was playing it but after doing some extensive reading on Enworld, due to the game design the risk to the players greatly diminishes as they level higher. I know at 4th level, even boosting the monsters in the adventure, my players are just walking through stuff now.
A lot of the "features" that people like about this edition are the things I hate the most. Maybe i'm just an old grognard but giving every player the ability to do anything they want just doesn't feel right to me. I prefer the skills and proficiencies of 1/2E over the 5E checks for everything. I work in a prison and have been trained as a locksmith. Given the tools I could pick certain locks if need be. If I handed those same tools to my Wife, she would have no idea what to do with them. I like the idea that a thief has a lockpicking skill vs 5E where everyone could make a check and the thief might just get a bonus or advantage. I know I seem to be in the minority in my opinion about the game but I just don't have fun running a system where I have to put excessive work into it just to create a challenge for the players.
I hate cantrips in the 5E system. I think the sorceror in my campaign has cast Fire Bolt about 10x more than all other actions combined. The Warlock hasn't done much other than Eldritch Blast. I think the system as designed actually stunts creativity. The other thing I really hate is the HP bloat. I know people like big numbers these days but it seems ridiculous imo. I also don't understand the point of a death mechanic in 5E because after the first few levels, the players have so many hit points that its highly unlikely that anything is going to hit for enough points in a single attack to trigger a death save.
I know I am in the minority and im not trying, nor would I want to convince anyone that likes the system otherwise. I am just stating the things I don't like about it. I prefer my games at a slower pace. Resource management is key in my games. Cure spells are the difference between life and death because there is no such thing as a "short rest" and a long rest only returns 1 HP unless using the healing proficiency (2hp). There is no at will light cantrip so torches and lanterns are saviors and normal darkness can be a real obstacle. Fire bolts and eldritch blasts don't exist so darts and magic missiles are used wisely. Rogue backstab requires surprise along with successful hide/sneak and will only affect the first attempt vs the 5E version of a rogue just simply hiding behind allies and gaining a surprise attack every round.
These are all just examples of things about the game that I don't like. I understand after 3.5E/4E why WOTC had to make some drastic changes. There was serious bloat in the game and it had become a mechanical nightmare. In BX/1E/2E it was always a given that there wasn't a rule for everything and roleplaying was more important than Roll Playing. I think they tried to regain that spirit in 5E but went too far. Having NO rules for most situations and leaving it up to the DM to make it all up as he goes just feels like lazy game design to me. You can't leave out game mechanic features and disguise it as freedom. Some basic mechanics actually speed up game play if they are actually in print. I think it was a good attempt and I understand why new players or 3.5/4E players like the system but since I wasn't one of that group, it seems a bit shallow to me.
Lastly, the thing I hated most was the adventure. I really don't like Horde of the Dragon Queen. I have had to make tons of changes to it because it has 5E errors, tons of railroad issues, lots of player motivation issues, and just poorly written in some episodes. I wasn't looking forward to my game each week and that was the biggest factor pushing me to this point.
All that said we are back to 2nd edition right after New Years. I have dreaded my 5E games so much that I would finally get around to prepping for the game the day before our game session and then only half heartedly. I haven't crafted much because I just haven't been in the mood for the game. Now that returning to AD&D is on the horizon I am stoked. Last night I already planned out the next months worth of sessions. I will probably have some custom terrain crafted up for our first session once I get ahead on the game room project. So keep watching because this thread will be alive again and I have some cool stuff planned.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Dec 21, 2015 20:27:15 GMT
if your sorcerer cast firebolt all the time, he didn't play his character right... he can have much better stuff then that and with metamagic its even worse... looking at your description me thinks some of you didn't understand the rules correctly. death saves happens if the guy hits 0, not before it. and its easy to defeat the players, execpt maybe a druid. i played all the way up to level 20 with another DM and he had no problem killing us and forcing us into submission. and thats without modifying any monsters. the game is designed to be played wihtout magic items. so if you dont give em that the game should be pretty ok. as for the skills... well you do realise a rogue and a bard gains like expertise which double their proficiency bonus. something that all other classes do not really get. which makes them much better at stuff then other players. yes the others can try... but without the proficiency bonus, they are stuck with a maximum +5 on a skill... while bard have the jack of all trade to help and the expertise of others can go as high as a whooping +17 on a skill at max level.
all that said... i understand the homebrewed stuff... i homebrew a few things i hate in 5e. but honestly... having 20 minute combats is just that much better then having 5 hour fights. at least to me...
looking forward to reading more of this.
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Post by Meph on Dec 21, 2015 21:27:58 GMT
5 hour fights don't happen in 1E/2E. That is a product of 3.5E and then even worse in 4E. I personally think fights take longer in 5E than in 2E. I actually understand the 5E rules pretty well now but that actually made me like them less as I learned them more. The real problem I have with a system based on skills instead of items is, you can't take them away. Either way I am not trying to change anyone else's opinion and I doubt mine will be changed. I am happy to be returning to 2E and will definitely be updating this again.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Dec 22, 2015 4:52:04 GMT
not gonna argue in your thread... just saying you are not the only one having played the old systems, i even have still my DM guide of AD&D 2nd and my player handbook... and we played a lot in school... during 1 hour lunch breaks. and i can tell you... fighting bosses for 5 days straight was something we were doing all year long. but if you like that system better then go for it...
PS: of course with todays equipment you dont need 15 pages of initiatives changing all over the place. you only need one software to do it for you.
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Post by kgstanley81 on Dec 27, 2015 18:16:22 GMT
Glad you gave 5e a try, looking forward to reading your post in the future
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Post by Meph on Dec 27, 2015 20:58:59 GMT
Thanks, next sunday we return to our game and I will be updating as we go.
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Post by Meph on Feb 23, 2016 21:55:58 GMT
So I have been lazy about getting back to this thread. We picked up my 2E campaign the first Sunday in January and have played every week since with the exception of Valentines day. I am going to try and get this up to date, obviously a lot of minor details will be missed but I will give you the gist of it. If you wish to go back and read the first page of this thread it will bring you up to where we left off and I am starting from there. Our party was last seen at the portal located at the back of the underground lake, having just escaped the clutches of Dulwin, the Black Dragon and battling a Giant Octopus on the journey across the lake. Their boat is in bad shape and they stand before this great portal they had heard rumors of. From Dulwin's lair they had grabbed a book that is in some magical script that they cannot read. The cover of the book has a symbol matching one of the many glowing symbols etched into the portal. The party has no way of knowing how to control the portal. The runes on it keep shifting randomly and with each shift they see a faint image of a different landscape. They decide that going back isn't their best option so they decide to step through the portal together as the image shifts. The party is able to step through together and after a few moments of disorientation they find themselves standing in front of an ancient ruined manor cut into the side of large hilltop. They are at the base of some mountain range and have no idea where they are. They find themselves standing before an old Dwarven family stronghold that was quickly abandoned about 150 years ago. When the players first decide to approach the manor they send the thief up to check out the building on the left which is the remains of an old guard tower/outpost. The thief sneaks up to find the post occupied by an Ogre cooking a fresh pot of Dwarf Bone stew. Judging by the size of the pot he is cooking for others and the players start wondering where the "fresh" Dwarf came from. The Dwarf Fighter/Cleric in the part goes into a rage and charges in the engage the Ogre. As half the part charges in after him, the Thief and another Fighter move to the building on the right to protect the rear, only to find the building barred from the inside and someone yelling threats out to them as they approach. As the party is split to both sides of the front yard, the remaining Ogres set to protect the front door take the opportunity to ambush the party with the Ogre Mage moving into position invisible. As 2 Ogres rush to engage the party the Ogre Mage charms one of the Fighters and all hell breaks loose. The party manages to take out all the Ogres except one engaging the party and the Ogre Mage. Seeing the battle turning against him, the Ogre Mage decides to sacrifice his partner and cast a Cone of Cold on the party. The Cone takes out the other Ogre, drops one of the players unconscious and seriously injures the others in range. The party finally overcame but they were really licking their wounds. After investigating the other building they found it was occupied by 6 Dwarven Holdouts that the Ogres had pinned down. They had originally come as a hunting party of 20 Dwarves and these were the only survivors. The convinced the Dwarves that they were friends and the finally opened up. One of the Dwarves was a cleric who healed up the party. They tell the party that they are from a Dwarven Outpost to the East and they make a yearly trek here to the Manor to clear invading monsters from the upper levels and try to salvage treasures left behind 150 years ago when the manor fell. They don't give them any indication about what happened to the manor and after suffering the losses they have are headed back to their outpost. They have had enough of the Ogres. The party decides to stay behind and clear the Ogres out of the manor. The first room inside is a staging area for the Ogres with dead goats hanging for food and other stores available. There is a single Ogre there that they dispatch quickly. The next room over is the "kennel" for Vera's wolves. They are loosely chained and able to get free if excited so the party devises a plan to feed them with some of the goat giving them a chance to slip by. They do some more exploring and eventually make it to Jubal's chambers. Jubal is an Ogre Witchdoctor that through magical means split his soul in 3, sharing equal parts with 2 Quasits. The Quasits are very different, one being very brutish in it's tactics (CueOne) and one being intelligent and cunning (CueTwo). CueTwo is standing guard invisible outside the room waiting for Vera, a rival Ogre to approach. Jubal has been plotting to take the clan from Vera and the adventurers have managed to stumble into their trap. As the party enters the chamber, the one of them senses something over near one of the corners and goes to investigate. As they approach, CueOne becomes visible, screams for Jubal, and attacks the party. The party manages to handle Jubal and CueOne fairly easily and CueTwo decides to slip away. That is far from the last they will see of CueTwo.
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Post by Meph on Feb 23, 2016 22:12:01 GMT
The next week the party continued to explore the manor and found an old well. There was a Grey Ooze in the well but the party decided to keep away from the well. They cleared out a group of Ogres that were rummaging through an old store room. They made their way back towards Jubal's quarters and then headed into the next lower level of the manor. This brought them into what was once a great hall. It stunk of death down there and there were old blood smears on the floor as if things were dragged off down the halls. The group made it's way up to the northern hall and were ambushed by a waiting Troll. Never having faced a Troll before the party role played it fairly well and the fight took some interesting turns. Eventually the decided to chop up the corpse and burn it. The party made their way down the hall and stumbled on a group of Troglodyte guards. The Troglodytes have moved into this part of the dungeon from the lake area below. They had been battling with the Trolls and even had a burnt Troll arm nailed to the door to serve as a warning. Curiosity got the better of the party and they wanted to see what was behind the door. They ended up in quite the battle with the Troglodytes and took a bit of damage. They were able to hold the captain which made their life a bit easier. What the didn't realize that there was a secret door along the back wall that led to Vera's chamber. The sound of the fight drew her out with her pet Wolf and she waited until the party was finishing up the Troglodytes to strike from behind and attempt a backstab. The party barely survived and definitely needed a rest after that. A quick search of Vera's body recovered a Ring of Protection +1, of course the party has no idea.
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Post by Meph on Feb 23, 2016 22:48:57 GMT
Somehow the next couple weeks went by and I have no pictures of anything that happened. I have been in a discussion with my group a lot lately about game mechanics. It seems that my players have gotten too accustomed over the years to LIVING. Between myself and our previous DM I feel we have been too easy on them. They don't lose items, they don't lose levels, and nobody dies. The reason it has become an issue is that with a couple of my players lately, anytime I do something that has a negative impact on the players a couple of them get a really pissy attitude about it. So being the stubborn DM that I am, i'm pushing back and reminding them that there is risk in D&D. So without further ado we being the next week. They entered Vera's chamber through the secret door to find the opposite door smashed inward. They assume that Vera smashed it to get inside. In the chamber outside the room is the fresh smashed corpse of some kind of creature they never seen before. It smells heavy of copper, has some strange armor on it, antennae, and a weird tail. In the next room they hear a "sniffing" noise of some type of creature. What they don't know is this is the mate to the creature in the previous room and it went into hiding when Vera killed the other. The party decides they want to investigate and move into the room. It's an old store room with old rotten furniture stacked in the center. Whatever the creature is, it's hiding behind the furniture. The party spreads out and moves to surround it. As they get into position the sniffing gets louder until the creature lets out a squeal and charges the main fighter! This is the picture I showed them as the creature charged them... The Rust Monster charges the fighter and immediately scores a hit on the fighter's scale mail armor. The scales immediately begin to rapidly rust and the armor falls right off his chest. At this point the party panics. They all jump in and attempt to kill it. Lucky for them the Rust Monster takes the next round to eat the fallen armor and the party is able to kill it in the 2nd round. Unlucky for them metal weapons striking a Rust Monster also rust as if touched by the antennae. The main fighter also loses his +1 spear and the Fighter/Cleric loses his +2 longsword. This encounter kinda scared the party and I was loving it. This began my goal of putting the fear of the game back into them. They make their way forward and enter a room that appears to be a library. Inside the room are 3 Crystalline Statues. One is sitting on a bed, one sitting in a chair, the 3rd is reading a book. The party enters the room and the statues attack. It's a pretty tough fight but they manage to survive. The book the statue was reading is the Journal of Throk Erde. At the time I didn't have that detailed so that comes a little later. The party was pretty beat up and decided to try and barricade themselves in that room to make camp and rest. The party makes their way back to an unexplored section of the dungeon and find a secret door leading to an "Assassin's run" which is a back corridor leading to a bunch of secret doors made to move someone quickly and quietly through out the manor. The players scoped out the following rooms and ended up running into a couple rooms at the end of the run that had been taken over by a group of Giant Weasels. Again the party learned to fear the game when they found out that weasels like to attach to their victims, sucking their blood for 2d6 damage per round. Made for some interesting encounters. The group head down the stairs to the next level lower in the manor and immediately found an illuminated hall with a giant heavy curtain draped on one wall. The curtain was animated and the equivalent of a magic mouth. The curtain and the Minotaur behind it are there as a forward guard and there is no way, short of invisibility to sneak up on the curtain. The brave adventurers see this curtain from down the hall and decide to send the thief down to peek behind the curtain. Of course all goes to hell as the curtain begins yelling for help and the Minotaur jumps out and attacks the thief. The party rushes up to help, more Minotaurs come from down the hall after hearing the yells for help. After this battle the party decides to go back the other way and avoid more Minotaurs. This section of the dungeon was claimed by a small clan of Minotaurs. Too bad they skipped it because they missed out on a +1 Chain mail that would size itself accordingly to any humanoid between 3 and 12' tall! Would have been nice for the fighter with no armor.
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Post by Meph on Feb 24, 2016 1:57:17 GMT
So after skipping the rest of the Minotaur area the party shifted gears and headed back towards the stairs up and down the other hall. After exploring a ways they found their way to a room with a rotten stench coming out of it with a door swinging freely. Inside was home to a mass of putrescent flesh that seems to be made of many human bodies all combined into a mass of eyes, mouths and pseudopods. The central mass is surrounded by massive tentacle-like extensions made of human arms and torsos that reach out to grab any living thing that wanders within reach. It was a 9 Hit Dice undead creature that was able to attack with all of it's tentacles and on a successful hit would constrict each additional round for damage until the tentacle was severed.
This beast scared the living hell out of my party. At one point 4 of them were being constricted and the clerics were doing all they could to keep the party alive. What great fun =) I love when unknown creatures enter the mix, it really shakes up the players. In the lair the party was able to acquire a +1 Spear and a +2 shield. The Fighter was finally able to replace the spear he lost to the rust monster.
As the party moved on they moved from cut stone dungeon to natural caves. It was dark and wet. The players started advancing through the cave without caution and missed a Green Slime 30" up on the ceiling which narrowly missed the players as it dropped from above. Wisely, they fled rather than try to fight it. Up ahead was a 25' vertical wall that they needed to get up to escape. The cleric put to use his trusty boots of levitation and the thief climbed the wall. The two of them were able to secure some rope and get the others up before the slime could get them.
As they gathered their wits they heard a battle ahead down a dimly lit cave. They cautiously approached to find 4 Gnolls battling with a Giant Cave Bear. The bear grabbed hold of one of the Gnolls and dragged him up the slop and out of the room. At that point the Gnolls turned to run, only to find the adventurers blocking their way. The party quickly routed the Gnolls. The party carefully moved up the slope to get a view of the bear only to feel a breeze of fresh air coming from the cave on the other side of the bear. The party decided they were going to try and sneak past the bear to check out the cave but the bear had other ideas. Ultimately the party won but it was a tough fight. The cave led them almost a half mile upward and then exited out in a heavily wooded area. They decided since they had no idea where they were they were going to head back into the dungeon. They assume that the portal dumped them here for a reason so back in they went.
They continued further downward which got wetter and wetter until it led them to an underground lake. Not like the massive lake under Dalnir's Folly, this was more like a large pond but it had a flowing stream coming out of the rock below. There was a wooden bridge spanning the stream that looked fairly new but it was attached to stone posts that looked pretty ancient. They proceeded down and the caves again turned into cut stone. There were ancient dwarven texts on the walls marking this area as a tomb for the Erde family.
The entrance to the tomb was guarded by 4 Skeletal Owlbears. The party was able to draw them out while the cleric turned them and forced them away so they could enter the tomb. THe rushed inside and closed the door to the tomb behind them. As they turned from the door they were attacked by the pair of Iron Living Statues standing guard inside the door. After defeating the guardians the checked out the room. In the room was the remains of another Iron statue defeated many years before. The room was a prepatory chamber for the dead.
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Post by Meph on Feb 24, 2016 13:31:58 GMT
The next week began with the players resting in the room where they fought the Iron Living Statues. The left the prepatory chamber and entered the hall of tombs. The first thing they noticed that the hall was swept clean of everything. The hall curved around and as they turned the curve they saw why, the hall was inhabited by a Gelatinous Cube. The cube encompassed the whole hall leaving the party no choice but to fight it or leave the area. They decided to take care of the cube. They entered the antechamber to the Tomb of the Lost Brothers. There was a magical basin of water used in old days to cleanse yourself before entering the tomb. The water has to be removed from the pool to cleanse. Touching it in the pool will result in 1d8 points of damage per round that you remain in contact with the pool. Of course one of the fighters dipped his hand right in. After that they avoided the pool Of course they had some empty vials and decided to gather some water. Unfortunately once removed from the pool it's strictly a cleansing water. Next they entered the Tomb of the Lost Brothers. Inside there are 3 empty sarcophagi. The 3 brothers were nobility and had been kidnapped looking for a magic ring that one of the brothers possessed. The bodies of the brothers were never recovered. The ring had been safeguarded and actually wasn't in their possession. Other attempt made to locate this ring, including several robberies. The family knew it must be someone on the inside so they set a trap for the murderer by having lizardman witchdoctor from the tribe near Waycombe curse the tomb. The curse was tailored to whoever set the trap and the robber fell for it. The tomb was broken into and as the first sarcophagi was opened the curse was set. Fast forward to our PCs. They enter the tomb and see 3 sarcophagi, one of them broken into and empty. The players decide they are going to follow suit and one of the fighters opens a sarcophagus. As he opens it they hear what sounds like a loud rushing noise and they see a black spirit-like entity fly out of the sarcophagus and into the fighter. The curse has reduced all healing to 1/2 normal effectiveness. He doesn't have any idea what happened. They check the sarcophagus and of course it's empty. So what does my party do? Another fighter steps up and opens the third one. His curse makes him roll 3d6 and that is his new prime requisite score. He rolls 2+2+4=8! His strength drops from his current 17 to 8 and he drops to his knees under the weight of his armor. This all would have been great fun roleplaying except that the level 6 cleric has remove curse. I allowed them to be removed and they were able to continue on. I think in the future if I am going to curse them in the party with remove curse available, I will have to put some twist in it. Either the curse might happen mid battle when it has some real danger or make it a more powerful curse that has some conditions to be met besides just a remove curse spell. The party moved back into the hall of tombs and continued down the hall. They came upon the Tomb of Huhren Erder the Wise. It had been plundered, the sarcophagus busted open and 2 urns smashed. Across the hall was a steel door labeled Tomb of Helvos Erde III. The door was locked but also had glowing magical runes on the door. The thief picked the lock but it held tight. The party figured out that it had been wizard locked. The moved past this door to the end of the hall where there was a large 20x30 cell, with a large portcullis as the main gate. Inside was a dozen dwarven men-at-arms skeletal remains. 2 of them are still clutching the bars as if they died where they stood, trying to lift the gate to escape. The party attempts to lift the portcullis and as 3 of the fighters together start to raise it, the skeletons animate. They drop the gate and that is where we ended it for the week.
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Post by Meph on Feb 24, 2016 13:51:44 GMT
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Post by Meph on Feb 24, 2016 15:16:09 GMT
So the players are starting to piece things together. Towards the bottom of Dalnir's Folly they had started piecing together that Dalnir the Wizard most definitely didn't die in the tower and what the locals had thought was an accident that destroyed the upper levels of the tower was actually a ruse by the wizard to hide the portal he had uncovered. Now he shows up here shortly after the events that took place 153 years ago in the tower. The Black Dragon Dulwin that they encountered and ran from just recently at the bottom of the tower appears to most likely have been here with Dalnir, 153 years before. There was also the other being with Dalnir outside the manor that the players have yet to encounter. They don't know what caused the events inside the manor but they have some idea of what went down. They also know of at least 2 dwarves who escaped the massacre here who were looking for answers. They may or may not still be alive. I haven't decided how I want to use them in the future. They may show up in the story or they may find evidence of them still such as another journal. So here we are at this past weeks session. I started taking pictures again as well as one of my players. I even pulled out my Openforge tiles at the end for a single room. Within a couple weeks I should have enough that they are at the table most of the time. A little side note, the players are now all at the end of 5th level and some are 6th. This is where D&D really begins to hit it's sweet spot. The players are itching for higher levels but historically been against high magic campaigns. It has taken the players 2 years now of playing most sundays, with the exception of a couple months off this past summer to reach this point. I told the players that if they wanted to really see higher levels in their lifetimes we needed to make some changes, that included more magic. I know their reluctance because a previous DM they played with years ago threw items around like candy and their players just became invincible armories. I am not that DM. As they saw with the Rust Monster, I have no problems taking things away. I have already warned them that Fireballs, Dragons Breath, etc are things that WILL destroy items. Item saving throws are nothing they have encountered in the past and I have prepared them for the possibility. A side benefit to this is that I can award magic items which give them large XP boosts and then take them away as I wish. They get the benefits of attaining them but don't get to stockpile too much and become overpowered. I also let the players know in this last week off that the kid gloves were off. Paralyzation, Petrification, Poisons, Level Loss, Death Saves....they are all part of AD&D that we have avoided because people were afraid of death. While telling a story is great, if there is no risk and i'm just telling a story it loses it's luster. So this week I made them aware that all of the above was possible and probable in the future. With all of that comes big xp. They seem to have embraced the idea and even one of the ones I thought would have the most trouble with it, showed up with a new character already rolled up just in case. So on with their most dangerous week ever. Unable to open the Tomb of Helvos Erde III the players make their up the stairs that are located in that same hall. This path brings them up to multiple levels of tombs, leading all the way back to the surface although there is no way out. This area is only accessed through this lower tomb. They made their way up the stairs to the 2nd level of the tomb. They had the Thief leading by sneaking up the stairs. As the stairs opened into the floor in the room above the thief was startled as he was grabbed from above by a zombified bugbear. He yelled for help as he was set upon by 4 of the zombified bugbears. The party rushed up to engage. With nowhere for the zombies to flee, the party decided to fight rather than try and turn them. After finishing off the zombies the party checked out the adjoining room which was a shrine adorned with candles. The party decided to continue upwards and as they turned around they got a glimpse of CueTwo standing at the stairs. He gave them a laugh and took off down the stairs. Not knowing what to do next and knowing they would never catch up to the now invisible Mephit, the continued upstairs to the ground level crypt. At the top level the dwarf in the party quickly realized how unstable the roof was in this area. Pockets of light was streaming through small holes and cracks in the ceiling. It was collapsing but he realized it would be years still until it came down on it's own. Ahead of them was the main burial crypt on this level. There were 3 raised alcoves each containing a sarcophagus. The center of the room was decorated with a great candelabra and skeletal bones were littered all over around the center. The party approached kicking at the bones to see if anything jumped up, nothing did so they decided to spread across the room and split up towards two of the sarcophagi. They planned to open them one at a time in case anything was in them. As one of the fighters began to mess with the first sarcophagus, all 3 of them slid open! The six skeletal remains around the candelabra all animated and it was on. Out of each sarcophagus rose a 4 Hit Dice Wight. For anyone that doesn't know, on a successful hit a Wight drains one energy level (1 level of XP) from the player. Now, since my players haven't been exposed to level draining I didn't want to just throw them straight to the wolves so what I did was on a hit I allowed a save vs Death Magic to resist the level drain. In the first round one of the fighters was hit by the Wight and made his save. I explained how cold the touch felt they quickly got the idea. The cleric immediately moved into position to try and turn 2 of them. Because of the layout of the room there was no way for him to effectively turn them all without moving them first, and they were crapping their pants over possible level loss. He rolled a 19 on his turn and rolled his 2d6. He managed to turn 4 undead which happened to be the 2 wights and 2 skeletons in front of him. The rest of the party focused entirely on the remaining wight and killed it quickly. They easily killed off the other skeletons and then did something which really surprised me, they decided to attack the turned Wights. The way I play turned creatures, which I believe is by the book anyways, is that they will do everything they can to flee but if the players get within range they will strike out and if attacked and no way of escape, they will engage. So when the players attacked, the turn undead ended and the battle resumed. The same fighter was once again hit by a Wight and again made his save. The party survived the encounter without losing a level. I am not sure if I will continue doing death saves in the future or if I will play it by the book, but I gave them a break this week on it. The party decided at this point to make their way back down to Helvos Erde III's wizard locked tomb and try a dispel magic on the door. Since we have no wizard with knock I decided dispel magic will work just fine. They read the journal and saw what it said about Helvos and still decided to go. I give them a lot of credit for that since in the past I refer to them as farmers, not adventurers because they run from too much. Tactics are one thing, plain cowardice is another =) The players move down and the cleric dispels the door. The players enter and find a room with 2 continual light orbs suspended from the back corners with a casket raised up on a plinth with 3 iron locks set in the casket. The Paladin in the party says she senses great evil coming from the area of the casket. They move into position surrounding the casket as the thief picks the first lock. What they don't know is that the casket itself holds the rotten remains of Helvos Erde III but his spirit has left his body and he is now a Wraith. He is inside the plinth and awaken when anyone disturbs his casket. As the thief picks the first lock, Helvos the Wraith rises from the tomb and attacks the thief. For those that don't know, Wraiths also drain one energy level. Bad rolls on my part and good rolls on the players, he missed the thief and they crushed him. One fighter rolled a 20 which in my game is double damage dice + modifiers. I do criticals by having them roll the damage dice twice rather than just doubling the roll. The kill the wraith and expect since he came out with the first lock that there are 2 more waiting. I love player fear =) Well much to their relief the pick the other 2 locks and nothing happens. Inside the tomb they find out that Helvos was the Magister of Erde and still wears his golden chain of office as well as some other jewelry. There is also a locked coffer with 2 potions and 2 scrolls. The thief finds the needle trap and is able to disarm it. Having cleared out everything they know of (although they missed a few secret areas and a bit of treasure) the go the last place they know of, the stairs down to the final level...the Catacombs. As they descend the stairs the first thing they encounter is a noxious mist that covers the whole cavern. With no way to go but through it, they proceed forward. Every player entering the mist makes a save vs poison. 3 of them fail and I tell them that they all suffer -1 to all attack, saving throws and damage. This puts them all on edge already. The choose to take the path on the right which leads them face first into the main crypt. The cave opens into a large area and then turns to cut stone. Large support pillars hold up the ceiling and the southern wall has massive 14 foot doors leading into the mausoleum. They are wizard locked by a level 14 wizard and I haven't decided yet how I am going to allow them to get past them. The doors are also magically trapped so when anyone tries to open them it sets off a loud magical din that attracts a wandering encounter. Of course the thief goes right up and tries to pick the lock, setting off the alarm and the party is quickly attacked by a band of wererats that has made its way into the crypt from the 1/2 mile long tunnel leading in from the forest. They are scavenging for treasure and heard the party making their way down. When the alarm went off they took the opportunity to take them out. The party fared well. The thief used the mist which is 18" deep in this section to slip behind a pillar, go low, and backstab a wererat. The party ended up finishing off the rats. They are pretty beat up and this was where we ended it. Next week holds the most danger for the party. In the caves surrounding the mausoleum they are going to face poisonous mist spiders, living rock statues (might have to craft something this week), A Spectre, Ghasts, Shadows, Dark Water Elementals, a Wight, and some disease ridden rats. It's going to be a rough week for someone I imagine. Here is a look at our group. Everyone was here this week.
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Post by jennifer on Feb 28, 2016 8:23:59 GMT
Looks like you guys have a lot of fun-- that's great! Wish I lived near so I could play some games with you guys. I haven't played DnD in like 15 years.
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Post by Meph on Feb 28, 2016 10:53:06 GMT
Looks like you guys have a lot of fun-- that's great! Wish I lived near so I could play some games with you guys. I haven't played DnD in like 15 years. It's funny because everyone looks so stiff in those pictures. The big guy in the first picture loves to take pictures of the group and every time he pulls out his phone everyone gets stiff. lol.
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Post by Meph on Feb 29, 2016 3:18:23 GMT
Sunday night and the game must go on. This weeks water event wasn't enough to stop the game, in fact after my cleanup last night you wouldn't even know anything ever happened. After the incident with the Mausoleum doors the players decided to check out the door a little closer. They found some magical inscriptions on the door that had a faint glow to them and decided they weren't equipped to open the door yet, so they moved on deeper into the crypt. This week we were missing the main Cleric and one of the Fighters, but we still had the Fighter/Cleric and Paladin for healing. The party moved through the caves and came to an intersection with water running down the walls, pooling across the floor and a raised well in the center. Two of the players decided to inspect the well with one of them tossing a copper piece in the well. As soon as the copper hit the water, the Dark Water Elemental residing there attacked. This ended up being one of several epic battles tonight. My dice were on fire and we had 4 players down through out the night. I roll openly so where they fall, they fall. Just to give you an idea, our main fighter is 5th level and has 47 hit points. This Water Elemental was 8 Hit Dice and hits for 5d6 or 5-30 points. I hit the main fighter with a natural 20 which we roll as double damage (rolling twice, not just doubling). So I rolled 10d6 damage! I can tell you now the players nearly crapped themselves. Luckily for the fighter I rolled exactly 47 points (remember I roll in the open) and he dropped unconscious. This was the first fight of the night and I could see the terror. They ended up killing the Water Elemental but the whole party took a lot of damage. After this fight they decided to make their way back up a level to rest up in a room they could lock themselves in. They rested up, healed up and got themselves ready to head back down. They moved past the well and chose a cave that brought them into the lair of 5 Ghasts, one wielding a glowing shortsword. THe sword was +2, +4 vs Humans! Because the sword was glowing like a torch the party spotted them and worked out a plan of attack. I decided when they engaged I was going to have to go the other way, presumably to get help. I like this tactic because if the party is in trouble I can lower the numbers, if the party wipes through my encounter then I can bring in reinforcements. I know some people don't like anything that is "against" the players but I look at this a whole different way. My job as the DM is to provide an entertaining evening for my players. Making things overly easy is just as bad as everything being deadly. I like to tailor my encounters to make them winnable but also deadly if played stupidly. So the players faced 2 Ghasts and the main Ghast with the sword. Of course the 2 unarmed used their 3 attacks per round to claw/bite and paralyze the players while the other attacked once but with a +4 attack/damage vs the players. This encounter was more than enough. 2 fighters went down paralyzed, one went down unconscious and the party only survived when the cleric cast remove paralysis on the 2 fighters. Now I did something I don't really like doing but I actually opened the book to that page and set it in front of the cleric. I hate having to show players how they can play their characters but I feel doing it helps to make them better players. I will say during a later encounter the players spent about 20 minutes of real time preparing for the fight and scouring the book for spells. With 2 of the Ghasts heading down one stretch of the tunnel, the players decide to go the other way. The tunnel is filled with old spider webs. They are damp and moldy, not recent. They clear they way into an open room and get ambushed by 3 Dark Mist Spiders which are a poisonous skeletal spider. The party handles them ok with one player getting poisoned. 2d6 damage per round until they save adds up fast and it got pretty hairy. In the back of the room the party finds a dead dwarf wearing exceptional chain mail armor and wielding an exceptional battle axe. In his backpack is a scroll. The cleric recognizes it as some type of ancient scroll of opening. THe players decide to go try it on the Mausoleum doors. So they make their way back to the Mausoleum and the cleric reads the scroll. The runes disappear and the doors open. They decide to send the thief in to scout ahead. THe stairs lead up and to both sides of the stairs he spots to large Stone guardians. They watch the guardians for a while and realize they don't move from their spot so they return back down the stairs to rest up. THe work out a plan to drop a Wyvern Watch and try and draw the Stone Guardians into it. Unfortunately the guardians are immune to hold spells and the guardians rush them. This battle is pretty epic. The guardians attack twice per round at 2d6 damage and I end up rolling 2 criticals in this fight. 2 players drop with the cleric doing all he can to keep people up. The players end up winning the battle but not without expending just about everything they had. We called it at this point. The players are now inside the mausoleum with 12 crypts to explore inside of here. Next week is going to be pretty crazy. Tonight itself was a roller coaster of players dropping. Each fight had them on the edge of their seats but at the end of the night, the players told me they really liked it. It was much more intense than they are used to. With my new printer showing up tomorrow I would like to have enough tiles to layout the whole mausoleum next week but that is a LOT of corner tiles. Not sure I can make it happen. Either way I will have updates next week. Hopefully the players survive another week. =)
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Post by jennifer on Mar 2, 2016 10:55:48 GMT
Fun stuff I really like your water elemental, did you craft it?
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Post by Meph on Mar 2, 2016 11:50:57 GMT
No, it's a Pathfinder Medium Water Elemental. I have some D&D ones but the models suck compared. Pathfinder Shattered Star had some amazing Water, Fire, and Earth Elementals in both medium and large.
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Post by Meph on Mar 6, 2016 3:10:14 GMT
I setup for tonight for tomorrow's game. I still need to print a couple more coffins in the morning but they print fast. The players are going to have their 2nd encounter with one of the portals that they are searching for, although this one wont be currently working. I posted a bit in Dndpaladin's thread about how I create my content and I said it all kinda comes to me as the players guide the adventure, well it happened again tonight. The have been piecing together bits about Dalnir the Wizard, Dulwin the Black Dragon, and some Demon that was obeying the wizard. As they went further into the rabbit hole they ended up in this Manor where the place had been visited by all 3 of them and then overrun by undead. They don't know the full link to the undead yet but the portals have a link to other planes and the Demon that was with the wizard. Dulwin the Black Dragon had been put in place by the Wizard to guard the first portal and tomorrow they will meet the Guardian of the 2nd, which happens to be a Shadow Fiend. Shadow Fiends are beings from the lower planes and if found on the Prime Material plane they will seek and dwell with Ancient Black Dragons. The path from here will lead them to the Waycombe and the Tomb of the Lizard King. This will bring them face to face for a final showdown with the Black Dragon and further the story of the undead in the nearby Manor. I have so many stories weaved into this now that just about anything I do can fit with one scenario or another. I don't have enough tiles to layout this whole crypt yet. I have been focused lately on minis and set pieces, so I am using my 2.5D set for this week.
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Post by jennifer on Mar 7, 2016 0:49:12 GMT
Awesome crypt Meph! THat thing is huge! They are gonna love it! Wow look at all those coffins! They're gonna love that portal too!
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