Session 24 was played on 1/13.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 5 (Julia)
-Helmut, war dog
-Xerxis, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
-Yolanda, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
-2 torch bearers (Z, A.A.Ron)
-6 men at arms (O, Siri, T, U, V, W)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 2 (Matt)
Sarin the Ugly, Human Fighter 1 (Josh)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Karlaih, Human Thief 5 (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog spent some time in the forbidden section of the library, and ended up cursing himself. For 2 days, all wine that he came anywhere near became vinegar, while fresh water became blood. Thankfully the curse wore off before he was found to be the culprit.
After hiring another bunch of troops, Wilhelm and company headed to the dungeon. Returning back to the orc territory, the smoke and bodies had mostly all been cleaned out. The stains remained. Continuing to the south the came to an octagonal room completely painted in a single mural of a idyllic forest, complete with some piles of dirt on the floor. Laying sobbing on one pile was a human in leather armor and a sash of yellow and black checks. Wilhelm tells Yolanda to go talk to him. Turns out that Yolanda is a rather charismatic woman (rolled a 16) and she manages to coax out that he was sad to have lost a glowing gem, a pink diamond... Feeling a great sense of caution, his arms were tied before they headed out to find the gem. Beyond the forest room, Wilhelm spotted a poorly concealed pit trap. At this point, the inconsolable man screamed in anguish, and a wave of despair washed over most of the party.
Wilhelm and Yolanda push him into the pit where he lands with a thud.
It's a long few minutes before the party recovers. Once they push on they reach another chamber with murals, this time showing a stunning mountain top vista. Down a side passage, just at the edge of the torchlight they heard some figures shuffling around, and spotted a kobold watching them. Nilbog tried talking to them in draconic, which didn't work, but Sarin happened to know some of their reptilian tongue (owing to an ill-fated relationship back in his teen years with an exchange student). Turns out the kobolds were on their way home to the Korners. They offered to show the way for a fee of 5gp. The party agreed, and then 7 more kobolds showed up and expected their share.
The Kobolds lead them through the halls to the entrance of the Korners where the rules were explained to them (no fighting!), and they had to hand over all their weapons. With some grumbling, they did, then were brought in to the main merchant hall.
The bustling commerce of all the mixed races was more diverse than even the relatively cosmopolitan town! Goblins, hobgoblins, humans, a gnoll, and even an ogre could be seen at the various stalls. Of the humans a couple at the snack/drink booth (serving a cheap weak mushroom beer) wore black and yellow checked sashes. Wilhelm, Nilbog and Sarin went to talk to them and bought them a round of mushroom beer. They explained the weeping guy they'd found, but they didn't recognize his description. They did offer to hire them into the Ghost Beggars gang, but Wilhelm declined.
After leaving the snack stall a corpulent kobold in a fez and wearing a monocle introduced himself as Trustee Sniv, the proprietor of the Korners, and offered to help them with whatever they needed. For the right price, of course. Nilbog asked about buying magic items, but Sniv informed him that they weren't generally available. Locations of specific items could be bought for a price, or contact with someone who could make/find one... Mention of a fighting arena peeked Sarin's interest, and he offered to fight in the ring. It didn't take long for a fight to be arranged, and the market to close for everyone to go watch.
Stripped down to his boxers, Sarin found himself facing a muscular naked hobgoblin. The red skinned humanoid rolled his head, flexed his impressive muscles, and grinned. They approached each other with the roar of the crowd cheering them on. Most bets were placed in favor of the hobgoblin, Jayquelin D. Nice, and for good reason. His fist snapped into Sarin's chin before Sarin could even think about blocking. Seeing stars Sarin tried to swing back but found himself flat on his face in the dirt. Jayquelin grabbed Sarin by the hair, hauled him to his knees, and then slammed Sarin into his crotch before tossing him backward. Sarin never felt his head bouncing on the hard packed dirt.
The crowd cheered Jayquelin's victory, even though the fight was so speedy and one sided.
Nilbog returned to the market when it reopened, and checked with the tailor hoping to get a suit of spider silk robes. The tailor told him to come back later, as he'd need to source the silk. The party rented the only private room in the inn, and grabbed dinner at the restaurant.
Gains: Access to the Kobold Korners
Kills: None (defeated 1 doom lure)
Losses: None
This was a weird session where role playing ended up being the predominant activity. It's going to be interesting seeing how this, plus the destruction of the orc clan impacts the upper level of Stonehell.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Stonehell: Orcpocalypse
Session 23 was played on 12/23.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 5 (Julia)
-Helmut, war dog
-Xerxis, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
-Yolanda, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
Karlaih, Human Thief 5 (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
1 torch bearer (Z)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Tobias, deciding that getting stuck in the dungeon once was enough, and opted to retire from adventuring.
Wilhelm, feeling the need to bulk out the party after so many losess hired Zed the torch bearer, and took on Karliah the Sly. Xerxis and Yolanda the torchbearers had finally had enough of earning a single gold per delve, and demanded an equal share in exchange for swearing allegiance to Wilhelm for as long as he'd have them. He accepted the offer.
Heading into the dungeon, the party went straight to the one way door, intent on installing a doorknob. Unfortunately Wilhelm brought a wood drill, not a stone drill, and in frustration took a pick ax to the door, destroying it. The chunks of door were piled against the secret door.
Heading deeper into the dungeon, exploring further to the south than they'd ever gone, they stumble on an orc guard post. The orcs didn't notice them, right at first, but once they did, they sounded the alarm. More and more orcs started rushing into the main hall as the alarm was passed deeper into the orc's territory.
The party tries to use the "hide behind a door, wack them as they come through" strategy, but the orcs were smarter than the average zombie, and just started to smash the door. Then they brought the oil to light it (and the party) on fire. Hireling R takes an orc arrow to the throat, while Yolanda manages to shoot Nilbog in the shoulder. Wilhelm repeatedly gets his ax stuck in the doorframe trying to cleave through the orc horde. In an amazing show of luck and dexterity, the pot of burning oil that the orcs lob at the party gets bumped, set, and returned like a volleyball!
Through the smoke and burning orc flesh a large brutish orc pushes forward, and hacks into Wilhelm. Wilhelm sounds a general retreat, and everyone runs. Xerxies gets an orc ax in the back in the rush, falling behind. Wilhelm's shorter legs keep him from getting away, and the chief engages him. With the help of S, Wilhelm manages to take out the orc, and then follow the rest of his party out of the dungeon.
Gains:
Kills: 17 orcs, 2 orc lieutenants, 1 orc chief
Losses: R
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 5 (Julia)
-Helmut, war dog
-Xerxis, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
-Yolanda, Human Fighter 1 (Henchman)
Karlaih, Human Thief 5 (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
1 torch bearer (Z)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Tobias, deciding that getting stuck in the dungeon once was enough, and opted to retire from adventuring.
Wilhelm, feeling the need to bulk out the party after so many losess hired Zed the torch bearer, and took on Karliah the Sly. Xerxis and Yolanda the torchbearers had finally had enough of earning a single gold per delve, and demanded an equal share in exchange for swearing allegiance to Wilhelm for as long as he'd have them. He accepted the offer.
Heading into the dungeon, the party went straight to the one way door, intent on installing a doorknob. Unfortunately Wilhelm brought a wood drill, not a stone drill, and in frustration took a pick ax to the door, destroying it. The chunks of door were piled against the secret door.
Heading deeper into the dungeon, exploring further to the south than they'd ever gone, they stumble on an orc guard post. The orcs didn't notice them, right at first, but once they did, they sounded the alarm. More and more orcs started rushing into the main hall as the alarm was passed deeper into the orc's territory.
The party tries to use the "hide behind a door, wack them as they come through" strategy, but the orcs were smarter than the average zombie, and just started to smash the door. Then they brought the oil to light it (and the party) on fire. Hireling R takes an orc arrow to the throat, while Yolanda manages to shoot Nilbog in the shoulder. Wilhelm repeatedly gets his ax stuck in the doorframe trying to cleave through the orc horde. In an amazing show of luck and dexterity, the pot of burning oil that the orcs lob at the party gets bumped, set, and returned like a volleyball!
Through the smoke and burning orc flesh a large brutish orc pushes forward, and hacks into Wilhelm. Wilhelm sounds a general retreat, and everyone runs. Xerxies gets an orc ax in the back in the rush, falling behind. Wilhelm's shorter legs keep him from getting away, and the chief engages him. With the help of S, Wilhelm manages to take out the orc, and then follow the rest of his party out of the dungeon.
Gains:
Kills: 17 orcs, 2 orc lieutenants, 1 orc chief
Losses: R
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Stonehell: Getting The Shaft
Session 22 was played on 12/2.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
Burdock, human fighter 1 (Josh)
N'Yashi Sempai, human wizard 1 (Laurel)
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
The party spent some time recovering from their encounter with the Bro'gres, but their supply of torches and food was quickly running low. Another way out of the dungeon would be needed if they were going to survive. Packing up, they departed their safe room and began to explore. Mere moments after opening the door, a large gargoyle was spotted sitting patiently waiting for them. Burdock charges it, chipping his sword in its stony hide. It smiles in reply, and then demands "shiny things" for allowing them to pass/live. 70gp, a dagger, a gem, and Heinrich the dog are all sacrificed to the gargoyle.
They return to the bottom of the well, and concoct an insane/insanely brilliant plan to scale the shaft. Wilhelm and Burdock will press themselves back to back and walk up the 60' shaft to the top. Everyone else shakily makes a human pyramid and pushes the pair up into the shaft. Slowly and painfully they get themselves into position, feet braced against either side of the shaft, and begin to climb. Shaky step by shaky step they inch up the shaft, making it nearly 3/4 of the way up before Wilhelm's legs give out.
Bouncing down the well shaft he tries to catch hold, but out he falls. O tries to catch him, but only serves to to provide Wilhelm a softer landing. N'Yashi unfortunately catches Wilhelm's pick ax with her head. Why he refused to leave any of his stuff behind is a question that can only be answered by "dwarvish greed".
In the shaft, Burdock does manage to catch himself. Braced spread eagle, bent backward in the shaft looking up, arms and legs shaking from the effort, he knows he can't take it for very long, and soon enough his sweaty hands fail him, and he goes all the way down the shaft, landing hard on the pick ax embedded in head of the woman he was charged to protect.
Sitting around looking at the gore, the gargoyle is remembered. Wilhelm backtracks to find him, and tries really hard not to look at the limp body of his former dog. A quick negotiation is completed, and the gargoyle agrees to bring the rope up to the top of the well for them. The party begins to climb up, only to face yet another demand for payment from the gargoyle to allow them to exit the well.
Near the dungeon exit, a troop of half a dozen skeletons stands in their way. Tobias is having none of it, and with a wave causes them to crumble to dust.
Gains:
Kills: 6 skeletons
Losses: N'Yashi, Burdock, Hainrich, 175gp, dagger, gem
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
Burdock, human fighter 1 (Josh)
N'Yashi Sempai, human wizard 1 (Laurel)
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
The party spent some time recovering from their encounter with the Bro'gres, but their supply of torches and food was quickly running low. Another way out of the dungeon would be needed if they were going to survive. Packing up, they departed their safe room and began to explore. Mere moments after opening the door, a large gargoyle was spotted sitting patiently waiting for them. Burdock charges it, chipping his sword in its stony hide. It smiles in reply, and then demands "shiny things" for allowing them to pass/live. 70gp, a dagger, a gem, and Heinrich the dog are all sacrificed to the gargoyle.
They return to the bottom of the well, and concoct an insane/insanely brilliant plan to scale the shaft. Wilhelm and Burdock will press themselves back to back and walk up the 60' shaft to the top. Everyone else shakily makes a human pyramid and pushes the pair up into the shaft. Slowly and painfully they get themselves into position, feet braced against either side of the shaft, and begin to climb. Shaky step by shaky step they inch up the shaft, making it nearly 3/4 of the way up before Wilhelm's legs give out.
Bouncing down the well shaft he tries to catch hold, but out he falls. O tries to catch him, but only serves to to provide Wilhelm a softer landing. N'Yashi unfortunately catches Wilhelm's pick ax with her head. Why he refused to leave any of his stuff behind is a question that can only be answered by "dwarvish greed".
In the shaft, Burdock does manage to catch himself. Braced spread eagle, bent backward in the shaft looking up, arms and legs shaking from the effort, he knows he can't take it for very long, and soon enough his sweaty hands fail him, and he goes all the way down the shaft, landing hard on the pick ax embedded in head of the woman he was charged to protect.
Sitting around looking at the gore, the gargoyle is remembered. Wilhelm backtracks to find him, and tries really hard not to look at the limp body of his former dog. A quick negotiation is completed, and the gargoyle agrees to bring the rope up to the top of the well for them. The party begins to climb up, only to face yet another demand for payment from the gargoyle to allow them to exit the well.
Near the dungeon exit, a troop of half a dozen skeletons stands in their way. Tobias is having none of it, and with a wave causes them to crumble to dust.
Gains:
Kills: 6 skeletons
Losses: N'Yashi, Burdock, Hainrich, 175gp, dagger, gem
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Stonehell: Stuck in the dungeon
Session 21 was played on 11/4.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
Burdock, human fighter 1 (Josh)
N'Yashi Sempai, human wizard 1 (Laurel)
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Back in town, studying a book* from the forbidden section of the library, Sempai's unfortunate habit of reading things aloud triggers and her body guard find themselves in a dark corridor.
After a bit of rest following their battle with the thoules, the party opens the door to go exploring again, and come face to face with Sempai, and Burdock. They opt not to try to kill each other, and go exploring. Past the thoule's chamber the next room has some giant ticks. One manages to latch onto Tobias, draining her down to a single hp.
The next chamber contains a large statue of a oliphant, and a warning echoes loudly "Approach not the best, lest you bear the oliphant's greatest fear!"
Leroy decides not to heed this warning, enters the room, and the door closes behind him. The statue comes to life and charges Leroy, tossing him like a rag doll. Burdock opens the door to try to help, but gets smacked. Sempai tries to use her feminine wiles to seduce the oliphant, but the stone beast is unimpressed, and headbutts her. Tobias rushes over to render aid, and "administers some mouth to mouth" help. The henchman have no interest in engaging a giant statue, so instead watch Tobias "lay on hands" on Sempai.
Leroy is trapped and dodging wildly the tusks of the statue, but can't get to the door. Wilhelm makes one, and Leroy escapes with his life.The oliphant doesn't seem interested in leaving the room, and the party decides to check out a corridor.
Unfortunately all the racket they made alerted the bro'gers who were working out, and were now waiting for the party. Caught by surprise, they received several free weights to the face before realizing what had happened. By the end the bro'gers were dead, but the party was hurting, so retreated back to their safe(ish) room.
Gains:
Kills: 3 bro'gers
Losses:
Song of the session: Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing
*The Dicronomicon, if you were curious.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
Burdock, human fighter 1 (Josh)
N'Yashi Sempai, human wizard 1 (Laurel)
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Back in town, studying a book* from the forbidden section of the library, Sempai's unfortunate habit of reading things aloud triggers and her body guard find themselves in a dark corridor.
After a bit of rest following their battle with the thoules, the party opens the door to go exploring again, and come face to face with Sempai, and Burdock. They opt not to try to kill each other, and go exploring. Past the thoule's chamber the next room has some giant ticks. One manages to latch onto Tobias, draining her down to a single hp.
The next chamber contains a large statue of a oliphant, and a warning echoes loudly "Approach not the best, lest you bear the oliphant's greatest fear!"
Leroy decides not to heed this warning, enters the room, and the door closes behind him. The statue comes to life and charges Leroy, tossing him like a rag doll. Burdock opens the door to try to help, but gets smacked. Sempai tries to use her feminine wiles to seduce the oliphant, but the stone beast is unimpressed, and headbutts her. Tobias rushes over to render aid, and "administers some mouth to mouth" help. The henchman have no interest in engaging a giant statue, so instead watch Tobias "lay on hands" on Sempai.
Leroy is trapped and dodging wildly the tusks of the statue, but can't get to the door. Wilhelm makes one, and Leroy escapes with his life.The oliphant doesn't seem interested in leaving the room, and the party decides to check out a corridor.
Unfortunately all the racket they made alerted the bro'gers who were working out, and were now waiting for the party. Caught by surprise, they received several free weights to the face before realizing what had happened. By the end the bro'gers were dead, but the party was hurting, so retreated back to their safe(ish) room.
Gains:
Kills: 3 bro'gers
Losses:
Song of the session: Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing
*The Dicronomicon, if you were curious.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Boat Building for Frostgrave
The second scenario in the Thaw of the Lich Lord expansion takes place on the frozen river/canal running through the city, and requires at least one ship for the middle of the board. While the host of our games has a selection of boats and ships I wanted to be able to bring something new to the table. So the first thing I did was to search the internet looking to see what others have already done. I figured that alone would make a great post. And it does! But someone else already did it.
Setting Sail: Collecting Ships for Tabletop Games
Granted, this post is from 2008, but the author has revised it, most recently just 6 months ago.
Since I can't spend an entire post just sharing someone else's post, these are my ideas for what I'm going to try to build before next game.
I kind of want to build a big ship that has a giant hole in it so that the interior decks can be used. They'll be great for hiding treasure out of line of sight, making people get in close to get it.
I was also debating building a Mississippi River style paddle wheel steam boat. It's be good for blocking line of sight, and probably relatively easy to build. Especially if the wheel is encased.
Then there's the crazy dragon ship with a giant pagoda on it... Not sure if I could get that made in a month...
More as I begin to actually build something...
Setting Sail: Collecting Ships for Tabletop Games
Granted, this post is from 2008, but the author has revised it, most recently just 6 months ago.
Since I can't spend an entire post just sharing someone else's post, these are my ideas for what I'm going to try to build before next game.
I was also debating building a Mississippi River style paddle wheel steam boat. It's be good for blocking line of sight, and probably relatively easy to build. Especially if the wheel is encased.
Then there's the crazy dragon ship with a giant pagoda on it... Not sure if I could get that made in a month...
More as I begin to actually build something...
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Stonehell: One Way Doors
Session 20 was played on 9/28. As with the 9/9 write up, this will be a bullet point style update.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Wilhelm hires some new men at arms, then everyone heads to the dungeon.
The party wanders through several previously explored rooms before coming to a party of kobolds fixing traps. The party attacks, and wipes out the dozen workers. Wilhelm crits twice during the combat, displaying his amazing martial prowess.
Passing through the one way door into the room of dwarven stone carvings, the door swings shut and closes behind them. They decide to head back down to the 2nd level to make their way around to the well and climb up. They pass an undisturbed human skeleton next to "my mother never loved me" written on the wall in old blood. They break a spear trap, and get to the well, but have no way of getting a rope up it.
Further wandering brings them to a secret door in the hallway. Wilhelm, using his pickax smashes the door, revealing stairs down. They emerge into en empty room, with a door to a hallway. The next door over is a room with 4 large harry humanoids of bestial appearance. They slay them, but are no closer to escaping the dungeon...
Gains: 144cp, 30gp
Kills: 12 kobolds, 4 Thoules
Losses:
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Heinrich, war dog
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 3 of Persephone (Mollie)
Leroy, human fighter 3 (Mike)
Nilbog Dracon, human wizard 1
2 torch bearers/linkmen (Xerxis & Y)
3 men at arms (O, R, Q)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Wilhelm hires some new men at arms, then everyone heads to the dungeon.
The party wanders through several previously explored rooms before coming to a party of kobolds fixing traps. The party attacks, and wipes out the dozen workers. Wilhelm crits twice during the combat, displaying his amazing martial prowess.
Passing through the one way door into the room of dwarven stone carvings, the door swings shut and closes behind them. They decide to head back down to the 2nd level to make their way around to the well and climb up. They pass an undisturbed human skeleton next to "my mother never loved me" written on the wall in old blood. They break a spear trap, and get to the well, but have no way of getting a rope up it.
Further wandering brings them to a secret door in the hallway. Wilhelm, using his pickax smashes the door, revealing stairs down. They emerge into en empty room, with a door to a hallway. The next door over is a room with 4 large harry humanoids of bestial appearance. They slay them, but are no closer to escaping the dungeon...
Gains: 144cp, 30gp
Kills: 12 kobolds, 4 Thoules
Losses:
Monday, January 16, 2017
Stonehell: Those Crazy Inmates
Session 19 was played on 9/9. This is part 2 of this session report. Part I: The Gatehouse! (finally) can be found here. As this was so long ago, I'm going to bullet point the important bits, rather than do my longer more narrative descriptions.
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Hamlet, war dog
2 torch bearers/linkmen
7 men at arms
Nilbog Dracon, Wizard 1 (Matt)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Leroy, human fighter 2 (Mike)
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 2 of Persephone (Mollie)
After leaving the gatehouse in flames, the party heads into the dungeon, exploring toward stairs leading to the second level. N (man@arms) falls into a cleverly hidden pit trap, and breaks his neck.
The short hallway with the glyph is examined. Wilhelm gets singed trying to cross the seam of gold that rings the short dead end while G gets burned to a crisp. Non-living objects seem to be able to pass the seam without problem.
In the gallery, the broken statues are examined, and a hidden sack of treasure is found that contains a key.
Heading down the stairs, the party encounters a group of mole people. They don't take kindly to their game being interrupted, and they fight. 5 mole people are killed, but more keep coming, so the party does a fighting retreat, during which the remaining men at arms all fall and are left for the mole people to eat. Only the PCs and the 2 torch bearers survive and escape the dungeon.
Gains: Magic cloak, magic parasol, potion, minor coinage from the gatehouse, sack of treasure & coin from statue room
Kills: 5 mole men, 5 goblins, 4 giant centipedes, wasp nest
Losses: 7 hirelings
Wilhelm, drunk Dwarf 4 (Julia)
-Hamlet, war dog
2 torch bearers/linkmen
7 men at arms
Nilbog Dracon, Wizard 1 (Matt)
Stayed in town
Tink, a pretentious Elf (but I repeat myself) and former barkeep (Hanna)
Shelly, a vegetarian recovering alcoholic halfling Thief 3 (Nadia)
Frank, halfling 1 (Emily)
Yaqen, elf 1 (Shaun)
Leroy, human fighter 2 (Mike)
Tobias, Human-Cat, Cleric 2 of Persephone (Mollie)
After leaving the gatehouse in flames, the party heads into the dungeon, exploring toward stairs leading to the second level. N (man@arms) falls into a cleverly hidden pit trap, and breaks his neck.
The short hallway with the glyph is examined. Wilhelm gets singed trying to cross the seam of gold that rings the short dead end while G gets burned to a crisp. Non-living objects seem to be able to pass the seam without problem.
In the gallery, the broken statues are examined, and a hidden sack of treasure is found that contains a key.
Heading down the stairs, the party encounters a group of mole people. They don't take kindly to their game being interrupted, and they fight. 5 mole people are killed, but more keep coming, so the party does a fighting retreat, during which the remaining men at arms all fall and are left for the mole people to eat. Only the PCs and the 2 torch bearers survive and escape the dungeon.
Gains: Magic cloak, magic parasol, potion, minor coinage from the gatehouse, sack of treasure & coin from statue room
Kills: 5 mole men, 5 goblins, 4 giant centipedes, wasp nest
Losses: 7 hirelings
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Friday, January 13, 2017
The Doctors in Frostgrave
The Warrior looked across the barren frozen landscape. Limping slightly from his most recent encounter with the trash cans, he scans the ruins. "It must be here somewhere." He grumbles. As he passes through the shattered remains of what was once a massive iron door, he hears a familiar sound, and utters a curse in a language that hasn't ever been spoken on this planet.
Stepping his way across icy cobblestones he sees the blue box, his, but not. This one is cleaner. "Just what I need..." the Warrior sighs. "Well, come on out!"
And he does, with looks of bafflement, amusement, and then upon sighting the Warrior, resignation flashing across his face. "You? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." The Warrior snaps back.
"I don't know, I was on my way to Risa. Where are we?"
"Felstad."
"Ah."
"So you remember?"
"Vaguely. I've tried really hard to forget you." The Doctor sighed and looked around. "You haven't found it yet?"
"No, just got here. I don't even know where to begin to look."
"Right then, let's go find some natives."
"Here?" The Warrior looks around. "This place looks like it lost a war a long time ago, and no one has been back since."
"Oh, they're here. Scavengers mostly."
"Like us."
"Like us. Come on, this is gonna take a while."
Stepping his way across icy cobblestones he sees the blue box, his, but not. This one is cleaner. "Just what I need..." the Warrior sighs. "Well, come on out!"
And he does, with looks of bafflement, amusement, and then upon sighting the Warrior, resignation flashing across his face. "You? What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." The Warrior snaps back.
"I don't know, I was on my way to Risa. Where are we?"
"Felstad."
"Ah."
"So you remember?"
"Vaguely. I've tried really hard to forget you." The Doctor sighed and looked around. "You haven't found it yet?"
"No, just got here. I don't even know where to begin to look."
"Right then, let's go find some natives."
"Here?" The Warrior looks around. "This place looks like it lost a war a long time ago, and no one has been back since."
"Oh, they're here. Scavengers mostly."
"Like us."
"Like us. Come on, this is gonna take a while."
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Mini Painting Bingo & Doctors Ecclescake and Payne
I stumbled across this yesterday.
I don't know that I'll try to fill in every block, but there are a fair number I'm planning on doing anyway... Plus it's fun to challenge yourself.
I've been steadily working on some of my minis, mostly the wizard and apprentice for the new Frostgrave campaign starting this weekend.
Doctors Ecclescake (wizard) and Payne (apprentice), from Heresy minis.
Trying to give their bases a cobblestone/fieldstone sort of look. I've not done a whole lot with greenstuff, so every time I mix some of it up, it's a learning experience. In this case I learned that trying to sculpt around a mini is hard. Worse when the mini is already painted...
I don't know that I'll try to fill in every block, but there are a fair number I'm planning on doing anyway... Plus it's fun to challenge yourself.
I've been steadily working on some of my minis, mostly the wizard and apprentice for the new Frostgrave campaign starting this weekend.
Doctors Ecclescake (wizard) and Payne (apprentice), from Heresy minis.
Trying to give their bases a cobblestone/fieldstone sort of look. I've not done a whole lot with greenstuff, so every time I mix some of it up, it's a learning experience. In this case I learned that trying to sculpt around a mini is hard. Worse when the mini is already painted...
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Monday, January 2, 2017
Rogue Stars: Initial Thoughts
With all the fun I've had with Frostgrave, when Osprey announced they were publishing a sci-fi skirmish game, I was there. Sight unseen, I was there!The months of teasers of art and minis that were shared on the facebook group didn't hurt any either!
From the initial bits that I was hearing, it sounded like the perfect game for me to pull out a bunch of the cool character minis I've got kicking around from my 40K days, especially the inquisitors and their retinues!
Seriously, these guys look like they're the crew of a 40K rogue trader ship! And it's completely fitting to have them playing against the crew of the Serenity, or Judge Dredd and co., or the crew from Farscape, or even Captain Kirk, Spock, and some red shirts. Insectoid/Crystal/Reptilian aliens? Sure, those too!
Where things start to fall apart in reading the rules is that it's dull. In Frostgrave you get a bit about the setting, most of it implied or hinted at through the various quotes sprinkled throughout the book. In Rogue Stars you get charts... lots and lots of charts. While charts are great for conveying complex information in an easily readable format, they don't make for easy/fun reading.
There's also a lot to keep track of. Each character is a character with their own stat lines, equipment, modifiers, etc. My impression is that once the characters are made, it'll play smoother than it appears, but setting up those characters? Gonna be a bit of work.
As far as actually playing the game, in addition to the various modifiers, you need to keep track of 3 different elements using markers (glass beads?): stress, pin, and wounds. Oh, and wounds aren't just hit points, you can take various levels of damage to various body parts, which add additional modifiers to keep track of...
I really want to like this game. I really wanted it to be Frostgrave in Space. It isn't, and while it certainly isn't the most complex game I've ever seen, it feels more complex than it needs to be for what it is.
Another issue I've got with the game is that a month after it's release, there's a 7 page long errata.
There are a few things I do like about the game. The themes for your warband are a nice way to group things together without it being limited to a specific race or "Space Wolves" type thing. The initiative/activation system is different from anything I've used before. Rather than back and forth, you roll to activate characters, giving them stress for each activation. You keep that up until you fail, or your opponent uses your stress to take the initiative. Interesting...
The method for picking the mission is neat too. One player rolls the mission type, while the other rolls the location and the twist. So for example...
Mission roll: 3
Bodyguard work: defend an NPC with no combat skills. The attacker tries to assassinate the NPC, the defender tries to stop them.
Location roll: 11
Irradiated Wasteland: better hope your characters have some good environmental protection equipment!
Complications roll: 18
Space Vortex, a giant sucking hole dragging everything to it.
Sounds like the NPC's ship was shot down and crashed hard and the warp core/hyperdrive/whosywhatsit did bad things! Can you get him away in time before the bad guys come to finish the job?
Putting the story together from those elements appeals to me, and seems like it would make an interesting way to build a campaign.
But is it enough to save the game for me? I'm not sure. I'll need to play a time or two to firm up my opinion, but it's starting off on the wrong foot.
From the initial bits that I was hearing, it sounded like the perfect game for me to pull out a bunch of the cool character minis I've got kicking around from my 40K days, especially the inquisitors and their retinues!
Seriously, these guys look like they're the crew of a 40K rogue trader ship! And it's completely fitting to have them playing against the crew of the Serenity, or Judge Dredd and co., or the crew from Farscape, or even Captain Kirk, Spock, and some red shirts. Insectoid/Crystal/Reptilian aliens? Sure, those too!
Where things start to fall apart in reading the rules is that it's dull. In Frostgrave you get a bit about the setting, most of it implied or hinted at through the various quotes sprinkled throughout the book. In Rogue Stars you get charts... lots and lots of charts. While charts are great for conveying complex information in an easily readable format, they don't make for easy/fun reading.
There's also a lot to keep track of. Each character is a character with their own stat lines, equipment, modifiers, etc. My impression is that once the characters are made, it'll play smoother than it appears, but setting up those characters? Gonna be a bit of work.
As far as actually playing the game, in addition to the various modifiers, you need to keep track of 3 different elements using markers (glass beads?): stress, pin, and wounds. Oh, and wounds aren't just hit points, you can take various levels of damage to various body parts, which add additional modifiers to keep track of...
I really want to like this game. I really wanted it to be Frostgrave in Space. It isn't, and while it certainly isn't the most complex game I've ever seen, it feels more complex than it needs to be for what it is.
Another issue I've got with the game is that a month after it's release, there's a 7 page long errata.
There are a few things I do like about the game. The themes for your warband are a nice way to group things together without it being limited to a specific race or "Space Wolves" type thing. The initiative/activation system is different from anything I've used before. Rather than back and forth, you roll to activate characters, giving them stress for each activation. You keep that up until you fail, or your opponent uses your stress to take the initiative. Interesting...
The method for picking the mission is neat too. One player rolls the mission type, while the other rolls the location and the twist. So for example...
Mission roll: 3
Bodyguard work: defend an NPC with no combat skills. The attacker tries to assassinate the NPC, the defender tries to stop them.
Location roll: 11
Irradiated Wasteland: better hope your characters have some good environmental protection equipment!
Complications roll: 18
Space Vortex, a giant sucking hole dragging everything to it.
Sounds like the NPC's ship was shot down and crashed hard and the warp core/hyperdrive/whosywhatsit did bad things! Can you get him away in time before the bad guys come to finish the job?
Putting the story together from those elements appeals to me, and seems like it would make an interesting way to build a campaign.
But is it enough to save the game for me? I'm not sure. I'll need to play a time or two to firm up my opinion, but it's starting off on the wrong foot.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Janus: 2017 edition
With your indulgence, I'm going to do a bit of looking back at 2016, and looking forward to 2017.
Looking back, these were my goals for the past year and how I did on them:
All in all not bad. I'm really happy with how much gaming I've managed to do, and how much terrain I've built. As for the blog... Well, it could use a little more love.
The rest of the year was an odd bag. Personally things were fantastic. Traveled a lot, mostly to the Big Apple, spent a lot of time with my friends and loved ones, and the big event: I got married!
On the other hand, we lost a lot of celebrities, and I'm not even going to go into the political mess that was the presidential election... For these reasons, I'm happy to see 2016 dead and gone.
As for 2017? Well, similar to 2016 goal-wise.
Here's to a happy and healthy new year!
Looking back, these were my goals for the past year and how I did on them:
- Finish hiking the Pennsylvania section of the Appalachian Trail (late April/early May) I actually did less hiking in 2016 than I've done in many years. Need to do better.
- Match the post count of 2015 (at least) About 60 fewer posts than 2015, and my worst full year of posts since starting the blog.
- Finish the Dragons Don't Share set (January) Finished, though not in January. And I got a bronze for it at ReaperCon.
- Finish the $25 Frostgrave Terrain Challenge I still have some stuff to build, and some supplies to build with, but I'm gonna count this as a win.
- Play a full Frostgrave campaign. Total Success!
- Run Stonehell using a classic D&D type rules set (Maybe Wednesdays??) Total Success!
- Paint 1 mini per week/52 minis over the year While I didn't paint 52 miniatures this year, I probably came pretty close, and given the time I spent on DDS2 and the terrain, I'm gonna make this as a partial success.
- Continue my Friday night game (currently Star Wars) Total Success!
- Begin building my Hirst Arts Dungeon!! Never even started it. The Frostgrave stuff really took over!
All in all not bad. I'm really happy with how much gaming I've managed to do, and how much terrain I've built. As for the blog... Well, it could use a little more love.
The rest of the year was an odd bag. Personally things were fantastic. Traveled a lot, mostly to the Big Apple, spent a lot of time with my friends and loved ones, and the big event: I got married!
On the other hand, we lost a lot of celebrities, and I'm not even going to go into the political mess that was the presidential election... For these reasons, I'm happy to see 2016 dead and gone.
As for 2017? Well, similar to 2016 goal-wise.
- Paint more minis (1 a week would be great!)
- Wrap up the Frostgrave terrain challenge.
- Play more D&D and Frostgrave
- Get session reports written up faster and posted!
- Hike more
- Go to ReaperCon again, and get a silver
Here's to a happy and healthy new year!