tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89359975619316502892024-03-18T22:35:29.079-04:00Tower of the ArchmageDavid The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.comBlogger2772125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-31547633095140515322024-03-04T09:00:00.002-05:002024-03-04T09:00:00.253-05:00Stonehell: Getting Sidetracked Session 222 was played on 7/16/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />Downtime! Morgana spends a month working on plate mail +3 for Koltic (successfully). Blotto spends the month trying to teach the rust monsters to serve as mounts, and gets the local kobolds to make tack for them. He also consults with a exobiologist who’s super excited to have access to a pair of (potentially) breedable examples to learn from. Blotto names the female Esmeralda. The 3 amigos don’t find a weapons master to work with so putter about town.<br /><br />On the way to the dungeon a flock of hippogryphs attacks the party. Morgana fireballs them as they swoop down, taking out 10 instantly. One avoided the fireball, and races for Koltic, but he hits it with Hold Monster, and it hits the ground hard. They rope it up, heal it, and being it back to town and deliver it to the local lord. <br /><br />Heading back to the manor, a visitor is waiting for Morgana… a mummy lord who wants her to craft boots of traveling for him. Morgana considers it.<br /><br />Heading, again to the dungeon, they’re stopped at the gatehouse by 4 gargoyles perched on the roof. The kobolds are refusing to come out, or even open the door initially. The party calms the kobolds, and goes up to the roof. Blotto goes first, as they figure goblin probably isn’t especially appetizing to gargoyles, and they’ll pause before ripping into him. They’re right, and that gives the party a chance to negotiate with them. It’s settled that the gargoyles will refrain from eating any kobolds, and will wait for them to indicate who is a valid meal. <br /><br />Into the dungeon, they go straight to Rocky and ask him about how to get to level 6 without dealing with the Vrylia. Rocky tells them that there is a way, but isn’t big on specifics beyond the phrase “scintillating orbs”. <br /><br />The party heads back home. Morgana works on the boots, and knocks them out a little faster than expected. <br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: 10 Hippogryphs<br />Losses: <br /><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-20750730169559846462024-03-01T09:00:00.007-05:002024-03-01T09:00:00.131-05:00Feb ‘23 In Review<p>I look forward to a month where there isn't any illness to report. This month was a head cold followed up with an eye infection. Thankfully the rest of the family remained largely healthy. It was also another busy month at work, but it looks like things will get a little less hectic next month. On top of that, it was the lunar new year, so family obligations… Needless to say there has been less time to do the painting and blogging that I had planned. <br /><br /><b>Gaming</b><br />I rarely talk about playing video games because I rarely do. However, one night early this month I was in a foul mood, and while I’d planned on painting, I knew that was a bad idea, so I loaded up my Epic Games library to see what I had that I could just click and kill some monsters. I thought about booting up my old XBox and playing some Halo, but I didn’t want to wake the toddler. I settled on Torchlight 2, a slightly cartoonish Diablo clone. It’s a relatively simple game with little that you need to remember either control or plot wise. I’ve continued to squeeze in some play time pretty regularly though the first half of the month, which is better than mindlessly scrolling Instagram or Facebook, but not as good as getting some writing or painting done. <br /><br />Stonehell is reaching a pause point, and my player Rob is getting ready to take over the DM’s chair and run more Rappan Athuk. I’m looking forward to that. <br /><br /><br /><b>Miniatures</b><br />The focus this month was Frostgrave Barbarians, and some Chainmail drakes (which I didn't finish). I also squeezed in the last of my Bones Pathfinder goblins, and a kobold sorcerer. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br /><p></p><p></p><p><br /><b>Media</b><br />The Brothers Sun<br />Echo<br />The Marvels<br />Ted lasso<br />Ghosts<br />Resident Alien<br /><br /><b>Goals for March</b><br />Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal (gonna happen some month…)<br />Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week. <br />Take a day off and make some terrain<br />Finish taxes<br /><br /><br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-7362509298935853292024-02-19T09:00:00.003-05:002024-02-19T09:00:00.148-05:00Stonehell: Lost Level: Rust Monster? Or Rust Friend?<p> Session 221 was played on 7/9/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />Continuing along in the dungeon, the party finds a mostly empty store room, but searches through it anyway. Nick finds a slashing blade trap the hard way. Sadly nothing of value could be found among the trash and debris. <br /><br />Moving on, they come to a door that’s barely holding together, and on the far side of it, a pair of fat content rust monsters. Being creatures of very little brain, confronted with a party largely covered in their favorite food, they amble toward them, feathery feelers waving excitedly. The plate armored members of the party back away and shoot at the beasts, causing both to run back into the room away from the party. Morgana collects random non-magical steel from the party and tosses a bunch to the rust monsters, who cautiously nibble at it. <br /><br />Morgana removes any iron and steel from her person, and heads into the room to investigate the creatures while they’re feeding. They’re unconcerned about her, and ignore her. She goes back and collects more steel, and brings it to the rust monsters. A couple of repeat trips, and the rust monsters are beyond full, and feeling docile around Morgana. She convinces the rest of the party to help her capture and bring the monsters home. It takes some wrangling, but she gets the teleport ritual circle completed, and everyone gets close enough without needing to get too close to the monsters. <br /><br />Back at the manor, the plate armored party members flee the teleport room, while Morgana and Borumar wrangle the monsters into a wooden stall in the stable. <br /><br />Gains: 2 rust monsters<br />Kills: <br />Losses: <br /><br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-67676537004781557872024-02-14T09:00:00.002-05:002024-02-14T09:00:00.248-05:00DGS Freeblades Snake Sorceress & Thief<p>As 2024 is my year of trying to paint as many non-reaper minis as reaper minis (at least) I picked out these 2 to work on. I bought both at ReaperCon not because I have any interest in the Freeblades game (who needs another game that I'm never gonna get to play) but because I liked the sculpts. <br></p><p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></p><p>However, as much as I liked them, they gave me issues. I think this is in part because I was using some old Stynylrez primer to start them, and the bottle of yellow seems to have gone bad. The reddish brown that I switched to worked, but then fought me as I went along. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I'm so used to using either black primer or Brown/Blue/Grey Liner (all dark colors). </p><p>The thief and snake sorceress both gave me problems with their skin tones. I started with tanned flesh and worked up with Rosy skin, and they looked ghastly. Literally. Somehow their skin ended up looking grey. Since I was using auburn shadow as the base for both their hair, I gave their skin a glaze of it, which helped but still looked wrong. I then used that same glaze and mixed a drop into the rosy skin. Finally I had something that didn't look dead, and I could work with. <br><br>For the thief I painted her jerkin with carbon grey then washed it with black wash, followed by a highlight of carbon grey. I used the same color for the sorceress' pants. The thief's cloak was Orchid Purple largely to give it some color. One of the problems with painting thieves is that they're going to tend toward lots of dark muddy colors to help them blend in to shadows, but that can be really boring to look at. I try to compromise with using dark colors, but still having them be colors other than brown and grey. <br><br>The snake sorceress’ top and snake were painted with a base of wilderness green, brought up with viper Green for highlights. I decided to use bronze for her bracers and greaves, gold for the necklace and belt. Originally it was all going to be gold, but I didn't like the way it looked, and painted over it.</p><p>All in all these were fun minis to paint, and they'll look even better when I get around to basing them.<br><br></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-83705555621020212032024-02-12T16:30:00.001-05:002024-02-12T16:30:00.131-05:00Stonehell: Lost Level - You're not fooling anyone Session 220 was played on 7/2/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />After spending some downtime around town, the party gears up and sets out for the caves leading to the lost level. On the way they scare off a mountain lion that had gotten too close to town, then Koltic dispatched a troop of 10 skeletons in the swamp.<br /><br />Once in the lost level they make their way back over to the mostly unexplored central area where Morgana fries a mimic that did its best to look like a comfortable bed. The lack of dust was the giveaway.<br /><br />In a too hot kitchen an angry fire elemental did its best to cook the party, but Morgana summoned a water elemental to deal with it. The fire elemental was SUPER upset at this development, and climbed up the chimney to escape. Once the fireplace had cooled enough, the elemental's treasure was collected, and the party checked their map to decide where next.<br /><br />Gains: couple thousand coins in silver and gold, Potion of Greater Healing, Potion of Treasure Finding. <br />Kills: 10 skeletons, Mimic, Fire Elemental (defeated) <br />Losses: <br /><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-83079785337261240022024-02-05T09:00:00.001-05:002024-02-05T09:00:00.175-05:00Stonehell: Teleport Traps and Friendly Giants Session 219 was played on 6/4/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />Still in the lost level, the party next comes across a Chimera in an adjoining circular room. Blotto bravely leaps upon the dragon head of the beast, keeping it from breathing fire on the party, while Morgana tries to Polymorph it, but it resists her magic. The dragon head shakes Blotto around and manages to get him into its mouth, biting hard. Neither Blotto nor the dragon head enjoyed it. The fighters pile into the monster, and Morgana Magic Missiles it, dropping it before it can eat Blotto. The scorpion tale is taken as a prize. <br /><br />The next chamber contains a lone hellhound, that Morgana Ice Storms to death. They’re then caught in a teleport trap that sends them… somewhere in the dungeon… They think they’re still in Stonehell anyway… Morgana makes use of the scroll of mapping, but no one recognizes anything that shows up. While carefully looking around, a stone giant wanders by and seems generally amused. Unfortunately they don’t share a language and the giant wanders off. Morgana begins her ritual to teleport the party home, and as she nears the end the giant comes back with a few friends to watch the ritual. <br /><br />Gains: chimera tail<br />Kills: Chimera, Hellhound<br />Losses: <br /><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-17866850744200019152024-02-02T09:00:00.001-05:002024-02-02T09:00:00.264-05:00Stonehell: Lost Level Investigations Session 218 was played on 5/28/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />The party decides to head to the lost level, and gets attacked by giant bees that had built their hive nearby. Morgana dispatched them easily before they could get into melee. <br /><br />From the bubble fountain, they head toward the ogre troop, and get ambushed by a displacer beast that quickly realizes has picked off more than it could chew, and it ran away. <br /><br />The ogres were busy arguing about some aspect of their performance, and so the party snuck by without getting stuck resolving the dispute or needing to see yet another production. Continuing to explore they come to a hydra fairly quickly. Borumar’s bow and Morgana’s lightning spells make quick, if loud work of it. All the noise caused the ogres to investigate, and they happily take the hydra’s corpse for dinner. <br /><br />Turning to the north, the party continues on, and ends up in a fight with 4 skilled human fighters, but they’re outnumbered and out classed. After 2 drop, the remaining fighters call for parlay. They surrender, tell what they know of the dungeon, and depart heading toward the exit as directed by Morgana. <br /><br />As the fighters had picked a defensible spot, the party opts to make camp and rest. <br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: 2 myrmidons, giant killer bees<br />Losses: <br /><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-87004579224111092562024-01-31T09:00:00.033-05:002024-01-31T09:00:00.153-05:00Jan ‘23 In Review<p>Oh how I miss nap time… It’s increasingly difficult to get hobby and game time, not at all helped by work being slammed, and having to put in extra hours to make sure things are wrapped up for the year end. Also cutting into the month was a short cruise out to Bermuda. The weather for most of it wasn’t great, but having an extended period of time without internet, without a toddler or dog, trapped on a boat with next to nothing to do but read, eat, and catch some evening shows was AMAZING!</p><p>This lack of... progress? Time to devote to the things I like has made me consider making myself a schedule so that even if I only get 30-60 minutes to do stuff in the evening, I have something planned, rather than just wasting it scrolling mindlessly on my phone. I think I'm gonna give that a try for February, and see how it goes. <br /></p><p><br /><b>Gaming</b><br />Between the holidays, the cruise, and just generally being wiped out, there were a whole 2 sessions of game this month, one of Stonehell, and one of the Necessary Evil campaign I’m playing in. <br /></p><p><br /><b>Miniatures</b><br />As with gaming, it was a slow month for minis. I was entirely focused on other things, especially work, so I only worked on a few minis, and in an attempt to hit my non-Reaper backlog, I focused on old Chainmail minis and DGS games minis, and painted up a snake sorceress and a thief as well as an old dire badger. But because it’s almost impossible to not paint some reaper stuff, I also knocked out a Bones kobold fighter and a komodo dragon. Not shown are the pair of barrels and a small broken shrine stone that also were quickly knocked out.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQicoaHzYnTFNFTxoPK_ds2NSqDEFdl6F-I7MGi_oV0I0td_r-1Tp1yXyUdc_DNahyq4Gi-z6x-6o8xMWl9fbvU-7shXC4j-gosaNsXywK9pEOePcXb9mA98Yid-sZ0LDPQ5RR5jpzbGvvXASAnoGWHT52lOAZvoSW1i83y0XzPsc5UGaLFeScXQ5Z/s2710/20240128_170818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1524" data-original-width="2710" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQicoaHzYnTFNFTxoPK_ds2NSqDEFdl6F-I7MGi_oV0I0td_r-1Tp1yXyUdc_DNahyq4Gi-z6x-6o8xMWl9fbvU-7shXC4j-gosaNsXywK9pEOePcXb9mA98Yid-sZ0LDPQ5RR5jpzbGvvXASAnoGWHT52lOAZvoSW1i83y0XzPsc5UGaLFeScXQ5Z/w640-h360/20240128_170818.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I still need to do all their bases.<br /></p><p>Next up I'm going to be working on an old carrion crawler and some Frostgrave Barbarians. <b></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Media</b><br />The Brothers Sun<br />Rebel Moon Pt. 1<br />No Hard Feelings<br />Echo<br /><br /><b>Goals for Feb</b><br />Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal <br />Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week. <br /><br /></p><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-46784338068799843512024-01-27T09:00:00.065-05:002024-01-27T09:00:00.346-05:00#Dungeon23 #DoomGate #TheShip October Wrap Up<p>Long long ago in another dimension, a brain eater ship's drive failed and sent it wildly off course, tearing through dimensional barriers and coming to rest within a mountain. 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</div><p></p><p>The best didn't arrive, but the second best did. A primitive race found the ship, its first exposure to alien life. They couldn't realize, or even conceptualize, that it wasn't just an extra solar alien, but from a craft from an entirely different dimension. Not that it would have stopped them from experimenting with it. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><p></p><p>The ships drive ring was removed, and became the Doom Gate, ending the world and ushering in a new age of magic and monsters. In the meantime the crew slowly emerged, and has continued their efforts to repair their ship, or at least the communications array to call for rescue. <br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-59896819112055158192024-01-22T09:00:00.002-05:002024-01-22T17:58:15.531-05:00Stonehell: The Last (of) SongSession 217 was played on 5/25/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br /><br />Needing funds to repair the manor, and knowing the majority of the coinage was left behind (even if it was more silver and electrum than gold) the party heads back to Song’s lair, making it to the double doors of the lower temple of Yg, where they find the doors locked and barred. Borumar and Morgana clear that up, and head into the crystal cave beyond.<br /><br /><br />There’s no sign of Song…<br /><br /><br />The party begins to search around the cave, and Borumar discovers another of the pit traps of acid the hard way. As the party is spread out, Song, hiding in an opening up near the ceiling, breathes acid down upon the party with surprise! Morgana takes the worst of it but chucks a fireball up to the dragon in return. The party’s crossbows follow the fireball, and a couple lucky hits finish off the black dragon.<br /><br /><br />Healing spells and potions are shared around as needed, and the lair is looted of the remaining treasure. <br /><br /><br />On the way out they get word from some passing kobolds that a clan of medusa have taken up residence in the troll hall. Bypassing them, they head for the surface and home, pausing only briefly to fireball a swarm of robber flys that was flying toward the party. <br /><br /><br />Gains: The rest of Song’s treasure <br /><br />Kills: Black Dragon, Robber Flys<br /><br />Losses: David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-63566808441439736532024-01-20T09:00:00.020-05:002024-01-20T09:00:00.127-05:00#Dungeon23 #DoomGate #AlienCaves September Wrap Up<p>September brings us to the lower levels of the Alien terraformed caves. The danger increases as herds of fungal garden tenders wander the caves, taking anything that isn't terraformed and adding them to the local fertilizer pile. Weird crystals can be harvested from the gardens and sold to the dwarves or to surface jewelers. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglPQpqNsYfh9u1-djqLkoTj3Uxjj_KTVU71ZfOmYrjH0ERDKUVS0JoR8sUs7V4bicrobF6552LC-HBRZlTBNkPfjIjCC4QdsKQ5hsw-_da9lRP8sgfrjPBc5ft3H8qTl8ZjNgCPXlQPAh8ysAXtzEgv2I_90yNsbl27W5sfu05zDX83h83mGHeqKx4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglPQpqNsYfh9u1-djqLkoTj3Uxjj_KTVU71ZfOmYrjH0ERDKUVS0JoR8sUs7V4bicrobF6552LC-HBRZlTBNkPfjIjCC4QdsKQ5hsw-_da9lRP8sgfrjPBc5ft3H8qTl8ZjNgCPXlQPAh8ysAXtzEgv2I_90yNsbl27W5sfu05zDX83h83mGHeqKx4=w640-h424" width="640" />
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</div><p></p><p>Beyond the fungal gardens and their tending herds are the hulking brutes that prowl the narrow connecting passages. Other dangers include the lurking tentacled beasts, bipedal walking creatures with triradial heads, and even mounds of shambling flesh eating terrain!</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzJTH1zNq4Vduh6eyxCQ4nzBxrEr41mulPTkdW-jd77_pk3U6RUti-zNd06DvzmbqGkTzX702RmrExpbSVF1XicJYpthPgfTUeShfw5fYja7MjKP_z8ZKGNuTYOgJ7V4pvpnRRQq8SER_aEtx9KmcA_RFE1RLcgzU-8w9A-UeGZeXdsPPaYbKKz-mi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzJTH1zNq4Vduh6eyxCQ4nzBxrEr41mulPTkdW-jd77_pk3U6RUti-zNd06DvzmbqGkTzX702RmrExpbSVF1XicJYpthPgfTUeShfw5fYja7MjKP_z8ZKGNuTYOgJ7V4pvpnRRQq8SER_aEtx9KmcA_RFE1RLcgzU-8w9A-UeGZeXdsPPaYbKKz-mi=w640-h418" width="640" />
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</div><p></p><p>But the worst danger comes from the mighty worm that is tunnling through the caves and will release the terraformers into the wider world when it breaks through to an underground river...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh27KpN09Z-e_7_DEB3PimIofhGzD4QC9gSJnru7RYmXwY47FACLgJaYDqQfZv7wBqzSplZ5o8OcIAeePlbdbCp9sM1UW9c4Xo6Je7CwimEvPtOnfNTDCj2KJHehWDctnngiqJWIUTXeOyG3TqEsLMqfr_cr_eiAXUF0opgZCt_0KUv5QwIveSJtrtz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh27KpN09Z-e_7_DEB3PimIofhGzD4QC9gSJnru7RYmXwY47FACLgJaYDqQfZv7wBqzSplZ5o8OcIAeePlbdbCp9sM1UW9c4Xo6Je7CwimEvPtOnfNTDCj2KJHehWDctnngiqJWIUTXeOyG3TqEsLMqfr_cr_eiAXUF0opgZCt_0KUv5QwIveSJtrtz=w640-h442" width="640" />
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</div><br /><p></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-50642587763983814472024-01-15T09:00:00.001-05:002024-01-15T09:00:00.131-05:00Stonehell: Dragon Hunting<p>Session 216 was played on 5/17/23<br /><br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Blotto, Goblin Fighter<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br /><br />After several weeks spent around town, everyone was ready to get back to adventuring. They geared up and headed toward Stonehell. On the way a band of bandits prepared to attack, but once they got a good look at the party, thought better of it, and everyone walked away unharmed. <br /><br />Ready to tackle Song, they head down to level 5, avoiding any encounters. Morgana uses her circlet to spy ahead. Song lay upon their treasure asleep. Borumar with his bow, and Morgana with her magic creep to within line of sight through the cracked crystals of the dragon, and attack. Borumar’s bow shot lands true, and Morgana’s Lightning bolt shatters crystal and dragonscale. Song screams in pain, and leaps from its treasure into the water at the far end of the cave with a huge splash. <br /><br />The fighters slowly press into the cave, and blotto stumbled into an acid-filled pit trap. After washing him off, the party sets a watch over the water, and then begins to shovel the treasure into their bags, focusing as much on the gold as possible. <br /><br />Heading for the exit, loaded down with loot, they’re set upon by an Ochre jelly. Everyone runs, and Morgana roasts it with a fireball. They also destroy a grey ooze, and a displacer beast that thought Marthek was extra tasty. The displacer beast is quickly skinned, and the hide taken for Morgana to play with. <br /><br />The trip back to town, once out of the dungeon was uneventful. However upon returning to her manor, Morgana finds it partly smashed. Song wasn’t going to go quietly. <br /><br />Gains: The best parts of Song’s treasure <br />Kills: grey ooze, ochre jelly, displacer beast<br />Losses: <br /><br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-85427235684592315792024-01-13T09:00:00.000-05:002024-01-13T09:00:00.135-05:00#Dungeon23 #DoomGate #AlienCaves August Wrap Up<p>The natural caves under #TheFacility are blessedly free of demonic beings, but only because the alien life emerging there is, as far as the demons are concerned, soulless, and thus of no interest. That doesn't mean it's without danger. Weird lifeforms are being created, molded, mutated, and evolved by a set of mobile terraforming devices. </p><p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></p><p>In addition to the creatures, the very air in the caves is mildly toxic, and long term exposure is harmful to native creatures. </p><p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></p><p>Not all is danger though. The terraformed alien life has bumped up against the outer edge of a dwarven settlement down in the lower caves, and hints of their existence can be found in the upper caves. <br></p><p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>I did find it interesting how much larger the caves ended up being as compared to my average dungeon room. No idea why that is, but it definitely didn't feel like a proper cavern area unless it was at least 50% bigger than the average dungeon room. </p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-43980968873613703702024-01-12T09:00:00.007-05:002024-01-12T09:00:00.243-05:00Rappan Athuk/Stonehell: Downtime<p>Session was played on 5/7/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Downtime activities took up the entirety of this session. <br />Aroon and Jameth study with a sword master<br />Borumar studies with a bow master<br />Lorkoth with a hammer expert<br />Morgana works on 2 rings of fire resistance<br />Borumar has a purple worm dagger crafted with a poison reservoir<br />Koltic researches “resist acid” and makes some healing potions </p><p><br /></p><hr /><p></p><p>Not much to write about for such an eventless session, but they can't all be full of action. <br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-10445344922030281692024-01-08T09:00:00.001-05:002024-01-08T09:00:00.238-05:00Rappan Athuk: Skeletons and Ogres<p>Session was played on 4/30/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />From beyond the now open black door, hiding in the shadows of the dusty old armor behind the black bars, 2 black skeletons emerged and attacked the party. Jameth, Koltic, and Marthek were all terrified of them, but the party fought the evil monsters, dropping one, when 2 more joined the fray, and then were brought down. <br /><br />Past the bars, the passage extended a bit, and narrowed as it went. Voices were heard, and an invisible Borumar snuck forward to check it out, clearly not deterred by what happened the last time he tried that. He spied some ogres sitting around a fire pit in a large cave roasting a humanoid. The party planned a trap to lure the ogres into the tunnel and deal with them while Borumar remained invisible in the cave with them. The ogres were unimpressed with Jameth’s attempts to get them to follow him. His second attempt resulted in him getting grabbed by a too smart ogre that was lurking near the open doorway. He’s dragged back to the firepit, and the party decides to just charge in and rescue him. <br /><br />The fight was tough, especially when 4 more ogres joined in from the adjoining cave. Marthek drops, Koltic plays golf with the head of one of the ogres that got knocked down, Borumar gets knocked down and squashed by a dead ogre falling on him. The ogres break after half their number drop, and run off. The party quickly loots the chamber while Morgana sets up her ritual circle to bring the badly bruised party home.<br /><br />Gains: random coinage and mundane loot, plus a map to a not frog god temple<br />Kills: Black Skeletons x4, Ogres x4<br />Losses: <br /><br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-77032696305081508452024-01-06T14:35:00.001-05:002024-01-06T14:35:50.858-05:00#Dungeon23 #DoomGate #The Facility July Wrap Up<p>The lower level of The Facility is an important one, as it contains access to both the Terraformed Caves and the Doom Gate itself. In addition to these important points, there's a mix of monsters to encounter, both demons and aliens. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br /><p></p><p>As this was the hub of the research on the alien tech from the crashed ship, there's lots of artifacts to be discovered, but also evidence of how things started to go wrong. Bricked up chambers full of human remains mutated by the alien tech, and lots of evidence of violent death can be found throughout these chambers. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br /><p></p><p>The Doom Gate itself is currently closed and powered down, but the alien tech that powered it is still running, and actively working on converting the caves below into habitable environment for it's native life... a terraforming project that will soon expand out of the caves and onto the surface. </p><p>And as for the gate itself? Well, a minor demon lord has found it, and is making plans to open it from the hell side. Probably should find a way to stop them. <br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-87986678182995545062024-01-05T09:00:00.003-05:002024-01-05T09:00:00.132-05:00Rappan Athuk: Inhospitable Innkeeper, Fungal Plantation, and Black Doors<p>Session was played on 4/23/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Borumar, invisible and paralyzed lay at the cracked open door… While the rest of the party waited back at the room for him to return. After about 5 minutes, Nick and LorKoth sneak down the corridor to see what’s up, and Nick steps on Borumar. Figuring out what he was stepping on, he hoists the thief up, and passes him to LorKoth to bring him to Koltic. Nick then charges in through the door, gets a bottle of poison smashed right into his helm, but avoids getting any onto his face. With his magic spear, he skewers the roachkin to the back wall. It stretches disturbingly forward and bites at the arms holding the spear. Nick jiggles the spear around, trying to shake off the bug when Jameth charges in, stabbing the skewered bug until it stops moving. They behead it, just to be on the safe side. <br /><br />Searching the room they find the roachkin’s stash of coin, jewelry and magic. <br /><br />As that was anything but a restful evening, the party decides to spend another night recovering. The magic items are identified, and the zombie horses are harnessed to the carriage and the party continues on toward Rappan taking the southern route. <br /><br />Hours later they come to a strange garden, full of glowing fungus in a large cavern with several winding paths through it to different exits from the cavern. Floating moss balls wandered the around mushrooms… tending them? Urging the zombie horses on, they kept to the path, and spied several fungus infested humanoids tending to the garden. Thankfully both the fungal zombies and the floating orbs ignored the party and the carriage. <br /><br />Past the plantation, the tunnel continued on, dark and silent but for the sound the party made as they traveled. Another stretch of hours later they came to water… a moat with slow moving water stretched in front of them, and on the far side were some steps leading up to a pair of big black doors and a wall of black metal bars… with darkness beyond. <br /><br />Crossing the moat wasn’t difficult, and the party examined the doors. 3 golden runes were on the black doors. A demon, a circle, and a square. Looking beyond the bars the party could see suits of old armor with the faint glow of residual magic. While the party tried to figure out how to get through the doors, Borumar just touched the runes, and found they could slide around on the door. He dragged one over the other, the circle over the square, and then over the demon. The large black door sank down into the steps, leaving the way open. <br /><br />The zombie horses turned around and started to leave with the carriage. <br /><br />Gains: Ring of Fire Resistance, Wand of Magic Missiles, Potion of Invisibility, 2,400gp and some jewelry. <br />Kills: Roachkin innkeeper<br />Losses: <br /><br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-21859013840409978692024-01-02T09:00:00.025-05:002024-01-02T09:00:00.239-05:002023 in Miniatures<p> Another productive year, and again largely thanks to the Reaper Challenge league. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGSxWDsfEOaJV3q-vmY-Q1yfcw7QSHOJypgJ8Dxa46fLn9zCT-QXJ91VLOwjIPHmXgXVh-BHZxEi6eCfQ0mZBeLowSW11lZpuS-feAdDyFaR1iebZHTZisnlzpXtbE3WpD8VU8SVCAfLaN2GtyWDHgjXAA5KGqZXs_QPqLuIzXQ2x2cyTL2X8deDf/s3438/20231230_214721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1735" data-original-width="3438" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGSxWDsfEOaJV3q-vmY-Q1yfcw7QSHOJypgJ8Dxa46fLn9zCT-QXJ91VLOwjIPHmXgXVh-BHZxEi6eCfQ0mZBeLowSW11lZpuS-feAdDyFaR1iebZHTZisnlzpXtbE3WpD8VU8SVCAfLaN2GtyWDHgjXAA5KGqZXs_QPqLuIzXQ2x2cyTL2X8deDf/w640-h322/20231230_214721.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />It's kinda hard to count how many "minis" I painted, depending on how you define mini vs terrain. If w divide it up by things that were 3D printed vs from a miniature company, I painted 113 minis, plus a bunch of terrain. If you want to count things like the tent and the scatter terrain statues and stuff, then closer to 100. Either way, it's still a respectable amount of minis<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitD75bY1FkhfQAUKHO478LBvhzo3yMujAaXU8JjQGFthcYR9fT0b82IU7at7mHHcbSEr7ptuO05E0ca-XZXYVv21WVWQG7lmiCLLAiyyjWIjeYq3DMCAYt0P_kg1NJD7IuwJaPIwSziJNQlfYq9UTni3ffmgLB1kvSiVs2su-o_beNLib6W3QSdjW2/s4032/20231230_213954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitD75bY1FkhfQAUKHO478LBvhzo3yMujAaXU8JjQGFthcYR9fT0b82IU7at7mHHcbSEr7ptuO05E0ca-XZXYVv21WVWQG7lmiCLLAiyyjWIjeYq3DMCAYt0P_kg1NJD7IuwJaPIwSziJNQlfYq9UTni3ffmgLB1kvSiVs2su-o_beNLib6W3QSdjW2/w640-h360/20231230_213954.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>There wasn't a whole lot of sci-fi represented this year. In fact it was probably outnumbered by the normal animals I painted this year. Chances are 2024 will probably be similar, unless I really buckle down and get some more Stargrave minis knocked out. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UKdNU3udnUJ-ksaYBeijXLgoJOUg5LIpi6c6OIY_LayptBn8d8-FE6qyCjhleY3dRlQ650t2fxTKHYtvIHt-Z6vf2xJiffNKNNMx_pWanE4QbWhiSs-9-imNYEmreo68ueixqbIitTsJCL61RZEZlzWeGFzqHy2jyCnDsbpOt_dGu5PryNsOpeQ5/s4032/20231230_213905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2UKdNU3udnUJ-ksaYBeijXLgoJOUg5LIpi6c6OIY_LayptBn8d8-FE6qyCjhleY3dRlQ650t2fxTKHYtvIHt-Z6vf2xJiffNKNNMx_pWanE4QbWhiSs-9-imNYEmreo68ueixqbIitTsJCL61RZEZlzWeGFzqHy2jyCnDsbpOt_dGu5PryNsOpeQ5/w640-h360/20231230_213905.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Also underrepresented this year were undead. Only 2 skeletons painted (only one shown, the other joined the ranks of the Ed Sculpt legion at ReaperCon), which is less than the 3 from last year, and the 7 from the year before. I guess the massive amount of undead from 2020 has kept me off that bandwagon. </p><p>I've already blogged about most of the terrain, so I'm not going to focus too much on that, but I will say that I plan on making more of the alien jungle scatter terrain. I want to have a really nice looking set to play in. <br /></p><p>It's really too early to guess what the year will bring, but of the 5 minis currently on my painting desk, only 1 is from Reaper. While I have a LOT of Reaper minis, I do have a sizable pile of non-Reaper minis, and I've been very focused on Reaper minis with the Reaper Challenge League the last few years, and find myself wanting to work on stuff that isn't Reaper for a bit. <br /></p><p>I will say that I've got a couple of specific plans/goals/things I want to work on:<br />BFG Tau fleet<br />Frostgrave & Stargrave figures<br />LotR Sauron<br />Baba Yaga's Hut</p><p>We'll see what I actually tackle this year. <br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-31017483298113923512023-12-31T09:00:00.012-05:002023-12-31T09:00:00.133-05:00Dec ‘23 In Review<p>Well that went by in a whirlwind. The basement flooded, again. This time from the chimney, but we got that fixed. The toddler brought home a bug that the doctor said wasn’t COVID, the flu, strep, or RSV. Then I got it, and it knocked me down hard. 2 solid days spent in bed. The toddler is also pushing back on napping, which means I’m getting less time to work on my own projects. Add in to that all the holiday socializing… and sadly the New Year’s plans we had got canceled due to illness. <br /><br /><b>Gaming</b><br />With the holidays, there hasn’t been as much, and with my focus elsewhere I haven’t made it the priority to get in any mini gaming time this month. On top of that I've been so focused on Kalanzar (see below) and wrapping up the #dungeon23 that I didn't get as much session report writing done as I'd planned. <br /></p><p>Speaking of, my #dungeon 23 is complete. More thoughts on this later, but it was definitely a marathon. I haven't decided if I want to do something similar for next year yet. <br /><br /><b>Miniatures</b><br />Big focus this month was on completing Kalanzar the Wicked, and I did! But he’s gonna get his own post. Aside from him I also painted up a bunch of familiars, and did a little more work on the necromancer mini-diorama I’m putting together. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_7S4nyGJFF2ucWr__ODJImjb3T7hocwBjxz5NSSBWImW58qhm2nUceWBFK7YozVZWEB287dcddY4TE2o5yLP14ufP7YUe3IzRiqE3Ri9v3mQXy8CBJCspxUre2Y6PJpKYzUpWnAqEex6fL9SpE14Iv11fZ2lMx700PoRPqCnpwckI66HMJ6mU-y0/s1759/20231227_222935.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="1759" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_7S4nyGJFF2ucWr__ODJImjb3T7hocwBjxz5NSSBWImW58qhm2nUceWBFK7YozVZWEB287dcddY4TE2o5yLP14ufP7YUe3IzRiqE3Ri9v3mQXy8CBJCspxUre2Y6PJpKYzUpWnAqEex6fL9SpE14Iv11fZ2lMx700PoRPqCnpwckI66HMJ6mU-y0/w400-h300/20231227_222935.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><b>Media</b><br />The Expanse<br />A Year Without Santa Claus<br />Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials 1, 2, & 3<br />Fisk<br />Nimona<br /><br /><b>Goals for Jan</b><br />Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal <br />Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week. <br /><br /></p><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-71925779645152019042023-12-22T09:00:00.001-05:002023-12-22T09:00:00.135-05:00Rappan Athuk: Down the long dark road<p>Session was played on 3/26/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Continuing down, the party reaches the long passage to Rappan. A pair of moldy zombie horses stand quietly, waiting for direction.<br /><br />All is quiet, and the party makes use of the horses to help carry their extra supplies. Many hours later they reach a branching passage, and at the branch point is an inn, run by a roachkin named Urlouck. He provides some info on the 2 passages available but states that both end up at Rappan. The zombie horses stable themselves, and the roachkin offers to sell the party more magical hay to keep them going, as well as rooms to rest before pressing on the 40 more miles to Rappan. <br /><br />There are 2 decently sized rooms, and the party splits up so that everyone gets a bed. However they still set a watch in each room… which is good, because the rug in one room tries to eat Aroon and Marthek! Its hide was remarkably resistant to being stabbed, taking on an iron-like hardness. While badly mauled, Aroon and Marthek survive. <br /><br />The party gathers together to decide on how to deal with this. Death to the roachkin, obviously. Morgana makes Borumar invisible, and he scouts up to the roachkin’s room. Unfortunately as he sneaks the door open, the walking talking vermin tosses a vial of paralytic gas at the thief. <br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: Killer Rug <br />Losses: <br /> </p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-39503648322787010082023-12-18T09:00:00.006-05:002023-12-18T09:00:00.142-05:00Rappan Athuk: Back to the Mouth of Doom<p>Session was played on 3/19/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Heading out on the road to the Mouth of Doom, the party crosses paths with a group of Kobolds on the way to the keep. They chat briefly before moving on. Further down the road 8 promethean jumping spiders attack the party, surprising most of them. Borumar fumbles badly while Lor’Koth get bitten and suffers mightily from their venom. The spiders are killed, and Koltic heals LorKoth. <br /><br />At the Mouth of Doom the party negotiates safe passage through the resident Kobold lair down to the lower depths. A guide shows them the way, and ensures the party sticks to the agreed upon route. <br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: Promethean jumping spiders <br />Losses: <br /></p><hr /><p>I don't recall if it was just a short session, or if it was a lot of talking with the kobolds, but either way, I didn't write much down, so short session report. <br /></p>David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-52909925159056890542023-12-15T09:00:00.000-05:002023-12-15T09:00:00.131-05:00Rappan Athuk: Back at the castle Session was played on 3/12/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />The party takes the Lemon Mucker Ferry, crewed in part by the kobolds from Nick’s castle. Blotto sees something big in the water, tries to catch it using a dead pixie lure. He manages to catch a trout, but not the big fish he was after. He dives in after it, but doesn’t catch it. Nick needs to keep the kobolds from cutting Blotto’s line that kept him secured to the boat. <br /><br />On the way from the ferry landing to the castle, Nick gets an update on the goings on, including encounters with stirges, giant spiders, a lion, a troll, some bandits, and “the warlock” with some human henchman. Coming out of the trees Nick sees that the castle’s outer wall has been repaired, the trees cleared back 200’ at least from the walls, and crops have been planted in the cleared area. The kobolds are quick to show off all their hard work, including the construction and expansion of caves into the moat wall. <br /><br />Nick then checks in with Afrit the demon raven living in the tower. She has kept her word and not bothered the kobolds or their livestock. SHe reports that a troll nest is nearby, but not too near, and that the druid has been around, but again not too close or too recently. Nick and Afrit renew their bargain. <br /><br />Taking a tour of the kobold warrens includes a visit to the spidershepherd. Apparently the kobolds have captured and are collecting the silk from a giant spider!<br /><br />Within the castle is an invitation to the summer fete from the queen of the fairy court some 3 weeks hence. Nick signs the invite, and a pair of fairies appear and take his answer away.<br /><br /><br />David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-11439261030115623812023-12-11T09:00:00.003-05:002023-12-11T22:00:39.762-05:00Rappan Athuk: Rumors AboundSession was played on 3/5/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Thief (Josh)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Safely back at home, Morgana researches constructs, while Nick and Aroon visit the shrine of Mirna. Borumar and Jameth spend time recuperating. <br /><br />Nick’s rumor gathering revealed the following:<br />Don’t go down the well… you went down the well?!?<br />Hell’s own Coachman connects all local dungeons to Rappan <br />Zelkor fell down the well, and didn’t come back<br />The Mouth of Doom has 3 levels and connects to Rappan<br />There’s a man in a red/orange cloak who will have dinner with travelers and be gone by morning<br />There’s a gold mine in a cavern with a manmade river in it (pretty sure that’s where we were last session)<br />The lost army of Zar still haunts the Forest of Hope<br />The local necromancer hasn’t been around in a bit. <br /><br />Additionally Nick asks about other local spellcasters who might have created the golems down the well:<br />Glazarel - great local wizard who was going to build a tomb in the area<br />Koradel - Champion with a dragon, disappeared when the army of light was disbanded<br />Zelkor - worked for the army of light, disappeared<br />Priestess Akbeth - rumored to walk the halls of Rappan granting wishes and causing destruction in her wake.<br /><br />Nick also hires Sinnoth as a reve/sage from the shrine of Mirna to manage things at his castle.<br /><br />Morgana’s research reveals that Brass Golems are very powerful, healed and fueled by heat. Morgana then crafts a wand of dispel magic<br /> David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-60810383234714511512023-12-08T09:00:00.001-05:002023-12-08T09:00:00.135-05:00Rappan Athuk: Borumar gives a handSession was played on 2/13/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Fighter (Josh)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Morgana, Magic User (Rob)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Emerging from the tunnels into a large room with a pool filling much of it, the party is attacked by some wraiths, that Koltic easily turns, and then by a trio of displacer beasts that quickly appear to be over a dozen! Combat is insanely unproductive as illusionary beasts keep being dispelled while the real ones keep doing some damage…. Until they run away…<br /><br />As a Beholder drops from the ceiling above the pool!! Everyone runs in terror, and Morgana tosses a fireball at it, praying the central eye isn’t looking. It goes off with a bigger than expected BOOM, leaving nothing behind. <br /><br />At the far end of the room is a steep cliff, and at the bottom are chunks of gold! Borumar quickly sets up some ropes, and heads down. On the far wall at the bottom of the cliff are 3 holes, each with a lever inside. As Lor’Koth begins picking out the biggest chunks of gold to collect, Borumar reaches into the middle hole, and grabs the level, and his hand is cut off. The screaming is loud, but Koltic at least stops the bleeding, even if he can’t replace the hand right away. Nick tests the left hole with his 10’ pole, and the end of it is chopped off. He then fashions a loop of rope on the end to grab the lever on the right, which opens a door in the wall. <br /><br />Morgana uses her headband to check down the passage which opens up into a room with 4 brass statues. She uses DIspel Magic, which makes the statues grumpy, but also kills the illusion on the gold rocks. Not wanting to crawl back through the tunnels, Morgana uses her teleportation ritual to get everyone home. <br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: displacer beast, blast spore<br />Losses: <br /> David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8935997561931650289.post-75521563469022425102023-12-04T09:00:00.001-05:002023-12-04T09:00:00.154-05:00Rapan Athuk: Down the Well... Session was played on 1/30/23<br /><br />Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)<br />Borumar, ½ Orc Fighter (Josh)<br />Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)<br />Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)<br />Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)<br />Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)<br />Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)<br /><br />Nick and Jameth find weapon masters and successfully train, while Aroon and his teacher don’t get along. Koltic sets up a brewery in the castle and gets some decent results after a couple week’s efforts. <br /><br />Swinging by town for any news or rumors, but nothing worthwhile to be noted. <br /><br />To the graveyard, the party finds 9 fresh plots, 1 empty grave with the headstone inscribed for Borumar “May He Rest Well”<br /><br />Heading to the mausoleum with the key in hand, they see 8 gargoyles perched above the door. Lacking any real offensive ranged abilities, they keep their distance, and settle on exploiting the well, rather than face the gargoyles. <br /><br />Setting up the rope, Blotto heads down first, followed by Borumar and Nick. At the bottom of the well is a watery middle and a pair of passages heading out to either direction, both slightly above the water. Stirges emerge from one! Nick gets bitten and ends up flailing around with it in the shallow water while Blotto and Borumar cut down the other. <br /><br />The rest of the party make it down the rope, and as soon as the start heading down one of the passages, they feel an oppressive weight bearing down on them. Lor’Koth, Jameth, and Koltic are visibly shaken by the feeling, but Nick manages to convince everyone to press on a little further. Blotto makes a hat from a stirge body. <br /><br />As they literally crawl through the passage, some rats start coming for the party. In such tight quarters even Blotto was feeling nervous about being unable to defend against the rats, but Koltic used his Book of Yg to summon snakes to come and eat the rats, which they did!<br /><br />Gains: <br />Kills: Stirges, rats<br />Losses: <br /> David The Archmagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.com0