Alianora’s scalp bled, the blood soaking in her hair, and flowed down her face, over her clenched eyes. Rathgar, Nimble, Feris, and Selina all felt slightly less exhausted, less achy as the next wave of goblinoids jumped down from the ruins of the old fort.
“How long can you keep this up?” Rathgar asked pulling his sword from the chest of a goblin.
Nimble’s dagger lodged firmly in the skull of the goblin that was heading right for her. The lifeless body dropping at her feet.
“Not long!”
1st level Cleric Spell
Thorny Crown of the Seven Pointed Star
Range: 30’
Duration: varies
Effect Area heal effect
This spell will allow the cleric to heal 1 point of damage to 1d6+1 individuals within 30’. On a roll of 7 the caster may spend 1hp to use the effect for an additional round. The caster may also sacrifice hit points on a 1:1 basis to fuel the spell up to 7, however the caster must sacrifice all the way to 7. The cleric cannot benefit from the healing of their own casting of the spell.
(i.e. if the caster chooses, rolling a 5 would require the sacrifice of 3 HP, 2 to get to 7 and 1 for the roll next round)
Rules Cyclopedia D&D doesn't really have a good low level healing aura type spell, and one of the players playing a cleric asked for one. I think this offers a nice balance between healing and potentially hurting. It'll be interesting to see how it plays in game.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
5e: Death From Above!
From: Sir Fulhoff of Clan Balderk, Knight of Hawk’s Nest, War Mage
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk
Mother and Father:
Heading out of Yartar, we discuss what our strategy is going to be, and most of the party wants to head up to Old Snarl to pay our respects, and maybe get a little more help. For my part, dealing with dragons is never a good idea. Dealing with an ancient red dragon is an even worse idea, but we did agree, as part of our use of the airship, that we would visit.
If you’ve heard stories of Klauth, then you’ve heard that he is not only ancient, but bigger than maybe any other dragon on Faerun? The tales do not begin to even come close to accurately portraying the sheer power and awesome majesty of that being. Also the annoyance that we had not yet completed our quest. I think what kept us from becoming a snack was that we did at least have some information that he didn’t have, namely that Imyrith is working with Slarkrethel. That seemed to intrigue him. His advice was simply “don’t die.”
Departing Klauth’s domain, we headed for Waterdeep, resupplied and stocked up on things we thought would be helpful for a sea battle. Our efforts to find out more about the Kraken Society and their activities were ineffective, but the one bit of luck turned out to be the journal we’d taken from Lord Drylund. While we’d had no luck deciphering the code, a contact of the Grey Hand was able to figure some of it out, including the phrase “purple islands.” We’d heard that name before, and checking through our assorted goods in the bag of holding, pulled out an old map of them. Since we were in Waterdeep, we contacted a local cartographer and acquired a more up to date chart. This in hand, we set off.
The flight out from Waterdeep was cool, cloudy, and wet. Thankfully it was a calm sort of wet, but bone chilling. On the 4th day out, we spotted the islands… and then we saw it, the Morkoth. Distinctively squid shaped with an open hold containing a chain bound storm giant. Thankfully our arrival by air meant we hadn’t been spotted. We followed the Morkoth from above, spying on it for the rest of the day, the night, and in the first light of day, dropped down upon them.
Joda summoned a cloud from the Astorian Fan, and we dropped down to the ship. Bran and I hopped off at the crows nest, startling a sleeping watchman, and silencing him before he could make a sound. I then summoned a storm over the stern of the ship, while Hilda dropped down into the bow swinging her sword at the sailors there. Joda leaps down onto the giant and inspects the chains. Aramil tries to dispel the magic on the chains, but their enchantments are too strong. Joda fails to break any of them.
Finally shaking off the shock of the assault, the sailors retaliate. The commanding officer shoots at Joda with a crossbow, but Joda catches the bolt, and throws it back at the half orc. Hilda and Rin are swarmed by sailors, but they’re mostly irritating rather than dangerous. Rin tosses a few of them overboard. From the storm, I lightning bolt the crossbow wielding half orc, who is now joined by a spellcaster. I counterspell the invulnerability spell he was trying to cast, and then drop an acid sphere on the stern. The wizard goes invisible….
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk
Mother and Father:
Heading out of Yartar, we discuss what our strategy is going to be, and most of the party wants to head up to Old Snarl to pay our respects, and maybe get a little more help. For my part, dealing with dragons is never a good idea. Dealing with an ancient red dragon is an even worse idea, but we did agree, as part of our use of the airship, that we would visit.
If you’ve heard stories of Klauth, then you’ve heard that he is not only ancient, but bigger than maybe any other dragon on Faerun? The tales do not begin to even come close to accurately portraying the sheer power and awesome majesty of that being. Also the annoyance that we had not yet completed our quest. I think what kept us from becoming a snack was that we did at least have some information that he didn’t have, namely that Imyrith is working with Slarkrethel. That seemed to intrigue him. His advice was simply “don’t die.”
Departing Klauth’s domain, we headed for Waterdeep, resupplied and stocked up on things we thought would be helpful for a sea battle. Our efforts to find out more about the Kraken Society and their activities were ineffective, but the one bit of luck turned out to be the journal we’d taken from Lord Drylund. While we’d had no luck deciphering the code, a contact of the Grey Hand was able to figure some of it out, including the phrase “purple islands.” We’d heard that name before, and checking through our assorted goods in the bag of holding, pulled out an old map of them. Since we were in Waterdeep, we contacted a local cartographer and acquired a more up to date chart. This in hand, we set off.
The flight out from Waterdeep was cool, cloudy, and wet. Thankfully it was a calm sort of wet, but bone chilling. On the 4th day out, we spotted the islands… and then we saw it, the Morkoth. Distinctively squid shaped with an open hold containing a chain bound storm giant. Thankfully our arrival by air meant we hadn’t been spotted. We followed the Morkoth from above, spying on it for the rest of the day, the night, and in the first light of day, dropped down upon them.
Joda summoned a cloud from the Astorian Fan, and we dropped down to the ship. Bran and I hopped off at the crows nest, startling a sleeping watchman, and silencing him before he could make a sound. I then summoned a storm over the stern of the ship, while Hilda dropped down into the bow swinging her sword at the sailors there. Joda leaps down onto the giant and inspects the chains. Aramil tries to dispel the magic on the chains, but their enchantments are too strong. Joda fails to break any of them.
Finally shaking off the shock of the assault, the sailors retaliate. The commanding officer shoots at Joda with a crossbow, but Joda catches the bolt, and throws it back at the half orc. Hilda and Rin are swarmed by sailors, but they’re mostly irritating rather than dangerous. Rin tosses a few of them overboard. From the storm, I lightning bolt the crossbow wielding half orc, who is now joined by a spellcaster. I counterspell the invulnerability spell he was trying to cast, and then drop an acid sphere on the stern. The wizard goes invisible….
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Undead of October part 8
Jokes On You
I’ve been poking at Hecklemeyer and Styx for a while now, and I think I’ve reached the “it ain’t gonna get better than this” stage. The color pallet has been very limited. Nightshade Black, Linen White, Dirty Bone, Yellowed Bone, Succubus Kiss, Fresh Blood, Pumpkin Orange, Sun Yellow, Oh, and just a tiny bit of blue for the puppet tied to his leg. Okay, maybe not all that limited.
Once I decided I was done with painting it was time to do the base. I popped Styx off of his base, and positioned him a bit to see where I thought he’d look good. I then rolled out some greenstuff, stuck Styx in, and started sculpting the floor tiles. As usual I used Brown Liner as the primer, and then went with my standard Redstone Shadow, Stone Grey, Linen White base.
Also, I realized I never posted the finished Bone Fiend, so here it is.
And with that, my Undead of October Project is finally complete!
I’ve been poking at Hecklemeyer and Styx for a while now, and I think I’ve reached the “it ain’t gonna get better than this” stage. The color pallet has been very limited. Nightshade Black, Linen White, Dirty Bone, Yellowed Bone, Succubus Kiss, Fresh Blood, Pumpkin Orange, Sun Yellow, Oh, and just a tiny bit of blue for the puppet tied to his leg. Okay, maybe not all that limited.
Once I decided I was done with painting it was time to do the base. I popped Styx off of his base, and positioned him a bit to see where I thought he’d look good. I then rolled out some greenstuff, stuck Styx in, and started sculpting the floor tiles. As usual I used Brown Liner as the primer, and then went with my standard Redstone Shadow, Stone Grey, Linen White base.
Also, I realized I never posted the finished Bone Fiend, so here it is.
And with that, my Undead of October Project is finally complete!
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
Fulhoff's Fellow Adventurers part 3
A minor update on the minis.
I did some work on their bases to bring them up to match those of the rest of the party, and then did some minor detail work. The monk's wrist wraps I did in blue and silver, and the leg and feet wraps in Earth Brown.
Xanathar is unimpressed with being ignored in favor of these twerps.
I did some work on their bases to bring them up to match those of the rest of the party, and then did some minor detail work. The monk's wrist wraps I did in blue and silver, and the leg and feet wraps in Earth Brown.
Xanathar is unimpressed with being ignored in favor of these twerps.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
DCC: Dire Turkey
"This isn't a joke!" The farmer's face contorted as embarrassment, fear, and desperation flashed rapidly across it.
"Where did it come from?"
"A druid came through a couple of weeks ago. When he demanded I let him sleep in my barn I asked for something in return... he offered to bless my harvest feast bird... to make it the biggest bird the hamlet had ever seen and to make its flesh rich and wonderful." He paused. "In hindsight I should probably have just let him stay without bother."
"That would have been wiser." Rathgar sighed. "So where is this overgrown turkey?"
"Its been in the pumpkin field since yesterday." He said pointing off to the north. "Blake's boy went out to shoot it last evening. He only riled it up, and..." He gulped. "His body is still out in the field."
Dire Turkey: Init +2; Atk bite +9 melee (2d6) or claw +9 melee (2d6); AC17; HD 7d10; MV 30', fly 15'; Act 1d20; SV Fort+7, Ref +8, Will +0; AL N.
The dire turkey is a stupid and overly territorial bird. It's primary attack is pecking the target and flinging it into the air. On a successful attack that is 4+ over the target's AC, a medium sized opponent will be thrown in a random direction 1d12 feet and take an additional 1d6 damage. Small opponents will be thrown 3d6 feet and take an addition 2d4 damage.
A Dire Turkey may also perform a kick attack. Opponents hit with the feet must make a saving throw vs petrification or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. Opponents wearing a helm get a +2 to the saving throw.
Dire Turkey meat is highly prized and will fetch a good price if the market is available for it. A full grown dire turkey can easily fetch in excess of 75gp in a large village.
Image Source: Monster Turkey by Tenshi3D
"Where did it come from?"
"A druid came through a couple of weeks ago. When he demanded I let him sleep in my barn I asked for something in return... he offered to bless my harvest feast bird... to make it the biggest bird the hamlet had ever seen and to make its flesh rich and wonderful." He paused. "In hindsight I should probably have just let him stay without bother."
"That would have been wiser." Rathgar sighed. "So where is this overgrown turkey?"
"Its been in the pumpkin field since yesterday." He said pointing off to the north. "Blake's boy went out to shoot it last evening. He only riled it up, and..." He gulped. "His body is still out in the field."
Dire Turkey: Init +2; Atk bite +9 melee (2d6) or claw +9 melee (2d6); AC17; HD 7d10; MV 30', fly 15'; Act 1d20; SV Fort+7, Ref +8, Will +0; AL N.
The dire turkey is a stupid and overly territorial bird. It's primary attack is pecking the target and flinging it into the air. On a successful attack that is 4+ over the target's AC, a medium sized opponent will be thrown in a random direction 1d12 feet and take an additional 1d6 damage. Small opponents will be thrown 3d6 feet and take an addition 2d4 damage.
A Dire Turkey may also perform a kick attack. Opponents hit with the feet must make a saving throw vs petrification or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. Opponents wearing a helm get a +2 to the saving throw.
Dire Turkey meat is highly prized and will fetch a good price if the market is available for it. A full grown dire turkey can easily fetch in excess of 75gp in a large village.
Image Source: Monster Turkey by Tenshi3D
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
5e: Kraken Heads in Yartar
From: Sir Fulhoff of Clan Balderk, Knight of Hawk’s Nest, War Mage
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk
Mother and Father:
On the way to Yartar we discussed what it was we wanted to accomplish. Our main objective was to get information: find out who killed the Giant Queen (and why) and what happened to the Giant King. Amazingly this is when the rest of the party thought a night raid was the plan to go with.
A night raid… onto a casino barge… full of the rich and powerful of Yartar… I pointed out the flaws of this plan, and managed to talk them out of it. We were then rudely interrupted by some random woman who strolled into the cabin who initially introduced herself as Phyllis, then later as Laura?
One downside to having become famous is that we’ve started attracting fanbois and girls. I worry that this might be letting our enemies know what we’re up to, but thankfully the bards are getting it so mixed up that it’ll be hard for them to get coherent info out of the stories.
Another downside is that our fans are just as misinformed. Druid-girl was completely focused on burning down the barge and then swimming away with Lord Drylund that we had to sit her in the corner and tell her to shut up or we’d toss her overboard. Which is honestly not much of a threat to someone who can turn into a bird….
Arriving in Yartar with a fair amount of fanfair (flying ships tend to attract a bit of attention), we split up to see what we could see…
Aramil got in with the local musicians, and got himself booked on the Golden Goose after sharing more stories of our travels. As usual Thorin was the hero of the stories.
Joda and Hilda visited Bidet at the Winking Clam, ‘hideout’ of the Hand of Yartar. They learned a bit more info about Lord Drylund and Pau Ming, but little we hadn’t guessed already. Then they went shopping Hilda ended up the fanciest dressed Barbarian ever! Complete with expensive and gaudy jewelry.
Meanwhile I went about town in my gaudiest outfit, splashing petty magic and coin around with abandon. The best way to get someone’s attention is to be obvious about it. Especially when that person craves money and power… I also bought and used some very expensive incense to cast Legend Lore seeking info about “Lord Usland” who was Lady Italia’s contact person… and the spell provided only a single lyric, being sung by Aramil “And Thorin Slayed the Aboleth…”
….
Aramil’s stint on the boat was mostly a success. He managed to get the attention of Pau Ming, but his performance of “I’m on a boat” was an even bigger hit that “The Thorin Chronicles.” Oh, and the druid did some sneaking about, and discovered that Lord Drylund has a pet octopus named Squishy and a headache problem. Thankfully he didn’t burn the boat down while everyone was on it.
The next day I sent an embossed invitation for Lord Drylund to visit our skyship at his convenience. It wasn’t even 2 hours before he was on the pier. While providing a tour, we took flight, so as to provide the best view of Yartar. It also had the advantage of removing him from his guards and his pet wizard. We confronted him with the coin found on the Giant Queen’s corpse and made it clear that he had one chance to fess up. The druid tried to summon a thunderstorm, but I countered her interruption. She stormed out of the cabin in a huff, and summoned it anyway. She then dropped a lightning bolt next to his ship, and then one onto the mast. He explained that he was a member of the Kraken society, and they killed the queen and kidnapped the king and had him on a ship in the trackless sea named the Morkoth. Sadly that was all we got out of him, as his eyes bulged and he started to foam at the mouth. I tried to dispel whatever was affecting him, while Joda tried some healing magic. Whatever curse was upon him was beyond our magics, and he collapsed dead to the deck.
Deciding to make the best of a bad situation, Bran used the hat of disguise to make himself appear as Lord Drylund, even going so far as to don his shoes! We returned to the river and “Lord Drylund” stormed off our ship and onto the Golden Goose…. Where he was promptly stuck by a bolt of lightning that left behind only a pair of shoes!
Bran safely Thunder stepped back onto our ship, and cast Speak with Dead on the corpse. Bran asked him about the cypher for the journal we stole last time, but he was uncooperative about how to break it. We asked about Lady Italia, but he dismissed her as being of little importance. We then asked about the name “Slarkrethel” which is apparently the name of the Kraken who founded the society. Bran lops off Lord Drylund’s head, and drops it in a pickle jar, while we feed the body to the fire elemental.
I burned another several sticks of incense and cast Legend Lore, hoping for a better result than my previous attempt! It was certainly more informative. This ancient beast is also a powerful wizard, the Chosen of Umberlee (the Bitch Queen Sea Goddess herself), founder of the Kraken Society, and seeking a path to godhood, and lairs in some great ruined city somewhere under the trackless sea.
Because of course it does…
We pay our respects to the Waterbaron, and then depart Yartar, never again to return to its cursed riverbanks (until the next time we return), and set sail for Waterdeep, leaving the fangirl druid to hunt around for Lady Italia in Yartar’s sewers.
Current Quests
Find the Storm Giant King aboard the Morkoth on the Trackless Sea
Iymrith the Ancient
Slarkrethel & the Kraken Society
Loose Threads
Jeff the guard, abandoned in Everland
Old Gnawbone - wishes she could transform into an elf
Eraglass the Sage - Missing?
Old Snarl
Completed Quests:
Yartar (yet again) - Lord Dryland (deceased, head pickled)
Coup in the Court of the Hill Giants
Eye of the Allfather in the Valley of Kadroon
Find Harshnag
Highdale/Westfelds necromatic curse - Mountaintop Crypt
The Silver Hook adventuring party
Mt. Black
HawksNest Payroll
Zymorvan Giantslayer (Yartar…. again)
Aboleth of Yartar
Defended Goldenfields
Well of Victory
Orcs of the Ardeep Forest
Nightstone (again)
Tomb of Darshin Hammerheart
Grey Hand
Zathros Zethros, Cloud Giant
Nightstone
To: Helja and Adrik of Clan Balderk
Mother and Father:
On the way to Yartar we discussed what it was we wanted to accomplish. Our main objective was to get information: find out who killed the Giant Queen (and why) and what happened to the Giant King. Amazingly this is when the rest of the party thought a night raid was the plan to go with.
A night raid… onto a casino barge… full of the rich and powerful of Yartar… I pointed out the flaws of this plan, and managed to talk them out of it. We were then rudely interrupted by some random woman who strolled into the cabin who initially introduced herself as Phyllis, then later as Laura?
One downside to having become famous is that we’ve started attracting fanbois and girls. I worry that this might be letting our enemies know what we’re up to, but thankfully the bards are getting it so mixed up that it’ll be hard for them to get coherent info out of the stories.
Another downside is that our fans are just as misinformed. Druid-girl was completely focused on burning down the barge and then swimming away with Lord Drylund that we had to sit her in the corner and tell her to shut up or we’d toss her overboard. Which is honestly not much of a threat to someone who can turn into a bird….
Arriving in Yartar with a fair amount of fanfair (flying ships tend to attract a bit of attention), we split up to see what we could see…
Aramil got in with the local musicians, and got himself booked on the Golden Goose after sharing more stories of our travels. As usual Thorin was the hero of the stories.
Joda and Hilda visited Bidet at the Winking Clam, ‘hideout’ of the Hand of Yartar. They learned a bit more info about Lord Drylund and Pau Ming, but little we hadn’t guessed already. Then they went shopping Hilda ended up the fanciest dressed Barbarian ever! Complete with expensive and gaudy jewelry.
Meanwhile I went about town in my gaudiest outfit, splashing petty magic and coin around with abandon. The best way to get someone’s attention is to be obvious about it. Especially when that person craves money and power… I also bought and used some very expensive incense to cast Legend Lore seeking info about “Lord Usland” who was Lady Italia’s contact person… and the spell provided only a single lyric, being sung by Aramil “And Thorin Slayed the Aboleth…”
….
Aramil’s stint on the boat was mostly a success. He managed to get the attention of Pau Ming, but his performance of “I’m on a boat” was an even bigger hit that “The Thorin Chronicles.” Oh, and the druid did some sneaking about, and discovered that Lord Drylund has a pet octopus named Squishy and a headache problem. Thankfully he didn’t burn the boat down while everyone was on it.
The next day I sent an embossed invitation for Lord Drylund to visit our skyship at his convenience. It wasn’t even 2 hours before he was on the pier. While providing a tour, we took flight, so as to provide the best view of Yartar. It also had the advantage of removing him from his guards and his pet wizard. We confronted him with the coin found on the Giant Queen’s corpse and made it clear that he had one chance to fess up. The druid tried to summon a thunderstorm, but I countered her interruption. She stormed out of the cabin in a huff, and summoned it anyway. She then dropped a lightning bolt next to his ship, and then one onto the mast. He explained that he was a member of the Kraken society, and they killed the queen and kidnapped the king and had him on a ship in the trackless sea named the Morkoth. Sadly that was all we got out of him, as his eyes bulged and he started to foam at the mouth. I tried to dispel whatever was affecting him, while Joda tried some healing magic. Whatever curse was upon him was beyond our magics, and he collapsed dead to the deck.
Deciding to make the best of a bad situation, Bran used the hat of disguise to make himself appear as Lord Drylund, even going so far as to don his shoes! We returned to the river and “Lord Drylund” stormed off our ship and onto the Golden Goose…. Where he was promptly stuck by a bolt of lightning that left behind only a pair of shoes!
Bran safely Thunder stepped back onto our ship, and cast Speak with Dead on the corpse. Bran asked him about the cypher for the journal we stole last time, but he was uncooperative about how to break it. We asked about Lady Italia, but he dismissed her as being of little importance. We then asked about the name “Slarkrethel” which is apparently the name of the Kraken who founded the society. Bran lops off Lord Drylund’s head, and drops it in a pickle jar, while we feed the body to the fire elemental.
I burned another several sticks of incense and cast Legend Lore, hoping for a better result than my previous attempt! It was certainly more informative. This ancient beast is also a powerful wizard, the Chosen of Umberlee (the Bitch Queen Sea Goddess herself), founder of the Kraken Society, and seeking a path to godhood, and lairs in some great ruined city somewhere under the trackless sea.
Because of course it does…
We pay our respects to the Waterbaron, and then depart Yartar, never again to return to its cursed riverbanks (until the next time we return), and set sail for Waterdeep, leaving the fangirl druid to hunt around for Lady Italia in Yartar’s sewers.
Current Quests
Find the Storm Giant King aboard the Morkoth on the Trackless Sea
Iymrith the Ancient
Slarkrethel & the Kraken Society
Loose Threads
Jeff the guard, abandoned in Everland
Old Gnawbone - wishes she could transform into an elf
Eraglass the Sage - Missing?
Old Snarl
Completed Quests:
Yartar (yet again) - Lord Dryland (deceased, head pickled)
Coup in the Court of the Hill Giants
Eye of the Allfather in the Valley of Kadroon
Find Harshnag
Highdale/Westfelds necromatic curse - Mountaintop Crypt
The Silver Hook adventuring party
Mt. Black
HawksNest Payroll
Zymorvan Giantslayer (Yartar…. again)
Aboleth of Yartar
Defended Goldenfields
Well of Victory
Orcs of the Ardeep Forest
Nightstone (again)
Tomb of Darshin Hammerheart
Grey Hand
Zathros Zethros, Cloud Giant
Nightstone
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