November '23 in review

Early in the month I came down with another damned cold. Time was additionally taken up by both holiday travel and a work trip down to DC. All in all it was not a super productive month for much of anything except getting a bunch of session reports written


Gaming
I ran out of time this month for the Stargrave Hope Eternal campaign, but did play a few sessions of the Savage Worlds Necessary Evil campaign, and in the Stonehell game my players managed to take the dwarven hermitage and capture the evil artifact Gloom Crown. I was DESPERATELY hoping they'd keep their word and give it to the dark elves, and the chaos that would cause, but they've locked it up and are looking for a way to destroy it.... So now I need to come up with a quest for them to do just that. 

My #Dungeon23 is about a week behind where I should be. I've run into a bit of a mental problem with the current level. The dungeon has reached hell, and with all the real hellish things going on in the world, I have no stomach for making the level as evil as I'd started out thinking I would. It's rather cartoonish at this point, and I need to rework some things to get it where I want it, so I'm behind. I will catch up soon, and plan on wrapping up the year and my 365th room on 12/31!

Miniatures
My focus this month was on a couple of bigger projects, so not as much was completed as in most months. What I did manage to complete this month were a big brown bear, a gnome on a turkey, and an orc sorceress.

In progress I’ve got a big red dragon, a lich on a throne, and a necromancer raising a zombie. The most progress has been on the dragon that I need to get done by the end of the year, but even that has been kinda slow going. It took a while and a couple of false starts to find the right base colors for the body and wings, but then in working on highlighting the scales I’m worried that it’ll stop looking like a red dragon. I’m pressing on at this point. I can always glaze over it with a rich vibrant red later to tone down the yellow-orange highlights if I decide I don’t like it in the end.

 

On top of these, I also have been pushing some greenstuff around. I have some old minis that were missing parts, and I wanted to get them whole, so I sculpted a new claw for the dire badger and new eyestalks for the carrion crawler. And because I mixed up too much, I also made 5 worm things that I didn’t have a specific plan for. After I thought that I could make them baby carrion crawlers, so I've been attempting to make tentacles for them, with some success.

Media
Star Trek Lower Decks Season 4
Loki
Nightmare Before Christmas
Great British Bakeoff
Quiz Lady
No Hard Feelings
Baby J Comedy Special
Jumanji 

Jumanji

Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse


Goals for Dec
Play scenario 3 for Hope Eternal
Try to get at least 2 session reports written per week.

Finish the dragon

Rappan Athuk: Unwelcoming Trolls

Session was played on 1/22/23

Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Borumar, ½ Orc Fighter (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)

Wanting to avoid any more encounters with the bug people, the party heads down in the direction of where the Orcus priest was going/coming from. At the end of the passage was a door, and silence beyond. Borumar checks it and says it’s clear, and unlocks it. Beyond is a disused steeped welcoming hall.

Within the hall were three trolls! Angry trolls. Trolls big and mean enough to quickly drop both Borumar and Lt. Marthek. Blotto manages to hook one with his fishing pole(arm) but the troll just pulls Blotto in by the line and takes a bite out of him. Lor’Koth manages to take one out at the knees, while Aroon shoves his sword through the head of another, while Nick uses his spear to pin the 3rd down until everyone else could finish it off. Koltic was quick with the healing, and the oil to burn the bodies was applied almost as quickly.

Gathering the troll’s somewhat meager treasure (pocket change and a fancy necklace) the party makes for the surface and home.

Gains: necklace, and gold coins
Kills: 3 trolls
Losses:

Rappan Athuk: Insect-People Bug Us

Session was played on 1/15/23

Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Blotto, Goblin (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)

Koltic’s stills continue to produce the good stuff (healing potions) while Blotto works with Morgana to design a fishing pond for her grounds.

Back to the dungeon, and down to level 2 without encounter. At the bottom of the stairs a man and a woman rearing ratty clothing and crowns demand a toll. Nick is willing to pay a little, tossing one of the jet colored gems to them. They demand more, and Nick refuses. Then the rats attack, while the rat king and queen escape. After finishing off the rats and rescuing Jameth who got cut off from the rest of the party in the melee, they continue back down to the corpse of the purple worm.

A pair of insect-like humanoids are carving up the corpse. Their bright orange eyes send Nick nuts, and he attacks his fellows. The rest of the party piles onto him holding him down until the madness passes. The insect-people otherwise ignore the party.

Moving away from the corpse of the worm, and the weird insect people, the party stumbles on a small group of orcs, one in priestly garments. The priest casts Hold on Marthek, chanting about the power of Orcus. The fight goes poorly for the orcs.

The party continues on, away from the worm and the tunnel the orcs were heading toward, and run into 2 more of the insect-people. Koltic and Marthek both charge in in a maddened rage, the rest of the party follows. The insect people were much tougher than the orcs, but they’re eventually killed. Each had a single gem on them. Searching these bodies reminded the party that they failed to loot the orc bodies, so they back tracked to do that, collecting some fancy unholy symbols that could be melted down and sold.

Gains: 2 gems, unholy symbols of orcus, unholy water
Kills: orc priest of orcus, orcs, 2 insect-people
Losses:

Rappan Athuk: Beware the Purple Worms

Session was played on 1/8/23

Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Borumar ½ Orc Thief 9 (Josh) & Fido
Karl, Dwarf (Julia)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)
Lt. Marthek, Fighter (NPC)

Borumar spends his downtime looking for a dagger master to train with, while Koltic brews more of the good stuff. Nick goes on the hunt for a wizard to assist in exploring the dungeon, and finds Mithrandir who demands a full share of treasure, and 150gp retainer.

Back to the graveyard, and the mausoleum is guarded by 4 gargoyles. Borumar fireballs the top, injuring them, but Lor’Koth is grabbed, and lifted off the ground. Jameth and Aroon grab his legs and keep the gargoyle from lifting him away, giving the rest of the party a chance to finish them off. They collect 6 gems from the corpse’s eyes.

Using the key, they enter and make their way along down to the long hallways with the doors, and check out the 3 missed doors from last time.

10. A gnawed human arm is knifed to the back of the door, and 16 dead rats litter the floor.
8. Borumar isn’t able to pick the lock so Karl bashes the door open. Within are piles of smashed crates in a dirt packed room. Borumar finds a large grey potion (stone to fleshx4).
9. 11 rat skeletons, and stairs down. The party goes down the stairs.

The stairs end in a massive cavern with bats flitting about overhead. Not too far ahead was a sign 

“Beware the purple worms, Smigol the Archmage”

Passing the sign, the party is, shockingly, attacked by a purple worm, and Borumar is swallowed! Then so is Karl. Everyone throws everything they’ve got at the giant vermin, and they kill it, and cut Borumar and Karl out and Koltic heals them up as much as he can… enough to get them standing anyway. As the creature is dead, and cut open anyway, they cut down to the gullet and retrieve the corpse of an adventurer with a full suit of plate mail and a backpack full of treasure.

Calling that good enough, the party heads home.

Gains: 1500gp, jeweled collar, +1 plate mail, bag of devouring, potion of stone to flesh x4
Kills: Purple Worm
Losses:
 

Rappan Athuk: Behind the doors

Session was played on 1/2/23

Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Borumar ½ Orc Thief 9 (Josh) & Fido
Karl, Dwarf (Julia)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)

Heading south to a T intersection, the west passage is short and has the chalk outline of a door on the far end. Amazingly it shows the location of a secret door (thanks previous adventurer!) that opens up into a rough passage with some ghouls inside. Koltic destroys some, and we slam the door closed.

Continuing down the hall, we encounter a LOT of doors…

1. Rat Carnage! 3 big ones, lots of parts of small ones
2. Old wood and tools for making coffins, a chest with 10,000 rusty nails
3. An animated broom and a big well swept pile of trash. Borumar figures out how the broom activates. Inventively, it’s saying “sweep”
4. Four ogres, Karl says “sweep” causing Borumar to get dragged about. After slaying the ogres a ghoul shows up (Player Note: I have no memory of where the ghoul came from) and says “you’re not worthy yet”
5. Ogre Den, polar bear skin rug (kinda far south for that, aren’t we?) a silver 2 handed sword, keg of wine, and a couple of potions are found in the mess.
6. A note that says “took the door for cleaning, be back soon” Beyond the note is another door, made of gold covered in runes. Aroon takes some rubbings of the door’s runes.
7. Dirt floor, smashed door, musty and unstable looking.
8. Locked, good quality lock
9. Locked, excellent quality lock
10. Locked, good quality lock
11. Dude ranting about orcus behind a curtain. When we knock he throws jars of green slime, one hits Jameth, and another hits Aroon. Nick and Koltic tackle the dude, and uses “cure disease” and “remove curse” and the dude passes out. Searching the room, we find a rat tooth necklace, flees, a key, ceramic jars of green slime, a gold bar, a spell book, and a beaver pelt.

After the dude takes his nap, he wakes up and tells us he’s Lt. Marthek from the army of light who was cursed by the cultists of Orcus.

The party collects themselves and they head for the surface, interrupted by a ghoul attack. They kill them off and make it safely back to the keep

Gains: gold bar, spell book, potions, silver edged 2 handed sword, Lt. Marthek
Kills: ghouls, ogres
Losses:

Minis: Man at Arms & Weird West Oz Scarecrow

While thematically these are very different minis, I used basically the same colors on both, painted them at the same time, so you get them together. Also, I didn't really take any good WIP pics, so you get final pics plus some description of what I did.  

First up, the Reaper miniatures henchman. I love the old school simplicity of this guy, and in keeping with the sculpt, I wanted to keep the paint job simple, but I also wanted it to be a little brighter than I usually go for. 

Next up is the scarecrow. I wanted to really lean into the creepy with this figure, and I think I pulled it off. It's funny how even using the same colors there's nothing cheerful or bright about this guy. Granted the sculpt helps a lot, but especially on the coat, minimizing the areas of highlight and leaving more shadowed areas really makes a difference. 

The greens and browns on both minis are going to look familiar, as I used the same base colored for these figures as I did for the plant folk in the last mini post, wilderness green, highlighted up with candlelight yellow, and russet brown. The design on the shield is the same candlelight yellow. 

I used reapers Pathfinder reds, starting with the asmodeus red as the base, and using the seoni scarlet to highlight it. 

The black on each is Carbon Grey given a black wash

The wood and bones on the scarecrow were a mishmash of colors starting with a base of russet brown with various hints of other colors added in to get different shades. 

The metallics all started with a base of stynylrez metal tone primer, and then brought up with shadowed steel or old bronze. Most of it was then hit with a wash of black, and a tighter highlight to pick up the details. 

Rappan Athuk: Black Bones and Rot Grubs

Session was played on 1/1/23

Nick, Fighter 7 (Me)
Borumar ½ Orc Thief 9 (Josh) & Fido
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 5 (NPC)


Player’s Note: I took very sparse notes this session, and don’t really remember what happened 11 months later, so… enjoy!

Checked the SW door in the corridor

5 Black Skeletons! Aroon, & Jameth fail their fear saving throws

Coffin Room - Rotting corpse of a small humanoid next to the coffin. In the coffin is the body of a human female in chainmail. Borumar checks it, and gets attacked by rot grubs. The inside of the coffin is purged with fire. 120gp collected from the ashes.


Gains: pocket change
Kills: black skeletons, rot grubs
Losses: