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Showing posts with label Story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Story. Show all posts

Sunday 29 January 2017

Company of the Hardened Anvil Pt 4


1. Implore the tent of Darras for permission to enter the Tower in one of their patrols? (DC 12) +4  Roll # 1 - Required DC 12 (+4) = 8 = Result Fail

2. Can they find a way to sneak into the tunnels or Tower? (DC 15 / 18) +3 Roll # 2 - Required DC 15 / 18 (+3) = 5 = 8 = Result Fail

3. Can they make a connection in one of the pubs? (DC 18)  +2 Roll # 3 - Required DC 18 (+5) = 22 = Result success

4. Any other suggestions?

The night went quiet, only the lone bugle of formation broke the otherwise silence. All of them, focused on their goal, did not go out until early morning, all intending to get sleep.

The spell caster and his ally went out before the screech of the cochin, the early morning soldier ritual. They wanted to scan the Tower in different light, to see if there was any not-so obvious way into the Tower or tunnels. A group of early morning clerics, from an assortment of the churches made their way round the Tower, stopping at designated points to do both shared and quiet prayers. Unnos, the Sorceror and Ènnoss, went with them. Their path was obvious so the two could hop out of line easily enough, do their scans and head back into order without raising too many questions. Again, like their previous scans, nothing in the Tower or the path grabbed their attention, nothing sparkled with magic or energy or possibility. This was a closed point. People, not magic or energy came from the Tower. Both of them were perturbed, neither had seen anything like this in any of the town or dungeons they had been to in their career. By the time the prayer circle was over, both were even more determined to investigate the Tower from within. (Roll 2, failed)

Just before the two returned to their tent, the cleric Vassano made his way back to the stables of Darras, hoping to make a connection to get into Tower soon. Again, fairly quickly he was greeted by Lei-Lanna. She explained that she had not found a suitable group for them to accompany into the Tower. There were soldier squads they could join, but they all had missions away from the Tower. She assured Vassano she had connections, but it would take a few more days. He noticed there were many more followers there today, many of them in brown cloaks or tunics, but others as well, many in military uniforms.  Most were there to arrange transportation of items to or from the location, he tried to weigh everything in his mind, could he come up with a deal that could help his party out. (Roll 1, failed)

Rillo and Caventh went to some of the large feeding tables, group meals for some of the poorest assigned to the Tower. While many of them were sponsored by the churches or militia groups, others were much smaller, and this one with a purple circle surrounding a tower, distinctly different then the Tower here. Purple represented the colour of Casna, Lord of Laws, the strictest church with ever-exacting laws, rarely known for forgiveness. These were convicted criminals...not the best sort for most things, but, perhaps for what the group wanted, a chance to get inside.

Caventh asked around, and found that one of them, a convicted warlord by the name of Vorrecknos, was looking for some volunteers. Asking around, he saw the brute of a Minotaur, a grey skinned beast, bulging muscles, who looked like he could tear a human apart...except for the glowing purple tattoos that proclaimed him a criminal, he would want to share an ale with him. When asked what the job was, the monster smiled and said delivery inside the Tower tonight, the pay was 100 crowns. (Roll 3, Success)

The ranger and rogue didn't entirely trust Vorrecknos, but did any of the others have a better chance at getting them inside? They returned to their team, and they each explained their findings. At least right now they felt the grey Minotaur offered the best chance. Caventh explained what most of them already knew, his people, the Jahlen were blood-kin to Minotaurs, not exactly allies, but not blood enemies either. His people were of the spires, tall mountains in the north. He didn't recognize this type, if it were a true type. The standard Knothian type had red flesh and many of them lived near the Western Seas or High Forest, nowhere near here. They all seemed to be willing to meet Vorrecknos to hear what the job was and could it help them get inside?

Roll 1 - Required DC 15 (+6) = Getting to Vorrecknos
Roll 2 - Required DC 20 (+4) = Dice Games
Roll 3 - Any other suggestions?

Sunday 22 January 2017

Company of the Hardened Anvil Pt 3

"Company of the Hardened Anvil" Pt 3

1. Investigate the tent of Darras for details on patrols? (DC 12) Roll 1 - Required DC 12 (+2) = 24
2. Can the wizards gain any inkling into the area, tunnels or Tower? (DC 12 / 15 / 18) Roll 2 - Required DC 12 / 15 / 18 (+2) = 11
3. Any weapons or equipment they can find that could be useful?  Roll 3 - Required DC 15 (+3) = 20

Vassano was excited as Caventh told him that there was a tent belonging to his church. His faith more so then the others was not an adventurers one, most of the clergy spent their lives in the towns and cities, serving the needs of the common citizen. They helped to organize and protect, or, that's what his brethren did. Churches, even those worshiping the same deity, often focused on different aspects of the god's portfolio, so not every priest had the same list of prayers or spells or rituals. While rarely enemies they did not always help each other. Certainly the other good faiths had much more specific requirements from their members, even for the visiting clergy from afar, but his, at the very base of belief, was to share, so he believed that many of his own parties most common simple needs would be covered.

The young celestial man made his way towards the small tent that was the centre of the Brown Lancers, the organizing militia group for his faith. Brown, was the colour of the faithful, as all gods had a colour associated with their groups. He realized that the tent was so much farther out, as there were large stables surrounded it. The first soldiers he saw around it wore gold and purple in their insignia, followers of Quanna and Japeth, other Quadrane, or good-aligned gods.  The stables had large openings near the top, griffon stables.

He dropped a small offering into a pot placed near the opening of the shared tent as he entered the tent that help fewer than a dozen men, far smaller than many of the others around the Tower.  A young priestess, Lei-Lanna, dressed in a simple brown tunic came over to welcome him, and after a short discussion he realized their job here was but to serve the other groups near-by, especially the couriers. Their conversation drifted and he learned bits more about the customs and processes of the various groups, with her help, he could find someone to help them skip the queue, get into the Tower relatively quickly. In the middle of the talk, both of their holy symbols, universally worn as neck medallions, both glowed brightly, he looked around to find something  or someone different coming into the area, something of considerable power, Lei-Lanna closed her eyes and smiled. She promised that she would give him the names of contacts in a day or two that would assist.

After being told bits about of the area, Unnos the Sorcerer and Ènnoss, the monk were both nervous, something was very wrong about this place. Unnos was a student of spells, and the other, an eater of magic, someone that could steal mana or magic energy from items, they worked together for longer than any of the others in their group.  Spellcasters should be more obvious, as there was no Obelisk to act as a central focus. In cities, even without magical academies, wizards could utilize the magic being emanated from the churches obelisks to cast their spells, even if they never came physically near one, the magic was everywhere. Here the energy was everywhere, the same as being on holy ground, but there was no central focus. It would make sense if it came from the Tower,  but it should be glowing brightly with the spiritual or even arcane energies, but it wasn't, there was no signs. So where was this mana coming from. And was anyone controlling it?

They made their way around the various compound, as Unnos had cast detect magic, hoping to find another large obvious sources in the camps. While he found dozens of sources, but they were like him, low level spouts, there shouldn't be enough mana here for him to recast his spells continuously, yet even without an obvious source, he had the energy. Ènnos came to the conclusion that if there were any cabals of spell-casters, they were inside the Tower, as none of the tents, none of the humanoids emanated the energy required.  They decided to keep the facts to themselves, they needed to get deep inside to learn more.

Rillo and Caventh did their best to scout around looking for some vendors selling more rare items. As soon as they saw the three red ogres outside a delicate silver tent, they knew they had found what they were looking for. They came in to see a copper coloured dwarf, dressed in scarfs covering his body, a small axe by his side and a whistle around his neck. In most cities, a Zinth, or Sand Dwarf was often the best source of magic, but there was usually a catch, they only traded enchanted items, they cared little for the gold or silver pieces most others groups used. Jor-Cannah spoke at length, about places from far and wide, of the deals he had done. But his conversation was slanted, asking questions about them and their needs.  They settled on two magical items, an Astral Stone (which opened portals) and a Scream Stone (which screamed in the presence of predetermined objects, such as gold or myricke) and the payment was five bright feathery plumage of Zaooriche, an elegant land avian they had hunted in the Zoork desert. Their last question for him, left them bewildered, as he wouldn't state when he would stay in the spot, travelling was his response.

By the early evening the team regathered at their tent, to share their info and plans. They needed to get below, they didn't have many days before their opportunity was lost.
 
What next steps should the party take:

1. Implore the tent of Darras for permission to enter the Tower in one of their patrols? (DC 11)

2. Can they find a way to sneak into the tunnels or Tower? (DC 15 / 18)

3. Can they make a connection in one of the pubs? (DC 18)

4. Any other suggestions?

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Fuuls Running - Quick Adventure Path

Was going to run this at a local pop-up gaming session that fell through, so here it is.

My Pitch
Fools Running - Your team have been hired to find the Fool, a famous elven mascot, lost in a woodland maze. With rumours of undead, ravenous beasts and far worse haunting this local; is your team you hardy enough, brave enough or foolish enough to complete the fool's run? It was intended to be run as a Pathfinder Adventure for 7th level adventurers.

Background
The Maze is a hedge, maintained by the elves for holidays and other special events where they chase the Fool around in a drunken revelry. The Fool is a celebrated elven mascot, a small pink winged cat-like creature, (think Pokemon) that has multiple teleport jumps to elude hunters. Only the Fool can teleport into or around the Maze - those who capture it, are given a great feast and then release it before the next morning.

But something has gone horribly wrong, and teams have gone missing in the woods for the last month. After sending in multiple groups, the Elves have hired you all - brave and noble adventurers to find the Fool or at least, survive the maze and rescue anyone lost inside.

What`s Really Going On
A blood hag witch known as The Collector has captured the Fool and is trying to drain the creature of its magic. Should be the last action the team completes. Some of the other fey creatures

Rumours
For quick games like this, I don't bother with a specific listing of rumours. Instead, I generate them as players interact with the creatures in the maze, if they do charisma or knowledge checks on the monsters.

How to Run: Roll 2d6 for first encounter; then 2d8 and add to the last result for the second encounter, then 2d10 for all others. Regardless of what the team does, they will run into the Collector with 20-30 minutes left in the session.

No exact number of monsters for the listing - adjust to better enable the players to get past the threat

Fool's Wandering Monster
2. Glade of Moss and Flowers, with dozens of sleeping warriors, all standing around DC19 to realize they are cursed.
3. Very Large Wagon, too large to fit into the maze or go through it
4. Waterfall that begins from no where, flows into a small pond
5. 40 ft Ivory Stone Tower; DC 30 to climb,
6. Red Bee Swarm    CN, AC 15, Fly 40, HD 7 (35), F +5, R +3, W +5; Swarm (1d8 dmg, Fort 14 to avoid welts), Fly / Perception +11                                                
7. Brownie, NG, AC 17, Spd 20, HD 5 (20), F +4, R +8, W +6; +8 Stick (1d4+3), Spells: Dancing Lights, Confusion, Dimension Door, Mirror Image; Bluff, Escape, Perception +8, Stealth +20
8. Redcap goblin      CR 6 / PF 2 / NE
9. Zunnel (long haired fey) -   CN, AC 17, HD 11 (60), F +5, R +11, W +10, Resist 10 elemental, +9 Hair (1d6+5 / 15 ft reach), Spells as 9th lev bard, +12 diplomacy, Bluff, Perception +16, Perform +18, Stealth +12
10. Gremlins  HD 16, In +3, Spd 30, AC 16, +6 Bite 1d4; +5 claws 1d6, F +5, R +6, W +0, Escape, Perception +5, Stealth +8, Short Teleport (50 ft / 2 day)
11.  Living Topiary  - CR 4 / PF 4 / N
12. Vazenne Vines  - Zig-zag vines on trees, strong natural magic, plant know DC 13. Make Cha / Wis DC 17, to create one type of temp art or msg
13.  Scarecrow       AC 13, Init -1, HP 42, F +1 R +0 W +3, Scythe Atk +6 2d4          
14. Peryton      CR 4 / PF 2 / CE
15 Pit, 20 ft down, Ref DC 16                                              
16 Purple pseudodragon - Treat as normal, except add +10 to animal empathy rolls once a day         
17. Tin Man      AC 15, HP 35, Init +1, DR 1, F +1, R +2 W +1, +6 Axe (1d6+2), Survival / Perception +4, Align LN, Belief: Dwarves are dangerous, Hunters are very bad                                     18. Spider          N, AC 15, Climb 40, HD 5 (35), F +7, R +3, W +1; Bite +6 (1d8 +6 dmg, Fort 17 Poison dbl dmg), Climb +20                                      
19. Giant Walking Mushroom - Treat as Treeant; CR 8 / PF 1 / NG
20. Green Minotaurs    N, AC 15, HP 11, F +4, R +0, W +0, Spd 30, BAB +5 Heavy Axe (1d8+5), Horns 1d4+3, Survival / Perception / Handle Animal +5                                      

Collector - Blood Hag, AC 23, Init +10, AC 23, Touch 17, HP 90, F +6, R +14, W +11, DR 5 / cold, SR 19, Bite +18 (2d4+4), 2 X Claw +18 (1d6 +4+grab), Blood Drain (1d2 Con), Spells: inflict moderate wounds, scorching ray, spider climb, 3/day deep slumber, CMB +18, Acrobat +18, Bluff +16, intimidate +18,  Perception +18,stealth +18, (fiery form, mask evil)