Post by bravewolf on Jun 1, 2017 0:10:51 GMT -5
Campaign: Arduous Adventures in the Kingdom of Arduin
Rule Sets: AD&D 1e - PHB, DMG, MMI&2, UA; Arduin Trilogy & Vols. IV & V for additional classes, races, special abilities, & gear.
Setting: Kingdom of Arduin & Stonehell Megadungeon
The Crew:
Skip: Connor McGill, a dual-class human F1/M-U 2 by way of Earth and henchman human F1 Günther.
Adam: Grarl, trollborn F1 with demoniac ancestry. Comes from a city well north of Arduin.
Tim: Wayne, a human C1, and Coal the black bear.
Aaron: Fljörn, a trollborn barbarian 1, who was born & raised in a desert tribe but spent time in the north by the sea.
Mark: Max Sharpe, a human witch hunter 1. Max is a teenage cadet with the Purity Scouts, an organization devoted to ridding Arduin of evil. Think Boy Scouts gone militant.
Matthew (cameo in absentia): Draxel, an elven circus performer-turned assassin.
Session 4 Recap
Our fourth session occurred on May 20, 2017 - 23rd Torvaen in game time. We last saw this group in the middle afternoon within Stonehell Dungeon, having just routed a small gang of orcs (see Recap of Session 2).
Max Sharpe & Fljörn have been adrift, so to speak, in the Kingdom of Arduin for a season. With the arrival of spring, they coincidentally both kicked up their heels on what seemed like an Arduinian frontier: the Kings Rest Inn near the base of the Scimitar Hills. Hearing tales of the latest group of adventurers to have entered the former prison known as Stonehell & returned alive with modest booty for but a few hours’ exploration, Max & Fljörn met on the road from the inn to Stonehell.
“The Purity Code says it’s always safer to go by twos than to venture forth as but a lone strand,” proclaimed Max in his adolescent falsetto.
“Okay,” the trollborn replied, “Maybe we should go to this dungeon together.”
“I sure hope we can join the adventurers that just went in there!”
The two adventurers found their way to Stonehell’s main entrance with no incident. Once inside, the duo saw clear signs of a recent struggle: blood on the floor, scuffs in the subterranean grit, and a dusty smear where a door had been opened. Fljörn & Max opted for the door. Keeping east and south, the explorers encountered Snorri Broadshoulders & his architectural expedition (see Session 2). The dwarves were all too happy to point the dubious duo in the direction of the larger adventuring group. Max & Fljörn caught up with Wayne, Grarl, McGill, Günther, & Coal in the orcs’ common room just after the goblinoids had been routed.
The more experienced delvers were cleaning their weapons & catching their breath when the kid and trollborn walked into the room. The whole lot introduced themselves. The two trollborn warriors were eyed one another.
“I am Grarl, the trollborn fighter!” Grarl announced.
Fljörn replied, “I too am trollborn! I am called Fljörn the Barbarian!”
Max announced that he was come to rid Stonehell of evil.
McGill went to introduce Draxel the circus-elf. “Hey, where’s Draxel?!” Everyone shrugged. Grarl checked his pockets. “It sort of figures that the rogue would just up and disappear…”
The two groups resolved to join forces and to start with finding the Orc captain & his loot. They arrayed themselves with archers trained on the door & the others ready to back them up. Grarl, the strongest, tried the inward-opening door. He shoved it inward easily, but only about 4 inches, for the door had hit a large bed.
Seeing the obstruction, Wayne grabbed some meat from his pack, shoved it under Coal’s nose, then tossed it into the room. Coal bounded forward, shoving Grarl, the door, & the bed aside in his eagerness to obtain the morsel. The party was surprised to see a large Orc crouched on all fours on the floor. The globlinoid looked back at the bear, then up to the ceiling, and finally at the party. The Orc captain cursed and held his arms up in surrender.
Max tied up the Orc while the others searched the room & debated what to do with their prisoner. Fljörn concentrated on detecting magic inside the orc’s bedchamber & found that a battle axe leaning against the wall radiated magic. The barbarian snatched the axe and began slamming the weapon against the floor. Amidst this cacophony, Grarl leaned over the Orc and removed his golden armband. While thus occupied, Max employed his detect evil ability. He obtained an evil reading from Grarl as his outstretched palms passed over the trollborn & Orc, but misinterpreted the reading as coming only from the Orc.
After many minutes of bludgeoning the floor, Grarl got up and told Fljörn that he should give over the axe before the racket attracts every souls in Stonehell. “Oh, right. You’re obviously the brains of this outfit!” Fljörn said and handed the battle axe to Grarl.
The party then debated what to do with the captain. Nobody spoke orcish, nor the goblinoid Arduinian, so all agreed that the Orc was useless as an information source. “Maybe we can use it to detect traps!” Max volunteered to put the Orc out its misery but had a crisis of conscience of such magnitude that Fljörn brought his two-handed sword down on the orc’s head. Afterward, the party secured the door and made camp in the captain’s room. Wayne & McGill memorized new spells after a four-hour rest.
The adventurers then proceeded westward along a passage emanating from the southwest corner of the orcish common room. Their passage carried on through a rhomboid room occupied by two human statues in armor pointing at one another. Between the statues lay an apparently deceased Orc, its hair standing on end. Discussion about how to proceed ensued. During the conversation, Wayne decided to walk on through to the other side of the room. Lightning crackled from the forefingers of the statues, coursing through Wayne's body as he skipped ahead. Once out of range, the cleric stood vacant-eyed while his mates looked on in shock. “It’s okay, guys - it only hurts a little.”
Fljörn decided the best way to disable the trap was to strike it at the elbow with his Zweihänder. The barbarian’s mighty hew broke the stone arm at the elbow but also snapped off the tip of the sword. To foil the second statue, Max concocted a plan wherein his rope was knotted around the statue & pulled by Wayne, McGill, & Grarl, toppling it.
The group next mapped a route that led back from whence they’d come, then returned to the new passage and proceeded further west. Soon they noted a passage 20 feet long that ended in a wall marked by a glyph. Fljörn immediately walked to the glyph, setting off a fire trap. Touching the glyph, Fljörn disappeared.
While his mates were crossing the fire trap, the barbarian found himself in a study crowded with star charts, alembics, paper, and a heavy book. Fljörn examined the book, which smacked of arcane devilry to the superstitious trollborn. What else to do but smash? Luckily for McGill the magic-user, everyone arrived in time to salvage half the spellbook. After cleverly navigating the trap on their way out, the party resolved to go back to Pavane & plot their next move in safety.
Grarl and McGill earned the lion’s share of XP this session for taking possession of the magic items. McGill is now eligible to train for level 3 magic-user.
Rule Sets: AD&D 1e - PHB, DMG, MMI&2, UA; Arduin Trilogy & Vols. IV & V for additional classes, races, special abilities, & gear.
Setting: Kingdom of Arduin & Stonehell Megadungeon
The Crew:
Skip: Connor McGill, a dual-class human F1/M-U 2 by way of Earth and henchman human F1 Günther.
Adam: Grarl, trollborn F1 with demoniac ancestry. Comes from a city well north of Arduin.
Tim: Wayne, a human C1, and Coal the black bear.
Aaron: Fljörn, a trollborn barbarian 1, who was born & raised in a desert tribe but spent time in the north by the sea.
Mark: Max Sharpe, a human witch hunter 1. Max is a teenage cadet with the Purity Scouts, an organization devoted to ridding Arduin of evil. Think Boy Scouts gone militant.
Matthew (cameo in absentia): Draxel, an elven circus performer-turned assassin.
Session 4 Recap
Our fourth session occurred on May 20, 2017 - 23rd Torvaen in game time. We last saw this group in the middle afternoon within Stonehell Dungeon, having just routed a small gang of orcs (see Recap of Session 2).
Max Sharpe & Fljörn have been adrift, so to speak, in the Kingdom of Arduin for a season. With the arrival of spring, they coincidentally both kicked up their heels on what seemed like an Arduinian frontier: the Kings Rest Inn near the base of the Scimitar Hills. Hearing tales of the latest group of adventurers to have entered the former prison known as Stonehell & returned alive with modest booty for but a few hours’ exploration, Max & Fljörn met on the road from the inn to Stonehell.
“The Purity Code says it’s always safer to go by twos than to venture forth as but a lone strand,” proclaimed Max in his adolescent falsetto.
“Okay,” the trollborn replied, “Maybe we should go to this dungeon together.”
“I sure hope we can join the adventurers that just went in there!”
The two adventurers found their way to Stonehell’s main entrance with no incident. Once inside, the duo saw clear signs of a recent struggle: blood on the floor, scuffs in the subterranean grit, and a dusty smear where a door had been opened. Fljörn & Max opted for the door. Keeping east and south, the explorers encountered Snorri Broadshoulders & his architectural expedition (see Session 2). The dwarves were all too happy to point the dubious duo in the direction of the larger adventuring group. Max & Fljörn caught up with Wayne, Grarl, McGill, Günther, & Coal in the orcs’ common room just after the goblinoids had been routed.
The more experienced delvers were cleaning their weapons & catching their breath when the kid and trollborn walked into the room. The whole lot introduced themselves. The two trollborn warriors were eyed one another.
“I am Grarl, the trollborn fighter!” Grarl announced.
Fljörn replied, “I too am trollborn! I am called Fljörn the Barbarian!”
Max announced that he was come to rid Stonehell of evil.
McGill went to introduce Draxel the circus-elf. “Hey, where’s Draxel?!” Everyone shrugged. Grarl checked his pockets. “It sort of figures that the rogue would just up and disappear…”
The two groups resolved to join forces and to start with finding the Orc captain & his loot. They arrayed themselves with archers trained on the door & the others ready to back them up. Grarl, the strongest, tried the inward-opening door. He shoved it inward easily, but only about 4 inches, for the door had hit a large bed.
Seeing the obstruction, Wayne grabbed some meat from his pack, shoved it under Coal’s nose, then tossed it into the room. Coal bounded forward, shoving Grarl, the door, & the bed aside in his eagerness to obtain the morsel. The party was surprised to see a large Orc crouched on all fours on the floor. The globlinoid looked back at the bear, then up to the ceiling, and finally at the party. The Orc captain cursed and held his arms up in surrender.
Max tied up the Orc while the others searched the room & debated what to do with their prisoner. Fljörn concentrated on detecting magic inside the orc’s bedchamber & found that a battle axe leaning against the wall radiated magic. The barbarian snatched the axe and began slamming the weapon against the floor. Amidst this cacophony, Grarl leaned over the Orc and removed his golden armband. While thus occupied, Max employed his detect evil ability. He obtained an evil reading from Grarl as his outstretched palms passed over the trollborn & Orc, but misinterpreted the reading as coming only from the Orc.
After many minutes of bludgeoning the floor, Grarl got up and told Fljörn that he should give over the axe before the racket attracts every souls in Stonehell. “Oh, right. You’re obviously the brains of this outfit!” Fljörn said and handed the battle axe to Grarl.
The party then debated what to do with the captain. Nobody spoke orcish, nor the goblinoid Arduinian, so all agreed that the Orc was useless as an information source. “Maybe we can use it to detect traps!” Max volunteered to put the Orc out its misery but had a crisis of conscience of such magnitude that Fljörn brought his two-handed sword down on the orc’s head. Afterward, the party secured the door and made camp in the captain’s room. Wayne & McGill memorized new spells after a four-hour rest.
The adventurers then proceeded westward along a passage emanating from the southwest corner of the orcish common room. Their passage carried on through a rhomboid room occupied by two human statues in armor pointing at one another. Between the statues lay an apparently deceased Orc, its hair standing on end. Discussion about how to proceed ensued. During the conversation, Wayne decided to walk on through to the other side of the room. Lightning crackled from the forefingers of the statues, coursing through Wayne's body as he skipped ahead. Once out of range, the cleric stood vacant-eyed while his mates looked on in shock. “It’s okay, guys - it only hurts a little.”
Fljörn decided the best way to disable the trap was to strike it at the elbow with his Zweihänder. The barbarian’s mighty hew broke the stone arm at the elbow but also snapped off the tip of the sword. To foil the second statue, Max concocted a plan wherein his rope was knotted around the statue & pulled by Wayne, McGill, & Grarl, toppling it.
The group next mapped a route that led back from whence they’d come, then returned to the new passage and proceeded further west. Soon they noted a passage 20 feet long that ended in a wall marked by a glyph. Fljörn immediately walked to the glyph, setting off a fire trap. Touching the glyph, Fljörn disappeared.
While his mates were crossing the fire trap, the barbarian found himself in a study crowded with star charts, alembics, paper, and a heavy book. Fljörn examined the book, which smacked of arcane devilry to the superstitious trollborn. What else to do but smash? Luckily for McGill the magic-user, everyone arrived in time to salvage half the spellbook. After cleverly navigating the trap on their way out, the party resolved to go back to Pavane & plot their next move in safety.
Grarl and McGill earned the lion’s share of XP this session for taking possession of the magic items. McGill is now eligible to train for level 3 magic-user.