Episode 7: Earth and Water

(Last session saw Heskin depart to search in the north for Torm's axe. He was replaced by Myrdynus, a low elven wizard with an unhealthy fascination for the darker arts.)

On reaching Navio, Senden scouted ahead keeping to the tree line for cover. As he approached the fort he noticed several creatures also observing the fort. They had the appearance of wolves but walked like men and carried spears and great war bows, bigger than he had ever seen.They conversed in the language of wolves but Sendin knew a charm to translate their barks, growls and yips. The creatures were intent on the fort as well though they quickly became distracted by the scent of halfling. Thinking they had discovered him Sendin returned to the war-band.

Conferring with the rest of the band they decided to see if there were more of the beast-men. Going as a group they discovered a large band of the creatures just lounging about. With them were three large misshapen dwarves. Ogres! Transformed by some foul sorcery they were little more than brutes, dangerous in battle but not the best conversationalists. The monsters had made no attempt at a camp but were merely resting while they stopped. Having learned of this new threat the band retreated and discussed strategy. Scawl recommended the well heeled orcish tactic of waiting for the others to attack first and then doing for them in the rear. It went a long way towards explaining how the orcs seldom made any progress in their chronic warfare against elf and dwarf.

The monsters made their move at dusk. The band were briefly surprised by a second group of monsters approaching the fort as well. They were even more surprised when a lone figure walked ahead of the second  band and caused the gates to explode in a ball of fire. At this point the monsters attacked, the Ogres rushing to batter down the gates and the beast-men following. Caius then attacked with his men, coming to the relief of the fort they had planned to attack. While his force was more disciplined the savagery and raw power of the monsters was easily a match. The band decided killing the enemy magic user and his guard the best course of action.

Moving round the battle under cover of Cheet's magics the band managed to get in position. The wizard was guarded by several beast-men and an ogre as he cackled and tormented foes with sorcerous fire. As the band closed the wizard uttered a dreadful curse that bewitched and confused Scawl and Myrdynus, Fortunately the spell must of caught the beast-men as well as they attacked each other as much as their enemies.  Still, it would of gone poorly for the band had Sendin not charmed the Ogre and the wizard. With them out of the picture it was an easy matter for Cheet and Perrin to kill the beast-men.

Upon interrogating the charmed wizard they learned he was a renegade druid who had sold his soul to Asmoday, a fiend of the Hells, in exchange for power to slay every last dwarf. The beast-men were his fellow countrymen, transformed by sorcery and the Ogres the wretched remains of their former lords and masters. The band were sufficiantly horrified by his crimes and killed him on the spot. They then took his things. Of particular note was a dagger made of some unearthly metal and what appeared to be a spellbook.

Meanwhile the battle proper was almost over. With the wizard dead any semblance of order in the monsters collapsed and they routed. While the fort had been overrun clearing it of monsters was merely a formality and the band brought managed to acquire the forts pay chest in the looting. Still, there was plenty of booty for everyone.

While the war-band secured the area and rallied the defenders the band wondered what to do next. The wizard had come from Aquae Arnemetiae, a village and baths built on sacred springs with many healing powers. It was the corruption of the pools that had led to the transformation of the villagers.
The band and Caius set off to relieve the village and hopefully remove the curse.

A day later saw them on the outskirts of the village. The remaining villagers were in varying states of transformation into beast-men. The villagers were also acting like beasts. From the pools and the baths came a pulsating greenish light. While the band wondered what to do about the hundred or so beast men in the village Cheet went and contacted a nature spirit. The spirit informed Cheet that an accursed stone had been placed in one of the underground springs. A serpent guarded it and it's multiple heads ensured that it was always wakeful. She gave Cheet a dagger that would grant gills to anyone cut by it.

So the band ventured into the cavern of the spring. Sendin and Myrdynus charmed and lulled the two watchful heads so Scawl could steal the stone. Once removed they destroyed it. While the waters reverted back to their blessed state the people remained changed as beast-men though their senses returned. While thankful they were still in shock over their changed natures.

Episode 6 - The Past and Future Kings

In which our our band meet people and consider who shall rule the island.

Having secured Deva from the undead menace the band organised that the governor hold a feast for the survivors. The governor agreed on the basis that not being lynched was a good thing but did twitch at the sight of people eating him out of house and home. Leaving the town in good spirits the band took off with some of the finest and headed to the armed camp outside.

They arrived and talked with the camps leader, Caius. The low elf renegade had assembled several warbands with the express purpose of liberating Deva from the undead menace and the added attraction of looting the temple of Abbathor. He was relieved to hear that the threat had been dealt with and was only mildly worried about explaining going home empty handed to the chiefs who had joined him. Caius was also a follower of Torm the Just (and a bit stupid) having learned of the god and being impressed by the need for fairness, justice and an obligation to protect the weak and not merely exploit them. The band thought this also good and plotted to increase Caius' reputation and standing. Their thinking was that orderly rule was a deterrence to the Watchers. If the land was under unified rule, just not that of the grasping dwarves then they could be kept at bay. Some gold was found to keep the other chiefs along and the band decided the first target would be the silver mines to the east and the fort that guarded them. To aid Caius, Heskin chose to stay with him as champion or possibly to take the role of ruler himself. The rest of the band was mildly horrified at the idea of the uncompromising attitude of their companion being thrust upon the land and suggested Caius as a better candidate.

Returning to Deva  they then planed to visit the undead court beneath Deva. They managed to gain an audience with King Brettanus an ancient ruler of that part of Brittania. Some strange transformation had occurred when he died, leaving him undead. Over the millennia he had fashioned a small underground kingdom and had acquired undead followers until his court numbered some four score individuals. While the furnishings had clearly seen better centuries it was recognisable as a king's court.The band offered news of the world of the living which was eagerly accepted. One thing the dead lacked was new stories and tales. They also traded various knowledge as the ghouls had bards, druids and wizards of their own and were happy to share their necromantic arts. Scawl went acquired some new clothes for the king and his concubines which further helped cement relations.

Also of great interest was that the ghouls could hear the Watcher's tunneling and that they did not disturb their underground realm. Seldin guessed this was because Brettanus had created a zone of order which was repulsive to the watchers. The band considered aiding Bretannus in extending his dark realm but Scawl, the conscience of them all said 'no, that would be bad' and they mostly agreed.

Since creating a dark kingdom was off the menu the band returned a few days later with a deeper appreciation of Necromancy and set off to aid Caius and his troops. A few days more travel saw them to the fort they planned to take...

Interlude 2 - These are the people in your neighbourhood.

First off a word from one of the players.

Fabio here and my character is Cheet the Hobgoblin druid.

D&D is like my 1st love. It was the system that hoked me into RPG. I remember scouring through shops back in Italy in search of the "Red Box" then the "Blue Box", until I collected all four. My brother still has those back at home.

I then spend 20 years of my life dedicated to my carrier in hospitality, and stopped playing.
Once I finally got a 9-5 job in education I started searching for RPG players and discover The Dragon Quest group in Auckland. I have been playing with them for the last 2 years.

I always wanted to get back and play D&D and when William suggested to run a game with the 5th edition I jumped at the chance.
Picking it up was like riding a bike. You just need to remember some of the basics and then you are away.
The character generation was quick and easy to pick up. I rolled dice for the stats, however for the druid I follow the quick creations ideas, as well as rolling for the background. I thought it may be more interesting/challenging and fun to play something that I left to chance.

Some of the mechanics of the game are pretty much the same, however I do not remember if the 1st edition had the rolling for initiative wick I like a lot. I also like the advantage/disadvantage mechanics, however the choosing of the spells for my druid can be a little daunting. Having spell card or a good spell apps on the phone definitely helps.

Over all I enjoyed the original system and I do enjoy this new system. I personally found that some of the rules may be a bit scattered in the book but definitely easy to pick up.

High Fives all around for me on this one.

And now all those divinities you've been reading about and have been bedeviling the PCs.

The major gods of the Brittania campaign. The entire pantheon is a revised and trimmed down version of the Faerun (Forgotten Realms) mob. Why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to? But they are trimmed down. Often settings can have too many divinities which typically overwhelms players. The other reason is that the purgation of the 'good' divinities makes for a darker universe.
With the exception of Torm, Ilmater and Yondalla the other powers are neutral at best and most are, well they are the bad boys and girls of the Faerun pantheon.

Creator Gods

All these gods have created and shaped a people, a species in their image.

Abbathor: The God of the dwarves. King of Heaven. Abbathor is a god of civilisation and all that implies. He is a god of industry, order, laws, cities and commerce. However he is also concerned with tyranny, conquest, ambition and slavery. All dwarven settlements and cities will have an opulent temple dedicated to this deity. Abbathor is a dictatorial ruler of the heavens and all other gods must bring him tribute. Prefered sacrifice, gold and precious gems given to a high priest.

Maglubiyet: The God of the Goblins. Chief enemy of Abbathor, Magubliet is creator of the High Goblins (hobgoblins). He is the god of steel, the secret of which was wrested from him by the Dwarven heroine Mayani. Nevertheless hobgoblin steel is the best in the world. Magubliet also embodies tactics, order and security. The mighty ones temples are rare in Britannia but the debased goblin race erect idols to him in caves. To best secure his favour sacrifice a shaved dwarf.

Corellon: The God of the Elves. Lord of Forests, the wild and the hunt. Corellon makes each High Elf personally. Each High Elf is a special unique creation and may be male, female, neuter or hermaphrodite as pleases this lord of the fey. His place of power is Hibernia and it is where he resides and has dominion over. Sacrifice: A mighty kill with the bow. He is also patron of the gnomes.

Gruumsh: The God of the Orcs. God of savagery, of battle, rage and spoils. Gruumsh is Corellon’s brother and created the Orcs to oppose and slaughter his brother’s children. It is said in the early ages that these two deities fought. That is where Gruumsh lost his eye and the remains of his sanity to his brother. Sacrifice, a high elf.

Yondalla: The Goddess of the Halflings. Goddess of agriculture, the hearth and protection. Yondalla is an older goddess and her people have been largely supplanted by the larger more vigorous races. She is the conquered and enslaved concubine of Abbathor. Her worship is tolerated and allowed in the lands of the dwarves. Dwarves never forget to remind halflings of this divine oppression. The first portion of the harvest is her preferred sacrifice.

Annan: The god of the giants, the first peoples. God of Order: Annan’s peoples are the giants, created along with the world to play out the conflict with his rival Tiamat. Although Tiamat was caged by Annan in the Abyss her master of assassins later poisoned Annan and he now lies buried beneath the earth as near to death as a primal force of creation may be. His stirrings are responsible for earthquakes and volcanoes. Without their god, the giant civilisation collapsed and they are but a degenerate shadow of their former selves.

Tiamat: Goddess of Chaos: Her peoples are the dragons. Created like the giants, to play out the cosmic conflict between order and chaos. Eventually, Annan and the giants were victorious, slaying most of the dragons and chaining Tiamat at the very bottom of what is now known as the Abyss. It is her screams and cries that gave form to the demons. Her blood, when it fell on the earth gave rise to many of the monsters and it is said that these first monsters are immortal.

Lesser Deities

These divinities often represent an aspect or set of aspects. An A, G or E indicates their allegiance to Abbathor, Magubliet or Corellon respectively. Such deities typically appear as a member of that species. The unaligned may choose as needed.

Auril (A): The Frostmaiden. Goddess of ice, snow and winter. She acts as Abbathor’s enforcer. The further north you go the more temples to her will you find. Burn things, valuable things to get through winter.

Azuth (A): God of wizardry and arcane knowledge. The toady god. He serves as Abbathor’s wizard, advisor and grand vizier. If you wish success in scholarly pursuits or desire lost knowledge then pray to Azuth.

Bane: The Lord of All. A very presumptuous title for a relatively young deity. It is said this god of war, conquest and tyranny has been hard at work on some secret project which nears completion. Worship of Bane is confined to warlords and petty kings. It is banned in the civilised lands of Dwarf, Low Elf and Hobgoblin.

Beshaba: Lady of Fortune: A fickle and capricious goddess, she is more the goddess of misfortune, calamity and also revenge. If you have been scorned seek her out. Beshaba graces/bedevils all three divine courts. She has been mistress to many to their subsequent misfortune. Her servants are those beautiful, wonderful and terrific beings, the succubi.

Bhaal (M): God of blood, death and murder. Revered by assassins and executioners Bhaal is the god to go to when you want someone dead. He is overlord of all assassins and their organisations. His shadow cultists are both reviled and sought out in equal measure.

Cyric (M): God of Lies. Advisor to Maglubiyet and god of cunning, trickery, intrigue and deception. This god says he has no temples or organised priesthood as he needs none. Every lie and deception is considered a prayer to him.

Gond (A). God of Craftsmen: The god of industry, smithing, mining and hard work. All who work with great skill should honour this diety. His temples are common and many workplaces will have a small statue or shrine so that the master craftsman may supervise the work. To earn his favour one should sacrifice something of great value that you have made yourself. Worship of Gond is popular among city folk.

Ilmater: The broken god. God of mercy, endurance and the ending of suffering. Also known as the foolish god, Ilmater is looked down upon by most other deities and his worship scorned by right thinking peoples. Ilmater cults are however tenacious and popular among those who suffer at the hands of the mighty. Ilmater works to bring about a better world where suffering is eased for all. This is a thankless and impossible task. His only ally is the equally scorned Torm.

Loviatar (A): Goddess of pain. misery and hope. Abbathor’s torturer. Loviatar is tasked with punishing those who strayed from the path. The unworthy are corrected in her halls of pain as are rebels, malcontents and other enemies. It goes without saying that Ilmater and Lovitar are most mortal enemies.

Malar (E) : God of the Wild Hunt. Corellon’s huntsman and leader of the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is a great elven frenzy of riding out to hunt, pursue and run down all they may find. His province is also that of all predatory monsters. A small sacrifice to Malar and you may be granted success in capturing, taming or allying yourself with some terrible beast.

Mask: God of thieves. Like her brother Bhaal, Mask is the capo de capo of all thieves, brigands, pirates and robbers. Your gang, your crew, your guild may have a mortal leader but she is the over-boss and due her rightful ten percent.

Myrkyl: God of Death and the Undead. All worship Myrkyl in the end. Die and you find yourself in his cold halls. If not claimed then Myrkyl will take you and use you to build his Wall of the Faithless where your eternal screams will please him. Myrkyl is also Lord of Undeath. All Undead are said to be his servants and act to hasten your journey to his halls.

Mystra (M): Goddess of Magic. This goddess is magic, she is in the ebb and weave and flow of magic about the world. She cares little how it is used only that it is. She patronises Maglubiyet since Abbathor’s mortal followers would constrain, dominate and control her. She hates wizards especially. Any sorcerer seeking additional power would do well to sacrifice a wizard to her.

Savras (M) Should a Hobgoblin have need of knowledge, be it mundane or mystical he would do well to attend to The Mighty One’s chief seer. With the right sacrifice Savras can see and reveal all. He does well in Magubliet’s court and his mortal followers are respected and honoured in Hobgoblin society. The servant of Mystra.

Sune (A) Goddess of love and beauty. Goddess also of the moon Sune is revered by all who wish to be well regarded and loved for their magnificence. She cares little but for the adoration both mortals and divines shower upon her. She is also the patron of poets, inspiration and artists.

Talos (A): The storm god. A god of storms, battle and unbridled chaos. Talos has temples so that weather is kept fair and good. He is particuarly revered at ports and one should always sacrifice to Talos before setting sail. His gift to his mortal followers is thunderbolt iron, metal from the skies that may be fashioned into weapons even mightier than Magubliet’s.

Tempus: The berserker god. Talos’s crazier and wilder brother. He is on good terms with Gruumsh and many orcs pray to him before battle. Tempus has fought with all gods on all sides for he cares not who or why he fights only that there is fighting. Tempus and Talos often compete for Bershaba’s favours. No succubi will slay a follower of either god although they may well be enslaved.

Torm: The good god. The idiot’s god. Torm exemplifies righteous and just rule. He is thus scorned and his worship outlawed. An ally of Ilmater, both gods would desire the current regime in the divine and mortal realms changed for the better. If Torm has one failing, it is that he is besotted by Sune. And that goddess likes things as they are. Often she has foiled Torm’s plans with promises of earning her favour.

Umberlee; Goddess of the ocean and the depths. A strange and fey goddess. Rumoured to be an ascended dragon, Umberlee commands all of monsters of the deep. Venture into or across her realm at your peril, for she commands many strange things that lie beneath the waves.

This is not a nice, nor happy set of gods. They exhibit ‘every madness and vice’. This is intentional. All too often in fantasy it is hard to see why anyone would be bad. Good is too powerful. Being good is demonstrably rewarded and obviously the better choice. Here the powers of good are rare, outlawed or enslaved by the dominant evil powers. And those dark powers reward those who enforce the status quo. Being good may be a challenge, but no one said a hero’s life was easy.

Episode 5 - This is the (undead) apocalypse.

(In which our self serving murderhobos save the entire town)

Looking down from the water tower the band surveyed Deva. It was mostly deserted with small bands of shuffling shambling figures here and there. The quiet was punctuated by the occasional scream as the ghouls found a survivor and relieved them of that status. They noticed that most activity centered around the arena and main temple of Abbathor which still had it's main doors open. Scawl reminded them that their main priority was to recover Sala the alchemist and set off to reconnoiter her dwelling.

Inside the alchemist's house and store he found the place had been cleared and the occupant departed. It was clear she had not been forcibly dragged off like so many of the other citizens. As he was sneaking back the rest of the band saw four ghouls carrying off three paralysed dwarves to an uncertain fate. Heskin and Cheet promptly descended and charged while Senden and Perren provided covering fire.

There was a brief moment of total confusion as Cheet turned into a large tentacled horror. While ungainly it was fearsome as it quickly wrestled two of the ghouls into submission and then ate the head of one. Heskin dispatched the other two with help from the others. Senden wisely masked the sounds with his magic. While it kept other ghouls from hearing it made the battle just that more surreal. Scawl returned near the end but put the entire sight down to accidentally inhaling something at the alchemist's.

The band rescued the victims and another holdout in a nearby house and wondered what to do. They decided to check out the temple. The victims mentioned they had seen some strangers in black robes come for Sala and take her and her alchemical apparatus away. They identified them as followers of Myrkul, god of death and the undead. They had hid when they had come because  the cultists of the death god are not to be trifled with unless you have an army (or two).

The band crept along the wall to where they could look into the temple. Inside they could see a large pile of bodies. Senden saw one of the bodies twitch and realised the victims were alive and paralysed by the fearsome touch of the ghouls. They saw several ghouls and black robed figures moving within. While deciding on a course of action two of the cultists left and started for the arena across town. Seeing their chance the band followed and waylaid them, killing one and taking the other prisoner.

Senden used his magics to charm their captive, Caleyn. The magic made him very cooperative and he saw the band as potential recruits to the cult of Myrkul and his person plan to kill Vargas, the leader of the cult and to then take his place. They learned that Vargas was planning a mass sacrifice in three nights time and that the cultists of Ilmater would be crown piece of the pyramid of bodies. Caleyn and the other cultist had been sent to gather the cultists from their holding cells in the arena. While the Cult of Myrkul had not been responsible for the unleashing of the ghouls they had taken it as an unholy sign and were taking full advantage of the death and misery about them.

The band then hatched a cunning plan. They would disguise Scawl as a follower of Myrkul, retrieve the cultists of Ilmater and disguise the rest of themselves as them. They would then walk into the temple and ambush Vargas and his minions. It was a sound plan compounded only by the fact that no-one really knew anything about Ilmater and his followers. Would they be cooperative?

It turned out that the cultists followed a goodly deity of endurance and healing. The band absorbed this oddity with aplomb and asked if they could help. Their leader, a halfling named Korras said he could bring great pain upon those who had caused it. The band thought this a useful ability. They then enacted their plan and ambushed and slew the followers of Myrkul and released Sala and the other captives. They also looted the temple, tricked the still charmed Cleyn into gathering the ghouls into a large building and burning them all, and organised a reward from the governor.

During all this the band had spied a large dust cloud in the west. Sala prepared a potion that allowed one's spirit to venture forth from your body for a time and Senden drank it and went to investigate. The cloud was caused by a warband of about three centuries of warriors marching on the town. Investigating the leader proudly wore the same symbol as Heskin, that of Torm, the god of truth, justice and idiots. The warriors were planning a raid on Deva but since the spirit could only see, not hear Senden could not discern their purpose beyond a forcible withdrawal fro the temple of Abbathor.

Heading back he also investigated beneath the arena and discovered an underground complex and colony of ghouls, complete with chief and mistresses. A little wierded out, he returned and informed his comrades.

Episode 4 - Tomb Raider redux

(In which our heroes engage in a little tomb robbing.)

The band continued towards Deva. The next day saw a massive pall of smoke over the city. It seemed a large section was on fire. They therefore decided to skirt the city and proceed directly to the location of the barrow. Another day's trek up the peninsula saw them to their destination. The barrow was a large artificial hill overlooking the Hibernian sea. It was quite a pleasant, if chilly place so long as you ignored the propect of undead terrors within. The band camped for the night and tried to recall any details about wights besides 'undead' and 'nasty'.

Opening the tomb door revealed a steeply descending dressed stone tunnel. Upon the walls was a bas relief of the exploits of three heroic warriors and their less heroic minions battling be-tentacled horrors that were shown emerging from the earth. The warriors fought with sword and axe and spear, the spear wielder being the most heroic. The band recognised some of the horrors depicted having seen them at the village that was abducted.

A short way in there was a small antechamber to one side with six skeletons in patchwork armour and ancient weapons standing within small alcoves in a macabre parody of a parade rest. Examination revealed them to be simply dead and no danger. They proceeded down carefully to the first burial chamber.

The chamber was a largish opening with 12 simple graves. More disturbing were the four bodies of the squamous humanoids known to be followers of the Watchers. They appeared totally grey, as if the colour had been entirely leached from them. Heskin cut off their heads 'just in case' which released the contents, maggots and rotting stench within. The creatures had been armed with clubs and had also brought shovels and other digging tools. They had been in the process of digging up one of the graves when they had been attacked. After the rest of the band complained about the smell Heskin dragged the creatures bodies into the dug up grave.

That disturbed something. The temperature abruptly dropped and a blue glow could be seen down the tunnel leading further into the barrow. Soon they could hear a shuffling and a clink of armour. The sound briefly stopped then restarted and the band was confronted by a skeletal warrior. It still wore an ancient but intact suit of mail and carried a equally well maintained blade. It's eyes were the source of the light.

Heskin presented the holy symbol of Torm and drove the thing back. They briefly chased it but were checked by a large hole almost twenty feet across going a very long way down. It seemed that they were not the only tomb robbers. The undead was not stopped by the pit and they could hear sounds of movement of something climbing up. Scawl dropped a flaming torch down the pit. Soon all that could be seen was the torches glow. But they were rewarded by a yelp of surprise, a scream and a splat.

Heskin advised they should hurry as the monster would soon return. Seeing no safe way over they made for the exit. However it was blocked. Something had animated the skeletal guards and they advanced on the band with a thicket of spears. Trapped between the undead monster and it's minions they charged. Much fighting ensued. Heskin was felled by the creatures icy blade at which point Cheet transformed into a large bear. While it is probably best not to speak of his fighting skills as a humanoid his prowess as an animal was unmatched. With Scawl's help the undead monsters were soon piles of bones.

The band decided to wisely retreat after reviving Heskin. Outside they considered their options. They hit upon cutting down a large tall tree to bridge the gap. Thus prepared they ventured back into the tomb. Crossed the gap and made their way to the next burial chamber.

This chamber housed two sarcophagi with representations of those who were within. One was open while the other remained closed. Gathering some courage they pulled at the lid ready for an attack but nothing came of it. Either the magic had faded or the corpse's spirit had better things to do than to guard it's remains. There was some relieved looting and they would of left had Cheet not pointed out that the murals depicted three warriors, not two. They searched and found access to the final chamber. Inside were the treasures of these pre dwarven lords and the tomb's guardian. It assailed them with horrific creams and it's spear but the band quickly prevailed. They then set about looting the treasures within.

That night as they camped the band noticed a large bonfire outside Deva. In the morning it was revealed to be a ramshackle camp made by survivors of an outbreak of ghouls. The Arena of Deva had an attraction of two insect monsters set to devour some Ilmater cultists. The insects instead burrowed into the arenas floor and escaped. Beneath the arena was a nest of ghouls which the monster's burrows gave access to the surface. Seven days later the city was overrun by undead.

The band inquired at the still secure port of the fates of Syriax and Sala. Syriax had made it to the port with the use of the weapons he had crafted and was understandably reluctant to part with them. No one knew of what had happened to Sala the alchemist. The band also learned that the Governor's palace still held and by offering to rescue those within gained  their new weapons and the cooperation of the port. With some help they infiltrated Deva's water tower by way of the aqueduct and surveyed the desolation within...

Interlude 1

(In which the GM reflects on the game so far since he's on holiday.)

So far so good. Five is an an easy system. Well, it's easy compared to SPI's Dragonquest which is what we lunatics have played for the last few decades. For those unfamiliar with it, Dragonquest is Runequest's crazier, LOTR obsessed cousin. It's an old school charts and tables, resource management game with a definite Tolkien vibe but not the rights which went to Iron Crown Enterprises. So maybe Dragonquest is Rolemaster's slightly saner cousin who only read LOTR but not the Silmarillion. In any event, D&D 5 is a much simpler game by comparison.

The players dove into the character generation and unanimously chose 'let's roll dice', Stats were quickly assigned and juggled a bit as classes / races were chosen. Backgrounds caused some confusion coming after classes. Perhaps it should run stats, race, background, class. Bonds. ideals and flaws were for the most part rolled. Old school gamers have few problems with shaking the box and playing with whatever gets taken out.

Character generation from start to finish took one hour. Three of those players were completely new to Five. New game, new character sheet and ten minutes to find enough d6s for everyone. That's fast.
D&D was faster. As was Paranoia. 'Here are your character sheets', 'Hey, why are all our names Hydrodynamic Processor Part B?', 'Hmm, questioning the system, put a '2' at the end of your character's name'. But most games take longer, typically an entire session. The band got on with encountering a zombie, a lich, several lizardmen and then several more.

That's not a typo. First level characters met Ashrak the lich. An 18-20 level wizard specialising in necromancy. He's far to busy in his research to be bothered doing, well anything and if the band could see their way to recovering bits of lore he wants to examine he'll reward them. A lich is an excellent patron, they're totally amoral and if they're left alone with their books and tomes they make fairly good neighbours. Ashrak is going to be asking for all sorts of crazy things until he crosses some imagined line and then it will be on. But for the moment he's too much a massive source of lore, exposition and rewards for the band to even think of attacking.

Session one saw the first planned encounter, 'bandits'. Well actually they met the bandits in the first session as a source of potential employment but were far more intrigued by the necromancer. They also encountered some devotees of Bethshaba and yes, I'm probably spelling that different each time. Well they hid from them, but that's an encounter all the same. But the weekly theme was bandits.

It's also very easy to set up an encounter. I've seen a few criticisms of Five that monsters are mostly just bags of hp and damage. I see that as a good thing. People talk of 'stat blocks' but all you need for Five is the 'stat line'. Name, AC, to hit, damage dice and the rest of the line is for hp. All the other blather is in the Monster Manual. I'm loving that aspect. The players also enjoy it. Armour values and damage mitigation may be 'more realistic' or 'gritty' but the hit point system has a simple brutality all of it's own. Especially when HP in Five are equivalent to half that number in AD&D. The players enjoyed the brutal battle and it's even more brutal aftermath. Then they went back to their home town to meet the local warlord and his Darth Vader expy sidekick. Galbatorix is all about safeguarding civilisation, even if it is with an iron fist.

And it's gone on in that vein. The band meets hideous monsters and often tries talking since combat is so brutal. They've learned that monsters will connect easily and hit hard. But so can they. They've learned of the underlying cosmic crisis and some steps they can take to remedy that. They've met some interesting and colourful NPCs and time will tell if they ever fight either Ashrak, Caius or Galbatorix. Those immortal watchers sound nasty. Mabye they'll need these lesser evils...

Episode 3  Building better communities through bloodshed.

The band took their cart south to the port city of Deva Victrix. Crossing the Mersum they spied two low elves taking shelter beneath the bridge. Heskin spoke with them and learned they were deserters since they believed the city would fall to the western tribes. Heskin bade them to stay and that they may have work for them on the way back.

The next day they spotted a ruined cart with some dead dwarves and a mauled horse. Cheet transformed into a giant wolf. In that form he could smell goblin, a smaller and more foolish race similar to hobgoblins. He also smelled another beast, some ravening beast that had foot long quills as weapons.

The band tracked the creatures to a nearby cave. Outside they ambushed a goblin relieving itself and then proceeded in. They met the goblins coming out and attacked. Their onslaught left only two survivors who roused Dhent, a massive giant. The band continued the assault and drove the giant into the main chamber. Waiting within was a terrible manticore. Negotiations quickly broke down and battle was joined. Eventually the band emerged beaten and bloody, yet triumphant. They took the head and bones of the giant and body of the manticore as well as an oddly preserved knife the giant had. Everything was loaded into the cart and they continued towards the city.

They were well received at Deva Victrix. Carrying in a dead monster attracts a lot of attention. They spent the next two days visiting various people in the city trading in the manticore parts, finding someone to shape weapons out of the giant bones and changing their loot into more usable coin. The governor asked them to deal with a renegade soldier named Caius who was raising up the western tribes and threatening the city. The arena master gave them a list of bounties for any monsters they could bring in alive. Sala, the alchemist told them of a barrow containing undead, the bones of which could be ground down for a potion that would protect them against death magic. Syriax, a crafter of bone weapons advised them that blood of a priest of Abbathor could be used to place runes on weapons to make them deadly to the Watchers and their minions. For some odd reason the local priest did not want to give his blood to some wild eyed lunatics though. They lastly bought a wagon and many barrels of wine. Loaded up they headed back to Mammucium.

Three days later they reached the town and unloaded the wine. Galbatorix had returned from his expedition down the hole. He had a tale of hideous creatures which they barely defeated. Antonius had announced that cleaving to Bane and following his ways would keep the Watchers at bay and had started construction of a new temple to the Lord of All. Galbatorix also asked that Heskin help capture Navio to the south-east and more importantly the nearby silver mines. The others asked Heskin why they were apparently helping the warlord.

The band then headed to the 'dwarven infestation on the northern side of the lizardfolk's swamp. The hill forty was ruined and deserted so they planted the staff and ran for it as the ground rapidly turned to bog and marsh. On the way back they investigated a new structure in the swamp. It was a structure of gleaming bone. Within they found Ashrak constructing it with his necromantic powers. He happily informed the band of his plans to staff it with unquiet spirits to teach the lizardmen and how it would be so much easier if they cast off the shackles of life. The band decided to direct Ashrak to other avenues of thought lest he decide to gift them with unlife. Ashrak was quite knowledgeable about the Watchers and their squamous, betentecled servants. His interest seemed to derive from the immortality of the Watchers. Slay the body of a Watcher and it would reform several days later. He suggested they travel back to his tower and he might be able to find a reference to a means to defeat them.

A chilly night spent by the tower waiting for Ashrak to check his books bore fruit. He had found references to the Watchers being driven off by books of laws and ordinaces and opined that the original manuscript of one of the great sets of laws may render the creature unable to reform. He also mentioned the Axe of Torm may be of use. Alas, According to the Lays of Sune, the goddess had tricked Torm out of his weapon and lent it to Tempus. Tempus had subsequently lost the axe fighting Gruumsh in his lands to the north. After wondering why his god was such an idiot Heskin thanked Ashrak for the information.

The band then returned to Deva Victrix, intent on visiting the nearby barrow mounds in search of undead bones and any other cool stuff they might have. On the way back to the city they came across a score of dwarves shambling their way north. They decided to hide, thinking they may be undead, which they were. While they were well hidden from prying eyes they had not counted on the undead's unnatural ability to seek out the living. Five dwarves caught their scent and split off to eat the band. A brief pursuit and nearly fatal fight later the band staggered back onto the road. The rest of the undead had continued north.