Finding the King's Brother

So, it is Thursday, and we all know what that means....... New Post Day!
I know you have all been waiting with bated breath, so without further ado, her we go...

So, the following morning the party (light two members, who had one player call in sick at the last moment, and I mean as we were starting told us that he wasn't feeling well and left. The other informed us that he would be late do to work. But the party decided to press on with 3) started the two-day trip to the capital. It was a boring journey as the roads in Vale are well traveled and well taken care of and guarded. Arriving in the capital, the party went immediately about doing everything they could to locate their lost quarry. While Namsuri and Tariel tried to "Gather Information" around town about the captors who were holding the brother. Raistlin decided to try a different approach, and after finding a scroll of the appropriate spell, cast commune with birds. Giving them a description of the brother, he sat down in the capital square and waited for the birds to return to him. Namsuri and Tariel, although getting a lot of information of people seeing the two captors whom they sought, had no luck finding out where in the capital they might be hiding, but as they came into the capital square, they witnessed Raistlin talking to a dove that he was holding on his hand. Before they could reach him the dove flew away, Raistlin stood up, and walked straight toward the pair. He informed them that he knew where the King's brother was, and if they hurried he might still be there when they arrived. Making their way to the edge of the capital, the trio found themselves walking up to the open gate of one of the mansions that set upon the edge of the town. Raistlin had explained to the pair that the birds had informed him that the King's brother, and his captors, were within the residence. Namsuri was the one who came up with the plan for them to get it, and soon they were knocking on the door. A servant answered, and when they asked for the Sir Godwyn Arnuld, the owner of said estate, they were told that he was still at his office in town. However they were invited in for refreshments and to wait for Sir Arnuld to return. Not long later Sir Arnuld walked in, and Namsuri immediately went into his plan of inquiring as to whether or not Sir Arnuld was interested in a investment partner is his obviously very profitable company. Well, with this Sir Arnuld, who had been a bit dubious before, opened up to them with multiple friendly gestures. He really is a good man, a horse breeder of some renown, and he was thrilled to have people of understanding and spirit in his residence to speak with on all matters. Inviting the party to stay for dinner, they supped on the finest food and drink, and it was not till after the meal, that Raistlin, quite carefully in fact, broached the topic of the King's brother upstairs. Without any signs of mistrust Sir Arnuld told them of all three men who were upstairs, the King's brother, who had been introduced to him as Titus Chrysan, along with his traveling companions, two Clerics of Lucineo, who were escorting him to their temple in North Portsmith. The party was now completely confused, as they had been told that the brother had been taken against his will. But when he came down from the upper floors of the mansion, he explained what had happened. It turned out that after being kidnapped, he was rescued from his captors as they were about to behead him by the two clerics who lay upstairs. He explained how they had stopped in Vale when the two clerics had become ill, and having a friendship with Sir Arnuld, stopped here to make use of his friendship. As Namsuri and Tariel continued speaking with Titus, Raistlin made his way upstairs. When he found the two clerics, he could tell that something more then sickness was at hand. Sending a servant to go and fetch holy water he watched and waited for the servants return, upon which time he took the holy water and splashed it liberally on both of the clerics. He had known from their cracking and ashen complexion, and their high fevers, and comatose bodies, that these men were in the last stages of possession. The shells of their bodies had been used dearly, and the demons possessing them would soon have to give them up. By bathing them in holy water he exorsized the already weakened demons. The next morning when they woke, they had no idea where they were or who any of the people near them were. The only person they recognized was in fact Sir Arnuld who truly was their friend and acquaintance. He explained to them what had happened, and the two clerics, the last thing they each remembered was speaking to their own high priest in Lucineo's temple in North Portsmith, knew they needed to get back quickly and inform the high priest of what had happened. Meanwhile, the party decided that one port was as good as another, and decided to join the clerics in their travels to North Portsmith as they took the northern route to bring Titus back to his brother. The now larger party traveled for about a week and a half out of the capital, and had passed into and through the Island Elven lands with hardly any trouble. But on the following morning as they rose, Namsuri saw a structure through the trees deeper into the woodlands. As the party decided to investigate they came upon a set of ruins, a crumbled battlement of a larger structure which had been completely lost to time. But down a flight of stairs and into what had before been its basement, but now was just a large deep pit, was a solid iron door, which just screamed for the party to explore. As Namsuri picked the lock, the rest of the party made ready to enter, and the clerics, with magically lit torches were volunteering to go in first. It was as they began to cross the the threshold that their lights cast upon the wall, to see a symbol of Krom, the God of the Orcs. Seeing that, they decided that it might not be the best idea to traverse any farther, but they promised to wait for the party to return. Titus agreed to stay with them as well, as he had no great love of underground spaces. This of course left us with the three party members to explore the dungeon all on their own. As the walked down a long flight of stairs they finally came to the bottom, simply to see a large waited blade, that had obviously swung down from the wall in front of them, and was currently resting in the chest cavity of an enormous half-orc. Stopping long enough to loot the corpse the party moved on. At the bottom of the stairs the party made a right hand turn and walked down a hallway that had a bevy of spiked balls hanging on long chains from the ceiling, and as they turned the corner they came to a portion of the hallway that had 4-ft razor blades in a criss-cross pattern across the hall. Further down that hall they came to a blackened patch of wall, upon where they found the burned and charred remains, of what appeared by size at least, to be an elf, and turning the corner they found a human, who was trapped under a spiked gate which had fallen from the ceiling. Further down that hallway they saw a large tree trunk, sporting iron spots that hung in the middle of the hall, and  turning yet another corner they saw crossbow bolts stuck along the left side of the wall, and as they passed by they saw crossbows in hidden recesses on the right side. The second trap in this hall was a sword trap, that seemed to fill in the hall with blades from all angles, and even with the blades not in motion, it was hard to squeeze past. The final hall held for piles of ash and the remains of tattered clothes, that when looked at for magic, had faint hints of necromancy. Coming from the final hall, the party came into a room filled with corpses. Half-Orc's, Humans and Elves. Along the fair wall there was a raised dais, where sat an iron chest, banded with copper, and sporting a massive golden padlock. Having found the poison trap on the lock, Namsuri avoided it with ease, and cracked the lock. But it was not until he was taking it off of the chest, that the party saw that the trunk was resting on a pressure plate. It was too late though as Namsuri already had the lock in his hand, and as the chest moved mere centimeters higher, the heard clicking, whirring, and clanking as all of the traps behind them reset. Already being in trouble, the group opens the box, to find nothing but a scroll that reads in Orcish, "We Orcs have the treasure, poor fortune getting out of the dungeon, ha ha ha" (Trust me, it sounds more menacing in Orcish) With that the party made about getting out of this dungeon. Luckily the zombies had not come back to life, but the party could not remember where all of the traps were, as it had not seemed important when they had all already been triggered. Namsuri led the party along the safest paths he could find. At some points he instructed the party to jump over pressure plates, and with a few "almost" accidents, the party seemed to be doing all right. They triggered the crossbow trap, but they were able to wait until the crossbows were out of ammunition before they crossed, and they triggered the fire trap, but Tariel avoided the worst of it. They were almost to the stairs when Ulemon, who had joined them in the center room before they had reset all of the traps, heard sounds of battle up the stairs, and charged around the last corner, and took the spiked ball trap right to the face. It barely slowed him though as he ran for the stairs. Even in his rushing though he heard someone coming down the stairs toward the party. As the rest of them came around the corner Namsuri yelled out, "Be careful, the stairs are trapped!" As the runner came down the stairs, Ulemon saw that it was one of the Clerics, and before he could do anything the cleric was saying, "What trap?", as the weighted blade fell from its spot inside the wall and split him in two. With battle still raging outside, the party had no time for sadness, as they ran up the stairs and into battle. A group of orcs and half-orcs was attacking the other cleric and Titus, with more of the brutes along the rim of the pit firing arrows down at them. Namsuri was the first one out of the darkened staircase and hit one of them with a thrown dagger that he had found underground, as Ulemon charged forward to assist Titus and the Cleric. Tariel came out of the stairwell with his bow up and firing at the archers, and Raistlin took aim with  magic missile at the orc at the top of the stairs who seemed to be their leader. Between Titus and Ulemon they made short work of the enemies in the pit, and with Tariel keeping the archers busy, Namsuri started up the stairs toward the leader. Under the full power of the party, he fell easy enough, and as Raistlin joined the group at the top of the stairs, he spotted another powerful looking Orc off in the trees, watching them. As he pointed this out to the group, Ulemon, charged forward into battle before anyone could stop him, and straight into the teeth of the ambush. holding his own as the rest of the party rushed to catch up, Ulemon after a few moments, realized that even a fighter of his renown might be in a spot of trouble. Luckily between Raistlin's magic, and the rest of the parties quickness they not only gained his side quickly, but Raistlin delayed the Orc Chieftain as well. Taking care of the ambushers while Ulemon kept the Chieftain busy seemed to be easy work, and as they turned the party saw an epic battle unfolding. Still smoking from Raistlin's last flame attack, the Orc Chieftain swung his giant battleax at Ulemon again and again, for his credit, Ulemon met every blow, and delievered one of his own for everyone that was sent in his direction. Ulemon was not simply just fighting the chieftain though, he was surrounded by half-orcs, and with every chance he got he sent blows in their direction as well. The party paused a moment as the battle continued, but as if coming out of a dream they all moved at once. While the Orc attention was still on Ulemon, Titus ran up to him and dumped a vial of of Alchemist's fire on him, and Namsuri dodging through the combat taking place between the two epic fighters found himself behind the fearsome Orc. Ulemon was a brief respite swung his sword with all his might and beheaded the last half-orc standing with the chieftain in a single cut, and Tariel took down the last of the orcish archers still firing arrows at the party. With a mighty bellow, the Chieftain realized what was going on, and with a massive swing brought his battleax down at Namsuri, it looked like the end, but at the last possible moment Namsuri deftly side-stepped, and as the battleax sank shaft deep into the ground next to him, his ripost with his rapier went into and through the chieftain's eye, ending the epic battle as quickly as the ambush had begun.

We ended for the night at the conclusion of the ambush, as we had gone a bit late. Everyone had put in some good effort, and it had been a really fun night. I had been describing the combat to them as it was taking place, because a DM needs to give the party more then just, "you hit, he takes x damage" if that is all your DM is doing, then your combat is most likely boring and long. But the players also realized that in the blog post the combat would sound even cooler. So for the record the last exchange happened as follows in game.

Namsuri tumbles through combat to flanking position and misses the Chieftain
Tariel one-shots the last Orcish archer with a hit, and max damage.
Titus ran up and dumped alchemist's fire on the Chieftain (Ok so that was the same)
Raistlin went on full defense (being out of offensive spells)
Ulemon turned to the half-orc trying to flank him, and hit a 20, followed by a confirming 20, followed by a third 20 for the house-rule triple 20 insta-kill
The chieftain crit-failed his attack against Namsuri and by house rule became flat-footed.
Namsuri Crit against a flat-footed opponent giving him double normal damage, along with his sneak-attack damage, which was enough for a kill.

Now you tell me, which of those descriptions sounds better. That's what I thought.
Until next time thought sports fans, keep your blades up and your wands ready...

-Eraser

Eraser's Tales of Being a Player #3

During my tenure in college I usually was the DM of all of my groups games. But there was one, run by my friend Chester, where I got to be a player. It was a homebrew system, not just a homebrew world, and readers let me tell you, I loved it. It was balanced, it was perfect. I believe he is still looking for someone to publish it. He called it Mortal Kind.
Well, he was one of my players, and when it came time to test his system, he asked if I would join as a player. He had a group in mind, and he knew what they were all planning on running character-wise, and he knew they were gonna need a tank. He also knew that I would play any kind of character the party needed, and I would have fun with it, so he thought I would fit in perfectly.
Well the game went for about 6 months, and was some of the most fun that I have ever had gaming. I played Tyr, and he was not your typical tank. A defensive style martial artist, who wore no armor save for a pair of silver bracers, he fought with twin over-sized butterfly swords. My character did very little damage, as everything about him, almost, was stacked toward defense. But he was the best meat-shield that any caster could ever ask for. I knew my roll on the team, and I was good at it. Well, we had been through some notable encounters, and our characters had all advanced a bit, and the GM thought that we needed to try something a little tougher, which was kind of a joke as we had barely been beating back the challenges that had been thrown our way. Anyway, he sends us into the thick of the fire, for what he told us was going to be a two-part session. Well that two-part session turned into a 7 session story-arc, and it was the absolute best thing that I have ever played. It required teamwork and intelligence and style and we nailed it. The only problem was, that I was leaving town. I had graduated from Mizzou, and my lease on my apartment was coming up. So I told the GM that we only had a few weeks left to wrap up. Well, we were so close to the end of the arc, and it was my last session that I would be able to participate. So here is the final story of Tyr...

As they breached the other side of the portal, they found themselves in a vast underground cavern system. There were piles of goods all over, which almost were tall enough to hide the lizardmen who were trying to hide behind them. Tyr, with his massive seven-and-a-half foot size, jumped out in front and began diverting opponents away from his friends, as his friends, for their part, pulled weapons and staves and started doling out simply punishing damage. In short measure the foes in the main room were defeated, and Tyr led the party down one of the smaller side hallways. They had portal'd into this place from the doomed city of Vertand, which was on the verge of being erased from creation. Here in this place they hoped to find the machine that was capable of doing such a thing, and destroying it, and its maker, so he could never commit such a heinous act again. Hallway after hallway they fought through the hordes of enemies that came for them, and with Tyr in the lead of the narrow hall, none could get by him to harass the party who stood behind the shield that was his body and skill, and dealt both ranged and magical damage to all who came in range. They finally found there way down the last hallway, and they found themselves looking at the machine. It was huge, sitting along one entire wall of the cavern, its control station along a raised platform off to the left. As they entered the room, with the whoosh of the door opening before them, they stared at nearly a legion of troops that waited between them and their quarry. From his spot in the front, Tyr knew that against such a number holding the doorway was their only option, but before he could relay his plan, they heard the sounds of soldiers coming up from behind. With only one option left, Tyr bellowed a warcry and dove forward into the fray. The rest of the party, no slouches on their own piled in after him, and soon the battle was well and truly joined. All was chaos as the heroes fought with all of their prodigious skill to beat their way to the machine. But the enemy was just too many, and more would be at the door in moments. Throwing one of his beloved swords into the chest of a rushing enemy, Tyr yelled for the group to push on without him, as he turned and ran back toward the door he yelled at the mage to raise the earth behind him and maybe with only a portion of the enemies on their side, they would be successful. Turning back to the doorway, and the warriors who stood in front of him before it. With a mighty heave Tyr through his second sword which struck the control panel right as the door was opening. Through nothing but his divine luck did the door stop opening. But now Tyr stood before his foes empty handed. As they closed in, the leader crowed, "Fool, now you are trapped in here with us" and he closed in rapidly for the kill. Throwing aside the cloak, that he had worn for the entire adventure, but that none of the players had ever seen him remove Tyr drew a truly massive falchion and with a single stroke beheaded the officer who had charged him. He then looked at the rest of the soldiers who were with him on this side of the wall, "No, it is YOU ALL who are trapped her with me". With that he dove into the tightest knot of fighters and started swinging.

Now here I would like to point out, all of the other players at the table had stopped and dropped their jaws at what had just happened. They had not seen me exhibit any kind of truly offensive capabilities AT ALL, during any of the 24 session campaign. At one point they had seen me resort to punching people because of my lack of offensive skills with my chosen weapons. But I am sure some of you out there have had a character that for purely role-play or backstory reasons has held something in reserve, and this one was Tyr's.

Tyr cut his way through the warriors on his side of the wall, and by the time those outside the door had wrenched it open, he was ready for them. Rushing down the hall, he swung left, right, and center, and cleaved his way through the entirety of the soldiers coming in to the room. As Tyr came back into the room, covered with blood, both his own and his enemies, he saw that the earthen wall had fallen, and he could see his compatriots standing at the control panel for the device. He hurried over, and arrived just in time to hear their plan. They would use the device to create a portal to bring them home, and they would wait long enough to make sure that the self destruct countdown could not be over-ridden and then jump through and escape. It was a perfect plan, if it wasn't for the roar that they heard coming from the main chamber. The dark-robed mage dropped in staff in terror after hearing it. It was the battle cry of a shadow dragon. They had no time for anything except the portal home, and the machine was made of such a material, that none of them had anything that could harm it, or so they thought. Tyr yelled for them to open the portal, and the he lifted his mighty falchion and brought it down on the base of the machine. With a sound like thunder striking iron the machine was fractured, the blow having split the falchion in twain, but it was enough as the powers that kept the machine started tearing it to pieces. They all rushed to the portal, and two were through, when the shadow dragons call came again. It was moving down the hallway, its size passing through wall and door and hall as if it were not but the size of a man. Tyr knew that the portal, if it stayed open, would lead the shadow dragon back to their home on the mortal plane, and he knew what he had to do. Yelling for his companions to flee, he jumped off of the platform and ran for the door, pausing only momentarily to grab 1 of his swords out of the corpse of the foe it had vanquished. As he made it to the door, and pulled his second sword from the remains of the hatch control the door slowly began to close. The hatch was made of adamantine, as was the rest of the chamber, and they knew that the shadow dragon would not be able to move through a material imbued with magic, as adamantine was when it was smelt. So with the door closing, and the portal closing as well, Tyr turned to run back to the portal. That is when he heard it. The iris on the door screeched with an ear piercing noise, to a halt, and refused to close. Tyr knew he did not have time to use his mammoth strength to close the iris and make it back to the portal in time. Throwing his swords through the half-closed iris, Tyr dove through, and as his friends yelled for his retreat, his muscles bulged as he closed the iris shut....

That is where the session ended. We had run 2 hours over our normal time, and people had things to do the next day, so Tyr did not get to play out his fight with the shadow dragon. To this day the GM admits he has no idea how the battle would have played out, because he knew that unless I really screwed up that with all of my bonuses to defense he does not believe that the dragon would have been able to hit me. At the same time, we ALL knew that I would not be able to kill the shadow dragon. The rest of the players hold to the fact that with the machine collapsing behind us that if Tyr could have fought the shadow dragon to a draw, the resulting explosion would have provided victory enough, even in death. Myself I hold to the fact, that Tyr could have made it back to the portal in the main hall, and portal'd back to Vertand. Although the city was doomed and was crumbling to chaos, it would have held more chances then remaining where he was, but, the world will never know.

As it stands, it was another for the list of heroic sacrifices of my characters, and like I said, it has become almost my distinctive style as it were. I did have some characters that didn't die the tragic hero, maybe I will have one of those for next time...

-Eraser   

Ulemon the Wall

As promised the Character sheet for the new character...

The new character that was added to the game "Fighter" Lawful Neutral [Ulemon]
Playing the Armor Master variant fighter our Ulemon pays his keep by being able to help boost allies AC. While this is good for the party it becomes a headache for me when mixed with the helpful trait. But what can I say, it is still an interesting concept for a human raised by a halfling....


NAME: Ulemon Brandfoot  CLASS: Fighter (Armor Master)/3    RACE: Human  DIETY: Lucineo
AGE: 27                   HEIGHT: 6' 3"                      WEIGHT: 235 lbs         ALIGNMENT: LN
ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: 16                                 HIT POINTS: 37                                       SPEED: 20ft (4sq.)
DEXTERITY: 13                                ARMOR CLASS: 25                                  BASE ATTACK: +3
CONSTITUTION: 16                         FORTITUDE SAVE : +6                            CMB: +6 INTELLIGENCE: 10                          REFLEX SAVE: +2                                    CMD: 18
WISDOM: 12                                     WILL SAVE: +2                                         INITIATIVE: +1 CHARISMA: 10

SKILL RANKS:                                   FEATS/TRAITS/ABILITIES
Climb - 1                                              Thrown Together Fashion
Disguise - 2                                         Adopted (Halfling [Helpful])
Intimidate - 1                                       Armor Expert
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) - 1         Master of Many Faces (Human) +1 Bluff, +1 Disguise (CS)
Knowledge (Engineering) - 1              Bodygaurd
Profession (Tailor) - 1                          Dodge
Survival - 1                                          Shield Focus
Swim - 1                                              Combat Reflexes
                                                            Additional Traits
                                                            Regional: (Chrysanthus): +2 Ride
                                                            Regional: (Chrysanthus): +2 Knowledge (Religion)
                                                            Deflective Shield
                                                            Armor Training
                                     
EQUIPMENT:                                             
Masterwork Full Plate                                               
Longsword              
+1 Heavy Steel Shield
Longbow
20 Arrows
Grappling Hook and Knotted Rope                              

Enter the Tower

I would like to start today by wishing a fond farewell to Ctrl-Alt-Del. In the incarnation that we know it Ctrl-Alt-Del has run its course and its author is going to be taking it in another direction. It has been one of my favorite web comics for a long time now, and I will miss being able to take a short break during my work day to relax with some of my favorite characters. I look forward to seeing what Tim Buckley does with his reboot, and I wish him nothing but success in the future. But for now, to paraphrase Loren L. Coleman in his novel Endgame, "God save Ethan MacManus..."

For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, you can find out all about it in the archives here....  http://www.cad-comic.com/

Ok, so I am a bit late with this update from last Wednesday's game, but holidays have a way of screwing everything up that way. So here we go with the first of what will likely be another multi-part update....

...As the door is opened the party is consumed by darkness, and as the light returns to the world they find themselves inside the tower, and the door behind them has disappeared. Having no way to go but forward the party goes down the long hallway, where they find a lumpy form under a blanket. Waking the being they discover a human in heavy plate. When questioned the human replies that he was also trapped inside the tower and had not yet ventured up the stairwell. The party being short front-line fighters immediately accepted his offer to join them, bringing them to believe that their group was now complete. The newly joined member of the party leads the way upstairs into the unknown.

I would here like to point out that the new party member that joined in during this session was an addition that I as the DM was not aware of until the minute that the session was starting. For future reference, you should always give your DM/GM at least a days notice, more is better, when bringing a new player into a game. This is something that the DM/GM needs to prepare for to make sure proper encounter strength and treasure levels. (Player Hint #1.... Yes I am doing Player Hints now as well, I know I know, I am that awesome)

As the party ventured through the multiple levels of the maze-like tower they encountered.... well not much actually.... Tip for DM's out there, dungeons be they maze-like or otherwise need to have consistent amounts of enemies, otherwise your players will get bored, which is what happened in our session on Wednesday. (DM Hint #8) I was so thrilled with my construct of the Master's Tower, that I overlooked the fact that by some possibility it was possible to avoid all of the encounters, thus leaving you with a simple tower that just took forever to walk through. To my dismay, and through random chance, the players found this "Perfect path".  When the complaints started I did what any good or even mediocre DM would do.....I agreed with the players. I called an immediate break, told them that they had successfully ventured through the tower, had them meet with the Master of the Tower, who gave them their plot items, and then let them get back to the main plot. I know what I am passing on to you now, if you are the DM and your players are not happy, you will not have a game. Never try to press a bad situation as a DM, unless you are 100% sure that whatever comes next will pull your bacon out of the fire. Because it is a much better idea to let the players skip what you learned to late was a poorly designed dungeon, then to force them to play it out and piss everyone off. (DM Hint #9)

After leaving the Master's Tower, the party, now permanently one man stronger, got back on track with their main quest of locating the King's exiled brother. Successfully navigating through the desert the party finally came upon the Greenstone Monastery, where the King's brother was sent all of those years ago.  As they came upon the massive structure, they knocked upon the gate, and after simply asking for entrance the gates opened before them. Finding themselves in the middle of a beautiful set of gardens, both vegetative and zen varieties, they were guided through them in all of their beauty and to the monastery itself. They asked to be taken to the Abbot, and with no argument they saw him immediately. It was as they walked into his study that they saw the spartan lifestyle of the brothers lives here at the monastery, as the room contained little more then a kneeling mat, a side table which held a single cup and a a pot of water, and a large window overlooking the gardens. When questioned the Abbot informed them that the King's brother, who had served well during his time as a brother of the order, had been kidnapped a mere two weeks previous to their arrival. He informed the party that he had brothers out searching for him and his captors, and that they would be back soon. Accepting the Abbot's help, the party decided to remain at the monastery and await the brothers' news. While awaiting the brothers' return each of the party members took advantage of the monasteries isolation meditation chambers. It was here, while meditating in a place where time had and senses had no place or meaning that the party all had visions of their futures, visions of normalcy shrouded in despair. It brought them all to a low point, especially as they had no idea what these visions pertained too. Soon enough though the brothers returned and the party memer were brought out of their isolation. With a clue as to the king's brother's location they set off for South Vale, a suburb of Vale, the capital of the nation of the same name. Arriving in South Vale, the party began their own search each attempting to find information using their own unique skill sets. Three of them confirmed information which matched and brought the party to venture the two day trip into the Capital.

That is where the session ended for the night. The party leveled, partly due to their conquests in the tower, and the successful information gathering.....partly because I felt bad that the Tower was a fail and that they missed out on all of the XP that they either bypassed or was skipped by me. Another thing that a DM has to know is that sometimes you have to give a little to get a little. I know that the tower flopped, and I wanted to make it up to my players, so I thought that it would be an appropriate apology.

Once again apologies for the late post... I will try not to let it happen again. I just found out a hilarious story about a friend of mine, so look out there might be a bonus post tomorrow. Until then.... well.... may your characters be swift, and your DM's generous.

-Eraser

Namsuri the Kitsune

The fourth of the Characters playing in the current campaign.

NAME: Namsuri       CLASS: Rouge (Kitsune Trickster)/2        RACE: Kitsune       DIETY: Dionysus
AGE: 17                   HEIGHT: 5' 8"                      WEIGHT: 150 lbs         ALIGNMENT: TN
ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: 10                                  HIT POINTS: 20                                        SPEED: 30ft (6sq.)
DEXTERITY: 15                                ARMOR CLASS: 16                                  BASE ATTACK: +1
CONSTITUTION: 13                         FORTITUDE SAVE : +3                            CMB: +1 INTELLIGENCE: 14                          REFLEX SAVE: +6                                   CMD: 13
WISDOM: 12                                     WILL SAVE: +2                                         INITIATIVE: +2 CHARISMA: 16

SKILL RANKS:                                   FEATS/TRAITS/ABILITIES
Acrobatics - 2                                       Child of the Streets
Bluff - 1                                               Armor Proficiency (Light)
Craft (Armor) - 2                                 Resiliant
Diplomacy - 1                                      Rouge Weapon Proficiencies
Disable Device - 2                               Simple Weapon Proficiency
Disguise - 1                                         Toughness
Intimidate - 1                                       Weapon Finesse
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) - 1         Change Shape
Knowledge (Local) - 1                        Regional: (Questrel): +2 Perception
Linguistics - 1                                      Regional: (Questrel): +2 Sense Motive
Perception - 2                                      Evasion
Sense Motive - 1                                 Kitsune Magic
Sleight of Hand - 2                             Low-Light Vision
Stealth - 2                                           Sneak Attack: 1d6                    

EQUIPMENT:                                             
10x Obsidian Daggers                                               
Masterwork Thieves Tools              
Mithral Chain Shirt
Masterwork Rapier
Daredevil Boots
Cloak of Resistance +1                                                   
                                                                     

Raistlin the Wizard

The Third of the Characters playing in the current campaign.

NAME: Raistlin              CLASS: Wizard/2            RACE: Human        DIETY: Solinari
AGE: 18                   HEIGHT: 5' 3"                      WEIGHT: 140 lbs         ALIGNMENT: TN
ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: 7                                   HIT POINTS: 6                                           SPEED: 30ft (6sq.)
DEXTERITY: 16                                ARMOR CLASS: 13                                  BASE ATTACK: +1
CONSTITUTION: 5                           FORTITUDE SAVE : -3                             CMB: -1 INTELLIGENCE: 22                          REFLEX SAVE: +3                                   CMD: 12
WISDOM: 13                                     WILL SAVE: +4                                         INITIATIVE: +3 CHARISMA: 8

SKILL RANKS:                                   FEATS/TRAITS/ABILITIES
Appraise - 2                                          Child of the Streets
Knowledge (Arcana) - 2                       Dangerously Curious
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) - 2          Magical Aptitude
Knowledge (History) - 2                       Scribe Scroll
Knowledge (Nature) - 1                        Spell Penetration
Knowledge (Planes) - 1                        Wizard Weapon Proficiencies
Knowledge (Religion) - 2                     Arcane Bond (1/Day)
Linguistics - 2                                       Hand of the Apprentice (9/Day)
Sleight of Hand - 2                                Regional: (Tower of Wizardry): +2 Knowledge (Arcana)
Spellcraft - 2                                         Regional: (Tower of Wizardry): +2 on Concentration Checks
Use Magic Device - 2                           
                                                             

EQUIPMENT:                                              SPELLBOOK:
Quarterstaff                                                  All 0-Level Spells
Extend Meta-Magic Rod (Lesser)               Magic Missile
Ring                                                             Charm Person
                                                                     Mage Armor

Eraser's Tales of Being a Player #2

When I was in college I got back into the role-playing scene. I through some random chance joined up with a group that was starting up a new game. It was only my second game ever, and after Shadowrun I had very little, and I mean no, experience with any other systems. But I was told that the system that we were using was really easy to learn. So I built a character. Special Agent John Smith, FBI. One of the other player's character was going to be my partner. It already sounded awesome. So we got together about 10 minutes before the game, and I asked him....."So what do you know about Call of Cthulhu?"
That's right, they had me, and now that they had me I was gonna get the crash course in going insane.
--For those who don't know. Call of Cthulhu is a gaming system where you can pretty much count on a total party wipe by the end of each session. The entire party might not all be dead, but between death, insanity and demonic possession, your entire party WILL be out of commission--
So my partner and I begin the game driving into town. We were passing through with a prisoner that we were transferring cross country. Don't ask me why we were doing it in a car. It was supposed to be some big secret. But we were stopping for the night in this quaint, and by quaint I mean tiny, little town in Arizona. We put the criminal in the local lock up at the Sheriff's office/clinic and then hit the local diner for dinner. During the meal, the Sheriff bursts in and asks us for help with a domestic disturbance, he thought that it was connected to a string of disappearances. Well, although it was not in our jurisdiction, they were helping us out by detaining our transfer, so we decided to throw them a bone. So we are following the Sheriff's cruiser down the road toward the house. When we arrive it was a scene of absolute carnage. Blood and gore everywhere, it looked like at least 2 people had been killed, and maybe more just judging from all the blood. All of a sudden the Sheriff's deputy yells out that he found a kid locked in the basement. As my partner and myself made our way back downstairs, we found a guy making a break for one of the cars in the driveway, covered in blood. I burst out the door yelling for my partner to follow me. We hit the front yard just as he was recklessly backing out of the driveway. I pulled my service piece and took a few potshots at the tires, but while shooting I was already moving towards our car. I was across the hood and in the driver's seat as my partner was throwing himself in on the other side, and as the passenger door slammed shut I was slinging the car into drive and spewing gravel as we took of after him. It was rough driving after him down the old country roads, and if it wasn't for some amazing driving rolls we probably would have flipped the car. As it was my partner was hanging half out the window trying to line up a shot. We were coming up to a T-intersection, and he yelled for me to to swing the car so he could get a shot through the drivers window. I gunned it and as the assailant made the turn we took the inside track, my partner took the shot as soon as we turned and the driver's window came into his line of sight. A double tap and it was over, as the driver put the car into a ditch. Not a moment too soon either, as I was driving in opposite traffic and had to make one last drive check to avoid the oncoming semi that was bearing down on us. Pulling off to the side of the road, we made our way back to the assailants car. He was most definately dead. As we were pulling him out of the car, we heard a noise from the trunk. We opened it to find a small boy who was bound and gagged, by seemed no worse for the wear from the car going into the ditch. As we got him out of the trunk and untied him he screamed as he saw the man on the ground. Well we brought the body, and the boy back into town, where we found out that the kid in the basement was the sister of the boy that we found in the car, and both of them were the children of the man we had shot in the car, and the women who was found in the house. With all of the blood on him, and with a blood-stained murder weapon having been next to him on the passenger seat, it was a pretty open and shut case. Well we bring the body to the clinic/sherif's office to be put on ice until the county coroner could get there and pronounce, then we got cleaned up, filed the neccessary papers, and then went back over to the diner for some coffee. Little did we know that our night was just starting...
 ... After getting our coffee the Sheriff came in and joined us, we all got some food, and we talked about what all was going on. We all agreed that it was really weird, and that we should probably grab the EMT that lived in town, and see if she would be willing to do an autopsy. Sure, it wasn't by the book, but we needed answers, there were 4 other missing people to worry about. Myself and my partner went down to get the body out of the freezer and onto the table while the Sheriff waited for the EMT to show up. As we walked down the back steps of the clinic/Sheriff's office towards the "morgue"/lab, we heard crashing noises coming from inside. Both drawing weapons we advanced to the door. I went to open it, my partner ready to enter first. As I put my hand on the door however, it swung open, with enough force to send me crashing back into the wall. My partner stepped up and fired 3 times before i heard a meaty thump, and then a scream. Coming back to my senses after momentarily being stunned, I saw my partner bleeding from a neck wound, and a terrible humanoid creature standing above him. My gun having been knocked out of my hand, but my partner's life being in danger i did the only thing I could, and before it noticed me I swung my double-balled fists into the side of its head. Completely unaware it seemed momentarily stunned itself, giving me time to grab my partner's fallen weapon. At point blank range I unloaded the rest of the clip into the creature's back, center mass. It stumbled forward, and I thought that it would land on my partner, but instead it stumbled into a run, faster certainly then any Olympic sprinter could have ever hoped for, and it was all I could do to reload and spray another clip towards it as it made its way out into the desert night. Forgoing the chase to aid my wounded partner. We called in a med-evac, and had him stabilized by the time it arrived an hour later. I would have gone with him, but I still had a job to do, remembering that, I went to go check on our prisoner. With everything else that had been going on, and with her being behind bars she was the least of our worries, but when I walked back into the holding area, she was gone, and the cell she had been in was sporting a rather large hole in it's back wall. Knowing that she couldn't have done it without help, I was about to go get the Sheriff and organize a manhunt before she got too far away. As I was walking back out into the office proper however I heard a scream. The EMT, the Sheriff, my prisoner and the 2 children were all in the office, and there was some sort of silvery orb trying to get through the doorway. Pulling my piece, I immediately went about trying to stop its advance, and the Sheriff, finally getting over the initial shock, added a deep thump of a shotgun to the tirade. We yelled for the kids to get back in the hall behind us. The EMT and the Sheriff's Deputy, both having found weapons, added to the mass of fire that we were directing at the orb, but it was seemingly having no effect. It was as the orb crossed the threshold that the boy screamed in the hall behind us. I turned and being the closest one ran into the hall. I saw the boy screaming, and now the sister as well as hands and arms were stretching out towards him from the window of the clinic door. Grabbing the boy and starting him toward the door and yelled for the others. "Sheriff, get everyone out the back and into the ambulance, you can drive into Tucson and bring back reinforcements." One by one the EMT, the Sheriff, My prisoner and the Deputy made it down the hall and out the door, the Sheriff having been wounded had given the shotgun to the EMT, who was holding the door and waiting for me. "Agent Smith we have to go" she yelled as the orb began making its way down the hall. I was about to turn and run when the door to the clinic burst open, and the woman and the man from earlier shambled out. They were to close to the door, and if someone didn't do something they would get to the ambulance before it could get away. I yelled for the EMT to run as I pulled my partner's piece and started firing both guns down the hall. It seemed to be working momentarily, and the shamblers appearance had seemed to halt the orb as well. It was at that point that my partner's weapon misfired and pretty much exploded in my hand. As the fire momentarily stopped the two shamblers closed on me, and while I was stunned I was NOT moving back towards the door. The EMT tried to be a hero, she had waited for me instead of running and as soon as I went down she tried firing the shotgun down the hall. But being unfamiliar with the weapon it was no good, and after the first stray shot the weapon jammed before she could rack another cartridge into the chamber. The shotgun blast having brought my awareness back to the forefront I yelled again for her to run as I started firing from the ground trying to get up. It was no good as the first shambler fell on top of me even as I put 3 rounds in its chest. I heard the door slam, and I knew the EMT was gone, now I was just fighting for my life, knowing that the others would get away gave me a sense of accomplishment, and joy, but it was overpowered by the fact that......I WANTED TO LIVE. Fighting off the shambler as best I could, he continued to trying to tear at my eyes and neck. Finally getting my gun against the side of his head I pulled the trigger and watched as the brain splattered against the wall. As I tried to heave him off of me and run though the second shambler fell onto me as well. Having a bit of an advantage as the body of the first shambler partially blocked me from the second, a fought and clawed and finally got my gun up under the second shamblers throat, crowing in victory, a pulled the trigger, and as I heard the first dry click of the hammer striking nothing but an empty firing chamber, I felt the shambler's claws tear into my throat, and then I felt nothing at all.......

Pretty good idea of what the hallway looked like....creepy right?
Picture by
Ralphy-Leone, Deviant Art


Yes, for those of you who read my 1st Tale, it is sadly my trope that I am the schmuck that dies so that the rest of the party may live. Unlike Shadowrun however, this has far more significance in Call of Cthulhu because if anyone gets away in Call of Cthulhu it is basically considered a win. This session however was fraught with argument as we argued with the GM that my pistol should not have been out of ammo. The players and I were making the argument that an FBI agent would have the maximum number of bullets in a weapon. A full magazine and one in the chamber. She made the excuse that because I never claimed that I was loading my weapon that way, that it doesn't matter what an agent would "usually" do. Well as usually happens with arguing with the GM, the GM won the argument. However it did teach all of the players. myself included. Always be specific when the GM/DM asks you a question. Even something as simple as how you are loading a weapon.

Well there you have it folks, keep reading, the next of Eraser's Tales of Being a Player will be another fun one, I guarantee it...

The Machageer

Here is the second of the groups Character Sheets

NAME: The Machageer      CLASS: Cleric(Undead Lord)/2      RACE: Human        DIETY: Malfea
AGE: 37                        HEIGHT: 6' 4"                  WEIGHT: 189 lbs               ALIGNMENT: LE 
ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: 14                                  HIT POINTS: 14                                       SPEED: 20ft (4sq.)
DEXTERITY: 8                                  ARMOR CLASS: 17                                  BASE ATTACK: +1
CONSTITUTION: 10                         FORTITUDE SAVE : +3                            CMB: +3
INTELLIGENCE: 10                          REFLEX SAVE: -1                                    CMD: 11
WISDOM: 18                                     WILL SAVE: +7                                         INITIATIVE: +5
CHARISMA: 15

SKILL RANKS:                                   FEATS/TRAITS/ABILITIES
Bluff - 1                                                 Command Undead
Diplomacy - 1                                       Selective Channeling
Perception - 2                                        Spell Focus (Necromancy)
Seollcraft - 2                                         Aura (Evil)
                                                              Death Domain (Undead)
                                                              Negative Energy Channeling
                                                             Corpse Companion
                                                             Death's Kiss (7/day)
                                                             Fast Talker
                                                             Underbridge Dweller
                                                             Regional (Outpost) +2 Bluff
                                                             Regional (Outpost) +2 Perception

EQUIPMENT:                                              SPELLS PREPARED:
Greatsword                                                     1 - Cause Fear (3/day)
Masterwork Morningsta                                 1 - Doom
Masterwork Heavy Steel Shield                    1 - Sanctuary
Masterwork Agile Breastplate                       1 - Ray of Sickening
                                                                       0 -Stabilize
                                                                       0 - Detect Magic
                                                                       0 - Create Water
                                                                       0 - Guidence

Tariel of Reyrheal

Here is the first of the character sheets of the group.

NAME: Tariel      CLASS: Magus(Myrmidarch)/2      RACE: Eastern Elf        DIETY: Krea'Tua
AGE: 120             HEIGHT: 5' 11"                            WEIGHT: 121 lbs         ALIGNMENT:CG

ATTRIBUTES:

STRENGTH: 12                                 HIT POINTS: 18                                        SPEED: 30ft (6sq.)
DEXTERITY: 16                                ARMOR CLASS: 16                                  BASE ATTACK: +1
CONSTITUTION: 14                         FORTITUDE SAVE : +5                            CMB: +2
INTELLIGENCE: 16                          REFLEX SAVE: +3                                    CMD: 15
WISDOM: 10                                     WILL SAVE: +3                                         INITIATIVE: +5
CHARISMA: 8

SKILL RANKS:                                   FEATS/TRAITS/ABILITIES
Acrobatics - 2                                       Point Blank Shot
Knowledge (Arcana) - 2                       Regional: (Reyrheal): +2 Knowledge (Arcana)
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) - 2          Regional: (Reyrheal): +2 Knowledge (Nature)
Knowledge (Nature) - 2                       Magical Lineage: (Shocking Grasp)
Knowledge (Planes) - 2                       Reactionary: +2 Initiative
Spellcraft - 2                                        Racial Arcane Focus
                                                             Low-Light Vision
                                                             Elven Magic
                                                             Elven Immunities
                                                             Arcane Pool: 4/Day
                                                             Spell Combat
                                                             Spell Strike

EQUIPMENT:                                              SPELLBOOK:
+1 Composite Longbow (Str +1)                  All 0-Level Spells
Masterwork Longsword                                Abundent Ammunition
Masterwork Shortsword                                Corrosive Touch
Masterwork Studded Leather Armor             Longshot
                                                                      Magic Missile
                                                                      Shocking Grasp
                                                                      Shield
                                                                      Vanish

Eraser's Tales of Being a Player #1

I wasn't always a DM/GM....every gamer has to start somewhere.
I was a little late to the party, I didn't start my roleplaying career until my junior year of high school.
Back in the day, the game was Shadowrun.....3rd Edition.
I was joining up with a group who was going on one last run before starting over with new characters.
They were letting me join up because they had lost their spellcaster, and this was my trial run before starting the new campaign. You know, they were letting the new guy get a feel for the system with a group of elite runners before throwing him to the wolves with a fresh group.
Well the party needed a spellcaster, so I "rolled up" a Wolf Shaman.
I have always had an affinity for wolves as you will see as they show up in various postings.
Anyway, the run was gonna be a tough one, and I was utterly depending on the group to keep me from getting geeked inside of the first 10 minutes. The job sounded easy enough, break into secret warehouse, protect the decker's meat while he grabs the paydata, and then hustle hoop out the back door. Little did we know, the GM was preparing to hose the party something fierce knowing that this was gonna be the last session anyway.
It was too easy, and a few of the players knew it. They were double checking everything, hell, they were triple checking corners. But nothing had gone wrong yet, and my invisibility spell had got us past the first and second groups of guards with no alarms going off or anything.
Now I should point out that the group was thrilled having a spellcaster that didn't JUST know combat spells, they had never had that utility before. The GM wasn't ready for it either as we were supposed to set off at least one alarm on the way in. Point #1 for me.
So we get the decker into the main lab where he needs to jack in to find the paydata. It was quiet, too quiet and we all knew it. Dropping into a lotus position, as long as the gun bunnies were all hopped up and paying attention, I quickly summoned a low level air spirit to patrol the halls and report if anything appeared to be out of the ordinary. Once again, the party wasn't used to the utility, and that meant another Point for me. Point #2 to be exact.
Well everything was going swell until our decker tripped up on some IC, pronounced "ice" in the lingo of the streets, on his way out of the system. All of a sudden it was nothing but sirens and lights. My spirit was back to me in an astral flash informing me that guards were everywhere, and that at least one security mage was also present. Well, we didn't need to be told twice, as we all booked it for the back door. Well wouldn't you know, the back door was a garage door in the maintenance bay of the warehouse we were in, and did I mention the catwalk that run above said bay. It was a shooting gallery, and we were the targets. Our leader called for a general "run the @#$% away" and all of a sudden it was every meta for themselves. The decker had downloaded the file to everyone, so as long as one of us got out we could still get paid. So with no need of anyone else, everyone split. I didn't realize that I was gonna be left behind, and I was a second late on the uptake, that second saved my life. Sprinting from cover in all directions, the entire team ended up in the open. They all took hits, but the team decker, not being as tough as the gun bunnies, went down, hard. Now I should point out that no one in the party, none of the players as it were, role played much. They were in it for the running and the shooting. So the GM had to ride herd on them alot to get any amount of role playing out of them. Let me tell you, he was just waiting for me to run, because he was gonna stop me. You see, the downfall of being a Wolf Shaman, is that you actually have to make a the equivalent of a Will Save to leave a pack member "teammate" behind, and he was just waiting to remind of this when I declared my actions for the round. let me just say that I did not share the other players pension for poor role playing, as my shaman never thought for a minute about leaving the decker behind. Exerting himself almost to physical pain I cast a ball of pure physical energy "powerball" toward the catwalk, knocking it from the beams supporting it and causing it to crash to the ground as I ran forward to grab the decker and throw him over my shoulder. With the momentary lapse in gunfire the team regrouped at the backdoor, where one of the gun bunnies slapped a heal patch on the decker which woke him up right quick "Adrenaline slap patch". He was moving to jack in and open the door when the security mage walked in on the far side of the room, a fire spirit trailing after him. I yelled for the team to "Geek the Mage" as I turned and fainted to the floor. Ordering my air elemental to harass the WageMage, I passed my spirit onto the astral plane, and went straight for the fire spirit.  My character didn't have the skill for banishing, but I did have an astral dagger, and I used it to strike at the fire spirit that waited near the Mage. Not expecting this kind of attack it took the spirit a moment to fully bring his conscientiousness to his astral form, and that was all of the chance I needed. With the extra initiative pass, I closed to grapple range and plunged my dagger deep into the spirits essence. It was not without defenses though, and the team saw my body spasm as I was struck by the spirit. I attacked like my namesake patron, without fear, and with no hesitation, and my second strike caused the fire spirit to be unmade, and sent back to the meta plane of fire. As my astral spirit made its way back to my body, I felt my air spirit wink out of existence, as it was banished from this plane, but as I opened my meat bodies eyes, I saw that the Secuirty Mages physical barrier had fallen, and he was being turned into a piece of cheese of the swiss variety by my gun bunny teammates. With the threat down, everything would have been fine except when the decker finally got the door open, we were looking at a 100 yard run from the door to the helipad where our ride was supposed to land, and it was covered by two elevated towers. It also didn't help that two security vans were bearing down on us from the main gate. As we began to sprint across the field I heard the team leader yelling into his commlink telling our ride to land. From the tone of the conversation, our ride wanted no part of the towers. It seemed that we were between a tower and a hard place, and we were getting ready for our last stand, when I grabbed the comm and told the pilot to start his approach, by the time he got here, the towers would no longer be a problem. With that, I tossed the comm back to the team leader and began casting the most powerful spell I could muster. Another powerball, but this one enormous in comparison with the first. As I let the spell go, blood spurted from my nose and my hearing rang, as the drain from the spell hit me, hard. I was casting at such high levels that my body just couldn't handle it, but as I watched our heavy weapon specialist pull a rocket launcher out of his bag, i knew he could take out the other tower. Even as I had the thought my spell struck the first tower. It was wonderful, Wolf would have been proud, in fact I know he was, it took the top of the tower, including its anti-aircraft assets out of the picture. As the first tower exploded I heard the gush of the single-use rocket launcher being fired. We all watched as the rocket set out after its target, and all of our hearts fell when he missed wide to the right. With no other option the team was going to try to make it but inside the maintenance bay to make a final stand, but we knew that additional security had to already be on its way, and we knew we would run out of ammo eventually. As the team leader started giving the final order I made a decision. I formed the spell one final time, putting everything I had left into it, and as he was speaking the words to retreat, I let it go. Blackness took me, but only for a moment, as I felt hands lifting me. I was being carried, and as I came back to the land of the living I saw the smoldering wreckage that was the second tower, and our ride, a Hughes Stallion Helo just getting ready to touch down on the pad. Then in that instant I was back on the ground, I felt the impact before I realized I was falling. The teammate who was carrying me had been hit, and he had glitched on the resistance roll. His cyber-arm, the only thing giving him the strength to carry me had me hit, and it was malfunctioning. He tried to drag me, but it wasn't going to work, and the rest of the team I knew would not have hesitated to leave the both of us behind. Gathering my voice and all of the strength I could muster, I growled, and howled at him to leave me. The fearsome visage he was facing, and his own sense of survival was enough to have him running as fast as he could for the chopper. It began taking off even as he was jumping aboard. To their credit I saw them laying down cover fire toward the security team bearing down on me, but I could barely feel my legs underneath me, and I wasn't going anywhere. I reached down inside of me for the spark that fueled my magic...but it wasn't there. I knew it was the end. But Wolf did not teach his followers to go quietly into the dark night. As the vans bore down on me, I reached into my vest...and pulled a pristine and very new looking Ares Predator. I had never had reason to use it...it had never even been fired. Well that was about to change. The adrenaline patch that they had slapped on me might have been stopping me from reaching my spark, but it gave my reactions just the boost I needed, and as I felt the bullets ripping into me I just kept pulling the trigger....as I hit the ground I heard the click of a dry fire right before the darkness took me...and me last thought was...

For my character that was where it ended. The newbie, the rookie, the greenhorn, had proved exactly what the party needed to escape from what we later found out was a suicide run. The GM was impressed. So impressed that in all of his games from that day on, whenever the runners were looking for gossip in a bar, they always heard that story. The story of Lobo. The Wolf Shaman who refused to let his pack lose. A true alpha if there ever was one.

Alas, that summer before the new campaign started, the GM moved away. I never did get to run with those guys again, and it was four years before my next brush with role playing. But I still talk with the GM from time to time, and he always tells me that his current group doesn't believe a word of the story. We always share a laugh.

As for the rest of my Role Playing history, well I guess that has to be another story... 

Arrival at South Portsmith

Lets see if I can finish the 1st session in this its 3rd post.

Arriving in the colony of South Portsmith the party immediately sets out to ignore another city as they decide that they are going to camp outside of town. Waking in the morning, and deciding that before tracking across the desert they should at least find some basic supplies they head into town. Namsuri, in addition to pickpocketing people,  here's a rumor about a haunted mansion north of the city. Raistlin also hears about the mansion, although as he hears it, it is the residence of the recently deceased ship's mage, Master Thomas, the white robed mage who died aboard ship during the pirate attack. Having the mages key, which he thought was simply the key to the mages chest aboard the ship, Raistlin now thinks he might be able to get into the mages former residence and perhaps discover something that will help him with his growing magical talent.

Never just give one party member a plot hook, give it to as many as you can. The more players who have the information, the more players you have to convince the party that the plot hook is a good idea, even if it takes them out of the way of the main quest.
[DM Hint #5]

So although Raistlin kept the secret of the mansion to himself, Namsuri told the entire party, and after a brief debate on the speed for which they should probably complete the main quest, they decided on the plot hook anyway. On the road north of the town they were ambushed by a party of Halfling rouges. They successfully drove the majority of them off, but in doing so allowed their horses to be stolen. With provisions only purchased in sufficient quantity for a wagon trip across the desert, and now horseless the "party" had to return to South Portsmith to "gear up" before continuing onward.

An ambush doesn't always have to be about killing the players. Remember that NPC's can have agenda's of their own. The Halflings knew that they had no chance at beating the party, but with a well placed distraction easily made off with the horses. To a group of bandits, a team of horses is one HUGE payoff. Why throw your life away attacking people when stealing is so much easier and doesn't threatening your own well being as much. Also, note that it was a great way to get the "party" to go back into town, and get them to interact with people. This is especially important if they skipped talking to any of your NPC's who you really like, and gave backstories too. It also is a great way to keep them in theme, as the horses they lost had to be replaced with Camels. Once again giving them another subtle reminder of where they are in the world.
[DM Hint #6]

Having resupplied, and now with a team of camels pulling their wagon the "party" once again headed out toward the mansion. Having no problems on this leg of the journey, everyone now expressly on the lookout for an ambush, they make it to the mage's mansion. A squat two story circular tower with but a single window, and a single door, the party goes about trying to find a way in. Namsuri shocks himself trying to pick the lock as The Machageer viewed the entire place with a "Detect Magic" seeing that the entire place was indeed magically.

It was at this point that I asked Raistlin why he didn't just use the key. Seeing that it was 1am, and that we had been gaming for going on five hours. He admitted to, resting his eyes, and forgetting he had the key on him. Alert enough now to remember he placed the key in the lock and turned. As the door opened on well greased hinges, he party had to wait until next week to see what was inside....

Always leave your players wanting more, even something as simple as not being able to see inside a door. About 5 minutes before the end of the session the players decided that they wanted to call it a night. But I strung them along long enough to get them to get the door open, and then ended it right as it did. Although it was the players who all wanted to call it for the night, as soon as they realized that I wasn't going to tell them what was inside the door they all immediately said that they wanted to keep going. Leave them on a cliffhanger and you give them something to look forward too, something they can think about until next session. It keeps them engaged even away from the table, and when they come back for the next session they will be all excited to see what they were unable to the week before.
[DM Hint #7]

Well that will do it for the 1st Session. Despite the make-up of the party, or maybe because of it, I have high hopes for this campaign.
If you have any questions about my world, which I will document here eventually, no worries, or about DM'ing, or about life in general, leave me a comment and I will try to answer it in my next post.

-Eraser