This week brought the team to the town of Otminster for the Dash of the Missive, a cross city race attracting runners from all over the land.
On the way into town, Jamlamin introduced a moral question to Corax, "If a hunter draws his bow and another steps into his path, is he a murderer?"
The team had differing opinions on the issue, which Jamlamin used to as a metaphor for his chaos magic. Corax was still convinced both men should be at fault, the hunter for not paying better attention and the man for not looking where he was going. Crag brought up that the man may have come from behind a tree, and they all stewed on that for a while.
When they reached Otminster, Quickroot chose to remain outside the town, preferring to spend time alone. "My mind is like my swamp, full of ruins, this town reminds me much of.. another," he said. The team agreed to participate in the race without him while he staid with the horses.
Corax entered the town with much fan fair. He signed up for the race declaring, "Corax, the hero of Blood Spot is here to register!"
The mayor, Sir Reginald, came to great the group and explain the race.
The Dash of the Missive goes across 5 routes: The rooftops of the wealth part of town, the streets of the magic district, Main Street, the poor district alleys, and the rooftops of the poor area. Each racer is given a message to deliver to the top of the tower at the end of the race. The race ends when the first racer finishes.
Our team was competing against a gnome, Gunzunda, who sets traps, a charming street performer, and elf, a guard, and a half-orc.
We began the race with Eglan and Lex facing Orc on Main Street, Jamlamin facing the Elf on the poor rooftops, Crag facing the Street Performer on the rich rooftops, Corax facing the Gnome on the poor streets, and the rich streets unchallenged by the guard.
Eglan maneuvered his way through the crowds at the beginning with ease using his acrobatics and charisma. He was caught in a cluster and couldn't squeeze through the thick rush of people, or push them apart, so he instead decided to jump over them. He made the rest of his way through by using his position as a religious figure to earn enough respect for people to move out of his way. He then reached the second area, the bridge, which was blocked by merchant carts. He did a hand spring over one, used his nature skills to spook the horses of another, but failed to charm the next merchant, and so decided to run along the banisters on the side of the bridge instead.
Corax was quickly confronted by 4 thugs. He used his magic to appear as Death to scare them, which put them off guard. He then used his street smarts to weave around them, trying to shame them for their bad behavior, causing one to run away as he escaped. Corax then reached the second stage, a river of filthy, polluted water, which proved to be a struggle as he took mouthfuls of the gross water. He tried to teleport, but failed, causing him to take on water and loose a turn.
Jamlamin jumped onto the roofs only to be attacked by pigeons. He decided to switch to the poor streets, where he ran into the thugs. He tried to intimidate them by acting crazy, but, they were not afraid and decided to try to rob him. He switched tactics and decided to pretend to be poor and gain their trust, he pushed it too far, however, by trying to turn them on the Elf instead and they attacked. He used thunder leap to escape and switched to Main Street bridge. He then used a combination of diplomacy and intimidation to make his way across the bridge. He made it to the Market Place by convincing the merchants he was an inspector.
Lex struggled to control the crowns on Main Street. She was held up for a long time trying to be heard over the crowds. She finally decided to switch to the wealthy streets around the magic district and used her teleportation ability with Dimension Door, giving her self an extra leap around the angry merchant blocking her path. The streets were filled with magical smoke, so she took ingredients from surrounding shops to fashion a gas mask to endure. She then reached the second stage of the race, the barges. She lied her way onto a boat by telling the man rowing it that she was guaranteed to win if he placed a bet on her. When he decided he couldn't take her any further, she summoned an image of Hongya from the sea to scare him out of the boat. She then began to struggle again failing to leap onto another boat and to intimidate a boatman.
Crag had an easy time of the hot roof on top of the rich houses until reaching then end, when the heat began to slow him. He eventually made his way across to the rigging over the water. He eventually became tired and decided to switch to the barges on the rich street route. He couldn't scare the initial boater, so he used an action point to jump on the boat anyway, and then began to intimidate his way across the barges.
This is where we left off, about half-way through the races.
Play Notes:
This was an nearly entirely skill based night, which was very interesting and required a lot of thought to strategy. Changing paths could cost one a turn of moving, but could prove particularly clever if one knew they had the skills to get through a different path. The race ended with Jamlamin on the lead, but, it's hard to say who the winner will be!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The Grove: Part Two
This past session began with the battle against Hongya and the porcupine worms.
The worms proved to be the most difficult part of the battle due to their throwing quills. I believe Lex was the only character not hit by a quill by the time the battle was over, and that was largely because she fought from the parameter to move the enemies around. The team took a real beating with many coming down to saving throws and 5 or less health.
Lex used magical intuition to determine killing Hongya would eliminate the worms, so the team focused efforts on removing her. Her special ability was to remove a character from the game for a turn, which she used on Eglan.
It came down to the wire, and it was ultimately Corax who dealt the killing blow to Hongya, who throughout the battled repeated, "Please, kill me," and, as a servant to the Raven Queen, Corax was prepared to comply out of mercy and reverence for death. He formed a second scythe made of souls and cut her in half, freeing her soul as she whispered, "Thank you."
"Another for the Raven Queen, she has been blessed with a soul, rest in peace, Hongya," said Corax.
Eglan was moved to grief and tears, having known Hongya and recommended her for the job of guarding the grove. The worm monsters had become regular porcupines again, and Eglan threw a spear into one of them as they ran. Quickroot shoved him aside angrily to kneel before the porcupine body.
The team discovered a crown of leaves which adds a +2 insight to Nature, one Endless Provisions, and One Endless Canteen. 2100 Experience was earned, leading to a level up which will be added to everyone next game.
Crag sensed that the god Khyrad was responsible for the events in the grove, but he also detected an unidentifiable second signature. Corax offered compliments and advice on the battle techniques of Lex and Jamlamin as the newest members of the team, and the least experienced in battle (resulting in a future use of a +2 to any roll for both).
Quickroot cried over the death of the porcupine, and buried something in the ground before leaving. Corax asked what it was, and Quickroot revealed it was a fungal pod from his homelands. Corax offered to help him plant more along the journey, and Quickroot's spirits lifted somewhat.
Lex approached Jamlamin privately to suggest they train together, as the two exclusive magic practitioners with opposite powers (Control and Chaos). Jamlamin agreed (future quests will involve training for Lex and Jamlamin to improve combos and tactics using their opposite and complimentary abilities).
Upon return to the Selderine the team was rewarded 1000 gold coins. A message had arrived from Blood Spot. It was from Alexander Grey, informing the team that our actions in Blood Spot freed the city, and things had been going fairly well in our absence. The team had become famous in the area, and Grey suggested we attend the annual Dash of the Missive race in Otminster, which could lead to a carrier job from one of the local lords.
Play Notes: In general, the team is working well together, but we are going to try to coordinate complimentary moves and abilities with this new upgrade. I'm starting to think of more flavor to add to moves and Lex's personality is becoming more clear, I believe, as she starts to reveal herself as more than just a no-nonsense, calculating woman on a revenge quest. She's beginning to commit more to the team, and may even be growing to like them as people. We shall see what the team decides to do about this race, as Lex will be seeing it as an opportunity to look for information about Lord Aminafus, the man who has her sister, Mei.
The worms proved to be the most difficult part of the battle due to their throwing quills. I believe Lex was the only character not hit by a quill by the time the battle was over, and that was largely because she fought from the parameter to move the enemies around. The team took a real beating with many coming down to saving throws and 5 or less health.
Lex used magical intuition to determine killing Hongya would eliminate the worms, so the team focused efforts on removing her. Her special ability was to remove a character from the game for a turn, which she used on Eglan.
It came down to the wire, and it was ultimately Corax who dealt the killing blow to Hongya, who throughout the battled repeated, "Please, kill me," and, as a servant to the Raven Queen, Corax was prepared to comply out of mercy and reverence for death. He formed a second scythe made of souls and cut her in half, freeing her soul as she whispered, "Thank you."
"Another for the Raven Queen, she has been blessed with a soul, rest in peace, Hongya," said Corax.
Eglan was moved to grief and tears, having known Hongya and recommended her for the job of guarding the grove. The worm monsters had become regular porcupines again, and Eglan threw a spear into one of them as they ran. Quickroot shoved him aside angrily to kneel before the porcupine body.
The team discovered a crown of leaves which adds a +2 insight to Nature, one Endless Provisions, and One Endless Canteen. 2100 Experience was earned, leading to a level up which will be added to everyone next game.
Crag sensed that the god Khyrad was responsible for the events in the grove, but he also detected an unidentifiable second signature. Corax offered compliments and advice on the battle techniques of Lex and Jamlamin as the newest members of the team, and the least experienced in battle (resulting in a future use of a +2 to any roll for both).
Quickroot cried over the death of the porcupine, and buried something in the ground before leaving. Corax asked what it was, and Quickroot revealed it was a fungal pod from his homelands. Corax offered to help him plant more along the journey, and Quickroot's spirits lifted somewhat.
Lex approached Jamlamin privately to suggest they train together, as the two exclusive magic practitioners with opposite powers (Control and Chaos). Jamlamin agreed (future quests will involve training for Lex and Jamlamin to improve combos and tactics using their opposite and complimentary abilities).
Upon return to the Selderine the team was rewarded 1000 gold coins. A message had arrived from Blood Spot. It was from Alexander Grey, informing the team that our actions in Blood Spot freed the city, and things had been going fairly well in our absence. The team had become famous in the area, and Grey suggested we attend the annual Dash of the Missive race in Otminster, which could lead to a carrier job from one of the local lords.
Play Notes: In general, the team is working well together, but we are going to try to coordinate complimentary moves and abilities with this new upgrade. I'm starting to think of more flavor to add to moves and Lex's personality is becoming more clear, I believe, as she starts to reveal herself as more than just a no-nonsense, calculating woman on a revenge quest. She's beginning to commit more to the team, and may even be growing to like them as people. We shall see what the team decides to do about this race, as Lex will be seeing it as an opportunity to look for information about Lord Aminafus, the man who has her sister, Mei.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
The Grove, Part One
After dispatching the rabbit blobs and mutated wolves, the team began to suspect something was very much wrong.
Quickroot began to examine the bodies as Crag burned them. Corax was anxious to continue into the grove, while Lex was feeling very unsure of herself, having never been so injured in battle till this point. They speculated about the nature of the mutated creatures and the fate of the Druid who was supposed to be protecting the grove.
Corax turned his attention to Jamlamin, who during the battle with the animals had become out of control and injured Crag with a Chaos Bolt. Corax wanted Jamlamin to leave the group because he saw him as a danger, and unable to control his chaos magic. Crag attempted to calm Corax by reminding him the damage wasn't severe. Lex, feeling an affinity with the mage as a fellow practicer of magic, offered to attempt to control him using her manipulation based magic. Jamlamin explained that he used to study controlled magic, but found chaos magic to be more powerful, and that he would strive harder to control it. Corax was convinced, and they continued onward.
As they traveled onward, suddenly the huge stars floating the trees above took root in their souls. Lex, Corax, and Quickroot became filled with a powerful hunger (10 ongoing psychic damage). Eglan and Jamlamin began to be driven mad with whispered secrets they couldn't quite comprehend (whenever player rolls initiative they are dominated). Crag faded until he became a being made of light (when rolls initiative, insubstantial and weakened, save ends all).
Beetles the size of small dogs scurried about the fauna. Eyeballs gazed at us from plants. Lizard tails shot from the ground like blades of grass. There was a bucket of liquid light on the ground and trees of pomegranate-like fruit, with snails climbing upon them.
Quickroot became overcome with hunger and ate dirt. Corax grabbed a nearby snail and ate it. Jamlamin was suddenly overtaken with madness and threw a bolt at Corax, who dodged it just in time by throwing a beetle at him. Crag, who was still composed of light, could hear the snails whispering to him, but couldn't understand them no matter how close he got. He put one hand into the bucket of liquid light, but nothing happened. He poured it out onto the lizard grass, but, again, no effect. Lex could not wait any longer and eats one of the pomegranate-like fruits. When she did, she gained the insight that the garden they've wandered into used to be that of the druid. She also understood that the eyeballs she and the others who hunger are so repulsed by was the key to curing their hunger. Her hunger lessened slightly.
Eglan was overtaken with madness and took a swing at Lex, but missed when Crag switched places with her using his teleport technique. One of the stars descended closer to the trees. Corax decided to eat an eyeball and felt his hunger lessen, so Eglan and Crag also ate an eyeball. They began to realize a combination of these plants and creatures might cure their afflictions. Crag placed an eyeball in the bucket along with a snail, but, nothing happened.
The star was now 10 feet away, expanding and contracting. Corax used his magic to trade afflictions with Crag, so he was now made of light. As the star got closer, Corax was filled with malevolence. Eglan meditated to determine that the star was under the power of Khirad. She fed another eyeball to Corax, but, it did not cure him. Quickroot took a fruit, some lizard tail grass, and an eyeball, and ate all three. He was cured of his hunger completely, so the rest began eating combinations (or being fed in the case of Eglan and Jamlamin, who were stricken with memory loss by the stars) until they are all cured.
Corax attacked the descended star and it exploded, injuring the party in the blast. The rest of the stars began to come closer, so they moved onward to the center, where they found more stars surrounding a horrible bear covered in tentacles with light emitting eyeballs down its back.
"End my suffering!" it cried, and they realized the bear was Hongya, the druid.
"She is mine!" hissed an unknown voice.
Worm-like creatures covered in porcupine quills (shot by quill caused 5 ongoing damaged and player was slowed) attacked from amid aberrant mist (when in the mist, players took 10 ongoing psychic damage, got a +1 to attack and +5 to damage rolls).
Play notes:
This was an interesting night because it was the first time we actually stopped in the middle of a battle because we spent so much time trying to figure out the initiative based challenges in the garden. We did a lot of experimenting with the plants and bugs, but ultimately were assisted by the DM via Quickroot just due to time. That being said it was an interesting challenge and I'd be up for more puzzles in the future.
Unfortunately it wasn't a good night of combat for me, I didn't make very good use of my attacks (for example, I forgot Corax cannot take cold damage, so I could have used an ability to slide him out of the mist, but moved the enemy instead). My head wasn't in the game as much as it should have been, but, it was a learning experience.
I look forward to finding out what happened to Hongya in our next session!
Quickroot began to examine the bodies as Crag burned them. Corax was anxious to continue into the grove, while Lex was feeling very unsure of herself, having never been so injured in battle till this point. They speculated about the nature of the mutated creatures and the fate of the Druid who was supposed to be protecting the grove.
Corax turned his attention to Jamlamin, who during the battle with the animals had become out of control and injured Crag with a Chaos Bolt. Corax wanted Jamlamin to leave the group because he saw him as a danger, and unable to control his chaos magic. Crag attempted to calm Corax by reminding him the damage wasn't severe. Lex, feeling an affinity with the mage as a fellow practicer of magic, offered to attempt to control him using her manipulation based magic. Jamlamin explained that he used to study controlled magic, but found chaos magic to be more powerful, and that he would strive harder to control it. Corax was convinced, and they continued onward.
As they traveled onward, suddenly the huge stars floating the trees above took root in their souls. Lex, Corax, and Quickroot became filled with a powerful hunger (10 ongoing psychic damage). Eglan and Jamlamin began to be driven mad with whispered secrets they couldn't quite comprehend (whenever player rolls initiative they are dominated). Crag faded until he became a being made of light (when rolls initiative, insubstantial and weakened, save ends all).
Beetles the size of small dogs scurried about the fauna. Eyeballs gazed at us from plants. Lizard tails shot from the ground like blades of grass. There was a bucket of liquid light on the ground and trees of pomegranate-like fruit, with snails climbing upon them.
Quickroot became overcome with hunger and ate dirt. Corax grabbed a nearby snail and ate it. Jamlamin was suddenly overtaken with madness and threw a bolt at Corax, who dodged it just in time by throwing a beetle at him. Crag, who was still composed of light, could hear the snails whispering to him, but couldn't understand them no matter how close he got. He put one hand into the bucket of liquid light, but nothing happened. He poured it out onto the lizard grass, but, again, no effect. Lex could not wait any longer and eats one of the pomegranate-like fruits. When she did, she gained the insight that the garden they've wandered into used to be that of the druid. She also understood that the eyeballs she and the others who hunger are so repulsed by was the key to curing their hunger. Her hunger lessened slightly.
Eglan was overtaken with madness and took a swing at Lex, but missed when Crag switched places with her using his teleport technique. One of the stars descended closer to the trees. Corax decided to eat an eyeball and felt his hunger lessen, so Eglan and Crag also ate an eyeball. They began to realize a combination of these plants and creatures might cure their afflictions. Crag placed an eyeball in the bucket along with a snail, but, nothing happened.
The star was now 10 feet away, expanding and contracting. Corax used his magic to trade afflictions with Crag, so he was now made of light. As the star got closer, Corax was filled with malevolence. Eglan meditated to determine that the star was under the power of Khirad. She fed another eyeball to Corax, but, it did not cure him. Quickroot took a fruit, some lizard tail grass, and an eyeball, and ate all three. He was cured of his hunger completely, so the rest began eating combinations (or being fed in the case of Eglan and Jamlamin, who were stricken with memory loss by the stars) until they are all cured.
Corax attacked the descended star and it exploded, injuring the party in the blast. The rest of the stars began to come closer, so they moved onward to the center, where they found more stars surrounding a horrible bear covered in tentacles with light emitting eyeballs down its back.
"End my suffering!" it cried, and they realized the bear was Hongya, the druid.
"She is mine!" hissed an unknown voice.
Worm-like creatures covered in porcupine quills (shot by quill caused 5 ongoing damaged and player was slowed) attacked from amid aberrant mist (when in the mist, players took 10 ongoing psychic damage, got a +1 to attack and +5 to damage rolls).
Play notes:
This was an interesting night because it was the first time we actually stopped in the middle of a battle because we spent so much time trying to figure out the initiative based challenges in the garden. We did a lot of experimenting with the plants and bugs, but ultimately were assisted by the DM via Quickroot just due to time. That being said it was an interesting challenge and I'd be up for more puzzles in the future.
Unfortunately it wasn't a good night of combat for me, I didn't make very good use of my attacks (for example, I forgot Corax cannot take cold damage, so I could have used an ability to slide him out of the mist, but moved the enemy instead). My head wasn't in the game as much as it should have been, but, it was a learning experience.
I look forward to finding out what happened to Hongya in our next session!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Introducing Me and Lex, the Half-Elf Wizard with Attitude
Welcome to my blog!
I'm Haylee B., 20-something girl geek and writer residing in Georgia in the United States. There are many things in this world I love, and most of them are very nerdy. I've been playing tabletop games and RPGs for a very long time, from trading Pokémon cards as a kid to participating in Magic: the Gathering tournaments in my teens. I love to try any game, and have a big collection of fun standalones and systems.
When I'm not playing games with my friends I'm often working on my writing and art, watching anime and sci-fi, reading and making hats. I'm also active in human rights and street fashion clubs in Atlanta. I'm also designing a LARP with a fellow female gamer.
I've always wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons, but never had a group of friends who were interested (and joining a group of strange dudes was a bit too adventurous for me). That was until I met Taylor, a videogame programmer and game designer who invited me along to his long standing weekly game. My first session and those since were actually recorded for an upcoming podcast (Tentatively named D20-Somethings). I've been enjoying it immensely and decided to start this blog in order to record and share my adventures in gaming!
My D&D character is Lex, a half-elf, wizard arcanist on a quest to find her kidnapped sister, Mei.
Lex was the love child of an elf mother and a human father. She was left on her father's porch by her mother, and raised by him and his new human wife, with whom he later had a daughter, her sister Mai. Lex grew up feeling alienated by the differences between her human farming family and her elfin appearance and desire to learn magic.
She trained herself in secret, as she was doing alone on the day her 14 year old sister was kidnapped by slave traders. Lex blamed herself, and set out to find her alone. Her search would lead her into Blood Spot, a violent city full of thieves and slave trade, where an arena featured slaves fighting as gladiators. Lex used her illusionary magic to perform favors for the city's leaders, brothers Alpha and Omega, eventually earning herself a position as their trusted enforcer.
She tried for 3 years to use her position to locate her sister. But, the Blood Brothers were too good at keeping their secrets. Things were getting grim for Lex when a group of adventurers on a mission from the Order of the Seldrine came to town asking for the Blood Brother's support.
Lex decided to use these strangers to change her circumstances and helped them to secretly form an alliance with local mercenary leader Alexander Grey, and take down a den of thieves. When she was eventually caught by the Brothers, she used her wits to talk them into forgiving her and putting the adventurers into the arena as a display of their power. However, she contacted the leader of the Freed Army and Grey to help her stage an attack on the arena and free the Adventurers. The Brothers were ultimately slain and Lex discovered that her sister is a slave of a Lord Aminafus.
Lex decided to join the team for support while she searches for leads on Mei. She is a sly, no-nonsense type who likes to fight by controlling her opponent. She is slow to open up but has a soft heart underneath her cold exterior. She tends towards illusionary and ice magic.
My team has left off on a mission for the Order of the Seldrine to assist an elf druid. I'll be sharing that adventure with you all starting with our next session.
Now that we're all introduced, I hope you enjoy joining me on my future quests!
I'm Haylee B., 20-something girl geek and writer residing in Georgia in the United States. There are many things in this world I love, and most of them are very nerdy. I've been playing tabletop games and RPGs for a very long time, from trading Pokémon cards as a kid to participating in Magic: the Gathering tournaments in my teens. I love to try any game, and have a big collection of fun standalones and systems.
When I'm not playing games with my friends I'm often working on my writing and art, watching anime and sci-fi, reading and making hats. I'm also active in human rights and street fashion clubs in Atlanta. I'm also designing a LARP with a fellow female gamer.
I've always wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons, but never had a group of friends who were interested (and joining a group of strange dudes was a bit too adventurous for me). That was until I met Taylor, a videogame programmer and game designer who invited me along to his long standing weekly game. My first session and those since were actually recorded for an upcoming podcast (Tentatively named D20-Somethings). I've been enjoying it immensely and decided to start this blog in order to record and share my adventures in gaming!
My D&D character is Lex, a half-elf, wizard arcanist on a quest to find her kidnapped sister, Mei.
Lex was the love child of an elf mother and a human father. She was left on her father's porch by her mother, and raised by him and his new human wife, with whom he later had a daughter, her sister Mai. Lex grew up feeling alienated by the differences between her human farming family and her elfin appearance and desire to learn magic.
She trained herself in secret, as she was doing alone on the day her 14 year old sister was kidnapped by slave traders. Lex blamed herself, and set out to find her alone. Her search would lead her into Blood Spot, a violent city full of thieves and slave trade, where an arena featured slaves fighting as gladiators. Lex used her illusionary magic to perform favors for the city's leaders, brothers Alpha and Omega, eventually earning herself a position as their trusted enforcer.
She tried for 3 years to use her position to locate her sister. But, the Blood Brothers were too good at keeping their secrets. Things were getting grim for Lex when a group of adventurers on a mission from the Order of the Seldrine came to town asking for the Blood Brother's support.
Lex decided to use these strangers to change her circumstances and helped them to secretly form an alliance with local mercenary leader Alexander Grey, and take down a den of thieves. When she was eventually caught by the Brothers, she used her wits to talk them into forgiving her and putting the adventurers into the arena as a display of their power. However, she contacted the leader of the Freed Army and Grey to help her stage an attack on the arena and free the Adventurers. The Brothers were ultimately slain and Lex discovered that her sister is a slave of a Lord Aminafus.
Lex decided to join the team for support while she searches for leads on Mei. She is a sly, no-nonsense type who likes to fight by controlling her opponent. She is slow to open up but has a soft heart underneath her cold exterior. She tends towards illusionary and ice magic.
My team has left off on a mission for the Order of the Seldrine to assist an elf druid. I'll be sharing that adventure with you all starting with our next session.
Now that we're all introduced, I hope you enjoy joining me on my future quests!
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