Showing posts with label Shadows of Orcus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shadows of Orcus. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A week of Challenging Encounters

Shadow of Orcus

My core group finished off the end of P2 last night, the book seemed like a waste of money. The players were able to use rituals and skip a lot of the encounters, and why shouldn't they be allowed to they are level 16.

In the end they had one big fight in the last room though. i added a extra bit of flair that really affected the encounter. The final encounter has a map provided by WotC, and there are four stones each of different colors. I decided to make these power stones that affected the entire area.

Yellow - All living creatures grant combat advantage
- requires 3x arcana checks dc30 {standard actions} to deactivate
- 2 success gives the disabling player a recharge of a arcane encounter power
- 3 success gives the disabling player a 'once this encounter re-cast an encounter arcane power you just cast'

Green - All living creatures take 5 necrotic damage at the start of their turn
{most players in my party have necro resist 10}
- requires 3x religion checks dc30 {standard action} to deactivate
- 1 success grants the disabling player 1 temp hp
- 2 success grants the disabling player 5 temp hp
- 3 success grants the disabling player 15 temp hp

Blue - All living creatures have -2 to attack rolls
- requires 3x thievery or dungeoneering checks dc25 {standard action} to deactivate
- 3 success grants the disabling player +2 to hit for the rest of the encounter
- 2 success grants the disabling player an additional minor action usable once during the encounter

Red - Living creatures cannot heal or spend hit points
- requires 3x heal checks dc25 {standard action} to deactivate
- 1 success grants the disabling player 5 hp
- 2 success grants the disabling player 5 hp
- 3 success grants the disabling player free use of second wind {does not count as using second wind}

This offered a huge challenge to the players, first they were just fighting the two main undead in the room, but round 2 the 1/2 the vampire spawns came in, round 3 1/2 the ghouls came in, round 4 the other 1/2 of vampire spawns, round 5 the other 1/2 of the ghoul, round 6 the lich came in and round 7 the BBEG came in. Sadly warlock+wizard+actionpoint the lich and BBEG died on round 8. combat was over on round 9.

But at least 3 of the players were locked up at any given time disabling the power nodes.

To end it off the little room ( a realm of its own ) collapse in on itself and spat the players across the cosmos. Should be a fun next session

D&D Encounters

All i got to say is wow, what a tough creature. I had the players begging for hit points each round. While the monster was in orb form it really did not move. So instead of wasting its move action i droped it for another minor action to do the minor attack two times a turn.

All players charged in, only to relize that on their turn they would be taking 5 damage. Mixing that with the blue flames from Wotc's twitter made this encounter challenging. However the players were greatly rewarded when they finished it and felt a sense of accomplishment.

Little do they know whats going on next week. buo hahahaha.. ...

D&D Rewards - an open letter to WotC

I love the encounters, the team at wotc did a great job. However i would like to see rewards for players who make it out more. Real tangible items for gaining renown. WotC obviously spent some money on pizza gift cards and digital cameras, why not use that towards miniatures instead.

Players earning 50 renown points gets a random rare player miniature.
Players earning 30 renown points gets a random uncommon player miniature.
Players earning 20 renown points gets a gift certificate for $2 off or something.

At the end of the day im sure the certificate will actually cost more then taking an existing product and giving it away.

Sometimes i grow so tired, but i know there's one single thing i've got to do
Tumblr On

Ok i've signed up for tumblr, i find it easier to micro blog from the ipod then have to power up my computer that i hate so much. You can find me at mleger.tumblr.com and i plan on posting lots of updates there, not just d&d ones.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

SoO Game Night 11.1

Out of Game

The game started off splitting up the core dragon treasure hoard and ensuring they were up to speed on paragon level. We discussed some new powers and feets, some new books and the fact i bought a DM screen. Tonight was pretty solid, i kind of sand boxed it a bit, a fair amount of role playing in the begging.

In Game

The group returned to Pax's home as heroes, Pax left for a day only to return with wings (scion of acosia) the group decided they needed to try and track down Alexandar, former Earl of Northwitch, former leader of the Templar knights, holder of a great weapon against evil. Problem is no one knows where to look for him.

Teleporting to Wyrmclaw, the wizards home town the wizard decided to send a letter off to the King of Ebn, King Greycastle. The letter informed the king of the party's intentions. Belrack decided to do some research on elves, he felt it quite strange no elves are ever noticed or seen. Svelt on the other hand simply went to a tavern where she was recognized as one of the Waylanders. The tavern was soon packed out into the streets with people wanting to buy the dwarf a beer and listen to her tall tales of adventure. Pax decided to patrol the streets. After a short time he was stopped by a hooded man asking about the weather and calling him by name. Pax climbed a building to get a better view of the weather and noticed a strange cloud of darkness and smoke looming over Ashcaster about one day horse ride away. The man appeared to have a metal arm, and told Pax to assemble the rest of his party. While the wizard finished up with the letter to the king, he was leaving the guard post and saw a old man stumble in the streets about to be overrun by a carriage. The wizard sent his familiar to scare the horses while he quickly went to help the old man. The old man thanked him by name and was glad he had heart, the old man was the wizards former master. Their teachings shrouded in mystery this was the first time they actually met. The old man told the wizard to gather his friends as trouble is brewing in Ashcaster.

The Wizards old mentor teleported the part directly to ashcaster, in the middle of the fire.

Encounter 1: The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire.

The party cough the troublemakers off guard and begin their attacks. The group focused primarily on the Bloodfire Harpy and the Fire Achon Emberguard while buildings were still burning with people inside. After their enemies were able to get their bearings, two Legion Devil Hellguards attacked Belrack, and two attacked Pax, while a Flameshard focused its attacks on Svelt. A Neldrazu tried to also grab Belrack and teleport away but failed to do so. The Harpy did not stand a chance and was the first to die fallowed by the Hellguards. After the Flameshared was destroyed the party focused on getting people out of the burning houses. While Pax and the wizard dispatched of the Emberguard, the Neldrazu saw how the fight was going and left quickly as possible.

With a quarter of the villagers left they recounted the tale of how a boy saw nine cloaked figures raise a dark portal outside of the town, and how a human in black plate mail came into the center of the town and grew in size. At that point the creatures started burning everything in sight.

The wizard performed a mending ritual on the local church so the villagers would have some shelter while they rebuild the town.

The group decided to investigate the portal.

Encounter 2: Dark Portal

The portal was well guarded by Foulspawns, the Seer ever ready for battle. However the insane creatures did not stand a chance against the party, specifically the wizards force cage. The Mangler and Seer were quickly dispatched but not before causing damage of their own, the Berserker was also cut down by Svelts blade, but not before causing the attack to also arc onto Belrack. One Grue was launched into the portal from the attack and did not come back out.

Now the party stands in front of the portal deciding what to do and how they can close the portal.

Treasure & XP

Encounter 1: 2,402 / 4 = 600 each
Encounter 2: 2,050 / 4 = 512 each
Total per player: 1,112 xp

NPC's

Kristophe Il'Quinn
- mentor to party wizard
Regan Markus
- Thought was previously dead
- Now has metallic arm

Quotes of the Day

-none-

Monday, May 25, 2009

SoO Game Night 10.4

Out of Game

Some of the players from my normal game came out to the d&d game day festivities from Saturday and we chatted for a while about the rust monster and how horrible of a creature it is and everything else going on. One player had some issues with her southern Ontario karate tournament, sounds crappy.

After a quick chat and some Dr.pepper we started the game.

In Game

The group continued on their way through the swamplands until they came across an outcropping that rose above the rest of the swamp. In the distance the saw an old tower. Pax had heard about this tower, said to be occupied by a mad wizards. Since the trail lead this way the group decided to proceed.

Encounter 7: Draconic clan

After the group quickly dispatched the last set of dragon born they had to rush further in the cave system as more were waiting for them. Slowly they crept into room unable to see anything. The mage noticed that the walls were covered in a think fire retardant canvas (stressed by the DM to be fire retardant ). Luickily those with a high enough perception were able to tell were creatures could be hiding and combat en slewed. They faced three Dragonborn Elementalists, and four dragonborn gladiators the fight was lengthly and bloody on both sides. It was the first time the party saw this level of tactics used against them. When finally the battle was over (8 rounds later) they rescued the missing Lady Nala cousin to one of the player and Lord Patrin who has badly wounded. After a few short words the mage teleported the two back to safety.

The party knew now indeed they were facing a dragon, battle worn and tired they felt they did not have a choice but had to press on.


Treasure & XP

* 700 xp
* 1100 GP
* 2x black pearls (500 gp)
* Jagged Handaxe +3


NPC's

No new NPCs found

Quotes of the Day

"My Insides are Wet"

Player2: Is root beer actually made from a root?
Player1: Yeah
Me(DM): Yeah its actually called the Kunta Kenta root
Player2: Well aren't you just a fountain of knowledge
Me(DM): Yeah Levar Burton is pretty popular right now for root beer
Players: /blank look/
Me(DM): You know.. roots...kunta kenta... root beer.. Levar Burton
Player2: I thought you were serious!

Until next time, keep your dice on the table

Sunday, May 10, 2009

SoO Game Night 10.2

Out of Game

This week we got to play at my house again, for two key reasons. One Deryk wasn't coming out and second my wife wasn't going to be home. It was good to have home field advantage again. everyone showed up on time, and was looking forward to play.

In Game

The group left the tribe of the black dragons in search of the two lovestruck dragonborn and after some time discovered their cabin. Upon careful investigation it was revealed to the party that a tree was launched into the window, the building was cut up with a blade and the hand of lord Patrin was cut off clean. the hand was left behind.

The party reviewed what they knew about trolls (nature 35) and relied that this did not seem like trolls. In any case they continued tracking to the entrance of a cave system that eventually led them into a cavern with a strong stream running through it.

The party was devided from the start, they wanted to stop what appeared to be some cross between a troll and a vampire. Party members were attacking each other, and after a lengthy exhausting battle the vampiric troll turned to mist and escaped out of cracks in the ceiling of the cave.

The group then decided to speak with dead (trying the troll bones) and found out that the two missing dragonborn are being taken to Nightshade. Nightshade is in his lair, and they have some help finding their way (+2)

Continuing through the cave system they came across an area that seemed to busted into a previously worked area. Trolls lie in waiting begun their attacks as soon as someone peaked their heads around.

After what seemed like an eternity of the party being seperate again they managed to hold hostage the troll witch.

Now it is time to ask her more questions


Treasure & XP
  • Encounter 1
  • 1x Black Pearl (500 gp)
  • 750xp each
  • Encounter 2
  • 300gp
  • 1x Black Pearl (500 gp)
  • 600xp each

NPC's

No new NPCs found

Quotes of the Day

"Hot, Cold, he's uncomfortably warm"

Sunday, May 3, 2009

SoO Game Night 10.1

Out of Game

We took a few months off to play a 4e OA game, and now the party is back at it again, fighting the evil armies of Orcus

to recap, the group was last at the dwarven lands and had discovered that a secret weapon lies with alexandar that will help the group in the fight against Orcus and prevent him from returning to this land.

We were playing over at Deryk & Korey's due to the possibility Deryk had H1N1, my wife did not want the game at our house. So TJ brought over some deer steak, and Dave & Helen brought over some sausages & potatoes and we had a blast. We had little room and a young pup (Pan) but over all was good to be back in the DM seat.

In game

the group traveled onward to the Dragonborn kingdoms, the home of Pax. Upon returning home Pax had discovered his cousin Nala has gone missing. Nala is the daughter of the tribal leader, Lord Kriv. Pax's father the captain of the guard has tasked Pax to find out what has happened, and suggested they go to a neighboring town who have had rivals with in the past.

After the party discovered much about Pax's past, and seen many etching on items in the keep that bare his name; they left in the morning to the tribe of the Black Dragon.

The day was wrought with dark skies and heavy rains, halfway during their journey the sky became as black as night just as the party came across an old set of ruins.

A battle ensued against undead. At the end of the fight [dave's character] spoke with dead on the wizard they dispatched to find out that he is here on behalf of orcus to start a war.

When the fight was over the sky cleared up, and it was day again. The group continued along their way.

They arrived at the Black Dragon tribe and was created by Balasar who recognized the heroes from tale and Pax from their childhood. A minor disagreement came about but, Balasar soon realized that Pax was indeed looking for Lady Nala, and knew nothing about Lord Patrin.

A meeting was organized between the group, and Captian Torrin and Lord Rhogar. It was discovered that Lady Nala and Lord Patrin have secretly been seeing eachother for a few months now and had a hide out in the troll infested swamps. Lord Rhogar apologized to Pax and asked for his help in finding his son.

Tomorrow the party shall leave to find the two wayward soles.

Treasure & XP
  • 1x black pearl (500 gp)
  • 500xp each
NPC's
  • Lord of Bronze Dragon tribe: Lord Kriv
  • Missing Girl: Lady Nala
  • Lord of Black Dragon tribe: Lord Rhogar
  • Missing Boy: Lord Patrin
  • Captain of the Guard Bronze Dragon: Captain Medrash
  • Captain of the Guard Black Dragon: Captain Torinn
  • Son of Captain Torinn: Balasar
Quotes of the Day
  • "Helen, your the but plug of d&d"
  • "Everyone hates a bloody throng"
  • "I eyebite him right in his brown eye."

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