Edited: Due date changed to midnight, December 8th. Even the old date was a miscalculation on my part. Sorry!
While Hyboria burns, Earl Gaermund takes you and your entire clan into the Bera to set sail for parts unknown. You and fifty other beings are crammed into the dragonship for two months before you sight land. For these months, you help support your clan by rowing, fishing, and scouting in the three longboats. These basic activities will earn you 400 experience points, which will get anyone in the party up to 4th level. But what else happens?
Tell me a story about your character and any other members of your clan that takes place during the voyage. Write it about your character in whatever perspective or format you would like. I will reward you with up to 800 additional experience points based on what you provide. A great story, receiving maximum XP, fits the following criteria:
• Centers around your character
• Involves the other characters or members of your clan in some way
• Does not malign the other characters (clan NPCs are fair game!)
• Can be easily posted on the blog
• Describes the sort of action that D&D characters do
• Is set in the fantasy world we've defined, with fantastic creatures, magic, etc.
• Lets the party and the clan arrive in the New World essentially intact
• Is sent to me before midnight on Monday, December 8th.
Most of the set pieces will be boats: the dragonship, the longboats, and other ships. You can also write in islands if you like: this world has similar geography to ours, but not exactly alike. Just make sure you portray the voyage as more of an epic Atlantic crossing than a Pacific island-hop.
You may end of describing things that blatantly contradict the other stories in the party. Feel free to collude if you wish: you can start a conversation via e-mail or on the blog. But coordination and continuity shouldn't be a huge deal. Figuring out how the contradictions work together will be my challenge.
Finally, make sure this exercise is fun. If it's becoming a chore, send me a quick one-line description like, "My guy helps in slaying a sea-serpent," and you'll get a bit more than the minimum XP.
Again, to receive any more than the base 400 experience points for the journey, I must receive your entry by midnight on Monday, December 8th.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Siege of Hyboria, Part 1
Last Wednesday we played the first chapter in the Siege of Hyboria. Although the players didn't know the title at the time! So obviously they weren't the ones doing the sieging.
We started in a happy place, a shopping place! The party was honored, having secured a home for their clan, and had nearly 3000 gold burning a hole in their collective pouches. Since they were already decently equipped with armor and weapons, they decided to spend it all on consumables and other minor magic items. Healing potions are always useful, and I suggested that they look into Augmenting Whetstones. Those things can turn a +1 sword into a +3 sword for the length of one encounter, which in my mind is worth every bit of 75 gold. Anyway, they ended up turning their stash into three healing potions and three whetstones each, plus some Thieves Tools for Mendas the Rogue, a climbing kit or two, and possibly another odd/end.
The adventure opened in the caves on the Isle of Fury, one month after the party's triumphant return. They were now living in the caves, and were just milling around on an unremarkable day... milling around in full armor, but you know, whatever. We rolled dice to see just where they would start, and the party was pretty much evenly distributed around the viable map:
* Oddny the paladin and Rurik the warlord were in the corridors
* Hermiad the ranger was in a nearby room
*Edgar the fighter, Bartix the wizard, and Mendas were in the far room with the Loki shrine.
* Varin the warlock had other engagements tonight, but we wish him well!
Suddenly the calm afternoon was interrupted by a sharp scream from a third room in the caves. Everyone rolled initiative and reacted! Mendas reached the door first, and saw intruders: two humans and a halfling, standing over the dead bodies of two of their clan. But the room was underground, how did they get in?
One by one, the party made it into the room, or into firing positions around the doorway. Oddny got in first, but couldn't reach the interlopers. She took the brunt of their attacks: a crossbow bolt from the halfling, a thrown handaxe from one human, and a charge from the other... but nothing got through her armor. Hermiad and Rurik got into the room next and started beating up the human in the lead; he was lightly armored and easy to hit.
By the time that Bartix was ready to provide backup, the other human had charged up to meet Edgar, and Mendas was stabbing them in the back. The invading halfing attacked Mendas and hit, doing decent damage and poisoning him. This was their high watermark, though: the humans went down fast, and the halfling was never as hard to hit as he should have been due to some great rolling all around. Dude's AC was 23 with his Crowd Shield ability, but whatever. Rurik wanted to just knock everyone unconscious to be questioned, which is pretty easy to do, it turns out. One human, however, was killed by Mendas with a crit Sneak Attack, so we decided that he had gotten over-excited and stabbed the guy in the heart through the intestines or something equally fatal.
With all of these enemies down, the party heard commotion throughout the caves. Maybe their people were being attacked, or maybe they were just reacting to some assault. Hermiad quickly woke the remaining human (with a Heal roll), and Edgar did a great job of Intimidating him. He spilled that they were from the army of Albion, part of a force sieging Hyboria, and that their ship had broken off to secure this island while the main force went on to attack the Norse people. They had tunneled in with the help of a trained Bullette pup in order to help secure the caves, but they were part of a larger force.
Our party quickly slit their prisoner's throats and hurried to the opening of the caves to help their people. Near this opening they found the women and children of the clan, hunkered down and prepared to defend themselves. Nidbiorg, wife of Bergvid the clan cleric, was organizing them. She told the party that a small invasion force had landed. Earl Gaermund had taken his retinue and other high-level fighters to Hyboria to help defend the homeland, leaving half of the clan to defend the island. Right now, their clansmen fought the contents of several longboats worth of invading troops in the middle of the island. The party asked for some light assistance (Nidbiorg had a healing potion on her, which helped out Mendas), then ran out to engage the troops. All without a five minute rest, very commendable!
They ran down the path and immediately heard the sounds of combat. Ahead were eight of their clansmen, all engaged with orcs! Well, any viking could handle an orc one-on-one. But they saw more of these orc mercenaries in the rear, and a trio of human mages firing at the vikings!
Bartix went first, throwing his new Shock Sphere into the midst of the orcs (and catching two mages as well). It went off, taking four orcs out immediately, and wounding everything it touched. Well, obviously the field had some minions on it.
Rurik and Edgar charged up the right flank to hit the mages in the back. They were supported by Hermiad, who found a sweet spot where he could fire his longbow through the orcs at the humans. One of the mages had been shocked and was now stabbed, and finally went dead. Oddny and Mendas took the orcs in the middle of the field, helping their viking brothers out.
The guys in the back of the field were rolling through the mages, who would shift, fire of a spell, and then do maybe 6 damage to one character. They were soon dead without having much effect on the game. The orcs were harder to chew through, since there were so many of them. Still the party was doing a good job concentrating fire: Orcs have a healing surge they use when bloodied, and I hadn't been able to use it yet! They all went from just above bloodied to dead before their action came around.
But just when it looked like things were wrapped up, reinforcements arrived. The bad kind, too. An Eladrin Fey Knight charged out of the woods, surrounded by an orc bodyguard. Bartix took point again, taking out three of the orcs with a Freezing Cloud. The Fey Knight charged through the frozen ground and met Hermiad midfield, missing him with a 3 roll. Granted, her modified 3 might have hit if the ranger had worse armor; this was a level 8 leader monster! But I think her three die rolls were 3,1, and 3... meanwhile she took an epic beating. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Rurik and Edgar charged the Fey Knight, with Mendas close behund. Again, I stress the Level 8; this creature was hard to hit, AC 23 I think. But they kept doing damage, and she was gone in three turns. I think she was the target of two encounter powers too, that probably helped. The remaining Orc Minion charged Edgar, but he was an annoyance more than a threat. He outlasted the Fey Knight, though.
The rest of the party was taking out orcs left and right, along with their increasingly-freed viking comrades. At the end of the battle a solid ring of vikings surrounded one orc, with Bartix up on a boulder firing down at him. Needless to say he died. Hooray!
The clansmen gave them the skinny once the din of battle died down. The Bera, the clan's dragonship, had set sail and was halfway to Hyboria by now. But the half-completed dragonship could still launch and help out. The players made their plan: they would launch the incomplete ship, sail around the island to safely take on their women and children, then rendezvous with Gaermund at Hyboria.
Oh, and due to the immense amount of killing going on, Mendas made 4th level. Wow, didn't see that coming! This is basically what happens when a player can't make it, but I don't adjust the encounters down.
Casualties:
2 Human Berserkers
1 Halfling Prowler
3 Human Mages
5 Orc Berserkers
9 Orc Drudges
1 Eladrin Fey Knight
18 beers
Next week: All out war!
We started in a happy place, a shopping place! The party was honored, having secured a home for their clan, and had nearly 3000 gold burning a hole in their collective pouches. Since they were already decently equipped with armor and weapons, they decided to spend it all on consumables and other minor magic items. Healing potions are always useful, and I suggested that they look into Augmenting Whetstones. Those things can turn a +1 sword into a +3 sword for the length of one encounter, which in my mind is worth every bit of 75 gold. Anyway, they ended up turning their stash into three healing potions and three whetstones each, plus some Thieves Tools for Mendas the Rogue, a climbing kit or two, and possibly another odd/end.
The adventure opened in the caves on the Isle of Fury, one month after the party's triumphant return. They were now living in the caves, and were just milling around on an unremarkable day... milling around in full armor, but you know, whatever. We rolled dice to see just where they would start, and the party was pretty much evenly distributed around the viable map:
* Oddny the paladin and Rurik the warlord were in the corridors
* Hermiad the ranger was in a nearby room
*Edgar the fighter, Bartix the wizard, and Mendas were in the far room with the Loki shrine.
* Varin the warlock had other engagements tonight, but we wish him well!
Suddenly the calm afternoon was interrupted by a sharp scream from a third room in the caves. Everyone rolled initiative and reacted! Mendas reached the door first, and saw intruders: two humans and a halfling, standing over the dead bodies of two of their clan. But the room was underground, how did they get in?
One by one, the party made it into the room, or into firing positions around the doorway. Oddny got in first, but couldn't reach the interlopers. She took the brunt of their attacks: a crossbow bolt from the halfling, a thrown handaxe from one human, and a charge from the other... but nothing got through her armor. Hermiad and Rurik got into the room next and started beating up the human in the lead; he was lightly armored and easy to hit.
By the time that Bartix was ready to provide backup, the other human had charged up to meet Edgar, and Mendas was stabbing them in the back. The invading halfing attacked Mendas and hit, doing decent damage and poisoning him. This was their high watermark, though: the humans went down fast, and the halfling was never as hard to hit as he should have been due to some great rolling all around. Dude's AC was 23 with his Crowd Shield ability, but whatever. Rurik wanted to just knock everyone unconscious to be questioned, which is pretty easy to do, it turns out. One human, however, was killed by Mendas with a crit Sneak Attack, so we decided that he had gotten over-excited and stabbed the guy in the heart through the intestines or something equally fatal.
With all of these enemies down, the party heard commotion throughout the caves. Maybe their people were being attacked, or maybe they were just reacting to some assault. Hermiad quickly woke the remaining human (with a Heal roll), and Edgar did a great job of Intimidating him. He spilled that they were from the army of Albion, part of a force sieging Hyboria, and that their ship had broken off to secure this island while the main force went on to attack the Norse people. They had tunneled in with the help of a trained Bullette pup in order to help secure the caves, but they were part of a larger force.
Our party quickly slit their prisoner's throats and hurried to the opening of the caves to help their people. Near this opening they found the women and children of the clan, hunkered down and prepared to defend themselves. Nidbiorg, wife of Bergvid the clan cleric, was organizing them. She told the party that a small invasion force had landed. Earl Gaermund had taken his retinue and other high-level fighters to Hyboria to help defend the homeland, leaving half of the clan to defend the island. Right now, their clansmen fought the contents of several longboats worth of invading troops in the middle of the island. The party asked for some light assistance (Nidbiorg had a healing potion on her, which helped out Mendas), then ran out to engage the troops. All without a five minute rest, very commendable!
They ran down the path and immediately heard the sounds of combat. Ahead were eight of their clansmen, all engaged with orcs! Well, any viking could handle an orc one-on-one. But they saw more of these orc mercenaries in the rear, and a trio of human mages firing at the vikings!
Bartix went first, throwing his new Shock Sphere into the midst of the orcs (and catching two mages as well). It went off, taking four orcs out immediately, and wounding everything it touched. Well, obviously the field had some minions on it.
Rurik and Edgar charged up the right flank to hit the mages in the back. They were supported by Hermiad, who found a sweet spot where he could fire his longbow through the orcs at the humans. One of the mages had been shocked and was now stabbed, and finally went dead. Oddny and Mendas took the orcs in the middle of the field, helping their viking brothers out.
The guys in the back of the field were rolling through the mages, who would shift, fire of a spell, and then do maybe 6 damage to one character. They were soon dead without having much effect on the game. The orcs were harder to chew through, since there were so many of them. Still the party was doing a good job concentrating fire: Orcs have a healing surge they use when bloodied, and I hadn't been able to use it yet! They all went from just above bloodied to dead before their action came around.
But just when it looked like things were wrapped up, reinforcements arrived. The bad kind, too. An Eladrin Fey Knight charged out of the woods, surrounded by an orc bodyguard. Bartix took point again, taking out three of the orcs with a Freezing Cloud. The Fey Knight charged through the frozen ground and met Hermiad midfield, missing him with a 3 roll. Granted, her modified 3 might have hit if the ranger had worse armor; this was a level 8 leader monster! But I think her three die rolls were 3,1, and 3... meanwhile she took an epic beating. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Rurik and Edgar charged the Fey Knight, with Mendas close behund. Again, I stress the Level 8; this creature was hard to hit, AC 23 I think. But they kept doing damage, and she was gone in three turns. I think she was the target of two encounter powers too, that probably helped. The remaining Orc Minion charged Edgar, but he was an annoyance more than a threat. He outlasted the Fey Knight, though.
The rest of the party was taking out orcs left and right, along with their increasingly-freed viking comrades. At the end of the battle a solid ring of vikings surrounded one orc, with Bartix up on a boulder firing down at him. Needless to say he died. Hooray!
The clansmen gave them the skinny once the din of battle died down. The Bera, the clan's dragonship, had set sail and was halfway to Hyboria by now. But the half-completed dragonship could still launch and help out. The players made their plan: they would launch the incomplete ship, sail around the island to safely take on their women and children, then rendezvous with Gaermund at Hyboria.
Oh, and due to the immense amount of killing going on, Mendas made 4th level. Wow, didn't see that coming! This is basically what happens when a player can't make it, but I don't adjust the encounters down.
Casualties:
2 Human Berserkers
1 Halfling Prowler
3 Human Mages
5 Orc Berserkers
9 Orc Drudges
1 Eladrin Fey Knight
18 beers
Next week: All out war!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Isle of Fury Addendum
One month has passed since your party returned from the Isle of Fury. Gaermund, your earl, welcomed you warmly and held a private audience to hear a recount of your exploits. At the end, he congratulated you all, and gathered the clan together for a feast in your honor. At the climax of the feast Gaermund announced that the clan would all be relocating to the Isle, which was met with cheers from everyone. Your characters learn that a group of older, more experienced warriors was sent at the same time to secure an inland keep in Hyboria. Two days before you arrived back, they returned in defeat. Your success was unexpected and is highly praised.
The next game opens one month later. You have taken up residence with your clan on the Isle. Fishing is plentiful, farming plots have been set up, and some of the island lumber has been harvested to begin building a second dragon ship. You now live in the caves you helped clear.
Ingjald, the ranking Wizard, has examined both the door to the Underdark and the Runestones. Both have been pronounced safe. There has been a cursory attempt to unlock the door, but Gaermund devoted resources elsewhere and stationed a light guard. The clan has all practiced calling on the Runestone blessings, discovering that the effect wears off after one week of reading the script. Everyone keeps themselves refreshed with the blessings as part of a weekly (sometimes daily) ritual.
A longboat can get you to Hyboria in six hours, and a Dragonship can make the journey in two hours with the wind. You have had ample time to trade and purchase with your newly acquired gold. The conditions on Hyboria lower prices by 20 percent, as the sieged vikings need liquid assets for food more than anything else. However, traded items net 20 percent less gold than normal.
Before we begin playing, think about what you would want to buy. My notes put your total wealth in coin at 2415 gold pieces.
The next game opens one month later. You have taken up residence with your clan on the Isle. Fishing is plentiful, farming plots have been set up, and some of the island lumber has been harvested to begin building a second dragon ship. You now live in the caves you helped clear.
Ingjald, the ranking Wizard, has examined both the door to the Underdark and the Runestones. Both have been pronounced safe. There has been a cursory attempt to unlock the door, but Gaermund devoted resources elsewhere and stationed a light guard. The clan has all practiced calling on the Runestone blessings, discovering that the effect wears off after one week of reading the script. Everyone keeps themselves refreshed with the blessings as part of a weekly (sometimes daily) ritual.
A longboat can get you to Hyboria in six hours, and a Dragonship can make the journey in two hours with the wind. You have had ample time to trade and purchase with your newly acquired gold. The conditions on Hyboria lower prices by 20 percent, as the sieged vikings need liquid assets for food more than anything else. However, traded items net 20 percent less gold than normal.
Before we begin playing, think about what you would want to buy. My notes put your total wealth in coin at 2415 gold pieces.
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