[4e] Campaign Journal - Stones & Shadow, Trees & Light

[Colmarr]

the link leads to session 35. not 36.

Fixed. Can you tell it's been a while?

[Kol Korran]

yep, it has been awhile. welcome back

seems like a meeting full of interesting conversations and roleplay. should have been interesting to hear.

what is that about a slain deva?

oh, and i totally agree with your dislike of trying to mesh campaign worlds, especially eberron (of which i'm a fan) and FR, which are so different, and don't mesh well at all. though if it should be done, than Sigil, the city of doors is the way to go. it supposedly connects to EVERYWHERE, but still, it is annoying.

as to soveliss- you guys don't have to be friends. you can tolerate his presence as a sort of necessary evil.

oh, and karalel was michael the burnt son? how did you guys get up to that conclusion?

a faithfull reader,
Kol.

[Colmarr]

oh, and karalel was michael the burnt son? how did you guys get up to that conclusion?

We found an anonymous note in Kalarel's possession that referred to Kalarel as "my son". Then we later found a note in Paldemar's tower from Michael the Burnt.

Soveliss compared the handwriting and is convinced that Kalarel is Michael's son.

He seems to be right, because we've heard more than once in Umbraforge that Michael's son hasn't been seen around for some time. Ironic really, given that we pushed Kalarel back into the shadowfell portal. He (or bits of him) must be around here somewhere

[Colmarr]

Session 37: By the fires of Creation.

The Heroes of Winterhaven explore Umbraforge further, then find a way into Michael the Burnt’s tower.

Observations:

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This was another exploration/roleplay-heavy session and, to be honest, it felt strained. Our DM has confided to me that he thinks we don’t want freedom but prefer to be railroaded. I’m not convinced he’s right, but it is true that the session didn’t really have any drive.

For me, that stemmed largely from the fact that our explicit objective – to reach and kill Paldemar – was blocked by an impenetrable tower and guards, and there was no easy way for us to investigate alternatives. We were, after all in the middle of a tent town filled to the brim with evil-inclined mercenaries, ogres and trolls, with Kir-Lanan wings flying sorties around the tower. In those circumstances, you can’t really just saunter into the local bar and ask around for the guy that knows a back way into the fort.

After the DM voiced his concerns, I suggested to him that it might have been better to let us catch and kill Paldemar in the Shadowfell cave, but have no immediate way of getting home. That way we would be forced to investigate Umbraforge for solutions, but wouldn’t have the clock running against us while Paldemar discovered we weren’t back in the Hall (he’s had plenty of time now to travel back and forth and make that discovery). In response, he gave me some very good and valid reasons why he hadn’t done it that way. And to be honest, I’m not sure I would have done it that way either without the benefit of hindsight.

If anything comes from the experience, I think it’s the realisation that exploration and immersion require the PCs to have enough time to experience them. Time pressures (real or imagined) focus the players on goals to the detriment of exploration.

I get the feeling that Bengi’s time in the spotlight is coming, and I’m looking forward to it. Pieter has been in the spotlight for most of the heroic tier (largely because I was one of the players that gave the DM the most usable background story – see earlier in the thread) and it’s probably time for him to step back a little and let one or more of the other PCs steal the show for a while.

In other news, I’ve commissioned a sketch of Pieter from artist Storn Cook, and I’m all atwitter about it to be honest. I’ve got that “little kid before christmas” feeling, which is highly embarrassing. At the end of the day, it’s just a picture, but it will certainly be nice to have a picture that is not something else that I’m using as a representation of my PC, it will actually be Pieter.

I’ll post the image once I have it – which might take a while…

[UncleMark]

Wonderful! Only adjective I could come up with. It took me a few days to read all the way through, but still wonderful. I have linked this thread to my son and his group of friends told them it was required reading to learn how to really role-play. We just finished up KoS and it wasn't anywhere near this exciting or entertaining. I am trying to convince them that this is what gaming is all about, build your character from the book, but then bring that character and world to life.

[Kol Korran]

i must say that some of what you says echo from my experience with my group. we're all fairly seasoned roleplayers, who mostly prefer to put the emphasis on interaction and roleplay. however, we meet once every two weeks at best, sometime less...

we've often found that we're all eager to accomplish something, to advance the game, move on (myself included), over letting things slow down a bit and enjoy the ride.

we've tried to slow things down a bit two- three times so far, with not any impressive success.
this frustrates me too, just wanted to say i feel part of what you say. i know the situations are fairly different (hmmm, maybe not that different- we're in the middle of an enemy held territory trying to incite the locals to revolt, and solve some mysteries on the way).

hope your campaign goes better.
Kol.

[Colmarr]

Wonderful! ... I am trying to convince them that this is what gaming is all about, build your character from the book, but then bring that character and world to life.

Thanks for the kind words!

Good luck with your son & co. Don't be too hard on them. Roleplaying is all about understanding and acting on desire and feelings. It takes a fair amount of emotional maturity to express those things openly, even when they're an imaginary character's feelings and desires.

I find it helped me create and helps me play Pieter by asking a few basic questions:

1. Why did Pieter go adventuring?

He grew restless and felt he wasn't serving Tempus to his utmost by staying put in a cushy city-post. He felt he needed to challenge himself. The latter is why he's so impulsive and gets frustrated with the more restrained (some would say cowardly) approached showed by Soveliss, Shadow and recently Bengi.

2. What is Pieter's "aim" when interacting with his companions?

Pieter's goal is to keep them all safe, both physically and spiritually. The former explains why he leans towards Defender. The latter is why he has such trouble with Dek and Soveliss

3. What are Pieter's goals?

Pieter's goals at the start of the campaign were to find out what happened to Axis, and to recover Stormbringer. He's completed one of them, and appears to be on the cusp of the other. He'll do some serious thinking in the near future, but at this point in time I believe he's going to be hanging around - primarily to make sure Soveliss doesn't put his prism to evil use.

Of course, never forget that some people are simply not the interractive roleplayer type. They're in the game for the hack and the slash. I'm not sure there's much point in trying to "convert" that type of player. They're certainly not lesser gamers. Expose them to a different style of play and see if they like it. If not, let it go.

i must say that some of what you says echo from my experience with my group. we're all fairly seasoned roleplayers, who mostly prefer to put the emphasis on interaction and roleplay. however, we meet once every two weeks at best, sometime less...

we've often found that we're all eager to accomplish something, to advance the game, move on (myself included), over letting things slow down a bit and enjoy the ride.

I think it comes down to player type as much as anything. I have a strong Storyteller bent but am much less of an Explorer. As much as investigations can be engrossing, it can be a bit frustrating if the end result is that the story doesn't actually progress that session.

Of course, that puts too high-brow a focus on it. The simple fact is that I also highly enjoy the combats!

[Colmarr]

Session 38: Two Mages Down, One to Go.

Our heroes press further into Michael the Burnt’s tower, finally cornering and defeating Paldemar Spellweaver.

Observations:

Spoiler

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We spent almost all of this session locked in combat with shadar-kai and mages of all stripes.

The combat with the shadar-kai at the base of the tower was a rough-and-tumble affair, dominated mostly by the shadar-kai’s ability to turn invisible or otherwise blind their enemies. It made it hard to nail them down, so there was no real sense of cohesion among the PCs. Conversely, the shadar-kai are generally low-damage so they weren’t really landing any knockout punches either.

That’s something that I’ve noticed recently (specifically while reading the Eberron Campaign Guide); monster damage doesn’t really scale at all with level. There are level 22 elite soldiers that do 2d6+5 damage. I would have though that’s so low as to be laughable at the level. It hasn’t really proven glaring for us yet, but it will interesting to see how things work out as the campaign progresses.

The shadar-kai witch was easily the highlight of the combat, her beshadowed mind power left Dek wandering around blind for large portions of the combat and seriously hampered Bengi’s ability to make ranged attacks. Not that the golem really minds mixing it up in melee. However, despite some hijinx with the witch and her pet Anaxim hound, the combat was effectively a speed hump. We knew that bigger stuff was coming and that we would get through the shadar-kai sooner rather than later.

After finishing them off, we went in pursuit of the fleeing Paldemar. There was no way we were going to let him get away a second time.

We caught him on the second level of the tower with Michael’s wife Malachi, a shadar-kai witch. It was a strange combat in that the enemies consisted of two elite casters (Paldemar and Malachi) and two brute guardians for them (2 anaxim hounds).

The DM was smart enough to keep the hounds near their charges, but unfortunately one creature per caster (even if that creature is large) is simply not enough to stop the caster from getting swamped, particularly when you have as many teleporters as the Heroes of Winterhaven have. Of course a blood-crazed dwarf is icing on the cake and nothing will ever stop Dek getting to his targets, no matter how many OAs he provokes.

When/if my turn to DM comes up, I’m going to firmly remember to include a screen of minions and/or lower-level flunkies whose sole purpose is to act as a speed bump between the PCs and BBEG casters.

The combat was exciting, but not as tense as it could have been. The anaxim hounds were neutralised by Pieter’s curse of misfortune (I think they hit three times out of 15+ attacks over three rounds), and Paldemar and Malachi were outgunned without their guard dogs’ assistance.

Let me digress here to say that curse of misfortune was the runaway winner for “most amazing” power this session. It really did neutralise the hounds. It probably prevented something like 50-hp-worth of damage from the hounds' lightning spikes alone. All for a level 1 daily. Not once did I regret retraining beacon of hope. I’m not sure I see how it can be a Str and implement power but hey, WotC published it…

Pieter unfortunately represented those three hits that the anaxim hounds did manage to land and he also copped some collateral damage from Paldemar battling Bengi, Caelan and Soveliss. He ended up on 7 hit points and blocked by Malachi from spending healing surges. Things looked a bit tense, but fortunately he managed to avoid getting hit for a turn (to refrains of “brave, brave sir robin!”) and Aeron healed him up again next turn.

Dek critted Malachi twice for 52 hp each time, which is something I can’t quite get out of my head. He is without a doubt one of the most effective characters in the game, and for some reason his player wants to swap to Paladin

Malachi and Paldemar fell within 2 rounds of each other, and the last anaxim hound (who was meant to be guarding Paldemar but chased Soveliss into a side corridor) fell shortly after. It seemed like it wasn’t a terribly difficult combat – which was a little disappointing – but in hindsight looking at everyone’s hit points at the end of the session, maybe it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was. Pieter took a beating, as did Soveliss and Caelan (although to a lesser extent). Still, we were more than capable of advancing to confront Michael, so we did.

No word on the character portrait commission yet, but Storn did warn me it would take a while, so I’m waiting patiently.

We played again last night (session 39), so it hopefully shouldn’t be too long until the next update.

[Colmarr]

Remember that character portrait I commissioned?

It arrived:

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Best $45US I ever spent. It not only matches with how I pictured Pieter, but it adds details to him that I never even considered.

Now, if only I could convince the other players to have their PCs done

[Zombimode]

Edit: If only I could figure out how to post the image here.

You're familar with imageshack?

[Colmarr]

You're familar with imageshack?

Yeah. I had the file already hosted but apparently the webpage was using a URL designation incompatible with the boards. Someone on the board issues forum was able to sort me out.

Original post edited to include the picture. Thanks for the help!

[Kol Korran]

Originally posted by Colmarr
It not only matches with how I pictured Pieter, but it adds details to him that I never even considered.

may i ask what details were added? how this portrait affects how you percieve Pieter?
i'm curious...

Kol.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Remember that character portrait I commissioned?

It arrived:

Spoiler

Show

Best $45US I ever spent. It not only matches with how I pictured Pieter, but it adds details to him that I never even considered.

Now, if only I could convince the other players to have their PCs done

That's pretty sweet.

I'm really tempted to get someone to do a favorite character of mine, but I guess I'm cheap. What lead you to commission this portrait?

[Colmarr]

may i ask what details were added? how this portrait affects how you percieve Pieter?
i'm curious...

Kol.

It's the little things like the scabbard strap across the chest. It's kind of obvious in hindsight but in my mind's eye there was always just a scabbard across the back. I hadn't really thought about how it got there.

The layering of the tunic and the finemail is another. The finemail sits under the tunic but has a separarate piece that goes across the shoulders on top of the tunic. I'd never really thought about that.

But mostly I think it's the textures (eg. the pants, the cape, the creases in the tunic) that bring it most to life for me. Unless you have a keen artist's eye (I don't), that's the sort of thing that you don't include when you're imagining something.

I'm not a huge fan of the purple gloves and holy symbol, but I didn't specify otherwise, so fair's fair

What lead you to commission this portrait?

I'd come across Storn's work in an EN world thread years ago (before the SSTL campaign commenced), and the idea of commissioning a portrait from him has been lurking at the back of my brain for a while.

There are other artists and sites (such as AvatarArt) that do character portrait, but it's pretty hard to find somewhere that will produce a colour portait of this quality for such a low price.

I know $45US isn't that low. In fact, it's more than a 4e book, but it's a great price for an original piece of art, and I'd much rather give up my FRPG than give up this portrait

[Zombimode]

It looks pretty good :)

But the symbol on the helmet, the amulet and the belt looks weird, not like I would envision the Tempus symbol. With the flaming blade instead it would look much more badass in my view :)

[Colmarr]

It looks pretty good :)

But the symbol on the helmet, the amulet and the belt looks weird, not like I would envision the Tempus symbol. With the flaming blade instead it would look much more badass in my view :)

Yep, that occurred to me. I think there was a miscommunication.

I gave Storn some direction in relation to Pieter's holy symbol (a symbol of the holy nimbus), and suggested that a sword across a hollow circle would be a good representation, the circle being the nimbus, and the sword being Tempus.

I suspect he misconstrued the 4e magic item designation "holy symbol" with the general phrase "holy symbol", so you see the same symbol recurring in the picture.

Fortunately, none of those items were tailor-made for Pieter in game, so there's no reason why they should specifically match Tempus' symbol. I did specify that Tempus' holy symbol was on the shield (and provided a link to the 4e FR wiki), but the shield ended up pointing away from the viewer

[Colmarr]

Session 39: A Troubled Bloodline.

Michael the Burnt’s power comes toppling down and Pieter and Soveliss find what they have been searching for.

Observations:

Spoiler

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This session was almost entirely one long combat, with some scrambling around in a volcanic-eruption-shaken tower at the end.

The combat against Michael and his goons was full of threats and boasting on both sides, and I realised to my chagrin that most DM’s will never manage to say anything impressive when talking through one of their NPC villains. Players of PCs generally simply aren’t interested in letting the villain sound groovy or tough. They’re too busy making their PCs sound groovy and tough.

I’m not necessarily of that camp, so I noticed that whenever the DM came out with a good defiant quote for Michael, the recipient PC always had to have the last word, and it was never a simple “No!” or “Never!”. It was always the adventurer equivalent of “Nuh uh! My dad’s stronger than your dad!” It got a bit annoying for me by the end of the combat, so I can only imagine what it felt like for the DM. Sometimes, the PCs should just let the bad guy be cool and groovy. That way it’s more of an achievement when you do beat him.

I’m not sure of Michael’s mechanical stats, but I know he was an elite and I’m rapidly beginning to consider them one of the best weapons in a DM’s encounter-creation arsenal. We’ve fought a lot of them throughout the campaign (Kalarel, the duergar slave master, Murkelmor, Paldemar, Malachi and now Michael the Burnt) and our experience of them is that they’re bigger and tougher and more deadly than a normal enemy, but not so out of whack that they radically change the encounter dynamic. They sit very nicely within the “this is a bad guy to watch out for” meta.

We haven’t really had a combat with a solo yet (the dragon encounter in the Well of Demons was fudged enough that it doesn’t count), so I’m curious to see how they work out. I suspect that an encounter consisting entirely of a solo would be boring or a grind, but that a smattering of minions and standard enemies in the same fight could make for a very interesting encounter.

The biggest trick in Michael the Burnt’s arsenal was a recharge power called Far Realm Phantasm, which only did marginal damage (1d6+4) but also denied the target a standard action on it’s next turn. The power targeted Will, so was deployed against Dek every chance that Michael got. Losing your standard action is not quite as bad as stunned, but it’s still a pretty potent ability that drew a lot of attention to Michael. Bengi copped a dose of it later in the encounter but by that stage things were in mop-up so it wasn’t quite as threatening.

While Dek, Bengi and Soveliss were busy clustering around the BBEG (as seems to be their habit), Pieter and Caelan were off dealing with the shadar-kai. Now, that wasn’t entirely intentional. Pieter ran off to grab Stormbringer as soon as he saw it (ie. the 3rd initiative count in the encounter) and when Caelan spotted a shadar-kai hiding in the shadows nearby he charged in. Another shadar-kai soon emerged and the two adventurers decided to finish them off before moving into the main melee. They actually worked quite well together, with Caelan’s manoeuvrability keeping the shadar-kai flanked and Pieter happy to drop Righteous Brands on the opponent (should that be victim?) and let Caelan be the attacking batsman*.

Soveliss had applied his Salve of Power to Pieter before the combat, and Pieter used it to recast Curse of Misfortune. Unfortunately, it proved nowhere near as effective as it had in the Paldemar combat, only preventing one hit against Dek – a hit that would only have done 5 damage anyway. Hopefully that’s a good indication that the power isn’t as over-the-top as I feared last session.

In the aftermath of the party arriving in Waterdeep, questions have been asked about why the portal worked for Pieter. It seems clear that he’s somehow part of Michael’s bloodline but the PCs (including Pieter) have no idea what the connection to Michael the Burnt is. Due to a DMing mixup during session 38 the truth is known to the players, bit I think I’ll maintain the story mystique here as long as I can, only revealing the truth when it becomes know to the players.

The DM said after the session that if anyone wants to change or alter their character, now is the time to do it. Bengi’s player has been talking of bringing Shadow back and Dek’s player has been considering a paladin for a while. And surprisingly, Soveliss’ player is considering making some fairly significant changes to his character. I’m fairly happy with Pieter, and don’t see a need to alter him beyond what is allowable under the retraining rules.

I must admit to some curiosity though about other classes and races or even DMing, so I have tentatively suggested that I (or Bengi’s player; the past-DM in the group) could run a short sidetrek dealing with events parallel to the main plot. One suggestion was that we could flesh out the Night of Creeping Doom mentioned in Pieter’s backstory. Another was that we could deal with what Shadow is up to half a world away. The idea hasn’t taken immediate purchase (in the sense that no-one’s jumping up and down with excitement at the prospect), so we’ll have to see how it pans out.

* Cricket players will know what I mean.

We’re taking a one session break from 4e this weekend at the DM’s request to play a game of 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars. Let me know if you want me to do up a post for it, or if you’d prefer that this thread remain dedicated to SSTL.

[Colmarr]

Session 40: Furriers and Woolmen.

Our heroes discover that Waterdeep's City of the Dead contains things not-so-dead.

Observations:

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We discovered this session that a 4-melee 1-ranged party isn't the ideal split for dealing with enemies that have an offensive aura. The Chillborn aura, particularly the way it "stacks" with auras on other Chillborn, meant that we had little option but to stay behind Dek and attack them from afar. The other option was for the meleers to move in and take 20 cold damage per turn before the zombies even attacked back. It's understandable why that wasn't really an option.

That 4-melee 1-ranged summary isn't quite accurate; Soveliss is ranged and Bengi spends more time at range than in melee, but the warlock is the sort of "ranged" character that is never really far from the action. He was just as hampered by the chillborn aura as the true meleers were. Fortunately, Pieter had his cleric anti-undead leanings to rely on and was able to contribute meaningfully via repeated application of Sacred Flame.

Still, it's good to have your weaknesses exposed in a non-crucial fight so hopefully we can do something to address it before it really gets us in hot water.

Our investigation of the sarcophagus was part of a skill challenge that we didn't even know about until the DM said "That's one success". I'm not sure how I view this one. It's good that it has fitted in seemlessly (if the DM hadn't said it, I wouldn't have realised it was a skill challenge at all), but I'm also a bit confused as to exactly what the skill challenge was about. I don't recall a "goal" or a "challenge" being set to which the skill challenge could apply. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. At least we're doing well at it (3 successes so far as I can tell)

I understand that this storyline is from a Living Forgotten Realms adventure, and I originally had some disappointment about how little we'd gotten through in our 4-hour session. But then I realised that we'd spent close to two and a half hours dealing with Ariadne, the watch, miscellaneous shopping and ritual talk then meeting with Hornhand. Once all that's taken into account, the fact that we only got through one combat encounter isn't so bad. We've never been the fastest of players (some are worse than others) but it's not off-the-chart slow.

We're playing again tonight, so hopefully the next update won't be as long coming as this one was!

[nortonweb]

lol the skill challenge was for the part of the adventure I kept repeating to make sure you all got.
You were not just asked to clear out the tomb but to find out why they were there in the first place. I'll do a flash back scene tonight to try to push that home.
The "find out why" is the skill challenge.
Its modern D&D its never #just# a dungeon crawl

[Kol Korran]

i missed update 39 when i came up. so out of the shadowfell and into waterdeep? you guys move a lot! i see soveliss multiclassed to an artificer, but wha did Dek multiclass into?

Pieter of Michael's bloodline? now that is ineresting... was kalarel your brother? (next time you meet he'll have a mask on and say "Pieter, (rasping breath) I am you father!")

[Colmarr]

lol the skill challenge was for the part of the adventure I kept repeating to make sure you all got.
You were not just asked to clear out the tomb but to find out why they were there in the first place.

Mind you, after that little Valthrun bombshell you dropped, you probably could have revealed that Daundratha was Szass Tam and I wouldn't have heard you...

what did Dek multiclass into?

Cleric. He was thinking of restatting as a paladin, but couldn't find a build that really appealed to him. I personally am glad. I can't think of any build of Dek that could be more suited to this particular party than the one he is.

Pieter of Michael's bloodline? now that is ineresting... was kalarel your brother?

That thought has occurred to us - if Michael is Pieter's father, then he's killed his brother (Kalarel) and tried to kill his father (Michael). That kid's got issues!

[Kol Korran]

What did Dek multiclass into?
Cleric. He was thinking of restatting as a paladin, but couldn't find a build that really appealed to him. I personally am glad. I can't think of any build of Dek that could be more suited to this particular party than the one he is.

(sigh) once again there are similarities between your campaign and mine. if you'll remember, there is a dwarf fighter in my party who very, very much resembles Dek in his attitude.

however, even though he has the greatest fort save of us all (3.5), on all the critical saves he has rolled a 1- auto fail. so far he had been turned to stone twice, died out of massive damage once, and there might be a few things i don't remember.
we're also playing in forgotten realms, but the player, since he isn't familiar with the setting, decided his dwarf doesn't worship any god for now.
due to the streak of rolls of 1's however, he now assumes he must have angered the gods. soooo, he decides to become religious, with a vengence! in the following meeting he is supposed to work in a forge ruled over by hostlie forces (quite a bit of subterfuge for that, but i digress), and forge his new holy symbol. then, he's gonna massacre all of the Zhents responsible for the forge and free the slaves. (which also takes quite a bit of subterfuge, but i digress again). as far as i understands it, he is going to act "preachery" in all just without actually taking the class.

so yeah, we have our dwarf as a (pretending) multiclass cleric as well.

[Colmarr]

so yeah, we have our dwarf as a (pretending) multiclass cleric as well.

It's actually not that surprising, because D&D dwarfs have a long and proud tradition of worshipping Moradin. Their traditional lawful good leanings probably help.

[Colmarr]

Session 41: Maddening Whispers.

Our heroes push deeper into the Furrier’s guild crypt, and discover that someone has been there before them.

Observations:

Spoiler

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This session was heavy on combat and relatively light on everything else. Largely that was due to our relative newbieness at fighting undead. Having said that, it was a difficult combat (1600xp worth of PCs versus 2900 xp worth of baddies) so it should have been expected to take a while. When you add a mad wraith and its dazing aura to the mix, especially against a party that is overwhelmingly melee-oriented, the expected time-per-combat increases significantly.

The first full round of combat showed that Pieter’s defences (AC 25/24 Fort 23 Ref 21 Will 22) aren’t quite where they need to be if I want to play him as a quasi-defender. He got pummelled by both mummy guardians and a “dominated” Dek and went from full hp to 19 in a round.

I’ve always known that he was a little light on for constitution and armour class, so that has never really come as a surprise. My build for him has always included picking up scale and heavy shield proficiency in early paragon (once his Constitution gets the level 11 bump). Hopefully he’ll survive long enough to get there!

On top of all that damage, Pieter was dazed which meant he had to choose next turn between healing himself or attacking the enemy. Fortunately, the action point mechanic solved that dilemma and he was able to use both divine power and healing strike to lay down some pretty serious damage (16 radiant to one guardian and the mummy lord and 24 radiant to the other guardian) heal himself (for 20 hp) and gain regeneration 5 (which cancelled out the wraith’s whisper damage for the rest of the encounter).

We discovered during this combat that radiant damage makes fighting undead much easier. Of course, anyone who’s ever taken part in a 4e D&D forum discussion about undead knows that, so we can’t plead ignorance. However, knowing that radiant damage helps and knowing just how much it can help are two different things. Three of the four enemies had regeneration 10 which could be “turned off” for a round with radiant damage. The fourth had an area 5 aura that dazed enemies. The aura could also be turned off with radiant damage.

We made our knowledge checks against the mummies, and blocked as much of their regeneration as we could. Unfortunately, Pieter’s the only PC with real access to radiant damage, and even he has to rely on encounter powers and dailies to get it. His one radiant at-will (Sacred Flame) is so unreliable that it can’t really be counted on.

Also unfortunately, we first encountered the mad wraith through the side of a sarcophagus and the DM ruled that hearing its maddening whispers was not enough to give us the full information a knowledge role would ordinarily reveal. When the wraith did emerge, we were so busy with other things that we didn’t make another check, even though the DM reminded us to. Knowing that we could turn off that aura would certainly have changed the face of this encounter. Oh well, c’est la vie.

I’ve decided it’s worth looking through the character builder to identify consumables that allow you to deal specific types of damage. I’m also seriously considering picking up the Bless Water ritual so that Pieter can create holy water. Being able to throw holy water at that wraith or deal splash radiant damage to the mummies would have come in very handy.

On the metagame front, it looks like we may be picking up a 5th player (the wife of one of the players) after all, which I personally think is good news. I’ll record more as things develop

[Kol Korran]

i have only played 4E once, and that was for 3 levels, so maybe i don't know what i'm talking about, but...
there are various magical weapons that deal energy damage to creatures. if you have the money, then maybe you could buy a few such simple weapons?

also, check out what energy type you guys deal, especially soveliss (wizards are known for energy attacks, no?) maybe you allready have one ore more energy types covered.

as to Holy Water, i see no real need to buy the ritual, just buy a whole lot of flasks. for those energies you guys didn't cover, maybe some simple alchemical items? though i heard those are too expensive to for their effects.

one last word: i suggest you guys think of ways protecting from energy damage as well as dealing it. an encounter with undead who deal necrotic damage, or devils/ demons that deal fire damage can be made much easier this way. other than buying armors/amulets i have no ideas.

glad to see you posting. still following, though i'm a bit confused since you left the shadowfell... oh well.

[Colmarr]

i have only played 4E once, and that was for 3 levels, so maybe i don't know what i'm talking about, but...
there are various magical weapons that deal energy damage to creatures. if you have the money, then maybe you could buy a few such simple weapons?

They've already been mentioned during my discussion with Bengi's player, but permanent magic items are a little too expensive to justify corner-case use like I'm suggesting. Unless of course the energy type fits a planned build anyway (like Wintertouched cheese or a Hellfire Blood tiefling with a flaming sword).

also, check out what energy type you guys deal, especially soveliss (wizards are known for energy attacks, no?) maybe you allready have one or more energy types covered.

Between us we cover a pretty wide range, including acid, lightning, thunder, fire, radiant and psychic. However, many of those are only from encounter or daily powers. It's not so much the ability to inflict a damage type that's the issue; it's the ability to inflict it meaningfully for the duration of an encounter.

A party in which every member carries a flask of holy water has the capacity to shut down a mummy's regeneration (or a mad wraith's aura) for 5 rounds before you even consider the PCs individual powers, and those five flasks cost one fifth of the price of a permanent weapon of the relevant type.

as to Holy Water, i see no real need to buy the ritual, just buy a whole lot of flasks.

The attraction of having the ritual mastered (which is dirt cheap at 50gp) is that you can create holy water on relatively short notice and on demand. You're not beholden to the nearest temple if you suddenly find you'll be facing undead soon.

Having said that, I just took a look at the ritual again and notice it has a duration of 24 hours, suggesting the Holy Water created with the ritual expires, even though holy water purchased as an alchemical item doesn't. Weird. I'm pretty sure my DM would resolve that inconsistency one way or the other.

one last word: i suggest you guys think of ways protecting from energy damage as well as dealing it. an encounter with undead who deal necrotic damage, or devils/ demons that deal fire damage can be made much easier this way.

Yep, we're on to this too (at least some are). Bengi has resist fire and necrotic and I just picked up Forgemaster's Gloves for Pieter (resist 5 fire). Not sure whether the others are looking into it. I know that Dek's player, for example, tends to focus on items that will boost his damage

still following, though i'm a bit confused since you left the shadowfell... oh well.

Confused by what?

We jumped into the Shadowfell portal and somehow ended up in Waterdeep. Not sure exactly how, but I suspect it's a by-product of not having Michael's key but having someone of his blood. I personally picture it as the portal flailing around like a runaway garden hose and depositing us in a random location, but I could be wrong and Michael could be loose in Waterdeep somewhere.

We reported what we knew about giant activity in the north to the Waterdeep guards (and Pieter told Ariadne so she could warn her master) and then we waited to see what would happen next.

We then got approached by the Furriers and Woolmen guild to clear out their crypt, and that's what we're up to now. It's not clear yet exactly what's going on in the crypt, but the reference to the exarch of vengeance, the animation of the guildmembers' corpses as Chillborn and the desecration of the sarcophagus and ceiling fresco suggest that there's a necromancer at work who has a grudge against the guild or one (or more) of its members.

[Colmarr]

Session 42: Cleansing the Tomb.

Our heroes destroy the last undead despoiling the Furriers’ and Woolmen’s tomb

Observations:

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We started relatively late this session, with the end result that we only got a single encounter done, with about 45 minutes left over at the end for roleplaying and other general exploring of Waterdeep.

The combat in the tomb was notable mostly for the illusionary wall. Interestingly the RPGA module states that (as per usual) an insight check allows you to determine that the wall is fake. However, making the check does not allow you to see through it; only pass through it. That led to the interesting situation where Pieter knew the wall was fake and that something(s) on the other side were throwing fireballs. One of the great joys of playing D&D via Maptool is that when Dek stepped through the wall, no one could actually tell what he was seeing in there. In turn, when Pieter followed him through, I found that he was one square off being in a perfect position to drop consecrated ground so that if would catch both flameskulls, a tomb guardian, and 2 archer minions. As it was, I had to be content with getting the flameskulls and the minions.

I wasn’t terribly concerned by that outcome, because the minions had in some ways been my intended target. The skull lord could resurrect the damn things as a minor action, but putting them in a zone that dealt automatic radiant damage at the start of their turn effectively nullified that ability – which seemed like a good trade to me.

The desecrated body of Vogu Sarwin is the most macabre thing I’ve ever encountered in a D&D adventure, and I’m not sure how it made it into a LFR module that could conceivably be played in an official setting by a 13-year old. Fortunately, we don’t have any in our group and I imagine the DM would have toned it down if we did.

Everyone seems to be getting revved up by the impending move to paragon tier. A lot of talk has been flashing backwards and forward about paragon paths and feats. Dek seems likely to go for Dreadnought, focusing on his already strong suit of “unbreakable”. Interestingly, the last few sessions have revealed a real weakness in his Reflex and Will defences. The DM continues to target his AC, which I see as a bit of a quixotean quest, but I suspect he’s doing it to make the game fun for Dek’s player. After all, he’s put a lot of work into making Dek tough to hit. It would be “cheating” to just ignore that totally.

I’m still angling towards Battle Chaplain for Pieter. I’ve veered away from Kensai/Pit Fighter because neither PP does much at all for Pieter as a leader. Dek and Bengi can dish out damage, so I see little point in trying to win that race. What they can’t do is be the group's dedicated leader, so I’ve decided to maintain Pieter’s focus in that direction. Unfortunately, there aren’t many battle cleric PPs, but Battle Chaplain has some nice tricks to it.

Bengi’s player has a list of 4 that he’s considering, only one of which is actually a warlock PP. As the best optimiser in the group, I’m interested to see what he can come up with. Regardless of which PP he takes, I know he’s aiming for the ability to hand out saves, which is something I’ve been worrying about lately. It’s a good example of how teamwork plays an important part in 4e.

We've also been doing quite a bit of forum roleplaying since the session ended; the first real roleplaying in quite a while. This one is between Pieter and Soveliss in a quiet moment. I’ll spoiler it to save space:

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Me:

Pieter looks over at Soveliss, then moves to join the eladrin. The tempuran's arms rest in his lap, a posture of ease and openness, but there's a deliberateness about it, as though it hides a deeper reservation.

"You are changed since you found your prism, Soveliss. Do you care to tell me how?"

SP:

Soveliss looks to Pieter and smiles. This my friend is simple. I felt lost without the prism. I knew great evils lurk within our realm and I felt powerless to do anything about it. Now with my new found knowledge I know that someday I’ll have enough power to defeat those evils that would make most men cower. Though the prism hasn’t given me this power it has revealed much of a secret and lost knowledge that I now hold, and hopefully someday, maybe with my new friends’ help, I’ll achieve these powers.

As I might have mentioned to you before ,I’ve been a member of an organisation for many decades that seeks to cleanse all evil from these lands. Unfortunately over the centuries it has become a little corrupt and now those members in its highest seats of power have indeed become corrupt themselves. Many have even fallen to Orcus’ gifts believing their powers can still do good though they’re evil themselves. Ill not take the gifts of Orcus ever. I spit at him, though one day I will stand against his servants.

Me:

Pieter blinks in surprise at the mention of Orcus, but hears Soveliss out.

"This knowledge the prism holds; is it pure? There is something unclean about that crystal, something that makes me very uncomfortable. Are you sure that you are not walking the path of those who were corrupted?"

SP:

Nothing passes your guard does it, Pieter? Yes the prism holds some malice. It also seeks to protect the information it holds for it cannot be taken lightly. Though trust me my friend; seeking the forms that those of my higher order have taken would not have taken me so many years, and thou the prism is not entirely what I expected it to be, it is a way to defend myself against evil in these lands.

We have always seen a little differently since we met. You see evil and try to quench the flames. I see evil and see what damage would happen if the flames spread and burn those all around. Yes, always someone gets burnt but such things happen. If I can completely extinguish the fire with only a few burning in the process, then I believe i have done good.

Me:

"We have been through a lot together, you and I, over the last few tendays, and I have learned that the world is not as black and white as I once thought it was. Perhaps it is your influence." Pieter laughs. "I have seen the change in you since Michael's tower. I notice your spell wardings during battle and the enhancements you provided to Bengi and I in the tomb. I appreciated your assistance in cleaning the sepulchre."

Pieter pauses, as if deciding whether to continue.

"I will be blunt," he rushes the words out as if afraid he will not otherwise be able to say them. "Since leaving Winterhaven, I have watched you closely, and was dismayed by what I saw. I feared that you were beyond redemption, and had become the thing you say you most wish to vanquish. I feared that I would need to act against you to prevent you claiming the prism. But when the time came, I could not."

Pieter smiles. "Perhaps Tempus held back my hand. Now I see a brighter potential in you, Soveliss. I am glad I did not act."

Pieter stands and hurries to the door, embarrassed at having spoken so openly.

It’s not quite a detente given Soveliss’ almost-chilling comments about letting a few burn, but the eladrin has been acting in a much more party-friendly way since regaining his prism (mechanically represented by him becoming a hybrid wizard/artificer) so there’s some hope that the friction between the two characters will begin to ease up.

[Colmarr]

The next day:

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DM

Early in the evening of the 24 Highsun (the following day from the funeral of the late Guildmaster of the Furriers and Woolmen) the Heroes are settling in for an evening of bardic entrainment as Aeron practices for the final day of a tournament he had entered.

The place is busy and full as usual. Thoat the minotaur bouncer sits by the bar as Tessele Swiftwater, her hair pulled back, busily keeps the waitresses moving and the beer, wine and food flowing.

Caelan is just telling the group how the prize his brother competes for is a residency at the temple of the Selûne with the Oracles of the Moon and some of the highest Brads in Faerûn when the doors of the Daggers Rest open and a tall thin woman dressed in a fine evening gown made of flowing elven silk enters. Lifting the edges of her dress over the slight raise in the step her half orc bodyguard stumbles slightly to avoid catching his foot on the over abundant and delicate looking fabric. She drops the hood of her over cloak showing a high styled head of dark hair studded with jewels and a firm business like face. Quickly she scans the room and in seeing Pieter and the group a pretty smile crosses her face.

"Pieter" she raises her hand and moves swiftly towards the groups table knocking plates and mugs with the wide pleats in her dress. Her half orc watcher apologizes and picks up after her. Half turning to giggle a sorry she moves to Pieter. Bending forward and coming close to "falling" out of her dress she embraces the Tempurean. "Oh it is so wonderful to be able to see you again." The sweet smell of wine on her breath is clear as is the distinct undertone of tobacco.

"I'm afraid I can't stay too long we are returning from a trade talk and Brendan.. oh.. Master First mariner Brendan" she smiles "Asked that I call upon you to convey his thanks for your actions yesterday. Also to let you know" she attempts to lower her voice "the matter with the giants is being discussed." raising her voice again "He wanted you to know that there are a few, just a few, reports that could support what you are saying but the guilds have a few other matters at hand at present."

She pauses. "I think that was it. We will be away for almost a ten day with talks in Amn but we will be back for the Autumn Equinox Fleetswake when... Oh oh yes. Your invited. "she turns to the half-orc "Jadan do you have those invites. Here. Its held on the 2nd Eleint. Its a great night but you must come in fancy dress." Laughing "Oh Pieter it will be a treat to see you all "Grimm" in fancy dress"

Grimm

Pieter looks momentarily surprised, then embarrassed.

He rises from the table and smiles. "Ariadne. All me to introduce you."

He gestures at each of his companions around the table and give their names in turn . Then he introduces the well-dressed visitor. "This is Ariadne Cooper, wizard and adviser to Master First Mariner Brendan of the Master Mariners’ guild, and a very dear and old friend.”

He turns back to the obviously tipsy wizard. “Ariadne, I would like to visit with you tomorrow if I may? To discuss your research on the other issue we discussed…”

DM

"Perhaps a late lunch, Pieter? There is a wonderful bakers that does the best bread next door to Nathalan's Menagerie. Then perhaps you can come in to the Menagerie to help me pick out a dress for the talks in Amn? Lady Ilira is bound to have some new stock in. And what are your friends planning on doing? Your all invited to the dance too." She looks as if about to sit down when Jadan the bodyguard catches her eye.

Grimm

Pieter laughs. "I fear you place too high a value on my sense of fashion, Ariadne."

"But nevertheless, yes, I will meet you at the bakers when Timehands third tolls in the afternoon"

He holds his hand out to Jadan to take the invitation.

Bengi

Watching their departure, the golem comments, "Many clothes, at times forgotten.". Bengi seems amused, more so at his own thoughts that what has transpired.

I'm not sure what information I've provided about Ariadne in this thread before. She is grew up with Pieter at the Orphanage of the Hearth in Highmoon, but went her own way and ended up a wizard and adviser to Master Brendan of the Guild of Master Mariners.

When Pieter arrived in Waterdeep, he almost immediately went to visit Ariadne to ask her opinion on why Michael the Burnt's portal would have opened for him. That's the "other issue" Pieter mentions.

During that first meeting, Pieter also formed the impression that Ariadne was more than just an "adviser" to master Brendan, and that impression was to soon be confirmed.

[Colmarr]

3 days later, the party are relaxing in a tavern when:

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DM:

The Daggers Rest is heaving. Getting to the bar is such a chore Tessele Swiftwater is just supplying a constant top-up of drinks to the party of heroes after the help they provided Thoat with the gang of trouble makers the night before. Thoat himself is more respectful after a slight altercation with Bengi who relived his own bouncing days on that night.

They sit and share a moment of comradery discussing the news that both Areon and Caelan will be leaving to travel to the residency won by the young bard.

The odd person bumps into the back of one of their chairs then apologizes when a chair is dragged up and pushed to the table. An old voice but full of energy catches everyone's attention "You sit there old chap. I'm off to speak to that young filly Swiftwater about a drink and if she has a inclination to share her bed for the night." A man with metal and dirt covered overalls is forced into the chair as the old man in worn heavy robes and messy gray hair moves into the crowd clutching his tankard and pipe.

"Oh" the man smiles sitting a little straighter in the chair and brushing himself down. "Hello I'm Thomas, you can call me Tom." He holds out his hand. "Is there a Ben Gee here... I'm told you have something for me to fashion? An item out of a particular metal I'm told?"

Grimm:

Pieter barely registers as Toms sits down, his eyes instead glued to the older man moving off into the crowd. The tempuran gets up and follows urgently.

"Valthrun!", he calls over the din of drinkers.

DM:

Valthrun turns and jambs his pipe between his teeth. Take a long draw he smiles a yellow toothed broad grin and nods towards the bar. Striding forwards the crowds make way for the pair.

Slamming his tankard on the bar in a jolly fashion "Tessele you glittering green eyed beauty will you not provide you old love with a tall measure of your exquisite nectar and once your done a beer would be wonderful." Valthrun leans over the bar in an attempt to playfully reach out for the Inn keeper.

"You old rogue as I've told you a thousand times what happened in the past is the past those were my wild days. I'm older and wiser. Now its a full tankard for you. Pieter your not with this villain are you?" They both laugh as Vlathrun picks up his beer.

Grimm:

Pieter's voice is flat, almost threatening when he replies. "No. I am not."

He reaches out to gently but firmly grab Valthrun's drinking arm. "I will not be played with like a toy, sage. You owe me an explanation."

DM:

Valthrun reaches out with his other arm and take his drink.

"How so young man?" The gray wizard leans his head forwards towards his held hand and plucks the pipe from his teeth. "Your a strapping lad and I've been known to dabble... I think... but I'd much rather play with Tessele here."

Pieter notices out of the corner of his eye a change in the demeanor of Tessele Swiftwater as she picks up on the priests manner.

Grimm:

"You claimed to know Axis, but he maintains the Valthrun he knew would long since be dead. You told Terrlen darkseeker to expect us before we even met him or you. You teleported Aleya to the Seven-Pillared Hall and the villagers from it to Winterhaven. You recommended us to Daundratha Hornhand. You somehow made it across the continent from Winterhaven in less than a tenday, and you bring with you someone who asks about the metal that Bengi has never told you about."

"You are no simple sozzled village sage. Who or what are you?"

DM:

"Well my firm handed lad in that I must agree." He gulps down the last of the ale. "I am indeed not a simple sozzled sage yet I'm sure if you were to reach into your pouch and pull out a couple of dragons a bottle of Zzar and I could be more so on my way." he jiggles his mug.

"Now you have asked me about quite a collection of things there and I must say to an untrained eye it might seem quite confusing but if you know what your looking for its all quite simple..." he appears to conjure a Mages Hand which proceeds to empty and refill his pipe. It returns to his mouth and a spark relights it as he beings to puff give off a sweet burnt wood smell and a blue green smoke. "Ahhh now then.. where was I oh yes.. Zzar." the last word is shouted "I remember drinking it with a saucy young thing. You know I think she may have got me drunk to take advantage me. But who would blame her. Now what was her name... what was it let me think... oh" a sharp look crosses his face.. "headache... didn't you offer me a glass of Zzar Pieter?"

Grimm:

"No. I didn't. I tire of your fumbling, because I know it is a ruse."

Pieter releases Valthrun's hand and forces himself to calm down. Finally, he speaks softly but firmly. "Either you and your cause are worthy and I will help, or they are not and I will not. Explain yourself, Valthrun, or I am done with you."

DM:

For once his face seems serious if but for a brief while. Everything Pieter has experienced lets him think that Valthrun is being honest when he speaks.
"Every story I have told, every action I have made, every time I have seen you is true. There is no ruse to me. There is no play apart from that which is my life. I sit in tavens and I drink and I meet people. A lot of people. Some I bed" he winks across the bar "if I'm lucky. Some I help, if I can. Some help me, if they can. Some people are good. Some are on their way. I eat the food they serve and I return to my tower."

Pausing he seems to be searching for a thought. Then the sharp look returns and he takes a few deep draws on his pipe. "Cause. I have the thought of a cause.. no a concern maybe.. I like to help people I think.. especially people with pretty sisters. I'll even help those with angry pretty sisters but I wouldn't help the sister. I think."

A few extra puffs and he brings the tankard to his lips realizing its empty. "I'm sorry you seem upset Pieter. Perhaps a drink will make you happier. I mean I should point out you are the ones following me around after all."

Grimm:

Pieter scowls. He reaches out towards Valthrun, then changes his mind and reaches for Stormbringer. Then he hesitates.

Without another word he turns on his heel and walks to the door of the tavern, pausing only at the group's table to mutter "I'll be back" before disappearing into the night.

I have to admit that the DM played Valthrun masterfully in this encounter. His response to Pieter grabbing his arm (ie. changing hands and continuing to drink) is vintage Valthrun and impeccably shows the essentially "slick" nature of the NPC. Nothing nails Valthrun down, and as this encounter shows, that drives Pieter nuts. He likes his world black and white, and Valthrun has so far refused to be categorised.

[archmage45]

That sounds like some fantastic RPing! You must all be having such a blast!