Thursday, December 27, 2012

How the characters will work

I am starting out with the 5 pre-gens that are included with the playtest packet, but they really aren't the best options for game play, so I added two more options (a human wizard and a human fighter).  I might have a monk finished by the next session.

I am limiting each session to five players.  I would like to just say everyone is welcome to play, but having a group that is larger than five makes combat unwieldy and slows down the game.

Each of the characters here will gain XP (even if no one played them for a session), to keep things even, and loot will be held in a community pot for 'safe keeping'.  There probably isn't going to be a lot of shopping, but if anyone needs gold, it will just be a simple vote done in game to advance funds or not.

You can find the Character Options here.  I am thinking about opening it up to player made characters, but that will be on a case by case basis.

Let me know if you have any questions.

House Rules

House Rules

1. Players win on a tie.  This means that if a player ties a monster's AC on a hit, it is a hit.  If a monster ties a players AC on an attack roll, it is a miss.

2. Vancian Spellcasting - Vancian spells (anything but cantrips) are spells prepared in advance.  You can cast any spell you have prepared for any number of your spell slots.  For example, if a first level wizard with three spell slots prepared Magic Missile, Sleep, and Thunderwave, they could cast one of each, one spell three times, or any combination of the two.

3.  Extended rests and healing - Extended rests heal all HP.

After the session, I checked the rules and it looks like I didn't need to house rule either rule #2 or #3.  Resting is detailed on p. 18 of 'How to Play', and spell casting is detailed on p. 27 of the 'classes' pdf.  Both #2 and #3 are RAW, so there is no need for house rules there.

Session 1

Session 1

Members:

Sinaris Awesomelazer - Human Wizard
Arkhir Wonsur - Human Cleric
Solaris Winterblade - Human Fighter (Ranger)
Kilborn Blindshaft - Dwarven Fighter
Lil Tim - Halfling Rogue
Beatrice - Fey Owl

The Adventure

We had a big turn out for the first session.  Thanks everyone who played.  Sorry for those who came but didn't get s spot.  There will be more upcoming sessions.  I hope you stop by again.

On to the adventure.  I am running the Caves of Chaos module that is included with the test packet.  This is an old school dungeon crawl where we will focus more on combat than roll play.  The goal is to get an idea of the mechanics of the game.

The party started out in the Chaos Scar, a dark valley surrounded on three sides by steep hills about 100 feet high.  The party stumbled onto a cave mouth and noticed signs of an ogre.  A quick dungeoneering check told them that it would be a bad idea to go there.

Adventuring a bit further north, they drew fire from kobold slings.  The party quickly dealt with a raiding party of six, and headed to the Kobold's lair.  Knowing that kobolds are notorious for traps, they quickly located a deep pit in the entrance and dealt with the six kobolds there on guard.  They also noticed a rat infested garbage heap that they initially avoided.

Heading further into the cavern, they also snuck by the kobold common room, and found a locked door that the fighter broke down.  Inside was a store room of edible and rotten food.  There was a cask of wine that had gone over and smelled of vinegar.  Heading east, they came across a group of elite guards.  In an attempt to distract them the wizard made a ghost sound of a dragon on the far side of the door on the opposite side of the room.  It did distract two of them for a moment, but at the same time, it drew out the kobold lord and his four attendants.

The kobold lord tossed a fire bomb and did some damage to the party.  His next attack, a glue bomb, was quickly brushed aside by the party.  They slayed the horde and took a short rest for some much needed healing in the kobold lord's office.  On the way out, the picked up a frenzy bomb.  They headed toward the common room, but before attacking, there was some discussion on leaving the families alone.  The majority decided to attack and rid the cave of kobolds.  It was a tough fight, as the sheer numbers of kobolds kept coming and coming, but the party won out in the end, and headed to the garbage pile.

Rats quickly jumped out of the garbage pile and from holes in the cave walls.  They avoided the front line and went after whoever was closest.  A dire rat was the head of the rat den, and it had silver chain set with semiprecious stones, leading the party to believe that the kobolds had actually been keeping it as a pet.

Having cleaned the cave of hostiles, the party took the opportunity to take an extended rest and replenish their energy.  Then they headed back out to the Chaos Scar in search of more adventure.  They inadvertently stumbled into the Ogre's lair again, but were able to talk their way out.  Most of the party realized that it would be a fight they would probably not survive.  The wizard cast a minor illusion, leading the ogre to believe that they had bribed him with a pile of gold.  He is going to be angry the next time he sees the party.

From there, the party headed southeast and found another cave entrance.  They avoided detection on the way in and found a guard chamber where seven goblins were standing watch.  The fight went well, until the fighter inadvertently targeted the wizard's familiar and killed it with an ax.  The rest of the party killed off the goblins and the wizard attacked the fighter with magic missile until he was unconscious.  He strayed dangerously toward changing his alignment evil, but it did change to chaotic neutral.

The rest of the party stopped the fight and dragged the fighter back to the kobold common room, where they tended to their wounds and counted the loot from the day.  This ended the session, and dissension among the ranks will have to be resolved on another day.  The wizard was preoccupied with the minor ritual needed to bring back his faithful fey familiar.

Loot:

50 gp
22 ep
193 sp
218 cp

60 javelins
1 Necklace with a gem (25 gp)
1 Silver chain embedded with semiprecious stones (15 gp)
1 bold to silk (15 sp)
1 Frenzy Bomb - When thrown, allies in the area gain advantage on melee attack rolls until the player’s next turn.

XP Breakdown

640 XP for the kobolds in the Kobold Lair
50 XP for RP with the Ogre
70 XP for the goblins

Total: 760 XP
152 XP per player (98 XP until level 2)