Campaign report
by KitsumaruHello Mystarans!
I'm starting up a campaign in Karameikos. I thought that I might tell of the heroics (I may be assuming) of my players.
The game is 2e. The year, AC 999 (I want to do a millennial celebration adventure(Why would they start the Gazeteers the day after?)).
An elf, (fighter/mage 2/2) and a Traladara (Druid 3) will be beginning their adventures in Threshold.
The Druid player named his character Mug Ruith. (I am thinking his parents may have come from Glantri and just never told him)
The elf is a bladesinger (a kit that I feel is a pretty ideal translation of the becmi elf, it's not perfect but very close).
My plan is to start them on the B1-B9 modules. I'm running overland movement as a hexcrawl, with at least one special location (landmark, minor monster lair, dungeon, or whatever). It is possible that they get lost or distracted when exploring, (I'm aiming for a Morrowind vibe) but I think I'm ready for anything.
I'll update after the first session.
Had a last minute sign up (5e player not realizing the game was 2e) they are playing a thief named Chad Alonius (the same pregen from K:KoA)
The party chose to look into a task for the Patriarch. Before setting out they ran into a young Sheered rogue by the name Valus Promethian (I stole him from this board.) Valus has quite excitedly signed on as a henchman.
The small band overcame Elwyn's sanctuary after a short struggle. The evil cleric was brought to justice, bound hand and foot. (A well timed sleep spell ended the boss fight before it began.)
Next week, if they follow the request of the Patriarch, it's off to a little keep on the borderlands. On the other paw, Palace of the Silver Princess could be slotted in anywhere.
Any thoughts? Perhaps send them to the Keep, then interrupt the Caves with Palace?
Alright, On the 23rd of Nuwmont the party accepted a pair of jobs. (Totally different story path than expected.)
The Mages' guild has hired them to travel to the broken lands, seeking potentially undamaged historical artifacts from the Blackmoor era. (We'll have to Come Back to this topic later)
The other job involves dropping a package off in Selenica and another on the way. (As the Duke's road is the easiest route into Darokin, they need to go this way anyway.)
By the 3rd of Vatermont, the party had turned off the Duke's road to deliver the first package. Unfortunately, and evil cleric known as 'the Rahib' is terrorizing the area.
Our heroes have managed to kill the Rahib, and rescued some of the prisoners, but two maidens are still missing and those under the evil cleric's spell have not yet been freed.
Weather notes: It's been cold. Cold in Threshold [hi:40F] and even worse as the party has headed up into the mountains.[Hi:20F] (Sorry for listing temps in farenheit. As a heathen American, I can't think in logical units of measure)
Further update next week.
Just throwing it out there:
The party rescued Baik from the Rahasia module. If anyone is free Tuesday May 17, 10pm CST. I'm trying to find a guest player. The game is over discord and is 2e ad&d. If you're free and playing an Ylari warrior sounds fun, message me.
4th day of Vatermont, 999 After Crowning-
After some misadventure with a teleportal, the party rested in the Elven village before returning to the Grey Mountain Temple. In a kitchen, the witch Karalena, (Occupying the body of an elven maiden) attacked the party with a panther before fleeing.
In continued exploration, they encountered the witch Solorena. They tied the napping baddie up, (she ended up getting tossed through the trap arches that turned her into a platinum statue)
Still deeper in the ruined sanctuary, they fed some champagne du stomp to a statue. This opened the way to a teleportal maze. The party made a wrong choice in the second room, appearing in an arena with angry orcs to fight.
(As Rolim charges into battle) 'I wonder if the serial number on the wine's label means anything...' (Answered with a chuckle from the druid, Mug.)
Another update coming next week. Now that they've figured out how the maze works, Rahasia is probably going to be completed next session.
Minor retcon: A halfling thief named Emily was rescued along with Hasan and Baik (new player signed up).
Our heroes solved the teleport maze. Cleansed the Black Opal Eye, and banished the spirits of the three witches.
After staying awhile with the elves, celebrating the wedding of Hasan and Rahasia, the group resumed travel.
At the Duke's Road Keep they met Aleena Halaran, who delivered their patents of court lordship.
In Selenica, they discovered that the man they were to deliver their package to had left town for Ylaruam.
They caught up with his caravan in the desert, turned down his job offer, and turned back toward Selenica only to lose their way in a sandstorm.
The group then rediscovered the ancient Lost City (B4). The bladesinger chose to join the Brotherhood of Gorm. Our adventurers have made a cursory search of the upper levels and are preparing to descend to the lower levels in search of (adventure!) the monster Zargon.
22nd of Vatermont, Cydinicea, Ylaruam
The party continues exploring the pyramid. Mug, the druid, has joined the Magi. They then made contact with Pandora (The Warrior Maidens' leader), potentially securing aid against the Cult of Zargon.
My misreading of the map created a new trap that led them down to tier 5 in a different location. Next session: Explore more of the pyramid, or find the passage down to the city for some urban rp.
26th of Vatermont, Cydinicea, Ylaruam
The party explored some of the city. After facing Darius, they decided that getting the three immortals' factions to form an alliance was the best route.
The three leaders met in the highest tier of the pyramid, revealing the Blade of Gaius to the party. The leader of the Magi attempted to steal the blade, tossing a smoke bomb filled with the Zargonite's hallucinagens. Most of the party then had to battle mini Zargons. The druid however made his saves and opened the exit to the pyramid, to vent the room. The elf had managed a paralysis ray and snatched the sword from Auriga before succumbing to the toxin.
Since he drew the sword when he fought the fake Zargons, he is now the (very nervous) owner of a very powerful weapon.
28th of Vatermont, Cynidicea, Ylaruam
The party decided to make straight for Zargon's lair and, in an epic battle, slew the foul creature... for now.
3rd of Thaumont, Selenica, Darokin
Our heroes fled the burdens of ruling a drug addicted underground city. Only to discover that some unknown party had bought an airship for them. The Highwind is registered out of Specularum and Captain Cid Alexius claims not to know the individual who hired him. 'Not practical to ask questions about that kind of coin.'
10th of Thaumont,
Serraine, over Darokin
The Highwind makes a stop at Serraine (Riding along to Corunglain since Serraine moves faster than the Highwind). The party makes use of the Great Library, studying what scraps they can find of Blackmore and Thonian lore.
13th of Thaumont,
The Comeback Inn, The Broken Lands
The party has found the Comeback Inn situated on a chimney of rock in the Broken Lands. Entering the archaic structure, they now find themselves unable to leave. (Due to the enchantments in place on the building.) The session was spent exploring the vacant inn. Next week, through the portal in the cellar!
Winter 3976 BC (The 24th year of the reign of Iyx I)
Having found themselves in ancient Blackmoor, 'guests' of the Regency Council, our heroes (With their new companion, the necromancer, Leon D'Amberville) became embroiled in the plot around the missing King Uther. They charmed Melanie Arquette (the junior wench with the amulet controlling the gate) and have so far managed to work around her geas. Now they prepare to retake the Prison out of Time.
Winter 1000+ AC, Joined by an elven ranger (who had been wandering the Inns for some time. The party breezed through the final steps of the adventure. A thief equipped with cloak and boots of elvenkind slipped a potion of gaseous form up to Uther, allowing him to get to safety before they stood to fight the guards.
Returning through the portal to find themselves in 1005AC the party did some runaround before Leon D'Amberville asked them to accompany him to run down a rumor about elementally charged zombies.
A greenskinned engineer was released from a mirrored shield and Rollim took his place. Session end.
Rolim gets released from the mirror shield. Leon is wrapped up in research and Mug must attend a meeting of the Three Branches (The three druidic organizations are meeting due to the rising tide of war. Unless Mug pushes the balance the druids will remain neutral (Emerald Dream/Lawful and Viridian Circle/Neutral druids will abide by the ruling, Green Pact/Chaotic druids probably will use the chaos of war as an opportunity.) [Two players had to miss, so I made their characters busy] Rolim and Zoar decided to travel back to Blackmoor in the past. There they became embroiled in the Temple of the Frog. (Which they realized was incredibly relevant to the matters going on in 1004 AC (They are finding the alien stuff a little odd for a fantasy world, but they want some lightsabers.) The party stole a Ring Key from one of the 'saints' then began their assault on the temple by entering from the balcony on level 5. The session ended without finding the Baroness, but I had had the missing player's henchmen accompany the party to the past.
Temple of the Frog progressed fairly well... until after the rescue. Weewak returned to the Temple after chasing the fleeing saint Stephen. The bladesinger, Rolim drew the Sword of Gaius to prevent him from destroying the temple and tech... And was right next to the android when he detonated.
Rolim was vaporized, but the sword will not allow him to die. The elf is again trapped inside a piece of equipment. (He had been the one to take Rheddrian's place.)
[Because of this I am transitioning the game to an Immortals game] Rolim sleeps in the sword until 1004 AC when he is discovered by Benekander.
Leon in the process of transforming himself into a nosferatu also becomes an Immortal. [A brother of the Radiance was about to ascend but Rad shunted the power to his son in the hope of gaining a new ally.
Wrath might be easier to stomach if the players know more of what's going on. I'll continue reporting on how the Immortals version of Wrath plays out.
1004 AC Klarmont,
Rheddrian tracked down the Blade of Gaius and released Rolim from his millennia of imprisonment. Quite surprised to see that Rolim had duplicated his ascension, Rheddrian formed an alliance with the new Immortal.
Meanwhile, Leon d'Amberville transformed himself into a nosferatu and tried to learn more about this 'Radiance' that seems connected to the energy Rheddrian had mentioned. His lab exploded in a flash of energy and he awoke ascended, bound in Baaka chains, to be lectured by his father about sneaking around behind his back (reminded of what happened to the rest of the family).
After begging for the chance to prove his loyalty, Leon was released.
Rolim repaired the broken cyborg from the temple of the frog (finding the pocket universe his destroyed portable hole had linked to was the more difficult task), planted memories of being a faithful servant of the Immortal Lordrolm (a name adopted because he heard a prayer from Cydinicea, where they had garbled his name), gave his new servant the Blade of Gaius and sent him back in time to learn about the beagle's engine (when did the ship implode? When was it moved?).
Leon, adopted the name Kaine and created a few winged humans with the ability to drain energy. And sent them back in time to watch the Comeback Inn. (In the present, their keep is ruined and his new race scattered, mostly hiding out in northern Darokin.
Leon and Rolim are (IC) unaware of each other's ascension. So while maintaining their mortal identities, Rheddrian hired them to investigate the missing people of Aegos. They signed on with the army of Aegos and began the descent into Hollow World. The session ended at Midpoint Station.
First session as Immortals and the players seem more at ease with the events of the adventure. They're still mostly in the dark, but feel like they are making progress learning things.
While the PCs are working with Rheddrian, Leon is now (somewhat unwillingly) part of one of the factions they are investigating. We are all very interested in how this is going to go.
Final update. I began an Amber DRPG game. The final player from my old campaign decided to join as Lordrolm.
So an Immortal by the name of Lordrolm, barely an initiate, discovered a strange glowing Pattern deep in the dungeons of Castle Amber. He walked this strange maze and found it to be a struggle, even for an Immortal. From the center, however, he discovered the ability to cross the dimensional vortex. Outside the Mystaraverse he finds himself, once again, mortal. But perhaps now he should think of it as Mortal. For he can now walk amongst the planes at will, even strange new ones.
He has spent points on a shadow and defined it as 'Mystara' so the old game will definitely influence the new.