The Eye of Traldar and Dymrak Dread Finale
by tjedge1We last left off when the Odd Company was resting down for the night. While they were settling down and seceding who had first watch, a visiting player and newcomer to D&D joined the session and his character, Bam Bam, came sloshing around in the dark in his search to find the Dymrak Dread himself and kill him. He figured this would be the quickest way to becoming a hero. He follows some strange tracks around in the cave he determines is the Dread's. He finds all the goblins dead and headless body of a really large one. Disappointed as he is he continues to explore the cave in hopes of finding something useful. He finds a burnt out tunnel with a giant black widow body all cut up nearby. He gets curious and follows the footprints in the dust down into the tunnel where it splits into several directions of flooded tunnels. He sees a torch light down one and heads that way. He finds the Odd Company making camp on a dry rise of dirt at a small open room with three tunnels exiting from the same wall. They see him and draw their weapons. They question him till they think he doesn't work for the Necromancer chasing them and then Leonine attempts to seduce him. She fails because he's a dwarf and he isn't real attracted to elves. She and him make first watch together anyway as she doesn't like to be turned down and she figures she can convince him to fool around. After they watch for a couple hours they wake Ragnar and let him make watch, while they go to sleep. Leonine makes sure she sleeps right next to him. Ragnar chuckles and tells Bam Bam that she like to have an initiation ceremony with all the new guys in the group and then tells him about her trying to bed with Filsmorph.
As the night drags on Ragnar hears a splashing around in the water in a tunnel nearby. He wakes the others quietly and asks the elves to use their infravision. They can't see any body heat at all, even when the splashes are occurring in their direct line of site. They figure it's undead and Seraphim casts light on her palm and shines it down the tunnel. A ghoul turns to them and begins charging. They cut it down pretty quick and Filsmorph uses her undead lore skill to learn that ghouls can paralyse non elf people with the scratch. Everybody goes back to sleep and Ragnar continues his watch. After about an hour he hears voices from the tunnel they came from. He wakes everybody again and they slowly sneak up to where they can see. The elves see some goblins arguing at the edge of the water. Leonine and Seraphim shoot their bows and the others charge after the arrows. The goblins are surprised and disoriented by the attack and are cut down quickly.
Later Filsmorph has her watch and she hears scraping sounds from where the goblins were killed. She wakes everybody, they check it out and see 2 crab spiders tearing at the goblin bodies. Seraphim casts Firewall and Bam Bam throws his battle axe. The Axe sticks into one spider, Leonine fires an arrow and kills the other spider while they burn. Ragnar jumps in the fire and kills the spider with the axe in it. He inhales some of the fire and burns his lungs. Filsmorph casts Heal to prevent him from dieing and uses her magic to stabilize his lungs. Once again he is severely injured and will need some serious medical attention. At this point he is furious at Seraphim for casting that spell and everybody tells him he is an idiot for jumping in a wall of fire.
They go back to sleep and then when morning comes they head off back to the room with the zombie guards. Seraphim casts firewall on 3 of the zombies and they burn up. Ragnar and Bam Bam hack the other 3 up. They are all disappointed when I tell them there is no experience for hacking up unanimated undead. They go on and open the next door and see two statues that look like giant gargoyles at the end of the hall. They are paranoid at this point and they get the feeling the statues are real gargoyles and they are watching them. They decide to open the door between the gargoyles and keep an eye on them. Inside the next room is a sarcophagus. They open it while Bam Bam watches the gargoyles which never move (because they are just statues, but the players don't realize it yet). They find a well preserved body with a bronze jewelled helm and a bronze axe with runes on it. They pick up the axe and helmet and decide to keep them. Bam Bam takes the axe when suddenly the body climbs out of the sarcophagus, with glowing blue eyes and a low moan. A cold wind rushes into the rooms and Bam Bam checks on the statues, while the others charge the wight. They hack it up despite it having a ton of hit points. It had touched Filsmorph but she succeeded in her save throw so it had no effect. They throw the body back in the sarcophagus and close it up and take the helm and axe anyway.
They leave the cave and head back to Rugalov. The Duke is excited about their success and pays them and lets them go free. He tells them if they with to go to see the Seer in the Lake of Lost Dreams then he will let them ride one of his river boats.
Within a couple of days they get real close when they are approached by someone in a cloak. He tells them he knows what they have and what they have done and they will pay soon. They ask if he is Guchi but he claims to work for the Baron and when he walks away he fades out of existence. They are confused about this and talk it over. When they arrive at the tower where the Seer lives on the lake, they ask the Seer about it and he tells them it was probably Bargle, who is an evil magician that tricked him and made off with the Eye before. He says he has made arrangements for Bargle if he tries again. He tells the characters that he will reward them. Ragnar has his lungs healed and his sword examined. Filsmorph asks for a Bag of Holding, Seraphim asks for a special weapon, Leonine asks for a new long bow and Bam Bam just wants to learn about the bronze battle axe.
The End for now.
Below is the updated characters and I'll try to get the latest session posted soon. Looks like my new system is much faster than RoleMaster's and just as detailed. I also think combat is simpler than D&D. I might have to market a variation of this system with my company some day.
Character Updates
Made another change to the bonuses. They were just too strong so I levelled things a bit. The change was much better and made the game a bit more challenging. This makes the system more reflective to D&D also which I don't mind as I love the stat system in D&D anyway.
1) Name: Seraphim (Female)
Race: Avariel from the Mengul Mountains in Wendar
Class: Battle Mage
Level: 3
Hair/Eyes: Platinum/Violet
Hgt/Wgt: 5'6" / 85 lbs
Age: 200 (appears as 21)
Alignment: Lawful
Personality: Moral, Ethical, Principled
Str: 15 (+1)
Agi: 18 (+3)
Qui: 15 (+1)
Con: 15 (+1)
Dis: 14 (+1)
Pre: 17 (+2)
Mem: 17 (+2)
Res: 14 (+1)
Emp: 14 (+1)
Int: 14 (+1)
Strongest Skills: Flying (wings), Archery, Magic, Quick Draw, Pick Pockets, Pick Locks, Stalking & Hiding, Lores, Fletching, Perception
Favourite Spells: Shockbolt (Magic Missile), Wall of Fire, Waterbolt
Motivation: Wants to travel the world and rid as much evil from it as she can
Special Equipment: Bow that summons food/water, Ring of Invisibility, Elven Cloak
2) Name: Ragnar Maximus (Male)
Race: Human Norseman from Whiteheart in the Soderfjord Jarldoms
Class: Barbarian
Level: 3
Hair/Eyes: Brown/Brown
Hgt/Wgt: 6'6" / 260 lbs
Age: 23 (appears as 26)
Alignment: Neutral
Personality: Impatient, Angry
Str: 17 (+2)
Agi: 14 (+1)
Qui: 17 (+2)
Con: 18 (+3)
Dis: 14 (+1)
Pre: 12 (+0)
Mem: 14 (+1)
Res: 13 (+1)
Emp: 14 (+1)
Int: 14 (+1)
Strongest Skills: Dual Weapon Fighting, Frenzy, 1 Hand & 2 Hand Sword Masteries, Weight Lifting, Boxing, Sprinting
Motivation: Searching for his parent's murderers (Iron Ring Slavers)
Special Equipment: Scimitar +2 (a dormant intelligent sword with numerous powers), Short Sword +1, Iron Ring Records & Documents
3) Name: Leonine (Female)
Race: Shiye Elf from the Shiye Lawr, near Alfeish
Class: Ranger (Shapeshifting Elf Sorority)
Level: 2
Hair/Eyes: Dk Brown/Green
Hgt/Wgt: 5'6" / 110 lbs
Age: 200 (appears as 28)
Alignment: Chaotic
Personality: Arrogant
Str: 14 (+1)
Agi: 16 (+2)
Qui: 15 (+1)
Con: 15 (+1)
Dis: 16 (+2)
Pre: 18 (+3)
Mem: 14 (+1)
Res: 14 (+1)
Emp: 14 (+1)
Int: 16 (+2)
Strongest Skills: Shapeshifting, Archery, Seduction, Perception, Survival, Animal Handling, Climbing, Locate Hidden Things
Motivation: Only cares about her personal pleasure and riches
Special Equipment: A piercing that allows her to shapeshift into a Lion (Her secret society sisters will be wanting it back)
4) Name: Filsmorph (Male)
Race: Morph-Lupin (Mixed breed)
Class: Paladin
Level: 2
Hair/Eyes: Auburn/White
Hgt/Wgt: 5'11" / 195lbs
Age: 28 (appears as 24)
Alignment: Lawful
Personality: Moral & Trustworthy
Str: 16 (+2)
Agi: 14 (+1)
Qui: 14 (+1)
Con: 15 (+1)
Dis: 15 (+1)
Pre: 13 (+1)
Mem: 16 (+2)
Res: 17 (+2)
Emp: 15 (+1)
Int: 17 (+2)
Strongest Skills: Quick Draw, Dual Weapon Fighting, First-Aid, Sword Mastery, Whip Mastery, Perception, Tracking, Rope Mastery, Undead and Religious Lores
Favourite Spells: Repel Undead, Healing, Exorcism, Bless
Motivation: Preserve his religion
Special Equipment: Katana +2, Cat-o-Nine Tails +2, Pendant that casts Shield twice daily (It's in the form of the symbol of his former church, a cross), Leather Breastplate +1
4) Name: Nikolai Monescu (Male) - NPC
Race: Human Traladaran
Class: Magician
Level: 6
Hair/Eyes: White/Brown
Hgt/Wgt: 5'4" / 125lbs
Age: 68 (appears as 52)
Alignment: True Neutral
Personality: Witty, Calm
Str: 10 (+0)
Agi: 10 (+0)
Qui: 10 (+0)
Con: 9 (+0)
Dis: 17 (+2)
Pre: 14 (+1)
Mem: 19 (+3)
Res: 19 (+3)
Emp: 14 (+1)
Int: 16 (+2)
Strongest Skills: Various Lore, Alchemy, Science, Influential Skills, Attunement
Favourite Spells: Sleep, Charm, Detect Magic
Motivation: Freedom of his people from the Thyatian oppressors
Special Equipment: Spellbook
2) Name: Bam Bam (Male)
Race: Dwarf from Greenston in Rockhome
Class: Warrior
Level: 1
Hair/Eyes: Brown/Brown
Hgt/Wgt: 4' / 150 lbs
Age: 27 (appears as 46)
Alignment: Neutral
Personality: Faithful, Polite, Calm
Str: 18 (+3)
Agi: 16 (+2)
Qui: 14 (+1)
Con: 18 (+3)
Dis: 14 (+1)
Pre: 12 (+0)
Mem: 16 (+3)
Res: 13 (+1)
Emp: 14 (+1)
Int: 14 (+1)
Strongest Skills: 2 Hand Axe Mastery, Metal craft, Weight Lifting, 2 Hand Bludgeons, Athletic Games
Motivation: To become a rich and famous hero
Special Equipment: Bronze Battle Axe +1