A
RolePlaying game run by
SteveHaas, set in Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition, which ran on Tuesday evenings in the
PizzaPlace.
Recently concluded. I'm sure someone will get around to explaining exactly what happened at some point, but I really don't feel like trying to write the whole thing out. Needless to say, all major plot threads plus a few minor ones and a couple things that weren't plot threads at all were wrapped up, and the party lives happily ever, except perhaps for the minor detail that the head of the new pantheon is a tad annoyed with them and has warned them to be on their best behavior for a while... and the fact that the major plot enemy got away (and ascended to godhood)... and the whole inspiring-a-world-wide-crisis-of-religion... but other than that things worked out okay.
The complete story of the Enorethian Chronicles (which is still Under Construction) can be found at EnorethianChroniclesSummary.
Characters include-
- Lenari - played by DanCicio, a young rogue tortured by her past, and determined to make her own way, even if it means facing down the creepy stalker sparrows. Eventually faced down the aformentioned stalker sparrow and vanquished the demon from her past.
- Fylam - ClayHambrick - a druid/bard. He's about as effective as you'd expect.
- Delvan - PomonaSteve, aka "Twitchy", an overly paranoid mage who was highly traumatized by the death of his previous party in the quest for an Armageddon Clock that apparently doesn't exist. Has since become a little less paranoid, but is currently a stone statue on another plane of existence, so who can tell how long he'll last. At least he'll generate plot for another week or two. We retrieved the statue. Because we're nice people, really. It just doesn't show 99.98% of the time. Though it would be nice if certain individuals didn't push their luck, or we might regret having done so . . . is that alignment really Chaotic-Neutral? Since retrieved, unstoned, and returning to life as usual. Mellowed somewhat with age, though still managed to kill half the party be accident (see below).
- Seirun - JeffBrenion's new character, a monk who is continually impressed by who the party knows and favors they can call in. "Who _are_ you guys?"
- Rolan - EvilSouthie, having deified in the time off, has moved into the party's demi-plane and set up residence. Whether he'll end up doing anything other than hanging around is watching has been left unspecified.
- Cynthia - NPC wizard. Spends a lot of time rolling her eyes and being smug and/or sarcastic. Mostly exists to tell the party when their being really stupid, and suggest not-quite-so-stupid alternatives. Chips in on combat from time to time as well.
Fallen comrades-
- Rolan - played by EvilSouthie, felled in an incredible display of UnbelievableLuck (and a touch of determined effort). "I think my character's going to die this campaign. Not that I'm trying, I just think he will." Rolan jumps out of the back of the caravan upon waking up and seeing an ogre attacking Fylam, missing wildly. Fylam then immediately runs away, so the ogre turns, and... "That's going to be a critical hit." (SteveHaas blinks at the dice, rolls some more) "Aaaaand, I'm dead." Had a much more impressive funeral than he really deserved. Recently deified by Aegis. "The Parable of Rolan" is going to be required reading in this campaign world some day, just you wait.
- It should be pointed out that every time EvilSouthie falls asleep during campaign, he wakes up just in time for either himself or his highest level follower to die. If you count the fact that he was trying to take a nap on 4-29, he's three for three.
- Kenneth Janle- WillShipley, a young mage formerly apprenticed to Magnus Highcastle (see below), devoting much of his recent time to surpassing the limitations placed on him and finding the true power of wizardry. Equal parts idealist, optimist, braggart, brat, coward, and cruise missle. Utterly devastated by an undead vampire spellcaster, Kenny's soul has decided to call it quits in favor of higher stakes--he's holding out for godhood. My god!
- Sean Albrook - ChrisWottawa - knight and protector of the Order of Rolan. He was a confused young man, trying to make his way in the world, looking for a cause, and searching for a reason to go on existing. Then one fateful day he stumbled upon a certain memorial... And fell in the grand tradition of Rolan- the dinner before campaign, Chris said, "You know, I think I'm going to die tonight. Not that I'm going to try to or anything, but it'd be a nice note to go out on." Same vampire spellcaster that hit Kenneth got Sean as well. The rest is history. (On an interesting note, this got to happen during yet another campaign Southie arrived at and slept through, waking up just before the massive death)
- Funny how that works out; I had just been considering asking Steve to kill Kenny during the session, with my blessing. This game has had an odd flow of fortune . . .
Comrades who have just gotten bored and left-
- Magnus Highcastle - CalPierog, aka "jackass", aka "plagiarist extraordinaire", aka "old doddering fool", a mage. Cal decided his work was more important than the campaign, so the fate of Magnus is currently undecided (with the possibility that Blarg has killed him since they've both left the campaign).
- Blarg - played by EvilSouthie, a barbarian with little intelligence who had an intense dislike of magic. Was continually disgusted with over half the party for running away during fights or blasting through traps with magic instead of good old-fashioned sense and equipment (and an ungodly number of hitpoints). Had a few... issues with the rest of the party being largely mages, and eventually talked himself into leaving. Managed to not kill anybody on the way out, too, amazingly enough. Truamatized Kenny repeatedly, though.
- Katsukawa - played by JeffBrenion, a samurai devoted to his honor, to the extent of cutting his own hand so his swords would not be sheathed without drawing blood. Has since left the party to do "his own thing." (Where "his own thing" is defined as maintaining the embassy between Enoreth and the nation of his birth . . . that's right, get your mind out of the gutter.)
- Aegis - played by PomonaSteve (well, when he shows up), a cleric devoted to making combat as bloodless as possible. Left the party during one of the years off to devote his time to building a temple devoted to his god (and Rolan, who may yet develop (is in the proces off developing) his own sect and rise to godhood).
- Abharra - ChrisWottawa - a necromancer/shadow adept. She casts invisibility a lot. ''Ahem. She was concerned for her own survival, and was quite inneffective at killing things (as you all noticed and mentioned over and over again). Anyway, I'll put a better description of Abharra and her motives when I have the time.
- Okay -- I found time. She was a curious young orphan, but had a comfortable childhood working in a monestary of Tulthos. Eventually her curiosity drove her to ask questions of the higher-ups that they really didn't like answering; questions like: Where does magic come from? What happens to a person when they die? Etc, etc. Usually she was either brushed aside, or given a token response that didn't satisfy her. Being a resourceful young girl (when it didn't come to rolling damage dice), she took it upon herself to answer her own questions. The higher-ups grew worried and told her to stop, and because they were just getting damn annoying, she started studying secretly. As time went on, she became more and more cynical regarding the outside world, and would retreat more and more to her reading. To make a long story short, she was caught by an ambitious and competitive young brown-noser who threatened to squeal. There was a minor incident, and then she decided it would be in her best interest to leave monestary to study on her own. So she pretty much did things because she was curious as to how they would affect the party and whether they would work or not. She held little regard for human life unless it was her own.
- unnamed - StephGrush, a druid/barbarian that spends much of his time as a wolf. Or possibly a wolf who spends little of his time as a human. Can I get my type changed to "wolf" yet? Apparently, the wolf wandered off one day . . .
- Allen - JoshMiddendorf - a psionicist. Has cast more attack spells on party members than opposition. Hasn't succeeded on any against the party, though. After spending most of his time wandering around with a glazed look in his eyes, Allen gently faded away. Who knows? Maybe he's still watching. Declared to have died in the WailOfTheBanshee? that got most of the rest of the party. I think I got married -JoshMiddendorf
- Zane - one of EvilSouthie's alternate personas, a fighter who knows his stuff fairly well- he's made suggestions to the mages as to spells to use, goes sneaking around with the rogue occasionally, and every once in a while just does a whole bunch of damage. Uses a gyrspike, much to the confusion of the rest of the group. Has since sought his own fortunes elsewhere. His fortunes run remarkably parallel to a certain epic druid these days...
PomonaSteve shows his ChaoticNeutral? (with evil) tendencies by killing half the party.
Wait, what?
DM CAM:
Flashback: The party is fighting an undead
Um... great update you have here, PSteve. Allow me to help you out:
Flashback: The party is fighting a powerful necromancer, who also happens to be a vampire. Three rounds into the fight (after two spell attempts that got counterspelled) the antagonist gets off a maximized Horrid Wilting. 200 damage, Fort Save DC 38 for half.
Kenny, Sean, Fylam, and Twitchy die. Twitchy is whisked away by a contingency, but it's post mortem, so it does little but make him harder to resurrect (because the body needs to be found first). Cynthia (the NPC wizard, by which I mean mostly repository of useful information for the party) also disappears in an unspecified fashion. Only Lenari and Seirun survive. Seirun polishes off the vampire the next round, whereupon it turns gaseous before crumbling into dust the next round.
Seirun and Lenari depart, bearing loot and corpses, via the astral plane and call in favors from epic NPCs, running across Katsukawa in the process. Cynthia shows up at some point and provides teleportation magic to reunite the party in a place where people can be resurrected. People are resurrected. Cynthia explains that she escaped via Elminster's Evasion, a stompy contingency-type spell for escaping crunches.
Twitchy decides that this sounds like a useful spell, and thus casts it on himself. One triggering condition is set to be "if I am forced to save versus death".
The party reunites and divvies up the loot. During this, the vampire's spirit, which was transfered to one of her magical items through a Magic Jar-type effect, possesses Twitchy, and attempts to masquerade as him until she can exact suitable revenge upon the party.
There is then a dead month where half the party goes off and takes the trials of epicness, thus becoming 21st level (epic) characters. Our vampire friend uses this time to research the person she now is.
The party, reunited (less two players who opted to remain in the grave) return to the scene of the crime to deal with a certain Armageddon Clock in that area.
Having found said clock, the party sets about destroying it. Meanwhile, an (illusory) wizard (and recurring antagonist, though the party didn't know that at the time), starts mocking them and teleports in a bunch of high-level fighters to deal with the party.
Twitchy runs up, and casts Wail of the Banshee; PomonaSteve had forgotten that, due to the change of ownership, he no longer had mastery of shaping and thus could not avoid targeting fellow party members like he normally could; he then realizes that he (she?) doesn't actually care.
The fighters keel over dead--as do Fylam and Seirun. The wizard mocks. Twitchy responds flippantly that two of the party and four bad guys works in his favor.
Lenari decides that enough is enough, poisons her rapier, walks up, and sneak attacks him, dealing 50 damage.
. . . exactly enough to force a save vs. death from massive damage. Remember that Elminster's Evasion? Allow me to quote a line from the spell description:
"The spell pulls your mind, body, and soul if they have been seperated. For example, if your soul is trapped in
a Magic Jar when the evasion is triggered, your soul returns to your body. (This breaks the Magic Jar spell.)"
Twitchy thus arrives at his tower, back in control of himself, with a serious wound in his back, poisoned, with no clue what happened (as the item he was trapped in spent the last month in a portable hole). At this point, the local friendly PC deity shows up and tells him he has some explaining to do, and explains to the party that they shouldn't kill him on sight. Twitchy then does said explaining, manages to convince the (remaining) party not to kill him, and thanks Lenari for trying to.
The DM spends the next large amount of time being amused.
"Chrissie wear mithril dress to prom." - EvilSouthie (when discussing Blarg's family's backstory)
"I never metal girl I didn't like?" - WillShipley
"What does the Jewel of Sovereignty do?" "Write better speeches?" - EvilSouthie's response to SteveHaas having fun with the king's speech
"So we need to find this jewel... are you looking for that on google?" - DanCicio, to CalPierog (he was, and found it, too)
- Context, please?
- The party was heading out on a quest to find the Jewel of Sovereignty, so Cal--who always brings his laptop to campaign--searched Google for "Jewel of Sovereignty". He got a couple of matches.--DanCicio
"Blarg looks at you like you're stupid. And considering Blarg, that's saying something." - EvilSouthie, often
"Hey, Steve, does your world have eBay?" -- AnonymousCoward
"Let me think about that for a moment; NO!" -- SteveHaas
Kenny (waking from a stone curse): "Was . . . was that Bob*, in the corridor?"
Zane: "He used to be Bob."
Kenny: "Well, what is he now?"
Zane (pointing to portable hole): "Kibble."
* "Bob" was a manipulative wizard who screwed the party out of their rightful loot over a year ago; a man more
deserving of the kibble treatment has never been found.
Seirun: I open the door.
DM: You are staring, face to face, with a ferocious black dragon. It sits upon a gigantic mound of treasure, its
mouth agape; surely the last sight of many a foolish band of adventurers. Initiative? Ok, you're up.
Seirun: I use my gem of True Seeing. Is it an illusion?
DM: Nope. It's a dragon, all right.
Seirun: . . . I close the door.
PomonaSteve: "He's an illusion."
SteveHaas (as NPC): "Oh, you didn't expect me to show up in person, did you? There's one of me, and five of you!"
EvilSouthie: "Six."
SteveHaas: *blink* "You brought a *GOD* with you??"
EvilSouthie: "I'm only watching!"
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