D&D Blog Part 14
Posted on October 18, 2008
Filed Under D&D | 6 Comments
As you recall, we left Will Robinson and The Robot exploring a strange cave.
What happened to parts 1-13? They were destroyed. Even if you didn’t get to read them, I think you’ll be up to speed. It isn’t The Sopranos.
As you recall, we left Tanos the tiefling rogue and Zeuth the Skandik wizard fleeing from the Keep on the Shadowfell after the death of their friend Balthazar the dragonborn warlord.
Now, you should understand that this is not the Keep on the Shadowfell. Oh, no. This is a Keep on the Shadowfell. I was going to run the Keep on the Shadowfell, but one of our players, Aaron, who plays Zeuth, decided to go and read the published adventure. After downloading it, I assume. So I am running my own “Keep on the Shadowfell.” In other words, a dungeon I made.
After seeing Balthazar killed by wights on a dark, storm-shrouded hill atop which sits a ruin, Zeuth and Tanos head back to the great south road, miles away. See that map up there? Each hex is five miles. They get almost all the way back to the unnamed town northeast of the keep. Well, the town has a name, but the heroes don’t know what it is. Anyway. There, on the road, they encounter Kedar, their halfing ranger friend who didn’t play last week because Jared was grounded or something like that.
They also meet Raze, an old friend of Kedar. Raze is an eladrin fighter who wields a great spear. He is first level, so he isn’t too imposing. Oh, what level is everyone else? Tanos and Zeuth are fourth level. Kedar is third. Raze is a brand new character, because Balthazar was killed. He is therefore first level.
By the way, when someone is killed, what level is his new character? The rule I have used for decades now is, “Three levels below the highest character, or two levels below the lowest character, whichever is worse.” So, that makes Raze first level on both counts.
The four great heroes are determined to return to the keep to stop the nefarious priests of Harmakhis from summoning a nightmarish creature from the Shadowfell. Tanos has Balthazar’s warhorse, by the way. He just uses it as a pack mule. Oh, so what’s a Harmakhis? In this campaign world, Harmakhis is an evil god of death. This campaign setting, you see, is the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The one I used to play in the 1970s as a kid. It’s ancient and it kicks ass.
So anyway, off they go.
The heroes trek across the rolling plain and re-enter the dark and mysterious zone that surrounds the great hill on which sits the ruined keep. They know that there are wights ahead. But they are not afraid. After all, they killed one last time before Balthazar fell.
The heroes enter the ruin and there, in the back, hide the three hideous wights. The heroes attack. Wights are deadly, and they sure hit a lot, but there is good teamwork this time. With a judicious use of abilities, the heroes get the better of the wights and destroy them. Wights in Fourth Edition drain healing surges. They don’t drain levels. That’s a relief.
Now, you should know that Tanos’ idea of “teamwork” is very tricky. His teamwork consists a lot of being around the corner or around a wall, and then attacking from around it. At one point, the party was fighting the remaining wights and Tanos was completely on the other side of a solid wall. The better to make a stealth check, you see. No one is seriously hurt, and the wights are defeated.
Better still, in the back of the ruin, besides the stairs down, the party finds a chest. Inside are two suits of armor. One is sylvan leather +1. The other is black iron scale +1. Black iron scale would have helped against wights. Oh, well. They’re destroyed anyway.
The heroes descend down the dark, spiral stairs into the depths below.
But there is a light ahead. There, in the room below, the heroes find two fire beetles and two kobold slingers. Really? What an easy fight! The heroes attack these creatures in earnest. It takes a little longer than it should, but the monsters and kobolds are slain. Except the last kobold. The heroes knock him out, tie him up and ask him what’s going on.
The kobold explains that he will tell the heroes whatever they want if only they will let him go. They agree. He explains that the human priests of Harmakhis offered gold if the kobolds and goblins would guard the ruin. They’re down below, he says, trying to summon some horrible monster.
After a bit, the heroes let him go. He runs away up the stairs. Someone asks what he said, since not everyone speaks Dragon. It is suggested, “Oh, he says he’s going to get reinforcements.” Not seriously, of course.
Also in this room are two more wonderful items. A horned helm, and gauntlets of ogre power. There is some difficulty dividing the items. Eventually, even I can’t resist suggesting that the fighter might perhaps want both? Maybe? Sounds good. I know I probably shouldn’t have said anything, but at the same time, wow, let’s not go on all day about it. DM interference! It worked out.
There is a door leading further in. They open it. Inside is a room with prison cells along the walls. I’m actually using the dungeon tile with the prison cells all along the walls. Man, I do love those dungeon tiles. They look great. So anyway, here there are three goblin warriors.
Raze charges in. Oh, shoot, there is a false-floor pit trap in the middle of the floor. It attacks his reflex and hits. Next, there’s some discussion about whether he walked on those particular squares. Basically, we have one hero saying that he didn’t walk on those particular squares, and one DM and three other heroes saying, yeah you did. So in he goes. Passive perception is no help, either. It’s just a 10-foot drop, so he’s OK.
Wow, does it take our two fourth-level characters, one third-level character and one first-level character 400 years to kill these three goblins. Everyone comments on it. No one is really affected by them in any significant way, but man, they will not die.
Finally, they are killed. Whew. Do they have any treasure? No. Aw, man.
In the back of this room there are two doors. Now, this is very important. There are two doors, nearly side-by-side. They are on the same wall, separated by about 10 feet. Got that?
So somebody says, and this involves Zeuth and Raze, I’ll open the door on the right and you open the door on the left. Yeah, great idea. So I say, one of you will open the door on the right while the other of you opens the door on the left? Yes. Really? Yes. They set up their figures by both doors.
So one of you opens the door on the right while the other opens the door on the left? Yeah.
So I set up both rooms. In the room on the left, a desolate square chamber with four sarcophagi, there are two priests of Harmakhis and two hobgoblin soldiers.
In the room on the right are two temple whips of Harmakhis and two ghouls. Also, a hatch leading down.
Either of these fights by itself is no joke. What can a priest of Harmakhis do? Sacred Flame, Daunting Light, Beacon of Hope, Bless, Divine Fortune and Healing Word. Oh, and a basic attack with a morningstar. And what can a temple whip do? The same stuff. Only they have more hit points.
I’m telling you all this because someone made a religion check and so I told the heroes.
Anyway. Doom. Ghouls are ridiculous. Just the room on the right is a hard fight already.
So most of the heroes go first. Unfortunately for Tanos, he goes just about last. Kedar is at the door with the ghouls. He shoots at them, and then he uses the rest of his turn to back away from the door. Leaving Tanos right there. Not behind any wall.
Zeuth ices the floor. By the hobgoblins. OK, so they’re dealing with that.
Meanwhile, the two ghouls rush forward. It seems that when one of them hits Tanos, he is immobilized. And then this allows the other to use a special attack that stuns. Also, it does insane damage.
The fight is going horribly from the get-go. Priests simply heal wounded hobgoblins. Temple whips blast away with sacred flame. The party backpedals and beats a hasty retreat for the spiral stairs in the other room.
Except Tanos.
He is meat for the ghouls. They immobilize him further. A temple whip tells him, “You will make a fine sacrifice. For Harmakhis.” Hehhehhehhehhahahahahaaaaaaa.
And he is not seen again. The rest of the heroes arrive on the surface, devastated.
Oh, so then Mike, who just lost Tanos, says, I can’t believe you guys opened both doors at once. What the fuck, man. How stupid can you get? Well? You let us! No, I didn’t let you. I would have stopped you if I had been paying attention. You guys frickin’ killed me here. Are you going to be mad forever? No, but I get to be mad now.
That concludes the adventure for today.
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6 Responses to “D&D Blog Part 14”
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Doug you are updating this place again :rage:
You mean all the rage! XD
Doug, I wasn’t the one deciding to open both doors. That was Chris and Aaron. I just wasn’t paying attention.
*is Kedar’s player*
O RLY? OK. :)
How about a cup of GHOULS…..
(My name is Zaeth, so you know)
Are you for real? I’ve been writing “Zeuth” for four months now. XD