Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 9

This months session saw us unfortunately down to only three players at Tabletop Tyrants due to circumstances beyond our control, but rather than plunge back into the main plot I had an idea for a little side quest for those that  would be attending using a slightly modified version of the “Kobold Hall” introductory adventure included in the original 4e DMG. As it turned out, what could have been a quick and simple jaunt has led to, well, you’ll see…

While their companions discuss the ramifications of Sister Linora’s involvement with the cult of Orcus and the deaths of both herself and the ranger Ninaran with Lord Padraig, Nadaar, Korrin and Gelth decide to visit the local traders and replenish some of their supplies.

As they peruse the wares of one of the few market stalls the two dragonborn notice a figure in the crowd, another dragonborn with a cloak pulled close around them but a rather disturbing clasp on display – the symbol of Tiamat. Being the most adept at remaining unseen Gelth follows the figure while leaving a trail for his companions to follow at a distance.

The cloaked figure approaches one of the tenements, knocks, and enters once the door is answered. Nadaar believes he heard the knock distinctly but Gelth advises him that he is incorrect. Nadaar crafts a crude symbol of Tiamat while Korrin begrudgingly covers her armour and symbol of Bahamut, before the trio approach the door and knock as Gelth instructed. A swarthy looking human man answers the door and upon seeing the symbol invites them in, telling them to go through to the back with the others.

In the tenements single room stand the cloaked dragonborn, a tall bulky human in armour with a vicious scar across his throat, the man who let them in and another pair of scruffy looking human peasants that the heroes partially recognise as farm hands from the outlying lands.

Nadaar tries to strike up a conversation with the dragonborn but gains little more than she is a black scaled dragonborn with a strange red stripe on her scales running from her left brow back to her horn. Meanwhile Gelth attempted to converse with the human warrior but his chatter merely received nods and grunts leading the monk to believe the tall man was mute.

Apparently satisfied that no-one else was coming their host and the peasants rolled back the tatty carpet to reveal a trapdoor opening onto a rough tunnel and wooden ladder. Everyone but the host descended (the host closing but lock locking the trapdoor behind them) and followed the rough tunnel to a chamber laid out with simple wooden benches and box to act as a speaker’s platform.

The heroes took seats with the peasants while the human warrior stood at the side and the dragonborn addressed them. “With the recent upheavals in this region, the cult is taking advantage of the powers that be’s focus being on other matters to further our own interests. However several of our kobold brethren have been subverted by the  forces forking for the Cult of Orcus, and another small group guarding something precious to our Dark Queen need bringing back into line.”

Nadaar quickly volunteered himself and his companions for the task and was told to seek the kobolds within the ruins of a keep beside the Kings Road on the way to Fallcrest. The dragonborn continued with several more minutes of rhetoric about the glories of the Dark Queen before closing the meeting and everyone began to file out. It was then that Korrin’s cloak slipped open and revealed her symbol of Bahamut and all hell broke loose.

As the guard charged across the room after Korrin, Gelth dove over the bench at the dragonborn. Nadaar however chose to strike at Korrin with his elemental magic. It took a few minutes for Gelth to realise that Nadaar wasnt putting full effort into his bolts though and eventually Korrin realised too and pretended to fall unconscious to the floor as everyone surrounded her. Gelth managed to prevent the guard from finishing the fallen paladin off by intimidating him and Nadaar’s silver tongue convinced the dragonborn that he would deal with the paladin himself later, in the name of the Dark Queen.

Back in their room at the Inn, as Nadaar apologised to Korrin and explained his actions she accepted his apology – with a backhanded slap across his face (rolling a crit), and considered the matter closed. Accepting his punishment the elementalist left the paladin and monk to recuperate while he went to the stables and hired three horses for the few days he expected it would take to travel to the ruins and back, arranging to leave at first light.

The journey to the ruins looked to be uneventful until about an hour away from their destination the heroes came upon a lone orc standing in the road holding a pair of hand axes. Gelth spurred his mount forward and at the last-minute launched himself from the saddle and struck the orc a telling blow, the bestial humanoid tried to retaliate but succumbed to the attack and fell to the ground. Unfortunately he wasnt alone, and while two more similar orcs appeared from cover beside the road, a third wielding a vicious looking battle-axe charged in whirling mass between Nadaar and Korrin’s mounts, attacking mount and rider alike. Despite the brutality of the ambush the orcs were quickly despatched by the adventurers. Going through the orcs belongings they discovered that their previous ambushes had paid well and had even produced some Everlasting Rations, which Korrin quickly put into her backpack before they continued on their way.

The ruins of the small keep lay on a slight rise beside the road (to call it a hill would be too generous) and the heroes left their mounts sheltered in a nearby copse of trees before approaching on foot. There was sign that numerous kobolds had passed this way but some time ago. In the ruins they found a poorly hidden stairway to the remaining ruins of the keeps dungeon, partly covered by a scrubby brush. Fully aware of kobolds fondness for traps they searched carefully and realised the brush was attached to a crude spear trap on the stairs below and bypassed it safely before descending.

Spotting a kobold slinger Gelth charged into the chamber and vaulted over the trench of green goo while Nadaar advanced and conjured magical flames upon the kobolds beyond the portcullis, quickly regretting it as one of the small reptilian warriors charged through the bars and forced the elementalist backwards into the sticky muck of the trench. He was quickly joined by one of the kobolds as Gelth fought the little beasts but Korrin struggled to engage them thanks to one of the sling wielding kobolds holding her in place with his “snot pots”.  Eventually though the heroes overcame the kobold guards and Gelth lifted the portcullis so that Nadaar could secure it with the lever beyond.

Descending to the next chamber revealed it to be a crypt but at the sight of a temple of Tiamat (even a shoddy makeshift one) at the far side, angered Korrin and she strode forward, until she heard the stone under her foot click ominously. The visor of the amour in the alcove beside her lifted and a sticky coated dart fired out and struck her, preventing her from moving her legs as its toxin flowed through her system.

Nadaar made his way slowly checking each step as he went to move to his companion and Gelth scuttled into a hidden position behind one of the sarcophagi.

As the kobolds moved forward a third appeared from stairway, but this one wore armour and had a shield that appeared to made from a single large scale. Gelth darted from his hiding place to attack one of the kobolds, deftly dodging more of the poisoned darts.

Nadaar conjured a field of flames which burnt one of the kobolds but as the flames licked at the armoured warrior his shield glowed white and extinguished the fires. Wary of the darts the heroes were still able to engage and deal with the kobolds with relative ease before turning their attention to the dart-spitting suits of armour. Nadaar and Gelth battered them until they were no longer functional and the heroes examined the altar of Tiamat. Between two grubby candles (the heroes daren’t think where the wax had come from) was a hemp bag stained with blood that had leaked out onto the makeshift altar. Looking in the bag they found it contained a reasonably fresh heart, but couldn’t identify what it had belonged to.

Descending the stairs the air temperature began to drop rapidly and the chamber at the bottom was cold and had a patch of dark ice on the floor between its two main rocky supports.

“Who disturbs Szathraxx?” boomed a voice from the rear of the chamber in draconic. The heroes quickly realised they were in the presence of a white dragon, though only a young specimen it still towered over them.

Nadaar tried to convince the beast that they had brought it a tribute by holding out the heart they had taken from the altar above, but as the majestic beast noticed Korrin’s holy symbol it flew into a rage and attacked the heroes with claws, teeth and icy breath. The dragons rage was focused upon the paladin and she was soon lying helpless on the cavern floor, though the great white reptile too was heavily wounded. As its rage played out and it realised how much the heroes had hurt it, Szathraxx was prepared to listen as Nadaar called for mercy and offered a “tribute befitting your majesty”. The dragon agreed that in exchange for a considerable sum of gold and gems he would let the heroes leave but not before eliciting an oath of fealty from Nadaar. As the dragonborn swore to the dragons service the mighty beast placed its talon upon his scarlet scaled forehead. Nadaar felt as if his head was being frozen from the inside out until the dragon withdrew to count his coins, leaving the scales where he had touched the dragonborn bleached an icy white.

Nadaar and Gelth, both heavily wounded themselves, gathered up their fallen comrade and returned to their horses. Tying Korrin in place on her mount, they galloped back to the safety of Winterhaven. While Gelth tended to Korrin’s wounds, Nadaar returned their horses and sought out the female dragonborn to give her the kobolds shield and tell her about the dragon. He rejoined his companions later that evening.

Time had beaten us at this point and so we called it there and made arrangements for our next session (March 8th down at Tyrants as usual).

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 8

Resting in the Goblin chief’s hidden storeroom the heroes sleep was once again plagued with a shared dream of undead closing upon the walls of Winterhaven beneath a darkened sky. Upon awakening they decided to head back to town to see if the dreams held any truth.

As Ninaran had already taken their horses back to Winterhaven they had to trek on foot through wilderness, relying upon Bron’s skills to guide them. Returning to the surface they realised that it was still the very early hours of the morning and dawn had not yet arrived, but thankfully Korrin’s sunblade once again lit their way.

A few hours into their journey and still in the woods, they hear the approach of booted feet and guttural voices. Shabba and Nadaar moved away from the main party so as to get advantageous firing positions, while Bron, Rocky and Korrin held their positions and awaited the approaching group.

They didn’t have to wait long as a group of armoured hobgoblins approached, dragging a hooded prisoner with his hands bound. A brief conversation revealed they were part of the Bloodreavers and when Rocky told them they weren’t welcome in Lord Padraig’s lands to which the hobgoblins leader laughed and replied that the people of Winterhaven would soon share the party’s fate and ordered his men to attack.

The hobgoblin archers had noticed Nadaar skulking in the trees and opened fire upon him, almost taking him down in the initial volley. Shabba used the trees for cover and begin sniping shots at the archers, quickly reducing them to corpses. Nadaar hurled a fiery blast into the midst of their foes, careful to not catch the prisoner in its flames.

Bron cautiously moved forward so that he could send healing energies to Nadaar while still being close enough to blast the hobgoblin leader with righteous fury. Rocky charged forward his mighty maul eager to taste his foes blood, smashing into the armoured guards and barging through to worry the robed leader too. Korrin followed her goliath companion, reaching the hobgoblins and belching forth her dragonbreath.

The prisoner took the opportunity to slip his bonds and smashed his fist into the nearest of his captors before they could respond.

The hobgoblins attempted to form a cohesive defence using their militaristic fighting style but the heroes quickly overcame them, and soon the woodland floor was littered with goblinoid bodies. The prisoner was revealed to be a Gith monk named Gelth who had been travelling the region “to find his centre”. Hearing of the heroes mission he eagerly offered to join them and assist where he could.

Taking enough time to deal with the minor wounds they had suffered (well, most of them), they were soon back on the path to Winterhaven. They were a getting a little concerned when the sky didn’t begin to lighten as expected as dawn approached.

Reaching the north edge of Winterhaven they approached the cemetery, its rickety fence barely remaining standing but still showing the boundary of the burial site. The heroes could see Sister Lenora standing in a glowing circle near the centre of the graveyard but of more concern were the shambling, rotten bodies that had clawed their way out of their graves and small group of skeletons holding bony bows.

As the heroes enter the cemetery to engage the undead one of the crypt doors opens, revealing their elf guide Ninaran, who takes aim with her bow and shoots at Sister Lenora!

Shocked that the elf would attack the priestess, Shabba takes a position behind a fallen statue and takes his own shot, knocking the traitorous elf to the ground where it stays, unmoving.

Rocky leaps the meagre fence and charges into a group of the zombies but the creatures prove more resilient than expected.

The skeleton archers pass by the priestess, apparently kept at bay by her circle and instead target Shabba and Bron with their arrows as the zombies nearest try to grasp closest heroes. Sister Lenora casts a spell, sending wisps of black smoke at the nearest skeleton but it doesn’t seem to have any effect.

The undead around the gates seem to be drawn to Bron and Korrin, possibly sensing their ties to goodly gods and focusing their attacks upon them.

Shabba moves between cover and continues to harass the skeletons, proving to be the better archer and taking them down.

Rocky gradually whittled his foes down despite their grasping claws and raining blows.

As the last of the undead falls Sister Lenora comes towards the heroes a smile upon her face – and then lances a bolt of necrotic energy at Bron, dropping the cleric unconscious to the floor.

The heroes shock is only momentary, before rushing her and burying her under a flurry of blows. As Korrin lay hands on Bron, sending the blessing of Bahamut into the priest, the heroes find a note on Sister Lenora.

“‘Nora, I received your report on the adventurers. Next time you see them, put an end to their meddling. Mix the blood of ten people with the elixir my messenger brings. Then trace the following pattern on the ground of a graveyard and pour the liquid into the lines. That should supply you with a force to thwart them.
I’m very close to completion; see that I’m not interrupted. As you already know, if you do come to the second level of the keep, the pass phrase is “From the ground, some magic was found.”
—Kalarel.”

They realised that perhaps their suspicions of Ninaran as the mysterious “N” may have been misplaced, and Shabba felt a pang of remorse having slain the archer. They gathered both bodies and returned them to Winterhaven to inform Lord Padraig. He was appalled to hear what had happened but confirmed that since the heroes had left for the keep Sister Lenora had been acting strangely. The heroes asked permission to search the temple of Avandra for any clues as to why she would have done so and he solemnly agreed.

At first glance nothing seemed untoward until Shabba noticed behind the altar that the stone was out of place. Rocky put his shoulder to it with a mighty shove and heard a distinct click – he immediately froze, fully aware that he may have just triggered some sort of trap, but Shabba carefully checked and much to Rocky’s relief gave the all clear. Continuing to clear the stone revealed a compartment within the altar, the click had been caused by the stone breaking a glass phial (its remaining liquid not leaving enough to identify its contents), there was also a bone scroll case that looked to have been already opened.

Shabba and Nadaar examined it carefully but could discern no trap, though Nadaar said that there was some residual magical energy. Carefully removing the cap revealed a scroll inside which had held a magical trap, one which would have ensnared the readers will. The heroes deduced that this must have been how Sister Lenora had been affected and upon returning to Lord Padraig, informed him of their suspicions.

Saddened by the corruption and loss of the priestess the heroes retired to Wrafton’s Inn to rest up in preparation of returning to the Keep and ending Kalarel and his plans.

We left it there and made plans for our next session (February 8th, at Tabletop Tyrants as usual). Another fun-filled session under their belts. It was great to be joined by Rachel’s brother Edward who will hopefully be staying with us as his study allows.

One thing we noticed today too was that with the hobgoblin encounter I used y dry-wipe mat but the addition of actual tree models really brought the battle to life, aside from the MtG players we were the only ones at the store so it was great to be able to borrow the scenery.

During my preparations for this session I had calculated the amount of xp available in the rest of the adventure as planned and had worked out that the party would be getting half way to 5th level, however I hadn’t included the hobgoblin patrol or the cemetery encounters in that. Since then I have, and this adds almost 2,000 more xp to that available, so the pc’s will be even closer to 5th  – not bad considering the original adventure is meant to take players up to 3rd level.

I’m definitely looking forward to the heroes descending to the lower levels in the coming sessions.

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 7

Having taken a several serious wounds in their last few battles, the heroes decided to retire to the goblin war chief’s chamber to rest and recover with Shabba rigging a trip wire at the entryways as an alarm system. Thankfully their rest was less disturbed than their dreams as they all again shared a dream of Sister Linora of Winterhavens temple to Avandra. The young priestess was in one of the mausoleums in the towns graveyard and looked to about to be swarmed by grasping undead. Just as the first clammy claw struck, the priestess screamed and the heroes awoke.

The dreams were unsettling but the heroes were still determined to plumb the depths of the Keep rather than return to Winterhaven. They returned to the head of the rough stairs they had discovered close to the goblins excavation site and Shabba stealthily explored the darkened chamber below. He was greeted with several loud squeaks and many pairs of beady red eyes peered at him. He quickly  let his colleagues take point as a multitude of filthy, furry bodied vermin swarmed towards them.

Thanks to the glow from Korrin’s Sunblade illuminated more of the chamber as she entered and the heroes could see a slowly approaching amorphous mass of sickly yellow-grey mucus moving towards them. Nadaar was able to dispose of many of the rats with his fiery magic, though not before he, Rocky and Shabba had all been bitten by the critters, the wounds showing signs of infection from the rodents filth-laden jaws. Once the blob got closer the heroes were able to engage it but to their horror as they pounded upon it, it split in two! Although they were able to form pseudopods and strike at the heroes they didn’t last long against their combined assault.

Once all their enemies were defeated the heroes explored the chamber further, discovering a secret door theat hid a chamber laden with supplies. As everyone replenished their adventurers packs Bron found a barrel of ale and having filled his waterskin, and then drank a few pints for good measure. Emboldened by the ale, Bron investigated a large set of bronze doors which were covered in a layer of fungal growth. Written in goblin in the fungus were the words “Stay out. Really!” before his companions could stop him Bron kicked the doors open causing the fungus to explode in a cloud of spores before descending the stairs they revealed.

The room beyond was damp and the stairs led to a narrow ledge adjacent to a pool of stagnant, brackish water. A small island stood in the center of the pool and there seemed to be a pile of bones, coins and other assorted items strewn upon it. As the heroes watched the water’s surface rippled as if something moved beneath it, and then exploded in a fountain of foul-smelling froth as a blue slime burst forth, forming amorphous appendages. A wave of stench assaulted the senses of the closest heroes leaving Rocky feeling nauseated but not preventing him charging to the pool side and striking with his mighty maul. Korrin soon joined her companion while the rest of the party used ranged attacks.  As the last blow took the blobs life it lost cohesion and spread across the water’s surface in a thick oily coating. Now that it was safe to do so Shabba sprinted into the room and leapt onto the island to uncover the treasures left by the slimes previous victims. The party recovered a potion of healing, a shield of protection and an ivory scroll tube sealed with wax. After examining it Shabba noticed that it had been trapped and skilfully removed the seal without triggering it.  Inside were three sheets of vellum, the first being a map of the keep and its environs, the second was written in goblin which Bron deciphered as “Remember, don’t wet the nodule—unless Kalarel is not receptive to the offer. Then, wet it only from a distance, and then, turn and run. Water will bring the creature out of its dormancy, and it will consume anything it can reach.”, the heroes assumed this referred to awakening the slime that had protected this chamber, the third sheet was written by the same hand but in common, read “Greetings, Kalarel. I have recently learned of your activity in the area and have an offer for you. During your time in this region, if you should capture any humanoids, we are eager to buy them. We have duergar allies in Thunderspire in need of slave stock. If you are interested, send an envoy back to me. My messengers will show the way.” It is signed: “Chief Krand of the Bloodreavers.”. Shabba tried to leap back to shore but having less room to run up he didn’t reach safety and splashed noisily into the stinking, filth covered water. His allies helped him out but couldn’t hide their grins at his misfortune.

At the far side of the rats chamber a corridor led south. Still under the effects of the alcohol Bron boldly strode forward, straight through a concealed pit cover. His fall was cushioned by the body of a goblin that seemed to have died in a fight with a strange-looking creature. Part insect, part reptile, silvery chitinous plates covered its body and short tail, and had four limbs that ended in scythe-like claws. The creature had two smaller limbs, with finer digits close to the body. The head was vaguely reptilian, and the lower jaw a toothed plate flanked by serrated mandibles. Thankfully the creature was only the size of a cat and quite dead. After helping Bron out of the pit they proceeded more cautiously, discovering another concealed pit in the chamber beyond and several small tunnels leading into it.

A horde of the creatures poured out of the tunnels, a mass of gnashing teeth and claws with a trio of larger, dog sized creatures too. Nadaar’s fiery spells once again proved useful but appeared to aggravate the largest of the creatures which proceeded to lauch a volley of tail spikes at the elementalist and Shabba who stood beside him. The dragonborn managed to avoid being hit but the rogue was struck by the sharp spines and realised they had a mild poison within them. Rocky moved to block the tunnel entrance and prevent the large creature coming out, and Nadaar attempted to launch an elemental bolt at the beast, unfortunately striking his goliath companion by mistake. Unfortunately this triggered Rocky’s defensive ability (persistent harrier) and hulking warrior was teleported beside the foe that had struck him, before he realised it had been Nadaar his maul had smashed into the dragonborn with a sickening crunch.

Despite the mishap the heroes were victorious and followed the larger tunnel around to the chamber the creatures had been nesting in. Shabba discovered another pair of hidden pits (the second one by falling into it) before they found the pile of remains of their previous victims in the corner. As they searched through them they uncovered the emaciated body of a goblin but it had unusual lumps in its chest cavity. Subtlety went out the window as Rocky tore the corpse’s chest open with his bare hands, spilling a half-dozen gooey egg-like sacks onto the chamber floor. Nudging them into one of the open pits Nadaar then summoned elemental flames to destroy them. The heroes gathered the loot, counting the gold and silver coins up along with the pair of potions of healing. There was also a small chest which Shabba examined and determined that it was magically trapped. Passing it to Nadaar, the dragonborn was able to discover that a glyph of warding had been placed upon the chest but he believed he could disarm it. The rest of the party retreated to a safe distance, just in case, as Nadaar tried to disable the glyph. His first attempt failed but hadn’t triggered the glyph, sure that he had worked out where he went wrong he tried again – with disastrous results! The chest exploded in his hands, showering him with shards of the chest as its former contents dropped charred beyond use to the floor. After making sure Nadaar was ok the party looked at what was left, determining that they had been a pair of gem stones, but now nothing more than charred carbon.

The heroes retreated to the war chief’s safe room to lick their wounds and plan their next move. Should they act upon the dreams they had been having and head back to Winterhaven or descend into the lower levels of the Keep and whatever horrors lay below?

Photos from the session.

Another great session, with the players exploring the final part of the Keep’s first dungeon level. I know 4e doesn’t have any critical fumble rules but when Liam’s elementalist rolled a 1 to shoot past Matt’s goliath I had him roll to hit again with Matt as the target this time, I also allowed Matt to make a save for half damage as Liam specified that he was shouting a warning “Oh shit, look out Rocky!”. We almost had a repeat straight after as Rhys’s Shabba rolled a 1 on a bow shot again past Matt, but his second roll was also a 1 so I said he’d managed to unstring his bow.

As we packed our things away we discussed possible dates for our next session, agreeing on Jan 11th.  David (Bron) also asked with the mention of Thunderspire in the messages they had found, was I planning on running that following this adventure. Well yes I am (as long as the players are willing to put up with my lunacy) though I’m planning on substituting “Madness at Gardmore Abbey” in place of “Pyramid of Shadows” as I prefer the former. So plans are afoot for a good long-lasting campaign.

I’d like to take this opportunity to once again wish my players and all of you readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 6

Staying in Sir Keegan’s tomb for safety our heroes rest up, though their dreams are troubled with scenes of a rolling black cloud encroaching on Winterhaven with shambling figures moving within it. Just a dream or a portent of things to come? Shaking off the sense of foreboding as they awake they take stock from the crude map they had made for themselves so far, deciding to return to the chamber near to the entrance where they had found three unopened doors.

Shabba listened intently to the western most door but heard nothing within, a quick check of the door revealed it was untrapped and unlocked so the party entered, finding the chamber being used for stored foodstuffs. A brief search and resupply of their rations and it was on to the northern door. Shabba listened again and this time heard goblin voices within. The heroes burst in to find several goblins led by a hobgoblin armed with a red hot poker. The fight was a little awkward as Nadar decided to block the doorway up, preventing some of his allies getting into the fray initially. The poorly armed and armoured goblinoids soon fell to the heroes prowess and they also found a foul and dirty goblin in one of the cells. Apparently he had displeased their warchief and so was being punished. They tried to gather an idea of the numbers of goblins remaining with the chief but the filthy little creature had trouble counting past four “one, two, three…….erm…..lots”! They threw him the keys to free himself after securing his promise to leave. They then turned their attention to the double-doors leding east which they presumed led to the warchief’s lair. As they performed their now standard listening and searching upon the door, Rocky noticed that the goblin prisoner had freed himself and was in the process of gleefully inserting every poker he could find into every orifice of the hobgoblins corpse.

Hearing nothing near the doors they carefully entered finding a short, dark corridor leading to a larger chamber. As Shabba scouted forward he heard a small group of goblins ahead. Taking the lead Nadar unleashed his pyromania once again, which had the added effect of lighting the area better and burnig away the ragged curtain blocking the view further up the corridor, as Rocky charged into the room hurdling the rickety table to strike at a goblin.

More goblins lay beyond the curtains, though many lay very still and crispy after another of Nadar’s flaming blasts, and Korrin, Bron and Shabba soon set about despatching the little beasts. As they check one of the chambers further up the corridor they found a trio of goblin warriors and while preparing to engage them Bron was shot from behind with a wickedly barbed crossbow bolt. Turning to see his attacker he saw the goblin warchief and his bodyguards in another doorway.

Leaving the rest of the heroes to deal with the warriors Rocky barrelled past the injured cleric and set about the chief and his men.  Despite the warchief being able to land a few telling blows the heroes prevailed once more and searched the chiefs chamber. In the curtained area they found a large chest  whose key had been in the chief’s belt pouch, inside the chest was 560gp and a wand made of a humanoid leg bone (+1 magic wand). As they took a moment to tend to their wounds Shabba noticed that the wall beside the chest seemed odd, and as he pressed upon hit he almost fell forward as it gave way before him revealing a staircase leading downwards. Examining their crude map Bron theorised that these stairs should somehow lead to the same area that the door Shabba had previously secured when they first entered the catacombs. Gathering their gear the party descended.

The stairs led down to a dead end but Shabba sensed that the wall ahead appeared to be false, before he could look for a release mechanism Rocky made his own door using his trusty maul. The corridor beyond led to a large roughly hewn chamber where it looked like the goblins had been trying to extend their area. Several platforms were linked by narrow wooden planks and a rickety wooden ramp led to the chamber floor. Another rough staircase led off to the south into darkness but the growls of a trio of guard drakes got the heroes attention.

Bron bravely (foolishly?) charged the nearest of the drakes hoping to drive it off the edge of the closest platform but the beast stoically withstood the clerics assault. It was then that he realised there was also a trio of goblin archers on the platforms further in the chamber. A second drake charged across a plank trying to get to the cleric but slipped off the narrow plank, falling to the chamber floor momentarily stunned. The one he had attacked however took a big bite out of him.

Rocky charged into the chamber forgoing the planks in favour of leaping the gaps to get to the archers with his viscious weapon while the rest of the party surged forward to assist the cleric. Well, except for Shabba, who chose to slide in and out of the darkened corridor while taking sniper shots at various targets as they presented themselves. The goblin archers kicked the planks free (though this didnt stop the leaping goliath death machine) but this only slowed the inevitable as the heroes put their enemies to rest in short order.

Photo’s from the session

And that was where left it. This was a fun session and it was great to see my players again, especially as we had had a 3 month gap since last session due to various real-life issues preventing us getting together (though a wedding, honeymoon, and chldbirth are valid issues – congrats to David for the first 2 and Matt for the 3rd).

It was a shaky start as it took a few goes to get my brain back into 4e mode, having been playing the D&DNext playtest rules regularly recently for the D&D Encounters, and there was some hilarity as Matt’s first 2 combat rolls both came up as natural 1’s, but once again we had gotten through 3 full encounters without the party needing to take another extended rest.

Hopefully it wont be as large a gap to the next session.

 

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 5

Having rested our heroes descend into tunnels beneath the ruined keep. Unfortunately the goblins that escaped (last session) had warned those below and a pair of goblin crossbow wielders awaited in the chamber below, using the stone pillars as cover. Rocky (the Goliath Battlemind) skirted the edge of the room to charge into one of the annoying creatures, noticing as he did so that more awaited in the side corridors. Shabba (the Elf Rogue) nimbly danced between the pillars as he fired thunderous arrows back at the hiding goblins with his screaming bow. Nadarr (the Dragonborn Elementalist) tried to fry the hapless creatures with his pyromancy, only to be used a pincushion for his troubles. As Korinn (the Dragonborn Paladin) moved to support her allies, Bron (the human cleric) charged forward swinging his mailed fists – until the centre of the floor gave way below him and dropped him into a pit, much to the mirth of the goblins, but the annoyance of the swarm of rats already in residence!

With reinforcements arriving to bolster the goblins the heroes took their diminutive foes more seriously (though had to laugh as one charged the cleric and tried to push him back into the pit he had just climbed out of! Nadarr blanketed parts of the chamber in flames, taking out some of the goblins and frying numerous rats. Seeing the turn of the tide a goblin decided to flee down an eastward corridor, disappearing through a door. Shabba took aim on the final few rats, holding his shot until they were all rushing forward to once again chew on Bron, and neatly skewered the last of the vermin. The shot carrying their verminous little corpses to thud into the door the goblin had fled through. Investigating the door they found the corridor beyond led down a flight of stairs, to prevent the goblins return (hopefully) Shabba used his larcenous skills to rig the doors lock and make the door particularly difficult to re-open.

The party tended their minor wounds and examined the opposite corridor, finding it led to another chamber with a trio of closed doors leading from it. With no sign of more enemies they checked where the goblin warriors had come from, discovering a stockpile of barrels and crates (full of salted fish and supplies, much more than a handful of goblins would need), and a pair of rickety bunk beds the goblins had been using. As they were about to disregard the lice-ridden bedding Bron spotted a glint and further investigation revealed the goblins stash of coins. Rocky and Shabba examined the large double doors leading from the room.

Shabba could hear faint shuffling sounds as if someone (or several someone’s) were dragging their feet. Opening the doors carefully they found another short staircase leading into unlit tunnels. Using Korinn’s glowing Sunblade they cautiously advanced. The tunnels looked like they had been left alone for some time but the heroes came across a curious symbol inscribed at several points on the stone floors.

rune inscribed on stone floor of the tunnel

Nadarr and Bron examined them and discovered they were some kind of magical alarm set to alert the tunnels inhabitants of intruders. The heroes chose to avoid them and turned south towards the sounds of the shuffling. Discovering a handful of zombies in various states of decay. Nadarr took out several with his fiery conjurations but a pair proved more resilient, until Rocky and Korinn put them down with their weapons.

Shabba, Bron and Nadarr heard the approach of more shambling undead from the north-west but between another display of pyrotechnics and pinpoint accurate archery they posed no threat to the heroes. Regrouping they chose to explore the chamber beyond the room they encountered the zombies in.

The chamber resembled a church crypt, complete with granite sarcophagi lining the walls with bas reliefs of armoured warriors on the front. Examining one more closely, draconic runes were discovered, naming the occupants as knights fallen in the service of the Platinum Dragon. The far end of the chamber appeared to be lit by a radiance eminating from the ceiling, Rocky and Korinn led the way to investigate. As they passed the middle pair of sarcophagi the lids all banged open as their skeletal occupants burst forth to engage the intruders.

Nadarr once again lays down a blanket of fire in an effort to keep the skeletons at bay while Rocky and Korinn faced off against a pair of skeletons wielding longswords and shields. The skeletons held back by the dragonborn’s flames calmly pulled arrows from slung quivers and using the remaining tendons on their upper legs as bowstrings (real shoot from the hip guys 😉 ) and soon had the elementalist, cleric and rogue taking the undead more seriously. That wasnt the only surprise though, as the fight continued, with the heroes beginning to take down the skeletons, the sarcophagi opened again disgorged more skeletons into the fray.

Concerned that they could very easily be overrun, Rocky dove between his skeletal foes and sprinted into the end chamber, discovering it to have a pair of altars devoted to the Platinum Dragon. Rocky knelt quickly before one of the altars “Bahamut, I know we don’t always see eye-to-eye, but we are your followers and here to fight against the forces of Orcus, please help us!” at this the skeletons stop fighting and return to their sarcophagi. As the rest of the party joined him in the Chapel area Rocky and Korinn marvel at the radiant ceiling fresco depicting Bahamut in his draconic form flying across clear skies. Shabba, having no reverence for any god, poked around and discovered a hidden compartment that contained 5 silver and platinum statuettes of Bahamut.

The double doors at the end of the chapel were also platinum and carved with another bas-relief of Bahamut as Korinn and Rocky put their hands on them, they push open easily revealing a chamber beyond. The place looks untouched and has a sense of peace. Its only contents being a large sarcophagi on a raised dais. As they approached they could see the lid was carved to show a warrior in plate armour, sword laid across his chest, point towards his feet. From the description that Sister Linora had given them they realised this was the resting place of Sir Keegan.

“Sir Keegan”

Eager to retrieve the paladins sword for the  temple of Avandra back in Winterhaven, Rocky put his considerable weight into pushing the lid open. He’d barely touched it when the lid exploded, showering the goliath with rubble and dust. A skeletal figure in plate armour rose from the interior, gleaming longsword raised to strike. “The rift must remain sealed. State your business or prepare to die!” it spoke, its voice a deep whisper.

The heroes were quick to placate the warrior, who was indeed Sir Keegan. Assuring him that not only were two of them followers of the Platinum Dragon themselves but the whole party were working to halt the machinations of a Cult of Orcus operating in the area. Sir Keegan revealed that a rift to the Shadowfell existed deeper beneath the ruins, and that he and his knights had become undead after he went crazy and slaughtered his family following Orcus sent dreams. The heroes were happy to inform him that at least one of his family had survived and that his ancestor, Lord Padraig, was the current ruler of Winterhaven. He allowed the party to take his blade, Aecris, to aid them in closing the rift once and for all, “lest the forces of darkness flow forth and consume the world”.

The heroes asked if Sir Keegan could accompany them but sadly the knight informed them that should he leave his crypt the madness would once again take hold and he would slay all of them. The heroes decided to use the safety of Sir Keegan’s chamber to rest and recuperate before venturing forth once more.

Photo’s from the session

A really great session, felt like a good old dungeon crawl complete with hand drawn maps on my dry-wipe mat and proof that the “5-minute-work-day” doesn’t have to be the norm. The players managed to work through 5 encounters (in 4 hours of gaming including a break for a run to the shops for refreshments) before they even suggested having a rest, and that was mainly because it felt like a good place to end the session. Some really fun interpretations of their characters abilities and role-playing made this one of my favourite sessions of 4e I’ve had the pleasure of running. If the rest of the campaign continues in this vein it shall be truly awesome.

 

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 4

The party returned to Winterhaven and a heroes welcome. Reporting the success of their mission to Lord Padraig and their intention to head to the Keep they asked if he was able to sell them some horses. Rather than see the animals left outside the dangerous ruins he agreed to loan them horses on the condition that the local guide Ninaran accompany them so as to bring the mounts back once the heroes entered the ruins. Despite their suspicions that Ninaran was somehow connected to the cultists they agreed before retiring to Wrafton’s Inn and the impromptu party being held in their honour.

During the festivities Ninaran entered the taproom and approached the heroes congratulating them on their recent success and telling them they would be leaving in the morning for the Keep. The heroes were awakened by Wrafton’s stableboy and told the elf and the horses were waiting outside, so after a brief breakfast they allocated suitable mounts (not easy for the hulking goliath) and headed for the town gates. As they got there a crowd had gathered and Lord Padraig stood foremost as the residents of Winterhaven waved the heroes off. One of the heroes spotted a dark cloaked figure lurking at the rear which looked similar to one of the creatures they had fought in the hidden shrine but before he could raise an alarm the figure disappeared. Telling his allies they decided to leave it for now and concentrate on the task at hand.

Once outside Ninaran offered the heroes a choice or routes to the keep, a slower easy route that would get them there for nightfall or a rougher cross-country route that would see them arriving mid-afternoon. The heroes chose the quicker route and followed their guide. Other than a few bruises in tender areas the journey proved uneventful despite the heroes expecting the elf to lead them into an ambush. Dismounting at the bottom of the bluff the keep was built upon the elf prepared to return to Winterhaven when he noticed a multitude of tracks leading into the ruins. Pointing them out to the party he wished them luck and left.

Carefully climbing to the ruins the heroes found orc archers and guard drakes, and Bron quickly became a pin-cushion and a pair of human thugs joined the orcs. Just as they finished dealing with the guards they discovered partially ruined statue of Bahamut and then a small swarm of goblins appeared from deeper in the ruins, led by a hulking orc warrior.

As annoying as the goblins were, the orc proved worse. His viscious axe digging deep gouges into the genasi warlord before finally falling to the combined efforts of the genasi and goliath. With their leader down and several of their number immolated by the dragonborn elementalist a pair of cowardly goblins fled down a spiral staircase into the tunnels and chambers below. Mopping up the remaining foes and blocking the stairs with more pyrotechnics from the elementalist the remaining party members regroup and recover – preparing to descend into the depths.

Photos from the game

Those of you familiar with the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure will probably be wondering what this session was about, well to be honest having read through the adventure I found that it seemed to have the pc’s delving straight into the tunnels below the ruined keep and besides a single picture there as no details of the remaining ruins of the keep. Therefore I decided to use the map my daughter had drawn for me based upon the one used for the Red Box Games Day adventure, not only because its a fun map, but also because any of my players that may possibly have played/ran Shadowfell previously wouldn’t be expecting it. I’m happy to say it proved a great success and everyone had a blast.

Next session see’s the heroes descending into the tunnels and crypts below the Keep, with its residents pre-warned!

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 3

Finally got the opportunity and incentive to catch up on our campaigns write ups – apologies for the delay.

Session 3

The heroes having reported the destruction of the shrine or Orcus under the traders shop to Lord Padraig realise that Benn the bear was missing. Sam the druid began searching, and was informed by a gate-guard that the bear had run out of town in roughly the direction of Rourke’s Drop.The party quickly set off in pursuit, and found the bears tracks intercepted those of a large group of humanoids. Exploring further they discovered a group of hobgoblin slavers.

The heroes engaged the hobgoblins and mid-fight a hulking hair-ball burst from the nearby trees, launching itself off the ridge line and flattening the hobgoblin leader. Sam was very happy to see his bear returned but announced to the party that the violent life of adventuring wasnt for him. Agreeing to escort the former slaves back to Winterhaven he would take up the opportunity to tend to the needs of the locals that worshipped the gods of the land.

The heroes thought they were bereft of a healer until one of the freed captives revealed that he was a priest of Arvandra, named Bron, and that he would gladly join their troupe in battling the evils that befallen the area. And so the party said fond farewells to Sam and Benn before continuing on towards Rourke’s Drop and the suspected kobold lair.

Finally reaching the waterfall they found a considerable group of kobolds scattered around the entrances. As the heroes engaged the yapping guardians they also came under fire from several javelins being hurled from the waterfall cave mouth above. The party made short work of the outer guards and soon made their way into the cave lair to find more kobolds led by a kobold wild mage and rather rotund goblinoid named Irontooth. Despite his appearance Irontooth was an agile and powerful foe and under his command the kobolds soon had the heroes on the defensive.

Eventually the heroes were victorious, albeit bloodied and battered and their foes lay dead at their feet (or in the case of the wild mage who exploded, smeared around the walls). In with the treasure the heroes also found a pair of notes, the first written in a faintly familiar hand read “They are coming! Prepare!”, while the second was written in goblin which the party finally deciphered as reading “Saa (Greetings) Ghaal (Mighty) Irontooth, We have received your chaat’oor (human) tuuvotos (slaves). Good work brother. Lhevk-ruh (Skilled Warlord) Krand is proud of your work. – Shava (Sword Brother) Tra’ak”.

Tending their wounds the heroes gathered their treasure and returned to Winterhaven for a well-earned rest.

Photos from the session

 

Keep on the Shadowfell Campaign – session 2

The heroes set out to return to Winterhaven and found a well armed kobold ambush awaiting them. The dragonborn paladin heard their leader issuing orders to “get the mirror, kill the rest!” as combat began.

In a change to the written encounter, due to the larger party size and incase people knew the original adventure, I used a Kobold Wild Mage supported by 4 Dragonshields and 2 Quickblades. The unpredictability of the Mage’s attack effects was fun and when he hit a pc I got them to roll the d4 to decide what form the energy bolt took. I think the only one that never came up was the fire bolt.

The paladin became heaily bloodied holding the road until allies assisted and our goliath’s powers teleported him into the thick of it, soon beoming the centre of attention for a pair of dragonshields and the mage, and becoming equally battered and bruised.

The genasi warlord tried to help out but caused the kobold caster to randomly teleport as the elementalist caused the ground to erupt under the goliath and his foes. It began to look bad as the goliath finally succumbed to his wounds, and looked even worse once the sentinal and his bear defeated the wild mage, triggering its explosive demise and causing enough damage to kill the goliath and the bear!

The remaining kobolds were mopped up quickly and the heroes gathered their fallen comrade and continued on to Winterhaven. They got the Temple of Avandra to raise the goliath, at which point he bartered the rituals fee in exchange of performing a serice for the temple – recovering a holy artifact in the form of the sword of Sir Keegan, known to be lost in the tunnels below the nearby ruined keep. The heroes then retired, taking advantage of the offered hospitality of the dwarven archeologist they had rescued. As they unpacked their wagon they found the mirror the kobolds had been after, the dwarf knew nothing of it and upon examination the elementalist discerned it had some sort of funtion to aid in a portal ritual.

Next day they went to Bairwins Trading Post to sell the kobolds equipment and restock. Again I had added an additional plot thread not in the original and as the sentinal’s passive insight noticed the rotund trader acting shifty our erstwhile elven rogue blurted out “we know what your up to, you may as well come clean” with an astonishing good bluff roll. The traders response was more astonishing as he suddenly broke down to a gibbering wreck “its not my fault, they made me do it, if your quick you’ll catch them in the basement!” as he gestured to a descending spiral staircase.

As they reached the bottom they could see dim purple light in a chamber beyond. The tiefling snuck forward discovering what appeared to be a shrine to Orcus. Unfortunately it wasn’t empty as a quartet of pale humanoids with swords and a trio of floating faceless capes awaited within. Offended by the shrine the paladin strode forth to be attacked by one of the capes as it materialised a large black scythe in its hands, its fellows following suit.

The heroes become bottle-necked as it became evident that the carpeted aisle between the pews was causing them to struggle to hit their enemies. As the majority of the party pressed forward the tiefling ascended the stairs only to find that Bairwin the trader had closed and locked the door.

The paladin quickly became bloodied and in an effort to tackle the enemies surrounding her, the elementalist once again used his erupting earth trick, quickly followed by his action point and repeating the attack. On the plus side he did take out a couple of their foes and damage the cursed carpet enough to remove its effects, on the negative side he also managed to kill the paladin (taking her past negative bloodied).

This did allow the remaining heroes to push forward into the chamber, and the genasi warlord struck a sunrod causing the remaining dark servants to suffer in its brightness.

Once all the enemies lay at their feet, the tiefling discovered a hidden cache within the altar that contained a trio of golden statuettes dedicated to Orcus, and the elf revealed the presence of a hidden doorway but couldnt find its trigger. The goliath showed him the effectiveness of his maul as an improvised key, smashing the door apart to reveal a small chamber beyond with some shelves and a chest. The elf rushed to the chest and confident that it hid no traps flipped the lid open to reveal many coins. He eagerly reached forward, and then even quicker pulled his hand away as a sharp blade scythed across the opening. After disabling the trap he recovered the coins.

On the shelving they discovered several books concering the worship of Orcus along with a ritual book containing Comprehend Languages and a note to Bairwin from Kalarel which confirmed the traders affiliation with the cultists. Hidden at the back was a beautifully crafted longsword with the crossguard decorated to resembling a rising sun. The elementalist identified it as a Sunblade.

Returning topside it became apparent that the trader had fled, and upon checking with the gate guards it was confirmed that he had left the town heading northward. The heroes took their fallen paladin to the temple and in exchange for the gold statuettes they performed a raise dead ritual once more (they would then destroy the items dedicated to foul Orcus and reuse the gold). The party then met with Lord Padraig and showed him the evidence regards the trader and cultist presence right under his nose. He appologised for his earlier disbelief and offered to reward the heroes if they were able to destroy this cult and its leader Kalarel. As reward for exposing the trader and dealing with the shrine he gave the heroes a pair of Potions of Healing, with the words “you’ll probably need them”.

And that is where we left our erstwhile heroes as they prepare to leave Winterhaven once more, this time to head towards the suspected kobold lair at the waterfall of Rourke’s Drop and their mysterious leader, the “fat one”.

 Photos from the session

Keep on the Shadowfell – an ongoing campaign

For the past year I have been running the WotC 4e D&D Encounters program at my FLGS (Tabletop Tyrants) along with the associated Lair Assaults and Game Day events, but what I missed was an ongoing campaign. Something where the players could evolve their characters and have a lasting impact on the world around them.

Well, during the gap before the latest Encounters started I had the opportunity to run a taster session for some players that wanted to try D&D and the bug bit me. I decided to start a once-a-month game based upon the WotC published adventures, beginning with H1 The Keep on the Shadowfell and (hopefully) progressing through the others which have sat on my shelf since I bought them.

Once I had decided to go ahead I picked a date and posted the event on http://www.meetup.com/EMRPGG/ and was quite amazed at how quickly people signed up for it. I had to limit it to six playing spaces for two reasons, first off was physical playing space. Tyrants is a great place but always busy and Saturdays in particular see a huge influx of MtG and wargames players, but organising with the excellent staff I arranged space to play (right near the heater, purely coincidentally of course). Secondly, if the party of players gets too large it becomes difficult for each person to get a chance to shine in-game. The signups for our inaugural session was a mixture of players from my Encounters players, the players that had tried the taster session, a player that had travelled from Derby to take part as they couldn’t find a group nearby, and a player from a campaign one of my Encounters players had run previously at the store.

I must say that everyone gelled really well seeing as most didn’t know each other and by the end of the session you’d have thought they had been playing together for months rather than four hours.

As to the campaign itself, I wont go into the details as I’m sure most of you have read the adventure at one time or another, but I am running it based mainly on the published adventure with the additional notes from a Greg Bilsland article in Dungeon magazine (converting the module to Forgotten Realms). The heroes have been sent to Winterhaven at the request of Marla (a priestess of Pelor in Fallcrest) to investigate rumours of a Death Cult. En route they encountered a kobold ambush, arrived in town and talked to some of the locals, and investigated a local archaeological dig site. They have found signs that something is definitely wrong in the area around Winterhaven – but will they be able to put an end to it?

At the end of the session we compared diaries and arranged the date for session 2 (which has already been filled up on the meetup event page). I also asked the players to come up with their pc’s wishlists for treasure (a nice idea in 4e which makes the DM’s life a little easier) and since then one of the newer players has created an online party treasure list for the group to use. I’m really looking forward to see how not only their characters but the party as a whole will grow together, after all, without willing players I would just be sat reading modules and rulebooks on my own in the corner.