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DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 3:53 am
by JediOre
Herein begins the second adventure me and my pals played through on our annual October GameFest (this year it was a 2-day celebration).

Keep in mind that spoilers are thick beyond this point. Also, I game using Troll Lord's Castles & Crusades rule set, with some house ruling.

The Players:

Nightwing's 5th level ranger, Greyson. Greyson uses the matched and magical set of blades: Whisker the rapier and Fenis the dagger. Both blades sprung from the mind of Harley Stroh, I've just embellished upon them a bit :wink:

Ragnar1965's 4th level lady Cleric/Wizard, Madriel. Madriel carries the fabled Eye of the Night, a magical gem given to her to protect by the druid Thistle of Fairweather.

and JediWife's 5th level elven maiden archer who uses Lord Tulwar's cold iron sword and a mighty composite bow carved from the bone of a dragon in combat. She's deadly with the bow!

For those interested in this characters previous explotes with the DCC line, here is the link to their last adventure:

http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/vie ... 97&start=0

With this in mind, my next post will begin the Cleansing of Blessings-Be.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:19 am
by Harley Stroh
Awesome. Can't wait to read. Thanks for posting these, Jedi.

//H

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:34 am
by finarvyn
JediOre wrote: I game using Troll Lord's Castles & Crusades rule set, with some house ruling.
I haven't read your first campaign log, but I love C&C and am glad to see it being used in the DCC modules. (And #13 wasn't written for C&C, right? I'd be interested to hear how well the conversion to C&C went....)

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 12:52 pm
by JediOre
finarvyn,

Thanks for the post.

None of the modules I've run this party through were written for C&C. The DCCs have all been for 3.X that I've used thus far. I find the conversion almost second nature, except for spell casters. Spell casters need a minute or two to make the transition. But when I'm done, the spell caster is partly the author's creation and partly mine. The main villain from DCC #0 and the necromancer from the Temple's Tribute in DCC #46 are great examples of this concept.

I hope you enjoy our experience in this little gem! If you are familiar with this DCC, you find I changed several things about this second installment to make it "mine."

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:03 pm
by finarvyn
I tend to automatically convert 3E to C&C myself. I'm not sure it's an "exact" conversion, but who cares? It's not like my players know what it started out like, anyway! :lol:
JediOre wrote:If you are familiar with this DCC, you find I changed several things about this second installment to make it "mine."
Thumbs up here! I always tweak modules.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:06 pm
by JediOre
Harley Stroh wrote:Awesome. Can't wait to read. Thanks for posting these, Jedi.

//H

Your welcome Harley. I'm just disappointed I can't get these up faster. By the time I finish with our adventures the two days before Halloween, none of my friends will remember what happened and will have little to add to the conversation. :(

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:52 am
by JediOre
After we concluded the previous adventure, Nightwing took this as an opportunity to take an hour-and-a-half break and drive up to the pool and get his daily swim in. So at some point during this post, Nightwing is absent and his character Greyson the Ranger was an NPC.

I also want to offer my apologies to the author of DCC 14, Jason Little, for I made several alterations in this part of Dungeon Interludes. I often try to play a module the way the author wrote it, but in this case I made changes to better suit my gang. I hope Mr. Little likes my take on his adventure. I hope he concurs that the spirit of his adventure is alive and well as I DMed it.

The party returns triumphantly from the jungle island. They had bequeathed several of the bulkier treasures to the ship’s captain and his crew. This did nothing but increase their standing with the seamen and promises to further increase the status of the owner of Whisker, the fabled sea-blade.

Upon returning to Punjar/Majoor they found the Crimson Curse had been stemmed since the Chalice of Aldren was back in the possession of the Temple of the Eternal Sun. How this occurred was not made known to the PCs. Their old patron, Jonas the Gnome Gem Merchant, was not at the inn they had been staying at prior to leaving on the sea voyage. The inn-keeper said Jonas had left well over a week ago. The inn-keeper said the gnome was very sad and told him he was returning to Port Town and was going to try and put this terrible experience behind him. Jonas had left them a note thanking them for all their hard work and effort to protect him from the cursed Black Pearl. His home was always open to them and he was sorry he was unable to remain in Punjar/Majoor to see their arrival. The whole trip was very costly and he needed to return to his shop with his new purchases and put the Pearl out of his memory.

The PCs then went to the temple only to find it was very busy curing people of the Crimson Curse and the PCs were also unable to get an audience with Karranis, the young under-priest that had been their contact earlier. Word had it the Black Pearl did not dissolve in the Chalice, but for reasons the rumors made unclear, the Black Pearl of Sezrakan was secreted away in the temple’s vault.

Leaving Punjar/Majoor with several unanswered questions, the PCs traveled inland about a week to arrive at Blessings-Be. On the way there, they encountered a merchant and his wife ridding on a wagon filled with crockery. They were heading for Punjar/Majoor. The PCs stopped the merchant to inquire about the road ahead and I had the merchant asked the same of them regarding the road to the city. I hammed it up having the merchant brag about the wonders of his pottery and how his wife is the best pot maker within a vast distance. Nightwing got into this after a moment and by the end of a brief exchange, his ranger was the proud owner of a pot. [The amazing thing about this exchange, which was completely made up on the spot by me to add a bit of flavor to the travel-- this pot becomes very important during the adventure we concluded on our second and final day of our Annual October Gamefest. But I get ahead of myself.]

The pot merchant warned them that something was very wrong with the village of Blessings-Be. How the people were very stand-offish and had become terrible customers. No one would speak to him or his wife. And the way the townsfolk would march off to the Mourning Cave. I had the merchant explain to the party the Mourning Cave was a local holy spot and people from many miles away would pilgrimage there to pay their respects at the Cave since it was the tomb of the famous paladin Arden Brightheart. The merchant and his wife had, on occasion, visited the Cave when they were in town and a festival or service was held in the sanctuary. But something was not right anymore and he urged them to be on their guard.

When the PCs finally arrived at Blessings-Be, they took up residence in the local inn and produced the skeleton of the man whose last request was to be returned here. The town mayor was very grateful as was the family of the dead man. The town honored the party with a feast and all was merry that evening. I kept pointing out to Ragnar1965 and JediWife that, while the townsfolk seemed in earnest to honor them with the feast many kept glancing at the path which lead to the Mourning Cave and seemed almost drawn towards it. I also told them that the town seemed to be a shadow of its self and the people seemed to be harboring something mysterious, just in the way they acted and how they were a bit distant. Several of them pointedly asked the PCs when they would be moving on.

I told the players a bit of the history of Blessings-Be and how the “crypt and sanctuary of Arden Brightheart, a paladin of local legend” was in many ways the life-blood of the town. They heard tales of how Brightheart had defeated the vile Dread Watcher within the Mourning Cave, and how he gave his life to bring about this being's demise. What the Dread Watcher was, they were unable to find out. While Rangar1965 figured the people of Blessings-Be should know a great deal more about their patron saint, this was all any of the PCs could get out of the people, and even that seemed to be more by prying on the PCs part than on the proud tales one would expect from the townsfolk.

After the feast, Ragnar1965 said they returned to their room in the inn. He wasn’t all too sure about what to do and wanted the PCs to be able to plan in privacy. While they were in their room someone knocked quietly on their door. With the elf covering the door with her bow, they had the ranger open it. There stood the mayor. He looked pained. They ushered him in and the mayor told them something evil had descended upon Blessings-Be. He tried to elaborate, but seemed unable to voice the words. The harder he tried the more pain he seemed to be in, to the point he was nearly doubling over. Ragnar1965 had his lady PC ask if the problems came from the sanctuary to which the mayor nodded. He said, “Please help us,” and quickly rushed from the room retching. Clearly something was keeping the mayor from explaining what was happening.

The party gears up and heads out of the town and follows the stone pathway to the Mourning Cave.

The Adventure is afoot.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 4:33 pm
by JediOre
With Nightwing absent, Ragnar1965 was aprehensive to really start the module since JediWife was flitting from the kitchen table where we were and the kitchen. She promised Ragnar1965 she would listen and be there in an instant if he needed her aid.

Ragnar1965 had the three PCs move into the sanctuary and I described the marble stone work, the depth of the partially carved cavern, and the several alcoves that was on both side of the cavern's walls. Each of the alcoves had a statue of Arden Brightheart. Ragnar1965's "radar" went off immediately. He had the three characters remain in the center of the hall and had JediWife's PC, with her sharp elven eyes, read the placards that accompanied the statues. He figured the elf could read even if the torch light wasn't bright enough for a human. Further, he continued to ask about the statues: where they all the same? Did they seem to be from the same sculptor? Were they all in good repair? With such questions, I gave him a good bonus on his search roll. And while most of the statues were in good order and had placards that read like "Arden Conquering the Northern Orc Clans," or "Arden Vanquishing the Devil-Lich's Hordes," one statue seemed to be in poor order and the placard read "Turn hence, lest Darkness claim you, as it has claimed Arden Darkheart."

Ragnar1965 had me re-read that last one for JediWife and both were not pleased with what might be further inside this, presumably, defiled sanctuary. The two players opted to go down the stairs into the more natural portion of the cave system and their PCs made quick work of the strange squid-like monsters that cast darkness upon them. The three PCs had encountered one of these odd beasts some time ago in the Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho and they hated the things then too.

After the three characters descended down natural stairs roughly twenty feet, they came to the Reflecting Pool, its unusual statue, and the thing that should not have been there. But that will have to be recorded later.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 3:39 am
by finarvyn
JediOre wrote:But that will have to be recorded later.
Later? Later? A cliffhanger? Argh!

Sounds like another fun evening! One of these days I need to post some of our adventues. :D

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 10:37 am
by JediOre
The three PCs came into a natural cavern with a pool of water covering much of the northeast portion of the cavern. In the center of the pool is yet another statue, depicting Arden Brightheart, down on one knee with his head bowed. Candlelight from the end of the stairs made for evocative lighting, giving the cave an eerie feel. The elf "had a bad feeling" about the cavern, but that is all I revealed to the party.

They had their characters approach the edge of the water to get a better look at the statue and see if they could read the placard attached to the statue. As they peered at the statue, a frightening being burst forth from the water, it was at some point human, but it was some form of hideous undead. It grasped at the elven maiden who was standing ankle deep in the water. I asked JediWife to make a saving through at the thing clawed her thigh. She failed and the elf went over, paralyzed. Both JediWife and Ragnar1965 exchanged concerned looks and Ragnar1965 pointed out to me that elves are immune to ghoul paralysis. I agreed with his comment and asked him to roll initiative.

The fight was desperate. JediWife's elf was down and out, and both were concerned to move Nightwing's ranger into harm's way since they did not know what they were fighting. I pointed out that, while Nightwing was absent, he would, in my opinion, have Greyson pull both Whisker and Fenis and charge headlong into the water and impale this undead thing. I also pointed out this thing was pulling Alura into the water with both hands. Ragnar1965 had Madriel attempt to turn the thing, but his role wasn't good enough. As I recall, he missed by one point, so I told him the cleric/magic-user could determine the thing was not a common undead. It was at that point they sent in Greyson. He waded into the water and attacked. On the next round a second undead thing broke the surface of the water and attacked Greyson from the rear. Ragnar1965 had his PC attempt to turn the second thing, and he was successful, it swam away and submerged. The ranger and the undead creature traded blows for two rounds and JediWife made each saving throw which insured Greyson stayed in the fight. The two magic blades made quick work of the monster and it sunk back into the pool no longer animated.

They waited for about an hour and finally the elf came to. While they waited for this to occur, back by the stairs where they drug the elf, they had the ranger explore the cavern with Whisker at the ready. He had found a pathway along the edge of the cavern, in the pool, submerged under several inches of water. Ragnar1965 decided to have the PCs tread along this pathway with the elf in front, bow at ready, the ranger in the middle, with both blades drawn, and the spellcaster in the rear with a light source held high. The second beast swam up at the, braking the surface and lunging at the spellcaster. They had the ranger immediately attack along with an arrow from the elf, and enough damage was scored (there must have been at least one natural-20) that the thing died before it could get it's claws into the tender flesh of the lady spellcaster.

They came to a secret door and were stumped on how to open it. They pondered for a while, and Ragnar1965 muttered about the need for a rogue again :) . Finally, Ragnar1965 had his spellcaster cast knock on the door. The statue in the middle of the lake turned until it faced the door while the door moved back into the wall and revealing a chamber beyond. They looked inside. . .

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:50 am
by finarvyn
...and saw...?

JediOre, you have a fun way of posting and making me want to come back to check again later. :P

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:57 am
by JediOre
finarvyn wrote: JediOre, you have a fun way of posting and making me want to come back to check again later.
Finarvyn, thank you for the complement. I try to post in a "your-looking-over-the-player's-shoulders" way. Trying to post accounts of our adventures in the form of a fantasy fiction is not my cup of tea.

Here's what happened next:

Beyond the secret door was a diamond-shaped room. I described the room as a living quarters and the presumed occupant's corpse is still moldering on his cot. The deceased is dressed as a cleric with a cross embroidered on his shirt. Ragnar1965 is real careful in situations like these, often not allowing his PC to touch or move the dead out of respect. However, before he or JediWife had a chance to give me input about their character's movements, a ghostly apparition of the dead man rose from the corpse and told them to clear out, "Leave this place, o evil-doers!" This changed Ragnar1965's whole game plan!

Way back when I had been persuaded to change from 1st edition AD&D to 3.X, we were adventuring through the epic I1-3, The Desert of Desolation. At that time, Ragnar1965 did not understand that it was possible in the game to have good undead. He and another friend of mind had their PCs slaughter a group of dead ghostly paladins who were trying to ward them off from danger. Ragnar1965 learned a lesson that day and he actually prefaced his approach to this ghostly being in this room by alluding to those events that occurred back in 2002 or 2003.

He spoke with JediWife and the both agreed to put away their PCs weapons and show no threatening movement. Ragnar1965 had his lady spellcaster explain to the ghost who they were. The ghost, Jarson Tender, took them into his confidence, explaining that he was the keeper of the crypt. He provided for the pilgrims and maintained the sanctuary from the donations of the town of Blessings-Be as when as the pilgrims. That is, unless the Dread Watcher awoke. Something truly diabolical entered the sanctuary in the form of a hot, dry wind. This wind whipped about the corridors and burst open the doors to the Watcher's Crypt and somehow released it from its death. Jarson fled to his room, and the wind followed him. What he did not know was the room had a secret door that could be closed by pivoting the statue in the pool. Sadly, this wicked wind did, for it sealed him within where Jarson slowly starved to death.

It was at this point Nightwing got back from his daily swim. We brought him up to speed. He wanted his ranger to swim about in the pool looking for loot while the others finished their business with the ghost. Nightwing's ranger did find a magical mace and several magical crossbow bolts for his efforts!

Jarson granted the characters anything in his room that might aid them in defeating ths Dread Watcher. Ragnar1965's PC left with incense and a strand of prayer beads. Ragnar1965 also asked if Jarson could aid his PC in drawing a map of the sanctuary to better prepare a strategy with.

With the map in hand, the PCs left Jarson, promising they would do all they could to stop this being called the Dread Watcher from causing even more damage.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:41 am
by JediOre
The party, using the map, went back up the stairs and further into the sanctuary. I explained how they came to an area in the passageway with doors on the left and right. The right door had metal spikes wedged into it as well as a heavy iron candlestick positioned in such a way that it was clear something behind the door was supposed to remain there. The deep cuts in the door's wood, as well as the claw marks on the nearby stone wall gave the players a hint as to why the door was barred.

They opted to open the left-hand door to see what was beyond. They were greeted by a brightly light room with half-a-dozen villagers touching up an elaborate and heroic mural depicting the battle between the hero Brightheart and the Dread Watcher. They quickly realized the villagers were in fact, altering the mural, transforming it into a dark, twisted parody of what it was suppose to be. They tried to speak with the villagers, but to no avail. They were being ignored. Upon further pushing, I had the villagers say they were doing what he told them to do, and they must continue. After a moment of conferring, Ragnar1965 and Nightwing knew they had to stop it, and as JediWife pointed out, without killing or hurting them. Nightwing said he had things well in hand, and with the discreet nod of the other two, he had Greyson grab one of the villagers by the front of his shirt and slapped him viciously several times. That had the desired effect. The villagers fled the room, and the shrine, for their lives.

After looking over the room for secret doors and such, the party than moved to the right hand door and after preparing themselves for battle, they removed the spikes and candle holder. Greyson pulled open the door in a hurry with JediWife's elf ready with an arrow and the spellcaster with her wand. They came face to face with an owlbear! The magic missile and the arrow so enraged the beast, that it charged them only to encounter the acid arrow trap. Upon that it took Nightwing's ranger two rounds to kill the beast.

The party searched the room, finding a gold holy symbol among the ruins of an altar. True to Ragnar1965's approach to things, he asked the rest of the party if they would leave it be. He had his lady PC clean it up and stood it against the wall. Meanwhile the elf maiden found a secret door that was not on the map given to them by the ghost of Jarson Tender. Nightwing using his Spock voice, said the door was not on the map because either the ghost was unable to mention it (for he didn't know of it) or was unwilling to mention it (two guesses to which movie Nightwing was referencing!).

The party opened the secret door and went inside. . . .

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Part 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:42 am
by JediOre
The secret corridor was rough-hewn, unlike the preceding rooms. The party was attacked by spiders, but the PCs made quick work of them, or at least did not fail a saving throw!

They came to the end of the corridor and had the elf investigate the room beyond by peeking out the secret door. I told JediWife that her character saw an ossuary being desecrated by several beings that looked similar to the former owner of her iron sword, Lord Tulwar, i. e. undead monsters! They quickly conferred and decided, in lieu of having Rangar1965's PC use her spells for healing, they would quaff a couple of healing potions to prepare and have Ragnar1965's lady spellcaster jump into the room and attempt to turn these undead. The whole time, Ragnar1965 is trying to get me to fess up to what exactly were these undead. As I described them as humanoid, with diseased skin and wicked fangs, he felt fairly sure the six were ghouls. Whatever they were, Ragnar1965 rolled very well on his turning check and most of them fled away, running through an open door into as of yet another unexplored portion of the sanctuary.

JediWife pulled Lord Tulwar's Iron sword and along with Nightwing's ranger and his Whisker/Fenis combo,, they dispatched the remaining two undead without getting wounded in return. They then made a thorough search of the room.

It was here the ranger found Arden Brightheart's Sword of Conviction. The sword spoke with Greyson asking him who he was and what was he doing here. I had the sword explain its purpose was to keep the Dread Watcher pinned to the wall of the sanctuary and no mere mortal could have pulled it from the wall. Only one of complete purity of purpose was suppose to be able to remove the blade from the body of the Dread Watcher. And yet, not long ago, a foul, evil presence in the form of a wind came into the sanctuary and was able to pull the blade away from the Dread Watcher. The Sword of Conviction still cannot understand what could have done such a powerful feat of magic, but whatever it was, the wind was both malevolent and self-aware.

Even though Greyson was not Lawful Good, the Sword of Conviction asked the ranger if he would wield the weapon for the Dread Watcher was still within Arden Brightheart's sanctuary and that monster must be stopped. Only this sword could be used to put the Dread Watcher back into a state of suspended animation, for Brightheart was unable to find a way to destroy this being. The Dread Watcher was a lich without a phylactery! The Sword of Conviction told the party that the Dread Watcher was weakened from its many years of stupor, but it could tell the lich was regaining its power and must be dealt with before it regained its former powers.

They agree, and Nightwing has his ranger take up the Sword of Conviction. They head to the exit the undead beings used.

The hunt for the Dread Watcher had begun.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 4:07 pm
by JediOre
The party entered into a very large room, shaped somewhat octagonal, with all sorts of things to take in. First were the undead things that were mulling near a large set of double doors to the left of the party. Second was “the sickly-sweet stench of decay” that permeates this huge room. The walls are lined with thousands of skulls and light by hundreds of candles.

Four statues of noble knights stood at attention in the room as well. But it was the dais to the right of the PCs that was the most noteworthy. Atop the dais is a large white marble throne and upon the throne is the “preserved body of Arden Brightheart,” “clad in resplendent robes and burnished armor.” Here, it would seem, was the veneration chamber of the paladin.

Even before I could impart information from the Sword of Conviction, all three players had a feeling this was an important room. Ragnar1965 immediately marked the statues as dangerous and asked JediWife to be ready with her character’s bow. In essence, he asked her to point the bow in the statues’ direction and to shoot if anything made a movement. I don’t know if Ragnar1965 thought the statues were themselves dangerous or if they might be hiding something. Nightwing was ready to take out the undead things near the door and, with coordination with Ragnar1965, they had the ranger entice the flesh-eating monsters to charge the ranger only to be hit with an amazingly high roll on the cleric/magic-user’s turn ability. The things again fled the room.

As the party moves into the room, the statues come to life and begin to advance upon the characters. When JediWife sees her elven maiden’s arrows doing little to no damage, they rethink their approach. They only had one round to ponder before the statues are able to attack them. By this point I’ve related to Nightwing that Greyson the Ranger has been told by the Sword of Conviction that the Dread Watcher is nearby. More than that, the Sword cannot say. It urges Greyson to prepare for battle and casts a bless upon him. Nightwing and the others don’t know what to do. They are afraid the statues are a diversion to either weaken the PCs or to set them up for a surprise attack. And since what they’ve been able to find out about the Dread Watcher, they do not want to be surprised!

So what they do is to have Greyson the Ranger stand with the Sword of Conviction out and ready for anything while Madriel the spellcaster begins pummeling the statues with Sound Burst. Alura the elf pulls Lord Tulwar’s Blade and attacks the first statue. The fight is brutal with the elven maiden taking lots of damage while the lady spellcaster uses magic-missile or healing as need be. The ranger moves slowly about the room attempting to stay out of combat, but he finally has to come to the elf’s aid on the last two statues. Finally the last statue went down, but much of the spells memorized by Madriel was used up and Alura was low on hit points to boot.

The room was now very still with candle-light flickering about and the party knew something was very wrong. The Sword of Conviction again pushing Greyson to find the Dread Watcher, for the Sword could sense the Dread Watcher. Nightwing has Greyson step onto the dais and approach the throne. Ragnar1965 had his PC hold her wand of magic-missiles and moved to the side so she could be parallel to Greyson. JediWife had Alura do the same with her bow and arrow. All three began to suspect the body of Arden Brightheart might be booby-trapped.

Nightwing had his ranger bend over the body to examine it closely. I told him to “give me a roll” for his investigation. Before the die stopped rolling the body of Brightheart attacked Greyson and I called for an initiative! While they are rolling I tell Nightwing his ranger took damage and he had to make a saving throw. The ranger felt a horrible chilling touch from the body as its hand reached out to slap him. Nightwing made the save, they got the initiative and I got to read a great “monologue” as the illusion of Brightheart fell away and the frightening form of the Dread Watcher appeared! Since the evil villain’s monologue is important for the ongoing campaign, I’m going to report it here for my player’s future referencing:

“Woe unto you who dare tamper in my master’s work! Skullshank shall not abide those who would disrupt the construction of his most fearsome invention. But you are too late – even should you recover the lens from the chapel, you shall not prevail. I can sense the Eye of Night is with you! It will be well that I reclaim this topaz for my master as well! The Oculum shall be completed. And once completed, Skullshank shall rule the land without question!”

What a great monologue!

With that, the Dread Watcher got a severe beating from the Sword of Conviction. If ever a natural-20 should appear it needed to that night. Nightwing rolled almost maximum damage (a d12 for a bastard sword used two-handed, rolled twice, plus the magical and strength bonus added twice. That’s how I do natural-20s. So his damage was near 30 points!) on his first hit of the combat. Prior to that nasty hit, Alura shot and hit with her bow, but for no damage and Madriel used her wand to hit the Dread Watcher with two magic missiles. The Dread Watcher missed hitting Greyson on his attack. And I decide it is time to have the villain go invisible. I figure a round repositioning him would be a very good thing since the Dread Watcher got hammered for over half his hit points!

Well round two occurs, Ragnar1965 opts to attempt to turn the opponent since his PC cannot see the Dread Watcher. Not a chance, so Ragnar1965’s turn is over. JediWife figures she’ll try one more arrow, but with the huge minus since the Dread Watcher has vanished, the arrow hits nothing. Well, my plan is to take the Dread Watcher to a position behind the destroyed statues. All I have to do is wait for Nightwing to roll for the ranger. Unless he rolls another natural-20, he cannot hit the Dread Watcher with the heavy penalties for attacking invisible opponents. Of course, Nightwing throws a game changer into the mix. He has Greyson pull out his bag of dust he keeps handy and tosses it at where the Dread Watcher was! The invisibility is negated as is my attempt to reposition the Dread Watcher.

It just went downhill after that! Nightwing has his ranger toss the Sword of Conviction to JediWife’s elf while he pulls out Whisker and Fenis. I’m casting hold persons and hitting the PCs with the Dread Watcher’s paralyzing touch. I hit them with the fear aura. I even used the wand of suggestion, but to no avail! The three of them made every last saving throw!

The Dread Watcher got smacked about like a little league team against professionals because all of the player's dice were on fire! :shock:

I’ll describe the cleanup and the conclusion of chapter two of this fine DCC soon.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:40 pm
by finarvyn
JediOre wrote:The Dread Watcher got smacked about like a little league team against professionals because all of the player's dice were on fire! :shock:
A little "metagaming" here, eh? :P

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:36 am
by JediOre
finarvyn wrote:
JediOre wrote:The Dread Watcher got smacked about like a little league team against professionals because all of the player's dice were on fire! :shock:
A little "metagaming" here, eh? :P

Yea, we metagame quite a bit.

Boy was I disappointed in how the villain went down. I know in 3.X rules, as outlined, he had damage reduction of 10/blunt, but in C&C the lich does not have any real protection against weapons, at least not as written in the C&C Monsters & Treasure book. I ruled that since the Sword of Conviction was a +2 blade and it was meant to disable the Dread Watcher, that sword would get full damage. I had also outlined in my notes prior to us gaming that day that Greyson's dual blades, being +2 when used together, would be able to inflict two points of damage each upon a successful hit. I knew JediWife's character would be of little help in this battle, and was really expecting Nightwing to get a hit or two in, but not without succumbing to either the fear or the paralysis. I really thought the most damage would be from that wand of magic missiles from Ragnar1965's character. In my mind's eye, I envisioned a running battle throughout the sanctuary as the party retreated and re-grouped. I had the idea they may have fled back to the room of the ghost to have him aid in this final battle.

I was not prepared for them saving against everything I had the villain cast at them. I was also taken back by Nightwing's quick thinking about the dust. It was his Batman reflexes that got me! (And I would have got away with it to if it hadn't been for those meddling kids and their dog!)

It just goes to show one too not plan to detailed for good players will take the game in a different direction.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 10:25 am
by Nightwing
JediOre wrote:
finarvyn wrote:
JediOre wrote:It just goes to show one to not plan to detailed for good players will take the game in a different direction.

"Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions."

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:54 am
by JediOre
So the party headed out to re-join the Sword of Conviction and the Dread Watcher's body together in the only room they really needed to visit, the chapel.

Keep in mind, in real terms, it is approaching 11 PM Friday night and I was getting very groggy. The ghouls that had fled earlier were missing, I had removed them from the game. Although the undead spirit which controlled the ten villagers who were desecrating the chapel would have been a fearsome opponent, I was ever so thankful that Rangar1965 rolled a very high "turn undead" number and the incorporeal being fled beyond the PCs reach into the stone walls. The PCs ushered out the villagers and looked over the room.

They were taken aback by the corpse that was to make it seem the Dread Watcher was still held captive by the paladin's sword. They carefully examined the altar while Nightwing's ranger placed the real body and the real sword back into the wall. The elven lady found a secret compartment. A knock spell took care of the trap and the lock. Inside, the party was rewarded with two black pearls, a circular prism, and an evil looking skull. The skull was quickly dosed in holy water and smashed. The prism turned out to be a Lens of Detection, the very lens the Dread Watcher had alluded to! The players were very excited about the lens. It passed into Greyson the ranger's hands.

With the Defiled Sanctuary of Arden Brightheart cleaned out, the town of Blessings-Be was free of the controlling influence of the Dread Watcher. However, questions about who or what is Skullshank? What is this invention, the "Oculum," the Dread Watcher spoke off? Why does the master of the Dread Watcher need/seek the two gems the party now possesses? The Lens of Detection and the Eye of Night are powerful items in their own right, what could come of them being somehow parts of a greater whole?

Anyway, those are questions the players will be pondering as this line of adventures continues to open up.

Up next, I'll be posted our run through DCC #43: The Curse of the Barrens by Greg Oppenisano. We were able to tackle this next module on Saturday, October 30, 2010. Be on the lookout for the link!

Thank you for reading about our adventures.

Re: DCC 13--Dungeon Interludes, Chapter 2: My C&C Game

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:18 am
by JediOre
Here is the link to their next adventure:

http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/vie ... 372#p32372