Goodman Games

Ragnar,

I hear you about the shadows. I have the same frustrations born out of AD&D. Hope the rest of the adventure goes well.

Nice work on the croc, BTW. Bummer about the save.

//H

Monday evening continued:

The party waded through the crocodile’s watery lair. I asked Ragnar1965 if he was prepared for any threats but he said no. Nothing else is going to be in the water with such a monster so they moved through quickly. The tunnel forked and he had them take the western tunnel. After traveling along in the murky water, the party came to a landing. The landing is man-made. Ragnar1965 is sure this links up with the large double doors they had seen earlier. At the south end of this underground landing/room a flight of grandiose stone stairs leads upwards. With the dwarf in the lead and the druid with a torch, up the party goes.

About mid-way up the dwarf can see the shadowy shapes of large barrels resting at the top of the stairs. I remember seeing the puzzled look on Ragnar1965’s face. Immediately the dwarf recognizes two lizardmen behind the barrels. The dwarf begins charging up the stairs. The lizardmen overturn the barrels and rank smelling fish oil spills down the stairs and covers the feet of the party. The rest of the party then sees a light torch tossed from the top of the stairs tumbling end over end in a graceful arc to land in the midst of the party. The oil bursts into flame!

The party is undeterred by this tactic and climbs the steps through the flame. The dwarf is up the same round the oil ignited so only took one round of damage. Initiative is rolled and the dwarf, much to Ragnar1965’s delight, scored high. Thirteen lizardmen wait in the room at the top of the stairs. The dwarf is out numbered, but in true dwarven fashion, goes in swinging with his great axe. The next round the halfling, cleric, and druid press through the fire and enter the room. They each have had two rounds of fire damage and are not in top health (except the hobbit thief as I rolled poorly on her damage). The lizardmen focus attacking the yelling dwarf and the human cleric with the two-handed blade completely ignoring the hobbit. That changed after the lizardmen saw the damage the thief was doing with her quicked magic short sword. The lizardmen delivered a severe beating to the party.

By the end of round two the cleric had single digit hit points and one of the men-at-arms had succumbed to the fire damage. Round three had the monk and the remaining man-at-arms enter the room. After three rounds of fire damage, both were hurt badly. The monk engaged the lizardmen attacking the cleric to give the cleric cover. Richard, the man-at-arms, went completely defensive and tried to attract the opponents to attack him.

The druid and the monk couldn’t hit the side of a barn in this fight. However, it would seem the dice understood the dwarf had much pent up rage from the humiliation at the log bridge. He was a wreaking machine. Lots of damage in the teens range. Keep in mind that although the dwarven fighter is 6th level, in Castles and Crusades, he still only gets one attack around. By the end of the battle, all the lizardmen were dead, one of the men-at-arms (Monte the Moor) was at -9 hit points, and two of the PCs were in the negative hit point range. (I think it was the druid and the monk but Ragnar1965 may remember it better.)

All in all this was the most difficult fight the party had encountered so far. This fight displayed the faster rounds that Castles and Crusades has. It had the very same feel that first edition AD&D fights had: quick and intense. Very little time was spent in figuring out how to best use the rules of combat to maximize bonuses. I loved it. It took ten rounds of combat after the dwarf rolled for initiative and about 15 minutes. In Third edition, this fight would have been over around round six as multiple attacks and cleave would have come into play. However, I think the fight would have lasted longer in real world time by roughly 30 to 45 minutes.

More later….

Well, would've liked to comment on a couple thing Jedi said earlier, but work has been crazy. Yes this was the toughest fight to this point in the module. It was a blast of a fight to tell you the truth, and probably better than it would have been in 3.5. Jedi's contention that this fight would have lasted 6 rounds in 3.5 was not accurate, I don't believe. The fighter would've gotten 2 attacks per round, had great cleave, and triple dmg rather than double on greataxe crits. The halfling's +2 shortsword of speed would've remained a +1 keen shortsword of speed, giving crit range of 17-20 (rather than the straight 20 in C&C). She would've been feinting on every attack to try and get the extra 6d6 sneak attack damage. Druid would've had multiple summon spells and a pet wolf that would've been in the fight. My guess is 3 rounds tops, depending of course on rolls. He is correct about the time factor however.

Guess that's more than anyone wanted to know about my opinion on the differences between 3.5 and C&C.

Adventure is still cool Harley. Fights are getting a little tougher...can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

Sorry the update has been slow in coming. I promise to get to it as soon as possible.

One of the things the PCs noticed in the fight with the lizardmen was the “brand” upon all their chests. The fact that it appears to be 5 eyes and the Savage King statue had a depiction of a monstrous skull with 5 eyes does not go unnoticed by Ragnar1965. I’m not sure if this mark spooked him or simply made him curious.

Ragnar1965 had the PCs heal up and he debated if he should have them retreat to the “undead archway” or continue to explore. The cleric used most of his cure spells and many potions of cure light wounds were used to bring the PCs back to full after that major battle. I had the halfling rogue and the druid bring up the fact that if the party retreated they should expect the remaining tribe to come hunting for the PCs. The lizardmen know the swamp and can hunt by scent to boot. That was my little nudge to press on. If the party had retreated it would have been the end of them. I’d have smoked ‘em out of the hide out (literally) by having the lizardmen set a large bonfire just outside the entrance to the “undead archway” and waited for the party to run out into a line of javelins. When only one person is being the player, I will offer advice as a “devil’s advocate” since, in my opinion, it is so important to have two players just to keep from one of them making a silly, and lethal, mistake. If you have two players and they both agree on something stupid, well, when the blind lead the blind they fall in a ditch by their own doing. As Ragnar1965 will tell you, not all my advice is good or even advisable. I merely attempt to bring in a position that one of the PCs would likely have and is different from the player.

Anyway, the party loots the lizardmen and finds nothing of value. They carefully cut a hole in the reed curtain and have the dwarf, with his deep vision, peer through to see what he can see. A statue of a large man wielding a spear resting upon a dais is all the dwarf can see. This statue is carved very much like the one the party found in the swamp and defeated. There is no doubt in Ragnar1965’s mind this tunnel complex is of the Savage King’s make and time. Perhaps a temple or tomb? The party tears down the reeds and heads over to the statue. The dais proves to be a pool of water. They see the gold disks and the runes on each. The dwarf, monk and the druid approach to look closer at the statue and the disks. As they do a disturbance in the water is noticed by the lady hobbit and she unsheathed her elven short sword and proceeded up the dais as well.

A cool fight occurred between the water elemental and the four on the dais. Sadly for the elemental, three of the four have magical weapons. However, having the dwarf drug down by his beard into the water by the water is a cool mental image. The monk and his +2 staff really shined in this combat, which more than made up for his poor showing against the lizardmen. He used his staff as a double weapon with all the minuses that come from it. However the 20-sided proved to by the monk’s ally and rolled high numbers. He never missed in the five rounds of combat. The dwarf only fought for the first round before he started fighting for air. The druid had nothing to harm the elemental with and he knew it. The hobbit keeps slashing with her blade and hoped it did something. Let’s face it, the PCs had a hard time knowing if their weapons did much of anything since the creature didn’t bleed or cry out in pain. Ragnar1965's persistence paid off and the water elemental lost its form leaving the pool normal.

Here’s the cool thing about Ragnar1965’s game play. I’ve mentioned his odd reaction to undead, but when it comes to tombs and ancient cultures he often has his PCs not desecrate or bother them in any way. He knew the gold disks were worth quite a bit of money and may have been magical to boot, but he had the party leave everything alone. This sometime causes him to miss neat magical treasures, but I think it’s so noble, that on occasion, what he does find may be a bit cooler than it may have been otherwise. (Terry, ignore the preceding comment).

Next the party heads down the southern corridor in search of more lizardmen. They ignore the partially buried door because the DM didn’t do a good job of explaining it was accessible. They round the corner and find a small rivulet meandering its way deeper into the ancient tunnel. The dwarf explores the wall where the water is seeping in from to insure it is structurally sound. He gives it an acceptable grade. The halfling smells cooked meat and the party heads east to find it. They find several lizardmen smoking meat and a quick fight breaks out. Nothing fancy; the villains go down fast. They each have this odd brand on their chest. The party looks about and finds nothing of value. A door is in the north wall and a fancy, if I remember right bronze, portal is in the east wall. To the south, the tunnel continues downward and the rivulet flows beyond their torch light. The party opens the north door and sees the unstable room. The carcass of a lizardman resting under a dislodged stone is not enough to tempt them into the room. They close the door and focus on the bronze door to the east.

The halfling rogue checks for traps and finds the door to be sealed. They break the seal and enter the room. They see a large owlbear (presumed to be stuffed) surrounded by the reed figures wielding silver spears. The owlbear stirs to life and inititive is rolled. To Ragnar1965’s surprise the owlbear attacks last. They pelt this creature with loads of damage. The dwarf hits with his great axe, the cleric with his two-handed sword. The monk and the hobbit attack from the side both hammering it. The druid stabs with his wolf spear and the men-at-arms both spear the beast. The total damage was significant. It doesn’t seem to be bothered by the damage. It finally gets to attack and returns the favor with a vengeance. In one round the dwarf’s hit points are cut by more than half. Ragnar1965 wasn’t expecting that! The men-at-arms drop their plain spears and get the fancy silver spears. Everyone attacks again and each does good damage. Still, the owlbear doesn’t seem to be fazed by it. This time the cleric feels the wrath of the beast. By the end of round two the dwarven fighter has under 20 hit points and the cleric is hovering around 3 hp. Ragnar1965 is unaware of the exact nature of the owlbear and is becoming concerned. He attacks with the party again but withdraws the cleric. On the third round, the fact that the owlbear is a zombie becomes self evident and Ragnar1965 now understands why no blood is coming from the wounds. I had him scared. The owlbear misses this round and on the forth round the thing falls apart.

That is where we ended on Monday night.

That is so cool. Hmmm... need to write that into an adventure some time. A reward for leaving the sacred stuff well enough alone.

Although, for Savage Kings it might be a little problematic. Hope this doesn't cause issues later on...



Yow.

Thank you, Jedi, for taking the time to post these. I know they take up time that could be spent otherwise. I love reading them.

Harley,

No problem. You're half the reason I post these. I know how enjoyable it is to get feed back on something you've written.

I've very glad you like what you see. I hope I'm giving the module its due.

You're gonna laugh, but I got this gooberistic philosophy from The Goonies. If you've seen it, when they finally find One-eyed Willie's ship and treasure they begin looting. After all, that's why they came. Sean Astin's character finds the skeletal body of One-eyed Willie sitting at his table with a number of jewels sitting on a rudimentary scale in front of him. Sean Astin is obviously taken by the once fearsome pirate. As one of his friends go to grab the jewels sitting in front of Willie, Sean Astin grabs their hand and tells them that those were Willie's. They were to be left alone. Of course, as the bad guys show up and proceed to loot everything, one of them grabs these jewels which releases the final trap. The cave begins trembling and the wall opens up and the ship sets sail for open sea. I've not seen very many things cooler than the picture of the old fashioned clipper ship come sailing out as all the residents are standing on the shore celebrating the fact that they are all reunited with their kids. The look of awe on everybody's face was priceless.

Anyway, got a little off the subject there, but that explains my actions somewhat. Silly maybe, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Owlbear fight was a blast. By far the toughest fight so far.

Having withdrawals where this module is concerned. Can't wait to get back to it.

We had a short run this night as the group we are in training with went out to see "Jazz-in-the-Park" and to have dinner at Buzzard Billy's. Very good Red Beans and Rice!

The PCs emerge from the fight with the undead owlbear worse-for-the-ware. The party is getting low on cures. The wand of cure light wound makes the rounds. Ragnar1965 noticed the door back in the entrance room, since I brought it back up and told him it was accessible, and decided to send the troops to this partially buried door. After digging it out the PCs open the door and enter the room.

The three disturbing altars stood before them on the far end of the room. The halfling checked for anything suspicious on the floor before the party entered. They work their way over to the altars and Ragnar1965 contemplates the illustrations for a bit. He asked if these busts were done in the same cultural design as the two earlier statues the party had seen. As anyone who has seen the hand-out will tell you (whether it was by intention or not) these three busts are carved in a very different style from the others. Thus I played up the alien nature of these horrific busts. By this point, Ragnar1965 had taken a dim view of the C&C Druid class and decided his druid was the most expendable. So the druid became the guinea pig for touching the altars. Note how Ragnar1965 respected the barbarian statue but, as you will see, these disturbing busts will not be given any respect. I have ideas as to why, but he didn’t explain himself.

The druid chooses to touch the bust covered in boils and pustules and remove the offerings. He feels something horrible invade him. As if a wet-blanket were tossed upon him. He doesn’t know what it may be, but it isn’t good. Next he repeats his actions on the bleeding bust. Nothing occurs to his person. Lastly he takes the offerings from the skeletonal altar with no noticeable ill effects. After this the druid pushes over all the busts completely desecrating the room.

The party leaves the room and returns to the corridor with the rivulet flowing deeper into the complex. They follow the water and come to a set of ornately engraved bronze (copper?) doors. All examine the doors and one of the men-at-arms (Richard) notices the hidden meaning concerning the re-birth of the Savage King and its references to lightning. The party continues forward.

Rangar1965 didn’t like the dug-out, muddy tunnel that opens up to the left of a second set of large, sealed, bronze doors. However, this tunnel is the only way to continue further into this dungeon so the party marchs into the muddy tunnel. They encounter two large constrictor snakes and another fight occurs. Because it was getting late by this point, I don’t remember much about this fight. Hopefully Ragnar1965 can fill in some details. I recall one of the PCs scoring a natural-20 and another PC getting coiled by one of the snakes. That’s about it.

We stopped after the snakes lay dead in the muddy side room and the party posed to press on.

As soon as work calms down I'll get to Wednesday's game day which is the last day we have adventured in this module.

I see lots of hits on this thread and would love to hear from anyone who has adventured through what we've explored thus far. Were your experiences similar? Please don't give anything away however!

Harley, have I been keeping the flavor of your creation?

Jedi, you're doing a fantastic job. Better than I could have hoped for.

I'm dying to see how the ending comes out.

//H

Okay, this is from memory from events that occurred back in June and the module is at a friend’s house who took it to GenCon and we haven’t connected yet:

Wednesday, the last day at the hotel

We picked up with the heroes leaving the dead snakes to writhe on their own. The party moved forward into the dug out tunnel and came to an immense memorial hall that the lizardmen had desecrated with years of rubbish. A dim light was far down the hall. The ominous drumming they had been hearing echoing through out these old caverns was much louder here. They PCs doused there lights before entering and poked around the corner to see what the dim light revealed. Off in the distance was a single lizardman beating a large drum -- the cause of the noise.

Rangar1965 figured it would be a bad thing to kill the drummer so the party didn’t venture down that way. Using the dwarf’s deep vision, they looked around in the alcoves on the east side of the hall. It seems that the hall is some form of burial chamber/memorial hall. True to Ragnar1965’s way, he didn’t have the PCs investigate the tombs other than to see if anything was loose on the floor or perhaps a concealed door tucked away in the back of the alcove. The new ropes on one of these ancient coffins perplexed him, but he wanted to “leave well enough alone.”

The party heads down a dug out tunnel to the east and enters a room with a pit. At the bottom of the pit was a large lizardman armed with his trident. The lizardman asked to be freed from the pit. He explained that he was/is the chief of the tribe and was deposed by the priest and his warrior stooge. The king offered to show the party ancient riches and promise safe passage if only they would free him to seek out the usurpers and dispatch them. After some discussion about if the king could be trusted (of course the king can be trusted – he promised). Ragnar1965 has the king toss out his weapon which the monk will hold onto for surety. They then help the lizardman out thinking the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Will this move prove to be a good idea? I’ll get to typing the next installment soon!

You're killing me, Jedi. What happens?!

//H

Whaddya mean killing you? I can't wait to see how it ends!

I'd like to say I had a great motivation for pulling the lizard king out of his pit, but I really don't. I figured the only ones that could have thrown him in there really were Lizardmen. He spoke common, which to me meant he was at least semi-intelligent. I figured, "what the heck". The worst that could happen is that I kill a king and have a new Trident to play with : ) Best thing would be a Lizard king ally the rest of the way through the dungeon. But alas, after not charming the croc/alligator (can't remember which) , I was determined to try and find an ally! That was the motivation. We'll see how it turns out in the next installment.

I have this image of a druid poking his way through the darkness, asking "Will you be my friend?"

Shame about the crocs, really.

//H

I agree that the druid is weaker. I allow them to spontaneously cast their few summon spells (the first is at 3rd level, I think) and (mostly because they are theonly healer in the party) I allow them to spontaeously cast heal spells. I find this more helpful than unbalancing.

Another thing I did is adapt the Shaman (druid) from Dawnforge, to where they turn into an elemental of their choice, that can't be changed (its treated like an affinity), then at 8th level they get to turn into a Treant.
Once each per day, and I allowed a duration of 10 minutes per level. They go by class HD.

I'm debating on allowing them to change form as much as they want, just worry about total duration per day. Then I have to decide what to do about healing. Maybe one HP per level per day, instead of per change.

So they still aren't as powerful as 3E (there not supposed to be, the power scale is much lower in C&C), but they defintely have more "kick" to them.

I am glad I stumbled on this thread. I like C&C and like reading 3.5E players reactions.

Now, I just have to pick up he Known World...must have now.....noowwww....

PeelSeel2, glad you found it. I'm all over Castles & Crusades. The only way they'll get me to DM D&D 3.5 again is by gun point. I haven't had so much fun being the DM since I was lured away from 1st edition AD&D back in 2001/2.

Anyway with out further adu, here is part two of Wednesday's game:

Wednesday, Part 2:

With the lizard king in front, the party follows him to locate the shaman who deposed him. Ragnar1965 isn’t sure if this creature is trustworthy or not. He wants an ally but the five-eye brand on the beast’s chest warns the party that this lizardman, like the others, have an “arrangement” with Something Bad.

The group moves west and enters what must be the main chamber. Close to the entrance point is the lizardman shaman and his group of guards. Far beyond, on the other end of this room, stands the new king. The party’s lizardman king demands to fight the shaman and looks to the party to return his weapon. The group of guards, to Rangar1965s surprise, backs away and awaits the outcome of this battle. The monk tosses the weapon to the king and initiative is rolled. I wage a battle behind the DM screen.

Without all the complications of 3.5 combat to bog me down the fight moves at a rapid pace. As the dice land I’m describing what is happening between the shaman wielding his cool metal claws and the warrior prowess of the king. I’m sorry to report I forgot all about the flames that should have enveloped the shaman which would have taken the fight scene to a whole new level! The shaman got off a few spells since attacks of opportunities don’t exist but to no avail. The lizard king scored blow after blow on the shaman. While the fight was occurring, the guards slowly surrounded the two combatants without so much of a hiss of emotion. This behavior completely puzzled Rangar1965, and he kept his PCs on alert for trickery. A group of lizardmen entered from the northern passage, drawn by the fighting. I can’t remember how many there were, but I came close to doubling the amount listed in the room. (Plans of a grand fight are in the making). The newly crowned lizardman stayed on the far end of the room watching with what I described as a mixture of lizardly fear and anger. Finally the shaman is run through and it dies in a fiery display. The lizardman king roars triumphantly and demands all bow to him NOW! All do with two exceptions. The now ex-king tears out of the room running pell-mell farther into the crypts and the PCs don’t move. The dwarf says its time to show the party where the ancient treasure is since they fulfilled there end of the bargain. The king says he’s right and (remember most of what is being said is in common) he says something is his own language. Then the newly arrived group forms a line on each side of the party. The dwarf asks what’s going on, the whole time Rangar1965 is shaking his head saying these guys are in so much trouble. The king says his people are forming an “honor guard” to see you “TO YOU DEATH!!!”

New fight, and new initiatives are rolled. The shaman’s guard provides a protective circle around the king while the new group encircles the party. So using a planetary model (and WHAT’S up with Pluto losing its status as a planet!) the lizardman king is the Sun with the guards forming Mercury’s orbit, the PCs orbit of Venus, and the new group of lizardmen as Earth’s orbit.

What a fight! The lizardman king uses his reach weapon to attack without worries of the PCs getting back at him. The guards all use clubs and have shields. The outer group of lizardmen go at it with claws and bites. Remember the PCs have used most of their cure spells and few are in perfect health. I wish I could relate the battle in detail. It has been too many days since the fight. I recall it was stellar with the men-at-arms stabbing through the guard ring attacking the lizardking with their new found silver long spears. I recall the monk trading blows with the lizardmen on the outer ring, but that’s about it. The fight lasts longer than any previous battle had. We waged war watching the enemy bodies pile up and seeing Rangnar1965 worry and his PCs precious hit points dropped one by one into the single digits. To his credit, not a single PC or man-at-arms fell below zero hit points. They teamed up either going back to back or fighting defensively to increase their AC. The dwarf and the Halfling did the most damage. I am happy to report the fight ended to Rangar1965s supreme delight. The dwarf landed a nasty blow with his great axe to the cranium of the treacherous lizardman king, cleaving his head in twain!

All bodies were looted and the monk donned the shaman’s metal claws and is excited about trying them out during the next combat.

In the next installment the party is going in pursuit of the fleeing lizardman.

This is so much better than anything I could have planned. Still terrified about the next encounter, but can't wait to read how it goes down.

Single digit hps + grand finale = bad news.
//H

I mentioned in a prior post that I thought that the fight on the stairs would have been much quicker and deadlier for the lizardmen in 3.0/3.5. In that same vein, I think this fight would have been much more dangerous and much deadlier for my pc's in this fight. So, this fight became my favorite to date in this module. Had a blast and was worried about my pc's there at the end. I know I've said this before, but "Great job Harley!".

Thanks for the kudos, Ragnar, but I think it really rests with Jedi.

I'm really worried about the final encounter. On the edge of my seat.

//H

So the party, low on hit points but high on combat, proceed to follow the fleeing lizardman ex-king further into the Savage Kings crypts.

Ragnar1965 has the PCs tread carefully, I suspect he figured a trap was overdue and having the PCs chase after the lizardman smacked of “pit fall.” The dwarf noted the water seeping under the west wall of the corridor but ignored it in purset of their prey.

As the party continued carefully southward alone the slimy, watery, downward sloping corridor they begin to hear traces of … weeping? Could it be the lizardman was somewhere up ahead crying? I think Ragnar1965 thought that was funny. Anyway the party didn’t get into a hurry for anything. They carefully approached the sound a head in the darkness. As they came to a bend in the tunnel, they dropped their light sources and relied upon the deep vision of the dwarf. Once his vision adjusted, the dwarf saw the lizardman ahead with his head resting on his hands while he set upon stairs leading further down. The party passes up a bow and arrows so the dwarf can pop him from a distance if necessary. They then precede holding onto the one in front of them.

As the party nears the lizardman, he notices their approach and roars something in his native tongue and leaps down the stairs into a pool of water. The dwarf also sees a large hole at the end of the corridor, the kind of hole PCs are suppose to fall into if they are rushing along a slimy-wet, downward grade tunnel. Ragnar1965 was quite proud of himself.

Meanwhile the lizardman had swum to the far end of a large room in which a dais lay above the water line. The dwarf, using his deep vision could see what was occurring. Atop that dais is a kingly chair and a skeleton of a man slouched in the chair. The skeleton still wore a crown. The lizardman emerged from the water and climbed atop the chair. It was apparent to the dwarf; the lizardman could not see him or the party in this darkness. What to do? Rangar1965 thought about this for a few moments. He didn’t know how deep the water was or really how dangerous the villain was. The dwarf called out to the lizardman. He offered him a truce if he knew where the ancient treasure was. The lizardman spoke in common and told the dwarf he’d never be taken alive and that he would take the secret to his grave. That did it for Ragnar1965! He’d tried to get an ally several times so far and with no luck. This was the last day at the hotel and it was getting late. The lizardman had just signed his death warrant.

The dwarf took aim with the bow and fired. He missed. Fire two! Missed again. The party light there torches and proceeded to head down the stairs to find out if this water was manageable. They had had enough of these cold-blooded monsters. The lizardman could now see all seven of the party and felt he was in dire straights. He had dropped his weapon when he fled upon the death of the shaman. This dead husk of a king beside him on the dais had a sword. The former lizardman king thought it right to fight to his end with a kingly weapon so he tugged it from the dead man’s fingers and brought it up to bare at the party.

That’s when things got interesting.

Lightning burst forth from four stone statues of dragons sit at the corners of the room along the ceiling. The four streams of lightning converged on the lizardman who shrieked in terror. The party stopped at the water’s edge. Ragnar1965 asked me to explain what happened again., “Did you say four streams of lightning shooting from the ceilings corners and all striking the lizardman?”

Yes.

Lightning?

Yes. The scream of horror has been replaced as the lizardman begins to rise above the dais as is actually floating above the dais by about two foot. You instead hear lizardly laughter. Evil laughter.

Evil laughter?

Yeh, you know the kind villains use in a sci-fi-fantasy movie when they are being overwhelmed with power….

Ragnar1965 chuckles. He always chuckles when nervous or gets the feeling he’s in over his head.

The lizardman, bathing in a penumbra of electricity, raises his sword towards the east wall and it collapses. Several scarecrow-like figures emerge from the other side and begin wading towards the northern stairs and the party. Now the lizardman begins to point the sword toward you…

Rangar1965 is very clear at this point. His party of epic heroes has seen too much. He says, “They RUN!”

Initiative is rolled. The dice can feel the concern Ragnar1965 has for his PCs so they all roll quite well. All but one beats my roll. The man-at-arms Richard is the sole party member still on the stairs when a huge burst of lightning rolls through the room and lashes against the stairs. The rest of the party sees the charred corpse flung back away from the stairs and strike the far wall. The smell of burnt NPC fills the corridor. All caution is tossed aside as the party races away from this transformation of a single lizardman into something much more sinister. They hear the shouts of power coming from what once was a mortal. But it is very clear that these words could never have come from a flesh and blood body. The sounds came from something beyond this world. I think Ragnar1965 wanted to see the level requirements again on the cover of the module.


My next post will conclude the adventure that we covered while away on a business trip back in June. We haven’t had a chance to game in this module since, but more awaits Rangar1965!

I applaud Ragnar's dungeon delving instincts, and his willingness to cede the day if it means saving party members. Well played!

//H