Goodman Games

Thank you for the kudos Harley. I will admit that while I haven't played D&D for all that long (roughly 4 years of 5-6 times per year albeit marathon sessions), I have not had one of my pc's die. My ultimate goal is to not ever have that happen. I know that is not likely however. Jedi is about to take our main playing group to Necropolis, and our other dm is going to embark us on RA Reloaded. I'm sure much death will ensue on each. That being said, I hope I know when I'm about to embark on a suicide mission so I can avoid it

My loss of one of my npc's, while sad was bound to happen. I think of him as throwing himself on a grenade to save his comrades. He's been awarded highest honors from the rest of his group

One thing Jedi left out was my half-witted attempt to overcome the danger by tossing a couple flasks of holy water at him (thinking of course that the electricity mixed with the water would fry him). Sadly, this didn't happen, but I had to try.

So, now I'm running from a lizardman, I'm low on hps, I'm basically out of heals, and things are not looking good for the home team. I can't wait to see what I do next

Wednesday evening concluded:


So the party raced down the hall and turned the corner. Ragnar1965 had the party press up against the wall and the monk, who had the most hp if I recall correctly, peek around the corner to see what may be happening in the corridor leading to the stairs and the transforming lizardman. Due to the lightning arcing in the room just down the stairs the entire corridor experienced a strobe light effect. The smoking corpse of Richard lay unmoving against the wall opposite the stairs and climbing up the stairs and entering the corridor was the reed-bundle statues. I don’t remember how many there were but I do recall Ragnar1965 was not worried about taking them down if they continued to pursue the party.

The atmosphere was quite eerie. The roars of the lizardman, the sound of the electricity, the strobe effect, and the monotonous waddle of the statues as they brandished their weapons and marched along to engage the party is etched in my mind.

The party waited for the things to come around the corner before laying into them; which the PCs did with ease. The monk set them up and retreated while those with missile weapons softened them up. Then all set upon the constructs. The reed statues fell apart quickly and within a minute of the conclusion of this melee the corridor beyond fell quit and dark.

Ragnar1965 did a second take on that. What could THAT mean? Was the transformation complete? Was a really, really bad guy coming along very soon? As had become apparent to me by this point, and I wasn’t disappointed, when the going gets tough, Ragnar1965 sends in the expendable one – the druid! He has the druid peek around the corner to see what might be happening. The corridor was empty of enemies. The party carefully walks back down towards the dead man-at-arms and the stairway. Only the sounds of their footfalls can be heard. It was truly as still as a tomb.

They shinned their light source into the darkened water-filled room. There, near the dais floated the charred body of the lizardman! After some thought, Ragnar1965 had the party enter into the water and finding that most of them could wade through it, had they PCs approach the crispy corpse. No one touched it, but it was sure dead. The PCs spread out and look around for anything worth investigating. The cleric happened upon the ebony sword and Ragnar1965 had him pick it up. They also found the crown. They decided to hold onto both and scram out of here.

As the party left and was heading back to the room where the fight between the shaman and the king occurred, Rangar1965 had the dwarf look at the wall where water was coming out from under it. Sure enough, it was a secret door. Ragnar1965 laughed at that since he only had the dwarf do this on a whim. They open the door and go in. Well, they had discovered the “ancient treasure” the lizardman king had promised them. Sad to say most of it had been ruined by the high humidity caused by a small stream of water that had been seeping into this room for many centuries. However, untouched by the slime and dampness was a large, pumpkin-sized skull with five eyes….

Before anything further could happen, the monk grasped the sides of his head and between gritted teeth begin to whisper “Get out of my mind. You have no control over me!” He went down to his knees in agony. He squeezed his eyes shut and sweat poured from his body. He cried out and as suddenly as this fit started, the monk opened his eyes, stood up and said he was okay. I had Ragnar1965 roll a save, but he doesn’t know the outcome of it. The monk said the spirit of the demon-skull attempted to possess him, but the monk’s disciplined mind proved too much for this abomination. The dwarf and the druid secured the skull in a sack and, although the halfling almost got the job, the poor druid got the “privilege” of carrying the skull. The cleric cast detect magic and among a few other things, the black sword and the crown radiated magic.

Ragnar1965 was/is very excited about the sword and crown. This is where we stopped. Nothing has transpired since. When we get together next, a magic-user will be introduced and an identify spell will be used soon there after to find out about the sword and crown.

Harley, what do you think? I know we aren’t done yet, but I’ve had so much fun DMing this module. I hope you like what you’ve read so far. When we continue I will post the continuing adventure. Ragnar1965, what say you? Any additions or corrections?

ROFL - Who knew he'd end up being so tough! That's all pretty much the way I remember it. Still have no idea about anything that I didn't have an idea about before. Don't know what the pulsing is in the valley below the encampment. Don't know why the encampment is there or how to penetrate it without getting myself killed. Gonna figure it out though. Magic user will help, I think. Spells to infiltrate should be forthcoming. Your right about being excited at the prospect of 2 cool magic items.

This module will hopefull be picked up soon and we can come to a conclusion of this excellent module.[/quote]

I think you've done an awesome job, Jedi. Reading through your transcript always serves to remind me that the written adventure is the least important ingredient. A good GM and a good player are all you really need to make the magic happen. Your version of Legacy has been so darn cool to read. Can't wait to see how the finale closes out.

And, for the record, Ragnar has some awesome instincts. I'm sneaking a Ragnar trap into the next DCC I get to pen. Something where you have to touch the sanctified, holy corpse or everything goes bad.

//H

Harley, we finished it on Saturday!

I don't have time to go into details yet, but Ragnar1965 was joined by a newbie and my wife (she didn't get to game much with the kids needing attention). This new fellow will work well with my gang. He has only gamed twice in his life now and he seems to be developing a way with words. He got them inside the Forge with a good bluff.

I will say no more at this time.

Sweet. Have a great Thanksgiving. Can't wait to read the closing!

//H

The conclusion of DCC #17:


I fast forwarded the PCs from the Savage King’s treasure vault to the “Archway of Shadows” where the group was going to rest. Ragnar1965 was joined by a newbie named Zach and my wife. Zach rolled up a 5th level monk and my wife converted a 3rd level elven archer. Ragnar1965 “put away” his monk and his druid for the day to accommodate the other PCs.

Rangar1965 is very excited about the Savage King’s blade. I changed it to a +1 two-handed sword and from finite charges on the bolts to three times a day. Doh, I forgot to drop the damage from 6d6 to 4d6. [Terry, please change the damage.] Remember I said I will sometimes increase the quality of a magic item since Ragnar1965 won’t desecrate tombs? This is an example.

So the party is now made up of a 6th level dwarven fighter, a 6th level Halfling thief (Rangar1965’s all time favorite character), a 5th level magic-user, a 5th level cleric and Zach’s monk and my wife’s 3rd level fighter.

The party headed out from the Tombs and crossed the logs going towards the fort. On the way they encountered a vicious seven foot tall, cobalt blue skinned woman who said she was hungry for man flesh! Her finger nails were like talons and her teeth were horribly long fangs. The dwarf thought she should go without a meal and gave her attitude in the form of his magical axe. She proceeded to pick up the dwarf and chow down on him. She began to peel hit points off the dwarf like crazy. He went from 60 to zero (okay, not zero, but in the low twenties) in two or three rounds. The monk and the elf couldn’t harm this foul woman for anything. It fell to the cleric and his new great sword and the hobbit to take out the fiend.

Shaken, with all the cure spells the cleric could muster into the dwarf, the party progressed on. As they passed the hut of the late, crazy elf the elf heard the march of a procession army troop. A group of ten well armored elite orc warriors marched towards the fort. Orcs in my campaign are deformed beings, very much like the orcs in the Lord of the Rings films. They are all not one size, so this band, unlike hobgoblins, was not uniform in appearance. I also ruled these elite orcs have full helms, covering there ugly faces. This is important for later. The cleric called out to the troop. The lead orc halted the troops, peering through the mist trying to make out who was there. He ordered the cleric to come forward. The cleric replied by demanding to know who they were. The orc began to chuckle and stated they were an elite brigade from the Mountain King and they…Ragnar1965 cut off my statement by firing the clerics sword lightning bolt down the rigid column of orcs. All failed their saves and died quickly without so much a whimper.

More to come…

Wow, that is so fun to read!

"The smell of burnt NPC fills the corridor"

With your permission I might have to use that quote sometime in the near future!

Anyway, I'm set to run this module at the end of the month. Looks like this module will be a blast to run and a blast to play for the PC's!

I will be running it in D&D 3.5, so I'll see how that goes. I'll be sure to post my results here just like you did! Can't wait to see what happens next.

Slider33, knock yourself out. Feel free to mine my game for anything that will make your go of it more fun.

Part 2.

From this point the game moves down to Ragnar1965 and the green recruit. My wife’s attention became almost completely focused on our two little kids. Thus the elven archer became in essence an NPC ran by Ragnar1965.

The party examined the dead orcs and found a scroll on the lead orc. The scroll is revealed to be a letter. The letter is to the orc leader from “the Mountain King.” It is brief –

“Travel to the Forge and demand an explanation from Kyleth, the Witch Queen, as to why the shipments of blight blades have been detained. Remember upon reaching midpoint on the third bridge to speak in Common, ‘ All hail Kyleth, Mistress of the Forge.’ Signed, The Mountain King.”

Ragnar1965 remembered the screaming skull trap from the Saturday many months ago the party stumbled upon and many fled in fear. He wisely associated the trap with the “command phrase.” Nonetheless, he was still completely stumped as to how on earth the party could enter into the Forge. He remembered the humanoids that patrolled the walls with ever-watchful eyes. As Ragnar1965 will willingly tell, this aspect of RPGs is very hard for him. He always works better on intrigue or stealth IF he can follow someone else’s lead. The new guy simply didn’t have enough experience to know what to do and my wife wasn’t available to offer Ragnar1965 suggestions.

Since this was the case, I coached Zach, the new guy. I tried to get him to put himself in such a position. “How would you infiltrate an enemy base? Forget the fantasy element of the game for a minute. What would you do?” Zach didn’t know a gnoll from a kobold which made him feel he couldn’t have any good ideas, as near as I can figure. However, once Ragnar1965 and I explained to him the simple fun of the game and to use his mind, he began to get into it. I think we may have a player who will excel at Bond-style play!

The party suited up in the dead orc’s armor. The dwarf and the halfling teamed up. She rode atop the dwarf and they rigged up some branches to aid in the illusion of shoulders and arms inside the armor. Otherwise the group filled out the armor fairly well. They decided to place the dwarf/hobbit in the middle to help disguise them further.

In this manner, as a group of elite orcs, the party approached the gate of the Forge.

To be continued….

The party approaches the gate. Staring down from above the closed gate are several humanoids. The elf confirms the outlines to be of a couple gnolls and several kobolds.

Ragnar1965 has the dwarf shout “open the gate in the name of the Mountain King.” A gnoll calls down from above asking who they are and what do they want. Ragnar1965 has someone else do the talking, as it dawned upon him the dwarf’s disguise would certainly be blown if he drew any attention to himself.

Zach’s monk came to the fore and acted as the “spokes-orc.” The monk declared them as a group of the Mountain King’s elite troops. They were here to speak with Lady Kyleth and no one else, so get moving. The gnoll disappeared while the others looked on with great interest.

After several moments the great gate begin to slowly rise. A group of kobolds labored to raise the gate with the use of ropes. It took a full ten minutes to get the gate raised to its fullest extent. All the while the gnoll whipped the kobolds shouting at them to get the lead out. The party did not move until the gate hit the top. At that point they marched in attempting to appear as a well oiled military machine. [Although, Ragnar1965 said, in jest, that the Halfling tickled the ribs of the kobolds straining to hold onto the ropes that kept the gate in the raised position.]

The gnoll with the whip told the kobolds to lower the gate and demanded to know what the orcs wanted. The monk again said that they were here to see Lady Kyleth and the message was for her only. The gnoll clearly wasn’t happy about it. Zach was still new to all of this. We encouraged him to recall how the orcs and their ilk acted in the Lord of the Rings movies. Yelling and an in-your-face attitude is what this type of creature reacts to. The monk would have known it as well. As the day progressed, Zach’s “roll playing” just kept improving.

As a side note about C&C, I love the fact that no one had to worry about how many skill points a PC had in bluff or diplomacy, nor did I have to make all sorts of opposed rolls. Only once or twice did I make an Intelligence check or other such thing if I felt the monster had a chance of seeing through the deception by smell or simply the party didn’t act very orc-like. This came down to how well the gamers could construct a good bluff. It was wonderful. The gnoll had no intention of pressing his luck with this band of orcs. The said they were orcs, they dressing in the elite orc garb of the Mountain King and they wanted to speak with the Witch Queen. He was more than happy to pass this up to the next in command and let the ogre make the call. And that’s what the gnoll did.

The gnoll instructed the party to remain where they are and he turns and heads further into the camp. While the party is waiting they begin to take in their dismal surroundings. The kobolds are lowering the gate, and their only way out of the enemy base, as slowly as they raised it. The walls have several humanoids with ranged weapons pointed at them. But the sound coming from the slave pits to both sides made them feel real unease.

Sorry this is coming piece-meal. I don’t have the time to spend writing this all down at once, so I post what I can when I can. The end is coming!

Congrats on easing in the new guy, Jedi. That's great. I hope Zach is having fun.



Well, played, Zach and Ragnar! Love the dwarf/halfing combo.



Muhahahhaha. Nicely done, Jedi. Great tension.

//H

The party waited for several long minutes, not sure what was coming next. At this point my wife was able to rejoin the group and got the low down. All made sure to inform me the “group of orcs” were not under the path of any boiling oil so they advance slightly away from the now shut gate.

They debated among themselves if they should go for it and just attack, but that line of thinking ended quickly. Zach wanted to see what was going on in this place and, frankly, so did the others.

The gnoll returned with a monstrous ogre who hefted a sledge hammer like a normal man would a regular claw hammer. He had a massive leather apron on, and Ragnar1965 pegged him as the smith they could hear outside the fort. The ogre wanted to know what the mighty orcs from the Mountain King wanted from the Forge. The monk declared his message was for the Lady Kyleth only. The ogre, some twenty feet away, bellowed back that his mistress was not to be disturbed right now. He would address any problems they had.

The monk (Zach) told the ogre the shipment of blight blades was late and they didn’t see it on the way to their stinking hole and he was going to see her one way or another. (He was getting into the “orc role” rather well by this point.) The ogre lifted his hammer as if he was going to throw it at the lead orc, but the monk (lead orc) shouted back that if this place wanted a fight with the Mountain King, bring it on!

That pretty much took the wind out of the ogre’s sail. He cow-towed to them at this point. He said that truly Lady Kyleth could not be disturbed as she was doing some magical ritual or study or something he didn’t understand. It would be the life of anyone who disturbed her. He also said since they know the Witch Queen and the Mountain King seem to be very close, the King may overlook her killing an elite corps of his troops.

Not sure what all that meant, Ragnar1965 and my wife looked at Zach and said, “now what?” Zach’s PC, the monk, quickly had a solution: “Fine. We will stay the night in this place. We demand our own quarters, NOW!”

The ogre, at a complete loss as to what to do, commanded the gnoll to get his flea ridden brethren out of their barracks to make room for the Mountain King’s troops. The gnoll with the whip was not happy. He growled at the ogre and said several foul curses in gnollish. The ogre grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifted him off the ground and roared up to the gnoll over the gate, “Get your filth out of the barracks NOW!” Simultaneously the ogre hurled the struggling gnoll into one of the slave pits. The kobolds watched on with dread and glee in their little evil hearts. The gnoll on the gate came down very quickly and raced away further into the compound to comply with the order. The ogre looked to the “orcs” and said, “It will only be a few moments my lords before a room is ready for you. Please forgive our misunderstanding. Lady Kyleth wants the Mountain King to know he has our full cooperation.” All the while, the party can hear the gnoll down in the pit trying to get out and the horrible cries of those poor souls in there as well. This is NOT a nice place.

Oh wow, that is really well played by both you (the DM) and the players. I am learning a lot from this play-by-play! Hopefully it comes in handy in my session

Nicely done!

The ogre escorts the party further into the Forge and the PCs witness the gnolls coming forth from their barracks. The party sees the entire complex and is intrigued. The smithy is of interest as is the elevator at the edge of the pit. The single building with no windows and two gnoll guards instantly gain their attention. This is clearly where the “Witch Queen” resides in their opinion.

The gnolls breath threats under their breath as the “orcs” proceed by. Into the barracks they go. The ogre says he will see to it food is provided right away. He bids them a good rest and exits the room, all too happy to get out of the watchful eyes of the Mountain King’s crack troops.

The players all debate about how on earth are they going to keep up this charade. Ragnar1965 states they must keep on their orc armor at all times while my wife is against it since her elf can’t do much good in this bulky armor. For that matter, the dwarf and the hobbit certainly can’t stay much longer. Both are getting tired and cramps from the piggy back and oversized armor. The dwarf is having problems breathing in there! They look about the room and decide to pile up all the “fixtures” to make a cover for the party to rest behind while keeping one person dressed up as an orc in front of the cover. The elven archer takes first watch. It isn’t longer than thirty minutes before a rapping occurs on the doors to this building. The party begins to get back into their disguises ASAP. The elf opens the door and in comes two kobolds holding a pot of stew with bowls and spoons. The kobolds keep their eyes firmly fixed upon the floor. They approach and offer the stew. The monk, fully decked out in orcish armor, thanks them gruffly and inquires into the state of affairs here at the Forge.

I wish I could remember what Zach asked, but I can’t. The long and the short of it was his monk made overtures to the kobolds to fetch the kobold leader, if they had one, for the gnolls had proven their unworthiness before the Mountain King’s elite. If the kobolds wanted more than this mud hole they would do well in paying mind to the orcs, for the Mountain King is generous to those who obey. Keep in mind that the monk can speak draconic which did nothing but improve the kobold’s opinion of the orcs. They bowed all the way out promising to relay the message to Torgo the Eye Gouger. The players all had fun with that name. They snickered for a bit over it. Zach was coming to grips with just how low kobolds are on the “D&D food chain.” All began to discuss what should they do. Zach said his plans are to cause a fight between the gnolls and the kobolds. He seemed to pick up on the fact both factions disliked each other and it was only by fear of the ogre and this mysterious Witch Queen they didn’t try and kill each other off. Zach truly came into his own, as will be seen very soon. I was impressed. The party did well and no one has any idea no living orcs are within miles of the Forge.

Sorry the posts have stopped. Life is very busy. I will finish this soon as I hope to begin a new thread this year.

we want more!

I’m at lunch at the moment and needed a diversion from work. So:

The party decide against eating the soup. The meat in the broth was unknown…. They really are at an impasse. All three players are afraid of staying, but are worried about how many enemies there are in the Forge. As they debate about what to do a knock is heard at the double doors. The elf, still in disguise, opens the door and in comes another kobold -- Torgo the Eye Gouger. He comes before the orc leader, aka the monk. Torgo says he understands the kobolds have found favor with the mighty Mountain King’s warriors. Torgo never quite makes eye contact. He keeps himself in a position of a servant. The monk continues to act at the orc leader. He tells Torgo that the kobolds MAY find favor with him and through him the Mountain King.

Again, I simply don’t remember the exact conversation but it went something like this:

If the kobolds will pledge their loyality to the Mountain King and the elite orcs who act on behalf of the king, the kobolds will be recommended to the king upon the orcs returning home. The gnolls may very well attempt to betray the king by attacking the orcs this very night. If this comes to pass, the actions the kobolds take will prove their allegence.

Torgo becomes very excited at this. He asks what the orcs will do if the gnolls prove false to the king. Zack uses his Emperor voice and says, “Wipe them out; all of them.” Torgo questioned in a smarmy way as to how six orc warriors could defeat over a dozen gnolls. By this point the cleric had come around dressed in orc armor and displayed the Savage King’s sword saying by this blade and the weapons of his companions.

Torgo says, “You have my pledge of loyalty.” He lifts his hand and cuts across the palm with a dagger. He offers the dagger to the monk and says, “let us seal this pact with blood.”

Whoa! Did I see fear and concern on Zack, Ragnar1965, and my wife! They had no idea what to do. Zack was worried about the fact he would have to take his gauntlet off and expose his all-to human flesh to the kobold. Ragnar1965 and my wife were concerned about what would happen with this “blood pact.”

The monk removed his gauntlet and took the dagger and cut a slash across his palm. They then grasped hands. Human and reptilian blood co-mingled. If Torgo noticed the orc warrior’s hand was decidedly not orcish he didn’t let on. (In point of fact, Torgo had no idea he was dealing with a man. The illusion of elite orc warriors had completely fooled the humanoids at the Forge. Torgo saw an orc hand because that’s what he expected to see.) Torgo bowed and backed out of the building.

Ragnar1965 and my wife wanted to know why Zack said the gnolls would attack. Zack’s answer was along the lines of “it sounded good at the time.” I think he figured he’d send the Halfling thief out of the building to do some looking about and see if she could provoke the gnolls into fighting the kobolds. Rangar1965 reminded Zack the only cleric had no spells left. Zack didn’t get it, still being new. They clued him into the importance of healing spells. My wife’s elf however, had plenty of healing potions so the plan began to be hammered out. They didn’t get a chance to finalize it. The gnolls had seen Torgo come and go. They had had enough. They had been booted out of their hall, and now these pig-nosed, cock-o-the-walks were making plans with the lower-then-dirt kobolds. The gnolls came together and rushed into the hall where the PCs were.

Five gnolls were in the room before the Halfling could react. She was seen and the gnolls knew they were going to be fighting a much different enemy. Even more so when an anger dwarf with a big axe came charging around the piled up stuff with murder in his eyes.

More to follow.

Taken off guard by the orcs not being orcs, the gnolls hesitated. The three in the building were quickly engaged in combat by the monk, dwarf, and cleric. The remainder of the gnolls pulled back out of the building and began shouting, first in gnoll than in common, “Intruders!”

The Halfling thief crept along the wall of the building and slammed the doors shut and barring them to prevent the gnolls from launching a second attack. The three gnolls inside put up a valiant fight, but between the dwarf, cleric, monk, and a few well placed arrows from the elf, all died.

Meanwhile, outside in the Forge, the kobolds made their move. While the gnolls shouted intruders, the kobolds rushed from their hut shrieking “Long live the Mountain King” and “Betrayers” in both Draconic and Common. The kobolds attacked the gnolls mistaken as to what was really happening. The gnolls returned the favor with gusto! The hate between the two groups ignited into open warfare. The chaotic gnolls forgot about the true enemy to attack the kobolds while the kobolds continued to press their attack thinking the gnolls had planned to kill the orcs and claim the orcs started it.

All of the above occurs in roughly six or seven rounds. On the next round, the Halfling peeks out through the doors and is watching the melee. Out of the building the party suspects the Witch Queen lives in roars the ogre! He is in rough pajamas, has on gauntlets and carries a massive sword. The ogre bellows out “Order! Fall into line NOW!” The gnolls and the kobolds continue to go at each other. The ogre makes his way through the fighting cold-cocking gnolls and kobolds with the hilt of his sword. The ogre gets to the “orcs” building and bangs on the door yelling for them to get themselves out here and help restore order.

I remember Zack saying, “This is it.” And with a huge smile on his face, he has his monk, still decked out in “orc”, throw open the door and stride out as only a king’s elite trooper would. Ragnar1965 and my wife both agree that the time for disguise is almost over and hold their characters back preparing them to charge out and attack the monsters. So the only PC still in orc armor is Zach’s monk.

By this point the ogre has, by and large, got the fighting to stop. He doesn’t care a wit for the dead or dying, stepping on the wounded or dead without hesitation. The living and able begin to form lines. The ogre demands to know what has got into them. The “orc” confronts the ogre declaring this mud pit unworthy of support and the ogre a worthless leader. The ogre came and stood toe-to-toe with the monk. I made sure Zach understood his character’s head only made it to the ogre’s waistline. The monk wasn’t scared. The ogre and the “orc” exchanged a few words and the whole thing looked very bad since the gnolls were ready to “assist” the ogre in explaining who’s in charge here.


More to come (I’m getting close to the end).

.............the tension is killing me..............zach is a kick butt player, ready to throw down ......love it. i need to scan back over the last entry and see if they had time to rest and get new spells........

ragnar's "haven't lost a PC yet" code of honor: don't fail us now!

and jediore must be the best DM ever. will you be running any games at gencon?

please?

Ahh, wow. I've never been told that before. I need to go soak my head.

You have no idea the amount of grief I'm going to get when Ragnar1965 reads that. He'll see to it personally to pull my feet back to earth!

Thanks for the praise. We just have fun as a group of friends. As far as ever running an adventure at a Con, I think I'd freeze up in terror!

The “orc” continued to press his luck by continuing to degrade the ogre. The ogre’s face began to contort to one of complete rage and he raised his sword intent on cleaving the “orc” in two.

Torgo and his kobolds started to move away from the increasingly aggressive gnolls and the fight that surely spelled doom to their hopes. They retreated to the gate and started to climb the walls intending to not return. [Torgo has plans to travel to the Mountain King and relay what occurred in hopes of finding some form of power the craven kobold can use.]

Meanwhile, the ogre swings his mighty sword at the monk. Zack’s monk turns on his ring of shielding and is able to block the blow. He uses his gauntleted fist to punch the ogre and the fight begins! The gnolls begin to rush the monk when out of the “orc” building come Ragnar1965’s magic-user and cleric. The magic-user has a single 3rd level spell memorized – lightning bolt. The cleric still had two uses of lightning bolts from the Savage King’s sword for the day to boot. Both fire their bolts of electricity over the head of the monk and squarely into the ogre. He is blown back by the intensity of the attack. The monk follows this up with two blows which continue to weaken the massive brute. The ogre swings again, and again he misses. The elf archer places an arrow right into the chest of the ogre and another attack from the monk kills him.

Several things occur immediately upon the firing of the two lightning bolts:

1. The gnolls realize they are outclassed and flee the way the kobolds went not even looking back.

2. The loud report alerted the Witch Queen that she can’t rely on the ogre to “take care of the problem” and begins to prepare herself for an attack.

3. A strange and terrible evil presence is felt by the party members. It is as if something very wicked had awakened.

With the ogre dead and the enemy in full retreat, the party (who hasn’t sleep and has almost no spells left) race towards the Maw to see what lurks below. Ragnar1965 has come to the conclusion the demon skull must be deposited at the bottom of the Maw to end the curse and complete his task. Currently my wife’s elf has the skull in a backpack. They all agree to have the elf descend into the Maw using the lift. He could ward off any attacks with his bow and the rest of the party could defend the lift system. I think the plan was to have one other PC go with the elf. However, the elf became overwhelmed with agony for a brief moment. He regained his senses quickly and suggested we try a different approach away from the Maw. He said he had a sudden insight as to what was going on here in the Forge. Of course this was a bold-faced lie. The elf had been possessed by the demon skull and the evil entity was doing every thing in its power to get away from the Maw.

Well, the players didn’t fall for my ploy, not even for a minute. The dwarf demanded the elf to hand over the skull. When the elf refused, that was the proof the elf wasn’t himself. The elf notched his arrow and threatened the party to back away. The lady hobbit rushed in and cut the leather strap from the backpack and tugged it away. She got an arrow for her bravery. She tossed the pack away from the elf and into the hands of the monk. Zack’s monk than lobbed the evil thing over the heads of the party and deep into the Maw.

All of a sudden the entire place became subject to earthquakes. The party raced away from the edge of the Maw as the lift system broke away and fell into the collapsing Maw. They had to drag the confused elven archer.

The buildings and the walls collapsed and a still darkness reigned over what moments before had been a nightmarish lair of evil. Sadly the poor souls in the pits near the entrance all died being buried alive. Some would argue that was merciful considering how bad off they were. However, the party wasn’t finished yet.

Suddenly the group hears movement from under the rubble of the supposed Witch Queen’s lair. The dwarf’s dark vision allows him to see two disheveled elvish women along with an ugly goblin crawling out from under the remains of the building. One of the party lights a torch to get a better view. The moment I mentioned the sharp eyed elves see a small demonic creature conferring with one of the women, all bets were off. The players knew how desperate they were with no spells left and here was the powerful “Witch Queen.” Ragnar1965 and my wife didn’t wait to see if surrender from her was an option. Ragnar1965 had his cleric use the last lightning bolt from his sword in a 10’ path to capture all four villains. Let me just go on record as saying I wanted SO bad to fudge my saving throws, but I didn’t. All but the goblin failed. Ragnar1965 rolled some hot dice and big damage was called for.

Sadly, that’s how the leader of the Forge died along with her apprentice and the imp. The only creature left standing was the goblin. My wife’s elf remedied that for me. A well placed arrow finished him off.

Much celebration occurred among Ragnar1965, my wife, and Zach. They had completed one of the finest modules I’ve had the privilege to DM. The large spell book has been claimed by Ragnar1965’s elven magic-user and the interesting rune in the back has peaked his interest.

Thus ends the adventure Legacy of the Savage Kings.

Thoughts and commits are welcome. Harley, how did your play testers do things?

Thanks to everyone who spent the time to read through this long thread!

Huzzah!

...going toe to toe with Graah(!!)...
...puzzling out the quest in the face of demonic possession...
...infiltrating the Forge disguised as orcs...
...comitting to a battle with Kyleth with nearly all resources exausted...

Very, very cool.

Well played, Ragnar, JediWife and Zach. And the highest kudos of all to JediOre. What a finale!

JediOre, I’ll have to see if I can’t get some of the original playtesters to post. The quick answer is that I always send a manuscript away for blind playtesting --- the GM and players don’t have any more knowledge of the game than they would if they had bought it in a store. The down side is, I don't see the actual session, just their notes for where the adventure breaks down.

Again, all that said, congrats. What a fantastic game and what a fine way to introduce Zach to gaming. (From, “What’s an orc?” to “I step to the ogre and show him who’s boss,” all in one adventure.)

Jedi, this has been my one consistent read for the last several months. Thanks for taking the time to make the posts. I can’t wait to read about the next adventure your group plays. It’s inspiring even, and makes me want to begin posting my own sessions. But they won’t be half as cool as this one.

//H

I also need to put in a plug for the artists whose work graces this module. Both the handouts and the pieces in the module itself.

Excellent work. I think good art work in a module inspires the DM and are often overlooked when praise is given to a module.