DCC#21: Assault on Strombringer Castle

[CharlieRock]

We started running DCC21 last night. Less then successful overall. The team tried to strom the gate and all the reinforcements showed up. They were very stubborn but eventually had to retreat after getting trapped in a watchtower. Some gargoyles were coming down from the top, while some ogres and a hill giant were pushing past the melee guys guarding the door. The team used a passwall scroll and made a desperate escape.

The rogue's player is rerolling a character (PC went into retirement after this scene) and another player is rolling up another cohort (to replace the one that died in the Fortress of Badabaskor).
After some regrouping the team will attempt to pass the gate again next week.

[JediOre]

I always thought a party made up of nothing but high level magic-users would rock in this module.

But that's just me.

[CharlieRock]

I always thought a party made up of nothing but high level magic-users would rock in this module.

But that's just me.

Depends. This group has a dang-gone Teleporting Pyromancer (along with a Daggermage, and a Spellthief) and still walked right up to the gate. They rocked all right. Hill Giant rocks (pun!)
At one point the Spellthief actually spidercrawled up one side and down the other to open the gate. All the while a Hill Giant and two ogre buddies watching him (this was about midway through the battle). The rest of the team was a) invisible and retreating from one watchtower to the next b)barracaded inside a watchtower by the gate or c)outside the gate waiting for the Spellthief to lift off the bar so they could push the gate open.

Needless to say the Hill Giant watched bemused as the Spellthief went over to the bar and just as he was about to lift it (and fail his Str check)... *splat* by thrown rock and *chunk* from the ogres' javelins.
The spellthief knew the three bad guys were standing just inside the other tower by the gate watching through the doorway (open).

That and the Paladin running right up to the outside of the gate to bang on it (while the Teleporter took himself and a fighter into one of the watchtowers) let me know I was going to be in for one Big, Long Fight.

[ChristinaStiles]

Hey, thanks for the posts. I had been wondering how GMs were faring with my module and its sequel.

I'm still GMing the Aftermath of the the Storbringers' downfall in my home campaign. The power vaccuum that ensues has been great fun. Lord Griz (now 15th level), who had taken over the castle as his own, has had his hands full with a push from the north from other giants who think they can move in now that the nasty storm giant family is gone. Then there's this enclave of devils who, having brought forth massive armies from these open portals peppered throughout the area, have taken over two of the surrounding towns and are also making a massive push to take over the region.

And the party still hasn't met Daddy Colossus Stormbringer.

[CharlieRock]

I bought this module mostly because it looked neat early last year. I've been hanging onto it waiting for my team to get to the right levels (now they range from 11-13).
So far, it was worth the wait. I'm having fun.
I plan on playing part 2 soon after this one.
There were only two parts, right?

[ChristinaStiles]

So far, it was worth the wait. I'm having fun.

Great to hear!!!! I had fun with it myself.

I plan on playing part 2 soon after this one.
There were only two parts, right?

Yes, only two. Joseph and I discussed a third, but it never came to be (mostly because of situations in my life at the time). The third would have dealt with the son (being an underwater adventure) or the colossus (adventuring within the massive construct to kill the spirit within).

As I mentioned, in my campaign the colossus has still not be encountered, so he still remains a threat. Because I hit the area with major monster problems caused by the Stozari Stormbringer’s death, the whole “power vacuum” thing (hill and fire giants, devils, oh and pirates…forgot the pirates earlier—and there is even an island enclave to Orcus growing up not too far from them), I decided to make the son a possible ally instead of another threat. He’s the black sheep of his family, being CG and all. He’s made his home underwater some miles away from Argalis. He does aid the humans of the area somewhat: he did help protect some of the nearby island kingdom from fully taking the brunt of the hurricanes, since they were innocent bystanders in Stozari’s war with the city-states.

So, as you can see, Lord Griz, who has taken it upon himself to become the authority in the area, forging the city-states into one united nation (a major task in itself), has his hands full. He could use an ally. Griz heard rumors crediting some good deeds done by Stozari’s son, and so decided to approach the storm giant (very humbly and diplomatically) to gain his aid upon the seas.

That’s what’s happened so far. Note that my Argalis is not on Aereth. I run a campaign that’s mainly based on two continents, one of which contains the Arch Duchy of SpirosBlaak (which I published as Bizzaro Games with Green Ronin) and has Freeport off the coast. The people of Argalis are not as advanced as the Spirans, so they don’t have the black powder weapons of the others. Having recently learned about the other continent and its technological goodies and some magical advancements, the characters intend to make contact there to gain more fire power against their enemies.

[CharlieRock]

More firepower never hurts. Blackpowder weapons lose a lot of the real life advantages they have in D&D, but they are still really neat to have. When I played old boxed set D&D we were set in Blackmoor with all the clockwork, sci-fi/fantasy things there.
I was hoping the colossus would figure into the sequel. But I can develop that later and use it as the big level 20 adventure for the campaign! (we are going to take a break at level 20 and do other games for maybe a month or so. Then start up a Castle Whiterock campaign either using it straight from the box or modified for C&C).

[ChristinaStiles]

I was hoping the colossus would figure into the sequel. But I can develop that later and use it as the big level 20 adventure for the campaign! (we are going to take a break at level 20 and do other games for maybe a month or so. Then start up a Castle Whiterock campaign either using it straight from the box or modified for C&C).

No, the sequel is dealing with the daughter, who is building a massive ship off one of the islands--her own little conquest plot.

I think the colossus would make an excellent encounter for a 20th-level party. Go for it! Also, I would love to hear how your party progresses through the modules. If you get a chance, please post.

Christina

[CharlieRock]

Sure.

We had another go at it last night.
Roll Call:
Half-dragon Paladin 10
Half-dragon Fighter 10
Human Sha'Ir 11 (cohort, class from Dragon #315, Dragon Compendium vol.I)
Half-elf Bard 13
Half-elf Ninja 2/Daggermage 3/Sorceror 6
Human Sorceror 11

MIA:
Human Druid 11 (player cancellation)

The team started out in grand fashion. They teleported to the top of one of the back towers and managed to take out the guards before alarm was raised. Second tower (the other 'backside' tower) much the same, if faster for the practise.
Then the team fired three fireballs into the barracks. Only one damaged enough to go through the ceiling (3 seperate spots hit). This woke up the garrison.
The team had disabled the door to the tower they were in, and fired many missle attacks at the tidal wave of ogre barbarians that poured from the barracks at them. But eventually there was too many to keep from climbing the tower and swarming the top. So the team got swarmed.
After much battle the wave of barbarian ogres receeded. The heroes still held the top of the tower, no casualties, and only nine ogres from the entire garrison remained (all gargoyles and hill giants from level 0 KIA) to retreat towards the castle.
The team again teleports, this time right in front of the surviving ogres. A quick battle finished them off. Then the team "rogue" (the daggermage) picked the greenhouse doors and so they entered (finally) castle Stormbringer.
They gave up on a plan to ignite the greenhouse plants and sit outside hoping that would smoke out the occupants.
The gardening Ogre Mages confronted the party at the area they were marked for this. It was in this battle that the team noticed they were almost "dry" on spells. And the lack of any real HP replinishment (wands and potions were used up last week at the battle for the gate) meant bad news for the good guys. The team killed two of the gardeners but had to teleport away with four players in single digit HP and a fifth at about 33% health. The fighter still had a lot to go, but wisely decided to catch the teleport train to (temporary) safety.

So now what would a Stormbringer do?
I'm thinking one would notice in short order the complete lack of a garrison of ogres and hill giants (maybe a minute longer or so to notice the missing gargoyles). That and the reporting ogre mages would inspire me (if I were a Stormbringer) to search the island for any adventurers (they are docked in a flying boat down low to avoid detection by tower lookouts).

[CharlieRock]

This ended the campaign here. The team, after recklessly taking on the entire garrison in an all-out brawl, went back to their boat to camp.
Mrs. Stormbringer and a few cohorts followed that night and hit the (severely) weakened party.
TPK.
This for some reason has upset a player or three. I guess their position is something along the lines of "We should be able to charge the castle blindly and camp back to strength in peace," or something.
I don't know. Somebody took me up (finally!) on my longstanding offer to step down as the DM for awhile.

[moriarty777]

This ended the campaign here. The team, after recklessly taking on the entire garrison in an all-out brawl, went back to their boat to camp.
Mrs. Stormbringer and a few cohorts followed that night and hit the (severely) weakened party.
TPK.
This for some reason has upset a player or three. I guess their position is something along the lines of "We should be able to charge the castle blindly and camp back to strength in peace," or something.
I don't know. Somebody took me up (finally!) on my longstanding offer to step down as the DM for awhile.

May you enjoy your time off from being a DM!

M

[GnomeBoy]

...Mrs. Stormbringer and a few cohorts followed that night and hit the (severely) weakened party.
TPK. ...

That's always been a difficult thing for me to judge: when is it cool to let actions take their 'natural' course and stomp on a party of PCs?

I know players have the most fun when they're hacking the villains/monsters to pieces, but it seems to me that's even more satisfying after the baddies have trashed the heroes at least once. Cake walks can be fun, but not to the same degree. I prefer the 'Spy vs. Spy' mode, myself...

Mr. Rock, were your players mutinous, or merely dissatisfied...?

[CharlieRock]

They weren't mutinous. They were disappointed. And it's not like I took the first opportunity to run out and stomp on them. They hit that army full-on twice.
I don't know if they either forgot or just lucked through, but usually they camped at good times and places. This was not one of them. In a boat. Just offshore of the island. Right after going toe-to-toe with an entire army.
I will appreciate being a player for awhile. I was starting to have real issues with running the system anyway.

[ChristinaStiles]

They weren't mutinous. They were disappointed. And it's not like I took the first opportunity to run out and stomp on them. They hit that army full-on twice.
I don't know if they either forgot or just lucked through, but usually they camped at good times and places. This was not one of them. In a boat. Just offshore of the island. Right after going toe-to-toe with an entire army.
I will appreciate being a player for awhile. I was starting to have real issues with running the system anyway.

Hey, CharlieRock, sorry for the late response (been swamped with writing) and I'm sorry about the TPK. This was a dangerous adventure, no doubt. Nobody likes a character to die (or a whole party for that matter), but it happens. I think the difference for my group was they had teleporting powers, so they didn't just camp out near the mountain. Thus, Stozari didn't know where to find them to stomp them out for good--though they had some deaths throughout the adventure, for sure.

I hope your group comes around. Tell them to blame it on me, if it helps.