DM's notes: Game 8

For this game, Dave had rejoined to play, but #8 was still incapacitated. Due to the fact that the players had saved Tep in the previous game, I gave Dave the option to play Joplin (the older gnome they had fought alongside against drakes), or Tep. He chose Tep. It worked quite well I think - bringing a different flavour to the battles, and of course Dave played Tep as a passionate but diplomatic goblin contrasted perfectly from #8's frigid de-humaned guardian figure. The story opened a bit also - now the party are showing interest in what's going on and how they can influence it - which is interesting. Hammond was meant to seem a menace through his bravado and talk, but was actually just pig-headed and over-extended himself.

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Hammond, Level 4 Gnome Soldier

HP 51, Bloodied 26

AC 20, F 16, R 17, W 16

Initiative +11, Perception +3

At will, Standard: Attack +10 vs AC. Hit 1d8+4 (crit 1d8+12)

Recharge 4,5,6 Standard: Become invisible until next turn, shift 2, make basic attack (as above)

Encounter: when Hammond takes damage - teleport 3, make ranged attack: +7 vs AC. Hit 1d8+4

Daily, Standard: Target 1 enemy who is granting combat advantage

Attack: +10 vs AC. Hit 2d8+8 (crit 2d8+8)

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Tep - Frost Goblin Hexer

(based on goblins taken from monster builder, tweaked by me for use as a character)

I did this on purpose, as I believed that doing it this way instead of through the character builder would give a different style. David gave me the idea to do it this way, and I was happy with it.

HP 55, Bloodied 27, 8 healing surges of 13HP each.

AC 20, F 17, R 17, W 18

Speed 6 (ice walk)

Saving throws +2

Resist 5 cold, poison

low light vision

acrobatics 2, arcana 1, athletics 2, bluff 1, diplomacy 9, dungeoneering 11, endurance 3, heal 2, history 1, insight 3, nature 2, perception 4, religion 2, stealth 11, streetwise 3, thievery 3.

Feats:

Slowed strike - any creature that hits Tep is slowed until the end of their next turn

Frozen fighter - all damage dealt by Tep is cold. On a crit, deal 1d10 ongoing cold (save ends)

Kobold fighter - shift as a minor action

Weight of Ice - If a target is hit by a slow effect by Tep while already slowed, they become immobilized. If slowed again, they become restrained.

At will powers:

Hammer Smash - Melee +10 vs AC. Hit: 1d10 +4 damage

Icicle Throw - Range 10, +8 vs Fort. Hit: 2d6+3, target is slowed (save ends)

Combat Manoeuvring - When missed by a melee attack, can shift 1 square.

Quick Reflex - When targeted by a ranged attack, can change the target to an adjacent creature

Encounter powers:

Frozen lake - Burst 3 within 10 becomes ice, and is considered difficult terrain for all except ice-walkers. Any enemy which starts in the zone takes 1d6 damage.

Recharge powers:

Painful movement (recharge 5,6) - Range 10, +8 vs Will. Hit: 3d6 damage if target moves during their turn.

Daily powers:

Binding ice - Target 1,2 or 3 adjacent enemies. Attack +10 vs Fort. Hit 2d10 +4 damage, restrained (save ends)

Game 8: The Plight of Mr. Pump

Bob, Brickface, Graf, and Taka have escaped. Rufus and Altus saw them take to the hills with their own eyes. Hammond, however, was a different story. He had locked the townsfolk in the town hall to burn, set a trap on the water&power plant, and then seemingly vanished into thin air. The Guard of Blackwater fortress did a sweep, but they found no sign of him. The party gathered by the town hall. The last areas in the fortress to be searched were nearby; Carlana's house (for which permission was required to even enter), and Rufus' house (which had been too close to the town hall fire to search previously). The town hall fire was now down to a half-hearted smoulder, and Rufus' house had survived unscathed.

Altus, Enbel & Echo enter Carlana's house with her permission and do not find Hammond - but do find a note that indicates that he had been there:

Dearest Carlana,

You're not worth killing. Your pathetic leadership is what has allowed this to happen. Enjoy rotting in this tomb that you have built for yourself, and all your people that remain here with you. Shame - a kobold is your best asset... but not for long.

Love,

Hammond.

They then check Rufus' house, and find nothing. Tep, standing outside with some of the Guard, notices a glint of light from under Rufus' porch. He tells the others, and on inspection it turns out to be a trap - what looks like a bomb set to fire shrapnel up through the wooden porch. The group manage to disable it before it does any harm - it had obviously been intended for Rufus.

There follows a discussion on the best course to take following the recent events. Rufus and Erik agree to look at #8, and suggest that the others go to the Save Point to see if they can find any information on the operation of #8. Tep offers to come with them, a show of friendship after the consideration shown him by the party, and Altus in particular. He says that he would do well to repay their respect, since Altus saved his life. Tep tells his daughter to do what she feels is best. She decides to go home, and 5 of the gnome guard offer to escort her back. Tep, stamping his authority on the situation, turns to the guards and says:

Tep: " Very well, but if any harm comes to her, I know where you live, and I have broken in before..."

They leave for the Save Point - Tep, Echo, Enbel, and Altus. On the way, Echo stops by the bomb-rigged door they had earlier disposed of outside the fortress, and left a pictogram trying to explain to their illiterate imp friend Clomp that the bomb on the door would cause an explosive and painful death. They continue onwards to the Save Point. When they get there, the door is open. As they pass through, a metal divider - a portcullis - smashes down, sealing Echo, Altus and Enbel inside, and Tep outside. From behind, Tep hears someone approach.

Hammond: "I always have to clean up Bob's messes"

Tep: "When I'm done with you, Bob will have to clean up your mess. That is - the mess that is you"

They begin to fight. The others, trapped inside, attempt to raise the portcullis - but they can't do it by force, and they can't find a switch. Then, their attention is turned sharply towards their own well being as a trio of kobolds stride into the room, menace gleaming in their dark eyes. Although taken initially by surprise, Altus, Echo and Enbel turned the tide in a short period of time - aided by the fact that they have now seen a number of battles together, and are ever more adaptable to each others style. At the same time, Tep fought in a pitched battle that he never looked like losing. Hammond's arrogance had led him clearly to bite off more than he could chew. Despite Tep's usual diplomatic and calm (for a goblin at least) demeanour - he fought fiercely, and true to his word he finished Hammond on the ground, stomping his head and body into a bloody unrecognisable pulp long after the life had left his body.

After the battle ends, they find the switch to open the portcullis. The 4 step into the facility, careful to walk around the kobold bodies and the smoky wreck of a fight which had involved thrown furniture, fire, and one notable oil drum explosion. They comb through the facility, which seems to have been ransacked since the party were last there. A room which seemed equipped for holding magic artifacts was left empty of anything it may have contained. Realisation dawned on the original 3 that the kobolds had likely used #7 to lure them out of the Save Point in order to get at the artifacts. But why hadn't they just killed them while they were in stasis?

Making their way into a control room, they find a small book - Module #8 - what you need to know. It seemed to be divided equally in content between advertisement and actual scientific data. It seemed to be a proposal for the introduction of 'living constructs' into use in Save Points. It pointed out the usefulness of having 'human intelligence' on hand to help, in case anything went wrong with the AI of the other modules. It proposed use of a living construct as Module #8 in every save point. It was signed off by the proposer of the idea - Teksin Rockefeller - the mayor of Firestrong from the time when the 3 went into stasis. Before they had time to finish reading through the book they were surrounded by more kobolds. Younglings - like their initial battle at the door, but in greater than double their numbers this time.

The only way out was through the door they had come through, which was heavily guarded. They had come downstairs to get to this room, so there were no windows - just a huge steel box around them, and the knowledge that they would have to fight to escape or else die in this tin-can tomb. They take the battle to the kobolds with the resolve which can only come with do-or-die situations. Altus hangs back to cast a ritual. His telepathy allowed him to sense a nearby rodent, and his ritual allowed him to send that rodent with a worded message to a nearby ally. Of course, the nearest ally was Clomp.

Clomp, it's Altus.

Dead gnome in save point.

Also lots of animals.

Help us kill some kobolds there, they're yours.

Also - you can eat this rat.

At about this time, the party collectively notice a number of different colour patterns on the floor - at about the same time they notice 2 sealed booths with kobolds, and 1 of them flips a switch causing the red areas on the floor to gush out flame. So red for fire - not very inventive, and easy to remember. Tep uses ice magic to coat the floor with a slippery icy top, hindering his enemies, but not having any effect on his movement. Another blast from the fire floor melts part of it away. Echo, showing her usual disregard for pain and danger, pursues kobolds meticulously while ignoring the floor patterns completely. She is hit by fire, and electrocuted numerous times, but all the while her foes drop one by one, and she moves on. Tep stays mobile, dancing back and forth on the areas of the floor still caked by ice- landing hits on one, then another, then seemingly cart-wheeling across the room impossibly to strike another. Enbel busies herself with kobolds that stand between her and the booth closest to her. She manages to muscle through the crowd and get inside a booth. This seemed to begin to turn the fight in the party's favour. For his part, Altus found a large piece of ground devoid of colour (and therefore of traps), and held the line, viciously defending against any who ran at him. All the while, he could feel the presence of impish minds approaching ever closer.

Clomp appears through the console behind Altus, with 2 of his impish cohort. At this point Altus cedes the safe ground and runs forward into battle with his imp-tourage. The kobolds' courage is flagging and when the party commandeer the second booth, victory seems a foregone conclusion. A lever is pressed opening a huge pit, and a kobold falls in and is trapped. After all the other kobolds are dispatched, Clomp and the other 2 imps open this pit, jump down and finish the kobold, exiting the pit covered in viscera, and slightly wild-eyed.

Altus thanked them for coming so quickly to assist. They finish reading the #8 book, and from this discern that special tablets are used to give #8 its organic power. A quick search and they find a huge bag of these pills. They then decide to make their way back to the Blackwater fortress. For once, the short journey through the once-town of Firestrong passes without an attack - but not without incident. The imps, having taken their leave when the party were searching for the pills, are gathered near to the bomb-door. They lure a goat onto the door, which explodes. The imps celebrate, giving each other meaningful looks, high fives, and generally making noises of satisfied achievement. They then start scavenging the pieces of goat-shrapnel nearby, and eating it. Some of them have pieces of the goat actually land on them, or very near, so they savage it and look for seconds. The party are amused and impressed by their ingenuity.

They meet Rufus and Erik inside the front gate. Tep decides to take his leave, and head back to the goblins before his warmonger brother gets the wrong idea and raises an army against the fortress. Altus puts a tablet in #8's mouth. Rufus asks Enbel for her emberflare moss - a magical moss which will burn endlessly without being consumed. Between himself and Erik, they have retuned #8's mechanical components to run on steampower. With the emberflare moss, this will never require more fuel - just an occasional top up of water to allow for any loss through #8. As the water comes to a bubble, Rufus closes the chestplate on Mr. Pump. Lucidity returns to #8's eyes.

#8/Pump: "Where is Carlana, I'm ready for this meeting!"

*End of Game 8*

DM's notes: Game 7

This game was fun - it had a heavy role play element. I used maps as visual aids, but there was only one proper "encounter" as such. I recycled the prison maps from the previous game for use during the interrogation scene. I also had the map of part of the front of the fortress from the goblin attack during game 5. I added to this by making another map showing a cross-section near the back of the fortress, including a residential area, Carlana's and Rufus' house, the town hall and the water&power plant. I was surprised at the party opting to interrogate all the prisoners, but I think it all played out very well. David wasn't around to play #8, but I had planned to have a game without #8 in it anyway - as part of his personal story development.

Ivan, a friend with a similar enthusiasm for D&D was free on the day in question, so I invited him to come along and he took up the role of Rufus for the game. I think this really changed the party dynamic a lot, and it allowed this game to stand out as a bit different from some of the others. I'll definitely have Ivan play again in future if he's free.

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Items awarded: Game 7

Echo: Armour enchantment

Daily, minor action: You shift 5 squares and must end the shift adjacent to an enemy.

Enbel: Alchemists Fire (x3)

Standard Action: area burst 1 within 10.

Attack: +10 vs Reflex.

Hit: 2d6 fire damage.

Miss: Half damage.

Enbel: Armour enchantment

Daily, minor action: Gain resist 5 to all damage for 1 turn

Altus: Majestic Gauntlets (arm slot)

At will (special), minor action: You may use majestic word an extra amount of times per day equal to your CHA modifier.

Altus: Armour enchantment

Daily, minor action: until the end of your next turn, deal 5 damage to any enemy that starts or moves adjacent to you.

Altus: Cone of silence

Daily, standard action: and area within burst 2 of the cone is completely soundproofed. From the outside the area is completely opaque.

Rufus: Stun Visor

Property: If hit by a daze or stun effect, it lasts only 1 turn, even if the effect is save ends.

Property: If the wearer is stunned, it is downgraded to dazed.

Property: If the wearer is dazed, it is downgraded to slowed

Rufus: Blast Patch (x4)

Standard action: Set the patch in a square.

Trigger: A creature enters or walks adjacent to the square where the blast patch is set

Attack: +12 vs Fortitude

Hit: 2d8 damage

Miss: half damage.

Game 7: The Jailbreak

While in the prison, Erik came and brought the party some armour he had been working on for them. Carlana reappears and they talk - she asks them to question the prisoners. They agree, and she leaves. #8 leaves to scout the immediate area to make sure nothing else unexpected happens - they've had enough surprises to do them for quite some time.

It was decided that they would question the prisoners one-by-one, starting with the youngest. Rufus led the questioning, but was assisted by Altus and Enbel. Echo had no interest, and allowed her mind to wander while the others occupied themselves with their task. Rufus led every questioning with the same line -

Rufus: "So... how long have you been a part of the plot to overthrow the government?"

Starting the questioning with the youngest prisoner turned out to be a good idea. The young gnome - known as crossbow - insisted that they had no idea that Graf and Taka were planning to attack Carlana, or mount a coup. At first, he even insisted that Graf and Taka couldn't have been the ones to attack her. But he relents as Enbel is quick to point out that Carlana had left Graf and Taka locked up, while they were the ones asked to do the questioning. Carrying out the questioning in the crowded prison was made private through the use of a magic item that Carlana had left with them - a cone of silence. Crossbow went on to tell the party about the exclusive 'group' that the prisoners had all been a part of. They were a group of 5 guards, and 3 army members that would meet up - usually on the 2nd night of the full moon - to escort Graf and Taka to certain locations outside the fortress. He assumed they were meeting someone, but they never saw anyone else. He gives them the list of who is on the team, when prompted by Rufus:

Crossbow, Zepor, Rick, Golden, Shuffels, Brickface, Bob, Hammond

Previous Members: Evron (Golden's Dad), Vincenss - both passed away.

All of the current members were part of the battle and are now incarcerated, except for one - Hammond. The party take this information in stride, but decide to continue interrogating the others, instead of searching through the town for Hammond. Next for questioning is Brickface, one of the army members. He lives up to his name and refuses to talk. The interrogation takes a turn towards torture as Altus gets in Brickface's face, and slaps him. Rufus threatens him, and Enbel and Altus join in mocking his sexuality - calling him homosexual as he has no family. Brickface is resilient, and refers to Graf as "The Boss". He won't give them any more information, except to assure them that there were only 7 in the group (going against what Crossbow had told them, since Brickface did not mention Hammond). Rufus questions the intelligence of lying to your captors, then sends Brickface back to his cell.

The next to be questioned is Golden. Golden is also a member of the guard, and he seems noticeably slow-minded. He tells them that he was a relatively new addition to the team, after his father Evron passed away. Rufus recalls the events of Evron and Vincenss' deaths, and is of the opinion that they were both natural and not as a result of poisoning of foul play. At this point, Altus and Enbel decide that they want #8 to take Carlana a message - but they find him outside the prison, inanimate. They can't get a response from him, or detect what has happened to him.

Completing their questioning with the 'underlings', there seems a fairly obvious split - the guards, who support Taka and seem oblivious to any possible underhanded tactics on Graf and Taka's parts, and the Army members; Brickface and Bob, who seem completely unphased by the idea that Graf was planning a coup. The group then decide to question Taka.

Taka is slightly taller than the other gnomes, although compared to the size of Altus, this was still not to be considered actually tall. He appears well groomed, as though he takes meticulous care of his appearance. This is in stark contrast to Graf, who is more advanced in age, shorter, and appears scruffy and gruff. Taka gives off the aura of a weasel - no real confidence except when hidden behind a row of loyal men. As such, he is in no mood to stand up to a disgruntled Shardmind, Kobold, and Wilden, and he is quite sure that the Mul daydreaming in the corner is not predisposed to coming to his aid either. He therefore opens up to them and is very receptive to questioning. He tells them that himself and Graf attempted to form a truce 10 years ago, but it didn't succeed - however 4 years ago they managed to. The goblins and gnomes signed this truce, and since it was believed that Graf and Taka were the leaders they took on that role - behind Carlana's back. Taka infuriated them - especially Enbel, who referred to him as a stupid second fiddle to Graf. Taka maintained that he had not planned a coup, or known that Graf intended to stage one, but he went on to say that either him or Graf would be a far better leader than Carlana.

Echo is stirred from her reverie as she notices cracks appearing in the walls of the prison. She draws peoples attention, and then they chain Taka back up and run out to see the cause. Rufus, riled up by Taka debates slaying him while he is chained, but then relents, perhaps out of honour - or maybe just deciding that executing a chained-up gnome can wait until they've dealt with the more pressing concern of the building apparently coming apart at the seams. As the first down the stairs and out the door, Echo is the first to see a large drake land near the town square. It touches down and fires a number of warning bolts over the heads of the party. It is mounted by a particularly venomous looking kobold, with a scarred face and patches of discoloured skin - the result of a life spent primarily in the company of drakes-in-training. The drake seems primarily concerned with destroying the front wall of the fortress, and is paying no heed to the prison which is standing between it and its goal.

Altus, Enbel, Rufus, and Echo rush into attack. Altus - ever the diplomat when entering into battles where he does not know the exact motivations of his opponent - pulled his punches, trying to appeal to the nature of the drake and make a new ally. However, the drake did not seem susceptible to this, appearing to be completely subservient to its rider. Also, the pair seemed to draw power from each other as they fought. Rufus was able to use his knowledge of drakes, as well as his kobold 'shiftiness' to get up close and personal and deal some damage. Echo rushed in, unafraid of taking a few knocks. Enbel hung back and attacked from range - her speciality. Noticing the drakes unwillingness to betray its rider, Altus decided that forcibly dismounting the rider was going to be his 'Plan B'. He successfully got onto the drakes back himself, and got into a slugfest with the kobold rider. This went back and forth for a few minutes, with neither combatant seeming to tire, until Echo - through with pleasantries and wanting just to be rid of this oversized problem- promptly set the drake, it's rider, and by extension Altus, on fire.

Not exactly flammable, but not fireproof either, Altus got off the drakes back. The drake and its rider were decidedly distressed at being set alight, and after a number of failed attempts to douse the flames, they flew off to the north, a flaming beacon of warning - not to mess with Echo when she's not in a good mood.

The group noted that there were no people in the town outdoors. No one was walking around, and there were no guards on the walls. Enbel was quick to ponder aloud the stupidity of not having a guard posted, regardless of the fact that Zanster's funeral was being staged. If it had not been for them, one funeral could have become many the next day. Supposing that everyone was at the gathering in the town hall to honour the life of the recently deceased Zanster Trickfoot, the party return to the prison. On arriving, they discover that Graf, Taka, Bob, and Brickface have escaped. The guards have been left locked up, and the female goblin prisoner -daughter of Tep has been beaten up. On talking to them, they work out that it was Bob that committed the assault. At this, Altus specifically decides that enough is enough. Everyone else is quick to fall in line with his opinion. He walks from cell to cell, opening them all, including those holding Tep and his daughter. They then march through the streets looking for the escapees. As they near the town hall, they see that it is on fire. They rush to break it open, and have arrived in time that there are no fatalities. Carlana has marshalled the people inside well enough that they aren't panicked, and they have been trying to fashion a battering ram when they are broken out.

Ranger picks up a scent, and Echo is quick to follow him. One gnome was responsible for locking up the town hall from the outside - and they could only conclude that it was Hammond. Ranger can read the trail of Bob, Brickface, Graf and Taka over the wall, but confuses the trail of Hammond. Without missing a beat, Rufus spiderclimbs up the wall, dropping a rope to Altus who then follows him. Echo and Enbel turn their attentions elsewhere, as there is a trap on the door of the water and power plant - obviously a ploy to prevent any attempt to stop the town hall from burning down.

Rufus and Altus make ground on the escapees, and catch up to Bob, however after some physical exchanges he takes off ahead of them again. A group of kobolds come down the foothills and form a line. All the gnome escapees cross it except Bob. Rufus and Altus think better of persuing. Bob then crosses the line and the kobolds retreat with the gnomes in train. Rufus and Altus make their way back to the fortress. In the meantime, Echo and Enbel (with the enlisted help of Erik) have used their wits and a welding torch to remove the trapped-door, and have brought it a safe distance outside the fortress. The immediate danger had dissipated. But what to do next?

*End of Game 7*

Game 6: The Prison

Morning has come. Gloomy grey light pours through the window of the common room of the quarters where Enbel and Echo have just woken up. Altus and #8 have returned from their nights duties, and are greeted by a familiar figure - Rufus - standing waiting in the common room. He addresses the 4 with the reason for his visit after some banter and morning greetings.

Rufus: "I'm just here to have a word with you privately. Firstly, I would recommend that you make time this morning to visit our prisoners, and question them. Goblins do not have a particularly high regard for gnomes, so you might be able to get some information that Carlana and her men would not. Echo, there may be something of interest to you in the prison store room. Other than that, a word of caution about the "meeting" today - I will not be attending..."

Enbel: "and why not?"

Rufus:" If you must know, I'll be babysitting. Anyway, I want to warn you about Graf and Taka - the leader of the Army and the leader of the Guard - I don't trust them. I want to tell you to watch your back. If things get sour, or they try anything funny, then deal with it. I know you can handle yourselves. But if things get physical, I would implore you not to kill anyone. I will talk with you later - friends."

The group ready themselves and leave their quarters. The day is overcast - to suit the mood of the town. Preparations are being made for the memorial service. Enbel suggests they check on Erik on the way to the prison, to see if he has finished work on armour for them. The shop is closed as they pass. They realise that the only businesses that are open are ones which are needed to supply the memorial service or funeral. As they near the prison an argument can be heard around the corner. They hang back to try to listen in, at first not realising who the voices belong to.

Man: "I'm overworked as it is, now I get to take over his responsibilities at home AND lose a set of armour too?"

Woman: "He died in battle, he deserves the honour"

Man: "I don't see how what he did is in anyway influenced by what he wears to his grave. It just proves that he would have been better off with me than with those meatheads."

DM's note: The party had to roll checks to hear the conversation, to stay undetected, and to workout who the speakers were. At this point they had worked out just from the conversation that it was Erik and Carlana.

Carlana: "Erik, please..."

Erik: "What? I can't keep up with the workload. I have had no life since Eliza died. I have no apprentice - everyone just wants to join the Guard. I'm sure the Guard will be very successful when they're stuck with donkeyhide armour. I'm sure Lentil will make a fine replacement armorer when I'm dead. Or will we dig up all the wasted burial armour then?"

Carlana (asserting herself): "You're taking liberties because of our relationship. Don't ever speak to me this way in company. I can't have anyone undermine my authority. I don't have time for this, I have work to do."

Erik: "Work? Where's Sepo?"

Carlana: "At Rufus' place. Still shook up. She's had a real run of bad luck."

Erik: "Well, she has us now. I'm sorry for losing my temper."

Carlana: "Whatever, we'll talk about it later."

Carlana finishes speaking with Erik and rounds the corner - seeing the 4 and realising that they had been listening in. She reacts huffily with false humour.

Carlana: "Eavesdropping? Well I guess there had to be something wrong with you. Nobody's perfect."

She then storms off. They round the corner to the front of the prison, where they see Erik, collecting himself. He doesn't realise they've been eavesdropping. He tells them about the stress he's been under with his work. His old partner in the business - Zanster Trickfoot- is the guard who was killed last night. This leaves Sepo as an orphan.

Erik: "Carlana and I are going to care for Sepo - I've always been like an uncle to her anyway. I'm not sure if Carlana and I will make up, but Charlie's been working on a "girdle of restoration" enchantment for me..."

At this point the party indicate that Erik is veering into the realm of giving highly personalised information. He tells them that he needs to get back to work, since Carlana has decided to waste some of his best work burying Zanster, right when it looks like the demand for armour will never have been higher. #8 says that given Zanster's dedication, he does deserve to be buried in his armour, as it honours both the professions he worked in while he was alive. Erik says that he believes that a romantic notion, as he doesn't believe there is anything honourable about being dead. He takes his leave.

The group enter the prison. Echo looks through the prison store room, and finds the hammer Tep was wielding, and decides to take it as spoils of war. Meanwhile, the others are talking to the goblin prisoners to try to get to the bottom of recent events. Approaching Tep with diplomacy and respect, the party manage to converse and learn some facts - from Tep's point of view - about recent events in Firestrong.

*There has been a truce between the goblins and gnomes for 4 years

*It was believed that the gnomes were pulling out of the truce, as they did not show at the latest meeting to confirm that the truce would remain. This is why the goblins are suspicious, as Corvek and Set have gone missing.

*Corvek was the main goblin leader. He was uncle of Set, and would be leader only until Set 'came of age' - if he had completed the trials in the Temple.

*Set's father had previously passed away in suspicious circumstances

*The goblins believed that Graf & Taka were the leaders of the gnomes, as they had always been present at the truce meetings

*Tep was next in line to lead after Corvek, and next in line after Tep is his brother, Vin.

*Vin is a warmonger

*Tep wanted to take the wall of the gnome compound swiftly to have the high ground to force a negotiation without bloodshed.

Tep: " I didn't think you'd want to talk if I just knocked at the door... I mean, you had brought me back bound up earlier that day."

DM's note: the decision to approach Tep diplomatically was decided amongst the party. This was the only way he would open up and talk. If the party had led with intimidation or threats, or insults, he would have shut down and they would have learned nothing from him.

The party also answered Tep about how they had come to be there, although they didn't raise the issue of Set with him. They told him truthfully that they knew nothing of Corvek or his fate. Altus seems particularly taken by the goblin's story and assures Tep that he will talk to Carlana about recent events. As the conversation ends, almost without a moments passing, Carlana strides through the door with Graf and Taka trailing in her wake.

Carlana: "you're here already, good! Upstairs."

So they convene upstairs in the prison, where there are no prisoners in the cells - but a table is already set up with 8 seats at it. Echo had noticed this earlier when she was raiding the store for Tep's hammer. Obviously one of the seats had been intended for Rufus - who was absent. Graf and Taka, leaders of the gnome army and the Guard respectively, were defensive, and questioned the attacks only coming after Echo, Enbel, Altus & #8 had arrived. Enbel in particular was very quick to point out the flaws in their arguments, and the mood became more and more tense. Graf stands up from his seat, and with a series of quick movements knocks Carlana unconscious with a blow to the head, and throws her in a cell and slams the door. Taka goes to the window and yells from support from downstairs. A number of guards run in from outside, as if they had been waiting there in anticipation of a scuffle. As the upstairs of the prison began to fill up, Altus and Enbel moved downstairs, where a few more guards had moved in, and someone had thrown a fire bomb into the cell holding Tep. Altus managed to teleport him into the adjacent cell, saving him.

The fighting continued. Despite the imbalance in numbers, soon the difference in size and strength began to turn the skirmish in the favour of the party, who one by one subdue each assailant, and lock them in individual cells. At the end, Rufus appears. He helps with getting Carlana to a medic. Charlie comes to enchant the cells that Graf and Taka were in, as they had mastered the gnome racial power of teleportation. The party all decided to stay at the prison to keep an eye on the new prisoners, while waiting for Carlana to come back when she was done at the doctor's office. Rufus pulls out a chair at the table. With a glint in his eye, he pulls out a deck of cards.

Rufus: "Since it looks like we're going to be here for a while..."

*End of Game 6*

I enjoyed this game - the prison fight was a bit of a cluster - but that was the whole point. The party have neutralized a threat effectively - and are getting a bit closer to having a better idea of what is really going on in Firestrong.

Items awarded - Game 6.

Echo: Frost-touched hammer +1

Property: Deals cold damage

Property: Brutal Weapon - brutal 2

Daily - Frost-touched attack

Trigger: An attack you hit with this weapon

Effect: Enemy is immobilized and grants combat advantage (save ends both)

Echo

DM's notes: Game 5

Since David has joined the game, the party now have 3 members (of 5) that mark. Echo, Ranger, and #8. Echo and Ranger are played by Megan, but having all 3 have powers that mark means that the characters will get in each others way with powers. Also, Ranger having a seperate turn in the initiative order both means that Megan gets 2 turns for everyone elses 1, and isn't player friendly in a game with more characters anyway. To tidy things up, I chatted with Megan and we agreed a change to Ranger - as a sort of homebrewed 'companion' character. I'm not aware of the rulings for companions, but we made up our own rulings to suit what I wanted, without letting Megan feel like she'd been cheated.

Ranger - companion animal: Dog

*Ranger shared defence and HP stats with Echo

*If Ranger is adjacent to an ally, he can take their defence against an attack, if that defence is higher than Echo's.

*Echo can mark a target through Ranger

*Echo can take attacks through Ranger, and make them through Ranger also.

*For purposes of marking, an enemy adjacend to either Echo OR Ranger is considered adjacent to Echo

*Ranger gets no initiative - Echo gets 1 standard, 1 move, and 1 minor and must share these between herself and Ranger.

*Special, Move action: Echo can expend a move action to move both herself and Ranger to move up to half speed each.

*Ranger's speed is 8

*If a status effect is inflicted on either Ranger or Echo, it effects them both.

As a result of this changeover, Ranger's items are effectively useless, so as a compromise, I've stripped them from him, and replaced them with one new item (also homebrewed)

Collar of Companionship

Daily, Move action: Ranger can teleport from wherever he is to be adjacent to echo, provided he is not magically restrained.

Ranger also retains the "Smoulder" power, mostly because I think it's a hilarious concept.

---

Here i'm going to include the #7 enemy sheet, as it's the first solo that I brewed up on my own.

Enemy character sheet:

#7, Solo Controller

AC 21, Fort16, Ref 19, Will 22

HP 350, Bloodied175

Speed 6, Init +10, Perception +2, Saving throws +5

Low light vision

Action Points: 2

*Can saving throw any effect at start of turn

*If attacked, makes an attack vs. Ref. If it hits, #7 can move 3 (shift) and use a minor action.

Minor Actions:

1. Net +8 vs Ref. Hit: Restrained and immobilized, save ends

2. Batter: +8 vs. Fort: Knocked prone

3. Taunt: Mark target, erases any effects the target have placed on #7

Standard Actions:

1. Flame thrower +8 vs Ref. Hit: 2d6 and ongoing 4 fire (save ends)

2. Blinding Sand +8 vs Fort. Hit: 2d6 and blinded until end of next turn

3. Electric Charge +8 vs Will. Hit: Target takes a -4 to attack rolls until end of next turn

Triggered actions:

1. At will, immediate reaction: when missed by an attack, #7 can shift up to 3

2. Daily, immediate interrupt: can redirect a ranged, blast, or burst attack to hit someone else.

Game 5: Defending the fortress

Altus immediately jumps in to check that Rufus is still alive, and finding that he is, starts to patch him up. The others jump in to fight off #7, looking to get between him and Carlana. Altus succeeds in getting a makeshift binding on Rufus' chest, and bringing him back to conciousness. While this is happening, #7 is trying to burn and beat everyone within sight, and screaming all kinds of misinformation at them all the while.

#7: "Enbel is a fake, the real one was killed before going into stasis!"

"Echo, your dog is a bomb!"

"#8 isn't here to help you, he's a spy."

Numerous other things were shouted at the party - all of which they were sure were untrue. Altus, happy that Rufus was out of the woods, turned his attentions to Carlana, and as he was assisting her, she disappeared, and reappeared at the other side of the room - in 2 places! Meanwhile, #7 knocks the rest of the group into the back wall, and showers them in flames.

#7: "I thought I could trust you, but you're acting like that bitches (indicating Carlana) lackies!! And you! (indicating Carlana) They killed a goblin, and spun lies - the whole Set story is a fake! They're disposing of Goblin bodies in your town - they're going to start a war!"

The tide turns, and #7 is pinned down, and beaten to the ground. During the fracas, Carlana has disappeared. #8 and Enbel leave to check on the power cells and bring them back. Rufus has sunk into an armchair and seems to be leaking blood through the dressing which Altus had hastily applied. Despite the wound, he is not fazed. He appears to be of few words, but perhaps this is just an attempt to conserve his strength. He thanks them for their help, giving a nod to Altus. After talking to them briefly, and answering their question on his age: "north of half a century", he politely asks for the doctor, and then falls asleep. Echo pulls out #7's memory card.

They split up - #8 goes to the gate to retrieve the power cells while the others fetch the doctor, and then they locate Carlana and talk to her. Carlana apologises for her hasty exit- saying that she had to be sure that #7's intent to kill her wasn't shared by the rest of the group. She thanks them for neutralizing #7, and tending to Rufus. She reveals that she is an illusionist, and one of her talents is making copies of herself. She can control up to 2 copies at the same time. This explains why there were 2 of her at one point - she was actually never in the room with them to begin with. Rufus had come to talk to her, and had just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

#8 informs them that when he was retrieving the power cells from outside the gate, the goblin - Tep - that they had tied-up had escaped. Carlana tells them that they will have a meeting the following day to discuss things, and there will be a steak dinner for them too! The party relax for the evening - although the definition of 'relax' varies for each person. Echo and Enbel eventually go to bed. Echo has never needed much sleep - part of the Mul constitution, however she feels that passing up on a good night's sleep in a safe place after the day she's had would be foolish. Before they woke up in this world, she was a council worker - used to using her hands to work on the power grid for the town, or any other oddjobs that came her way. Slaying goblins and droids would never have fallen under her job description. It feels slightly surreal, that the world could change so fast.

Altus patrols through the town around the inner perimeter of the wall, and #8 takes up residence in one of the towers by the front entrance, to stand night watch. #8 does not need sleep, and doesn't feel human hunger, thirst, or physical tiredness. He scans the horizon, and reflects on the progress made towards his goal of restoring Firestrong, and what is still left to be done. At about 3am, #8 detects a noise. However, neither he nor the other guards posted on the wall can see anything outside. He reaches out to Altus telepathically to warn him of possible danger. Altus quickly goes and rouses Echo and Enbel. #8 descends the tower and uses his knife of entry to get outside the fortress without opening the gates. He stands in front of the portal he has just opened to make sure no-one else can use it to get in and out. When it closes, he looks around, and sees no-one. Seconds later, a guard falls from the tower to the ground. #8 looks up, and a guard falls from the other tower. However, there is a guard in place. #8 uses a power to pull that guard down from the tower to the ground, believing it to be an imposter, but it is another one of the city guard, gagged. The guard did not see who had assaulted him.

The gate is opened for #8 to re-enter the fortress, and it becomes apparent that goblins are attacking. It isn't possible to see exactly how many there are, but some have taken the guard towers. At this point, Enbel and Echo have arrived on the scene, and Echo sends Ranger to alert Carlana to this threat. One guard is thrown from the wall by a goblin who then jumps down after him, lands on him, and slits his neck. Altus tries to stabilize him but he is very weak.

As Carlana was made aware, she organised the off duty guard and the army. They marched from the guard towers at the back of the fortress and along the grounds within the fortress in a tightening loop towards the front entrance. The party realise that the goblin leading the attack is none other then Tep, the goblin who had slipped his bonds when they captured him. Tep's allies begin to falter, especially as #8 is particularly effective at repelling the assault at the front gate. Altus, bring made aware of the snipers of the moat, telepathically reaches out to inform the resident alligators or a nearby snack. Goblin screams are heard shortly thereafter. Altus, Echo, and Enbel come to a realisation almost at the same time, that if the moat was to be searched now, finding the corpse belonging to Set wouldn't raise any eyebrows with the gnomes. The moat was going to end up littered with them at this rate. #8 continues to scare the goblins back, one of which runs into the mouth of an alligator who hadn't yet had its fill.

Echo tries to take on the leader, Tep, who is similarly proficient with hammers. Tep quickly realises that his position is weakened, and turns tail and runs for one of the gate guard towers. Echo gives chase and despite being only steps behind him when entering the tower, does not catch up to him on the stairs. She believes that he must have used a secret escape route. Looking down from the wall to the outside, she sees him climbing out of the moat below. She yells, alerting the others, who all make chase. #8 accelerates ferociously towards Tep, only to falter and collapse to the ground just on reaching his side. Enbel and Altus are hot on his heels and leap in, but the goblin drops his hammer and surrenders. He has a few words to say while being bound. He in unhappy, clearly - more with other issues than the failed attack.

Tep: "We were provoked into attack. You broke the truce - you killed our leader, and stole our power cells. Are we just meant to take that?"

As the party take him into custody, another figure appears distantly - one of the goblins from the attack. He calls out:

"I'll keep your seat warm for you... brother"

He then turns and melts into the night. Tep is taken and put in the prison. The gnomes search the guard tower that Tep escaped through, and find a secret door - where an excavation has taken place from the moat through the floor of the guard tower. This wasn't something which was made in a day, it took a deal of work and meticulous planning to not be found by the gnomes. The guard immediately get to work on sealing it, and searching for possible others. Despite getting medical attention from the doctor, the man of the guard whose neck was cut died. Carlana spoke with the party, saying that their plan for a meeting to discuss tactics would continue as planned the next day, but now it would be an emergency meeting, where the head of the guard and the army would be called in. She was quick to let them know that their presence would be desired, as without them the whole fortress would have been overrun. She told them that there would also be a memorial for the fallen guard. She asks if Altus and #8 would help to stand guard for the remainder of the night, as 2 men have been seriously injured and 1 dead so the numbers are down. They agree, and she takes her leave.

Of all the goblins that attacked, all had escaped or were killed except Tep, and one other unconscious female. Enbel and Echo, their adrenalin waning, made their way back to the guest quarters and a few hours of sleep. #8, unfazed, makes his way to the top of the wall to resume watch. Altus silently follows. Two of the city guard tie up the goblin female, and carry her - heels dragging- through the doors into the prison.

*End of Game 5*

---

I really enjoyed this game, and the party seemed to also. The #7 fight didn't work as well as I had hoped - the parties plethora of status effects really helped them neutralise the threat. However, the allowed finally dishing the hurt out on #7. They had been distrustful of the character from the start, and it was nice to have the payoff from that. #7 was never meant to be a recurring character/villain anyway, and i'm going to try and not be scared to kill off characters - I want the game to have that touch of reality.

The goblin invasion encounter was clearly the highlight of the game. The players really did well - I had allowed for a number of outcomes - including the goblins successfully taking all the walls and demanding a surrender. #8's successful perception checks meant that they became aware of what was going on at an early stage, so it gave them the optimum chance to fend off the attack successfully. All the goblin corpses falling in the moat covered up the disposal of Set's body there. I'm excited for the next game now.

DM's notes: Game 4

Items awarded in game 4:

Altus: Cloak of inconspicuousness

Daily, Standard action: You appear of a humanoid race of your choice - your dimensions do not change.

Altus: Helm of communication

Amplifies the telepathy of any individual

Enbel: Bag of holding

(as per character builder)

Enbel: Jester hat

Daily, Minor action: Until the end of the turn, your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks - and you may attack without taking a penalty if you run.

#8: Knife of entry

Daily, Standard action: Open a portal the size of a small door, through any material of 5ft or less in thickness, that lasts for 30 seconds before closing itself.

Ranger: Collar of Cerberus

Gain the triple attack power.

Daily, Standard action: make 3 attacks.

1hit: 1d6 extra damage

2hits: 2d6 extra damage and target is slowed

3hits: 3d6 extra damage and target is knocked prone

Other loot:

Goblin Resist Armour (doesn't fit anyone on the party)

Daily, Minor action: resist 10 damage for 1 turn.

Game 4: Blackwater Fortress

The party start in the temporary quarters of Carlana, the gnome leader. She enters, and speaks with them. She thanks them for their assistance of Joplin - a friend of hers who is known for gambling and generally getting into trouble. She asks that they entertain his obvious embellishment of the truth in the days to follow. She explains that he lost his wife, and his children had been killed - hence his recklessness.

Carlana: "I have announced Joplin's return, and your arrival. I thought it best to speak before he did - otherwise he'd have saved you from a whole squadron of drakes, and kobolds to boot... at least, that's how the stories would go"

Carlana apologized for seizing their belongings temporarily - but it was to ensure the safety of the community, not to take anything that wasn't theirs. However, she noted that a number of expensive items were present in their packs. As they seemed an adventuring sort, she asked if they would trade some of those items for some gear that would be more useful out in the wilds. The party agree, and she gives them an assortment of adventuring gear.

Carlana: "I prefer your crystal ending up on my table rather than a trader's desk. I'm not proud, but being a young leader these small things are taken into account when weighing up my leadership. You have to look the part. "

The party ask her a number of questions, and learn that the "world-ending event" was actually a war, involving biological weapons. They also learn that this was only 40 years ago. This is a contradiction of the information obtained through Module #7. Carlana herself oversaw the building of the fortress, while herself a teenager. The party realise that #7 is corrupt because of his 'lies'. Carlana says she can have someone inspect him. They also learn from her that kobolds killed the dragon. After their conversation, she tells them:

"If you want to rest now, you will be shown to quarters. If you are willing, I have some jobs I would really like an assist with. You'd be rewarded. You are free to wander the fortress at your leisure. Forgive the locals if they are wary. There are non of your particular 'distinction' living here. You might notice there is one kobold among us. He is quite friendly, and a little eccentric. They call him Rufus the poisoner - but it's just a harmless nickname."

She agrees to meet them at 12 noon at her quarters the next day, to talk about jobs. She returns their gear, and takes her leave. #8 has no need to sleep, so he volunteers to stand watch with the guards on the wall. The fortress is surrounded by a moat inhabited by alligators - except at the front. Echo, Enbel and Altus decide that the moat presents a unique opportunity to dispose of the body of Set. They wait until there are no witnesses - except #8, and they head up the stairs to the top of the wall, and drop the body off.

DM's note: At this point I made the party roll bluffs against #8 to fool him so he wouldn't suspect that the body that they were dumping was actually that of Set. The aim was to keep their cover story intact. It was successful, as they managed to convince him that they were doing a favour for Carlana. This had the knock-on effect that #8 became more wary of Carlana, and began to think of her as 'shady'.

#8 sees figures to the south, but cannot make out exactly who - or even what - they are. He makes himself known among the guards - and they seem to get on well. The next morning, they decide to venture around the town before their midday meeting with Carlana. They meet a young girl on the street who seems very excited to be seeing the new arrivals. She gives them her name - Sepo. She decides that Altus is her favourite, and gifts him with a friendship bracelet - before saying that she's not meant to be out of her house, and running home.

Walking through the town, they notice most of the shops are closed. The blacksmith shop however, is not. They go in and introduce themselves. The blacksmith is named Erik, and his workshop is in complete disarray. He provides armour for the guards in the fortress - especially those who go outside the walls to protect the farmers. Since he does all the work alone and without assistance, he doesn't often find time to clean up.

Erik comments that #8 is not efficiently made. He offers to upgrade #8, give him a lighter armour with equivalent strength. In exchange he could harvest #8's current armour plating to make more armour for the gnomes. The party all hand over the drakescale they harvested from the bodies of the slain drakes. Erik takes it as a treasure. The gnomes do not have much - or any - of this precious armouring material, because they don't join the drakes in combat if they can afford it.

Erik also tells them of the death of Sepo's mother: she was picked off the ground by a drake and carried away while farming, and because of this her father is now very protective, and doesn't like Sepo to be outdoors. Sepo's dad - Zanster Trickfoot - used to work in the shop with Erik, and when his wife was killed he joined the guard. As a result, Erik is left to do all the work on his own - and can be partly blamed for the mess in his shop, although part of that is obviously Erik's personality. The party mention Rufus to Erik - they had seen him while walking through the town. Erik tells them of his love of cards - and how he became known as 'the poisoner'. His original training was to poison the gnome population - but he had no allegiance to the kobold's cause of genocide, and asked to be allowed to stay with the gnomes. Erik gets very chatty while working on #8's armour, and storing the drakescale so it won't spoil before he can work on it. He alludes to his loss of virility from too much time by the forge. They meet Charlie also - an older gnome, who seems to be friendly with Erik. Charlie specializes in enchantments. He seems feeble and slow, but when asked by Erik to transfer #8's enchantment from his old armour to his new armour, he seems to take on a more youthful vigour, and executes the enchantment in record time, with a flourish. He then resumes his slow and feeble guise. The party leave to meet with Carlana. As they pass Rufus' house they notice he is no longer on the porch.

Carlana meets with them and despite starting out with the same 'regal' persona as she had employed the night before, she slipped into more informal speech a number of times during their conversation. Her mission for them was to ask them to go to the temple and claim the power cells, as the fortress has been experiencing power shortages as of late. It also comes up in conversation that those cells were not from the Save Point - another lie from #7. She also lets them know about how she once had a 'roll in the hay' with Erik.

#8: "if you have balance issues..."

Some other choice dialogue:

Echo: "I know a thing or two about a thing or two..."

#8: "That seems like a vague statement"

Altus: "She could know anything between 1 and 4 things"

The party tell Carlana their concocted story of a goblin 'Set' who is planning rebellion against the goblin community. She seems to take them at their word and finds the information interesting. When the chat is done, they take their leave. Although #8 would be of considerable strength, they decide to try to obtain a cart to ease transport of the cells. After getting directions, they continue to the stables area, where they meet Lentil (or Bean, as she has been nicknamed). They obtain from her a cart, and they also tell her the story about 'Set'. By her excitement from the story, they discern that she is a gossip - who will be glad to have some new story to tell.

#8, Enbel, Altus & Echo (with Ranger) leave the fortress and head in the direction of the temple. They notice a small spire of smoke coming from the Save Point, but they do not stop by to investigate. On reaching the temple they can see that there has been some activity since they left. There are a small team of goblins there. Despite attempts to reason with them, the goblins attack. After winning the ensuing skirmish, the party tie up the goblin's troupe leader - Tep - and while #8 is enlisted loading the power cells onto the cart, the others check the temple. The note that they posted about Set is gone from the wall. They further deface the temple with graffiti signed 'Set' without #8 noticing (as he never entered the temple). They leave the bodies of the goblins they killed on the grounds outside. Tep made some mention to them about Corvek being missing along with Set, when the party try to tell him of Set turning on the other goblins.

As #8 draws the cart toward the fortress (the bound and now unconcious Tep lying tied-up amongst the power cells) the guard opens the gate and rushes out, shouting:

"Leave the cart and come quickly, it's an emergency!"

#8 quickly dumps the carts load onto the ground - knowing that none but him could lift them back on alone, and wanting to be sure that noone would steal their bounty while they were inside. Following the others inside, they burst into Carlana's chambers. Carlana is hiding behind a chair, terrified. Rufus is unconscious, and is bleeding out on the floor. #7 is standing in the centre of the room, screaming -if it could be considered possible for a droid to do so -

"Fuck, you've ruined everything!"

*End of Game 4*

---

I feel that this game was a success. I had thought that the party would progress further, but they were having fun roleplaying in the town, so conversations with Erik, Charlie, Bean, Sepo, and Carlana all took up more time than I had originally guessed. This wasn't a problem however. It was good to see everyone enjoying the roleplaying element, it too often gets passed over by players in games.

Game 3: The Ruins of Firestrong

For this game - David decided that he wanted to join. I had told all my D&D playing friends that I would write them in at any point if they wanted to join, so I came up with an idea for him. I didn't want him to play #7 though, so he would appear mid-story.


-----

Rested after their sleep, Echo, Altus, and Enbel rose at about midday. They breakfasted and prepared for departure. The skeleton of the goblin Set was placed inside #7 so it would look like he had escaped the facility himself, and was plotting revenge on the goblin community. Coming out of the temple, and re-chaining the door, they surveyed the scene. The town was broken down. The town hall could be seen to the north, and the gnome fortress to the Northwest. Even though they had seen the broken down town in the moon's light the night previous - the reality seemed even more surreal as they looked at it in the sunshine.

They decided to check out the town hall. On the inside, the place looks totally disused - cobwebbed and dusty and full of now useless junk. There is a line of fresh footprints, going up the stairs. They follow the prints to a closed closet, and on opening it they see a hulking machine-like figure rummaging through the closets contents.

On seeing them, after a moment the figure snatches the mayoral seal from Enbel's neck, saying "That is mine." The metallic figure has a crudely painted "#8" on the chest-plate. #7 confirmed that #8 was the 8th unit from the save point, and was 'defective' and had therefore not been activated. #8 said that he had acquired the "Echo, Altus, and Enbel units" and that he needed to find the other 4 survivors which had been at the compound. Despite Enbel's protestations that they did not need protection, and that #8 should just go track down the other 4, #8 refused to leave them, and said he would continue with them. #8 seemed to have certain knowledge of them already, despite the fact that none of them had ever seen him before. Altus told #8 of the rogue goblin Set, trying to raise revolution against the goblins. They decide to continue together toward the gnome fortress - but they stop along the way to check out the tavern, to see if there is anything special about it given it has been left standing. The tavern used to be owned by Hondo the Scorpion - when they last remembered being there - however long ago that was: 300 years, if #7 was to be believed. Still, there weren't any calendars lying around.

On breaking through the door, they see a cluster of imps on the floor. #7 had earlier made a passing comment about how it was unusual that there seemed to be no imps around. The explanation was obvious from what they saw before them - 20 or more imps savaging a goat corpse. The party led out with a few distracting attacks and some imps scattered and fled. Altus tried to reach out to them psychically and succeeded in identifying the leader - with the help of #8 slowing them down, calming them temporarily. The imps remaining took refuge behind the bar, while the remaining, clothed imp stayed out to make some conversation. The imp seemed intelligent, and the party heard from him about the surrounding area, and comings and goings of different races. The imp had seen the other survivors leaving - the boy went into the forest, and the dragonborn's north toward the town of Wintersnare.

#8 (to the imp): "Do you eat bone?"
Altus: "Is this one of those human double-entendres that I've heard so much about?"

The party decided to name the imp Clomp, as he had no name for himself. During their conversation they became aware that the imps only named by identifiers - like how they died. During all this talk of names, Echo decided that she wanted to name #8 'Pump'. Clomp said that one of their number had been called Pump... but he had died. Clomp was very interested in Ranger, he had not seen dogs in a long time, and was pretty transparent about what he would do with one - eat it. At this point they broke out some of the bat meat they had harvested from the previous night's fight, and that seemed to take Clomp's attention from their four-legged friend. They took their leave on good terms - with promise to be in touch, and to supply more meat in future in exchange for friendship and information.

On departure towards the fortress, they could see a number of drakes circling in the sky, and a gnome figure walking in their general direction. The drakes began to set upon him, and Echo, Enbel, Altus, and 'Pump' ran forward to join in the battle. This gnome appeared to be a bard, like Altus, judging from the instrument on his back. The battle went on, and they eventually downed the last of them. They were then set upon by a group of pseudodragons, that had been hidden out of sight. Continuing the battle - with Joplin (their new gnome companion) assisting Altus with healing the party, and #8 assisting Echo with her defending duties - the pseudodragons fell. A pair of ostriches that had been 'watching' nearby returned and fled in the direction of the fortress.

Quickly, Joplin severed and collected the heads of any of the impressive drakes, and the pseudodragons. He lets the others know that he had left the fortress on the condition that he would not return until he had the head of a drake. As such, the group have given him a great assistance, as he would quite possibly have been killed on this dangerous errand. He offers the group shelter for the night in the fortress. As they are righting themselves for departure - they harvest the edible meat and the usable hides of the beasts they killed - Ranger begins to act agitated and bark at a figure in the distance. Pump gets excitable at this - loudly proclaiming it to be "the goblin! Set!!"

They leave the unusable drake and pseudodragon bits in a pile, with a little pictogram for Clomp to come and claim it for the imps. They then continue to the fortress. The doorman sneers at Joplin. "I thought you weren't going to come back until you had the head of a drake". The doorman falls silent as Joplin holds up a whole string of heads. He turns to his new friends, and says "Welcome to Blackwater Fortress"

*End of Game 3*

The integration of #8 worked quite well - as there is a place for him in the game. His actual origin will remain secret from the rest of the party for a while, however I have told David what it is. #8, or Pump as he will be interchangeably known from now on has been built as a Warforged Battlemind.


-----


Battle notes:
Despite some tweaking, the battle with the drakes/pseudodragons was too easy for the party. #8 is a defender, like Echo, so now there are a lot of status effects which come into play. I need to consider this when putting together encounters for my future games.

DM's notes - Game 2

The encounter with the bats in this game was the first to feature a monster that I custom made. Before this, I was just copying out of the monster manual. That got old pretty quick as I found out that the party were far too strong for the monsters as they were in the manual. Here's my first attempt:

Swarm of Bats: Level 1

Initiative: 3       HP: 20    Bl: 10

AC:16  F:12  R:13  W:18

Speed: 5

Resist 1/2 damage from melee or range.

Vulnerable 5 close or area attack damage

ATK: Scrape

Standard action, at-will

Move up to 5. While passing: +7 vs. AC. Hit: 1d6+3

ATK: Envelope

Standard action, at-will

+5 vs. Reflex. Hit: Target is surrounded. 2d4 damage, and target is immobilised (save ends)

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Battle notes:

• The stone of healing granted Regen 5 while standing on it.
• A full move action was needed to climb the stairs (under the balcony) and arrive in front of the organ
• The temple was very low light. Lighting the fixed torches on the side of the room gave off a slight aura.
• Lighting those by the floor lit up the room through reflection off the floor

-----

Items awarded

To Ranger: 1 femur (resist 10 necrotic)

To Echo: 3 sets hammer spikes:

1d4 extra damage per hammer attack

Crit: 2d6 extra and spikes stay in victim

To Enbel: Emberflare moss:

Burns endlessly

Will burn without oxygen - e.g. underwater.

To Altus: Cowbell:

Daily, No action:

Add +5 to any check, attack roll, or saving throw made by you or any ally.

Game 2: Outside the Save Point

Having received information about the current condition of the town from module #7, the party are aware of the new species diversity in the area. They know that Module #2, #3, and #5 are spies in the communities of the halflings, kobolds and goblins. However, there is no spy in the gnome compound. They decide that they should try and see what the gnomes are up to. They learn from #7 that the gnomes built a fortress for protection. Previous attacks on their settlement by the goblins, as well as poisoning of the water supply, has quartered their number.

On leaving the save point, they stumble into a courtyard playing home to a swarm of rats, and also some cursed skeletons. One skeleton looked to be that of a half-elf. There had only been one half-elf in Firestrong while they had lived there - the mayor. Surely enough, on inspection, the skeleton appeared to be wearing the mayoral seal. Enbel snatched it.

After cutting through the rat swarms, the party stepped out of the courtyard into the town - or rather, what is left of the town. The entire town as it was has been levelled. Staring around, it can be seen where there are certain ruins. However, there are not nearly enough ruins - it's as if all the townhouses have disappeared. Looking north and west from the save point a large walled area is visible - probably the gnome settlement. It seems to be where all of the "missing" ruins have gone. The blocks of old houses have been cobbled together to build the gnome fortress, in the area where the "good side of town" had once been.

From their current vantage point, Enbel, Echo and Altus can see only three structures standing in the town, other than the save point - the temple, the town hall, and the tavern. They decide to head south and west to the temple. The sky is beginning to lighten - dawn is approaching. As the temple becomes clearer, it looks not just like it has been kept in pristine condition, but as if it has been fixed up and renovated slightly. They can't make out anything through the windows, and don't hear any noise.

They remove the chain on the outside of the main temple door and slip inside. It is quite dark, too dark to see much. There is a torch beside them, so they light it. Immediately the room is illuminated, as though they were inside a kaleidoscope - the light from the torch reflecting off the coloured crystal floor. They notice that despite the fact that the temple is in great repair, it is filled with bats. As well as the swarms of bats in the room, Enbel can recognise 2 shadowhunter bats. There is one more larger bat at the back of the temple - seemingly guarding the door to the back room - where people would once ready themselves for giving a performance or sermon. The shadowhunters attack the intruders, while the smaller bats swarm, and strike, and continue erratically. A small pocket of bats seem to be concentrated on a small area. On investigation, Echo finds that they are tearing theflesh off a freshly deceased goblin corpse.

As the intensity of the battle increases, Altus decides to risk an action to even the playing field - or tilt it in their favour. He drops into a near meditation to perform a ritual to banish vermin. On its completion, the bats are whipped into a frenzy. The swarm splits - part leaving through the door, part retreating to the back, and a small pocket dashing themselves continuously on the crystal windows trying to break them - and eventually expiring when the torch below the window is lit.

This action caused the battlelines to be redrawn, the staging area - where the worst of the bats are - and the body of the temple, containing Echo, Altus, Enbel, and Ranger. The battle continues with the larger bats attacking when able. The largest, unfurls its wings, revealing itself to be a large firebat. It uses its wings to fling benches at Altus and Enbel - safe in the body of the temple. Echo and Ranger rush back into the fray, and with help from their comrades ranged attacks, eventually took the last of them down. Altus had climbed to the balcony for a better vantage point, and aim. The party were then able to rejuvenate themselves with the stone of healing that the firebat had been protecting.

The inspect the goblin corpse. They find a note -

Dearest Set,

Good luck on the trials. I hope this helps you.

Mother.

There is nothing else. They head into the back room, where they see a posting on the wall. They learn from this that the trials are for the goblin younglings to prove their battle acumen. They complete the trials as a passage into adulthood. They have to survive 1 night, and have collected the head of a shadowhunter bat at the time when the goblins come back for them.

The group prepare the temple to be slept in, but first they sever the heads of all the large bats, as well as butchering them for edible meat. They make a meal, noting that the temple has power. Further inspection on the power cells, and #7 informs the party that these are the cells which have been stolen from the save point. #7 tells the party that this must be the reason the power was running out to begin with, causing their awakening from stasis, which has in turn caused them to be here. The party decide to cover their tracks, as the population of the surrounding area had no idea that they even existed, and for the time being, they decided to keep it that way. They made efforts to make it seem like the goblins had a traitor in their midst. The window which had been broken out before the battle would make it appear that a breakout happened. They then taped a note up to the wall -

The time is coming, beware

Set.

I speak in the language of my people

After this the group settled down to rest - just as the sun was coming up.

*end of game 2*

An excellent game - a DM's dream. The party were engaged and did very well. The improvisation at the end with Set was very well thought out by the players. They leave a feasible excuse for what they've done - covering their tracks. I had nothing to do with this, of course, but it was really fulfilling for me to see the players engaging with the world as if they cared about it. I hope to get to this level of play regularly - if possible.

Map: Current Day Firestrong

DM's notes - Game 1

Ranger

Movement 7, Initiative +6, HP 20

2 healing surges (regains full HP from a surge)

Defence AC:14 Fortitude:11 Reflex:17 Will:15

Takes on the defence stats of an adjacent ally, if greater.

Standard: Puppy Attack.

+7 vs Reflex. 1d6 damage.

On a critical hit, the target is knocked prone

Minor: Smoulder

+10 vs Will

Effect: Ranger appears too cute and innocent to attack

On a critical hit, Ranger gains an ally

Minor: Bark

Marks a target which Ranger is adjacent to.

A bite is made when Ranger's mark is ignored.

Free Action: Bite

1d6 damage and target is grabbed.

1d6 ongoing damage while in the grab.

Module #7, Save Point 10913

Can store provisions for 5 days for 3 people

Is a fully functioning microwave

Has solar panels, and a turbine

Stores a flamethrower for self defence

Travels on caterpillar wheels, or boosters

Is waterproof

Honestly, when I thought up what the modules were going to look like, I thought of a taller version of R2D2 from Star Wars, and with much less elaborate paneling on the outside.

Items awarded in game 1:

These items were awarded to the party by Module #7 before they left the save point

Devilspun Dagger - given to Enbel

Encounter power, free action

Effect: Use one of your ranged attacks as a melee attack this turn. This does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Fire Shield (Heavy Shield) - given to Echo

Property: Resist 5 fire

Encounter power, standard action (ranged 10):

Shoot a ball of flame.

Attack: 1/2 level + mod + 5

Damage: 1d10 + mod

On a critical hit, enemy catches on fire. 5 ongoing fire damage.

Daily power, immediate interrupt:

Trigger: you are hit by an attack on AC

Effect: your attacker is engulfed in flames

1d10 fire damage + 1d10 ongoing fire damage (save ends)

Amulet of Another Life +1 - given to Altus

Property: You lose 1 healing surge while wearing this amulet.

Property: +1 to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Daily Power, immediate reaction

Trigger: You fall to 0HP or below.

Effect: You get to your feet, at bloodied value +1HP, and are dazed (save ends)

Perhaps it is a little ambitious of me, but I've decided that given my game is set in a kind of post-apocalyptic setting, that the standard approach to shopping wouldn't work. Also, I've never been a fan of the idea that you kill creatures to get gold. Why was the giant spider monster hiding 18,000 gold pieces? And how are you meant to reasonably transport that cash? I've decided that I will be enforcing rules as to how much the players can reasonably carry, and also that since coin will be hard to come by, much shopping will be done by bartering items of worth that the party either own, or find on their travels. Also, given the setting, I will be deciding on what items are available. All the items given out in Game 1 are homebrewed. I like the idea of homebrewing and will continue to do it, although not exclusively.

Game 1 - Inside the Save Point

Enbel is in a forest - and can't remember how she got there. All she knows is that this place is familiar. She is attacked by halflings commanding riding horses, and although she puts up a fight, she is eventually beaten unconscious.

Altus has his back against a wall. The raised cliffs around him offer no route of escape. He sees a clutch of kobolds close in, and another on the clifftop screams, and topples a boulder down the cliff-face towards him. He begins to fight, and then to his surprise - Enbel appears to materialize beside him.

Echo is by the lake. This is one of her favourite places to go to be alone with her thoughts. However, this time she isn't alone. The water seems too far down to jump in, especially while strapped into her heavy armour - which for some reason, she is. Which is lucky, because she is surrounded by goblins. Goblins, and an adorable little puppy. Echo bends down, scoops up the puppy in her pack, and draws her hammer.

Enbel is even more confused. She lost consciousness in a wooded area, and regained it here in the quarry. At least she knows where she is now, and sees a familiar face. However, now is not the time for fond reunion, as Enbel leaps to help Altus - getting speared and cut by Kobold blades.

Echo, of shared Human and Dwarven heritage, is no stranger to conflict. She mediated several bar room brawls in her time, and was an involved party in a number more. The goblins pressed forward, but failed to land a hit as she ducked, weaved, and struck, knocking some out, and others straight into the water below. But as she watched - one goblin she knocked towards the water seemed to bounce on it, before landing again and sinking.

Altus and Enbel, fighting on - realised that something here was not right - the whole situation felt unreal. However, the blades and boulders seemed to be real enough, so instead of taking time for reflection, they fought on.

Echo dispatched the last of the goblins. She then noticed that there were subtle "mistakes" in the landscapes construction. Trees appeared to be missing, replaced with what looked like mutant lampposts. She dived into the lake where the goblin had bounced, recognizing it as the exit.

On finishing their battle with the kobolds, a tired and bloody Enbel, and Altus overturned a boulder and found the door out of this pseudo-world.

This was run as 3 seperate encounters, with an ongoing skill challenge to realise it was a virtual reality. On completing the encounter and realising their situation, the game continues.

The group: Altus, Enbel, Echo and Ranger - Echo's Dog companion - come through a door into a hall. There are desks strewn with papers, and numerous potted plants in varying levels of rot and death. Ranger sidles up to a potted plant and cocks his leg. A voice comes through the loudspeaker:

"Stop that, you're wasting valuable resources"

The loudspeaker tries to tempt them down the hall, but they refuse to go. A wall starts to flicker. The loudspeaker says:

"Pay no attention to that wall, it is unskilled in human interaction"

Ranger runs through the wall to the other side.

On the table, the party find a document:

STEPS TO TAKE IN THE EVENT OF AN APOCALYPTIC INCIDENT

1. Preserve the lives of the breathers at all costs

2. Maintain defended perimeter

3. Monitor power and life support systems

A conversation ensues, and the loudspeaker eventually reveals itself to be a droid. It is a machine, not a living construct, but it is capable of artificial intelligence. Through conversation with this droid - Module #7, the group learn a few pieces of important information.

*This is the save point #10913

*Save points exist as a sort of panic room / respawn point for humanity, in the case of an emergency incident

*Other than the party, there were 4 other survivors - they have all left

*Module #7 does not know why the save point was activated. He was not the first droid to be activated, and so is not aware of the events.

* #1, and #4 are destroyed.

*#2, #3, and #5 are disguised spies in surrounding settlements

*#6 maintains the non-breather elements of the save point

*#8 has not yet been activated.

#7 informs the group that they have been woken because the life support systems are on the verge of failure. The group have been in stasis until this point, a period of 300 years. The save point was meant to be for children of dignitaries etc, but none are here. The town is changed utterly from before. It was primarily comprised of a human-dwarven population, and was guarded by a dragon named after the town - Firestrong. Now, the humans and dwarves are all gone. In their place are 4 warring factions: Gnomes, Goblins, Kobolds and Halflings.

The halflings live in the forest. The goblins have taken the dwarf part of town. Gnomes are living in the town, they have converted the previously "upper-class" portion of the town into a fortress. The group agree to take #7 with them, and they gather themselves and leave the facility.

A lot of information was given in this game, sort of a "set-up" game for the campaign. The group decided to stop at this point because of this. It went alright - as my first time DMing, I was very nervous, but I need not have been.

Getting started...

I asked a few friends if they were interested in starting up a new campaign since the others we were involved in were proceeding very slowly. Originally, the group started with the intention of having regular D&D games, that were short and punchy - as in our other groups on numerous occasions games had turned into all night affairs, with the players not feeling very happy at the end of the game with how little sleep they were going to get.

I came up with an idea for starting the campaign, and we got together and got down to it.

The campaign is set after an 'apocalyptic event', where the fabric of society has been changed - perhaps irrevocably.

Dramatis Personae

herein I shall detail the party. Others shall be introduced as they are met in story.

Altus - 314 years old- roleplayed by Steve

Altus is a Shardmind, trained as a bard. If one were to assign gender to Altus, it would be male - he has some distinctly male traits - in physical form, if not much in demeanor. However Shardmind is a race altogether without distinct gender, and they do not/ cannot reproduce. Altus follows the bardic tradition - the job most suited to his wandering nature, travelling the lands and trying to learn human custom. He considers himself more a storyteller than a performer of music or dance. He is curious of the actions, motivations and workings of organic species, and seeks to become more like them through joining in human rituals such as eating and drinking - despite his lack of need.

Echo - late 20's, female- roleplayed by Megan

Echo is a first generation Mul. Her class for the campaign is warden, as it best fits her personality and determination. However, before the world 'ended', Echo lived in Firestrong for 5 years. She worked for the council of Firestrong as part of a work crew, and has particular skills with lightning power, and its production and also the set up and maintenance of the town's power grid. Her earliest brush with death was when her dwarven grandfather pushed her out of a tree at a very young age - trying to make sure she didn't acquire the 'softness' of the human side of her family tree.

Enbel - Late 20's, female- roleplayed by Aoife

Enbel is a Wilden, and a seeker by trade. Before the events which led to this campaign came to pass, she would hunt for game and forage for wild plants with dietary or medicinal uses. She supplied the market, as well as local butchers and apothecaries, in exchange for money. She has a great knowledge of many of the species of Firestrong and its hinterland. One of her formative memories is the death of her parents. They were ill, and the master-healer was away. His apprentice, Baja, took matters into his own hands. While trying to brew a potion, he used hemlock instead of wild carrots in the brew, and this led to the death of Enbel's parents. This mistake shook Baja to his core, and he rededicated himself to become a great healer.

The party met in Firestrong, where Echo had moved, and Altus had been passing through, but decided to stay, at least for a while, for an opportunity to spend time with his new found friends, and tell his stories to the population. They would regularly meet up when Enbel and Echo were not on duty (Altus had no real time constraints, given his lack of need of sleep, or sustenance, he had no need to work, except whenever he got bored) to share drinks, and the occasional pizza. If asked why they were friends, despite the glaring differences in both their backgrounds and races, they would most likely flippantly reply "Pitchers are cheaper!"