Oceandawn: Sessions 1 & 2
The PCS:
* Faelwen, played by Dave. Half-elf Bard, female. Flirtatious. I would even say "ditsy," but I as the GM can't tell if Dave is playing her as real-ditsy or faux-ditsy. Since I can't tell, I deem it to be awesome.
* Agamemnon, played by Jim. Dragonborn Sorcerer, male. The "bad cop" to Faelwen's good cop. Has no fear. Throws around lightning like it's candy.
* Julian Mattius Dauoi, played by Jarrod. Human Ranger, male. The one human and one non-Arcanist in the party. He has two swords and a whole lot of stabity-stab. Also, I'm pretty sure his grandfather's grandfather was owned by the current mayor. Since he's human and all. (I pitched the idea of the past human slavery angle to Jarrod, and he grinned & said "awesome." Which makes me damned happy.)
* Yuriel, played by Aaron (normally). Genasi Swordmage, male? (do they have genders?) All I have to say: holy fuck, the Swordmage is a badass. Holy fuck. This sesson, Aaron couldn't make it, so Dave brought his friend Stefan to play, and I handed him Yuriel.
Session 1
* The PCs are out, walking a beat on the sea-docks, when they're approached by someone asking for help. There's a man sick on the docks. They're suspicious, but rush to help...when it's an ambush!
* Fight: 1 L1 Tiefling Heretic, 1 L1 Elite Human Brute (the Big Man in the EB), four Human thug minions. They take some decent damage, but win in the end. Highlight: Julian deciding to jump across the gab between the dock and the main platform, and narrowly missing -- but making the Acrobatics roll to grab onto the ledge instead of falling into the water. (Point of note: loving the options in DDI's Encounter Builder.)
* Aftermath: Before the game, we talked about the rule in combats -- no sentient creature has to make death saving throws in the city, since they're the City Watch and the law. It would feel weird to have them killing every perp. Murder is an intentional choice (though people are dead at -HP, still). So, when they went to go cuff the Tiefling, some sort of strange, high-level arcane ritual melted her brain.
* Skill Challenge: The surviving assault party were members of a gang working the docks called The Krays, patterned after Mother Kraken. The Big Man faced up against as easy skill challenge, focused on Diplomacy & Interrogation. He cracked and gave up that he was hired by the Tiefling, and he knew that they were going to be killing some cops. The Tiefling promised great rewards, and he wanted for his boys to "get their tentacles."
* They also uncovered an amulet on the Heretics body, a strange triangular symbol.
* There was some interaction between them and their Tiefling boss, Krull, where Krull showed disgust. Yay for complex people!
Session 2
So, I started by giving the players a choice. They could either: (1) Investigate the Gang Angle or (2) Investigate the Cult Angle. I guaranteed that both would result in adventure, and there was no wrong choice. They could send flunkies to find out about the other one. They choose option 2.
Fuck yeah.
First off, some hacks in place:
* Again, the aforementioned "no death checks" rule.
* I'm not tracking XP. Frankly, I want them to level faster than normal, at a "story" rate.
* I am doing "passive knowledge" -- three of the PCs have Passive Arcana of 15 or higher, and one has Passive Nature of 16. I'm using that for a guideline for "what you know as a reaction, without having to roll" -- a sort of specialized perception.
* Fred Hicks shared with me this great hack involving having skill challenges determine who gets to place last on the map -- the NPCs or the PCs.
* The "halfling" rule. In order to impress upon them that Halflings shouldn't be seen as a joke from The Hobbit, the rule is: "Pretty much until you're a demigod, every Halfling you meet is at least one level higher than you." I think it met with some success, along with something else that happened at the end of the session.
First scene: Skill Challenge, research in the Grand Library. The way I framed it: "Not 'do we find out stuff?' That's boring. This is 'Do we find what we need in time before we're ambushed?'" THEY FAILED COMPLETELY.
Prep for fight: Since they completely failed the skill challenge, I go to place both them and the NPCs. The Bard was off in the stacks while the other three were ambushed while around a table, thanks to a secret door (which, oddly enough, came from the outer wall).
Fight! Two L1 Tiefling Heretics, one L1 Stormclaw Scorpion, one L2 Halfling Thief. Where did this scorpion come from? Halflings keep many dangerous animals as pets. They were taking some serious beatings, since the Bard couldn't really come into play until the second round, thanks to placement & initiative. That's also the round where a hooded figure (who wasn't hooded enough -- Julian could tell he was Eladrin) came in and started grabbing all the books.
They eventually turned the tide on their foes, killing the Scorpion (as it charged the guy with resist lightning) and then cornering the Halfling (thanks to the Swordmage & Boom Blade). They hit the Eladrin one or twice, but he ran away, teleporting through the outer wall with the books (but also dropping his magic weapon). Then they captured one Heretic and the other escaped. They were also able to make an Arcana check to keep the Death Ritual from hitting right away.
Back at the station: They were only able to delay the death ritual two or three hours, but the heretic didn't know that. For all she knew, it was delayed inevitably, which was of great concern to her. The PCs got Krull to convince her that they could grant it, if she cooperated. They watched her cry and accept this, then the question asking began.
The PCs have the name of their god, Aeyrholt. It's from Very, Very Old Elvish, from before the Elven poets made the language beautiful.
A rough, incomplete transcript:
Cop: Where do your members meet?
Perp: I pray in my home, and Aeyrholt tells me what I need to do.
Cop: Are there temples to Aeyrholt?
Perp: Maybe. I don't know. I was not high enough an initiate.
Cop: So you know higher initiates?
Perp: Yes. Aeyrholt directs us together.
Cop: Where do you get the money to hire these men?
Perp: Aeyrholt tells us that there is no shame in using this body for his Good.
Cop: How do contact Aeyrholt?
Perp: He talks to us in our dreams.
Cop: Who else do you know in the cult? What was the Eladrin's name?
Perp: ...Aeyrholt. We're all Aeyrholt. I'm sorry that I don't know their slave names.
Cop: Why did you target us?
Perp: You were looking for the word of Aeyrholt, and he told us to stop you.
Cop: No, why did your friend attack us last night?
Perp: I'm sorry, Aeyrholt told me nothing of that.
Cop: Who is Aeyrholt?
Perp: He's the one true god, of all love, here long before your old masters (pointing at the Human) came here with their blasphemy.
The end of that:
The perp thanked them for accepting their agreement to let her have her Grand Death. She said that Aeyrholt told her to tell them everything when they asked, and she gave her amulet to Agamemnon. She also wrote down the prayer & ritual she uses to contact Aeyrholt, got undressed, and prayed. And with that, she dropped dead.
Now they're wondering what to do next. They're thinking about going to her home, since she told them where she lives.
The endcap of the session, however, might have been my favorite:
Krull: You guys brought in the Halfling?
PCs (beaming): Yep!
Krull: And you're already released him, right?
PCs: What?!
Krull: Fuck. Okay, I need to go apologize.
PCs: WHAT?!
Krull: We cannot afford a war with the Halflings.
That went on for a couple minutes. I think I impressed upon them that seriously I'm taking Halflings in this world. He totally was walking out of the station house with his slickboy attorney, hard-looking the PCs and signaling "I'm going to kill you, you tall fucks. I will slice your exposed necks."
I'm loving this game. It rocks in all the ways Shadowfell wasn't for me, because it engages in fiction I prefer. (Though, running Shadowfell was great for learning the game from a GM perspective, so I don't diss in the least. Just not quite my cuppa.)
* Faelwen, played by Dave. Half-elf Bard, female. Flirtatious. I would even say "ditsy," but I as the GM can't tell if Dave is playing her as real-ditsy or faux-ditsy. Since I can't tell, I deem it to be awesome.
* Agamemnon, played by Jim. Dragonborn Sorcerer, male. The "bad cop" to Faelwen's good cop. Has no fear. Throws around lightning like it's candy.
* Julian Mattius Dauoi, played by Jarrod. Human Ranger, male. The one human and one non-Arcanist in the party. He has two swords and a whole lot of stabity-stab. Also, I'm pretty sure his grandfather's grandfather was owned by the current mayor. Since he's human and all. (I pitched the idea of the past human slavery angle to Jarrod, and he grinned & said "awesome." Which makes me damned happy.)
* Yuriel, played by Aaron (normally). Genasi Swordmage, male? (do they have genders?) All I have to say: holy fuck, the Swordmage is a badass. Holy fuck. This sesson, Aaron couldn't make it, so Dave brought his friend Stefan to play, and I handed him Yuriel.
Session 1
* The PCs are out, walking a beat on the sea-docks, when they're approached by someone asking for help. There's a man sick on the docks. They're suspicious, but rush to help...when it's an ambush!
* Fight: 1 L1 Tiefling Heretic, 1 L1 Elite Human Brute (the Big Man in the EB), four Human thug minions. They take some decent damage, but win in the end. Highlight: Julian deciding to jump across the gab between the dock and the main platform, and narrowly missing -- but making the Acrobatics roll to grab onto the ledge instead of falling into the water. (Point of note: loving the options in DDI's Encounter Builder.)
* Aftermath: Before the game, we talked about the rule in combats -- no sentient creature has to make death saving throws in the city, since they're the City Watch and the law. It would feel weird to have them killing every perp. Murder is an intentional choice (though people are dead at -HP, still). So, when they went to go cuff the Tiefling, some sort of strange, high-level arcane ritual melted her brain.
* Skill Challenge: The surviving assault party were members of a gang working the docks called The Krays, patterned after Mother Kraken. The Big Man faced up against as easy skill challenge, focused on Diplomacy & Interrogation. He cracked and gave up that he was hired by the Tiefling, and he knew that they were going to be killing some cops. The Tiefling promised great rewards, and he wanted for his boys to "get their tentacles."
* They also uncovered an amulet on the Heretics body, a strange triangular symbol.
* There was some interaction between them and their Tiefling boss, Krull, where Krull showed disgust. Yay for complex people!
Session 2
So, I started by giving the players a choice. They could either: (1) Investigate the Gang Angle or (2) Investigate the Cult Angle. I guaranteed that both would result in adventure, and there was no wrong choice. They could send flunkies to find out about the other one. They choose option 2.
Fuck yeah.
First off, some hacks in place:
* Again, the aforementioned "no death checks" rule.
* I'm not tracking XP. Frankly, I want them to level faster than normal, at a "story" rate.
* I am doing "passive knowledge" -- three of the PCs have Passive Arcana of 15 or higher, and one has Passive Nature of 16. I'm using that for a guideline for "what you know as a reaction, without having to roll" -- a sort of specialized perception.
* Fred Hicks shared with me this great hack involving having skill challenges determine who gets to place last on the map -- the NPCs or the PCs.
* The "halfling" rule. In order to impress upon them that Halflings shouldn't be seen as a joke from The Hobbit, the rule is: "Pretty much until you're a demigod, every Halfling you meet is at least one level higher than you." I think it met with some success, along with something else that happened at the end of the session.
First scene: Skill Challenge, research in the Grand Library. The way I framed it: "Not 'do we find out stuff?' That's boring. This is 'Do we find what we need in time before we're ambushed?'" THEY FAILED COMPLETELY.
Prep for fight: Since they completely failed the skill challenge, I go to place both them and the NPCs. The Bard was off in the stacks while the other three were ambushed while around a table, thanks to a secret door (which, oddly enough, came from the outer wall).
Fight! Two L1 Tiefling Heretics, one L1 Stormclaw Scorpion, one L2 Halfling Thief. Where did this scorpion come from? Halflings keep many dangerous animals as pets. They were taking some serious beatings, since the Bard couldn't really come into play until the second round, thanks to placement & initiative. That's also the round where a hooded figure (who wasn't hooded enough -- Julian could tell he was Eladrin) came in and started grabbing all the books.
They eventually turned the tide on their foes, killing the Scorpion (as it charged the guy with resist lightning) and then cornering the Halfling (thanks to the Swordmage & Boom Blade). They hit the Eladrin one or twice, but he ran away, teleporting through the outer wall with the books (but also dropping his magic weapon). Then they captured one Heretic and the other escaped. They were also able to make an Arcana check to keep the Death Ritual from hitting right away.
Back at the station: They were only able to delay the death ritual two or three hours, but the heretic didn't know that. For all she knew, it was delayed inevitably, which was of great concern to her. The PCs got Krull to convince her that they could grant it, if she cooperated. They watched her cry and accept this, then the question asking began.
The PCs have the name of their god, Aeyrholt. It's from Very, Very Old Elvish, from before the Elven poets made the language beautiful.
A rough, incomplete transcript:
Cop: Where do your members meet?
Perp: I pray in my home, and Aeyrholt tells me what I need to do.
Cop: Are there temples to Aeyrholt?
Perp: Maybe. I don't know. I was not high enough an initiate.
Cop: So you know higher initiates?
Perp: Yes. Aeyrholt directs us together.
Cop: Where do you get the money to hire these men?
Perp: Aeyrholt tells us that there is no shame in using this body for his Good.
Cop: How do contact Aeyrholt?
Perp: He talks to us in our dreams.
Cop: Who else do you know in the cult? What was the Eladrin's name?
Perp: ...Aeyrholt. We're all Aeyrholt. I'm sorry that I don't know their slave names.
Cop: Why did you target us?
Perp: You were looking for the word of Aeyrholt, and he told us to stop you.
Cop: No, why did your friend attack us last night?
Perp: I'm sorry, Aeyrholt told me nothing of that.
Cop: Who is Aeyrholt?
Perp: He's the one true god, of all love, here long before your old masters (pointing at the Human) came here with their blasphemy.
The end of that:
The perp thanked them for accepting their agreement to let her have her Grand Death. She said that Aeyrholt told her to tell them everything when they asked, and she gave her amulet to Agamemnon. She also wrote down the prayer & ritual she uses to contact Aeyrholt, got undressed, and prayed. And with that, she dropped dead.
Now they're wondering what to do next. They're thinking about going to her home, since she told them where she lives.
The endcap of the session, however, might have been my favorite:
Krull: You guys brought in the Halfling?
PCs (beaming): Yep!
Krull: And you're already released him, right?
PCs: What?!
Krull: Fuck. Okay, I need to go apologize.
PCs: WHAT?!
Krull: We cannot afford a war with the Halflings.
That went on for a couple minutes. I think I impressed upon them that seriously I'm taking Halflings in this world. He totally was walking out of the station house with his slickboy attorney, hard-looking the PCs and signaling "I'm going to kill you, you tall fucks. I will slice your exposed necks."
I'm loving this game. It rocks in all the ways Shadowfell wasn't for me, because it engages in fiction I prefer. (Though, running Shadowfell was great for learning the game from a GM perspective, so I don't diss in the least. Just not quite my cuppa.)