We finally got all together again and once again stepped into my Fantasy Trip game. I did do a bit of a jump cut: covered a few days of travel through the Cutting Fields. Their supplies were getting low despite having two expert woodsmen with them: the corruption of nature and magic means that there just is not a lot to hunt.
Sister Ishbarra is still sorely wounded, and there are a few other wounds here and there but nothing too bad. But we cut to late afternoon a few days after our last meeting, and off in the distance they can see a small, 3 story or so keep or tower. Violet hears the stamping of feet, and off in the distance, they can see a troop of gnolls and a small band of goblins moving to ancient tower.
Seeing some flickering light inside the tower, the party was uncertain if the war party was going back home or going to attack. A small, redhead peeked out and even from the distance they could hear a curse. It looked like the remains of the door were being pushed back into place.
As the gnolls climbed the narrowing approach to the castle, arrows started shooting down from the top of the tower. It appeared to only be a single archer at the top, and the gnoll closest to the door was protected by the overhang. The 2nd was not as lucky, but the arrows seemed to barely penetrate their thick hides.
Deciding that attacking the attackers from the rear and possibly saving whoever was inside was a better choice. the group attacks: Hexis and Exz throw rocks as they get closer (and Axz never once hits anything), Violet is also throwing rocks, and Marianne and Dawn are shooting arrows. The Druid and cleric both move up to attack the goblins.
Deimos attempted to cast an illusion of a door at the castle but sadly failed that roll. The next roll for the bear was successful, and due to the narrowing of the gorge to the castle, formed an effective barrier to prevent the gnolls from getting to the group (which, had they hit, may have well been insta-skill for some of the players!). The battle only lasts a few rounds: there are a lot of payers and NPCs in this group. I should have added a few more gnolls or something but TFT is a fairly deadly game. And no one has stocked up on healing potions. And they've not had time to rest: it requires 2 days of rest to recover 1 point of damage. At some point the archer from teh roof drops her bow - I rolled a 17! There was more cursing.
They kill all but one of the goblins, and one of the gnolls decided running away was a better life choice. From this goblin they found that they were also after the Orc Fist Gauntlets, so the party now knows they are where they need to be. Game-time it was only a few weeks at most, real life has been challenging!
They also end up killing Eugene the Goblin despite his pleas that he could help. They also find, from Deimos (and the player is really good at reading the rules) mentions that touching the dead goblin's magic staff would not be a good choice: 3d damage. There was a lot of discussion on how to use it has a weapon and not touch it but in the end they just left it alone as too dangerous. I also used the Ultimate Bestiary for the stuff the goblins and gnolls were carrying: while the ratted meat rations from the gnolls was not used, the goblins had 5 days of rations. Which with the group as large as it is is not even a day....
Inside the tower, they find two halfings: Aigulf and Dinah. Aigulf has been tracking down the history of Stubboon, and Dinah is there to protect the mostly helpless hearthsinger. A bit of food, and a bit of rest for Deimos, and then some tower exploration. I do want to say they slept overnight but I do not recall for certain. They do find a small coin and a few other bits, but nothing of importance. Deimos checks for magic and there is a sense of magic below the floor, despite the solid rock floor. I think ii was Axz who found the impression of the coin in the stairwell. Putting the coin in there, it dissolves in a puff of smoke and the staircase opens up to continue below the floor. Deimos, having the light spell, gave the pendant to Hexis, who followed behind Voilet. The rest of the group followed (and I just realized left no one as a guard upstairs...) with Aigulf and his torch bringing up the rear. At the bottom of a narrow staircase is a small area with room for maybe 3 people. And a door locked on this side. They realized it was locked to keep something in. Opening the door, they find a small 10' wide corridor leading on. Following this around a couple corners, they find a more open area. There is a small pool of dark water in one corner, and the group is searching inside this space. Not realizing the drips of water do not create ripples in the pool. By the time they do realize this, a gelatinous cube is emerging from the water. Doyne recognizes this and tells the group important information as they have never met such a thing before. Deciding that it was too large, and that the gunpowder from the blunderbuss may be their best approach, they create a small pile of the gunpowder, and when the cube gets close, throw Aigulf's torch. As gunpower does 3x the damage, there is splattered gelatinous cube all over the place.
And this was where we stopped the game for a few reasons. It gives me a chance to finish dealing with the rest of this dungeon they are now in. They have 3 torches left, as well as Deimos' light pendant. But the group is so large that they will need a torch at least, maybe two. And they last about an hour.
And the question came up at the end about XP. I decided to wait until they get to a resting spot: XP in the middle of a dungeon delve just does not sit right with me. They will get experience though, maybe enough to help them over a couple hurdles.
I also am going ot use a few things I have and let them roll up what we discover. Who knows what Stubboon managed to cache down there? He was carrying a supply of magical armaments according to legends. Which Aigulf is researching. I did that so that I could explain what they are getting mostly.
I am also leaning to having something down there that may help or show something about the corruption. And while I have actually finished putting together a few things from Archon that have been sitting on my desk (or under it) for years, I don't plan on dropping that on them!
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| not going to show up, but at least I got it together! Now to paint it! |
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