Wednesday night D&D/AD&D group starting at Lake Geneva Games

[otto von grunwald]

[part 2]

Once the party’s blindness had worn off, Ram began to fashion an eye patch out of a strip of cloth to protect against further flash blindness. Otto agreed and did the same. The bodies of the gray humanoids were searched and 300gp worth of coinage was recovered. The chamber had three passages leading out of it: left, forward, and right. As the party decided which passage to take, Telegar suggested using non-lethal damage on the strange creatures next time. The party chose the left hand passage.

Gorax with his Continual Light shield, and Trinity lead the way along. After only five or six paces down the tunnel, the light from the shield went out and Gorax’s infravision didn’t work either. Trinity tried her Flashlight also without effect. Otto suggested that one of the spell casters use magic to dispel the darkness but none had the necessary spell memorized. The group stood wondering what to do for a few moments before Otto leaned against a wall and began to move ahead into the strange darkness. Quickly, Telegar tied a rope onto Otto and held onto it to follow. Detecting for evil, Sir Ryan took to the opposite wall and went ahead as well. One by one, the other party members held onto the rope and walked into the dark. The passage stayed straight, as far as anybody could tell, for at least twenty five paces. Suddenly, Gorax’s shield lit up the tunnel revealing a Y-intersection in front of them. With only a second’s hesitation, the adventurers started down the left branch of the intersection.

Several paces down, something glinted in the distance and a slow scraping noise could be heard. A few paces more and the opening to a chamber could be made out as nearly a dozen armored skeletal figures approached from it with weapons readied. Sir Ryan leapt up to turn the undead creatures back but to no avail. Sir Ryan, Xander, Trinity, Krogdor, and Gorax were near the front and were able to attack while the others were forced to stay back due to the confined nature of the tunnel. Trinity smote one with her magic maul and Krogdor dropped another with Guardian, his magical long sword. Then the creatures managed to grab Telegar and Gorax by their necks in an iron grip to choke them to death. Ram and Nova activated their Rings of Invisibility and drew back. When Quake’s bow shot and Rayn’s staff hit had no effect on the undead, they and Otto all drew back realizing only those with enchanted weapons were able to wound the enemies. Telegar destroyed the creature choking him with a blow from his Rod of Smiting. Ranthor, picked up a skeletal arm from the exploded foe and tried to beat one of the others with it, but to no effect. In the end, several party members were wounded, but none severely. Kill totals were: Trinity-4, Krogdor-3, Telegar-2. The chamber beyond turned out to contain no exits, secret or otherwise, and a small chest holding 500gp value in coins. Xander took Telegar aside while the chamber was being searched to cast Cure Light Wounds on him.

The party then backtracked to the Y and took the other passage. Some steps along, they found a side passage which lead to a dark chamber. Trinity was able to spot a body lying near the chamber’s opening. Seeing this, the group checked out the room. It was seen to actually contain three bodies of youths, presumably those of the five missing teenagers the party had been sent to find. Foxman asked Otto, “Does it appear that they were killed here or brought here after?” Otto examined the floor and determined that they’d been brought into the room later. The drag marks lead back to the main passage but then were lost. The bodies had been stripped of all belongings. Sir Ryan moved the bodies to the side of the chamber out of respect, and noticed that the human corpse was missing a finger. The gnome corpse was still wearing a necklace hidden under its tunic and a ring on, and the elf body had a scroll tucked inside its belt. Gorax determined the ring was a Ring of Protection and took it. Rayn took the necklace and scroll for later study.

Wanting to finish off the passage, the party proceeded down the tunnel after leaving the three corpse room. It ended in another very dark opening. As the party drew close, over a dozen of the small gray humanoids poured out armed with daggers. Otto shouted, “Sleep!” but Rayn shrugged and shouted back, “Don’t have it!” Trinity slammed one with her maul killing it instantly. Only Ram and Gorax were blinded, but Ram then switched his eye patch and activated his Ring of Invisibility. Otto and Telegar make subdual attacks but missed. Xander hit with the flat of his scimitar KOing one. The rest of the party followed suit and in the end, several adventurers were scratched by the humanoids’ daggers but KO totals were: Trinity-5, Xander-2, Telegar-2, Sir Ryan-2, Otto-1, Foxman-1, Nova-1, and Krogdor-1. In the room the party found 250gp of coins and small gems in a sack as well as a pile of equipment and armor in the center of the room presumably the belongings of the now dead youths. Xander cast Detect Magic and found none of the items to be magical. One of the dead humanoids was seen by Xander to be wearing a magical ring which he took a9nd found to be a Ring of Protection (+2). Rayn offered to trade her Ring of Protection (+1) with him and he agreed since he could wear leather armor and she couldn’t. The chamber turned out to be another dead end so the party returned back to the main chamber through the darkness.
The party took the center passage this time and discovered a broad chamber after fifteen paces. In the middle of the room were the bodies of the other two youths. A slightly closer examination showed that they had twisted expressions on their faces and a greenish tint to their skin. As the party stepped even closer, four large centipedes emerged from the corpses and attacked but were quickly dispatched by Trinity, Gorax and Xander.

Several party members made a motion to return to town as the mission had been accomplished, but Sir Ryan said that they should finish clearing the tunnels so that no others would wander in and get themselves killed like the five teenagers did. Pondering this, the party agreed and followed the passage as it continued through the chamber.

It brought the group to another dead end chamber. Entering the room, the party spotted a dozen or so skeletal figures rise up from along the walls to attack. Attacking with edged weapons, the party slowly chipped away at their boney foes. Fortunately, the undead were only clawing at the party and managed to only inflict minor wounds on several party members. In the end the party finished off the skeletons: Gorax-4, Trinity-3, Telegar-2, Rayn-2, and Ram-1.

The party examined the chamber once combat was ended and found a pile of thousands of coins in a corner as well as another passage leading further into the caves.

<play ended there for the night>

[Ambreville]

Sure, I'll be running the conclusion of the adventure tonite. Of course, Ken, you are most welcome to join! I'll have the XP tallies ready from last week, so that part will be out of the way. Tentatively I'll continue with the Golden Monkey award, since you guys seemed to enjoy it. However, you all have to make an effort with "role-playing" otherwise, it's a pointless giveaway.

We ought to discuss after the game (those who want to stick around) the initiative system. It feels "backward". I think the plusses and minusses ought to be reversed so we don't end up with lots of negative init scores. Sorry for the confusion. I wanted to post the original text here, but the result is pretty messy. I'll have to play with my original material so it can be pasted here without too much trouble (and look readable)!

Cheers!

[Ambreville]

If any of you are on Facebook (other than the ones who've been chatting with me this morning--you know who you are), please connect with me/us-lot if you wish. It might ease some of the communication.

http://www.facebook.com/Ambreville

Edit -- I've created a "group" for the Wednesday Evening D&D Game (etc...) on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/273652382679320/

[Ambreville]

Experience from last week's adventure: 542 per player. This includes about 800 gp, magical items (mostly stuff the party hasn't yet appraised), and combat XP.

Ryan gets an extra 536 XP for earning one nomination for the Golden Monkey award. More tonight for those who will make an effort.

Loot so far includes one silver hookah & related herbs (w/Otto), two small treasures in small gems and coins, Tizun's ring (w/Sam or Robert?) and assorted large mirrors that go with it, and other mysterious valuables that no one has identified due to lack of time last week. If you know of anything else I mentioned but forgot to list here, let me know now or first thing tonight. There also was an offer of 500 gp per player to undertake the mission on behalf of Tizun's distant cousin. The expectation was to find out about his fate and deal with any potential dangers left behind as much as the party can.

Recap:

Mansion lies at the end of a canyon, in a crater, and is surrounded with water. You got past the main entrance and its tall iron guardian, who led you to Tizun Thane's body in the room of mirrors, where Telegar (Damian) tried to push Sam's character through one of the mirrors. Note: half its skull is missing (Tizun's, not Sam's!) You explored servants quarters and paid a visit to the "nandies" (ape like creatures that run all over the roof and the canyon) in the mansion's former barracks (remember collapsed roof there). Armored zombies attacked the party several times. Ed's character chatted with a more-or-less friendly nandie, but didn't think of the right questions to ask... After spending the night barricaded in the guest rooms, you met with Tizun Thane's younger brother, Dekker and his buddies. He showed the party the way to take out his other brother, Hegar the Necromancer. (You lucky dogs! If only I hadn't screwed up that encounter! Just you wait...) You made a deal with Dekker to split all treasures found in the main tower.

Sorry, no-slow-motion replay for that one.

Edit: oh yeah, I forgot to say that Hegar's death automatically resulted in a curse upon whoever nailed his last hit point. IIRC that would be Rayne! Bummer...

Remaining to explore:

Double doors at the east end of the wider hallway where Hegar Thane ambushed the rear of the party. The opposite end of his corridor otherwise goes south from where you fought Hegar, then turns east again. You haven't been that way. There were smaller double doors in the east wall inside the room with the armored skeletons, and another single reinforced door, locked, on the south wall.

[Ambreville]

The original mechanics on modified initiative went this way (which I'm providing here for reference only):

Combat Speed Factors

Man-made weapons and armor tend to slow down their owners' reaction times

Process:
1. Players announce what weapon or spell they plan to use before rolling for Initiative (Intentions)
Announcing who stands in the front or in the back is also needed at this point.
2. One player makes one Initiative check for the party (1d8) High is good!
Everyone quietly add/subtract their individual modifiers.
3. DM makes one Initiative check for the monsters (1d8)
DM announces the monsters' modified Initiative score
4. Players signal whether they play before or after the monsters (see below)

Players with modified Initiative scores equal or higher than the monsters' go first (1. Ranged Weapons, 2. Spells, 3. Melee)
Players with modified Initiative scores lower than the monsters' go last. (Any order. Ranged Weapons only if any clear targets are still available. Spells only if uninterrupted.)

Individual Penalties (Subtract from group's Initiative Score)

Ranged Weapon
First Shot 0
Second Shot -4
Third Shot -8 (if any -- I'd allow a third shot if its total modified Init score is no less than either protagonists' worst score)

Armor
None 0
Non-Metal -2
Metal -4

Melee Weapon: Subtract Weapon Speed Factor as listed in 1st Ed. AD&D rules

Spell: Subtract Spell's Casting Time (segments) as listed in 1st Ed. AD&D rules

Slow Spell: As per Haste spell. Always goes last.


Individual Bonuses (Add to group's Initiative Score)

Magical Equipment: Any magical "+" to weapon and armor

Dexterity: Reaction Adjustment from Dexterity (if you're using OSRIC, look up the ranged weapons to hit bonus instead).

Weapon Specialization: +2 Bonus (Fighter class only)

Haste Spell: Disregard Initiative. Hasted individuals act separately from their group, if any, and always gain initiative.


Monsters with natural armor and natural weapons (claws, bites, etc) suffer no Initiative penalties
Group Initiative for monsters or NPC's with a mix of different melee weapons is based on their slowest weapon ("Uh… chief has big weapon… better stick near chief then.")
Actions that aren't weapon- or spell-based do not incur modifiers other than those associated with armor, but the DM will decide how long these actions take to complete.
Magical "plusses" only serve to offset penalties inherent to melee weapons and armor. This explains why there are no modifiers for a ranged weapon's first shot, or magical rings and such. Arguably, a magical bow (but not magical arrows) could offset the penalties for additional shots. Details, details... It's about as far as I'd want to go.

[Ambreville]

November 09 Session

We had ten players last night: Damian, Ed, Nate, Ken, Robert, Chris, Anna, Melissa, Lindsey, and last but not least, Ryan.

About 6-7 rooms were actually visited, with one fight against gremlins, the destruction of a carbuncle, the acquisition of an unknown potion, a Tome of Leadership & Influence, and miscellaneous other items, earning each member of the party 342 gp and 1,184 XP. There were three nominations for the Golden Monkey Award, as follows:

Act I Scene 2—Damian: 190 XP bonus
Act I Scene 3—Lindsey: 670 XP bonus
Act II Scene 1—Anna: 396 XP bonus

With Ryan, we have so far four nominations to the Golden Monkey award. Please note that award bonuses vary significantly with the winners’ character levels, and that they also increase as the adventure goes along. So, Act III Scene 3 yields the highest XP bonus.

Recap:

The equipment retrieved from Hegar’s dead body, including a plate mail +1, shield +1, and footman’s mace +2, was divided amongst Robert, Nate, and Ed (part of last week’s XP award).

By the early light of dawn, the party investigated the large circular chamber at the east end of the hallway (bloody altar, 14 magical, quite evil, and seemingly indestructible obsidian statues), and left after barricading its entrance. They estimated that the circular chamber lay just south of the main tower they were initially looking for. Dekker and his men were nowhere to be seen.

In the skeleton room, Nova found a secret compartment, disarmed a trap, recovered a key ring, and reset the trap before closing the compartment. The party checked the double doors found a stairwell heading down, toward the east. It was decided to leave that passage for later.

Telegar shoved an arrow through the peep hole in the reinforced door to the south, breaking a wooden panel on the other side. He could see a bedroom through the peephole. Trinity smashed that door, and the party searched what appeared to be the necromancer’s bedchamber. After Nova accidentally triggered a trap, Ranthor found a treasure underneath the floor (2,679 gp in ornamental stones, 3 gems, and a Tome of Leadership and Influence +1 Charisma and extra +1 Dancing skill, which Sir Ryan kept). While searching Hegar’s bed, Telegar discovered an armadillo-like pet carbuncle, which Rayne promptly fried with a spell after Sir Ryan emphatically declared the monstrous beast utterly evil.

Nova detected a secret door on the east wall. Nova and Ranthor investigated the chamber beyond. Nova triggered a trap dropping both into a water-filled pit. Telegar, after tethering himself to Hegar’s bed, jumped to the rescue, fishing out the spluttering Ranthor. Nova spotted sunlight reflecting from the bottom of the pit and was eventually rescued as well, despite her persisting case of the sillies (an elf with the sillies! What’s the world coming to?) The party decided to move on.

Before leaving, Ranthor spotted yet another hidden passage, which Nova reached by climbing along the wall. A rope a stretched across the pit and the rest of the party followed. In that chamber lay four dead bodies, which Sir Ryan dispatched into the watery pit after a short prayer for their souls. An unlocked door led southward. Nova detected a hidden vault beyond the east wall. Inside, was a chest containing a silver hookah, a small box with herbs (similar to what Otto found during the previous week’s session), a small sack filled with golden scales of some reptilian nature, and an unidentified potion of a clear, golden liquid which I assume Ryan kept—please correct me if I’m wrong. Ranthor retained the hookah & herbs.

Sir Ryan investigated the door to the south, which led to an east-west hallway. Next, the party checked an adjacent room to the right (westward). It contained the butchered carcasses and bones of people and other creatures covered with moss and small pink fluffy dots of mold. Ranthor disturbed some of the pink stuff which floated into the room’s air. Nova failed her save and became well and truly intoxicated.

The party turned around and went back east to another set of double doors. After Nova’s rather cross-eyed attempt to detect traps, she daftly and giddily determined the entrance was perfectly safe. The doors (safely indeed) led into a larger chamber with three more doors on the east wall, and another set of double doors leading south yet again. Reggie (Ken) cast a detect magic and sensed something past the door closest to the northeast corner.

It led to a smaller room filled with an imposing bric-a-brac of broken furniture, discarded canvases, etc, behind which stared the feral eyes of gremlins. Reggie, Ranthor, and Krogdor (sp?) all failed their saves and fled in panic. Foxman ran after them to slow them down. With a vengeance, Rayne used her sling at one of the gremlins that promptly caused her mighty weapon to fly out of her hand along with its bullet. Telegar tossed a burning flask of oil and fried some of the gremlins. Trinity bravely stepped in, lost her pants, and tripped over them. Sir Ryan came to the rescue, only to have his helmet spin to the side and block his view. Struggling back to her feet, one hand holding her pants and the other her giant maul, Trinity experienced the rest of her armor coming undone. Sir Ryan snapped his helmet back in place and then lost his pants as well… this went on until the six creatures were eventually killed, which ended the session.

Remaining to explore:

The other two other doors adjacent to the gremlins’ chamber, the double doors to the south, the corridor turning north past the chamber with the moldy body parts, and the stairwell in the skeletons’ room which led steeply down toward the east underneath the circular chamber. Current game time: late morning.

[Ambreville]

Anyone playing/not playing next week, November 23?

[aplus]

Your adventure sounds really cool. For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, it vaguely reminds me of A Rendezvous in Averoigne.

[Ambreville]

Your adventure sounds really cool. For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, it vaguely reminds me of A Rendezvous in Averoigne.

Note quite. This one's from Albie Fiore (White Dwarf back in the late 70's or early 80's).

[Taurusrayn]

As far as I know I'm down for playing on the 23rd!

[jeffery st. clair]

Sorry I missed tonight - I couldn't kill today's headache without some sleep. Also, I will be on the road for Thanksgiving next Wednesday night.

[Ambreville]

Sorry I missed tonight - I couldn't kill today's headache without some sleep. Also, I will be on the road for Thanksgiving next Wednesday night.

Dude, I hope you feel better! We were disappointed not to see you last night. Our adventure is nearly finished. I can extend that a bit to entertain everyone for the rest of the evening on the 23rd. After that, I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you resume your DM'ing. If not, do let us know. I do not have another dungeon ready quite yet after the present one. Once we're done with mine, Damian, John, and Jeremy have all volunteered to pitch in. Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving!

[Ambreville]

November 16 Session

We had eight players last night: Anna, Chris, Damian, Lindsey, Melissa, Nate, Robert, and last but not least, Ryan.

About 15 rooms were actually visited, leading to a fight against a Houri*, her ogre bodyguard, and her friendly admirers, a clutch of nefarious berbalangs, one shadow dancer, and an initial encounter with a yeti-like creature in the wizard’s tower. Acquired unidentified items, including: two magical arrows (w/Ryan), a magical ring (w/Nova), a small silver flute (w/Rayne), two gems worth a total of 4,040 gp, and 145 gp in small change. This amounts to 523 gp and 1,229 XP per player. There were two new nominations for the Golden Monkey Award, as follows:

Act II Scene 2—Ranthor: +120 XP bonus
Act II Scene 3—Rayne: +468 XP bonus

Nominated once each so far: Anna, Damian, Lindsey, Melissa, Robert, and Ryan. At this point, whoever earns a second nomination will clinch the actual award for the Golden Monkey. Upcoming votes will be handed via secret ballot.

(*) A Houri is a special wizard sub-class described in White Dwarf.

Recap:

With her detect magic spell still active from the previous session, Rayne pointed at the north wall in the gremlins’ lair. Unable to locate the secret passage, Trinity bashed down a portion of the wall to get through. The gremlins’ treasure included random dungeon junk, except for two dragon eggs and a magical ring. The eggs, radiating evil, were quickly sliced and squashed, respectively, revealing dragon fetuses, one caustic black, the other nauseatingly green.

Heading away once more from their goal, the party investigated the double-door to the south of the chamber near the gremlins’ lair. It led to the holdout of a houri and her companions. Heggar’s curse triggered, prompting several crossbowmen to aim their shots at Rayne. Amazingly, two missed and the resulting damage to the wizard remained negligible. The houri’s companions surrendered after a brief, one-sided fight. Eyzis, the houri, said she was a former slave of Dekker who’d allied with some of his men, and barricaded themselves in this part of the manor when Heggar went out of control (following Tizun Thane’s death). The party granted the houri’s request to let them leave the manor.

After a summary and fruitless glance at the houri’s quarters, the party returned to the stairwell leading under the altar room, in an attempt to access to the wizard’s tower. At the bottom of the stairs, a circular corridor led to a ring of unoccupied cells. A secret passage revealed the presence of a large torture chamber at the center of the circular corridor. It served as the lair for some of Heggar’s allies, a small clutch of berbalangs. Some sat in a circle around a levitating ball of light, absorbed in a trance. The others glared at Ranthor when he unexpectedly opened the secret passage and looked in.

Ranthor quickly shut the passage, and the party prepared for battle. Fourteen of the berbalangs rushed out through other secret panels, blocking the two opposite ends of the circular corridor. Despite a series of (rather nerfed) psionic blasts, the party dispatched their aggressors, notably with smash-a-holic Trinity on one end, and wack-a-molic Telegar wielding his Rod of Smiting on the other. The party then quickly dispatched the ring of unresponsive berbalangs inside the lair, and Ryan recovered the glowing ball of light. Alas, no exit seemed to lead to the wizard’s tower.

Disappointed, the party went back upstairs to the altar room. With fine dancing skills (which, by the way, he had not yet acquired from a magical tome requiring at least a week’s study—hint, hint) Ryan twirled and leaped around, demonstrating his use of pas-de-deux and entrechats while wearing plate armor. Priceless. Although the statues remained stonelike, cockroaches in dark corners rolled on the floor chirping out loud, their antennae and six little hairy legs twitching. Nova climbed out through one of the openings at the top of the dome. She saw that the wizard’s tower stood 15ft north of the dome’s edge, with a section of roof covering the part of the building lying between the two structures.

Tired and battered in the wake of their battle with the berbalangs, and since it was getting dark, the party headed downstairs one more time and barricaded themselves in the berbalangs’ lair. Amazingly, they did not think of blocking the access to the altar room when they left, as they had done earlier… Consequently, Foxman later heard something skulking outside the secret passage during his watch. He passed the buck to Trinity who went looking for the intruder out in the circular corridor. She quickly retreated when she saw the one of the black statues dancing around. The shadow dancer immediately spun its merry little way into the berbalangs’ lair and, once again thanks to the Rod of Smiting and Krogdor’s magical sword, was quickly and thankfully shattered. One down, thirteen to go. Mind-bogglingly, Rayne never woke up despite the din of the fight and regained all her spells. Inconceivable!

The next morning, the party investigated the banquet room. On the way there, it became obvious that Heggar’s body no longer lay in the hallway where he’d been killed the previous day. The defeated zombies were still there. Ranthor located a peep hole in the banquet room’s north wall, by the entrance, but no other secret passages. On their way out, Foxman reported feeling odd, but could not identify the source of the sensation.

The party returned to the altar room, and Nova climbed out to the roof once more. Everyone followed. Ranthor and Trinity investigated a window on the tower’s south wall, and saw a library inside. Rayne used a knock spell to open the window and triggered a magical ward. Fortunately, she stood far enough that she suffered little damage. Trinity demolished the iron bars blocking the way and climbed in. When all was safe, everyone followed.

The party headed down a spiral staircase leading to a lounge. A door led to various hidden passages, which the party left behind. They returned to the library and explored the spiral staircase to the floor above. Ranthor, who led the way, saw a large, yeti-like creature wearing the tattered robes of a wizard, at the top of the stairs. The creature won the initiative and filled the staircase with a web spell. Ranthor, Trinity, and Rayne got stuck. Nova saved and struggled to free Rayne, allowing her to cast a magic missile. Meanwhile Telegar endeavored to set fire to the webbing at the back of the stairs. Everyone else stood in the library, unable to intervene.

The creature won the initiative once more and cast a fireball that filled the stairwell and vented out into the library. Rayne and Ranthor dropped, unconscious from their burns but still alive. Nova and Trinity were singed, but still standing, and now entirely free of the webs. Those still standing quickly dragged their companions down to the library and tended to their wounds. The game stopped at that point due to lack of time.

Remaining to Explore:

The few rooms upstairs in the tower to complete the require part of the mission. Other areas of the building can still be explored, time allowing.

[deogolf]

Thanks for the report!! Looks like everyone had fun (except for the getting fried part!).

[Ambreville]

November 23 Session

We had ten players last night: Anna, Chris, Damian, Jeremy, Lindsey, Melissa, Nate, Robert, Ryan, and last but not least, Shawn.

The rest of the tower was visited last night, which concluded the required part of the mission. The wizard-creature (according to White Dwarf it’s a Gu’en-Deeko) was slain, in addition to the skeletal construct in the attic (your basic Necrophidius) and the shadow dancers. The party then made a quick exit when it turned out Dekker Thane and Eyzis both lied about their intentions.

Treasure Collected last night included the following:
Potion of Polymorphing, with Foxman
Potion of Extra Healing, with Foxman
Potion of Heroism, with Zandor
Cloak of Displacement, with Zandor
Tome of Clear Thought, with Rayne
Libram of Gainful Conjuration, with Rayne
Amulet of Life Protection, unassigned
Eye of Minute Seeing: unassigned
Staff of Curing, (10 Charges, rechargeable) unassigned
Treasure: 8,750 gp

All of these items are described in the DMG. No variant rules.

Previously acquired items that were identified upon returning to the sage:
Potion of Heroism, with Ryan
Dragon scales, with Ryan
(2) Arrows of Rust, held by Ryan for Otto
Ring of Thieving, with Nova (all thieving skills except Back Stab are performed as if three experience levels higher).

The fake treasure turned into worthless pebbles and lead coins when identified.

Each player receives 875 gp plus 4,280 XP. In addition to this all players who were present for the entire duration of the mission receive an extra 500 gp reward from the sage. Everyone else receives 125 gp.

There was one last nomination for the Golden Monkey, which went to Ranthor who subsequently clinched the trophy and an extra 140 XP award. The trophy is a small golden monkey amulet that prevents the owner from reaching –10 hit point* and dying, restoring the owner’s hit point to +1 instead. The amulet is destroyed in the process. (*) ... or whatever neg. hp total that would provoke death (Ken has a different limit than I do).

Considering the very large amount of XP’s awarded, I need to remind everyone of a certain official AD&D rule on the matter: no characters gain more than one level per adventure. For those of you whose character earned during this adventure (all four sessions) enough XPs to go up more than one level, your character reaches the next level and plateau’s 1 point short of the following one. All excess XP’s are lost. Sorry!

Ryan, during the “in-between adventures,” you may study that book and gain the permanent +1 Charisma bonus and a dancing skill.

Rayne, during the same time, you may study the Libram of Gainful Conjurations. Check with Ken (??) as to what new spells you acquire as a result of reaching your new experience level. You’ll have to wait until after the next adventure before the option of studying the second magical tome comes up. You might save that for when you are at least half way up your next level (or later, as you see fit.)

All those reaching a new level of experience, please roll your extra hit points under Ken’s scrutiny (or whatever new DM there might be at the time).

Thanks and congrats!

[Ambreville]

BTW Ken, in case you are reading this -- do you plan on resuming your normal DM'ing on the 30th?

[jeffery st. clair]

Yes, I'm ready to roll this Wednesday! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

[Ambreville]

Yes, I'm ready to roll this Wednesday! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Awesome. Welcome back. Sounds like everyone had a great time -- ditto Janet and I. BTW have you considered opening an anonymous Facebook account? I've set up a private page (members only) for the Wednesday D&D game that has some decent activity. Looks like most of our players are members.

Looking fwd to seeing you Wednesday.

[haplo]

Well, I am going to put Foxman out to pasture and roll a new cleric for tomorrow. Now that i'm back being comfortable with D & D again, I want to play what is my favorite class!

[jeffery st. clair]

How will you survive without your 3/2 attacks?

[haplo]

ah ha! For you do not know how patient of a person i can be with a cleric! But when i get high level, Darin the Fun, will be a powerful force to be reckoned with! "All good things come to those who wait!"

[Ambreville]

@Jeffery St Clair -- I PM'd you Ram's wish list, and posted on Facebook info on the Golden Monkey Award.

[jeffery st. clair]

Got 'em - thanks. I'm working on a recap of last night's session since Jeff wasn't there.

[jeffery st. clair]

Wednesday night’s session recap, by your memory-impaired, friendly neighborhood DM:

Nova – 6th level Loopy Elven Thief
Ranthor – 3rd level Dwarven Panzer
Ram – 5th level Sneaky Half-Orc Thief
Rayn – 5th level Deadly Human Magic-User
Kreshov – 4th level Non-Deadly Human Cleric
Sir Ryan – 5th level Uptight Human Paladin
Telegar – 4th level Human Sherman
Trinity – 5th level Human M1 Abrams

The party returned to Lester to rest and recuperate, while keeping their eyes and ears open for further adventuring opportunities. They soon learned of a number of leads, and decided to help the nearby farming village of Daapa, under attack by an unknown monster.

As they traveled, they passed a small cemetery where ten ghoulish shapes approached with malicious intent. Kreshov and Sir Ryan combined to Turn nine of the creatures, but as the remaining creature neared the party, a most foul stench nauseated most of the party members. Ranthor bravely attacked, but took a claw for his troubles and crumpled, paralyzed, to the ground. Other party members moved in quickly, and soon the ghast was finished. Soon the air cleared, and dragging the dwarf along until he could again move under his own power, the party resumed their journey to Daapa.

As they arrived and asked around, they learned that nobody had actually seen an attacking creature, but people and livestock had been disappearing for a couple of days before the party arrived. The party found signs of struggles around the outer perimeter of the village, but no blood at all.

The group decided to lure the creature out with a goat as bait, with the cleric posing as a shepherd nearby, while some waited up in a tree or invisibly nearby. Others hid closer to town. Their strategy paid off some hours later, as an hour or two before dawn, three big cats came sprinting for the easy meal. The party noticed something, possibly tentacles, emerging from the shoulders of the cats. Thinking displacer beasts, the visible members of the party formed up for a frontal assault. However, as the creatures closed, they noticed leopard-like bodies with numerous snake bodies and heads attached to the cats. Suddenly, the cats all breathed sweet-smelling cones of gas at the party. Kreshov, Ranthor, and Sir Ryan crashed to the ground, asleep. Rayn fired Magic Missiles, Nova snuck around for a backstab, and the cats clawed and bit at the party while the snake heads bit at the party over and over again. Ram tried to jump on a kamadan from the tree, but wound up doing a belly flop onto the ground instead, much to the amusement of the players.

As the battle continued, the only way to wake the deeply sleeping characters was to wound them, and once they were nicked with daggers, they awoke to join the fray. Although the party received numerous snake bites from the kamadans, the bites were fortunately non-poisonous, and after a lengthy melee, the party emerged victorious.

Following the track of the kamadans, the party discovered a lair with three sleeping cubs resting on a quite valuable collection of treasure. Quietly and carefully considering their options, the party decided to capture as many as possible for M. P. Bey, the sage back in Nemrac City. Kreshov cast Snake Charm on many of the kamadans’ snakes. Two of the cubs woke up immediately and were quickly put down by Telengar and Ranthor. The third cub, too young to breathe sleep gas, was soon trussed up and ready for the trip to the city. The party happily scooped up the treasure, to be split up later.

The villagers expressed their gratitude to the party, who then journeyed back to Nemrac City, terrorizing numerous townsfolk with their kamadan cub along the way. As the session ended for the evening, the party ended up resting in the city after receiving a generous finder’s fee from Bey the sage.

[Taurusrayn]

Ken, love the title cards! Thanks for posting the recap, always fun to look back. Great game this week, can't wait to see what happens next.