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9/29/2014 8:31 pm  #21


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

I'm still stingy.

Great descriptions, Chain! It's so fun to read the many ways this adventure can play out. It's all about player choices and ingenuity. I'm rooting for the linkboy to take all the treasure after the PCs die. ;)

 


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

9/29/2014 8:48 pm  #22


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Ghul wrote:

I'm still stingy.

Ha!

Great descriptions, Chain! It's so fun to read the many ways this adventure can play out. It's all about player choices and ingenuity. I'm rooting for the linkboy to take all the treasure after the PCs die. ;)

He may, he may. If he does, he'll have no shortage of players ready to assume his character, heheh.

The module has been fun! Clearly I changed a little bit, as I'm sure you noticed. First, I started from a point where the Xavadar crypt had already been raided. From there, I planted the sabre-tooths and Thaumagorga cult. Then I added a new second level. Worked out well. 


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/17/2014 1:20 pm  #23


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

AS&SH Campaign Session 5 (October 15, 2014)
cadam11 – Gadas the Kimmerian warlock (level 3)
capitalbill – Gunnr the Viking berserker (level 4)
lige – Brandoch the Kimmeri-Kelt barbarian (level 3)

Summary. After a little carousing, our heroes decided to check out the Death’s Door Inn and Tavern, where one of the rescued maidens placed her kidnapper. They had a few drinks (and got into a bar fight), tried to climb the front of the building (and got busted by the night watch), broke into the candlemaker’s place next door (and realized he was harmless) and finally snuck downstairs to investigate the Ixian innkeeper (Nabazos Methakos) and his dim-witted servant (Pagos Methakos), who turned out to be tricky slavers (surprise!). This was kind of a silly session, with almost no fighting and no treasure - but we laughed a lot and had a good time!

Carousing! capitalbill’s Viking berserker and lige’s Kimmeri-Kelt barbarian both opted for a little carousing after kicking ass in the Xavadar crypt (or barely surviving, depending on your perspective). As befits a barbarian, lige failed his saving throw vs poison (i.e., drunken lunacy) and wound up in a huge barfight at the Laughing Skull, one of Khromarium’s notorious pits of villainy. Thankfully he survived, though it will come back to haunt him, as there’s now a little-known gang (Southside Punks) out looking to avenge their public humiliation. Bill’s Viking also failed his save vs poison (i.e., smoking lotus) and wound up at a lotus den, waxing philosophic on the virtue of wild bloodlust and battle frenzy. He unknowingly endeared himself to a few members of a Ymir cult. They welcomed him into their fold and said they’d be in touch.

A beggar, eh? Beggar this! After a few weeks of training and carousing, our crew met up at the Death’s Door Inn and Tavern to surveil the place. Nabazos, a retired Ixian magician, tended bar with a smile while his slow, dimwitted helper Pagos ran out food from the kitchen. They ordered a few rounds and drank for several hours. Eventually four rogues rolled in and took a seat at a nearby table. One guy kept eyeballing lige’s barbarian, then approached him and demanded lige buy him a beer because lige was a “wealthy adventurer.” lige responded “I thought beggars stayed out in the street!” The ruffian immediately drew his sword, inspiring his friends and lige’s friends to rise to their feet, all swords drawn and snarling. Nabazos ushered them into the street with Pagos yelling “No blood inside, out, out, out.” Everyone filed out in the street, including many patrons, with lige’s barbarian and the rogue each standing in front of their respective crews, ready to tangle. Tests of constitution were failed, so the drunks set upon each other, swinging with the precision of too much ale. The ruffian’s crew laughed as their man was cut down in the street, while the barbarian’s crew stood by menacingly. The ruffians laughed one last time, stripped their dead companion of his wealth and took off, acknowledging their friend’s foolishness with a wave goodbye.

Ignore the men climbing the front side of the inn. Moving back inside, the crew continued to drink, watch and listen. Eventually the place cleared out and Nabazos and Pagos went to bed, exiting through the kitchen door. cadam tried to follow, but the door was locked. cadam then cast invisibility on the barbarian and tried to provoke Pagos to open the kitchen door again, so that the barbarian could sneak past. Unfortunately, Pagos only barely opened the door (“Go to bed you drunk fools”). At this point, the guys decided they’d get to the roof and check things out. They marched into the street and the barbarian quickly climbed to the roof (three story building). From there, he spied a trapdoor to the third floor and a four story building adjacent to the inn, behind it, with some windows. They decided they’d all go up, so he dropped a line down. A patrol of guards came walking by and immediately ordered them down. The crew played it off as a drunk thing, which the guards kind of bought. They encouraged the men to go to bed and left two guards downstairs.

No way he’s just a candlemaker (or maybe he is). This ruckus with the guards caused some noise, drawing Pagos out of the kitchen, at which point the still-invisible barbarian quickly snuck through the kitchen door. In front of Pagos and the guards, cadam and capitalbill feigned drunken stupidity for the climbing bit and went upstairs. Instead of heading to their rooms, though, they went to third floor and up onto the roof. Capitalbill snuck through a window into the adjacent building, finding himself in a workshop for candlemaking. He tip-toed through the room into the main building, but broke a step on the stairs leading down, causing a great noise. He scurried back out onto the roof and watched as an old guy came to check things out. capitalbill then crept back in and down the stairs, finding a bunch of crates of candles and barrels of whale oil (etc) on the third floor and two old people sleeping on the second floor. Deciding this building was not in fact related to the kidnapping, they then returned to their rooms.

You say you’re innocent? Carry on then. Back inside, lige’s barbarian watched Pagos come through the kitchen door, activate a secret door, then leave the room. He followed, finding himself in a narrow hallway with stairs leading down and up. He went down, discovering a small living quarters with two beds and some bookshelves. He saw Nabazos sleeping, but the other bed was empty. He crept up behind Nabazos, put a blade to his neck and interrogated him about the kidnapped maidens. Nabazos feigned ignorance, begging for his life, claiming jealous rivals had framed him. lige’s barbarian thought that made sense, but he wanted to explore more, so he locked Nabazos in a nearby storeroom and then went upstairs to check out the other stairs. He found that these led to a secret passageway running behind the second-floor rooms, from which someone could spy on the guests through cleverly hidden peepholes! In fact, he saw Pagos moving back and forth, peeping into his crew’s rooms! Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him – it was Nabazos in the hallway, decked out in scale, with one hand holding a sword and the other glowing green with magic! Happily still invisible, he heard Nabazos whisper to Pagos, “Nabazos, they’re not who they say they are – we have to killed them!” lige realized the dim-witted server was actually Nabazos and the bartender his helper, Pagos! The real Pagos then moved away, back downstairs. lige moved through a secret door into the second-floor hallway. The three adventurers coincidentally bumped into each other in front of their rooms on the second floor, unsure of their next move.

Time elapsed: 1 day (after two weeks of training)
Treasure won: none
Maidens rescued: zero
Enemies overcome: Southside Punk (x1)
Adventurers slain: zero


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/21/2014 11:33 am  #24


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

First time posting but wanted to chime in. Great write up Chainsaw and had a lot of fun with the different options we had for this part.  Looking forward to our next meeting and the encounter with Nabazos and Pagos. Should be interesting. 

 

10/21/2014 12:08 pm  #25


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Hey man! Thanks for posting. Hope to see you around here more.

Glad you had fun - this game's only as good as the people playing it.


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/23/2014 2:45 pm  #26


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

It was a really fun session - we even split the party and chainsaw kept things moving splendidly.  I was pretty surprised when the dude I thought I had locked up suddenly appeared. 

 

10/23/2014 2:51 pm  #27


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

lige wrote:

It was a really fun session - we even split the party and chainsaw kept things moving splendidly.

Beginner's luck, haha. Glad you had fun. I know it can be tough to devote 9-12AM time on a work night, so I appreciate the effort from you guys. For example, I loved the beggar line - I laugh whenever I think about it, heheh. Keeps things exciting!

I was pretty surprised when the dude I thought I had locked up suddenly appeared. 

I thought, "He will never believe there was a secret passage leading out of that storeroom - I'll have to show him the map to prove I didn't fudge the "Nabazo's" reappearance."
 


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/23/2014 8:01 pm  #28


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Cool stuff Chainsaw. I have run Charnel Crypt twice, once via Skype and once face to face. Good times in both instances.

When do you run your games? Do you ever accept additional players?


I filled my palace with deadly traps so trap admirers will come and visit me

AFS magazine - pulp literature meets old school gaming http://hallsoftizunthane.blogspot.com/
 

10/23/2014 8:23 pm  #29


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Scalydemon wrote:

Cool stuff Chainsaw.

Thanks! I am not a great referee, so anytime people don't regret playing, I'm happy.

I have run Charnel Crypt twice, once via Skype and once face to face. Good times in both instances.

Nice! Ever since my son was born, I've had less time to create original material, so I've relied more on modules. I've still had to change them a bit though because capitalbill reads them all (jerk!), but so far it's worked out fairly well, as the players get some exposure to a common experience and yet part of it's unique as well.

When do you run your games? Do you ever accept additional players?

Usually we run games from 9PM-12AM EST on M, T or W depending on people's schedules. We're not averse to doing two weeks in a row, but it's typically wound up as an every 2-3 weeks game on account of real life complications.

Because of the limitations of the G+ format, I like keeping the group small, no more than a few players. I like having three, but I would not be opposed to four under the right circumstances. Five would be too many for me (weak refereeing skills!).


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/23/2014 8:35 pm  #30


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Chainsaw wrote:

Ignore the men climbing the front side of the inn.

Very fun session. I crack up every time I picture the guards rounding the corner and seeing us climbing up the side of the building. Can't believe they didn't buy the "We're just training" line!

 

10/23/2014 8:40 pm  #31


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

capitalbill wrote:

Chainsaw wrote:

Ignore the men climbing the front side of the inn.

Very fun session. I crack up every time I picture the guards rounding the corner and seeing us climbing up the side of the building.

It is a silly image, hehe.

Can't believe they didn't buy the "We're just training" line!

I know! What the hell?!?!?


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/23/2014 8:45 pm  #32


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Chainsaw wrote:

capitalbill wrote:

Chainsaw wrote:

Ignore the men climbing the front side of the inn.

Very fun session. I crack up every time I picture the guards rounding the corner and seeing us climbing up the side of the building.

It is a silly image, hehe.

Can't believe they didn't buy the "We're just training" line!

I know! What the hell?!?!?

Did you guys seriously try that line? LOL
 


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

10/24/2014 9:40 am  #33


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Ghul wrote:

Chainsaw wrote:

capitalbill wrote:

Can't believe they didn't buy the "We're just training" line!

I know! What the hell?!?!?

Did you guys seriously try that line? LOL

Yes - it was so dumb that I ruled it made their second explanation that they were drunk more persuasive (which was true because they'd actually been drinking and failed rolls vs drunkenness).


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/24/2014 11:48 am  #34


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Chainsaw wrote:

Yes - it was so dumb that I ruled it made their second explanation that they were drunk more persuasive (which was true because they'd actually been drinking and failed rolls vs drunkenness).

"My friend is obviously Chinese.  I see you've noticed the ears.  They're actually easy to explain.  He caught his head in a mechanical... rice picker."

Awesome campaign journal.  Keep the mayhem and buffoonery coming!
 


Michael Sipe 1979-2018
Rest in peace, brother.
 

10/24/2014 5:21 pm  #35


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

My character had a jug of wine in one hand during all his reonnoitering.  With my own intake I like to think of it as method role playing. 

 

10/24/2014 7:10 pm  #36


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

lige wrote:

My character had a jug of wine in one hand during all his reonnoitering.  With my own intake I like to think of it as method role playing. 

Damn! I totally forgot about that awesome jug of wine.


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/25/2014 9:13 am  #37


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

I'm still a stingy bastard. Ask any of my players.

EDIT: Oops, I was responding to earlier conversations about treasure dispersal.

EDIT #2: And..... it looks like I already responded with pretty much the same reply. I need my coffee.

 

Last edited by Ghul (10/25/2014 9:16 am)


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

10/25/2014 8:09 pm  #38


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Ghul wrote:

I'm still a stingy bastard. Ask any of my players.

EDIT: Oops, I was responding to earlier conversations about treasure dispersal.

EDIT #2: And..... it looks like I already responded with pretty much the same reply. I need my coffee.

Haha, well, at least you are consistent.


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

10/25/2014 8:53 pm  #39


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

Chainsaw wrote:

Ghul wrote:

I'm still a stingy bastard. Ask any of my players.

EDIT: Oops, I was responding to earlier conversations about treasure dispersal.

EDIT #2: And..... it looks like I already responded with pretty much the same reply. I need my coffee.

Haha, well, at least you are consistent.

Consistently dense, perhaps!
 


HYPERBOREA- A Role-Playing Game of Swords, Sorcery, and Weird Science-Fantasy
 

11/22/2014 10:41 am  #40


Re: Khromarium Campaign Journal

AS&SH Campaign Session 6 (Nov 12, 2014)

cadam11 – Gadas the Kimmerian warlock (level 3)
capitalbill – Gunnr the Viking berserker (level 4)
lige – Brandoch the Kimmeri-Kelt barbarian (level 3)

Summary. After a few week hiatus because of scheduling issues, we resumed the game with session six. I thought it dragged a little bit, owing to my being tired and perhaps to us all being a bit rusty, but the guys said it wasn’t bad. Nice of them to say! Anyway, after confirming that Nabazos and Pagos were bad dudes last session, the party snuck into the Death’s Door basement, narrowly escaped a horde of zombies, discovered a few secret passages leading to a forgotten Yithian complex and explored a few unusual rooms. No material fighting or treasure this time, but no one died either.

Zombie trap (aka burning down the house). Standing in the second floor hallway of the Death’s Door Inn and Tavern, our motley crew decided to sneak through the newly discovered peephole passage and down into the basement bedroom, where they hoped to take Nabazos and Pagos by surprise. When they got to that room though, they heard a door slam on the southern wall and saw a section of the western wall open up – zombies began to pour out of it! Ambush! Quickly cadam’s warlock cast Web, which stopped zombie inflow and eliminated the threat. I had like 30 zombies in there that were going to swarm them! They then set the web on fire (it was blocking their path to the southern door), killing a few zombies, and rushed toward the southern door that they’d heard close earlier. Setting the web on fire in the basement created a bunch of smoke that drifted upstairs and alerted Pagos, who came down with the guards that had been sitting upstairs in the inn’s common room. At this point though, the group moved through the southern door and blocked it behind them with some closet debris, which prevented the remaining zombies and anyone else from following them. In the closet, they found a secret door revealing a passage east and beyond it another secret door leading to some stairs that descended deeper…

Open, damn you! The descending stairs terminated in a small, non-descript room containing only two torches and showing an iron door with no obvious handles, rings, knobs or locking mechanism. For all their efforts, it would not open, though in searching they found that the ensconced torches might be magical. The torches never seemed to burn down and, if removed from the sconce and snuffed out, they would reignite when put back in the sconce. This room proved to be much, much more puzzling than I ever intended! They probably spent a good 30-45 minutes trying to figure out how to open that door – beating it, double, triple and quadruple checking it and the surrounding walls for secret buttons and so on. To give them a clue, I improvised a barely visible night sky scene on the room’s sealing, but said it was hard to make out the constellations very well in the light – except for a vague snakelike formation in the stars. Didn’t help. So, the crew pretty much gave up and went to leave, at which time I had an idea to make the magical torches function only within the confines of the room. When they left the room, the torches snuffed out and then the door opened. I really had no idea it would be such a challenging puzzle, but in retrospect, I sort of realized there was not enough context to lead them to realize putting out the room’s magical torches would cause the door to open. As a result, I felt comfortable helping them get through it. Anyway, with that behind them, the party proceeded into a second room with another locked door. This one had a relief image of a cobra and a spot where it was pretty clear someone was supposed to make a blood offering to open the door, which I think Bill did and then they all passed through quickly into a hallway leading east and west.

Creepy rooms. To the west, they found a large room with a deep pit in the middle – too deep to see the bottom. They briefly discussed which of them would be the best candidate to be lowered down (muahah!), then mutually agreed to just leave it alone (d’oh!). Heading back east, they passed two extremely realistic snake-man statues and explored four rooms. The first was some sort of torture room, in which they found multiple dismembered maiden corpses in various stages of decomposition. They quickly left. The second was a laboratory, in which they found two potions, one brown and one black. They took the potions, but did not sniff or drink them. In the third, they found a library with ancient texts written in various languages, but nothing that seemed especially valuable or interesting. In the fourth, they found a summoning circle, braziers and a book that appeared to explain how to summon demons using equipment in the room. Sadly, they did not attempt to summon any demons (man, I was soooo hoping they would), but they did take the summoning book. Continuing east, they found two more snakeman statues at a spot where the passage split three ways, with each ending at a door.

Time elapsed: 1 day
Treasure won: black potion, brown potion, Book of Demon Summoning
Enemies overcome: zombies (x4)
Maidens rescued: zero
Adventurers slain: zero


Blackadder23: Insanely long villain soliloquy, then "Your action?"
BORGO'S PLAYER: I shoot him in the face
     Thread Starter
 

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