Well we wrapped up session three tonight. A great time was had by all. 

Our heroes hitched a ride with a small trading ship to Port Varios (one I made up), once a one horse fishing town that has seen a massive growth in the last decade under its ambitious new lord. The port town is on one of the islands in the center of the bay. 

On their last night before setting off our Shaman decided to have a few drinks to celebrate, once again the drunken debauchery table came in handy. He experienced a divine vision that showed him an abandoned monastery to Apollo where Golden Lotus happened to grow. However it was made quite clear to him that in return for this vital information he was expected to restore the monastery. 

Of course the god failed to show the exact location of the monastery, but it at least they had something to go on. The next day they set off on their voyage. Sailing there was uneventful. Once in town they headed to the Laughing Skull (borrowed that from the thread). After buying a few rounds of drinks and our part Ledgermainist making contact with the local thieves guild they had gathered that the monastery was nestled in the mountains across the bay but for years had been home to a band of brigands that preyed on the local villages. 

Idle gossip revealed the open "secret" that the local lord Gill Varios had spurred the growth of the town by making a deal with pirates. In return for safe harbor they shared a cut of spoils with him eventually leading to a protection racket wherein merchants bound to pass near the bay would pay for the Lord's protection "or else be at the mercy of the waves". The town had turned into a bustling hub of ne'er do wells within a few years and Varios had become the most powerful lord in Brigands Bay. Leading to some political tension and rumors of an alliance forming between smaller lords. 

Anyway our party made their way to a small fishing village called Bron's Refuge nestled close to the foot of the mountains. The party

Chainsaw wrote:

A Cataphract - neat! I'm not sure I've had any of my players choose that class or even seen it in play at conventions. I think everyone thinks that unless there's an open plains, horse-riding adventure or something, they won't be able to enjoy the class to its full potential. How did it go? The other classes I've seen in play many times, especially the Shaman and Ledgerdemainist.

It went pretty good, his high starting hit points help saved the day when things got rough against the rats. Though I forgot about his weapon mastery until about half way through the combat.

Chainsaw wrote:

Sounds like a nice little session - Rats is a good choice for a first adventure for a new group. It's brief, there's some roleplaying, there's some investigation and there's some fighting. Basically, it showcases different aspects of playing an RPG without requiring too much of the players. As for creative rules interpretations, I'm big a fan, especially if you're trying to hook new players (or encourage people to be creative). After a while, once your new folks understand what RPGs are all about and have a handle on the rules, you can decide if you want to ratchet up the difficulty level and be more of a hardass. You may not - some groups enjoy a casual game that serves as a backdrop to socializing. Oh yeah, I think you did well to spin the disease into an a new adventure. Great way to remind new people that actions have consequences, but failing a roll isn't the end of the world, while also reminding them of the game's continuity from session to session and give them a specific reason to come back next time (kind of a cliffhanger).

Yeah Rats seemed like a really good way to get the group on board with the whole concept. To be honest it's one of best introductory type adventures I've seen. Next session I'm planning on running things closer to BtB, they seemed to pick things up really quick and are familiar enough with the basics. As to the rat borne illn

Hello All,

So I discovered AS&SH perusing the forums over at therpgsite, then frantically searched for a copy of the boxed set because I'm a total sucker for anything in a boxed set. Found a copy and languished without a group for a good while. Got a group going finally and we are playing a weekly game, starting off with rats in the walls and I expect we will sandbox it from there.