Post by thedungeonmaster on Apr 14, 2009 17:26:55 GMT 8
This following excerpt is based on a D&D session that took place on 10th April 2009 from the late afternoon. The game proper commenced after dinner time until the early hours of the morning on the 11th. The party of 5 comprises of Ainarielle – Tiefling Rogue (played by Grace); Ashin – Drow Sorcerer (played by Weide); Marmertus - Dragonborn Warlord (played by Marcus); Mobius – Human Wizard (played by Edmund); and Gond Oremighty - Goliath Fighter (played by Eugene).
The session starts with the last encounter in the adventure module provided for in the D&D 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. In the subsequent adventure, the PCs adventure in the Graveyard of Col Fen; an official adventure module provided in the Open Grave official supplement. The Village of Col Fen is planted along the King's Road between Kobold Hall and the town of Fallcrest located in the Nentir Vale.
Do note that although the Nentir Vale is a generic location, it has been embedded into the continent of Faerun of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Area #5 - The True Threat
As the PCs take an extended rest after having defeated the Kobold Wyrmpriest, Ainarielle discovers a key in the robes of the dead wyrmpriest. As they are about to proceed down the corridor towards the locked door, they hear the sounds of someone rushing from behind. The party is introduced to Gond Oremighty.
In the last encounter as the party enters through the door, they come into a large cavern and the air is unnaturally cold and there is a silence. As they tread along the cold cavern floors, they hear a loud shrill cry and the PCs encounter Szartharrax - a young white dragon. A fierce battle ensues and Marmertus is slain by the white dragon as a result. However, Mobius decides to preserve the body of his slain comrade, and decides to carry it back with the help of the rest.
The Graveyard of Col Fen
Location and Timeline
It is the 3rd day of Alturiak; year 1479 DR. The party are travelling back towards Fallcrest when they come across a poor village - Col Fen. Based on their knowledge, the PCs know that Col Fen was actually a site of a temple dedicated to the worship of evil about 2000 years ago. Souls of sacrificed victims were made to Orcus and other evil demons and gods. However, aid from Fallcrest came and defeated the cultists. The evildoers along with an ominous-looking skull carved of onyx, were buried and the crypts were warded to prevent evil from escaping.
Situation - Missing Villagers
A woman is seen pleading with a stranger to help the folks at the village. However, the stranger seems to be unsure. The party move closer to find out what had happened and subsequently discovers that undead forces have been attacking the village recently.
The stranger is Tas'sadar - Genasi Warlord; and introduces himself to the party. Upon seeing the slain body of Marmertus, Tas'sadar says a silent prayer.
Mara Kres, the village headwoman explains that a week ago, a young woman - Rysa Gosen, had vanished from her home. And the following evening, Quen Laren was working out in the fields when he was attacked by a pair of zombies; but he managed to escape. And just two nights ago, a whole family vanished from their home and there was evidence of a struggle that took place. The PCs manage to meet up with Quen Laren to see if they could gather more information, but there seems to be nothing they could gather except that undead is coming from the crypts in the graveyard just nearby the village itself. The PCs agree to help, and Mobius requests to lay the body of Marmertus at the temple of Chauntea.
Encounter 1 - Eastern Graveyard [Wandering Dead]
The PCs walk through the entrance of the graveyard. Walking along the still atmosphere, they suddenly hear the sounds of something scraping and they could see a skeletal hand trying to crawl out from an open grave. Tas'sadar and Gond quickly destroy the skeleton before it can come out, however, they are approached by another skeleton and three famine hounds. A battle ensues, and the PCs manage to defeat the monsters without much difficulty.
Encounter 2 - The Northern Crypt
As the PCs approach the extreme right of the three crypts, they could hear the cries of a woman and an infant. Upon entering the crypt, the PCs come into a room with a trench dug along the extreme left of the room along the wall. The PCs have to fight with two skeletons, a zombie and a pale reaver. [It is amazing how the PCs reacted when the pale reaver attacked them with its mane... reminds them of the white-haired demoness in HK old school pugilistic movies.] The PCs manage to rescue Kyla Tal; and her child, Lyse. Ashin, decides to shapeshift into a bear and volunteers to escort the young lady and her child out of the crypt to the entrance of the graveyard [God knows what evil intentions he has against the woman... Lyse would grow up forever detesting the drow race]
When Ashin returns, the PCs decide to enter the middle crypt. They see the dead bodies of a young woman and an old man in the middle of the room. It appears that the young woman is Rysa Gosen; and the old man is Holt Nas - Kyla's father.
Encounter 3 - Underground Crypt
The PCs decide to walk down a flight of staircase down into the underground crypt. Upon entering the crypt, the PCs meet a pair of skeletons, a pair of zombies and a pair of ghouls. A man with bite wounds all over the body is tied to the top of a sarcophagus. Purplish light emanates from a skull made of onyx placed on a bowl placed beside the man.
The battle ensues as the PCs battle the undead. Eventually, they manage to defeat the undead, although the wall-crawling ghouls were irritating enough. Mobius was about to destroy the skull when Ashin wanted to keep it. But successfully, Mobius crushes the skull into bits and pieces. Ainarielle discovers a ring with an onyx stone and Mobius decided to keep it since he could not find anything evil emanating from it.
The PCs proceed back to Col Fen, and the villagers are thankful that the PCs have defeated the undead, however, the death of Rysa Gosen and Holt Nas still cast a pale gloom over the village. The PCs are offered to rest for the night.
Encounter 4 - Wandering Dead II
As the PCs are about to rest for the night, they smell the all-too familiar smell of rot and decay coming from the streets and as they peer out, they see the village people running away as the village is attacked by three skeletons, a zombie and a corruption corpse. Ainarielle hides from within the windows and uses her ranged attacks, while Ashin keeps using the best combat advantage strategies to defeat the enemies; whilst the rest of the party take it to the streets.
Mobius realizes that the ring of onyx is the cause of attracting the undead, and he crushes it with all his might [angry that the DM has twisted the plot of the adventure]
Epilogue
The session only consisted of 5 combat encounters. And it was enough to last the whole night. Probably because the time spent on combat is tedious. From the DM's perspectives, everyone seemed to stick to their roles in terms of RP-ing [which may sometimes cause internal RP disputes]. However, an observation made during battles is the lack of cohesion.
There will be more battles to come and PCs should be able to make use of each other's abilities to bring out the best of the combat outcome. A good example would be the cooperation between Tas'sadar and Gond; not forgetting to mention Mobius who seems to be a much more effective wizard in this session. It seems the power cards do help.
Nevertheless, it was a fun sesson for the DM to run; and excitement builds as the next session date draws near. A good campaign adventure cannot run effectively without a good bunch of PCs. Keep the dice rolling~!
The session starts with the last encounter in the adventure module provided for in the D&D 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. In the subsequent adventure, the PCs adventure in the Graveyard of Col Fen; an official adventure module provided in the Open Grave official supplement. The Village of Col Fen is planted along the King's Road between Kobold Hall and the town of Fallcrest located in the Nentir Vale.
Do note that although the Nentir Vale is a generic location, it has been embedded into the continent of Faerun of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Area #5 - The True Threat
As the PCs take an extended rest after having defeated the Kobold Wyrmpriest, Ainarielle discovers a key in the robes of the dead wyrmpriest. As they are about to proceed down the corridor towards the locked door, they hear the sounds of someone rushing from behind. The party is introduced to Gond Oremighty.
In the last encounter as the party enters through the door, they come into a large cavern and the air is unnaturally cold and there is a silence. As they tread along the cold cavern floors, they hear a loud shrill cry and the PCs encounter Szartharrax - a young white dragon. A fierce battle ensues and Marmertus is slain by the white dragon as a result. However, Mobius decides to preserve the body of his slain comrade, and decides to carry it back with the help of the rest.
The Graveyard of Col Fen
Location and Timeline
It is the 3rd day of Alturiak; year 1479 DR. The party are travelling back towards Fallcrest when they come across a poor village - Col Fen. Based on their knowledge, the PCs know that Col Fen was actually a site of a temple dedicated to the worship of evil about 2000 years ago. Souls of sacrificed victims were made to Orcus and other evil demons and gods. However, aid from Fallcrest came and defeated the cultists. The evildoers along with an ominous-looking skull carved of onyx, were buried and the crypts were warded to prevent evil from escaping.
Situation - Missing Villagers
A woman is seen pleading with a stranger to help the folks at the village. However, the stranger seems to be unsure. The party move closer to find out what had happened and subsequently discovers that undead forces have been attacking the village recently.
The stranger is Tas'sadar - Genasi Warlord; and introduces himself to the party. Upon seeing the slain body of Marmertus, Tas'sadar says a silent prayer.
Mara Kres, the village headwoman explains that a week ago, a young woman - Rysa Gosen, had vanished from her home. And the following evening, Quen Laren was working out in the fields when he was attacked by a pair of zombies; but he managed to escape. And just two nights ago, a whole family vanished from their home and there was evidence of a struggle that took place. The PCs manage to meet up with Quen Laren to see if they could gather more information, but there seems to be nothing they could gather except that undead is coming from the crypts in the graveyard just nearby the village itself. The PCs agree to help, and Mobius requests to lay the body of Marmertus at the temple of Chauntea.
Encounter 1 - Eastern Graveyard [Wandering Dead]
The PCs walk through the entrance of the graveyard. Walking along the still atmosphere, they suddenly hear the sounds of something scraping and they could see a skeletal hand trying to crawl out from an open grave. Tas'sadar and Gond quickly destroy the skeleton before it can come out, however, they are approached by another skeleton and three famine hounds. A battle ensues, and the PCs manage to defeat the monsters without much difficulty.
Encounter 2 - The Northern Crypt
As the PCs approach the extreme right of the three crypts, they could hear the cries of a woman and an infant. Upon entering the crypt, the PCs come into a room with a trench dug along the extreme left of the room along the wall. The PCs have to fight with two skeletons, a zombie and a pale reaver. [It is amazing how the PCs reacted when the pale reaver attacked them with its mane... reminds them of the white-haired demoness in HK old school pugilistic movies.] The PCs manage to rescue Kyla Tal; and her child, Lyse. Ashin, decides to shapeshift into a bear and volunteers to escort the young lady and her child out of the crypt to the entrance of the graveyard [God knows what evil intentions he has against the woman... Lyse would grow up forever detesting the drow race]
When Ashin returns, the PCs decide to enter the middle crypt. They see the dead bodies of a young woman and an old man in the middle of the room. It appears that the young woman is Rysa Gosen; and the old man is Holt Nas - Kyla's father.
Encounter 3 - Underground Crypt
The PCs decide to walk down a flight of staircase down into the underground crypt. Upon entering the crypt, the PCs meet a pair of skeletons, a pair of zombies and a pair of ghouls. A man with bite wounds all over the body is tied to the top of a sarcophagus. Purplish light emanates from a skull made of onyx placed on a bowl placed beside the man.
The battle ensues as the PCs battle the undead. Eventually, they manage to defeat the undead, although the wall-crawling ghouls were irritating enough. Mobius was about to destroy the skull when Ashin wanted to keep it. But successfully, Mobius crushes the skull into bits and pieces. Ainarielle discovers a ring with an onyx stone and Mobius decided to keep it since he could not find anything evil emanating from it.
The PCs proceed back to Col Fen, and the villagers are thankful that the PCs have defeated the undead, however, the death of Rysa Gosen and Holt Nas still cast a pale gloom over the village. The PCs are offered to rest for the night.
Encounter 4 - Wandering Dead II
As the PCs are about to rest for the night, they smell the all-too familiar smell of rot and decay coming from the streets and as they peer out, they see the village people running away as the village is attacked by three skeletons, a zombie and a corruption corpse. Ainarielle hides from within the windows and uses her ranged attacks, while Ashin keeps using the best combat advantage strategies to defeat the enemies; whilst the rest of the party take it to the streets.
Mobius realizes that the ring of onyx is the cause of attracting the undead, and he crushes it with all his might [angry that the DM has twisted the plot of the adventure]
Epilogue
The session only consisted of 5 combat encounters. And it was enough to last the whole night. Probably because the time spent on combat is tedious. From the DM's perspectives, everyone seemed to stick to their roles in terms of RP-ing [which may sometimes cause internal RP disputes]. However, an observation made during battles is the lack of cohesion.
There will be more battles to come and PCs should be able to make use of each other's abilities to bring out the best of the combat outcome. A good example would be the cooperation between Tas'sadar and Gond; not forgetting to mention Mobius who seems to be a much more effective wizard in this session. It seems the power cards do help.
Nevertheless, it was a fun sesson for the DM to run; and excitement builds as the next session date draws near. A good campaign adventure cannot run effectively without a good bunch of PCs. Keep the dice rolling~!