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Another long time between posts. Apologies all around.
At any rate, I’m in the process of migrating the wiki to a new wiki software, and should be done relatively soon. I’ll post a link (and change the link on the left-hand sidebar) once it’s done, and it will include our newest PC, Silus, as well as any missing session reports.
In other news, I’ve recently started reading a blog called Encounter-a-Day, which is a fantastic DM resource for D&D. Oh, and if you’re a player in my game, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t read it, as I plan on pilfering from it. You wouldn’t like it anyway. Ahem.
Also, a week and change ago, we had another D&D Day, and it was a good one. Sadly, Sredni’s player was absent, so Shava’s player pulled double duty and played him on the side (wouldn’t want the party to be down a warlord; that would seriously hurt the defenders of the party). Here’s the short version, with some thoughts.
The session started off with a big fight against a blue slime in a water-filled cave. This was an interesting encounter because it was the party’s first fight with a solo monster, and the terrain was very much in the slime’s favor. The slime started off by dazing and weakening most of the party with a stench pulse, which panicked them a little, then hitting them with a burst of damage, then attacking Kraygin and Sredni (it burned through both of its action points pretty quickly). After the party shook off the stench pulse’s debilitating effects they were in much better shape, and while it was a tough fight, they won.
They continued on (after an extended rest) to fight a hive of kruthiks. Again, the terrain was against them, and Shava in particular suffered because of this. The normally arrow-slinging ranger had to go melee with the giant bugs, while the other striker, the warlock Silus, was able to teleport out of dodge.
Then they backtracked out of the caves and into the keep proper, and entered a crypt where they fought some zombies (a very easy fight), and encountered a room lined with sarcophagi that continuously generated skeletons. Chance spotted some altars to Bahamut with draconic script on them, and the party decided early on that Kraygin (the only one in the party who speaks draconic) should go read the script, as they were probably important. Turns out they were the key to making the skeletons stop attacking. In this fight, the combination of dragon breath and marking everyone you attack came into play; Kraygin breathed fire on four skeletons (two of them minions) and hit only one of them (not a minion), leaving four enemies marked by him in close proximity. Luckily he was backed into a corner between two sarcophagi, and Silus managed to immobilize the two skeletal warriors, which saved Kraygin’s bacon to some extent.
Finally, the PCs continued into the crypt of Sir Keeghan, an undead former paladin of Bahamut who was initially suspicious of the party. This was a skill challenge, but we played it out as a roleplaying encounter with some skill checks thrown in, which was satisfying and suitably tense for the party. They were never sure where they stood with Keeghan (it’s hard to read a skeleton’s mood), and I think a collective sigh of relief was breathed when he decided not to attack them, and everyone was pretty happy when he offered to help them. He even gave them his weapon, Aecris, a lifedrinking halberd that Kraygin will no doubt put to good use. Also, he told them about a hidden armory somewhere within the crypt that the party is now on the lookout for.
Again, a great session and I can’t wait for the next one.
One final thought: I had the players choose backgrounds for their characters during this session, and while some of the players had already thought out their characters’ backgrounds, this gave the others some impetus to think about it some. It turned out well.
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