Insta-kill Rulings

As this stuff seems to come up again and again in our games, here are some official rulings on “coup de gras” attacks in conjunction with various spell effects. In general, I’m deferring to OSRIC where the intent is clear, and trying to use fair judgment otherwise:

Hold Person

The OSRIC spell description says this:

Persons held by this spell may be killed or bound at a rate of one per round, or, if the attacker chooses, may be attacked at twice the normal rate with an automatic hit, for maximum damage.

From all I can gather, hold person completely immobilizes the opponent. They have no ability to react whatsoever, therefore automatic kills are allowed. In fact, I think it’s probably correct to rule that held individuals aren’t even able to speak.

Entangle

Sourcing OSRIC again:

[If] the saving throw fails, the creature is so securely held in the plants that it cannot move, attack, or cast spells for the duration of the spell.

This is a little more gray, however I don’t interpret this as the degree of helplessness indicated by hold person. First off, the individual is only “held” as securely as the foliage can wrap them (as opposed to being outright frozen in place). Secondly, it’s reasonable to think that the entangling plants themselves may obstruct the target area for an insta-kill attempt (like the throat). Third, anyone engaging in melee with an entangled foe obviously needs to make a conscious attempt to not succumb to the entanglement themselves.

I think a fair ruling on this spell is that magically entangled opponents are considered prone:

Prone Opponent: Attacks against a prone opponent negate the benefit of a shield, negate dexterity bonuses, and are made at +4 to hit.

Lastly, I was able to dig up a decent thread on this subject on Dragonsfoot. The responses are a little varied, but there’s a pretty solid consensus that being entangled is not as severe as hold person with regards to mobility.

Sleep and Command

I’m grouping these two together since relevant command words for the command spell generally result in the same sort of effect as sleep. Again, OSRIC spells this out pretty clearly:

Magically sleeping creatures may be killed or tied up at a rate of one per round by a single person, or can be attacked at twice the normal rate with an automatic hit for maximum damage, if the attacker chooses not to kill or bind them.

This is effectively the same as hold person. So, when casting command, words like “die,” “hold,” and “sleep” all result in the same degree of vulnerability - the main difference is whether or not the opponent falls to the ground first.

One last thing: it’s also important to note that magical sleep and natural sleep are not the same. The OSRIC entry for natural sleep is:

Sleeping Opponent: Sleeping opponents (natural sleep, not magical sleep) may be attacked with the same chance to kill as if the attacker were an assassin. The effect of magical sleep is described under the entry for the sleep spell.

All for now.

RL #9: A Debt Repaid

Sometimes, under the threat of utmost peril, even the most downtrodden and oppressed can rise up to defend that which is worth defending. And so it was that, as Leilana rode the Talon captain's plundered steed back to the edge of Chatain, a party of six able-bodied villagers strode boldly out to meet her and travel at her side: Karsten the innkeeper; Merena the warrioress; the boy Elias and his uncle; Alpin the loremaster; and an armored militia fighter. Together, torches blazing, they made their way into the night.

After a several-hour march, a campfire was sighted in the distance, and the company from Chatain extinguished its light sources. The party knew that the Talons had been slowed, both from having lost two horses in the village and from the burden of prisoners among their ranks.

Making use of her infravision, Leilana circled around the camp whilst the remaining would-be rescuers fanned out to either side. At Leilana's call, the allies began clashing their weapons, causing steel-on-steel to ring across the glade and alerting the Talons to an unseen threat.  The Talons stood with swords raised, firing arrows haphazardly between the trees at their captain's call, though they hit and saw nothing.

Suddenly, the trees around the camp began wrapping the Talons in unnaturally-moving branches, holding fast the captain and two others, along with the still-shackled Aginot and Alaric. The rescuers charged into the fray, and bloodshed quickly ensued. Talons fought vehemently, but they were outnumbered in the wake of Leilana's spell. In the end, Karsten and two enemy soldiers were laid low before the last standing Talon surrendered. When the entanglement finally ceased, the Talon captain was held at sword point.

Leilana tethered two of the surviving Talons to their horses by their feet, though a third bolted into the night after serving a boot to the druid's face. The captain yielded the key to unlock his prisoners, and then was bound hand-and-feet in those same iron bands. Victorious, the companions deliberated their course.

At long last, the party turned back for Chatain, five horses and three Talon captives in tow. They arrived at sunrise, though instead of entering the village, they circled around it, to the edge of Souragne. Throughout the morning, a makeshift raft was constructed of fallen logs and rope, and as the sun rose high overhead, the Talons, still bound, were set adrift in the marshes, never to return. Finally, the contingent returned home, where Karsten would be laid to rest and the adventurers could heal.

Taking only enough time for Alaric to recover from his wounds, the trio of Aginot, Alaric, and Leilana rode forth from the village on horseback two days hence under a cloudless sky, leaving their memories of Chatain far behind.

DM's Commentary

It was definitely a crazy night, and once again the entanglement spell played a huge role in the outcome. At this point, I think it's important that I do some research and provide official rulings as far as what can and can't be done within the spell's area of effect. Off the cuff, I don't think that insta-kills of entangled opponents is reasonable - "held fast" isn't the same as unconscious or completely incapacitated in my interpretation, and coup de gras should really be saved for those situations where the opponent has zero awareness. (Aside from that, though, such an action is likely not something Alaric would ever support...)

In that vein, the most interesting part of this session, for me, was the moral discussion around what to do with the Talon captives. Alaric wasn't present for the game last night, so Aginot's and Leilana's players had to weigh not only their own characters' actions, but the paladin's moral compass as well. In the end, the decision to ship the soldiers off into the swamp was a pretty brilliant way of letting justice be served while not resorting to rash solutions like maiming or execution (both of which were considered...).

XP/Spoils

First, a list of noteworthy items plundered from the Talons:

• The captain's longsword (given to Alaric)
• The captain's iron ring - embedded with a red, swirling, marble-like gem, which looks very out of the ordinary
• The captain's belt and boot daggers
• The captain's belt pouch - containing 100 gp in coins along with a valuable-looking, jewel-encrusted necklace
• Three longswords, two short bows, and several daggers and dirks taken from the remaining Talons
• Five suits of chainmail - all either left behind or submerged in the marshes
• Various food and miscellaneous supplies found in saddlebags - the PCs are free to assume whatever reasonable provisions they can carry, with the rest handed over to Chatain

As for XP, I'm only posting a high-level breakdown to avoid revealing too much specific information:

• Soldiers defeated - 1,060 XP
• Items recovered - 2,750 XP

That totals 3,810 points, however the XP is divided five ways, between Leilana, Aginot, Alaric, Merena, and all other surviving villagers (none of which warrant a fully equal share). Therefore, each PC receives 762 XP for the past two sessions - the fact that Aginot and Alaric were captured doesn't detract from their awards. Additionally, Leilana receives two individual awards of 100 XP and 50 XP, the first for orchestrating and executing the rescue plan, and the second for the idea of setting the Talons adrift in the swamp and reconciling the moral disparity within the party.

All that said, updated XP totals are:

• Leilana - 5,579
• Aginot - 5,529
• Alaric - 5,479

No levels gained, to my knowledge, but this was nevertheless a very solid end to an extremely problematic situation. Leilana, especially, should feel proud of what was accomplished. I'll end the post with Karsten's dying words:

"Someday, a champion among men will defeat Vlad Drakov and put an end to his reign of terror. Do not let me have died in vain."

RL #8: Captives!

Last Wednesday we ran a relatively brief session, starting with a week of in-game downtime for the PCs. Aginot made a point to play philanthropist during the repose, and his actions were notably well received across the village. Chatain boasts little in the way of proper defenses (for King Drakov's forces do enough to see that no major threats encroach on even the most meager of Falkovnia's settlements), and by now the heroism of Alaric, Aginot, and Leilana is known by all.

Merena, the warrioress that helped the party defeat the loup-garou Rapacion, confronted the trio as the week came to a close, inquiring as to their short-term intentions. The PCs planned to leave Chatain for Stangengrad, they explained, and offered Merena a place among their ranks. Merena committed to providing an answer the following morning, when the group would be set to depart.

But before morning could dawn, evening saw a band of Drakov's Talons return to the village seeking recompense for their previous losses, commanded again by the same Talon captain whom the PCs had engaged on the fateful night that led them into the depths of Souragne. Alaric strode forth from the Winter Wolf Tavern and a melee ensued. Although the PCs quickly gained the upper hand with their spells, Talon reinforcements on the village outskirts began setting fire to Chatain's shops and houses on the captain's order. Crippled by the captain's promise to leave no structure unscathed, Alaric and Aginot finally surrendered whilst Leilana sped from the village on the back of a captured steed. As the moon rose high overhead, the half-dozen Talon soldiers departed Chatain, Aginot and Alaric bound with iron shackles alongside them.

XP and DM's Commentary

Really cool session, the way things played out. Rarely do the enemies' plans come to fruition as well as they did here, with the Talons barely wounded and two-thirds of the party captured (and the remaining third having fled into the foreboding darkness of night, alone). King Drakov will most assuredly be pleased.

No XP to award for this game, though I might find some points to apply retroactively when all is said and done. Next session should be an interesting one, to be sure.

RL #7: Silver and Wolfsbane

Yesterday evening the PCs returned from the forest, having barely escaped with their lives at the claws of the loup-garou. Back in Chatain, the bodies of the two woodsmen were being carted away and prepared for funerary rites the coming eve. When asked what meaningful possessions were found on them, a strong-looking, dark-haired woman dressed in black leathers named Merena stepped forward, revealing a pair of silver-coated blades - a dagger and a short sword.  Merena, the companions knew, had lived in Chatain for the past few years and frequently carried arms about her person; whence she came previously, they knew not. Her demeanor was bold and accusatory as she voiced her concern that the killings were brought about by the party's return from Souragne.

The PCs took the blades and bade Elias to keep Jean Tarascon's dagger to protect the village. They also laid claim to an intricate vial filled with a clear, watery liquid found on the woodsmen. After speaking to Alpin, the local lore master, they delved into the forest in search of the purple-flowering plant called "wolfsbane," locating a patch near the edge of the swamp (and assisted quite handily by Leilana's magic).

That night they sat amid the Winter Wolf Tavern preparing their strategy, deciding it best to trek deep into the forest to expose themselves to the loup-garou in hopes of drawing an attack. As Aginot brewed a batch of wolfsbane tea in the hearth, Merena entered the tavern and inquired of the group's plan, offering her assistance and company, to which the party readily agreed.

In the morning they set out, distancing themselves more the a mile from the village proper, deep within the bowels of the vigila dimorta surrounding Chatain. The day passed uneventfully, and as darkness fell, a subtle fog settled upon the groves, limiting the party's visibility, though not gravely. The companions built a fire for warmth; shortly thereafter, a faraway wolf's howl played at their confidence. Dancing shadows cast by the flickering firelight tested their senses, and Leilana set herself in a tree for ambush.

They didn't have to wait long. Moments later, an imposing, wolflike figure appeared, standing upright on two hind legs at the edge of the clearing, a head again as tall as Alaric. "We meet again," it uttered in a rasping voice that sounded more animal than human. It darted toward the fire and Alaric charged headlong to meet it but as he did, Aginot commanded the wolf to sleep and it toppled to the leaf-covered ground. Alaric thrust his magic sword down through its body, eliciting an unworldly howl; Merena pierced the wolf's hide with one of the woodsmen's silver blades, though to her horror the weapon did nothing.

The loup-garou scrambled to its feet and attacked, using unrivaled quickness and ferocity to outmatch its assailants. Subsequent castings against it failed and Merena withdrew to the fire. When Alaric fell, Leilana waded in and struck true with her own magically-enchanted spear, and Aginot punched a fistful of wolfsbane into the creature's maw, sacrificing his own arm.

Already down Alaric, the remaining PCs struggled to stay alive against their mighty foe. Finally, when hope seemed all but lost, Merena took up the magic longsword and plunged its wolfsbane-coated blade into the beast's torso, laying it low. She ran it through again for good measure, then they all dragged the body, newly transformed into the man they recognized as Alec Rapacion, into the campfire and burned it to ash.

At morning's first light the foursome returned to Chatain, earning applause and accolades upon relaying all that transpired. Thereafter, Aginot and Leilana retired to the inn and Alaric to his church for a long overdue rest.

XP and DM's Commentary

Last night's victory hinged on a number of subtle factors, and the die rolls proved strongly in the group's favor: one-in-twenty odds of locating wolfsbane succeeded; timely saving throw and magic resistance rolls by the loup-garou failed; reasonably high attack and very high damage rolls for the heroes in the battle of their lives. Strategic thinking was critical and effective, as this session harbored many paths that might easily have ended in the party's utter demise had their course unfolded differently.

The only experience gained for this session is for slaying Rapacion himself, but that award is a hearty 4,000 XP. It seems only just to divide the spoils evenly with Merena as well, therefore 1,000 XP is awarded to each PC, bringing their updated totals to:

• Alaric - 4,717
• Aginot - 4,717
• Leilana - 4,667

Alaric and Leilana have gained 3rd level; before they can advance further, Alaric must spend one week in prayer and quiet reflection, and Leilana must pass equal time in the forest among nature and its denizens. This session was very well-played by all, and the PCs should feel prideful of their accomplishments.

The Order of the Coin

"Life does not persist without the accumulation of debts.

Bounty awaits for those who pay good deeds forward, who return kindness with kindness, and who sacrifice for the benefit of others.

Ruin awaits the wicked, the greedy and the selfish.

Those who depart with debts unpaid will be cursed in the afterlife.

The Order settles all debts."

--Thus speaketh Aginot, Friar of the Order of the Coin

RL #6: The Loup-Garou

Last night we resumed in the church of Marais d'Tarascon, where the PCs had been resting for a day following the battle in the cemetery the night before. Having expended their spells to heal, the party set out for the Tarascon plantation at twilight; there they found Luc, staring vacantly out into the fields.

Luc grieved for his brothers and imparted that he carried the blame for their deaths. When asked to elaborate, Luc accompanied the party back to the church where he explained how, many years ago, Marcel had come upon a journal belonging to one of the founding Tarascon forefathers. The journal made reference to a scroll penned by a Vistani seer named Hyskosa that foretold a great prophecy; though he searched for it throughout the village, Marcel found nothing.

Over time, the journal's tale was all but forgotten - until, one evening at dusk, Luc caught sight of a colorful gypsy wagon just outside the village. There, a beautiful, dark-haired woman named Valana told his fortune:

Look for the scroll where the old rest fine, behind the stone where six stars shine. The finding, however, will cause much pain; beware the time of the falling rain.

Luc was taken aback by the gypsy's words and rushed off to inform Marcel, leading his brother to a secret passage at the edge of the cemetery which led them into a walled-off area containing a number of ancient mausoleums. Upon one's door was etched a six-star insignia, and inside they found Hyskosa's scroll. Amazed, Luc began reading the verses aloud, but as he did, a slew of undead came forth from the disinterred coffins and struck Marcel down, taking his life. Luc could provide no details of the events that followed, for at that moment he entered the trance-like state that he retained until the zombie lord was finally defeated.

Caring to speak no further, Luc took his leave, and the party retired to their makeshift beds. They awoke the next morning surrounded by a thick fog amid the chill autumn winds - inexplicably, they found themselves outside, sleeping on the cold, bare ground.

Taking to their feet, they saw nothing recognizable and began marching in the direction Alaric believed to be north. As morning dawned, the fog cleared and they came to the outskirts of a village. Elias took note of a woman in the distance; suddenly, he ran for her, calling out to his "Aunt Meisha." Immediately they knew that they somehow had returned to Chatain.

The PCs spoke with the relative briefly and bade her to call for Karsten, who came to them a short time later. Karsten explained that, although no soldiers had returned after the night that the party delved into the swamp, their lone captive had been killed during a recent attempt to escape. Moreover, a few days after the party left, two woodsmen arrived from the east, searching for a large, monstrous wolf.  The loup-garou, as they called it, had terrorized settlements across the countryside, killing dozens if not hundreds.

At the party's request, Karsten located the woodsmen and sent them to the edge of the village to meet. They introduced themselves as Eldon and Ravewood, explaining that the trail of the creature they sought led unmistakably toward Chatain, though they had not found actual footprints in days. Fearing themselves at a dead end (for beyond Chatain lay only marshland and swamps), they agreed to accompany the PCs east until their respective roads would have them part ways. Not wanting to reenter the village, the PCs asked the pair to send for Karsten, agreeing to depart the following morn.

They waited all day for Karsten, but by dusk he never came. As night fell, the PCs headed for the Winter Wolf tavern (a name that Eldon and Ravewood believed was a bad omen). They found Karsten inside, but when questioned, the innkeeper denied that the woodsmen had come to him. At that moment, Eldon and Ravewood appeared in the doorway with weapons drawn. "It must be one of you," Ravewood accused grimly, implicating the PCs and Captain Rapacion.

Before a melee could ensue, Aginot cast hold person and the woodsmen were disarmed. When the spell expired, cooler heads prevailed, and the party convinced the pair that none of them could be their quarry.

Satisfied, all retired for the evening, Alaric to his church and the others to separate rooms in the inn. Screams of villagers outside awoke them in the early morning hours, and the PCs rushed to the street to find the grisly bodies of the two woodsmen, torn apart by a large wolf whose footprints were abundant in the soft ground.

The tracks led north into the forest. Though the PCs followed the trail as best they could, all signs of the wolf soon were lost. Rapacion assured them that the creature had not made it this far, and when questioned how he knew, he replied:

"Because I turned around last night when I reached the forest's edge and returned to the inn."

Horrified at the revelation, the PCs watched as the captain donned an evil grin, confirming their fears. "Fortunately, you have gifted the one weapon that could possibly harm me to an innocent young boy," he continued, referring to the magic dagger that Aginot had given Elias in Marais d'Tarascon. Alaric moved to attack but barely grazed the warrior. Rapacion fought back menacingly, fairly skewering the paladin with his longsword.

Aginot commanded the captain to "die," and Leilana cast entangle as he fell unconscious, causing vines and trees to wrap the captain tightly and hold him fast. Alaric took up Rapacion's longsword (knowing it to be enchanted from a casting of detect magic by Leilana in the tavern) and attempted to run him through, but the magically-awakened vines captured Alaric, and then Aginot too. Leilana bolted for the village, calling for Elias and Karsten, and returning with both moments before her spell would end. Rapacion had transformed into a thrashing wolf, biting and clawing at the vines to escape. Just as he tore himself free, Karsten plunged the captain's sword deep into his hide, eliciting an unworldly howl. Rapacion fled into the forest on four legs as the vines finally gave way, leaving the party wounded but very much alive.

XP and DM's Commentary

Wow, that was a lot crammed into a three-hour session, with a very unexpected turn at the end. The party almost fell to a handful of bad rolls (three failed saves against Leilana's entanglement) and honorable role-playing decisions (giving the magic dagger to Elias despite its enchanted nature). Leilana's casting of detect magic that revealed the evocation on Rapacion's longsword proved a critical bit of knowledge that saved (and nearly ruined) them all.

(It should be noted, as well, that as unlucky as the characters' die rolls seemed throughout the night, the PCs were very fortunate that no opponent succeeded on any saving throw rolled against their spells.)

This session was a great example of how, as DM, you really never know how things will play out, and how a PC's (or enemy's) fate can rest on the roll of a single die. In the end, the characters survived, but so did the final antagonist, and it should be interesting to see how the party proceeds from here. The players have seen Rapacion's combat prowess firsthand and no doubt know what a dangerous adversary he could prove.

A quick note on logistics: this is the first game we've had with absolutely zero technical issues. No blue screen errors from my laptop (I installed a horde of updates after the last two sessions), no reconnecting the video call mid-game, no audio echo from the mics. Good things all around - hopefully they continue.

It seems reasonable to award XP for Rapacion's longsword, so I'll do that at this time. Through a bit of trial and error, the PCs find the weapon to be a longsword +1. Beyond that, they know not what other powers it might have. For now, the sword will be valued at 400 XP; divided three ways, the party's updated totals are:

• Alaric: 3,717
• Aginot: 3,717
• Leilana: 3,667

It remains to be seen whether "by the book" XP awards will work for this game long term. It's something I'm keeping an eye on, but I'd really like to stick to it if we can.

Alaric's Prayer

    I thank the light that myself and my companions are safe after the events of the past few days.  A few scrapes and bruises and broken bones are little to pay for survival after fighting with so many creatures of the dark.  I am thankful that my companions were able to continue the fight even after I fell.  I feel ashamed that I fell before my companions, and I shall strive to perform better in the future.

    It seems that dark times have arrived in Falkovnia.  I fear that what we have seen is only the beginning.  During my youth, I heard tell of the dead rising, but I thought it a story, meant to scare children into behaving.

    While the townsfolk in Marais d'Tarascon have welcomed us, it appears that we are being blamed for the events that happened.  I fear that I understand them, and that they are just trying to protect their town from further unpleasantness.  I hope that after what this town has been through they are sheltered by the creator's hand as they deserve peace for a long while.

    I must admit that I began to doubt myself during our trek.  I have discovered that it is easy to be a servant of the light, when you are at home and nothing is trying to kill you.  Now that I have been away from my church for awhile, I find myself with difficult decisions to make.  Leilana and Aginot are rash, but sometimes their way seems easier.  However, I have sworn to uphold the law.  Because of this, I find myself stopping them from acting, and lecturing them on the proper way to go about things.  I have wondered if it would not be easier to go along with their ideas.  It troubles me that I spent my life as a servant of the light and I am so easily considering forsaking it.  I feel as if this is a test of my faith, and I do not intend to give up so easily.

    I ask that the creator shelter my companions and I, and that the light show us the way.

RL #5: Night of the Walking Dead

A marathon Saturday night session wrote an end to the mysterious deaths in Marais d'Tarascon. Despite a number of out-of-game interruptions, the party forged through and defeated the zombie lord, Marcel. Read on, if you dare...

After speaking with Lillin, the PCs headed for the cemetery in search of its caretaker, Pierot, but first found Shaman Brucian outside the church. In the privacy of its walls, Brucian explained that, after Marcel died, Jean Tarascon quickly fell from grace: once a noble overseer of the Tarascon plantation, Jean's mind became poisoned by the loss of his two brothers. With Marcel dead and Luc seemingly void of all consciousness, endlessly reciting scrambled verses of unknown origin, Jean was increasingly plagued by fits of rage and violence. In light of this, Brucian and others exiled Luc to the swamp for safety - until the PCs retrieved him a few days earlier.

Outside in the cemetery, Pierot shunned the party's questions, intent on preparing for the funeral of the waitress who was murdered in the early morning hours. The group remained for the interment of the deceased, and was relieved to see that the coffin remained quiet and motionless through the end of the service.

As evening approached, the party headed back for the inn but was ambushed en route by the black-cloaked assailant, who stabbed Luc twice before Rapacion slew him grimly. The corpse was revealed to be Jean Tarascon himself, and Brucian pilfered a key and dagger from the dead man's robes before ushering the PCs away to speak in private, urging them to find Marcel's body.

The party opted to replenish at the Full Moon Inn for the evening and begin their search at daybreak, though they considered it paramount to acquire the key from Shaman Brucian before the night's end. Together, they accompanied a handful of villagers back to the tavern, where Brucian confided yet more of his frightful tale. Jean, he explained, had brought Marcel's body - torn nearly limb from limb - to the church on the night that Marcel was slain. Brucian attempted to raise the twin with a magic scroll, but tragically, the spell failed. Jean fled the church in anguish, taking the body of poor Marcel with him.

Suddenly, the storm clouds - having loomed over Marais d'Tarascon for several days - finally broke, pounding the inn with putrid drops of rain and racking its walls with thunder. Simultaneously, Luc's sporadic verses became unprecedentedly clear and unmangled. Within moments, a villager at a nearby table fell dead as a deathly odor settled in the air. Alaric leaped to his feet and buried his sword into the body of the fallen, determined that he not rise as undead. Then Luc recounted a new stanza, a verse not before heard by the PCs in any form:

Look for the scroll where the old rest fine, behind the stone where six stars shine. The finding, however, will cause much pain; beware the time of the falling rain.

Before anyone could react, a rain-drenched villager burst in from outside, yelling, "The dead! The dead are approaching Marais d'Tarascon! An army of the walking dead!"

Constable Gremin quickly began to organize a defense, leading willing patrons outside. Brucian, however, urged the party to accompany him to the old cemetery, where he vaguely recalled an insignia bearing six stars from decades earlier. Ignoring Gremin's demands for help, Brucian and the party fled into the village, blanketed by the night and drowning in the downpour.

As they ran, shambling corpses lumbered toward them in throngs. Brucian and Aginot turned those they could manage while the others aptly slew those they could not. When finally they arrived at the cemetery, Brucian led the group to a chained iron gate enclosing a ten-foot high stone wall, guarded by twin gargoyle statues that eerily seemed to move with every flash of lightning.

Alaric and Rapacion pounded at the chain with their weapons, finally severing it and gaining entry to the old cemetery, an untended portion of the graveyard that supposedly hadn't been entered in years. Overgrown with trees and vines and the ground beneath them turned to mud by the rain, the PCs trudged amid the mausoleums until they came upon two buildings of interest: one was the grandest of all the tombs, towering in size and boasting a stained-glass dome ceiling, the other was a smaller and plainer structure whose entry was adorned with a cryptic, six-star insignia.

Luc refused to approach the latter, shrieking and cowering and nearly fleeing away in terror. Half of the group opened it and scoured its interior, finding recent boot tracks and a half-dozen disinterred coffins that, thankfully, were empty. Dismayed at the lack of anything to validate Luc's recitation, they turned to the larger mausoleum, which Brucian knew to harbor the long-dead ancestors of the Tarascon family.

They entered and ascended a set of stone steps, and as they did, the rain suddenly stopped. The moon's light cast a sickly yellow pallor through the stained glass upon the tomb's floor, a carpet of bones and half-eaten carrion. A nauseating odor filled the main chamber, further lighted by two burning braziers with a finely-crafted throne nested between them. On the throne was seated a hideous creature who resembled Jean Tarascon, but with rotting, pale-gray skin.

The creature proclaimed itself Marcel Tarascon, Lord of the Undead, and demanded an item it called "the scroll of the six signs." Before any could answer, corpses lumbered from recesses in the crypt's stonehewn walls, attacking with their vicious claws. The undead lord looked on as the zombies assailed the PCs, who struggled grimly as first Leilana, then Alaric were laid low. Companions rushed to the aid of the fallen, all the while slicing and stabbing at Marcel's undead minions. When finally Marcel joined the battle in earnest, a great thunderclap rattled the chamber and lightning exploded the dome overhead. Above, the moon turned blood red; its light bathed the tomb in a veil of deathly crimson before fading away and then disappearing completely - a full lunar eclipse.

Marcel gazed to the sky and cried out in abhorrence, and as the last of his minions burned at the end of a newly lighted torch, Aginot, Brucian, and Rapacion hoisted up the zombie lord and buried him onto a fiery brazier, igniting the undead body in a sea of red flames. Thereafter, the crypt fell silent; Luc instantly regained coherence, and those that were able helped carry the more grievously wounded out of the cemetery and back to the church.

The undead army, it was learned, dispersed aimlessly when the zombie lord was killed, though it had left Marais d'Tarascon with many dead and wounded. The sun rose early the next morning, shining its glorious rays upon the village with no storm clouds anywhere in sight. The Tarascon manors were searched by the villagers; Brucian brought word that the Tarascon servants were all found dead, and a mysterious scroll was discovered in a bookcase in the upstairs floor of the townhouse. The scroll held many of the verses recited by Luc when the storm broke:

The night of evil shall descend on the land
When this hexad of signs is near at hand. 

In the house of Daegon the sorcerer born
Through life, unlife, unliving shall scorn. 

The lifeless child of stern mother found
Heralds a time, night of evil unbound. 

Seventh time the son of suns doth rise
To send the knave to an eternity of cries. 

Inajira will make his fortunes reverse
Dooming all to live with the dreaded curse. 

 -- [Missing verse, torn away] --

The light of the sky shining over the dead
shall gutter and fail, turning all to red.

Post-session Details

In addition to showing them the strange scroll and allowing them to copy it if they so choose, Brucian offers the party the dagger and ring of Jean Tarascon (both magically enchanted), a scroll from Brucian's own collection containing two raise dead spells, and an offer to remain at the church until the time they are fully healed of their wounds. At that time, the PCs must seek refuge elsewhere, preferably nowhere near Marais d'Tarascon.

(Out of game, the dagger is a dagger +1 and the ring a ring of protection +1. Brucian explains that Marais d'Tarascon has no desire to harbor the implements that helped murder a number of its villagers, and asks that they be taken somewhere far away. The scroll, too, the priest wishes no remembrance of, given that its failing led to the near-total devastation of village.)


XP and DM's Commentary

Last night's session seemingly spells an end to the first major chapter in our campaign. This time I was well prepared to DM and despite some out-of-game delays we managed to grind out the most fruitful adventure thus far. With that, XP awards are as follows:

• Rescuing Luc from the swamp: 100 XP
• Slaying the zombie of Duncan d'Lute: 40 XP
• Saving Lillin from the black-cloaked assailant: 100 XP
• Defeating Jean Tarascon: 150 XP
• Zombies (10 in total) slain/turned en route to the cemetery: 400 XP
• Marcel's undead minions (5 in total): 363 XP
• Marcel Tarascon, the zombie lord: 650 XP
• Dagger +1: 400 XP
• Ring of protection +1: 1,000 XP

The total award of 3,203 XP is divided four ways between the PCs and Rapacion. Though Shaman Brucian also aided the party in the cemetery, it can be assumed that the value of the raise dead scroll effectively negates his portion. The contributions of Elias and of course Luc were negligible and not counted; therefore, in the end, 801 XP is awarded per character. Furthermore, Aginot receives an additional 50 XP for his recent in-character journal, bringing the party's current XP totals to:

• Alaric: 3,534
• Aginot: 3,584
• Leilana: 3,534

Aginot hereby gains 3rd level immediately, though he should plan to spend several days training and paying reverence to his faith at the next opportune point. Aginot will be allowed no additional level advancements until this occurs.

Detection of Evil and/or Good

One thing that seems to come up again and again in AD&D games whenever a paladin is involved is the innate ability to detect evil. Because the paladin is able to use this ability at will, a smart player's intuition is generally to attempt to detect evil around every corner and inside every inn; after all, why wouldn't you want to know if that innkeeper is secretly plotting to murder the whole party while they sleep?

Unfortunately (read: fortunately), neither the spell detect evil nor the ability of the paladin are so keen. From the first edition DMG (p. 60):

DETECTION OF EVIL AND/OR GOOD

It is important to make a distinction between character alignment and some powerful force of evil or good when this detection function is considered. In general, only a know alignment spell will determine the evil or good a character holds within. It must be a great evil or a strong good to be detected. Characters who are very strongly aligned, do not stray from their faith, and who are of relatively high level (at least 8th or higher) might radiate evil or good if they are intent upon appropriate actions. Powerful monsters such as demons, devils, ki-rin and the like will send forth emanations of their evil or good. Aligned undead must radiate evil, for it is this power and negative force which enables them to continue existing. Note that none of these emanations are noticeable without magical detection.

The second edition PH defines the spell detect evil using similar terms. While there's no reason a paladin can't detect evil constantly, only truly extraordinary circumstances would trigger a positive detection. No, the innkeeper probably isn't a demon, and the door to the blacksmith's outhouse probably isn't a portal to the Abyss. Though a player playing a paladin shouldn't feel bad about calling on the ability when a critical situation arises, it also should be accepted that, much more often than not, detect evil won't reveal anything at all. It's easy to trivialize the ability to detect evil when read as part of the paladin's class description - after years of playing D&D, I still seem to do it myself sometimes - but in the end the purpose of the ability/spell is to identify unworldly evil sources, not simply a common criminal or even a malicious mercenary.

The Tarascon Diaries: Aginot's Perspective

The collected writings of Aginot, Friar of the Order of the Coin, scrawled upon scraps of parchment pilfered from the servant quarters at the plantation of Marais d'Tarascon, and kept rolled and bundled in the pockets of his robes.

The intrigues of Marais d'Tarascon plague my mind, and disturb my rest.  Our newest acquaintance especially, a queer little man named Mordu, leaves me with such a feeling of unease that I find myself checking my window every few moments, expecting to see his sinister little face peering back at me from without.  There are three mysteries, above all, which give me the most consternation, all dealing with murder.

First, and most troubling, are the sudden and unexplained deaths of several townsfolk, preceded by a stench fouler than that of Souragne, that result in their unholy resurrection as undead creatures of great strength and ferocity.  We are no closer to unraveling this mystery than we were when we first arrived at Marais d'Tarascon.  

Second are the assassinations, conducted in twilight, which are as of yet unsolved.  Our only clues, thus far, are the pieces of red licorice left at the scene...whether this clue is meaningful, or just some jape of the assassin, is as of yet undetermined.  Mordu may play some role, or at least have some knowledge of these murders, but we've been unable to ascertain whether he truly has any involvement.

Third, though certainly not finally, are the savage murders conducted at the Tarascon plantation, whereby flesh and limbs are rended and torn as if by some savage beast.  Our young companion, Elias, has had disturbing dreams of a dark woman warning of shapechangers, those that shift form by the light of the moon...I do not believe in coincidence, though I do not yet know the importance of the child's dreams, or why he, of the group, is the only one that suffers them.  I cannot help but feel that our detached companion Luc, or perhaps one of his wayward brothers, is at the root of this mystery.

I take faith in my stalwart companions--Alaric and Leilana, as well as Captain Alec Rapacion and my new friends Luc Tarascon and Elias.  It is my hope that we have the means to unravel these mysteries, and avoid the dire prophecies of the gypsy soothsayer from Souragne.  

Ravenloft session #4: The Murderer Escapes

The campaign was back from hiatus last night, and from my perspective it was a rocky few hours. I felt really off my game, and a solid half-hour of technical difficulties to start things off didn't help. By the end I think everyone was pretty well immersed, but for a while I was struggling through my notes and probably just not as prepared as I could have been. Hopefully things only go up from here. The PCs are sifting through a frustrating patch in Marais d'Tarascon, but I think that scheduling a more lengthy session in the near future should help get them through it.

We picked up the morning after the untimely death of Duncan d'Lute at the Full Moon Inn, and the party was eager to explore the rest of the village, starting with the Tarascon plantation. As they made their way to the edge of town, the PCs took note of the Tarascon townhouse, a lavish, two-story structure at the edge of the village proper owned by the three brothers. Its doors were locked up tight and its windows covered with heavy curtains - the place looked all but abandoned.

The manor house at the plantation (a half-mile outside the village) didn't show much more promise, with no people or field-workers to be found. After discovering a mutilated cattle carcass in a wheat field, the party prodded around the servant house, prying a lock off the cellar door and entering through the basement. Inside the house's main chamber they found a disembodied arm (female and presumed to be a servant's based on its tattered sleeve and dirt underneath its fingernails) and dried patches of blood. Otherwise, the house seemed in reasonable repair, neither pristine nor drastically unkempt. In a side chamber that appeared to be the head servant's room were records of the plantation's field-hands scrawled on sheets of parchment. The attached stables yielded little but rope and miscellaneous supplies.

Satisfied, the PCs turned back to the stately white manor house, hoping to find an easy way inside. As they searched, a stout man bearing sword and shield made his way toward them from the road, declaring himself the town constable (Gremin by name). Gremin seemed overly perturbed that a group of outsiders had taken it upon themselves to pry about the plantation, and was equally distressed at the presence of Luc among their numbers, making it clear that the youngest Tarascon brother was not welcome anywhere near the village.

As the PCs pressed for information and denied Gremin's requests for them to leave, the exchange quickly soured, and when they questioned his diligence in investigating the murders, the constable broke down and revealed that his own son had recently died in the manner witnessed the previous night at the inn. Distraught, Constable Gremin made to arrest the party - until he was interrupted by a second man calling for him from the road. Seemingly a laborer, the newcomer brought word of another murder, just outside the Full Moon Inn. With a look of contempt for the PCs, Gremin turned and followed the villager hastily back to town.

At this point, Aginot and Leilana made a case for forcibly entering the manor house, especially given that Jean Tarascon still had yet to be located, but were refuted by Alaric and Rapacion, who feared that such action could spoil them in the eyes of the village - a stance that the constable would undoubtedly support. In the end, the party elected to trail Gremin back to the inn with all speed.

They arrived to see a throng of people gathered around the body of a dead barmaid in the morning shadows outside, the corpse spattered with slashing wounds and a few pieces of red licorice at its feet. Lillin, the staff manager and daughter of the innkeeper and his wife, explained that the woman was en route for her morning shift and killed a few hours earlier, just before sunup.

"Such a shame, such a shame," a voice uttered behind them, and the PCs spun to see Mordu, the town eccentric, standing closely at their backs. Mordu's expression oozed of intrigue and excitement rather than sorrow, and he was quick to lead the PCs back to his nearby cottage, imparting that he had a theory about the murders. Obviously guarded, the party followed; inside were shelves filled with old histories and tomes, many of them likely fictional - or at least in reference to places nowhere near Marais d'Tarascon. One volume in particular seemed to interest the strange man (a self-proclaimed scholar), titled Infamous Rulers and Societies. After distastefully offering them all licorice from an earthen jar, he flipped the book open to a chapter called "The Cult of the Swamp God," attempting to link its content to the town's recent deaths and slayings.

The PCs found the theory far-fetched at best, but had little time to ponder it further as a scream from outside resonated through the open windows. The companions rushed to the door - though divided on whence the scream came, they followed Alaric on his hunch to the east. A few houses away, the party caught sight of Lillin being assaulted by a black-cloaked figure brandishing a blade. Leilana cast entangle as the others sped for the scene. At Alaric's call for the attacker to cease, the hooded form disappeared into the shadows, allowing the innkeeper's daughter to escape. The PCs darted behind the building where the attacker had fled but found nothing aside from twisted foliage livened by druidic magic.

Frustrated and distressed, the party questioned Lillin, who explained that she was on her way to find Pierot, the cemetery caretaker, when she was assaulted from the darkness. She saw nothing that allowed her to identify the attacker, though when asked about the Tarascon brothers, she revealed that Marcel and Jean were Luc's senior by fifteen years and that their mother, Claudine, had died twenty years prior. Marcel was one of the first in the village to die (if not the first), though Lillin knew not the cause of death nor if any private funeral was held - for none was held publicly.

XP and DM's Commentary

Throughout Marais d'Tarascon, the villagers (with the exception of Mordu) seem resigned to their grim fate, and the continued presence of dark, unbreaking storm clouds overhead does little to mend their confidence. Out of game, no further commentary aside from the notes at the top of this post, and I'm again waiting for a more suitable stopping point before divvying up and awarding XP. Our short sessions make it difficult to progress much over the course of a single evening, though I'm hopeful we'll be able to schedule for a longer stretch a week or so out.

Ravenloft session #3: Marais d'Tarascon

Last night's session began on the banks of Marais d'Tarascon. While the hour was barely after midday, the storm clouds made the sky seem as dusk. The PCs dragged ashore their raft at the edge of the swamp and proceeded toward the village, noting a sprawling plantation to the east. In the town proper, no people were about, and signs on shop doors read "Closed for funeral." The PCs, with Luc still trailing obediently behind them, soon came upon the village church, where a throng of people was gathered outside, listening to a priest give a funeral liturgy for a poor dead man named Jeremiah d'Gris.

Or was he? As the priest rambled on, banging sounded from inside the coffin, which was bound tightly with chains. Whispered questions to the crowd were met with suspicious glances and evasive answers. After much debate, the PCs chose not to disrupt the interment of the coffin, which was sealed inside a large vault within the gated hilltop cemetery nearby.

Through questioning villagers and particularly Shaman Brucian (the priest), the party learned of strange events transpired of late in Marais d'Tarascon:

• Villagers have been dropping dead in their places, then rising again as undead and terrorizing the populace.
• Such deaths are said to be preceded by a terrible odor, like the stench of rotting flesh.
• Coffins of the deceased are bound with chains to keep the bodies safely locked inside.
• In addition to the unexplained deaths, Marais d'Tarascon has also begun to be plagued by grisly murders over the past several days.

The PCs also uncovered that Luc and Marcel's last name is Tarascon, Marais d'Tarascon's founding family, which still owns and operates the plantation to the east. Though Marcel is said to have died three weeks ago of unknown causes, a third brother, Jean Tarascon, still resides at the plantation. Strangely, the companions noted that Marcel's coffin was not interred inside the Tarascon mausoleum in the cemetery - the most recent addition was a woman named Claudine, nearly twenty years prior.

When asked specifically about Luc, Shaman Brucian referred to the boy as a "lost one" of the village, which the PCs tied back to the cryptic words of the young gypsy woman, Valana. Brucian explained that Luc had been ousted from the village, but would not explain why, adding only that he had made a few trips to the swamp to check on the boy and replenish his provisions.  Nearly everyone the PCs met, including Brucian himself, was unable to suppress a wide-eyed look of surprise at the return of Luc Tarascon.

After securing rooms for the impending night at the Full Moon Inn, the party returned to the church, and once there confronted a cloaked figure who had been following them since the funeral. To their astonishment, the figure revealed himself to be Elias, the missing boy from Chatain. Elias had arrived in Marais d'Tarascon two days prior, after walking for an equal number of days through the swamp, and claimed the village to be "cursed," recounting much of the same information that the PCs had already learned about the recent murders and unexplained deaths.

Moreover, Elias implicated a town eccentric named Mordu as a possible person of interest. In addition to his bizarre and morbidly upbeat demeanor, Mordu was frequently seen eating red licorice from the bakery, pieces of which had been found by the village constable beside the bodies of murder victims.

At long last, the PCs, along with Captain Rapacion, Luc, and now Elias, returned to the Full Moon Inn to settle themselves for the night, but as they took to their beds, screams resounded from below. The companions ran for the stairwell but lurched and vomited as they reached it, for the rotten odor in the hall was unbearable. Clasping hands to their mouths and noses, they entered the common room to find Duncan d'Lute, a traveler from the northern town of Port d'Elhour who had offered up room and board to Elias the previous night, dead on the floor, with not a mark on his body.

Aginot and Rapacion went for Shaman Brucian, and in their absence the body rose up and attacked Alaric and Leilana, tearing at the companions' flesh and laying Leilana low. Patrons panicked and fled the inn, and just as reinforcements arrived on scene, Alaric decapitated the fiend with a swing of his mighty blade. Brucian could offer nothing but a promise to inter the corpse, stating that d'Lute "may not be of Marais d'Tarason, but he will be buried as one of its own."

When finally affairs were in order with the priest, the companions retired, very much unsettled and their minds clouded with questions.

Ravenloft session #2: The Swamp

Last Wednesday, we picked up in Chatain's village square mere hours after the band of Talons was defeated. The PCs questioned the captured soldier but received little more than accusations of treason to their King. Fearful of repercussions against the village, Alaric, Aginot, Leilana, and Captain Rapacion bade Karsten to arrange for any and all blame to be cast squarely upon them, if and when more soldiers returned. Imparting to Elias's family that they would find the missing boy even if he might never return to Chatain, the companions made haste into the night, delving into the forest and following nimble Leilana into Souragne.

The marshland quickly gave way to knee-deep swamp waters, and the PCs' calls for Elias yielded nothing. As the night darkened, the mists grew thick and the cloud cover eclipsed the moon. When direction seemed all but lost to the PCs, they came upon a raft, wedged between two jagged trees. They waded in to dislodge it, and found it to be in good repair - and large enough to carry all four.

Alaric conversed with Captain Rapacion during the pair's watch as they floated along. When questioned, Rapacion explained that in the villages of the Balinok Mountains, the mark of the Talon was far less common, as Drakov's soldiers ventured there less frequently, and with greater hardship. Alaric came away satisfied with the captain's motives and history, even if his allegiance to the companions might prove short-lived.

The next morning, the sky barely brightened, blanketed by a thick gray curtain of storm clouds that threatened to break at any instant. The raft drifted past black logs and fallen trees; in their midst, a crocodile, twice again the size of a man, emerged from the waters and assaulted the party. The PCs paddled to escape, and Leilana's entanglement spell held the creature fast, wrapping it in swamp vines until the raft was a safe distance away.

Throughout the afternoon they drifted along, unsure of their direction and seemingly devoid of any hope of finding the lost boy. At night, the four travelers bore witness to a sea of ominous, flickering lights, like distant candles, in nearly every direction. They watched them for hours, unsure of their source or meaning, as the raft floated in eerie silence. As the sun rose, the lights faded into the murky daylight.

Still the storm had not broke, but yet the nearly black clouds cast grim shadows over the swamp. The companions felt far from home, and further still from finding the missing boy. Without a raft of his own, he surely could not have made it this far.

On this third evening, the companions sighted the burning light of a campfire in the distance. As they drew near it, they saw a family of gypsies amid a colorful wagon, tethered to two old mares. The wagon was perched on a small island of dry land; how it came to be in the middle of the impassable swamp was a mystery.

The eldest gypsy, a thin and frail-looking old man, introduced himself as Scarengi, and bade the lost travelers to seat themselves beside the fire. The family explained that the companions were close to a town, only a handful of miles away, called Marais d'Tarascon, though they cryptically noted that it was not a place to visit "on a night such as this." As the PCs began to ask questions, a beautiful, shapely young woman emerged from the wagon, captivating the men with her stunning red lips and dark eyes. Scarengi proudly proclaimed her to be his daughter, Valana, and that she was gifted in the ways of fortune-telling. "The trouble began when I cast the runes for that quiet and lost young man," she explained sadly. "Perhaps it will end with another casting."

The PCs learned little else throughout their meal with the gypsies, their questions deflected by answers in the vein of "To speak of evil is to invite it to dinner." Finally, Valana took up a set of small stone tiles and cast them into a pan. As her captivating eyes bore into each companion in turn, she gasped. "The lost one has called you! The dead will walk with the coming storm, and you must find a way to put them to rest. If you cannot, the rain will turn to blood! It will drown you-you and all of Marais d'Tarascon."

Clearly unsettled, the gypsies retired hastily inside the wagon; only the strongest-looking man remained outside to tend the horses. Accepting that no further information was forthcoming, the PCs settled themselves to sleep; as they did, Valana's silhouette appeared in the doorway, whispering, "Beware the madman; beware his blood."

Tried as they might to stay awake in shifts, eventually the four companions all fell asleep. When they awoke the next morning, the wagon was gone.

Around midday, storm clouds dark as ever, they came upon a house on stilts. Many lanterns burned brightly from within, and as they attempted to peer inside from down below, a rope ladder fell to the base of the raft. Inside the house sat a young man, thin and gaunt, eyes milky white and vacant. In his hands he clutched a book of poetry with an inscription on the inside cover that read "To Luc, my beloved brother."  It was signed "Marcel."

Luc seemed to not acknowledge his visitors, intermittently reciting mangled verses to the open air:

The on descend shall evil of night the land, at
near are signs of hexad this when hand.

The mother stern of child lifeless found, heralds
evil of night a time unbound.

The "house" itself was but a single room, and in addition to a circle of burning lanterns was stocked with a barrel of fresh water, crates of provisions, and fresh clothing. As the companions made to depart, Luc suddenly attempted to climb down the rope ladder, plummeting into the water. Together the PCs dragged him to safety aboard the raft. Thereafter, numbered five, they left the empty house behind them, rowing until they saw a plume of smoke on the horizon, emanating from a distant village.

On they rode until they washed ashore at the swamp's edge, along the outskirts of what they could only assume must be Marais d'Tarascon.

XP

No XP to award for this session - I'll wait until we hit a more appropriate stopping point to add up rewards and level any characters as needed.

Ravenloft session #1: Chatain

A new campaign is finally underway - we played our first session Wednesday night, using AD&D 2nd Edition as the rule set, with Ravenloft (probably my favorite all-time setting) as the backdrop. The game is rooted in the military-oppressed kingdom of Falkovnia, ruled by the reviled, mercenary king, Vlad Drakov (more commonly known as "Vlad the Impaler"). Falkovnia's rolling fields and valleys are blanketed by deep forests and spotted with towns and villages whose downtrodden citizenry live in fear of their rulers and the dangers that lurk outside their homes.

The adventurers number three: Alaric, an overly moral sod and would-be holy warrior; Aginot, an unconventional man of the cloth; and Leilana, a half-elven woman whose racial heritage is well-concealed for fear of the harsh prejudices within the kingdom. The PCs each bear the mark of the Talon on their foreheads, a brand brutally imparted by Drakov by way of his soldiers (called "Talons"), claiming the Falkovnian inhabitants as his property.

Our session began in the isolated farming village of Chatain, a northeastern hamlet surrounded by thick woodlands of vigila dimorta, towering black trees whose name in the old language means "sentries of death." For its part, Chatain is self-sustaining and not oft happened upon, its most frequent visitors wayward travelers and caravans, or (less commonly) small military units, scouring Falkovnia's towns and villages to viciously brand, capture, and occasionally even slaughter those who "rightfully" belong to their King.

On a crisp, cool evening in mid-autumn, Alaric, Aginot and Leilana were gathered inside the Winter Wolf tavern, a small taproom on the southeast corner of Chatain's modest village square, when in trod a rugged, dark-haired man brandishing sword and shield, weathered and weary from the road. He introduced himself as Alec Rapacion, a county militia captain from a cluster of small settlements in the foothills of the Balinok Mountains to the east, traveling the countryside on a peaceable mission of recruitment. Rapacion explained that he had warned the tavern's proprietor, a strong-armed middle-aged man named Karsten, that a band of Drakov's Talons was roaming the forested trails nearby.

As if on cue at that moment, screams sounded from the village square. Patrons flooded to the tavern's windows and entryway, and onlookers could see four mounted Talons outside, several yards away. In the center of the square, their apparent leader had impaled a villager on his glaive, letting the man slide grotesquely from his weapon and fall lifelessly to the ground.

The horsemen turned at Alaric's call, and when they did, a lithe form could be spotted to the northwest, escaping from the village square into the foreboding night. Alaric and Captain Rapacion blocked the doorway to the tavern when one of the Talons was directed their way by the leader. Alaric refused to engage the soldier, but Rapacion slashed the man's cheek before Alaric could restrain his new ally. Fearful for the patrons, Leilana began ushering taverngoers out the taproom's rear exit while Aginot played drunk in an attempt to create a distraction.

A melee ensued inside the tavern, with Rapacion, Leilana, and Karsten working together to slay the Talon.  An utterance of cause fear by Aginot sent a second mounted soldier fleeing into the darkness after he'd circled around back to block the villagers' escape. The companions outmatched and subsequently bound and captured the rider upon his return to the village square after Leilana deftly impersonated the boy that had been seen running from the shadows. Conversing briefly with a handful of townspeople who'd gathered 'round the impaled man after the Talons had dispersed, the PCs learned that the slain man had been protecting his teenage son from the soldiers when he was felled. Presumably, the son either was yet unbranded with Drakov's mark or had otherwise provoked the riders.

The PCs gathered what villagers they could safely in the tavern, and when the two remaining soldiers made their return, the frontrunner was laid low and the leader, having lost his contingent, rode swiftly off to the south, fleeing the village with all haste.

Thereafter, Chatain was in uproar over the night's events, the villagers prideful of the manner in which the Talons were defeated, yet gravely fearful for the possible repercussions from the Kingdom. Of foremost concern to the slain villager's family, however, was locating the dead man's son Elias who, by multiple accounts, had fled Chatain to the northwest, and toward the treacherous swamp that in the old language was known simply as Souragne.

XP

Player character XP totals are posted on the sidebar of this page. The experience awards for the first session are as follows:

• Defeating four Talon soldiers (two slain, one captured, one driven off into the night) @ 50 XP each: 200 XP
• Story award for successfully protecting further villagers from harm: 500 XP
• 700 XP total
• 233 XP per character (before any applicable XP bonuses)

The session ran well and got us off to an exciting start. Everyone's looking forward to learning what happens next...

Jendrick's Challenge, part 2

Tonight I got to play Skype session #2 - a week later than originally planned, but a good time nonetheless. The first ten minutes were spent sorting out technical issues: audio static due to a bad mic and the inability to get both our videos working at the same time. After Tracy switched back to the mic he used previously, the audio was great - better than last time, actually, as we didn't incur any spottiness throughout the duration of the two-hour game. Since we only managed to achieve one-way video, we elected to go without. The video is nice, but not having it wasn't really a detriment - not for our two-player game, at least.

We picked up outside the Sign of the Three Crowns, where Jendrick and Rosamund parted for the evening. They reconvened at sunrise in one of Sturnheim's gardens, though when Rosamund arrived, she was accompanied by Tregar, the dwarf hunter that Jendrick had spoken to the previous day. Rosamund had surmised that Poot's slaying was somehow related to Sturnheim's lost treasure, and wanted Jendrick and Tregar to help her uncover the truth.

As the story goes, some forty years prior a caravan carrying a large segment of Sturnheim's wealth was plundered by unknown robbers, crippling the town and severing its trade with other nearby settlements. Shortly thereafter, a party of eight adventurers struck out to find the lost caravan. Four met an untimely death along the road; of the four that returned, two left Sturnheim and two remained in the village. Of those that remained, one supposedly went mad and eventually fled; the other was Poot.

Rosamund was hesitant to place much trust in Sturnheim's militia, for its captain, Valdar, was the son of a warrior named Kesor, one of the surviving adventurers that departed and a notably evil man. As such, Jendrick led his friends to the constabulary where they inquired about the confiscated stone sword. The guards allowed them to examine it, though not remove it from the premises. When Jendrick asked if Poot's house might be searched, the men agreed, with one soldier accompanying the trio there personally.

The door to Poot's house was adorned with a broken and decrepit lock; inside, the man's personal effects were strewn about haphazardly. A half hour of searching revealed an iron ring that was strangely warm to the touch (which the guard promptly collected), and a telling note scrawled upon a sheet of parchment:

P -

Meet me in the old alley tonight and bring the key. I have ascertained its origin and purpose, and the location of the lock.

-V

Rosamund passed the note to Jendrick, who promptly handed it over to the guard, much to the girl's displeasure. The trio then returned to the constabulary to question the jailed bandit, who revealed nothing. Back outside, Rosamund and Tregar surmised that the note may have been scribed by Valdar, which would implicate that Valdar himself had orchestrated Poot's slaying. With no further leads, and without possession of the "key" (the stone sword), the trio left town and began traveling along the Forsaken Road (the road that Poot had referenced in his dying words).

After an hour, the friends encountered a mounted knight in rusted field plate armor; he carried a lance bearing a tattered blue pennant and sat upon a weathered nag. The knight, obviously a venerable man by his voice, proclaimed himself guardian of the road, refusing to let anyone pass until they bested him in a duel. Seeing that Jendrick rode no horse, the knight dismounted and drew forth his longsword. The two crossed steel, and after Jendrick twice scored hits between his opponent's armor, the old knight yielded and allowed the trio to pass.

Jendrick offered the man his [magical] aid, treating him with the utmost respect and inquiring as to his origin. In the ensuing dialogue, Jendrick learned that the man was none other than Sir Nycklos of Roeh, the surviving adventurer who supposedly had fled, and indeed was quite mad (or at least very senile). The party pressed on, and as the afternoon waned came upon an unusual rock formation standing near the road. Jendrick noted that the boulders looked vaguely like a dragon, and Rosemund linked this to another of Poot's deathly phrases, "south at dragon."

Before they could go further, a grunting noise behind the rocks revealed a hulking man devouring an uncooked squirrel, with the carcasses of several more at his feet. This man declared himself "Ahrne," and though his speech was rather primitive, he wore two most curious items: a stone shield, strapped to his back (his "armor") and a valuable gold necklace bearing a medallion branded "Sturnheim Caravan Company" and dated 46 years ago. Jendrick asked to be taken to the place where Ahrne found his strange treasures, and Ahrne readily agreed... for another squirrel.

That's where we left it; though there wasn't much combat (the duel with Sir Nycklos hardly counts), the plot has definitely started to unfold. In addition, having a paladin as the lone PC creates an interesting dynamic in almost every NPC encounter. For example, a character of any other class would likely not have turned the note found in Poot's house over to the guard; Jendrick, however, chose to do just that, drawing scorn from Rosamund and arguably turning a valuable piece of information over to a questionable source. On the other hand, Jendrick's chivalrous demeanor served him well in the encounter with Sir Nycklos, and has helped him establish a valorous repor with numerous individuals in Sturnheim.

Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the adventure plays out, and particularly what companions Jendrick brings with him when finally he arrives in Hommlet.

Legacy XP totals (copied from main sidebar on August 9, 2012):

• Jendrick - 4,334
• Gulwar - 3,182/3,120
• Rylin (captured) - 4,194
• Amiculum - 5,064
• Dravin - 6,170
• Greenleaf (retired) - 4,334
• Ellimorell (slain) - 4,334

B/X Scenario: Halflings vs. Ogres

I stumbled across this post while poking around on Dragonsfoot the other day, and really enjoyed it. The author created a one-off scenario where a band of ogres had been terrorizing a halfling shire, and the lone player controlled a party of ten 1st-level halflings to track down and eliminate the threat. This was a B/X (D&D Basic) adventure, so the halflings were just halflings.

In any case, the author goes on to provide specific stats for each of the ten hin (along with starting money and equipment) along with the individuals' roles within the village. Then he recaps the encounter itself, recounting every die roll and tactical decision made by both sides. I found the whole piece to be highly entertaining and fascinating in its elegance and simplicity.

For a while I've felt like Basic (or something in the realm of "not-quite-Basic," like the Basic Fantasy RPG) is something I could really get into someday, under the right set of circumstances. Every time I read something like this it just reinforces that notion.

AD&D + VoIP: The adventure begins...

VoIP may forever change the way I play D&D.

A good friend and I got together this evening to play a quick OSRIC session using Skype. He already uses video and voice for gaming regularly, but for me, this was a first-time experience. It practically couldn't have gone more smoothly.

The main purpose of the adventure was to acclimate Tracy's new character, a paladin named Jendrick Tannerson (son of a tanner - fitting) to the campaign in place of Greenleaf the druid (now officially retired). Though we only ended up playing for about an hour and a half, much was accomplished. We're planning to reconvene Sunday evening, and I could see it taking three to four of these brief, online sessions to wrap up Jendrick's inaugural adventure, which should have him ready to join the rest of the tabletop cast in Hommlet, the next time we play.

The module we're using for our online foray is Fighter's Challenge, modified to fit within the ongoing campaign. Jendrick, traveling the countryside in search of personal enlightenment and general do-gooding, made his way to Sturnheim and befriended a lovely young lady named Rosamund, who instantly became enamored with the budding knight. Jendrick, naive in the ways of romance, graced her with awkward conversation in the Sign of the Three Crowns (the local inn), and also parleyed with Tregar, a young dwarven hunter newly returned from guard duty for a local caravan.

Jendrick offered his services freely to Tregar on his next hunt (for which Tregar intends to depart in two days' time) and was quickly obliged. Later in the evening, Jendrick and Rosamund happened within earshot of a scuffle in a dark alley while walking the streets of the village, with Jendrick rushing to the aid of an old man who seemingly was being attacked by three others. The assailants fled and Jendrick pursued, weighted down by his mail and only able to keep pace with the slowest of the bandits, that one lugging along a heavy greatsword that appeared to be made of stone. Jendrick managed to catch and pin the man, and Rosamund summoned a trio of the town's militia.

By the time help arrived, the victim of the attack, a frail old man that the militia referred to as "Poot," had succumbed to his wounds and died in the alley. Two of the militia escorted the captured bandit away to their captain whilst Jendrick assisted the third soldier in carrying Poot's body, along with the stone sword, to the church of St. Cuthbert. Jendrick and Rosamund headed back to the inn (the latter's romantic mood quite shattered), though en route the girl revealed that Poot had uttered some strange phrases before he died:

"My house... parchment... sword is the key. Forsaken Road through hills... south at dragon."

That's where we left it. The session was a blast, brief though it was. AD&D/OSRIC continues to impress me in all its nostalgic elegance. When chasing down the bandit, Jendrick's initiative bested the pursuant by four segments, allowing Jendrick to close the thirty-foot distance between them and make an attack roll to trip the bandit with his shield. A minor Strength test to pin the man; a Strength check to maintain the hold until the guards arrived.

Even better was being able to play via Skype, using both video and voice. Tracy has amazingly good attendance for our tabletop sessions despite living more than an hour and a half away; that said, making the drive up for an hour or two of solo gaming isn't a reasonable expectation for anyone. Aside from a few audio glitches that forced us to reconnect (took all of 30 seconds), it was just like having him in the room. We used the honor system for die-rolling, but even if I'd wanted validation we could easily have used an online roller.

Also nice was having my laptop - and all my notes and resources - right at my fingertips. I intentionally don't use a computer when gaming in person, but as it's nearly unavoidable for remote play, I was happy to have it. Dropbox and Skype file transfer make sharing character sheets instantaneous and trivial. As we were wrapping up, we also took a few minutes to check out Dabbleboard, a potential all-in-one solution for online D&D: it provides a fast and easy-to-use whiteboard for diagrams and maps, along with free audio, video, and chat for up to 20 people via tokbox.

My only regret is that I didn't try this sooner. VoIP will enable me to play D&D with my closest friends across the country, people that I grew up on this game with but that I haven't actually been able to play with in years. For now, the next session is just two moons away...

T1, part 4: In the Arms of the Enemy (literally)

Last night's game was both a complete disaster and the perfect setup for part 5. Here's what happened:

Midday. With the core of the party still ailing from its previous foray with the ghouls, Gulwar was left recruiting new help in the Inn of the Welcome Wench while Rylin the halfling resumed his job as a line cook. A druid named Greenleaf befriended the pair, and not a moment too soon: before they could even begin to discuss their plans, the mercenary Zert came storming into the taproom, trailed closely by Turuko and his hulking-yet-dimwitted arm-for-hire Kobart. Behind that pair meandered a handful of villagers. Spugnoir quietly pulled his spellbook up over his face as Zert tossed the contents of a bloodstained, burlap sack at Gulwar, proclaiming:

"Death seems to follow you, adventurers. Perhaps you'd have done better to let restful bodies lie, for now WE will be forced to finish the work that you've started to ensure the lasting safety of this village."

From the bag rolled the severed head of Ellimorell, and the patrons gasped in horror. Zert went on to explain (menacingly) that the bodies of the fallen, hauled back to Hommlet by the PCs, had risen as ghouls and terrorized several farms before being slain by none other than Zert himself, along with his new allies. The trio accused Gulwar's party of endangering the village, challenging the townspeople to unite against such recklessness, and though some of the villagers nodded their agreement, just as many stood to the PCs' defense. Finally, Gulwar declared that he and his companions would leave the very next day, if that was the desire of the village. Zert seemed satisfied at this and left, accompanied again by Turuko, Kobart, and a particular farmer...

Gulwar stepped outside and followed the foursome toward the traders establishment, though once there he found only the warriors. Unable to hear their conversation without compromising his identity, he waded out to the northernmost farmhouses until he located the farmer. To the farmer and his family he solemnly apologized for any distress he and his companions may have caused, and offered them a few gold coins. Obviously torn, the farmer admitted that Zert and Turuko had paid him off (only a few silvers) to go along with their story and serve as their witness.

Armed with this new information, Gulwar gathered Rylin and Greenleaf (who in the meantime had taken it upon himself to bury the disembodied head of his player's former character) and visited Canon Terjon at the church of St. Cuthbert. The canon was distraught to learn that the bodies may have been stolen from the church's mausoleum, and bade the PCs to uncover the truth behind Zert's accusations. The village elder, too, supported the PCs in the name of upholding the church and extinguishing any potential for widespread panic or uprising in Hommlet.

...

So, at this point, the PCs are really itching to locate Zert and his new allies, who curiously haven't been seen since Gulwar observed them at the traders establishment. Back at the inn, Rylin uses inside resources to locate Zert and Turuko's rooms, and the party sneaks upstairs to infiltrate both. The rooms are completely cleaned out, with no personal effects remaining. Ostler (the innkeeper) didn't know that either of them were leaving, though as their dues have been paid for several weeks in advance, to him it hardly matters.

Why would Zert and Turuko bother themselves to poison the village against the PCs just to turn around and leave? The only semi-plausible explanation seemed that the trio was looking to reclaim the PCs' local renown for themselves by plundering the moat house on their own. And so, the next morning, after the village elder (backed by Rufus and Burne) publicly exonerated Gulwar and his friends of any wrongdoing, the characters re-hired Spugnoir and set back out for the ruins...

...

Seeing no sign of their accusers above ground, the party quickly descended to the dungeon level, then down the chute to the [now empty] ghouls' chamber. They forged ahead into unknown corridors, and all was going smoothly until they stumbled upon a room brooding with dog-faced gnolls.

A melee ensued, and though the PCs (outnumbered more than two to one) managed to gain a quick upper hand, Greenleaf made the untimely mistake of dispelling his magic entanglement upon the enemies, and the gnolls captured Rylin and the druid, while Gulwar remained hidden under his cloak of elvenkind and Spugnoir fled. The gnolls marched the captives down another corridor, past a series of human guards wearing black armor that bore the yellow-eye insignia, and up to a dark-haired man adorned with a staff and mace who was obviously their leader (all the enemies referred to him as "Master").

The master offered Rylin and Greenleaf their lives in exchange for their indefinite service, and the pair reluctantly agreed (for the other option was death). Gulwar, still concealed, located Spugnoir and attempted to exit back up the chute, only to find it closed and barricaded. With some effort, the pair managed to circumvent a single human guard and discover an alternate way out: a tunnel under the moat that exhaled into a rocky outcropping above ground, a quarter-mile disposed from the moat house proper.

That's where we left it, though before the session broke we confirmed that Gulwar and Spugnoir returned to Hommlet safely and relayed their tale to the village elder. And that there still was no sign of Zert, Kobart, or Turuko...

XP

Not much: one gnoll defeated, and three vials of holy water, an unknown potion, and an unknown clerical scroll returned to the village safely (not to mention just one out of three characters). I'm not planning to disposition experience for this session; I'll just lump the above in next time around. I'm still waiting for the group to have a break-out adventure both in terms of in-game success and experience earned (which tend to go hand-in-hand), and don't plan to reevaluate the AD&D experience system until at least after we're done playing the module - it's too hard to make a fair assessment with so much still left unresolved.

DM's Commentary

Had the gnolls not preferred capture over the outright slaying of the PCs, the characters would probably all be dead.

The party needs more firepower. It's interesting to note the change in dynamic since the campaign started with regards to NPCs available for hire. At the onset, Hommlet was enjoying an influx of adventurers and mercenaries in response to hearsay of local bandits, so much that the PCs were actually being approached by individuals looking for work. Weeks later, the bandits are gone, and many have died or been grievously injured since the adventuring population became saturated. Now, the remaining characters have few places to look for help.

My gut feeling is that our next session will write the end to the party's chapter in Hommlet. The urgency of the PCs' situation is suddenly very much increased, with two characters held captive and the realization that a substantial evil force has taken up residence below the ruins. The party will need careful planning, men-at-arms, and the resources of the village to rescue their friends and close the door on the moat house for good.

Will they succeed?

Things to remember in combat

These are as much for my own benefit as anyone else's...

Surprise (d6): 1 = surprised for one segment; 2 = surprised for two segments; 3-6 = not surprised. Dexterity can negate surprise segments for individual characters.

Attacking into Melee: If an attacker has multiple adjacent opponents, the target is determined randomly. The same applies when attacking at range against "engaged" opponents.

Charge: A charging character gains +2 to hit, but if the defender's weapon is longer than the attacker's, the defender can attack first. A character can only "charge" once/10 rounds.

Fleeing: Fleeing characters immediately draw an additional attack from adjacent opponents at +4 to hit.

Parrying: A character who parries cannot attack, but may subtract his or her "to hit" bonus from his or her opponent's attack roll.

Invisible Opponent: An invisible opponent can only be attacked if the general location is known, and the attack is at –4 to hit.

Prone Opponent: Attacks against a prone opponent negate the benefit of a shield, negate dexterity bonuses, and are made at +4 to hit.

Concealment: Concealment is anything that obscures an opponent’s vision, such as tree limbs or smoke, but does not physically block incoming attacks. The GM must decide whether the defender is about a quarter (-1 to AC), half (-2 to AC), three-quarters (-3 to AC), or nine-tenths (-4 to AC) concealed.

Cover: Cover is protection behind something that can actually block incoming attacks, such as a wall or arrow slit. Cover bonuses are as follows:

• 25% cover: -2 AC
• 50% cover: -4 AC
• 75% cover: -7 AC
• 90% cover -10 AC

OSRIC returns

Setting up to run a game on Saturday, Feb. 5. Amiculum, Gulwar, Rylin, and Ellimorell's grisly corpse have unfinished business in the Village of Hommlet... and of course, the ruins of the moathouse:

Will goodness and valor prevail, or will Gulwar and Dravin's idiocy foil the party to its doom?