DICE PACKS BUNDLE
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  1. #101
    Zenspeedstr's Avatar
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    Recap, part II

    Deacon managed to pull himself together enough to cast, opting for a low level Cinderbolt due to his inability to see straight from all the damage he had taken. He hit, but did not do any damage. Bart battled on, injuring one of the mummies and missing a free attack against Sultalore. Sankhur healed Mal, getting him back into the fight.

    Leaping to his feet, Mal immediately dropped one of the remaining Mummies, which vanished in another cloud of dust. The final mummy damaged Mal again, and Bart dispatched it. Mal attacked Sultalore, but caused no damage. Sankhur attempted to heal Deacon, but failed. Deacon tried to attack with another Cinder Bolt, but critically missed, and began to suffer from exhaustion as a result. Bart hit Sultalore twice, causing no damage. Sultalore swung his longsword at Bart and hit, but caused no damage.

    Sankhur closed on the Mummy Lord, casting a heal on him, which damaged him. Against all odds, Deacon managed to land a full power Cinderbolt, causing two more wounds. Mal then hit with his first attack, causing a wound, and followed up by obliterating Sultalore with his second strike.

    As the Mummy Lord was split in half, Mal's sword struck something metal inside its body. A ripple of mystical energy passed through the blade, causing the sword to heat up. The blade was crystallized with black and white etchings, gaining an enchantment against undead. The sword's name is now "Mummy's Bane."

    In addition, the party recovered "the Sword of Sultalore," enchanted to boost damage and improve spellcasting. Sankhur received it, and gave his rapier to Bart. Among the remains, the companions recovered golden bracers worth 500 gold, and a silver headdress/crown worth 100 gold.

    Proceeding into the next room-- the room that Sultalore had emerged from-- the party found themselves in another map room, similar to the one at the entrance, but this one was intact. The map depicted a ziggurat in the center of the ruins with four canals leading into it. Carvings on the walls and pillars depicted the gods of the Olmans-- a Lizard god, a Snake god, a Bat god, and so on. On the floor they found an obsidian stone tooth and a gem-encrusted golden bat idol, both of which radiated magic. The idol was leaner and more angular than the carvings on the walls. Examining the markings on the tooth, Deacon and Urrol were able to determine that if a person were to remove one of his/her teeth and place the obsidian tooth in the gap, it would grant the user a bite attack.

    The following room contained a stone calendar, and a collapsed pit full of bones. The companions decided to take a short respite before venturing further into the ruins.

  2. #102
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    I'm a day late with the recap again-- blame it on the Festival of St. Valentinus. Hope everyone had a good one.

    Recap

    Last Time, in Savage Tides--

    "Don't go chasing Waterfalls. Fill your barrels at the rivers and streams that you're used to..."

    Picking up where we ended last session, the party further explored the stone calendar and the pit of bone. One of the crewmembers stationed at the entrance to the ruins ran back to the ship to bring Greenie. Meanwhile, the companions still within the ruins tried to figure out the puzzle of the calendar.

    They discovered that the calendar could be turned, and that a small slit in the wall on each side of the room would let in a thin shaft of light at certain times of the year (presumably the Equinoxes) this light would strike a crystal embedded in the center of the calendar, and then would be refracted to strike a crystal skull embedded in the southernmost wall above the pit. Consulting with Urrol the Sage, they learned that the beam would most likely have one of two effects: it would either bring the two gigantic statues (one representing a bat god, and the other a serpent god) to life, or it would open a portal to the underworld. After a quick discussion, the group decided that neither of those outcomes were desirable, so they decided against trying to trigger the effect. The pit was 60' deep, with nothing to stand on at the Southern edge. The Crystal Skull appeared to be so embedded in the wall that even if they could figure out a way to get up to it, it would likely take an entire day to dig it out of the wall without the proper excavation gear. In the end, they decided to leave it and return to the ship.

    Studying the two artifacts the party had recovered, Urrol made the observation that the bat idol could be related to the Isle of Dread, the party's destination. He pointed out that although the idol seemed to represent the same or a similar deity as the one depicted in the Tamoachan ruins, the artistic style was quite different-- more akin to the artwork from the island.

    Exiting the ruins, Deacon was gratefully reunited with his cat, Presto. Sankhur decided to get a closer look at the passageway the party had avoided upon entering the ruins, but accidentally kicked over some rocks, awakening the giant basilisk within. Greenie and Bart climbed to the roof of the passageway to wait for the creature's emergence. Deacon took up a position just behind Sankhur and fired a full strength Cinder Bolt at the Basilisk, incinerating it-- thanks to the use of Deacon's Adventure Card (Bullseye). Exploring the Basilisk's lair, they discovered a large stone statue and a dried up well. The room was filled with broken bits of debris. Spending a half hour searching recovered the following items:

    • Ivory Fan worth 180 Silver
    • Platinum Bracelet worth 2000 Silver
    • Dagger: +1 damage, returns to owner when thrown
    • 6 Turquoise Gems carved into the shape of an eye

    The following week passed without incident, and Sankhur and Deacon were able to heal the damage from the Basilisks' gaze. After 17 days, the expedition approached Fort Greenrock, a scheduled re-supply stop. The ship's water supply was becoming critically low. The wooden pallisade around the fort had been torn apart, and the fort itself had been burned to the ground. The companions went ashore and searched, but there seemed to be no survivors. The sources of fresh water were all contaminated. Among the refuse were bodies of Lizard-Men-- some of which were showing the multiple head mutations that the party had previously encountered. The damage was several weeks to a month old-- if any of the colonists were carried off, the trail was long since cold. With water supplies critical, the party couldn't afford days spent in search of revenge.

    Consulting the maps and navigational charts, they identified an area along the coast that they might be able to reach in time where a major river emptied into the ocean. The crews of the ships were grumbling and surly. As captain, Bart delivered a rousing speech, convincing them to have faith for a few more days, raising morale.

    Arriving at the coast just as the supplies were running out, the companions conferred with Lavinia. They decided to explore up river to make sure that the area was safe before sending members of the crew to bring back water. Travelling inland for about half an hour brought them to a waterfall. A dragon-like head poked out of the falls and peered at them. They watched as a five-headed Hydra emerged from the falls.

    Surprisingly, the group had little trouble dispatching the creature. Greenie leapt onto its back. Bart and Mal attacked from the waist-deep water. Sankhur blessed the group, raising their fighting ability. Deacon pitched in with spell support, and also burned the stump of each head as the party destroyed them. Greenie delivered the coup de grace. The expedition recovered a large supply of meat from the carcass, along with enough scales to make:

    • 2 suits of armor

    Harvesting hydra teeth and claws, they recovered enough for:

    • 19 arrowheads
    • 1 longsword
    • 4 daggers
    • 2 shortswords

    They also gathered a barrel full of hydra blood for Churtle to experiment with

    Exploring the area behind the waterfall, the party found the Hydra's lair, where they recovered a leather belt from the remains of a shamanistic humanoid. The belt granted the Brawny Edge and also Hard to Kill. The party voted to give it to Deacon.

    Returning to the Tempest with fresh stores of water and food, they set sail once more. After 8 more days, they arrived at the island of Rencrew, where they released Conrad at his request. At a small native settlement, they resupplied their water once more. After Rencrew, they had to traverse an expanse of open ocean.

    Without warning, the ships entered a dangerous fast-moving section of ocean known as the Pearl Current. Bart fought the helm for days to keep the Tempest on course. On day 8, the wind picked up and the strong current began to throw the crew around the deck. After two weeks, as the ship was breaking free from the current Mal noticed that the ship's mast was starting to crack. Dropping sails, the crew was able to lash the mast together in time to save the ship.

    The expedition made landfall on an uninhabited island by the name of Ruha-- an island surrounded by gigantic cliffs. There was a small cove where they were able to drop anchor and a source of fresh water to re-supply. Ruha was the last stop on their journey before reaching the Isle of Dread.

    Sailing into the open ocean once more, a storm wracked the ship at night, threatening to blow it off course. The companions were able to stay on course and survive the onslaught, but they found they had become separated from Lavinia's ship, the Blue Nixie, overnight. Supplies being limited, and the prospects of finding a ship in the open sea being slim to non-existant, the companions decided to continue on to the Isle of Dread, believing that the Nixie would do the same.

    3 nights passed without incident. On the fourth morning, the companions awoke to find the Tempest stopped, trapped in a tangle of seaweed where the ocean should be. The green stretched to the horizon in all directions. Wreckage of other ships dotted the landscape. One of the wrecks, named the Rage, was close by. Greenie recognized the seaweed from legends. Called "Journey's End," it springs up suddenly after storms, trapping ships. Driven by some dark intelligence, the seaweed kills the crews of the ships it captures at night, bringing them back to unlife as its children.

    The party discovered that they could walk on the surface as if it was land. Exploring the wreck of the Rage, below decks some of the seaweed came to life-- forming some sort of sightless green zombies. A battle ensued with these children and some animated vines. The party was able to destroy the creatures-- but not without coming to the realization that they did not want to battle an army of the things at night. From the Rage, they recovered the captain's journal-- detailing the doomed final efforts of the ship and its crew. The captain of the Rage confirmed the party's suspicions that the only way to escape was to slay the mother entity at the center of the Seaweed graveyard.

  3. #103
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    Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Somehow, I failed to save my notes from the last session. I keep the raw notes in Notepad. My PC rebooted from patching, and... big badaboom! The only scrap that survived was a list of loot we picked up. So I apologize-- this will be a very brief recap, based entirely on memory.

    Recap

    Last Time, in Savage Tides--

    "It's not easy, being green."

    (Several players had RL commitments last Friday and were unavoidably detained. As a result, we got off to a late start, and had a short session).

    Where last we left off, the Tempest had become separated from the expedition's flagship, the Blue Nixie. After a quick discussion, the companions decided that the best course of action would be to continue toward the Isle of Dread. One night passed, and they found their ship hopelessly entangled in a vast web of seaweed that seemed to stretch to the horizon in all directions. They could see the wrecks of other unlucky vessels dotting the seascape around them. Discovering that they could walk on the surface, the party mounted an expedition to the closest wreck, where they were attacked by several zombie-like plant-people, and found the diary of the ship's captain, describing some kind of mother creature within the Sargasso which he believed to be responsible for the entire phenomenon.

    Returning to the Tempest from the wreckage of the Rage, the companions prepared the crew as well as they could for what lay ahead. Taking oil from the barrels they brought aboard at the insistance of Sankhur, they fashioned as many fire grenades as they had flasks for, laying out a rough defense plan with the ship's officers. Their plan was to strike quickly into the heart of the Sargasso, locate the mother creature and slay it before her children had time to destroy the Tempest.

    Travelling as quickly as possible, the Companions made their way to the East/North-East. As night began to fall, they decided to seek shelter in the closest shipwreck rather than try to face the night's horrors out in the open. They had barely reached the deck of the ship before they were attacked by a wave of the Kelp Zombies. The party destroyed them and set watches. They made it through the remainder of the night unmolested.

    The following morning, Greenie climbed to the wreck's crow's nest. He wasn't able to make out much back in the direction of the Tempest-- the Companions had to hope for the best and press on. About a half-day's journey to the Northeast, Greenie could see a shipwreck that seemed different from all the others trapped in the Sargasso. It appeared mostly intact and the seaweed that was overgrowing all the other wrecks seemed almost reluctant to touch it. The wreck sat higher above the ocean surface than the other ships, and it looked as if the Sargasso was growing out of the bottom of it. The Party decided it was worth investigating.

    They arrived at the ship by mid-afternoon. Greenie scampered up the side and found some rope to throw down, making the climb easier for the rest of the party. The name of the ship was the Thunderer. It was obviously an older vessel than the other trapped ships-- yet the wood, although weathered from age, was not rotten. From above, it almost appeared that the ship could be made seaworthy again.

    The ship was eerily silent. The Companions made their way below deck, where they found an empty vessel, devoid of life. Any clues as to the fate of the crew had long since turned to dust. Descending into the hold, they found a large hole ripped in the aft ship's keel, a pit that descended into darkness.

    Throwing ropes over the side of the pit, the companions began to climb down. Using light provided by Sankhur, they could detect something large moving in the darkness below, and they could tell that the bottom of the pit was filled with water of indeterminate depth. Something screamed in the darkness as the light penetrated its perpetual gloom-- an unearthly terrifying wail. Descending further, they finally caught sight of the Mother of All-- a ghastly nightmarish apparition made of tentacles, seaweed, eyes, and teeth-- her body seemingly composed of the tortured souls of the damned sailors she had claimed as her children.

    At about 3/4 of the way down, the Mother of All began to shake the sides of the vessel. Deacon was unable to maintain his grip on the rope, and plunged the remainder of the way into the Mother's Chamber, thankful to find that the water wasn't actually very deep. About half a dozen of her children rose up to protect their mother as the other companions descended into her lair.

    A massive battle ensued, which saw the Companions fighting for their very lives. In the end, they emerged victorious. As the Mother of All dissolved so did the Sargasso Seaweed. The Thunderer began to quickly sink into the ocean. The party scrambled back to the deck, relieved to see the Tempest heading toward them under full sail.

    Reunited with their ship at last, Amelia greeted the Companions with grave tidings. During the night, the Tempest had to repel wave after wave of attackers, fighting on long after the oil reserves were gone. Thanks to the quick thinking of the Officers, the ship was saved. The losses had been catastrophic, however. Only 1 of the original 10 deckhands had survived the night, and Skeld-- one of the bridge crew-- was also lost. The remaining Officers had all survived, but they were fatigued and bloodied by the experience.

    The Companions dropped anchor for a short and much-needed rest, consigning the bodies of their fallen comrades to the embraces of Davy Jones. The following morning, woefully understaffed, the Tempest limped on toward its ultimate destination on the Isle of Dread.

    Treasure recovered:

    Deck of Enchanted Cards-- allow casters to add the Heavy Damage descriptor to a spell for a -1 casting ability
    Wand of Detect Arcana
    Shield – can be enchanted to animate and protect owner 1/day
    120 Gold
    30 Platinum
    500 Silver

    The party also earned another Advance!

  4. #104
    That's a pretty good summary...though it does leave out Greenie's heroic leap onto the back of the Big Bad instead of using ropes the whole way down. Him keeping the Mother distracted gave Mal time to get down and start hacking apart the minions making things much easier on the heroes since even though Bart also acrobat-ed down the wall fast he wasn't doing much more than keeping some of the creatures occupied and off of Deacon.

  5. #105
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    Yeah, the details of the boss fight escaped me. I remembered Greenie jumping on the creature's back, and I remember you and Greenie making awesome acrobatics rolls to get down. I remember Mal taking out the trash as always, and Sankhur casting while dangling from the rope. It seems like you also delivered a pretty important pistol blast to an opponent's face in the battle too. I couldn't remember how to sequence everything though, so I decided to just opt for: "and there was much rejoicing (yay!)"

  6. #106
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    With one player unable to attend, and the adventure nearing a crescendo, Dershem decided to run a one-shot for the party, postponing the continuation of the story until all of the players could be present. I felt compelled to post some sort of recap to mark the event, but you'll get no spoilers from me. Some of you might find yourselves playing this one-shot some day, and I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone...

    Recap

    Last Time, in Savage Tides--

    "What dreams may come?"

    The crew of the Tempest, weary from the battle with the Mother of All, found that they needed rest more than anything. Greenie volunteered to stand the first watch, and the rest of the companions gratefully retreated to their cabins. Within moments, they were all sleeping soundly. Unexpectedly, they found themselves thrust into a shared dream.

    In this dream, they were not themselves, but were living out other lives in some mysterious far-off land known as "East Texas." They were Ravens, and yet not ravens. They traveled in strange magical carriages that moved about on their own without aid of draft animals. Perhaps strangest of all were the weapons they carried-- long black Wizard's Staves that belched thunder and hurled small metal projectiles at their foes.

    In this dream, the companions sought a friend-- a young woman who had disappeared. They found her, of course, because that is what heroes do. And they had to battle nightmarish creatures in order to rescue her-- gigantic flightless birds with voracious appetites for flesh. The dream ended with a gentle fall of rain, and the crew awoke feeling oddly refreshed, as if they had somehow righted a cosmic imbalance. They found themselves eager to return to the final leg of their journey and the anticipated confrontation with Vanthus the vile.

  7. #107
    Excellent recap!

  8. #108
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    It's the 11th hour, I know-- but better late than not at all.

    Recap

    Last Time, in Savage Tides--

    In this episode, the Companions get T-Wrecked, and learn why you should never name a sailing ship 'The Tempest.'

    Making a grim assessment of their situation, the crew of the Tempest prepared for the final leg of their journey to the Isle of Dread. The Mother of All and the endless sea of sargasso had taken a heavy toll. Only one of the sailors from Sasserine survived, and even one of the bridge crew-- Lirith-- had been lost. After some discussion, the party decided that with their greatly reduced crewmembers, the most prudent course of action would be to sail only during the days, posting watches and resting at night with sails folded. With morale low, the Tempest resumed its journey.

    Five days passed uneventfully. On the 6th morning, a ragged jungle coastline with mountain peaks rising above it appeared on the horizon. As they neared the island, storm clouds began to gather overhead, growing darker as the day progressed. By noon, the winds had picked up, and a torrential rain lashed the ship. Thunder and lightning split the skies, and the masts were buffeted dangerously. Bart lashed himself to the wheel and was able to steer the ship safely through the worst of the storm, with some assistance from Amelia, Greenie, and Deacon. It was all for naught as a sudden wave lifted the ship, and it crashed down hard onto a hidden reef along the northeast side of the island. As the party peered over the side, trying to assess the damage, they saw three gigantic eels swimming rapidly toward them.

    The eels spilled over the railing onto the deck of the Tempest, and a desperate battle ensued on the tilted and rain-slick deck. Sankhur blessed the group, raising their agility in order to make it easier for them to keep their footing. Due to their size, the eels were easy to hit, but the party had difficulty penetrating the creatures' thick hides with their attacks. Nevertheless, after a few intense moments of combat, they finally managed to bring the eels down with a series of lucky attacks.

    Having cleared the decks, the companions quickly took stock of their situation. They could see more eels swirling in the water, and the Tempest was stuck fast on the reef. Inspecting below decks, the party discovered that the damage to the hull was bad, and the ship was still about 250 yards from the shore. Putting Greenie at the helm, assisted by Amelia and Deacon, with Bart doing what he could below decks to effect temporary repairs and the rest of the crew bailing water, they attempted to dislodge the Tempest from the Reef and limp the remainder of the distance to shore. Greenie managed to free the ship and listing perilously, the crew made for the shore. As the ship neared the coastline an enormous Dragon-Turtle with a head the size of the entire ship emerged from the waves and sprayed them with a torrent of water that swamped the vessel, tearing a massive hole in the side. The crew of the unfortunately named Tempest lost consciousness as the waves claimed them.

    The following morning, the companions awoke on the Beach. The wreckage of their ship was visible about 250 yards out, resting on some rocks. Part of the ship was underwater, and even from that distance they could tell that it was damaged beyond repair in their present conditions. Taking stock of the crew, they discovered that Skeld had been lost in the shipwreck. The remaining crew consisted of:

    • Bart
    • Greenie
    • Mal
    • Sankhur
    • Deacon (and Presto)
    • "Guy" the sailor
    • Amelia
    • Tavey
    • Avneer
    • Churtle
    • Urrol


    Flotsam from the wreckage was strewn up and down the beach. The party spent a large part of the day looking for useful items and supplies, while Bart used the bag of holding and the ring of waterwalking to search the wreckage for the party's gear and any other salvageable equipment.

    After some discussion, the party decided to rest the remainder of the afternoon and spend the night on the beach before heading inland. Avneer made a fire near two large stones, while the remainder of the crew explored their immediate surroundings. After a few hours they heard a terrifying roar from nearby, followed by a thunderous rumble that shook the ground and the sounds of splintering wood. As they looked in horror up the beach at the path leading into the jungle, a Tyrannosaurus Rex emerged from the canopy, and raced across the beach-- straight toward Avneer, who was still tending the campfire. With one mighty snap of its jaws, it tore Avneer in half, and greedily gobbled down the remains.

    The companions scrambled for the sparse cover available on the beach provided by boulders. Greenie had Churtle climb onto his back. Tavey scrambled up onto a nearby rock outcropping higher than the T-Rex's head. Deacon used his new Infernal Summoning spell to conjure two devils, placing them within the T-Rex's line of sight. Greenie climbed up on the rock outcropping beside Tavey, climbing to the highest point. The T-Rex easily destroyed the first devil and headed for the second one, around the corner where the party lay in wait for it.

    The T-Rex rounded the outcropping and bore down on the second devil. Tavey taunted the dinosaur. Mal savagely attacked its legs, causing two wounds (aided by an Adventure Card: "Deadly Blow," played by Deacon which doubled the melee damage). Sankhur cursed the beast, lowering its fighting. Greenie leaped onto the thing's horrible head, attacking its eyes and finishing it off. Greenie rode him down-- the falling corpse crushed the last devil as it fell.

    After some debate, the party decided to re-assemble Avneeer's parts and to use a dose of "Last Chance Salve" to restore him to life. Avneer awoke in terror and sat in sullen silence for the rest of the night, rocking back and forth. The companions carved up the carcass and Churtle cooked some of it. Even Avneer finally lightened up a bit at the prospect of eating the roasted T-Rex. The companions recovered enough hide to create two medium sets of leather armor and 10 perfect teeth that could be crafted into weapons. They also took a large quantity of cooked T-Rex meat and placed it in the bag of holding along with their other provisions. At the end of the night, the companions earned another advance.

    If something tries to eat you, eat it back.
    --The crew of the Tempest.
    Last edited by Zenspeedstr; April 6th, 2018 at 21:35.

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