Fun thread for Undermountain players

[John_Geeshu]

This is just a fun thread where my Undermountain players can heckle one another -- or gloat -- and keep track of the other group's misfortunes.

The morning group had a nasty accident, losing three characters within 75 minutes.

[ZorxPotz]

At least T´hriss had a superb lunch right before she got cut in half. Maybe it was lying a bit heavy in her belly, so she hadn´t even the chance to try to evade that mighty blow. Remains of that delicious meal can probably still be identified piece by piece in that huge entrance hall to the Undermountain passages...

So be warned, wanderers to the Underdark!

"Yeah, now I´m really stuffed... what a tasty lunch this was. Let´s mov... *** shhhed!"
Famous last words of T´hriss Tala´Thrae

[scytale2]

Yes - I can verify it was a lovely lunch, as it fell out of a cleaved body. It put Custard off his oats...

[John_Geeshu]

The evening group had a similarly bad run-in with a bastard sword, lasting a slightly better 90 minutes before getting splattered.

[John_Geeshu]

A second shot at Undermountain ended in similar disaster. But points must be given for effort. And Squammulsh enjoyed his meals. Thank you, he says.

[Tropico]

LOL :D

Actually, more like 'whew'.. I was definitely worried about hearing how the second group waltzed through the first level with brilliant tactics and stunning feats of diplomacy and put our group to shame.

As to our side, I did love how our carefully and intricately-woven web of descriptions, backgrounds and relationships for each of our respective member of the party went SPLAT to hell :dead: on their first encounter, to be replaced by "OK, so these guys are like, their brothers and sisters and stuff. Let's go! :rv:".

Definitely a different kind of game than I'm used to - but I gotta say I enjoyed it nonetheless ;) It has a certain.. 'edge' to it. Very cool :cool:

And, on an entirely separate note, I loved how you used those little hand things to stop everything and address each person separately when you needed to. Had never seen that done before. That enhanced the atmosphere a lot IMHO and it's definitely something that online playing has as an advantage to traditional tabletop.

[1ifeblood]

I definitely enjoyed the session we had despite the fact that we got...er...dead (*cough*) twice (*cough*). But the lessons were good nonetheless. I'm just glad Shim was smart enough to send a "cohort" to explore the depths ahead of him, and then yet another when he realized how dangerous it was. I'm thinking this time the really REAL Shimbertook will venture down into the darkness. We shall see!

[1ifeblood]

Well we actually survived that round and had quite a bit of fun doing it as well. Even though we were short a player, the night ended successfully. I'll be anxious to have the adventure continue next session. Peace!

[scytale2]

Glad you made it through - so did we, by the skin of our teeth, with no fighter in the group! It's a shame we can't share out adventures a bit - did we start in the same place?

[1ifeblood]

Well we made it through the hall of mirrors and headed north from there...didn't get much further beyond that. Haven't reached 2nd level yet but I imagine that will happen next session.

[scytale2]

Well we made it through the hall of mirrors and headed north from there...didn't get much further beyond that. Haven't reached 2nd level yet but I imagine that will happen next session.

Well we are in completely different places! We headed in the opposite direction...
And yes hopefully 2nd level next time. Sounds like we are neck and neck...

[Tropico]

Yep we headed south across the bridge (after debating it for like what, roughly 3 hours or so? lol), and given Undermountain's supposed scope I'm sure our paths will diverge even more in the future to where we're practically not even playing the same game any more.. which is a pity really.

There were definitely two (no, wait... three) points in our session where I seriously started statting up a new char while the others took their turns. It was awesome to realize afterwards that we had all made it through... although how the #$@% are we going to get out of where we are now, remains to be seen =/

Glad to hear the other group is doing good as well... hey maybe we could have some sort of cross-over episode some day ;) would be interesting.

[1ifeblood]

Yep we headed south across the bridge (after debating it for like what, roughly 3 hours or so? lol), and given Undermountain's supposed scope I'm sure our paths will diverge even more in the future to where we're practically not even playing the same game any more.. which is a pity really.

There were definitely two (no, wait... three) points in our session where I seriously started statting up a new char while the others took their turns. It was awesome to realize afterwards that we had all made it through... although how the #$@% are we going to get out of where we are now, remains to be seen =/

Glad to hear the other group is doing good as well... hey maybe we could have some sort of cross-over episode some day ;) would be interesting.
What, like take over each other's characters at the spot they're currently in? That would be fun and certainly interesting...especially when we have our recap and realize that both parties are now dead ;) Oh well, I never actually expect to live long down here anyway. Every new encounter is like the dawn of a new day you never expected to see. But it sure is fun!

[Tropico]

Well, in a fit of madness brought on by impatience I split my character off from the rest of the party and in less than 10 seconds / half a surprise round got her killed :(

Bears saying that the poor girl was a 5 hp sorceress with no armor, though. Next session I'm showing up with a Con-pumped Barbarian. Or something. Not really cause I wanna twink it out but I'm just starting to realize that that type of character might suit my 'oooo look at that, let me walk right up to it and see what it is!' style of playing better.

Anyway I post this for the benefit of everyone in the other group so they can ponder, do I really wanna go look at/poke other stuff while the rogue is busy investigating something? No I don't.. stay with rogue guys, stay with the rogue :)

[ZorxPotz]

thanks, Tropi for this kind of funeral speech... I´ll (with whatever Character) certainly miss Miss Starkke, but what to do... I am not sure if there would have been another outcome if I had you at my side in that narrow passage with those lighting quick tentacles whithout having even a "escape artist" dice roll allowed..
Long live poor Raffia - hopefully he meets some more potent help! :)

[scytale2]

thanks, Tropi for this kind of funeral speech... I´ll (with whatever Character) certainly miss Miss Starkke, but what to do... I am not sure if there would have been another outcome if I had you at my side in that narrow passage with those lighting quick tentacles whithout having even a "escape artist" dice roll allowed..
Long live poor Raffia - hopefully he meets some more potent help! :)

There's a lot more safety in reaching Lvl 2, as far as HP goes. Bournflake also had an AC of 20, which saved her bacon a few times.

Anyway, good luck with your new approaches!

[ithildur]

Well, in a fit of madness brought on by impatience I split my character off from the rest of the party and in less than 10 seconds / half a surprise round got her killed :(

Bears saying that the poor girl was a 5 hp sorceress with no armor, though. Next session I'm showing up with a Con-pumped Barbarian. Or something. Not really cause I wanna twink it out but I'm just starting to realize that that type of character might suit my 'oooo look at that, let me walk right up to it and see what it is!' style of playing better.

Anyway I post this for the benefit of everyone in the other group so they can ponder, do I really wanna go look at/poke other stuff while the rogue is busy investigating something? No I don't.. stay with rogue guys, stay with the rogue :)

At lvl 1, if you poke at the wrong thing at the wrong time, a high con barbarian munchkin will die as easily as a 5 hp sorcerer. Gotta play smart, especially in a place like undermountain.

While I wouldn't be surprised if a lvl 1 adventurer in a new group of lvl 1's played by mostly inexperienced players indeed didn't live for long, on the other hand some heads up playing by the GROUP (not just individuals doing their own thing) will much more likely ensure success. I'm a bit surprised that our group isn't having more trouble with the lack of a healer in the party, but I don't expect to keel over and die every session unless it's a poorly designed campaign or we're consistently making a lot of bone headed moves.

It helps that we have at least one experienced player in Lifeblood.

[Tropico]

I am not sure if there would have been another outcome if I had you at my side in that narrow passage with those lighting quick tentacles whithout having even a "escape artist" dice roll allowed..

Heh probably not.


There's a lot more safety in reaching Lvl 2, as far as HP goes. Bournflake also had an AC of 20, which saved her bacon a few times.

Anyway, good luck with your new approaches!

Bourn definitely had her bacon saved a couple times, lol :p

and thanks Scy, we'll sure miss ya both here, and elsewhere.

[1ifeblood]

It helps that we have at least one experienced player in Lifeblood.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, ith...though I'm not sure if I like the added pressure that comment puts on me ;)

Everyone in the group has been pretty smart about the decisions we're making, which is why we've survived yet another session. Tread lightly, young adventurers...tread lightly.

Afterthought: It looks like we may end up going the same route as the first group (will be crossing the bridge next session), so just wanted to keep everyone in mind of the possibility of giving out spoilers :)

[Tropico]

Wow really? I thought you guys would probably be on a whole other level by now..! May be a consequence of our different playstyles?

I should have said I don't regret the death at all.. quite the opposite really. I like to go up to things and poke 'em in the eye, and if it gets me killed, so be it.. it's a game and the looser I am about it, the more different stuff I see and do, the more fun I have, and new character sheets are never in short supply. Going slow and careful doesn't really 'draw' me. I'm just lucky that we have JohnG, who as a GM is more than up to the challenge of a player like me.

I know at least one other guy in my group feels the same way (Yeah that's right, I'm talking about Lia "Watch this!" Arussan, lol!!)

I can't really give examples of what I mean cause it would definitely throw out spoilers.. but I can think of several key points where if Lia or Sparkke hadn't said, "You know what, **** it" and jumped in with both feet first, we would have spent sooo much time thinking about what to do, we would have only covered like, half the stuff we have so far.

Probably something to keep in mind for the new players who'll be joining us next session.. I mean I'm not saying we HAVE to play like that, but it's good to keep each player's preferences in mind.

[scytale2]

Tropico - I generally set my characters up with a long-term plan for their development, so I get cheesed off, if I am unable to fulfil the plan. Lvl 1 is very frustrating to play, with so few options for action, which is why I much prefer L5+, especially since it isn't usually one false move and you're dead. I also think it only right that you RP your character as if you care about their continuing existence - not every character has a "happy go lucky" carefree existence and many will have dependents or loved ones, who will miss them if they end up an octopus dinner!

Having said that, the opposite is true too, but in general I'm never happy if my character is wiped, especially when it is fortuitous die-rolling from the DM, with no chance to rally from the situation. (Some GMs already know this!)
I've been on these forums a few months now and played with a few GMs and I've found that GMs are much less reluctant to kill players than in any of my F2F games, which is understandable, I guess.

I will add, though, that the Undermountain game does have that "edge" of fear attached to it, which does give you more of a feeling of satisfaction, when you manage to survive a session, without hiding at the back:)

All in all, John G is one of the best GMs on the Boards and scrupulously fair and informed. He's also incredibly speedy in running his games, so there is very little downtime, which has to be a good thing.

[1ifeblood]

I will add, though, that the Undermountain game does have that "edge" of fear attached to it, which does give you more of a feeling of satisfaction, when you manage to survive a session, without hiding at the back:)
<A small figure manifests from the shadows looking a bit put off> "And what be wrong with hidin', I ask ye? There's a lot t'be said fer lettin' those more, er, suitable to size up the situation b'fore us less, eh...suited, go bunglin' around the battlefields. It's purely tactical, I say...nothin' t'do with fear. Wha?? What was that??" <The small figure melds into the darkness of shadow once again>


All in all, John G is one of the best GMs on the Boards and scrupulously fair and informed. He's also incredibly speedy in running his games, so there is very little downtime, which has to be a good thing.
Here Here!

[John_Geeshu]

And you're one of the biggest ***-kissers on the boards, Scy. I've really enjoyed playing with you. I think on the whole, you and I are peas in a pod. Best of luck in Nigeria. I'll look forward to your return when it comes.