30 Days of GameMastering--Day 20!

We're 2/3 of the way through Lindevi's "30 Days of GameMastering" challenge--this post rounds out the "At the Table" section.  Starting tomorrow, we'll start talking about the "Meta" topics, which deal more broadly with the hobby in general.  But, for now, let's talk about our last "At the Table" topic:

What was your best session and why?

I've spoken about this session before, but the penultimate session of my "Tear of Ioun" game really stands out as one of my favorite sessions of all time.  A great deal of session prep went into building siege rules for the scenario and the set-pieces of the battle itself were outstanding, taking almost a full session to assemble the giant Morgordal Keep walls.

My players survey the field in
this massive siege!

The battle itself was really neat, as any great set-piece battle should be.  The combat was streamlined (if not exactly quick, with each player controlling their PC, an NPC ally, a siege engine, and a battalion of troops) and constantly engaging.  Even at the late hour of 1:00 am, my players were eager to play out the siege to its finality.

But, what struck me most?  What I enjoyed the most?  The fact that, in the midst of that sea of miniatures and scenery, in among all those dice rolls and gaming that could easily have descended into simple 'accounting'...my players still were knee-deep in actual role-playing and in-character dialogue.  FridayNightWill's runepriest chanted prayers and maledictions in the name of Kelemvor while smashing aberrations with his warhammer.  Martook's feeble supplications to Moradin before finally turning to Bane in his despair made for a phenomenal moment, particularly when he burst forth from the stomach of a purple worm, radiating power from his infernally-powered armor.

Every GM struggles at some point with the balance between the many desires of his group.  When people can't even agree on pizza toppings, it's up to the GM to try to find a happy medium in terms of game emphasizes.  I'll admit, I was worried that I had erred too far to the side of tactical combat in running this session, but the results spoke for themselves:  my players had a phenomenal session and I was left wondering how I could possibly top that awesome night.

30 Days of GameMastering--Day 15!

Halfway done with Lindevi's "30 Days of GameMastering" challenge!  Let's do it!

Memorable Villains:  how do you introduce and weave antagonists into your narrative?

Much like Lindevi herself, I love villains.  To me, a well-written villain overshadows their protagonist every time.  And, while you don't want to overshadow your PCs, they can't attain heroic grandeur without overcoming some awesome challenges!

So, for the remainder of this post, I'd like to use one of the NPCs that I built up while running the "Tear of Ioun" adventures for my home Friday group.  The story arc begins with the PCs on their way to investigate the disappearance of a mercenary group near a ruined tower outside the city of Wellspring.  En route, the PCs ran into Vaymeer and his barbarian cohorts along the road leading to the tower.  This leads us to...

Lesson #1:  Make your villain sympathetic.

Vaymeer was just a guy.  Leader of his tribe, yes, but he was essentially a glorified guard captain, set to guard the road against interlopers.  Had my PCs simply talked to him, rather than drawing weapons and trying to break past Vaymeer's barricade, they'd have had a short conversation, learn some information about the missing mercenaries, and have gone on their way.  Vaymeer, in essence, was just an average person doing his job.  But, when the PCs attacked, he could only respond in kind...at least, until his friends and tribemates were killed.

Lesson #2:  Make sure your villain makes his presence known.  

Little did the PCs know it, but attacking Vaymeer broke a long-standing (but tenuous) truce between Wellspring and the surrounding barbarian clans.  As such, Vaymeer and his people had a bone to pick...and they were more than willing to use siege engines to do it.  Vaymeer's attack ran concurrent with the PCs' trial for breaking the treaty, with the trial itself ending with a trebuchet missile crashing through the courthouse!

Lesson #3:  A good villain never gives up.

Throughout the campaign, Vaymeer encountered the PCs in combat no less than three separate times!  While he had to retreat the first time, Vaymeer chased the PCs through the streets of ruined Wellspring through a portal to the Shadowfell, where he engaged them as they attempted to activate said portal.  Defeated only as ChaoticFrederick's battlemind pushed him through the active portal, Vaymeer wasn't done yet!  The ambient energies of the Shadowfell animated him as a revenant, eager to seek out the despoilers of his tribe.

Lesson #4:  Make your villain threatening.

This one's easy to forget.  Every great villain needs to have some degree of threat to him.  Vaymeer represented a purely physical threat:  as a barbarian, Vaymeer hit like a mack truck and provided a suitable foil for my highly-defensive, high-healing party.  Plus, each time that the party encountered Vaymeer, he had risen to the party's challenge, providing a suitable threat.  While the elements within the "Tear of Ioun" campaign arc itself held great threats in terms of mental and arcane threats, Vaymeer fit a spectacular niche, providing a great twist for the party.

Of course, all this is moot if you don't get a look at Vaymeer.  Here he is in his most empowered incarnation!

Vaymeer (Shadow-Tainted Harrowman)		Level 17 Elite Brute
Medium natural humanoid		XP 3,200
HP 402; Bloodied 201 AC 32; Fortitude 33; Reflex 29; Will 28  Speed 6 Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1		Initiative +13 Perception +15 Low-Light Vision
Traits
Savage Cleave
Whenever Vaymeer hits with a melee attack, he can make a melee basic attack against another adjacent enemy as a free action, taking -2 to the second attack roll.
Standard Actions
m Greataxe (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: +20 vs. AC
Hit: 2d12 + 12 damage (crit 2d12+30).
M Rage of the Eternal Night • Recharge 6
Attack: Melee (One or Two creatures); +20 vs. AC
Hit: 3d12 + 12 and the target is blinded and takes 10 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends both).
Move Actions
Shadow Slip • Recharge 5 6
Effect: Vaymeer teleports up to his speed, into an area of dim or no light.  Alternatively, Vaymeer may teleport half his speed.
Free Actions
Half-Orc Resilience
Effect: When first bloodied, Vaymeer gains 25 temporary hit points.
Earth's Wellspring • Encounter
Effect: Vaymeer gains 15 temporary hit points, and he ends any condition affecting him.
Furious Assault • Encounter
Effect: When Vaymeer hits an enemy, he can deal +1[W] damage with a weapon attack or +1d8 damage with a nonweapon attack.
Triggered Actions
M Axe Reaction • Recharge 5 6
Trigger: Vaymeer is hit by a melee or close attack.
Attack (Immediate Interrupt): Melee; +20 vs. AC
Hit: 3d12 + 12 (Crit--2d10+42).
Skills Athletics +20, Nature +15
Str 24 (+15)	Dex 21 (+13)		Wis 15 (+10)
Con 21 (+13)	Int 15 (+10)		Cha 18 (+12)
Alignment unaligned     Languages Common, Giant
Equipment hide armor, greataxe

30 Days of GameMastering--Day 4!

Today is Day 4 of Lindevi's 30 Days of GameMastering challenge, so let's get on into it!

Do you use pre-published adventures or do you write your own?

Pre-published adventures really do have a great place in the gaming community:  they provide new GMs with a great way to provide a complete, self-contained storyline complete with everything necessary to run the game.  Moreso, they provide GMs with limited preparation time an easy way to provide a quality adventure. For a long time, there was a prevailing opinion in the games industry that "adventures don't sell".  If nothing else, Paizo's numerous Pathfinder campaign paths have proven that perspective incorrect; well-written, well-paced adventures can sell like hotcakes.

For the most part, though, I try to write my own adventures, whether that's a full write up--usually for my convention games or for items I intend to publish--or an ad-hoc, ad-libbed adventure.  My current Planescape game is mostly done ad-hoc, though I do have an overall outline structure for the campaign.  And, truly, I find that my ability to GM extemporaneously allows players a greater amount of freedom, which most players like.

It's huge!
And The Last Sons is even bigger!

However, I'm not averse to using pre-published adventures:  I had a blast running my group through the Deadlands plot-point campaign, The Flood, which took us about 10 months (meeting near weekly and playing for about 4-5 hours per session).   While I used the bulk of the structure of The Flood, our group's playthrough included several diversions all over the Great Maze.  The same thing happened when I ran Robert Schwalb's "Tear of Ioun" series for 4e D&D.  While we used the fundamental structure of these adventures, we also weren't afraid to go off the rails.  Our "Tear of Ioun" resulted in an aberrant siege the players' dwarven fortress, a confrontation against an undead barbarian, and a climactic battle against a Cthulhoid horror at the top of a ruined, crumbling tower--none of which was in the adventure series itself!

At the very least, think of pre-published adventures as a mine for ideas.  Even if you're not using the adventure as it stands, any great adventure is full of maps, NPCs, and great plot hooks.  Go do some mining!

In Which the Warlock Pencils a Potential Plotline...

It's been a while since I've jumped in on the RPG Blog Carnival, but this month's entry gave me some special impetus:  it's being hosted by Lindevi, over at TripleCrit.com!

In light of NaNoWriMo and the concurrent-running NaGaDeMon, DigitalKat posits the following question:

So what about you, RPG Bloggers?  Why do you write about games?  In what form does your writing crop up in your campaigns?  What's your process, your stumbling blocks, your passion?  How has writing helped you or your table?  Or is writing more like a CR 8 Succubus whose torturous siren song hurts so good and dominates your very being?

Writing is part and parcel of my gaming 'process', as you probably could imagine.  Between my work on Cold Steel Wardens and the various convention games I've run over the years, it's been my continual effort to provide a series of adventures and materials to serve as my role-playing "legacy".  While doing so can sometimes be tedious--writing up stat blocks is a particular bugaboo of mine--there are quite a few tasks that I particularly relish.

One of my favorites is the "character vignette".  Usually stemming from an NPC's contact with given PC, these vignettes flesh out the world at large by speaking within a character's voice.

Case in point:  my "Tear of Ioun" campaign from a few years back.  Chris II's character, Martook, came in a veteran of Blackfall's most elite guard, tasked with the unenviable task of securing and destroying evil artifacts.  Chris depicted Martook as a grizzled veteran and family man, on his last mission before retirement from the force.

However, when the group's mission went afoul and the PCs were accused of a series of murders which touched off a small-scale war, Martook and his compatriots had to flee to another plane.  Upon their return to the Prime Material, Martook received the following from his wife:

Dearest Martook— 

I don’t really know how to say this.  I’m going to do my best to not cry as I’m writing this, but I can feel myself already welling up. 

When you told me that you were being recruited to work in The Vaults, I didn't want you to go.  We had just started to raise our family.  We were only married two years when you started there, and Maximilian was only six months old.  But, I let you go, knowing you’d come back to me.  

When you were promoted to Field Agent, and you were sent to find these…things…I didn't protest.  That was last year, and Maria was just a bulge in my belly.   I let you go again, and I knew that you would come back to me. 

When you left to look for this Tear of Ioun, I didn't object.  Maria had just been born, and I was getting back on my feet.  Little Max was only 5, but he was helping around the house as much as he could.  The neighbors helped out, too.  I let you go one more time, knowing you’d come back to me. 

And now?  I have Cathedral Agents at my door, telling me that you’re wanted for murder and treason.  I have Max asking me if Daddy is ever coming back, now that the King’s Men are waiting for him.  He asks me, “Mom, what did Daddy do wrong?  Why does the King hate him so much?”  I don’t have an answer for him.  Little Maria barely knows you.  She’s three now, and caught Gray Fever last winter.  She wheezes at night still, but the clerics of Erathis are confident she’ll recover sooner or later.  

I've been waiting for you most of my adult life.  We've been taken care of, thanks to the Cathedral, but that doesn't mean that we have everything we've ever wanted.  The kids want a father.  I can’t say I blame them.  I want a husband again. 

But now, with you being hunted…I just can’t wait anymore.  There’s been someone else, Martook.  You know him—Dengild Oathhammer, from across the street.  He helped fix our roof about a year ago, after a snowstorm and I asked him to stay for supper and then one thing led to the next and… 

I told myself I wouldn’t cry. 

I can’t even tell you what I want right now.  I've stopped things with Dengild, but my children—our children—need a father, and I need my husband.  I just can’t manage to let you go, the one time where it might matter. 

The kids and I are about to leave Blackfall for a while.  We’re going downriver, to a cottage my parents had east of Kasserine.  I gave this to the priestess Valandor, at the Cathedral, and she promised that she would get it to you.  I’m not sure how, because they say that Wellspring, the town you were at, is in ruins.  I hope it gets to you.  You deserve to know, at least. 

I’m sorry, Martook.  I really am.  Please forgive me. 

---Maleena

Obviously--just take a look at my picture up yonder!--I'm no scorned woman, much less one with two children to take care of and an illicit relationship with her next-door neighbor.  But, being able to write as such a character allows me three primary benefits.

Firstly, it allows me, as a GM, to immerse myself in my own world.  Did I know about Kasserine or any of the other characters in this letter, prior to writing it?  Absolutely not!  But, by including them, I can help flesh out my own world, building in people, places, and ideas that normally would never make an appearance.

Secondly, this provides me an opportunity to directly address a PC's background.  When our group was galavanting through the Shadowfell, it became hard to justify any expansion on Martook's relationship.  But, by including this vignette upon their return, I've not only shown that time has passed (in the fact that Martook's wife has moved on) and hooks him with a personalized side-quest:  make it back to Kasserine to make things right with his wife.

Finally, this allows my player, Chris II, the opportunity to expose the other players to Martook's own personality.  While we can see Martook's personality in the context of the group, there are aspects to his personality which would only emerge when in the presence of his personal friends and family.  Our identity, many philosophers have claimed, is mutable over time--who we are varies based on the course of our lives, the experiences we've had, and the memories we retain.  As such, our group experienced a side of Martook that they might never see otherwise...

While I don't use the character vignette often--maybe once or twice a campaign per character--it provides ample opportunities for both myself as a GM and as a player.  Plus, since it usually takes up less than a page, it's quick!  Try it!  You'll like it!

In Which The Warlock Muses on Thread Necromancy and Group Building...

For those of you that aren't frequenters of rpg-forums and the like, "thread necromancy" refers to the act of bringing back a "dead" thread, months or even years after its last response.  I was somewhat shocked, recently, to find that a thread that I'd started over at RPG.net had been necro-ed, dealing specifically with the idea of "allowing" items in a campaign.

If you're interested, the thread still exists--just poke around and you'll find it under "Allowing Things in a Campaign", but that's not what I'd like to talk about today.  Rather, I'd like to focus on one of my responses.

Has no business in a pirate game...

One of the biggest problems that I had in starting the first "Pirates of the Underdark" game was that...well, no one wanted to be a pirate!  In the wild and chaotic days of 3.5e, I ended up with almost every combination you could think of, but not one was even remotely piratical or linked to the Underdark.  I ended up with an anime-style sorcerer girl, a modron swordmage, and a "gelatinous orc", but nary a pirate in sight!  Needless to say, this campaign imploded nearly from the start.

You see, friends and neighbors, I've become a bigger and bigger fan of "group" character building, the longer that I've been gaming.  This isn't to say that people shouldn't generate characters as individuals--that's half the fun!--but rather that some degree of communication has to occur when a group sits down to plan an extended campaign. 

Our current Dark Sun group suffered from that, as half of the group were planning on playing amoral desert survivors, while others planned on being active agents of the Veiled Alliance.  As you might have seen in previous entries, such did not turn out well.  Had we managed to be honest with one another at the start, expressing what we wanted out of character development and plot points, a compromise could have been reached, but we just didn't think that far ahead.

Equally, has no business
in a Call of Cthulhu game...

Honestly, this is also one of the issues that I have with Call of Cthulhu.  Don't get me wrong:  I love CoC in all its various incarnations.  But, the disparity that exists when you bring together a history professor, a private detective, a teppanyaki chef, a college student, and a half-crazed journalist makes for a group that is ultimately unskilled in necessary areas, while are masters at items that may only come up in one session or as a group-joke.  That takes the inherent horror of CoC and degenerates it into slapstick comedy.  It's a fine line to walk, believe it or not...

For extended campaigns of all sorts, I've taken to spending an entire session for group-building and, as ChaoticFrederick calls it, "theorycrafting".  While this has met with mixed results--particularly in the "Tear of Ioun" game last year (heavy on the 'theory', light on the actual 'crafting')--it's helped to explain how the group got together in the first place, as well as what tactics they use when in combat or in investigations.

Madness encouraged!

But, on the other end of the spectrum, there's The Laundry...which takes the exact opposite approach, and hits it out of the park.  The Laundry encourages offbeat, especially nerdy professionals, with totally disparate skill sets.  However, it rectifies this by providing each character with a baseline of "Laundry Basic Training" as well as a set of skills that come as part of their directory assignment.  While characters are free to individualize their skills based on their own former profession and their preference, it becomes almost impossible to create an "ineffective" character or, for that matter, a character that overlaps or does not fit within the group as a whole.

Have you encountered another system that rewards diversity or group character-building?  Or, do you have your own methodology that works?  By all means, do tell!

In Which The Warlock Reaches the End...




The usual end to one of my games..

 I feel like it's been ages since I've actually reached the natural conclusion of a campaign.  Both "Pirates of the Underdark" and my Wittenberg Eberron game fizzled out before reaching their true ending.  Even before that, there was my defunct Expedition to the Demonweb Pits game, and the TPK that pre-empted our Dark Heresy adventure.

In truth, to reach an actual end was really satisfying for me.  For once, the story could come full circle.  For once, all of the plot hooks and threads that had emerged over the course of the campaign had managed to reach their natural end.  For once...there would be a worthy end.

Something of a tangent:  my favorite character from The Lord of the Rings isn't Aragorn or Legolas, nor is it even Gimli (though, I'm pretty sure that my dwarf-loving tendencies started with him).  Rather, it's Theoden of Rohan.  This is a guy who truly rises up, facing each challenge set before him, even though it costs him his life, his kingdom, his family, and all that goes with them.  Theoden sets the bar for 'heroic speeches', and sums up my feelings on endings par excellence:

Theoden of Rohan, being inspiring!

 "Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance."

It's that mentality that I took into mind when I designed the final battle of the "Tear of Ioun" saga.  After fending off the siege of Morgordal Keep, our heroes found themselves venturing once more to the source of both the corruption in the area, and their own adventure--the Forlorn Tower of Wellspring.

Ia! Ia!  Fhtaghn!

At the top thereof lurked Volarn--the Opener of the Way--and several of his corrupt, degenerate fleshlings.  Energy streamed from archaic runes etched on the tower's face, pouring forth into a corrupted symbol of Ioun.  Beyond that symbol...Zalgo.  The Render of the Veils.  The Hunger with a Thousand Eyes.  The eternal, the ever-dying.  That which waits beyond the walls.

Our heroes leapt into battle as the energies poured forth.  Charging forward, Guf was so unnerved that he tripped, face-planting into a stream of putrescent water tainted with unholy eldritch energies.  As soon as Martook and Lupin managed to join the melee, they were snatched up by Volarn, being dealt horrific woulds by his claws and writhing tentacles.  Shantira cast bolt after fiery bolt, doing  her best to stem the tide of energy that poured into their world.  Aster and Elladan skirted the flanks of the battle, firing arrows and slinging daggers into the cultists, while the enigmatic Blink charged after Volarn.

In the end?  Victory!  As the battle raged on, Elladan raced to cut off Volarn's escape, hamstringing the creature and casting it down in eternal defeat.  As the Forlorn Tower finally collapsed, and the waters of the nearby river ran clear and clean for the first time in decades, the party escaped in triumph.

As we put away the minis for the last time in this game, I provided a brief vignette for each character, summing up their actions, as they parted ways in pursuit of their own epic destinies:

• With Morgordal's new alliance with the Doomguard, Clan-Father Russell of IronVictor was able to lead his combined clan into a new era of prosperity and unity.  Morgordal became an important planar and Underdark trading up, with the Doomguard establishing their first ever Prime Material armory.  Russell rebuilt the temple of Kelemvor, providing a new era of law, order, and peace for the dwarves.
• Lupin, with the assistance of High Templar Wesley Baracus of Blackfall, established a chapel to Bane within Russell's temple.  Lupin also married Shantira, in a Banish ceremony that...well, it probably looked more like an S/M rave than a marriage, but that's life!
• Shantira joined with the enigmatic invoker Belzadi Riftember to create a new school for fire mages, within the halls of Morgordal.  Their combined expertise broke new ground in elemental research, as well as new opportunites to scorch their foes.
• Guf, still delveless, joined the IronVictor/Riftember clans as their sergeant-at-arms, reinforcing and rebuilding the keep outside, and training a new generation of dwarves in the arts of war.
• Aster, still seeking vengeance for Lord Criswell's "betrayal", joined with the assassin 'Cruel' Seirrah and infiltrated the Blackfall Opera House, where Criswell was in attendence.  As Seirrah snuck up on Criswell, Aster fired a single arrow which exploded with fantastic force.  Both Seirrah--who had maimed Aster's ear--and Criswell were slain in the blast, while Aster left, retiring to Gloomwrought.
• Martook, however, was not granted a peaceful retirement with his family.  His pact with Mighty Bane meant that he was once-again a full-time soldier, being recruited to the eternal Blood War.  While his family moved to his massive manor in  Morgordal, Martook soon found himself returning only to an empty house.

And, from here?  Well, we're taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, but after that, we're back in action.  The exiled Prince Actorios of Theleb Orethia will make his debut, in Chaotic Frederick's Dark Sun game!  Until then, fellow gamers!

In Which The Warlock Tears Down the Wall!

When I planned out the end-game of the Friday night "Tear of Ioun" game, I wanted to ensure that the ending would be an epic one.  As Chaotic Frederick says, I wanted them to "be saying 'wow' every time".  As I mentioned earlier, I had been hoping for a set-piece battle that really demonstrated the weight and power of the characters' actions thusfar in the game.  Moreso, I wanted them to feel massively threatened, while simultaneously maintaining that feel of supreme bad-assness!

So, when I decided upon a siege on Russell's home clan, I was a little worried.  In fact, I was downright  intimidated.  I had never run a game session on this scale before, and doing so proved to be quite the challenge.



The Defenders of Morgordal Keep

 After building their castle, writing up rules for siege weaponry and other defenses, and preparing troops using the DDI Monster Builder software, the field was finally arrayed against the hordes of Volarn, Opener of the Way.  It was a ton of prep, which culminated with a 4 page long e-mail on my part, detailing troop costs, toughness and more...and then prompted a similarly lengthed response from Chaotic Frederick!

In game, each player was responsible for four items each:  their own character (currently near-epic level, sitting at 17th!), an NPC ally of theirs (also near-epic!), a siege engine that ranged from the traditional ballistae and trebuchet to the mighty acid cannon and pseudo-sentient Hellfire engine, and a legion of troops.  While this seemed like a lot, the rules were incredibly streamlined, moving quickly for each character.  To be honest, each turn only took slightly longer than a normal D&D turn!

Without a doubt, my players rose to the challenge brilliantly.

Clanfather Russell rides the Hellfire Engine into battle!

The battle was joined, and everyone at the table threw themselves into the defense.  Lupin led Banish skirmishers from Gloomwrought against the eldritch horrors, while Martook confronted one of the massive mutants head-on, being swallowed in its toothy maw!  Shantira, Aster, and Guf manned the walls, leading troops directly, while Russell and his clanbrother Thorgrim swung their hammers in unison before the gates of their new home.



Friday Night Will, Chris the II, and Pyro-Jessie survey the field...

 Things looked grim for our defenders for quite a while.  While the defenders had great success wiping out the aberrent hordes with their siege weaponry, their numbers seemed countless.  However, with Martook swallowed and Lupin overwhelmed, the two largest of Volarn's minions--literally, walking engines of destruction themselves--focused their fire on the Hellfire Engine and the keep's walls...



The gates come crashing down!

In that moment of despair, all seemed lost and the Far Realm beasts seemed on the verge of annihilating all within the keep.  Martook let loose yet another unheeded prayer to Moradin from within the beast's gullet.  Cursing once more, he turned to a different source of divine intervention:  Bane, Lord of War.

I was floored!  For session after session, Lupin had (half-jokingly) been trying to convert the party to Bane, only really succeeding with the embittered Aster.  Totally at a loss for what to do, I resorted to an old tactic from "Pirates of the Underdark"--I asked him to 'roll the bones'. 

"Do ya feel lucky?"

"The Bones" is a simple mechanic, which I culled from Skull and Bones:  Swashbuckling Horror in the Golden Age of Piracy, while I was running "Pirates of the Underdark".  Essentially, a character can toss 'the bones'--2d6--once per session, and hope that Lady Luck can help him out of a dire situation.  Martook's roll?  A ten...near perfect...

Mighty Bane manifested in his mind, offering ultimate victory on this battlefield, in exchange for his fealty.  Martook hastily accepted, his Moradinian regalia reforming and restylizing as Banish armor, and he burst forth from the creature's belly in a shower of gore.  With a half-crazed war-cry, he leapt back into the fray, hewing down aberrations with each mighty swing. 



Chaotic Frederick and Chris the I have the situation under control...


Our session ended late--almost at 1:15 am--with the aberrant army crushed and Morgordal Keep saved.  But the players, triumphant and energized, were excited.  This was a battle for the ages, and was really memorable for all of us.  This was what I was hoping for.  This, my lovely readers, was what it was all about.  this was the culmination of a truly epic yarn.

While we're off next week, the following week will bring our final battle and take our PCs back to where it all began--the Forlorn Tower, just north of the ruins of Wellspring. 

And honestly?  I can't wait. 

In Which The Warlock Mans the Walls...

With the Siege of Morgordal Keep on the horizon, now's a great time to show off some of the NPCs that'll be aiding our heroes through their trials.  So now, as a special preview are three of their NPC allies:  Thorgrim (clan-brother to Russell and Sergeant of the Novgorod), Fracture (the mysterious shardmind freed by Lupin's sundering of a githyanki silver sword), and the always-charismatic Elladan Redhand!

Thorgrim, Clan Messenger Level 18 Soldier

Medium natural humanoid XP 2,000
HP 174; Bloodied 87
AC 36; Fortitude 31; Reflex 28; Will 30 Speed 5
Saving Throws +5 vs poison effects Initiative +14
Perception +15   Low-Light Vision

Traits
Stand Your Ground
When an effect forces a dwarf to move—through a push, a pull, or a slide—the dwarf moves 1 square less than the effect specifies. When an attack would knock the dwarf prone, the dwarf gains an immediate saving throw to avoid falling prone.

Standard Actions
R Throwing Hammer (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: Range 5/10; +23 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 9 damage.

M War Pick (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: +24 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 9 damage and the target is marked.

m Blood Frenzy Strike • Recharge 4 5 6
Attack: +25 vs. AC
Hit: 3d10 + 9 damage and the target gains Vulnerability 7 to all damage until the end of Thorgrim's next turn.

m Shield Breaker • Recharge 5 6
Attack: +24 vs. AC
Hit: 4d10 + 9 damage, and the target takes a -2 to AC and Reflex until the end of Thorgrim's next turn.

m Barrelling Charge • Daily
Effect: (One, Two, or Three Creatures); Thorgrim shifts his speed and makes a War Pick attack against each target. On a hit, the target is also dazed (save ends).

Minor Actions
Dwarven Fortitude • Recharge 5 6
Effect: Thorgrim makes a saving throw against each effect currently affecting him, even if the effect does not normally allow a saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.

Triggered Actions
Vengeance of the Clan • Encounter
Effect (Immediate Interrupt): Thorgrim makes a melee basic attack against the enemy.

Skills Dungeoneering +22, Endurance +20, History +18, Intimidate +18
Str 25 (+16) Dex 16 (+12) Wis 22 (+15)
Con 22 (+15) Int 19 (+13) Cha 19 (+13)

Alignment:  Good  Languages Common, Dwarven
Equipment scale armor, war pick, throwing hammer x4



Fracture--Shardmind Monk Level 18 Skirmisher

Medium immortal humanoid (living construct) XP 2,000
HP 171; Bloodied 86
AC 32; Fortitude 30; Reflex 30; Will 29
Speed 8
Resist 10 psychic Initiative +17
Perception +18

Standard Actions
m Fist of Nine Shadows (psionic, implement) • At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +21 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d10 + 15 damage, and the target is pushed one square.
Effect: Fracture may make an Athletics check to jump with a +5 power bonus to the roll. It is treated as having a running start when jumping.

C Five Storms (psionic, implement) • At-Will
Attack: Close Burst 1; +21 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + 15 damage.
Effect: Fracture may shift two squares before or after this attack.

R Tumbling Boulder (psionic, implement) • Recharge 5 6
Attack: Melee touch (one creature); +20 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d10 + 21 damage and the target falls prone and cannot stand until the end of Fracture's next turn.
Effect: Fracture shifts 4 squares and gains a +2 to all defenses until the end of its next turn.

A Mind Swarm (psychic) • Encounter
Effect: Area Burst 1 within 5 (enemies in burst); All enemies in the burst grant combat advantage until the end of Fracture's next turn. He also gains a +2 to all defenses until the end of his next turn.

M Dancer on the Living Gate (psionic, implement) • Daily
Attack: Melee 1; +21 vs. Fortitude; Fracture shifts its speed and makes this attack once against each adjacent enemy during the shift.
Hit: 3d10 + 15 damage.
Miss: Half damage.

Move Actions
Immortal Spider Technique (psionic) • At-Will
Effect: Fracture may climb its speed and may even move across overhanging surfaces like ceilings. If Fracture ends its turn on such a surface, it falls.

Skills Athletics +20, Endurance +18, Stealth +20
Str 22 (+15) Dex 22 (+15) Wis 19 (+13)
Con 19 (+13) Int 22 (+15) Cha 8 (+8)
Alignment:  Unaligned   Languages Common, Deep Speech, telepathy 15


Elladan Red-Hand (Level 18) Level 18 Lurker

Medium fey humanoid (eladrin) XP 2,000
HP 139; Bloodied 70
AC 32; Fortitude 30; Reflex 29; Will 30
Speed 6 Initiative +19
Perception +17    Low-Light Vision

Standard Actions

m Acrobatic Strike • At-Will
Attack: +23 vs. AC
Hit: 1d4 + 12 Hit: If Elladan is grabbed, he escapes the grab. Before or after the attack, Elladan may shift one square. This power may be used at Range (5/10).

M Scoundrel's Philosophy • Recharge 4 5 6
Attack: Melee or Ranged 5/10; +23 vs. AC
Hit: 3d4 + 12 and make a secondary attack vs. Will. On a hit, the target is dazed until the end of Elladan's next turn.

M Tornado Strike • Recharge 5 6
Attack: +23 vs. AC; One attack per target.
Hit: 4d4 + 11 damage and Elladan may slide the target 6 squares. Effect: Elladan may move 3 squares after the attack.

M Courage Breaker • Daily
Attack: Melee or Ranged 5/10; +23 vs. AC
Hit: 6d4 + 11 damage and the target is slowed and takes a -2 penalty to all attacks (save ends both).

Move Actions
Fey Step • Encounter
Effect: Elladan teleports 5 squares.

Triggered Actions
Leaping Dodge • Recharge 6
Effect (Immediate Interrupt): Trigger: An enemy targets Elladan with an attack. Elladan makes an Athletics check to jump with a +5 bonus, and jumps the appropriate distance.

Other Powers
M Sneak Attack (Backstabber)
Effect: Once per round, when Ellandan hits a creature that he has combat advantage against, he deals an additional 3d8 damage.

Skills Stealth +20, Acrobatics +20, Arcana +17, Athletics +17, Bluff +21, Diplomacy +21, Dungeoneering +17, Endurance +18, Heal +14, History +14, Insight +17, Intimidate +18, Nature +14, Religion +14, Streetwise +18, Thievery +20

Str 22 (+15) Dex 22 (+15) Wis 16 (+12)
Con 25 (+16) Int 16 (+12) Cha 25 (+16)

Alignment:  Unaligned Languages Common, Elven, Dwarven
Equipment just about anything needed...

 
(All of these NPCs were created using the Monster Builder software, created by Wizards of the Coast.  All rights are reserved by their respective holders.)