Witches of Frostwyck: Session #8

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes spent a little time in the village of Frostwyck before heading out to confront a suspected witch, who was both not a witch and not alive, and then agreed to investigate a new threat down at the river, who turned out to be an old (and dead) friend…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the human Eldritch Knight (3)
  • Ray the human Lore Bard (3)
  • Ward the human Gloom Stalker (3)
  • Rainen the dwarf Beast Master (3)
  • Hugo the human Knowledge Cleric (1), Time Wizard (2)

Shaela lives!

Everyone was stunned to see that the hunched, filthy, discolored figure emerging from the wrecked barge was none other than Shaela the druid! In the tense exchange that followed, Ward and Ray learned that Shaela had been resurrected by Dama Zhadna. The witch had the druid’s soul in her spider-house, and Shaela was charged with killing anyone who set foot in the river. She indicated a dead Kormish reaver trapped in the ice.

Shaela still had her memories. She remembered Ray, and her death. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but she knew she had little choice in the matter. Ray asked her to bring him the body of the dead reaver, and Shaela summoned a massive thorn to lift the corpse and drop it on the river bank. Ray promised to try to help Shaela, and she let everyone leave in peace.

I loot the body

While there, Ray looted the dead reaver for some manly clothes, armor, and weapons. Hugo and Ward also looted the barge, and discovered it was full of musical instruments and puppets, including enchanted bagpipes!

Hugo also detected magic from higher up the slope. The party soon found a dead humanoid creature with one huge eye impaled on a mass of thorns, with three items: a flask, a smoking pipe, and a flute.

So much magic!

After a brief rest, our heroes headed east to hunt the Vulgoth tiger that killed poor Rufina.

Clash of the Titans

Ward easily tracked the monster to its lair. The tiger’s cave was completely veiled by thick, dirty icicles. Drew shattered an opening with his Eldritch Spear. Within moments, the sleeping beast had awakened and charged out!

Ward loosed flaming arrows and knives. Hugo and Ray blessed and buffed their companions. Rainen hurled an axe and Drew speared away. But the big battle moment was when the Vulgoth tiger and the dire wolf Sasha tore each other apart, fang and claw! Ward dashed in for the fatal blow, with one last flaming arrow to the heart.

Bloody Afternoon

The party needed to get the tiger carcass back to Frostwyck so they could sacrifice the meat to the vodnik in the pond and save the village. But the body weighed a ton. There was talk of building a sledge and dragging it.

Ultimately, they decided to skin and butcher the beast. Sasha tore out the organs and ate them. Rainen expertly removed the hide. And then the rangers separated the meat from the bones. Four hours later, they were done, and the sun had set.

Hugo passed the time praying over his holy chain-and-sickle. Drew also harvested the tiger’s skull to wear over his own face to hide his missing nose. Ray kept an eye on the wolves gathering in the woods as he tended to Sasha’s wounds.

With darkness closing in, the group moved the meat into the tiger’s cave and settled in for the night. They threw the intestines and bones into the woods to keep the wolves at bay. The night passed quietly, with one exception.

During Ward’s watch, a severed human hand skittered into the cave, up his leg, and tried to crawl inside his mouth. He failed roll after roll to get rid of the pest, until finally, screaming and flailing, he threw the hand into the fire. The others awoke just in time to not believe his crazy story.

Meaty saviours!

In the morning, they carried their meat back to Frostwyck. The villagers greeted them as heroes and quickly sacrificed most of the meat into the pond to placate the vodnik. They directed the party to the tannery where they dropped off the tiger hide and commissioned a few cloaks and sets of leather armor from Falina.

Hugo returned to the cabin to continue praying all day over his weapon. Drew perfected his tiger skull mask, and went to check on Marta, who was still grieving her missing sister Elisa. He also visited the cabin protected by magic, but was still unable to enter.

Meanwhile, Rainen went to check on Brother Vanya, but was not able to find him. Fearing the worst, she wondered if the vampires had returned. She also visited the wounded Andrei and learned that Vanya had been around yesterday. She also visited Oleg, the large old man at risk of being sacrificed to the vodnik. But he was fine, and she left despite his many pleas for her to come in and make herself comfortable.

As night settled in over Frostwyck, Hugo finally finished his 24 hours of prayer and attuned to the holy chain weapon. It grew lighter in his hands, and its magical properties were unlocked.

And that’s where we ended.

DM Notes

This was a great session. It really felt smooth and easy. I barely had to prepare anything. The players did a great job interacting with Shaela and avoiding an unnecessary battle there. Then they pivoted to a quick and exciting hunt, followed by a bit of hard work and logistical problem solving. We wrapped up in town with a bunch of social encounters that were fun as well as productive. I couldn’t have asked for anything more, and I’m extremely excited for what’s about to happen next. Because it’s a lot.

A whole lot.

Go to the next session

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #7

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes rescued a young priest from a nest of vampires, and discovered a few ancient secrets and treasures! They headed home, hoping to have a quiet night to recover…

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the human Eldritch Knight (3)
  • Ray the human Lore Bard (3)
  • Ward the human Gloom Stalker (3)
  • Rainen the dwarf Beast Master (3)
  • Hugo the human Knowledge Cleric/Time Wizard (3)

Midnight madness

Everyone settled in for a solid night’s rest in the abandoned cabin in Frostwyck. Ward took the first watch, climbing a tree to survey the area. He detected an intruder in the woods, so he climbed down and set a bear trap near the cabin. Unfortunately, the trap made a horrible squealing noise and the intruder never came near.

Then Rainen came out to sit the second watch while weaving a small basket. Inside, Ray and Hugo awoke to discover Brother Vanya vomiting live eels all over the floor. The eels wriggled out under the door and slithered into the freezing pond.

Drew took the third watch. He was barely paying attention when the flaming skull of Nikita floated up. Nikita thanked him for killing all the vampires hiding out in his ruined tower. He noted that Drew had lost his nose, so the two of them became “No Nose Bros”. Drew learned a little more about Nikita and his relationship with the dreaded witch Dama Zhadna, including how to summon her: Go into the woods at midnight and say her name three times, and she will appear. Easy to do, hard to survive.

As dawn approached, Rainen dreamed of a wood-skinned angel with green leafy wings. The angel summoned a giant white wolf to destroy a monster with many yellow eyes, telling her to “Protect Vulgoth.”

More mysteries

The group woke and told Brother Vanya that his nightmares about vomiting eels were all too real, and the poor fellow ran home. They then began a new religious debate about Virune and the Temple. Hearing some noise outside, they emerged to discover a huge white wolf, Sasha, the wolf they fed at the hunter’s lodge a few days ago. She arrived to be Rainen’s beast companion (dire wolf!).

Over by the pond, the villagers were again angrily debating the need to make a sacrifice to the vodnik, the monster in the water. The vodnik attacked Andrei last night when he went to pee in the water. The group went to Andrei’s house to confirm the story, and also traded him a copper samovar for some arrows.

Then they went to check on Marta, who they found grieving her missing sister Elisa. But Rainen refused to give up hope. She asked for a cloth that smelled like Elisa and used Sasha as a bloodhound to track the scent. Sasha led the group to a nearby cabin, and while smoke rose from the chimney, no one responded to their knocks. Drew attacked the door, but could not open it. Then Ray, Ward, and Rainen suddenly felt that the cabin was perfectly normal and they wanted to leave. Hugo and Drew still suspected that some strange magic lurked inside, but they agreed to leave for now and go witch-hunting!

Let’s get Rufina!

Following a trail west, they headed out in search of the rumored witch Rufina. Along the way, Sasha and Rainen smelled the faint scent of a corpse.

The trail led to a poorly tended cabin with a large rabbit hutch. Inside, a little girl told them to go away, and when the group tried to push their luck, a sudden wind and dark clouds convinced them to back off. In the woods, Sasha led them to the long-dead corpse of a woman, seemingly killed by a tiger. Everyone suspected this was Rufina. Drew carried the corpse back to the cabin and started digging a grave (out of sight).

Strangers with spells

Ray charmed the little girl in the cabin and convinced her to come outside and talk. Little Nina was filthy, but otherwise fine, and wanted to pet the giant wolf. Then Ray broke the news that her mother was dead, and Nina freaked out. Her distress summoned a strange protector: a pale woman riding a stag emerged from the forest and threw up a wall of wind to shield Nina from the group.

This stranger, Petya, said that she was a sorceress who protected Nina since her mother was killed by a tiger. The group convinced her that they meant no harm to Nina, and Petya answered a few questions. She revealed that the vodnik in the pond was a cursed creature made by Dama Zhadna, and that another new Zhadna-creature had recently appeared at the river nearby.

The group debated their many open quest lines, including killing Dama Zhadna, killing the vodnik, and killing this new river monster. They suggested many plans. Eventually they decided they would try to defeat as many of Dama Zhadna’s servants as possible before trying their luck against the witch-lord herself.

They were about to go hunt the tiger as a sacrifice for the vodnik when Petya mentioned that the river-creature was living in the nearby wreckage of a skald barge… so the bard Ray changed his mind and swung the vote another way.

Let’s get the river-monster!

Heading down to the river, the team soon found the rotting wreckage of a brightly painted barge on the river bank. Ward found some strange humanoid foot prints nearby. Hoping that the river-monster might have left, he ran up to the barge and leapt on board.

In response, two glowing green orbs emerged from the cabin to hover and hum, while a disturbing cackling laugh echoed up from below. A small figure hobbled up on deck, her hair falling out, her ears and nose drooping, her skin green and mottled… and a horrible black gash across her throat.

Ward recognized the strangely altered appearance of the halfling druid Shaela, who died on the prison barge the night they escaped into the forest!

And that’s where we ended.

DM Notes

This was a great session. There was tons of excellent roleplay between the PCs about their backgrounds and motivations and goals. They all got to interact with different NPCs having weird problems and crises. We moved the needle on a bunch of open mysteries: Marta’s missing sister, Nikita and Dama Zhadna, the vodnik, Rufina the supposed witch, and now the supposedly dead Shaela!

And there wasn’t a single combat.

Next time there will be high-stakes encounters, most prominently with Shaela. What happened to her? Is she still alive? What did Dama Zhadna do to her?

Go to the next session

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #6

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes fought a deadly High Templar, lost a druid friend, destroyed an ancient Observatory, and returned to the village only to discover that their friend the young priest had been kidnapped and dragged into the woods!

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the human Eldritch Knight (3)
  • Ray the human Lore Bard (3)
  • Ward the human Gloom Stalker (3)
  • Rainen the dwarf Beast Master (3
  • Hugo the human Knowledge Cleric/Time Wizard (3)

Vampires Galore

Having found Brother Vanya in the clutches of a vampiric-looking woman in a ruined tower, the heroes quickly rushed in. Hoping to save the priest, Drew plunged into the dark space as his companions filled the doorway. And that’s when the second vampire appeared from the shadows. Chains rattled above, and humanoid figures crawled on the ceiling.

The following battle was chaotic and deadly. Drew tried to put the vampires to sleep, but only poor Brother Vanya passed out. This left the two Vampire Thralls and six Vampire Wretches on the ceiling free to attack! They converged on Drew, biting and tearing at the mighty fighter.

Ray Suggested that the Thrall woman lie prone on the floor, and she did! A series of attacks from the whole team soon killed her, and she exploded into dust. But the Wretches swarmed around Rainen and Hugo, biting and clawing wildly. Ward succeeded in snarling the remaining Thrall in a tangle of vines, trapping him against the ceiling for a few moments. Hugo unleashed spell after spell to Slow his foes and Shield himself. Magic blades flashed and flew, and burning arrows sliced through the shadows like tracer fire.

Then many things happened. Drew fell unconscious. The Thrall tried to capture Hugo, but sensing his own imminent death, released the cleric and leapt up through the ceiling to flee into the sunny woods, burning and roaring in pain. Ward chased the burning vampire, but the creature turned into a bat and escaped into the sky. Meanwhile, the Wretches tore down Rainen, and then Hugo, all while chanting, “Virune! Virune!”

Things were looking grim!

But then Rainen and Drew made massive Death Saves, popping back into the world of the living (but playing dead on the floor!). And one by one, they took out the remaining Vampire Wretches.

It was a long and dangerous battle, but everyone survived (all with single-digit HP). Brother Vanya helped with the healing, and everyone took some time to rest and recover.

Wounds!

Unfortunately, three of our heroes fell to zero HP, which means they had to roll on my custom Wounds table:

  • Rainen’s injuries resulted in permanent and painful nerve damage, giving her disadvantage on all Acrobatics checks.
  • Hugo suffered a broken nose, whose sinister appearance gives him disadvantage on all Persuasion checks.
  • But poor Drew, who was most savagely clawed and bitten by the vampires, lost his entire nose! And now he has disadvantage on all Perception checks.

The search for a new nose for Drew starts now!

Treasure

Searching the ruined tower revealed a number of hidden goodies. Ward and Drew found a ring, fur hat, and key on their own. Hugo detected magic to help them find a pair of boots under the floor and something on the roof. Ward went upstairs and found the scorched skull-less skeleton of Nikita, and under it, a third Eldritch Eye! This one was green (Poison). Rainen placed the Green Eye in her mystwood hammer and it was instantly empowered by the arcane item.

Meanwhile, Ray and Hugo debated the merits of worshiping Virune and embracing different types of magic. They went back and forth on whether Virune was evil, or just being used by an evil Temple. Hugo revealed that he was on a personal quest to master Time Magic, and while this might not be holy, it was very important to him.

Brother Vanya looked at the copper ring that Drew found. He identified the rose design on it as the crest of the Torescu family that ruled the mountains to the south at Castle Torescu. The ring also had a small needle that pointed inward at the wearer, so Drew did not put it on.

Hugo identified the other items as a Hat of Vermin, Boots of the Winterlands, and Mystery Key.

Into the Woods

During their rest, Ward stood watch up on the roof. At one point he heard a strange rumbling to the south. Later, he spotted something moving in the distance, but he couldn’t see it through the trees.

Having rested and recovered a little, everyone wanted to get back to the village before sunset. But as they headed into the forest, Rainen continued to glimpse signs of movement behind them. Something was definitely following them. She tried to relate this to the rest of the group, but the ensuing game of telephone garbled her report and the team almost stopped to set up an ambush before she could straighten things out.

Home again, home again

Back in Frostwyck, the group invited Brother Vanya to stay with them, just in case the surviving vampire tried to abduct him again. They discussed all the problems in the area, and seemed to identify the magic barrier and the vampires as two separate and unrelated threats.

Rainen went out to gather herbs and Ward went out to hunt rabbits. Hugo took a few hours to pray over the chain-sickle of Irina the Inescapable, hoping to master it as his own weapon soon. Everyone had a lovely supper and settled in for the long night ahead.

And that’s where we stopped!

DM Notes

The vampire battle ran WAY longer than I had planned/hoped. It ended up being something like 2.5 hours for one combat! That’s nuts. On the upside, the players seemed to like how dynamic and deadly it was. But I’m sure they were feeling the fatigue just as much as I was by the end of it. Lessons learned, definitely make the creatures hit harder (to be dangerous) but die easier (to be quick about it).

I was surprised that no one went outside, either to escape the vampires or to lure them out to a fiery doom. Hugo briefly considered attacking the ceiling to let the sunlight inside (great idea!) but he chose not to.

Now that we are back in the village, we’ll probably have more interactions and investigations and less combat for a session or two (or maybe not, who knows!).

Go to the next session

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #5

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes destroyed a Temple bell of Virune to befriend three local druids, and gained access to an ancient Observatory full of powerful magics. They’re hoping there aren’t any negative consequences from destroying the Temple (spoilers: there are!).

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the human fighter (2)
  • Ray the human bard (2)
  • Ward the human ranger (2)
  • Rainen the dwarf ranger (2)
  • Hugo the human cleric/wizard (2)

Quiet Time

After discovering the mysteries of the Observatory, the group spent the rest of the evening enjoying the hospitality of the druids in a cave below the ruins. Ward asked Rainen about how she came to be on the prison barge, and she revealed that she was arrested for trespassing on Temple grounds while armed because she was looking for healing herbs.

The group also asked Ray about his shifting accents and names whenever they met a new stranger. Ray merely replied that it was sensible to act like the people they were meeting, and keeping his personal details private. Would the group ever hear his real voice or name? That’s a firm maybe.

Hugo’s Dream

The night watches passed peacefully. The winter chill grew sharper. The forest lay still beneath the moons. Meanwhile, Hugo experienced a strange dream. He encountered the angel Virune, with golden wings and golden armor, floating above a landscape of green-black flesh and yellow eyes. The angel conjured a multitude of golden arrows, which plunged into the flesh, and Virune said, “Protect Vulgoth.”

He woke to take the last watch, clearly troubled by the dream.

Trouble Dawning

In the pre-dawn hours, the druids were awakened by the return of their comrade Faina, who had been on patrol. She reported that she saw a blonde stranger wearing heavy armor in the village of Elk Ridge near the destroyed Temple bell. When Faina flew closer in her eagle-form, the stranger glowed with a bright green light. Hugo identified this stranger as the Templar Irina.

A fierce debate broke out between Hugo and Ray. Ray was confident that with the druids as their allies, they would have no trouble defeating the Templar. Hugo was adamant that the Templar would make short work of the druids and the party as well.

As the eastern sky grew brighter, the druids reported that they could sense the stranger coming closer, and they used their powers to closer the rock entrance to the cave, hoping that the stranger would simply leave the area. But as sunrise approached, Tatiana announced that the stranger had arrived at the ruins of the Observatory and they must go confront the Templar to protect the site. The druids opened the cave and rushed out.

To Fight or Not to Fight

Ray stealthed out of the cave to follow the druids, and Rainen and Ward were close behind him. Drew and Hugo lingered in the cave, not wanting to get any closer to the Templar. At the top of the ridge, Ray spied the druids rushing into the Observatory. He heard raised voices for a few moments, followed immediately by the roaring of huge beasts and blinding flashes of light through the Observatory’s roof.

Hearing the muffled fighting, Drew and Hugo headed out to join the group. The rest of group had a hurried debate about whether to go inside and join the fight, or run away. They heard glass shattering, wooden splintering. And then they saw a spray of blood fly up through the open roof.

This convinced Ray that discretion was the better part of valor, and he led a quiet retreat down the eastern path back toward Elk Ridge. But Rainen felt strongly compelled to help the druids, and Ward really wanted to see what was happening. So Ward ran to the door and looked inside.

He saw the ancient Observatory utterly destroyed, the telescope lenses shattered, the shelves and jars all smashed. A huge elk lay still in the middle of the floor. On the far side of the room, a massive bear and boar had the Templar cornered against the wall. Rainen saw the dead elk slowly reverting to the form of one of the druids, and was overcome with emotion.

Ward took a shot with the Cinderwood bow, just barely missing the Templar’s head. Rainen rushed into the room and confirmed that the elk-druid was truly dead and beyond her power to heal.

Roll Initiative!

One by one, the party rushed into the Observatory to help the druids battle the Templar. Ward fired shot after shot, but couldn’t land a hit. The boar-druid charged and gored the Templar, and the bear-druid clawed her face, blinding her with blood. Ray and Hugo cast their spells from the safety of the doorway. Rainen moved closer, weaving her spells to hinder the Templar.

But once again, it was Drew rushing into the fray who controlled the pace of battle. His first spear-throw missed, but he charged in with the Eldritch Spear powered by the Black Eye, and smashed the Templar with waves of Force damage. He crushed the Templar inside her armor, and hurled her to the ground.

The Templar recovered a little by healing herself, and then empowered her chain-sickle to Smite her enemies. Drew took a near-fatal hit, and then the Templar slammed her glowing weapon into the boar-druid, killing her.

But then, when things were looking bleak, Ray cast Dissonant Whispers. He told the Templar that her faith was corrupt and doomed, and she fell dead to the ground, weeping blood. (He had a massive damage roll!)

Aftermath

Rainen successfully healed the boar-druid, so that Tatiana and Faina survived to weep over Masha’a lifeless body. The druids were devastated by the death, as well as the destruction of the Observatory.

The group stripped the Templar of her weapon and armor, dumped the body in a rocky crevasse, and then left the druids to mourn in peace. The walk back to Frostwyck was far from triumphant.

Hugo inspected the armor and chain-sickle, finding them both ugly items that weighed far too much to actually use. But after attuning to the armor, it grew light enough for him to wear the breastplate (if he can get the dents pounded out of it). He also identified the silver pendant that Ray had stolen from the Observatory, and discovered it was a magical chronometer… from the distant future!!!

They did cross paths in the woods with one of the rude trappers they had met a few days earlier, but they let him go about his business.

Frosty Reception

Back in Frostwyck, the group went to check on Marta, only to find she was not at home. They opened the door to look inside, just as the hunter Andrei asked them what they were doing. He said that Marta was out again, looking for her missing sister Elisa. While the group distracted Andrei, Ray stole the gray wooden hammer from Marta’s shelf.

The group tried to barter the discarded pieces of the Templar’s armor, but when the hunter realized what he was looking at, he pulled back, clearly recognizing the items. Hugo and Ward quickly invented a story that they had discovered the dead body of the Templar, killed by some sort of monster. Andrei didn’t quite buy it, and insisted on taking the matter to Brother Vanya.

But no one answered at the little log Temple. Inside, they found the room cold and dark. Hugo illuminated his shield and revealed fresh scratches on the wall. Outside, Rainen and Ward found fresh tracks. Worried that whoever abducted Sister Xenia had taken Brother Vanya, Rainen bolted into the forest, determined not to let anyone else die today.

Ghosts and Shadows

The tracks in the frost led south, seemingly made just a few hours ago in the night. Soon the party found a clearing in the woods where many trees lay burnt and splintered, as though damaged in some ancient catastrophe. In the center of the clearing stood a large stone building with a broken level above it. The remains of a tower?

As Rainen approached the door, the ghost of a kindly old woman appeared, and introduced herself as Sveta. She had been the housekeeper for Master Nikita , until the Templars came and destroyed their home many years ago. The group instantly recalled their meeting with the flameskull Nikita and told Sveta they were friends of her master, and just wanted a quick look inside.

Sveta then became very nervous, and tried repeated to direct the party back into the woods to pursue some strangers, and then convinced them to help with the cleaning outside the tower, as long as they didn’t go inside.

Ray ignored the ghost, and went inside.

There, in the shadows, he saw poor Brother Vanya in the grip of a dark stranger, claws at his throat. The stranger hissed, “Get out or he dies!”

And that’s where we stopped!

DM Notes

I was really impressed with the all the interpersonal role-play in this game. The players really engaged with each other’s backstories and motivations. And then when the Templar arrived, there was a long anguished period of debate about whether to help the druids or save their own skins.

The Templar battle itself was good in that it felt deadly (it was!) and it had emotional stakes and impact. I was a little disappointed in myself for how the staging played out, because it turned into a straight battle of attrition. There was a moment when I wanted the Templar to maybe surrender or negotiate, but then I couldn’t imagine a holy warrior surrounded by unholy monsters to do that. I also wasn’t able to make the environment dynamic, and I didn’t design the Templar with enough interesting abilities. So she fought, and died. But the players found it super intense and scary, so it was still a success.

The players continued to be amazing, talking through their feelings after the fight. Rainen was the most deeply affected by the death of the druid. Hugo seems to be having a spiritual crisis, or transformation.

And then we rolled right into a new series of events in Frostwyck, which will be related but totally different from what we just did. I told everyone to level up after the Templar battle, so they will go into this ruined tower at Level 3. Can’t wait to see what happens next!

Go to the next session

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Desert Angel Fiasco: One-Shot

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Joe

What happens when four adventurers hop on board a flying ship for its maiden voyage across the uncharted desert? (Spoilers: A lot!)

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Sole the dwarf fighter (Level 3)
  • Bek the human sorcerer (Level 3)
  • Jim the human warlock (Level 3)
  • Falvor the centaur monk (Level 3)

Set sail for adventure!

Having agreed to work as the security detail for the maiden voyage of the Desert Angel, the party boarded the flying ship at the outskirts of the beautiful desert city of Sahar. On board they found the crew and passengers ready to leave. The crew cast off the lines, and the Desert Angel glided gracefully out over the dunes heading west.

Sole went to explore the ship, finding the Cabin and the cook, and then the Hold and the cargo. He saw that the ribs of the ship were partially made of bone and bone marrow, covered in runes. So naturally, he scraped some of the marrow off and went to ask the captain about it. The captain reacted in “shock, horror, and rage” as she explained that the arcane runes on the Titan bones and marrow were the very things that made the ship fly. So no, Sole could not “eat them”.

They then passed their first Sailing Check to help the captain set a safe course. They deftly maneuvered around a high dune covered in Giant Sand Fleas, which failed to leaped onto the ship. Huzzah!

Rest stop

Halfway through the morning, they spotted a small pool of sparkling water surrounded by green vegetation. They advised the captain that they should investigate this oasis, so the ship dropped anchor. Sole, Bek, and Jim shimmied down a rope ladder.

Sole went straight to the water where he saw some dark lumps under the sand. He bopped one with his hammer. The lumps turned out to be a Giant Oasis Scorpion, which reared up out of the water and attacked! Bek hurled fire and Jim dashed forward with his rapier, and the scorpion quickly lost a claw, and scuttled away. Falvor tried to fire the ship’s ballista, but missed by quite a bit.

Sole took the claw and had Bek roast it so he could eat it (along with a little magic bone marrow). They returned to the ship and continued sailing west.

Strange stranger

The party then discovered an area of the desert covered in spiraling vortexes of sand, and in the center of them, an ancient shipwreck. On board, a person was waving to them. The party immediately dropped a line down and helped this person to climb up. She turned out to be a dusty, raggedy young woman named Damaris wearing a wooden mask. Damaris was very friendly and curious about the flying boat. She also said she was a hermit who did not eat food, and did anyone want to hear the good news about “Sholleth the Writhing Dream”?

The party did not. So they sailed on!

As the afternoon waned, they spotted a tall rock spire and sailed closer to take a look. The cook Naveed came on deck and reminded the captain that some of their cargo was fragile glasswares and maybe they should not fly so close to a giant rock? Everyone agreed this made sense, so they steered clear of the spire.

A quiet night

That night, everyone went to sleep in the Cabin, except for the quartermaster who took the wheel, and the cook who relaxed on deck. The party also decided to sleep on deck without posting a watch.

In the morning, there was quite a stir. The cook was gone, a chest was missing, and the young sailor Eskander had been murdered! The captain raged! What kind of security detail doesn’t stand watch??? Sole was surprised to learn that they were supposed to be working security.

A quick investigation revealed signs that Eskander had been sleeping in the Hold when he was stabbed and his body stashed, and then someone dragged the missing chest overboard. It appeared the cook was to blame. The hermit woman Damaris, meanwhile, discovered a stone jar in the cargo and said it was whispering to her. Everyone thought she was crazy.

Wild ride

As the second day began, the captain took the wheel and spotted the red cliff walls of the Dead Sun Massif ahead. They needed to find a safe passage through the narrow canyons if they were going to continue west.

The party passed their first Sailing Check, pointing out the dangerous acid geysers in the first canyon. The captain nimbly raced ahead of the acid mist and the ship was unharmed.

But the party failed the second Sailing Check as they entered a canyon with glittering walls. The ship slammed into the rocks, crunching the hull. Fortunately, a shower of glitter rained down on the deck, including several small diamonds.

The party also failed the third Sailing Check as a black rift tore open the sky above them and tiny white worms rained down on the deck. The worms screamed, causing psychic damage to everyone above deck. Sole started stomping them, and Bek started burning them. But Jim was able to sweep them all away using a blast of wind.

Cyan Astrobleme

The Desert Angel glided clear of the Dead Sun Massif over a massive blue crater full of blue stone ruins. And among the ruins, black Solar Zombies staggered under the burning sun, their bodies flickering with blue flame.

Here again, the party failed their Sailing Check and the ship ground against a ruined building, allowing three Solar Zombies to leap onto the deck. A short but fierce battle broke out, and the heroes reduced the zombies to smoldering charcoal.

Pyramid power

In the center of the crater, atop a black marble pillar, stood a gleaming gold pyramid. The captain strongly insisted on going there to try to recoup some of the ship’s losses from the stolen chest, the dead sailor, and the damaged hull. Pulling up to the black pillar, the party easily hopped ashore and Sole began chipping chunks of gold off the pyramid walls.

Jim approached the entrance and found it was a crystal corridor glaring with a lattice of white-hot laser beams. His first acrobatics check slipped him past the beams, but he failed the next two checks and only his charred corpse landed inside the pyramid.

Using Bek’s mirror, Falvor was able to burn out two-thirds of the beams, but on the last try he melted the mirror instead. Sole then stepped forward and used the polished head of his warhammer to burn out the last of the beams. Falvor hurried into the pyramid and tended to Jim, bringing him back from the brink of death with a hideous burn scar across his face.

Inside the pyramid, they discovered a massive treasure trove of golden items all covered in cat designs. And in the center, a mummified queen: Varrani Hagar. She was reading a book (her own autobiography) and asked, “What is a word for the smell of rain on earth?” No one knew the answer, but Falvor ran back to the ship and got the answer from one of the merchants. Varrani Hagar rewarded him with a magical cat statue.

The group then tried to negotiate for her treasure, but failed, and decided it was better to leave her in peace. Falvor did not share his magic cat statue.

Sabotage!

As the ship sailed clear of the blue crater, the pilgrim Lev Meyer came on deck to report that he had found a small ticking device in the Cabin. Bek recognized it as a bomb and had Falvor hurl it out in the desert. They then searched the ship for more, and found a second one in the Hold, which Falvor also hurled into the desert. A moment later two explosions hurled the sand high into the air… and a third explosion destroyed the bow of the ship.

Cargo spilled out into the desert, the ship leaned dangerously to one side, and the team began searching for the saboteur. With a little effort, they discovered that the elderly merchant Ira Jaron had set the bombs. He wanted to destroy the ship to protect his daughters’ camel caravan business. This got him beaten and bound to the ship’s mast.

What’s in the jar?

Meanwhile, Jim found that Damaris was still whispering and petting the stone jar in the Hold. Fed up with her strange behavior, he helped her tear the wax seal off the lid and opened the jar.

A tiny many-armed creature tumbled out and began eating a bag of spice nearby.

As the moments passed, the creature began to grow. One foot, three feet, five feet. It kept eating and kept growing, its tentacles lashing out for anything it could consume.

Damaris was delighted.

Jim lassoed the beast and began dragging it toward the hole in the bow of the ship. Sole kicked and shoved from the other side. Together they managed to get its bulk wedged tight into the hole in the ship. Sole then made one last attack with his psychic powers, which shattered the boards around the beast. The monster fell to the desert below.

Second night

After a long day of disasters, the party was sure to post a watch this night. A sandstorm appeared on the southern horizon, and Falvor tried to help the quartermaster navigate around it. But they failed their Sailing Check and the flying sand shredded the sails.

One last fiasco

As the sun rose on the third morning, the young merchant Soraya Gol came up on deck with a black rod and began chanting a spell. Instantly, everyone on board except for the party fell asleep. Soraya announced she was taking the ship for herself and was willing to hire the party as her crew.

Sole decided he was too loyal to the ship’s actual owner, and the team attacked! Soraya tried to fend them off by summoning wooden skeletons and casting magic missiles! But the party simply blasted her off the deck with a gust of wind.

Success???

Soon after they woke the crew, they spotted the grassy plains of Velnya on the western horizon. As they coasted into the town of Khervik, with the hull exploded and the sails shredded, there was no way to control the ship. The Desert Angel gently crashed into a small stone cottage. They had made it! Huzzah!

DM Notes

This one-shot was a ton of fun to play, and easy to run too! It’s just a series of unrelated disasters that the players get to deal with or investigate. And it was really easy to add more or discard events to keep the fun rolling but also to end on time. Everyone said it was a lot of fun, with so many random crazy things happening, and the Sailing Checks added a neat new element too. Maybe I’ll write up some other fun disaster adventures soon!

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #4

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes were magically trapped in the village of Frostwyck, learned there were a lot of witches nearby, and went to investigate some ruins. They’re hoping to find some magical help (spoilers: they do!).

Play time: 4 hours

Heroes:

  • Drew the human fighter (2)
  • Ray the human bard (2)
  • Ward the human ranger (2)
  • Rainen the dwarf ranger (2)
  • Hugo the human cleric/wizard (2)

Heading out

Having agreed to destroy a nearby bell tower of Virune for the local druids, the party set out for the abandoned village of Elk Ridge. But Drew paused to pull the bound twig-dragon out of his pack and give it to the druids so the beastie wouldn’t cause trouble later. (Darn it!)

On the path heading southeast, Ward found some grouse hopping through the woods but decided not to hunt them. Instead they went straight to the village, where they soon found a number of collapsing cabins being reclaimed by the forest. Except for the bell tower of Virune.

Go to bell

The bell tower stood 20 feet tall, shrouded in vines that were trying (and failing) to pull the tower down. The party also saw three bodies lying around the tower, bodies with lavender-gray sky that were whispering softly.

Hugo the former cleric of Virune went forward to greet these three individuals, using the name of Virune. The three creatures immediately leapt to their feet, displaying their graying skin, red eyes, and fanged mouths. They all began chanting “Virune! Virune!” and rushed at Hugo.

Roll Initiative

Combat! Big combat! The three undead things attacked Hugo with varying degrees of success. Hugo fended them off with his Shield spell, while Ward fired flaming arrows from the woods. But Drew was the MVP as he stormed forward to slash, tackle, body-slam, kick, and punch the creatures into pulp. One of them leapt onto Drew’s back, but he simply smashed one to death, and then body-slammed the one trying to grapple him, and then kicked it while it was down. One of them died immediately.

Then the sunlight burst through the overcast sky above. Hugo ran into the sunlight, and two more undead appeared. Now four creatures all turned and ran at him, still chanting “Virune!” One by one, as they entered the sunlight, they burst into flames.

Rainen then noticed a figure standing on a high ridge, watching them. She dashed into the fray with her axe and ranger spells to soften up the baddies, with Ray buffing and debuffing from a safe distance. But again it was Drew’s sword and fists that began reducing these undead to flaming piles of dust and ash.

Several of them managed to dig their claws into Hugo, who was starting to hurt a lot. His cleric spells failed to do any good, but Shield kept him alive. Soon all five undead had been shot, slashed, punched, or burned into ash.

Hackers

Turning their attention to the bell tower, Hugo explained that there were holy prayers carved into the wood that preserved the tower. So Rainen and Drew climbed the tower and hacked the prayers off the wood. The vines were then able to pull the tower down easily.

Ray spotted the figure on the ridge turn and leave. So the group climbed the ridge to find her. Ward followed her tracks for a few minutes, but lost her heading back toward Frostwyck. Ray noted that she had a similar lavender-gray complexion to the vampiric undead they had just killed.

Ruins

Back at the gray hill, the party reported that they had torn down the bell tower, and the druid Tatiana repaid them by letting them inside the ancient ruins. This was a large dome that had been somehow grown from magical gray wood called mystwood. Rainen recognized that she had seen this wood inside Marta’s home.

Inside the dome, Tatiana showed off the marvelous relics she had been protecting. The party found a wooden model solar system on the ceiling, an array of glass lenses, hourglasses, tubes, jars, and other apparatus of a vaguely scientific nature.

In the center of the room, they found a petrified body with tentacle-hair lying on a couch beside a lever and a small bottomless well.

Getting handsy

Tatiana repeatedly told everyone that they could look but not touch. This was her museum! Hugo cast Detect Magic, which revealed two pings on the dead body and one on a shelf.

Ward immediately wanted to flip the lever, which he tried to do suavely while Rainen distracted Tatiana. Instead, he tripped and fell onto the lever, which flipped it just fine.

Many things happened. Tatiana did start to get angry, but then small glass lights all over the room began to glow. The model solar system began to light up and spin. The array of lenses came together to form a telescope over the dead body. Bird song music began to play on a loop.

With Tatiana stunned by this transformation of the space, Hugo deftly stole three magic scrolls from the glass tubes on the shelf.

Ward and Ray looked up through the lenses to see clouds in High Def. Then, with his face near the corpse, Ray noticed a tiny silver item caught between the petrified man’s tentacles, which he stole with extreme skill.

Tatiana then recovered her composure, and was very impressed that the group knew how to manipulate these ancient relics and she gently encouraged them to do more. Drew turned a crank on the wall, which extended the tattered canopy over the dome’s roof. Interesting, but not useful!

Eye sockets!

Drew also picked up a gray mystwood spear from hooks on the wall, noted that it had a small empty socket, and went to the corpse. The dead man held a small black eye in his petrified hands. Drew placed the eye in the spear and BOOM – magic time! Black eldritch energy empowered the spear and radiated from the eye!

Hugo and Ray then pulled out the dagger and red eye they acquired earlier and put them together. BOOM again, as the red eye flared and the thin metal coating peeled off the dagger to reveal that it too was made of gray mystwood. Both the spear and dagger shimmered with arcane energy!

Black hole

Ward dropped a carrot into the small well. A moment later, the tube filled with a thick black fluid and a golden eye appeared on the surface (just like the one they saw in the stump a few days ago). Ward touched the liquid with an arrow, and the liquid drained away.

Then Ray held his empowered eye-dagger over the well, and the black fluid and eye came back. This time, he placed his hand in the black jelly-like flesh. He instantly saw a series of visions of dark underground places, creatures with one large yellow eye, and a mountain of treasure.

Drew also stepped forward to touch the black flesh, and he too saw the visions. But he came away with a strange compulsion to give treasure to the well. So he poured out all his coins. And then he tried to give the magic spear to it, but Ray snatched it away from him.

Rainen and Ward struggled to pull Drew back from the well as he tried to give it his magic lantern. But they got him away and the compulsion faded.

Break time!

Tatiana decided that this was enough excitement for one day and asked them to step outside. She flipped the lever to de-activate the observatory, and then led them down a path to the druids’ cave to share a meal and let them rest.

And that’s where we stopped.

DM Notes

This was an amazing session. I think everyone had a really great time. The big combat with the feral vampires was very cool, because the baddies were all focused on getting Hugo, and the sunlight kept moving across the battlemap to change the environment. So much fun!

The second half of the session in the observatory was amazing. The players were very excited to poke and prod all the things in the room. I was really proud of how clever and bold they were interacting with the stuff in the room.

And the big payoff! They finally figured out how to make the mix-and-match weapons with the sockets and the eyes. They were super excited about this, as well as the chance to find more of them.

Go to the next session

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #3

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes killed a dead saint, met some woodsmen, and got magically trapped in the village of Frostwyck. They’re hoping to get out quick (spoiler: they won’t!).

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #2

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Joe

The adventure continues! Last time, our heroes escaped from a prison barge and fled into the woods. There they scavenged for food, clothes, tools, and weapons while evading beasts and the deadly High Templar. They ended the night at a ruin where they rescued an old (?) man named Yurikai. But things are about to get much more complicated.

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Dungeon Age: Mid-Year Update

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Joe

So… I have written and rewritten this introduction over and over, trying to find a helpful way to talk about what is going on in the world right now. But I don’t think I have anything new or clever to say. For right now, I just want to say that I’m grateful for all the wonderful people and things that I do have, which includes this community. And I hope you are all safe, healthy, and happy/content in whatever fashion you prefer. And I hope your games are thriving, because let’s face it, games are important too.

So let’s talk about Dungeon Age.

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Witches of Frostwyck: Session #1

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Joe

A new adventure begins! Five strangers meet under miserable circumstances, which only get worse and weirder. Witches of Frostwyck is my new campaign featuring Slavic mythology and folklore, focusing on survival, suspense, mystery, and a teensy bit of horror. Our heroes find themselves a thousand miles from home in the forbidding north lands just as winter closes in…

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