Sorry for the delayed posting. I'm slightly behind right now, with a post for Kalamar 3 weeks old now, plus a game of Palladium Fantasy from last Friday. Kalamar won't be playing for a little bit because two of the players are in Yosemite.
I did have an excellent 3-day weekend last week for my wife's and my 5-year anniversary.
I hope to have the game posts up by the end of this week.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Ships Cross in the Night
Friday, March 27th, 2009
On Friday, we returned to the RIFTS campaign that we had put on hold in order to get back to Palladium Fantasy.
We had left the protagonists attempting to leave by helicopter, when several passengers and crew collapsed to the ground. Apparently the pilot was affected as well, and the helicopter quickly descends and crashes from a height of 100 feet.
Two of the ‘armadillo skunk apes’ run up almost immediately after the helicopter crashes, trying to get in the main side door. Luckily, the rail gun mounted on the side took up some room, and Carter and Maxell were already situated on either side of the gun.
Carter used the rail gun attached to his SAMAS suit to begin shooting the one right in front of him, while Maxwell used his coalition laser rifle to blast the other. Veras grabbed a large laser rifle from an unconscious crew member, and one of the crew used the helicopters rail gun.
It didn’t take long to completely obliterate the slow moving creatures. After a few minutes of checking for damage from both the previous attack inside the cabin and the recent attack, the helicopter took off once again, heading toward Saint Didacus.
Upon arrival, Maxell checked his mission packet, and determined where he was to rendezvous. The crew of the helicopter said they would escort the civilians into the city proper and would also get the hazard pay for Carter.
They traveled for about three miles by foot, which only took about an hour or so. On the way, they didn’t see many people, but those they did exhibited common characteristics. Everyone seemed lethargic, with dark circles under their eyes. Their skin was tight and drawn, and their movement was subdued.
They eventually reached a street with two large buildings across from each other. One was a concrete, square building rising several dozen feet into the air, and the other was a conglomeration of structures connected to each other, with several landings on it.
As they walk into the main square, Veras gets a message on her PDA.
From: Mantis
To: Striker
Glad you could make it in such short notice. Get out of there, now.
Veras decides to continue on, following the road between the two buildings, launching into a fast run. This definitely gets Carter’s and Maxwell’s attention.
One of the crew turns to Carter and says “The boss is in here. I’ll take you in, and you can get your money.” At the same time as he is going toward the northern building, a man in a business suit walks outside and stops at the steps leading up to it. “Zig?”
“That’s me,” says Maxwell, recognizing his codename. The man in the suit begins to walk toward Maxwell, when suddenly there is a blast from the ground floor of the building he was in.
It seems to be a shaped blast, as it continues out of the building, blasting into the crew member, the man in the suit, and the civilians, essentially vaporizing them. Luckily Carter was in his SAMAS suit and Maxwell was in MDC armor and didn’t die in the blast.
Carter flies up into the air to avoid the majority of the blast, and Maxwell tumbled backwards with the blast, attempting to mitigate it.
Maxwell looked around, and saw on top of the other building a juicer with their signature assassin rifle starting right at him.
On Friday, we returned to the RIFTS campaign that we had put on hold in order to get back to Palladium Fantasy.
We had left the protagonists attempting to leave by helicopter, when several passengers and crew collapsed to the ground. Apparently the pilot was affected as well, and the helicopter quickly descends and crashes from a height of 100 feet.
Two of the ‘armadillo skunk apes’ run up almost immediately after the helicopter crashes, trying to get in the main side door. Luckily, the rail gun mounted on the side took up some room, and Carter and Maxell were already situated on either side of the gun.
Carter used the rail gun attached to his SAMAS suit to begin shooting the one right in front of him, while Maxwell used his coalition laser rifle to blast the other. Veras grabbed a large laser rifle from an unconscious crew member, and one of the crew used the helicopters rail gun.
It didn’t take long to completely obliterate the slow moving creatures. After a few minutes of checking for damage from both the previous attack inside the cabin and the recent attack, the helicopter took off once again, heading toward Saint Didacus.
Upon arrival, Maxell checked his mission packet, and determined where he was to rendezvous. The crew of the helicopter said they would escort the civilians into the city proper and would also get the hazard pay for Carter.
They traveled for about three miles by foot, which only took about an hour or so. On the way, they didn’t see many people, but those they did exhibited common characteristics. Everyone seemed lethargic, with dark circles under their eyes. Their skin was tight and drawn, and their movement was subdued.
They eventually reached a street with two large buildings across from each other. One was a concrete, square building rising several dozen feet into the air, and the other was a conglomeration of structures connected to each other, with several landings on it.
As they walk into the main square, Veras gets a message on her PDA.
From: Mantis
To: Striker
Glad you could make it in such short notice. Get out of there, now.
Veras decides to continue on, following the road between the two buildings, launching into a fast run. This definitely gets Carter’s and Maxwell’s attention.
One of the crew turns to Carter and says “The boss is in here. I’ll take you in, and you can get your money.” At the same time as he is going toward the northern building, a man in a business suit walks outside and stops at the steps leading up to it. “Zig?”
“That’s me,” says Maxwell, recognizing his codename. The man in the suit begins to walk toward Maxwell, when suddenly there is a blast from the ground floor of the building he was in.
It seems to be a shaped blast, as it continues out of the building, blasting into the crew member, the man in the suit, and the civilians, essentially vaporizing them. Luckily Carter was in his SAMAS suit and Maxwell was in MDC armor and didn’t die in the blast.
Carter flies up into the air to avoid the majority of the blast, and Maxwell tumbled backwards with the blast, attempting to mitigate it.
Maxwell looked around, and saw on top of the other building a juicer with their signature assassin rifle starting right at him.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Where running is the better part of valor
We played Palladium Fantasy on March 13th, a month after our previous session, which means we played on Friday the 13th two months in a row.
After dodging spells from Atlas and Terra, the monstrosity seemed slowed down, as if catching it's breath. Jade hits it again squarely with Vagan's Hook. Atlas then sends some more blasts of fire into the body of the creature.
It quickly moves to retaliate, hitting Jade with one tentacle and narrowly missing Melkior with two. Melkior charges after sidestepping the blows with his wolfen sized battle axe, and calls on the power of Isis to smite this foe. Terra follows up this attack with a fire spell of her own.
Jade begins backing away from the creature after Atlas says he's going to try to stop it with a wall. The creature then slams into Melkior, his only nearby adversary. Melkior, drained after his previous attack, tries to ready himself for his next attack, and begins to stand.
Just as Melkior gains his feet, the creature swipes at him with another tentacle. Melkior backflips out of the way, putting some distance between himself and the creature, and narrowly avoids being hit. Just as he lands on his feet, he is hit from behind by a blast of fire from Terra. He is flattened by the force, and glance up to see the creature ready to grab him.
Just in time, a wall of ice appears inches from Melkior, blocking him from the creature. Melkior stands, and with a brief second looks closely at the creature through the thick sheet of ice. It like nothing he has ever seen or heard of before. He decides it is better to leave now and try to fight this thing in a more advantageous terrain. He grabs his spear and heads toward the others.
Atlas says he can make everyone invisble if they are near him, so everyone goes toward him, except one. The creature begins to bash at the wall, and as Melkior passes Terra, she draws her sword and swipes at him, missing him completely. As soon as Melkior reaches Atlas, they and Jade become invisible.
Terra continues to attack wildly, and Melkior sees that her face is completely void of emotion or intelligence. He assumes she's been possesed, and tries to think of a way to stop her. The three invisible people, forced to stay togeather gather their dropped possessions first, and then wait for Terra to approach.
As Terra raises her sword arm to make a downward strike, Melkior steps in and applies pressure on her upper inner arm, allowing her sword to fall against him. He then quickly places his foot behind hers and swipes her feet out from under her, causing her to fall forward. She lands, and says "Um, sorry about that. Thanks."
The four of them, now invisible and in control of the faculties, travel down the path as quickly as possible. After the invisibility spell runs out, Terra casts a similar spell on everyone. They reach the doorway that they entered this land just as they had left it. However, the surrounding land seems to have been changed drastically. Where once the grass was green and lush it is brown and dying. It is as if the land had been blighted for decades in the course of an afternoon.
Terra attempts to open the door, and stuggles against it, but it finally opens. Jade asks Vagan's Hook, "ready to take a trip?" It responds, "Lead on." Jade jumps through the doorway, followed by Melkior and then Atlas. The door begins to forcefully close behind Terra, who allows it to close right behind her, forcing her through the doorway.
Player Note: So technically, this is where the group began about 5 months ago, and where we left off several years ago. Except we now have a rune weapon and a warlock.
After dodging spells from Atlas and Terra, the monstrosity seemed slowed down, as if catching it's breath. Jade hits it again squarely with Vagan's Hook. Atlas then sends some more blasts of fire into the body of the creature.
It quickly moves to retaliate, hitting Jade with one tentacle and narrowly missing Melkior with two. Melkior charges after sidestepping the blows with his wolfen sized battle axe, and calls on the power of Isis to smite this foe. Terra follows up this attack with a fire spell of her own.
Jade begins backing away from the creature after Atlas says he's going to try to stop it with a wall. The creature then slams into Melkior, his only nearby adversary. Melkior, drained after his previous attack, tries to ready himself for his next attack, and begins to stand.
Just as Melkior gains his feet, the creature swipes at him with another tentacle. Melkior backflips out of the way, putting some distance between himself and the creature, and narrowly avoids being hit. Just as he lands on his feet, he is hit from behind by a blast of fire from Terra. He is flattened by the force, and glance up to see the creature ready to grab him.
Just in time, a wall of ice appears inches from Melkior, blocking him from the creature. Melkior stands, and with a brief second looks closely at the creature through the thick sheet of ice. It like nothing he has ever seen or heard of before. He decides it is better to leave now and try to fight this thing in a more advantageous terrain. He grabs his spear and heads toward the others.
Atlas says he can make everyone invisble if they are near him, so everyone goes toward him, except one. The creature begins to bash at the wall, and as Melkior passes Terra, she draws her sword and swipes at him, missing him completely. As soon as Melkior reaches Atlas, they and Jade become invisible.
Terra continues to attack wildly, and Melkior sees that her face is completely void of emotion or intelligence. He assumes she's been possesed, and tries to think of a way to stop her. The three invisible people, forced to stay togeather gather their dropped possessions first, and then wait for Terra to approach.
As Terra raises her sword arm to make a downward strike, Melkior steps in and applies pressure on her upper inner arm, allowing her sword to fall against him. He then quickly places his foot behind hers and swipes her feet out from under her, causing her to fall forward. She lands, and says "Um, sorry about that. Thanks."
The four of them, now invisible and in control of the faculties, travel down the path as quickly as possible. After the invisibility spell runs out, Terra casts a similar spell on everyone. They reach the doorway that they entered this land just as they had left it. However, the surrounding land seems to have been changed drastically. Where once the grass was green and lush it is brown and dying. It is as if the land had been blighted for decades in the course of an afternoon.
Terra attempts to open the door, and stuggles against it, but it finally opens. Jade asks Vagan's Hook, "ready to take a trip?" It responds, "Lead on." Jade jumps through the doorway, followed by Melkior and then Atlas. The door begins to forcefully close behind Terra, who allows it to close right behind her, forcing her through the doorway.
Player Note: So technically, this is where the group began about 5 months ago, and where we left off several years ago. Except we now have a rune weapon and a warlock.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
In which the group decides to play exterminator
The first thing we did before starting the game proper was to level up.
After killing the gnolls, the guides lead the four companions towards the mountains, which were easily visible. In the side of the mountain was a large entrance, only about 10 feet up off the ground. In front of the entrance was the armor and remains of a human.
The body appeared badly burned and weathered, and there was a marking on the shield which the group did not recognize. The teeth appeared to have exploded inside the skull. For all appearances, this appeared to be a victim of the dragon.
The group decided to rest the night, but not very easily, realizing that they were quite possibly right outside of a dragon's lair. In the morning, the guides think better of entering the cave mouth, but agree to watch the camels and belongings of the group.
After climbing up and into the cave, they only had to travel a short distance to find a vast cavern, filled with the dragon and his horde. The dragon does not appear pleased, but listens to their impassioned plea for his assistance in fighting against Daresh the wizard. He eventually agrees if they kill interlopers in his cave.
When the dragon leaves, these small creatures make off with his coins and treasure. He kills the ones he can catch, but they are too salty for his taste. He says if the group will kill them and return his stolen treasure, he will give them what they seek. Silver coins, gems, a golden snuff box and a platinum cup are what the dragon wants returned to him.
He instructs a Kobold cleric named Deekin (I'm currently playing Shadows of Undrentide and couldn't pass this up) to show them where the vermin enter. The group convince Deekin to assist them in finding the treasure and vermin, and that he can curry favor with his master by returning it himself. Deekin agrees.
So the group enters the narrow caverns, which are at most 5 feet wide, and 4 foot tall. Nobody can use large weapons, and they can't fight abreast. They first encounter a group of four of the things, called mites, which drop into their midst. Fighting in the corridor makes things difficult, but the group quickly kills them.
They come across another small group and dispatch them as well. Then they decide to let Fang take the lead and begin tracking them by scent. He finds two unarmed females cowering in a small alcove. They don't move, apparently afraid of the larger humanoids. After Raizix bodily grabs one and shoves her down the corridor, they both run to the west and north. The group follows, to see where they go.
They reach an area where they can stand up and move around much better, but is crammed full of mites. More than half are female, and about a dozen are holding young in their arms. One mite is sitting on a makeshift throne of wood, wearing a crown and admiring gems in his hands. He screams out as the group enters, and what males are in the room draw weapons and approach. the floor is covered in thousands of silver coins, apparently belonging to the dragon.
Before anyone can move, however, Raizix runs in the room, drawing his sword, and cutting them all down, not discerning between male or female, mother or maiden. He kills more than half of mites, leaving only the king and one male, and four females alive.
Ember and Fang charge the king, with Ember plunging a dagger into his chest, and Fang going for his neck. Jelena uses her bow and kills the last remaining male. Raizix them intimidates the remaining females, and forces them to leave the room. They take as many of the infants as possible, but quite a few are left in the room.
They search the room, and find some additional treasure: a golden snuff box, plus two gems, in addition to the three sapphires that the Mite King had.
DM Note: Why, oh why did Raizix run into a room and just try to kill everything?
- Raizix took a 6th level of fighter (Leadership, Weapon Specialization)
- Darwin took a 6th level of sorcerer (Greater Spell Focus, Fireball) - Familiar Brisby
- Jelena took a level of rogue (1d6 sneak attack, Weapon Focus Longbow) - Wolf Amaterasu
- Ember took a level of rogue (2d6 sneak attack, two weapon fighting) - Dog Fang
After killing the gnolls, the guides lead the four companions towards the mountains, which were easily visible. In the side of the mountain was a large entrance, only about 10 feet up off the ground. In front of the entrance was the armor and remains of a human.
The body appeared badly burned and weathered, and there was a marking on the shield which the group did not recognize. The teeth appeared to have exploded inside the skull. For all appearances, this appeared to be a victim of the dragon.
The group decided to rest the night, but not very easily, realizing that they were quite possibly right outside of a dragon's lair. In the morning, the guides think better of entering the cave mouth, but agree to watch the camels and belongings of the group.
After climbing up and into the cave, they only had to travel a short distance to find a vast cavern, filled with the dragon and his horde. The dragon does not appear pleased, but listens to their impassioned plea for his assistance in fighting against Daresh the wizard. He eventually agrees if they kill interlopers in his cave.
When the dragon leaves, these small creatures make off with his coins and treasure. He kills the ones he can catch, but they are too salty for his taste. He says if the group will kill them and return his stolen treasure, he will give them what they seek. Silver coins, gems, a golden snuff box and a platinum cup are what the dragon wants returned to him.
He instructs a Kobold cleric named Deekin (I'm currently playing Shadows of Undrentide and couldn't pass this up) to show them where the vermin enter. The group convince Deekin to assist them in finding the treasure and vermin, and that he can curry favor with his master by returning it himself. Deekin agrees.
So the group enters the narrow caverns, which are at most 5 feet wide, and 4 foot tall. Nobody can use large weapons, and they can't fight abreast. They first encounter a group of four of the things, called mites, which drop into their midst. Fighting in the corridor makes things difficult, but the group quickly kills them.
They come across another small group and dispatch them as well. Then they decide to let Fang take the lead and begin tracking them by scent. He finds two unarmed females cowering in a small alcove. They don't move, apparently afraid of the larger humanoids. After Raizix bodily grabs one and shoves her down the corridor, they both run to the west and north. The group follows, to see where they go.
They reach an area where they can stand up and move around much better, but is crammed full of mites. More than half are female, and about a dozen are holding young in their arms. One mite is sitting on a makeshift throne of wood, wearing a crown and admiring gems in his hands. He screams out as the group enters, and what males are in the room draw weapons and approach. the floor is covered in thousands of silver coins, apparently belonging to the dragon.
Before anyone can move, however, Raizix runs in the room, drawing his sword, and cutting them all down, not discerning between male or female, mother or maiden. He kills more than half of mites, leaving only the king and one male, and four females alive.
Ember and Fang charge the king, with Ember plunging a dagger into his chest, and Fang going for his neck. Jelena uses her bow and kills the last remaining male. Raizix them intimidates the remaining females, and forces them to leave the room. They take as many of the infants as possible, but quite a few are left in the room.
They search the room, and find some additional treasure: a golden snuff box, plus two gems, in addition to the three sapphires that the Mite King had.
DM Note: Why, oh why did Raizix run into a room and just try to kill everything?
Monday, March 9, 2009
A slight gaming delay
The plan was to play either Rifts or Palladium on Saturday, but one of our players had to work Saturday and early Sunday morning. Add on top of that Daylight Savings Time, and gaming was not really possible.
But the rest of us still got together and played Settler of Catan. Other games for consideration were Rummikub, Ticket to Ride, Age of Renaissance, and various others. Settlers was the shortest of all of them, and we thought if it didn't take too long, we could get a second, possibly different game in.
We only played one game as we got started kind of late, but it was a good one.
We've rescheduled the game to this coming Friday, and decided to play Palladium Fantasy.
On Sunday, we did play D&D 3.5 Kalamar, which will be in the next blog post.
But the rest of us still got together and played Settler of Catan. Other games for consideration were Rummikub, Ticket to Ride, Age of Renaissance, and various others. Settlers was the shortest of all of them, and we thought if it didn't take too long, we could get a second, possibly different game in.
We only played one game as we got started kind of late, but it was a good one.
We've rescheduled the game to this coming Friday, and decided to play Palladium Fantasy.
On Sunday, we did play D&D 3.5 Kalamar, which will be in the next blog post.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
In other gaming news
On Friday, we went over to Grammy's house for dessert and gifts for Beth, because it was her birthday this weekend.
We ended up drinking too much coffee which made it hard for us to sleep, and had some excellent german chocolate cake, and played Rummikub. I prefer traditional rummy, but that's mainly because I don't ever win at Rummikub. The first game, it took me forever to get the first 30 points, and and second game, while I was able to play quickly, slowed down quite a bit in the middle as we all needed to draw more tiles.
Not exactly gaming related, but I read quite a bit. I generally read fantasy, with some science fiction thrown in. So, I apparently live in a cave, but Legend of the Seeker has been on the air since November 2008, and I've been watching episodes on Hulu. It's 'based on' the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
It's not a true adaptation of the 1st book, or any book for that matter, but it's not bad. I'll continue watching, and probably try to catch live episodes once I catch up on Hulu.
The other book related item is that A Memory of Light will probably be out this November, which has me very excited. What form the book will take, the public doesn't know yet, but I have confidence that Brandon Sanderson will do a great job. I've read his Mistborn series, and I think he has what it takes.
Watchman the movie comes out on Friday, which means we won't be gaming on Friday as at least two if not three of the players in the group will be seeing it. So, we'll probably play Saturday instead. It will either be Palladium Fantasy or Rifts, depending on if I can get my act together by then to GM Rifts. On Sunday, I'll be DMing D&D 3.5 Kalamar with the other group.
We ended up drinking too much coffee which made it hard for us to sleep, and had some excellent german chocolate cake, and played Rummikub. I prefer traditional rummy, but that's mainly because I don't ever win at Rummikub. The first game, it took me forever to get the first 30 points, and and second game, while I was able to play quickly, slowed down quite a bit in the middle as we all needed to draw more tiles.
Not exactly gaming related, but I read quite a bit. I generally read fantasy, with some science fiction thrown in. So, I apparently live in a cave, but Legend of the Seeker has been on the air since November 2008, and I've been watching episodes on Hulu. It's 'based on' the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
It's not a true adaptation of the 1st book, or any book for that matter, but it's not bad. I'll continue watching, and probably try to catch live episodes once I catch up on Hulu.
The other book related item is that A Memory of Light will probably be out this November, which has me very excited. What form the book will take, the public doesn't know yet, but I have confidence that Brandon Sanderson will do a great job. I've read his Mistborn series, and I think he has what it takes.
Watchman the movie comes out on Friday, which means we won't be gaming on Friday as at least two if not three of the players in the group will be seeing it. So, we'll probably play Saturday instead. It will either be Palladium Fantasy or Rifts, depending on if I can get my act together by then to GM Rifts. On Sunday, I'll be DMing D&D 3.5 Kalamar with the other group.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Why huge battles are bad
We last played Kalamar on January 25th, so it's only been a month since we last played this game.
The group continued east, after having killed the nomadic worshipers of the Emperor of Scorn and resting for the night.
By mid afternoon, the group of adventurers and their guides saw amongst the hills squarish shapes which they presumed to be buildings. Once they got closer, they saw what appeared to be a small village. They could hear several voices which were talking with each other, and several humanoid shapes walking around.
Once they got close, however, they saw that the humanoids were not exactly friendly. More than two dozen gnolls in armor were in the village. Some were lying on the ground, and some seemed to be deathly ill. Upon seeing the group, a few of the gnolls prepared to defend themselves while others pressed the attack.
Everyone ran for cover behind buildings, behind the well in the center of the village, or behind their less fortunate comrades. Jelena, quick with her bow began shooting gnolls that didn't make it to cover in time. Darwin followed up with a spell that covered the ground in front of the group with a slippery substance.
Gnolls began returning fire with their short bows, while some began circling around, hoping to catch the group unawares.
A group of gnolls was lucky to approach Raizix and one gave him a sound thrashing with his battle axe, and Jelena took an arrow to her leg but both were able to continue fighting. Darwin continued casting spells into the gnolls as well as using his bow. Ember cast a few spells, but mainly used her scimitar.
At one point, it seemed uncertain of the gnolls would press the attack. A few ran up from behind their cover, only to be cut down. The remaining ones fled, leaving their fighting companions behind. When only one remained, he said, "You have bested me. Allow me to die with honor."
Raizix commanded him to drop his weapons, which he did. Raizix then questioned him. It turned out that the gnolls had been brought there by the Witch Lady, and told to attack the group. They were not well prepared for the climate, and after drinking the water in the well, several became sick with a terrible plague. It seems that the wizard Daresh continues to try to stop them indirectly. After questioning him, Ember stabs him in the heart with her dagger, where he dies instantly.
DM Note: I didn't care for this encounter, mainly because it used numbers instead of strength. Throwing several weak creatures at a group of this level is usually ineffective because the only chance they have to hit is with a critical, or nearly so. I tried to play them in a tactical manner, where they could hide behind terrain until they could swarm up. It's also hard to keep track of 30 monsters and all of their hit points. In retrospect, I think I would have replaced the gnolls with less of something stronger, perhaps five or six gnolls with class levels.
The group continued east, after having killed the nomadic worshipers of the Emperor of Scorn and resting for the night.
By mid afternoon, the group of adventurers and their guides saw amongst the hills squarish shapes which they presumed to be buildings. Once they got closer, they saw what appeared to be a small village. They could hear several voices which were talking with each other, and several humanoid shapes walking around.
Once they got close, however, they saw that the humanoids were not exactly friendly. More than two dozen gnolls in armor were in the village. Some were lying on the ground, and some seemed to be deathly ill. Upon seeing the group, a few of the gnolls prepared to defend themselves while others pressed the attack.
Everyone ran for cover behind buildings, behind the well in the center of the village, or behind their less fortunate comrades. Jelena, quick with her bow began shooting gnolls that didn't make it to cover in time. Darwin followed up with a spell that covered the ground in front of the group with a slippery substance.
Gnolls began returning fire with their short bows, while some began circling around, hoping to catch the group unawares.
A group of gnolls was lucky to approach Raizix and one gave him a sound thrashing with his battle axe, and Jelena took an arrow to her leg but both were able to continue fighting. Darwin continued casting spells into the gnolls as well as using his bow. Ember cast a few spells, but mainly used her scimitar.
At one point, it seemed uncertain of the gnolls would press the attack. A few ran up from behind their cover, only to be cut down. The remaining ones fled, leaving their fighting companions behind. When only one remained, he said, "You have bested me. Allow me to die with honor."
Raizix commanded him to drop his weapons, which he did. Raizix then questioned him. It turned out that the gnolls had been brought there by the Witch Lady, and told to attack the group. They were not well prepared for the climate, and after drinking the water in the well, several became sick with a terrible plague. It seems that the wizard Daresh continues to try to stop them indirectly. After questioning him, Ember stabs him in the heart with her dagger, where he dies instantly.
DM Note: I didn't care for this encounter, mainly because it used numbers instead of strength. Throwing several weak creatures at a group of this level is usually ineffective because the only chance they have to hit is with a critical, or nearly so. I tried to play them in a tactical manner, where they could hide behind terrain until they could swarm up. It's also hard to keep track of 30 monsters and all of their hit points. In retrospect, I think I would have replaced the gnolls with less of something stronger, perhaps five or six gnolls with class levels.
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