I will say, from my end, things seemed to be going a mile a minute, but in a good way. This session, once they managed to maneuver to a point where an escape was actually feasible, took off like a rocket and didn't stop. I was very happy with the results. Even dealing with Kathulos having to improvise a few spells on the fly (thanks to the players' better-than-expected performance) didn't eat up too much time. I really like this system...

We had another session last Sunday, the first part of a little something I'm calling "The Lair of the Clockwork God." Trekking across the plains north of the Kasht swamp, our band of escaped prisoners encountered a village, nearly empty, surrounded by untended farms with withered crops. The villagers believed that a haunted canyon upstream from the village was responsible for their sickness and poor crops; it had been an evil place for decades, but recently things had gotten much worse. They believed that a dark god must have awoken there, and its curse was flowing out downstream.

With a little persuading (and an uncut diamond the size of a robin's egg that a foolhardy villager found in the canyon), the group headed into the canyon to check it out, only to discover a group of Bloodless skeleton warriors! A fight broke out, of course, and it was discovered, when one of the skeletons was destroyed, that they were actually elaborate clockworks of some sort, though far beyond the capabilities of anything any of them had heard of.

Once the group knew what they were dealing with, they gained confidence and turned the tide of the battle fairly quickly. Once the skeletons were dispatched, they began to search the canyon for any hidden caves or doors, but instead they discovered something extraordinary - the entire back wall of the canyon was artificial, with the waterfall diverted to come out at the top, and approximately another 150 feet of canyon was covered under a camouflage canopy. I gave them their obvious options for getting inside - they could continue to search the canyon wall in hopes of finding a doorway of some sort, they could try to go upstream through the sluice that feeds the waterfall, or they could probably tear a hole in the canopy - and then we broke for the evening.

I feel I'm starting to get the rhythms of this game better. The big thing I learned this time is that, for lower-powered opponents, armor has a huge effect on their viability. The "skeletons" were toughs, but they had medium armor, helmets, and a small shield (as skeleton warriors often do). That made them tough enough to withstand three or more attacks each. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be a problem - they're a bit softened up, but not hurting, which is kinda what I was hoping for. 

StMichael wrote:

With a little persuading (and an uncut diamond the size of a robin's egg that a foolhardy villager found in the canyon)..,

Well, we're not exactly stalwart hero types. We're unscrupulous rogues, most of us. Or is that just me?

I gave them their obvious options for getting inside - they could continue to search the canyon wall in hopes of finding a doorway of some sort, they could try to go upstream through the sluice that feeds the waterfall, or they could probably tear a hole in the canopy - and then we broke for the evening.

That's probably a bit clearer than it came through end-of-session. Might be worth passing that particular wording along to the group before next session.

I feel I'm starting to get the rhythms of this game better. The big thing I learned this time is that, for lower-powered opponents, armor has a huge effect on their viability. The "skeletons" were toughs, but they had medium armor, helmets, and a small shield (as skeleton warriors often do). That made them tough enough to withstand three or more attacks each. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be a problem - they're a bit softened up, but not hurting, which is kinda what I was hoping for. 

I think you're doing great. We're all of us still getting the hang of the system. Some quicker than others. I'm not entirely convinced that everyone has given the rules a read (or a cursory glance). ;-) I think that the hard part, down the line, will be balancing threats so that the more system savvy players are still challenged without overwhelming the less system savvy players.

I know that I'm still getting used to some aspects. Like I should have prepared my crossbow ahead of time, forgetting that it takes an entire round to do. Once battle was joined, I didn't want to take the time to mess with it. Even considering switching to a short bow or a sling instead.

Last edited by CaptAdventure (8/07/2024 11:23 am)

You'll likely know more about what's going on with the clockworks soon enough! But I'm glad you're having fun, and I'm pretty sure you're right about there being players who haven't cracked the rulebook, but such has always been my lot, so I've grown to tolerate it. I just hope not to bore you and the other veterans too much with my periodic rules exposition. 

I've been remiss! It's been a week, and I never circled back here to tell y'all about Chapter 2 of Lair of the Clockwork God, The Little Kingdom. It was a small group, in particular the two heavies (Cownann and Enhur) couldn't make it, but they managed to advance things quite a bit.

When last we left, Our Heroes had discovered that the rear wall of the "Haunted Canyon" was a fake, and that approximately fifty yards of additional canyon were camouflaged behind that wall. The waterfall was fed by a sluice, with water channeled in from the left and right, and the whole thing was covered by an artificial canopy to prevent detection.

It was easy enough to pry open the canopy, cross the water trough running along the edge of the canyon, and climb down into the hidden compound. Behind the wall, the canyon was filled with a riot of structures - several buildings and awnings on the ground, caves dug into the cliff walls, and a maze of catwalks, hoists, rigging, and a complex network of wires filling the space above them. Moving about, apparently each tending to their own private business, were countless odd devices, each unique, and few in any way humanoid. Some are boxy with multiple legs, others look spider-like, some have wheels or treads, all have some sort of arm or arms with various tools at the ends. They're working on crafts, tending to fires, climbing the walls or through the chaos of rigging. They don't seem to pay much mind to the outsiders.

The group was smart enough not to try to mess with anything while they looked around. Entering the main building, they found what looked like a residence, well-furnished in a Satarlan fashion, extending back into the cliff face via an excavated cave. Back further, they can see what look like libraries and workrooms, but right at the cave entrance is a trophy room containing awards, medals, and busts of Satarlan nobles from three to four generations ago, as well as a bust of an old man, labeled "Ooryphas the Master." 

As they were contemplating how out-of-date everything was, they were startled by a voice from behind. Turning, they beheld the spitting image of that main bust, yet somehow even older, and Ooryphas the Master was demanding to know who had invaded his home. Behind him was a gaunt, angular, robed figure, aparently a bodyguard, with face downcast, arms crossed, and hands folded, who appeared to almost glide over the ground instead of walking.

After some initial awkwardness, they worked out a truce under the divine right of hospitality - the group hadn't actually messed with anything so far, so Ooryphas would agree to treat them, for now, as guests. He turned out to be eager for news of Satarla and dismissive of almost everything else. (So, focused on Laurits, the courtier, who originally hails from there. If he knew that they had left a recently-widowed Satarlan noblewoman back at the village, I bet he'd be... very interested.) On top of that, he seems like a severe misanthrope. Not the greatest host...

As he grills the group for information, he drifts about the compound, checking on the work of his various constructs. It becomes apparent that Ooryphas's creations are unique not just for their ability to seemingly act independently, but for their impressive skills at a number of crafts. The open areas of the compound are given over to crafts of all sorts - metalsmithing, glassblowing, jewelry-making, coopering, and so on. In one of the In one of the caves are his major forges and alchemical laboratories, including a large, intimidating-looking pressured vessel in which Ooryphas is apparently growing a batch of diamonds from scratch. They're not large enough for his purposes yet, they're only about the size of marbles.

They also saw signs that Ooryphas' mining and/or large-scale alchemical experimentation is tainting the water with who-knows-what - the water that flows down to the village and is responsible for the bulk of their "curse" - the blighted crops and rampant sickness.

After taking in the sights, it's time for dinner. Ooryphas apologized for his poor fare - he only eats what his helpers are able to gather from the surrounding area. (I was kind of picturing the dinner scene from Spider Baby for this.) Nymox decided to take the initiative and turn the conversation to the plight of the villagers downstream. The old Master was, predictably, scornful of the fates of common people, declaring that they should be happy he doesn't claim their land and demand rent. The conversation kind of went downhill from their, culminating in Nymox's decision to throw a knife at Ooryphas's face. (Hoping Quathoomar's attention is elsewhere at the moment, or will at least forgive the breach of hospitality against such an obvious jerk.)

Ooryphas eluded the knife and made a break deeper into his caverns, as his Killbot began to spring into action. And... that's where we left off, so that the missing players would be able to participate in the Big Fight Scene (... or is it?)

Again I had a great time running this game. And I've already got a handle on my plot for the next arc in Parsool (Chronicle III: City of Madness! You heard it here first!), where I'll start exploring my ideas on how to get the Sorcerer player's character concept to mesh seamlessly with Lemurian mythology. (It's actually not as heavy a lift as the gnome from my last Greyhawk campaign, and it's work I love...)

Last edited by StMichael (9/08/2024 6:52 am)