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Post by GRWelsh on Dec 26, 2013 10:34:21 GMT -5
BLACKROCK Session Three: We continued to explore the dungeon known as the "Fisher's Guild" (a m-u guild), located in the volcanic mountain wall behind the City of Blackrock in search of one of the Eight Seals. We found and killed a bound demonic entity, a shadow poltergeist, and then ran into a frost dragon, which we released from bondage. It had been enslaved by the guild wizards and was confined in an icy room which had an opening to the sky. In Brian's world, things are not always exactly as described in the MM.
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Post by grodog on Dec 28, 2013 23:24:24 GMT -5
Sounds like more fun, Gary =)
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Post by GRWelsh on Dec 30, 2013 9:37:16 GMT -5
Sounds like more fun, Gary =) Yeah, we've been having a good time with it, Allan. We are using miniatures, and finally making use of the Dwarven Forge terrain sets we've collected over past few years. I have about 4 sets and my friend Brian who is the DM has over 20 sets but sadly we haven't used them before this campaign. They are great for the old dungeon crawl style of play. I should post some pictures. As an aside, a few of us here in the Pittsburgh area have also been buying Hirst Arts molds and lending them to each other and casting with Merlin's Magic plaster. I think this stuff is going to be amazing, once we actually start building things. So far all I've done is casting, but I have the glue and the paint, so all I need is the free time and energy!
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Post by grodog on Jan 3, 2014 15:50:34 GMT -5
Yeah, we've been having a good time with it, Allan. We are using miniatures, and finally making use of the Dwarven Forge terrain sets we've collected over past few years. I have about 4 sets and my friend Brian who is the DM has over 20 sets but sadly we haven't used them before this campaign. They are great for the old dungeon crawl style of play. I should post some pictures. Pictures would definitely be cool: I like DF and HA stuff, but don't really have the room to store them. I'm sure my boys would love playing with them as well as our minis, though. I should pull out some of my old Heritage Dungeon Tiles and use them, next time we play.... As an aside, a few of us here in the Pittsburgh area have also been buying Hirst Arts molds and lending them to each other and casting with Merlin's Magic plaster. I think this stuff is going to be amazing, once we actually start building things. So far all I've done is casting, but I have the glue and the paint, so all I need is the free time and energy! How easy is the casting to do? I've had some friends talk about building stuff from HA molds using dental stone as the medium, but again, they sound too heavy for me to haul to conventions, and I'm sure they take up quite a bit of space.... How much room do your 4 DF sets take up vs. your friend's 20 sets?? I considered hopping on the DF recent Kickstarters for their rubber/plastic/whatever material sets, but again just didn't due to space....
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Post by GRWelsh on Jan 6, 2014 12:18:38 GMT -5
How easy is the casting to do? I've had some friends talk about building stuff from HA molds using dental stone as the medium, but again, they sound too heavy for me to haul to conventions, and I'm sure they take up quite a bit of space.... How much room do your 4 DF sets take up vs. your friend's 20 sets?? I considered hopping on the DF recent Kickstarters for their rubber/plastic/whatever material sets, but again just didn't due to space.... The casting is pretty easy, once you get the right ratio of plaster and water down. Stirring it to death and being patient is the key. Even then there are sometimes problems with small bubbles. That seems to be the most persistent problem I run into. There are vibrating tables to deal with that, if you really want perfect castings every time. You've hit on the big problem with this hobby which is space. 3-4 sets aren't that bad, but 20+ sets stacks all the way up the wall in several columns. If your space is limited, I would say forget it. But 3-4 DF Room & Passage sets might be doable for you, and I think they greatly add atmosphere to any game.
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Post by GRWelsh on Oct 23, 2014 13:25:19 GMT -5
We're still playing the BLACKROCK campaign, every other Friday evening, at my house. But I lost interest in keeping up with summaries of the episodes. We have a party of five characters: a knight (Ray), a mercenary-type (Eric), a druid (Cindy), a cleric (Kate), a half-Drow elven thief (Mark), and a magic-user (me). We've been on a mission to recover the eight "Seals of Fate" -- ancient, god-forged artifacts -- and we've recovered two of them so far: the Frost of Death, and the Breath of Heaven.
The problem with these things is that they tend to possess whoever holds them, or gets near them.
I was possessed by the Frost of Death, before restoring it to its "rightful place" -- as a Seal in the Pit of BLACKROCK. Eric is currently possessed by the Breath of Heaven, which has shifted his character's alignment to lawful.
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BLACKROCK
Oct 23, 2014 16:30:19 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Scott on Oct 23, 2014 16:30:19 GMT -5
What level are you guys at now?
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Post by GRWelsh on Oct 24, 2014 8:55:21 GMT -5
All about 7th level. And super powerful. I have a staff of thunder and lightning. Eric was using his artifact to create a Bigby's Crushing Hand spell to crush the life out of a dragon in the last game. Someone has a +5 battle axe -- I think it is Eric. It is definitely a campaign on the heroic side.
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Post by Scott on Oct 24, 2014 10:54:02 GMT -5
And when will you be DMing next?
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Post by GRWelsh on Oct 24, 2014 13:44:09 GMT -5
I don't know. I definitely want to run a 1st edition AD&D game set in Greyhawk the next time I DM. I have several ideas. One is that I was considering running a game in the afternoon, rather than at night, and on a Saturday or Sunday. Why? To have everybody stay awake through the entire game! Do you notice how we old fogies fall asleep earlier and earlier on the Friday night games?
For about two years, we've been alternating between Brian's BLACKROCK and Ray's CALL OF CTHULHU game, and that has been working out pretty well. But Ray told me after we finish "Masks of Nyarlathotep" he is thinking of taking a break. So, we've been discussing what to do next, who will run the game for that slot. We've had a few ideas: Marvel Super Heroes, reviving Eric's D&D campaign, etc.
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Post by Scott on Oct 24, 2014 13:53:29 GMT -5
A 1E Greyhawk game would be excellent. Even if you wanted to warm up on a one shot adventure, I'd come out on a Saturday afternoon for a game. I'm sure we could get a few other players.
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Post by GRWelsh on Oct 26, 2014 8:01:02 GMT -5
We had some inter-party conflict Friday night. What happened was we were heading towards the Pit in Blackrock to return the "Breath of Heaven" artifact to its socket. There are eight sockets at the bottom of the Pit, one for each of the Seals of Fate. Sil (Mark's thief) successfully pickpocketed Anvil (Eric's fighter) and took the Breath of Heaven, which looks like a fist-sized diamond, and went to put it the socket. Gorwald (Ray's knight) tried to tackle Anvil, but Anvil was too fast and grabbled Sil. Sil tried to throw the Breath of Heaven to Gorward, but missed, so the diamond clattered across the floor. Spariger (my m-u) picked it up, intending to put it in its socket. But I failed my intelligence check against the artifact (equal intelligence at 19, but I rolled a 20, and Brian the DM rolled a 5). I looked at Brian and said, "I guess this means my character now wants to keep the artifact." He smiled and said, "That's right."
Sil tried to lasso Spariger but missed. Then Brian took control and described some things my character did using the power of the artifact, like putting up a Wall of Force, using Move Earth to create a ditch between Spariger and the rest of the party, and finally using Time Stop to get away from them and fly up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, outside of the Pit, we had another confrontation. Spariger, invisible and floating overhead with a fly spell, told the rest of the party to "be reasonable, we can use this artifact to help us get the others and defeat Sindbar" (Sindbar is our arch-nemesis in this campaign, a powerful fighter/magic-user who rides a dragon and is also looking for the other Seals of Fate -- he already possesses one, the Sheathed Sword). The party was having none of this. Spariger, under the influence of the artifact, used the last two wishes on his Ring of Wishes to determine the locations of two other Seals of Fate: at the Canteberry Cliffs and the Fire Peaks, both on the other side of the continent. When he told the party this, it only seemed to harden their resolve against him.
Anvil, looking through Isabella's Gem of True Seeing, spotted where Spariger was and then moved to fire a magic arrow. "Don't make me do this!" Anvil yelled. "I'm not making you do anything," Spariger said, trying to remain reasonable. Anvil fired the arrow; it bounced off an invisible barrier. Spariger had put a hemispherical Wall of Force over the party. Sil looked to see if there was a gap in the Wall near the dock, or if there was a manhole to the sewers, but there was neither. Spariger told the party he did not intend to hurt them, but only to protect himself. He also told them he wasn't possessed by the Breath of Heaven, and there was no downside to using it to help them acquire the other artifacts. Spariger's idea was to go down to the outer docks and find a seaworthy ship to sail to the Canteberry Cliffs and continue the quest. But they were having none of it! "Stop talking!" Gorward yelled, "We've heard all of this before!" Now visible from casting the Wall of Force, Spariger floated higher and out of range of Sil's lasso. He ended the Wall of Force.
Meanwhile, Lumen (Cindy's druid) and Isabella (Kate's cleric) got onto a boat and started rowing away. They both agreed with Spariger that they should use the Breath of Heaven, rather than put it into the socket right now. Lumen gestured for Spariger to fly towards them. Spariger flew to them and landed in the boat. Sil lassoed the boat, but Lumen cut the rope. A divided party! Spariger, Lumen and Isabella rowed downriver, until they came to the gates of the city. Just outside the gates was an abandoned house, and they decided to rest there and set up a watch.
Sil, Anvil and Gorward followed along on foot, briefly exploring one of the other city's abandoned areas before moving on to the city gates. They had caught up with the rest of the party. Whoever was on watch spotted them. That's where we left off.
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Post by GRWelsh on Oct 26, 2014 8:29:32 GMT -5
There are a couple of interesting wrinkles to this situation.
Technically, the Breath of Heaven does not possess anybody. But if you fail your intelligence check against it, your "mind is changed." Also, each use of its spell-like powers gradually shifts your alignment towards its own, which is lawful good.
The Breath of Heaven can communicate telepathically with its bearer, and (it says) it will willingly go into its socket once either the other Seals of Fate have been recovered or Sindbar is defeated. According to it, there is no downside to the bearer possessing it. Its motivation seems to be to help save the world. Recovering all eight Seals of Fate and replacing them into their sockets in the Pit is what will save the world.
Brian did not think we would end up fighting about this. But when he took control of Anvil and Spariger at certain points, and told us what we did do and wouldn't do, I think it created a perception that these characters were possessed, or at least under the control of, the artifact. Eric was not happy about having his character's alignment forcibly shifted from chaotic neutral to lawful good, with no saving throws involved in that process.
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Post by Scott on Oct 27, 2014 21:28:55 GMT -5
Sounds like a good plot.
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