Yes, at long last I have begun my epic campaign (or should I said Bill and Clark's) into the legendary dungeon of Rappan Athuk. We just finished our
second session tonight. If anyone out there is interested, I'm going to start cataloguing my campaign here for the amusement of all. Here are all of the
important facts about the campaign:
My House Rules:
1. The only books allowed are the 3 Core Rulebooks for 3.5 (PHB, DMG, and MM I).
2. All PC's were generated using the point buy system from Iron Heroes.
3. All PC's must be Neutral or Good in alignment.
4. If playing a wizard, sorcerer, or paladin, a player may opt to instead take an extra feat vs. having either a familiar or mount (which I think are both quite useless...my players agreed with me).
5. Anyone can take the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (the rationale being that if a fighter depends so much on his magic weapons and armor, he should be able to make them...didn't see this as unbalancing).
6. Damage reduction has been slightly altered, using a sort of hybrid between 3.0 and 3.5. I like the lowered DR numbers (5, 10, or 15 vs. 10, 20, or 40). But I don't like the "DR #/magic" rule. Once PC's get a +1 weapon, they don't ever have to worry about half of the monsters with DR. So any DR with the tag "magic" on the end has now been changed to DR #/ + # (example: DR 5/magic becomes DR 5/ +1, etc.). This keeps the enhancement bonuses of weapons important like in the old editions of the game. Also, monsters such as a Balor with complex damage reduction values (DR 15/cold iron and good are being changed into this: DR 15/cold iron and good OR +5). This doesn't penalize players for not having the "golf bag of weapons" on their shoulders, which I think is kind of ridiculous. +5 weapons should be able to hit anything...am I right, or am I right?
7. Finally, death's door has been changed slightly. Instead of dying at -10, you die when you reach your negative Constitution score (so if the dwarf has a Con of 16, he dies at -16).
Current Player Characters (who are all now Level 3):
1. Talas (Brian)- Male human sorcerer 3. He serves as the "Corian" of the group. And he's not afraid to use "Magic Missile."
2. Tobias (Evan)- Male human rogue 3. The amazing, tumbling, flanking sneak attack of the party who enjoys a little sleight of hand when carrying his drunk "friends" home from the bar.
3. Balin (Evil Marc)- Male dwarf cleric of pelor 3. Played with a Sean Connery voice (which is friggin' hilarious). Only has a 6 Charisma (the worst turning cleric EVER).
4. Voltain (Roland)- Male dwarf monk 3. Carries a "barrel of holding" on his back, and loves to smoke his pipeweed even in combat.
5. Drogo (Josh)- Male human druid 3. Has a wolf companion named Chopper that, with the help of another summoned wolf, has been the MVP of most battles in direct melee.
6. Kaidoh (Rebecca)- Female human fighter 3. "Rebecca...SMASH!" She likes to whack things with her greatsword.
The First Session: Wizard's Amulet
The party journeyed along the perilous route known as the Tradeway, where they encountered an overturned caravan of goblin raiders, a pair of Worgs intent on eating the rogue, and the infamous "farmhouse." Taking too long to deliberate in the farmer's front yard, Vortigern springs his deadly ambush, summoning 6 skeletons, and raising the 5 dead bodies as zombies. Surrounded, the party quickly realizes that my warning of how dangerous this campaign would truly be actually had some weight behind it. The dwarf cleric fails to turn any of the undead with his only Turning attempt for the day, and as a delaying tactic, the druid (or maybe cleric...can't remember) casts "Obscuring Mist" to keep the undead from overwhelming them (and Grenag and Slaaroc from pelting them with arrows). The battle took approximately two hours of real time, and there were moments when it looked like the end for a party member or two. But the druid's rabid use of Summon Nature's Ally I (wolves with Improved Trip working together in pairs keeps even the toughest undead out of the fight and on the ground), and the party's successful tactic of funneling the undead into the farmhouse. Of course, the greatest moment was when the monk and sorcerer (both using melee) successfully killed Talon, Vortigern's familiar (an event I never thought would have actually happened). With his familiar dead and his magic missiles ineffective against the human sorcerer's "Shield" spells, Vortigern flees and commands his two thugs to follow. And that ended the first session.
The Second Session: Crucible of Freya
Quickly dispatching the untrained orcs just outside of Fairhill, the party makes its way into town, where they cause more trouble than necessary. Warming up to the captain of the town guard, a one-armed man named Baran, the PC's learn of the infamous dungeon called Rappan Athuk, the Dungeon of Graves. They are then directed to the Temple of Freya to pay their respects to the town's patron deity. At the temple, things go...well...badly for the party. Balin, the dwarf cleric, curtly refers to Shandril as a "she-elf" (and with his Diplomacy roll of 2, she takes that as an insult). Trying to dismiss the rowdy dwarf to the offering box and then the road, the dwarf then says, "Look, before I go and BRIBE your god with some well-earned copper..." Unfortunately, the rest of his question went unheard, due to all of the players rolling on the floor for about 10 minutes. Needless to say, HE has a -10 to all Cha-based checks when dealing with Shandril. Then the PC's wandered on over to the Market Place, selling their hard-earned loot and haggling over the price of a diamond ring and fancy clothes they found in the overturned caravan from session 1. Walking away with more than they should have (good rolls and great roleplaying), the PC's finally hit up the Green Dragon Inn (no Drunken Cockatrice in my game). Once there, the OTHER dwarf in the party (Voltain the monk) decides to issue a loud-mouthed challenge to all within, betting 20gp that he can take on anyone in a drinking contest (first one to pass out...loses). Accepting his challenge, a large drunk of a man throws in his 20gp, and soon the stakes are raised to 30gp a piece (60gp to the winner). After 11 drinks, Voltain walks away the winner...but soon passes out a moment later. However, the quick intervention of Balin casting "Cure Light Wounds" cures the drunk dwarf of his ailments, and the tavern believes the monk is still sober. A day passes, and as the PC's eat like kings inside the same Inn, orc raiders attack the Temple of Freya, stealing the sacred relic known as the Crucible of Freya and burning the entire structure down to the ground. In hot pursuit, the PC's track the orc leader Kren and his 6 remaining orcs down a secret path leading to Eralion's Keep (the PC's destination). Overtaking them in a well-planned ambush, the PC's recover the Crucible and decide to return to town. However, Baran and Shandril soon beg them to return to the Keep, to at least scout the base out.
And then the great, epic battle most of us know and love began...
My House Rules:
1. The only books allowed are the 3 Core Rulebooks for 3.5 (PHB, DMG, and MM I).
2. All PC's were generated using the point buy system from Iron Heroes.
3. All PC's must be Neutral or Good in alignment.
4. If playing a wizard, sorcerer, or paladin, a player may opt to instead take an extra feat vs. having either a familiar or mount (which I think are both quite useless...my players agreed with me).
5. Anyone can take the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat (the rationale being that if a fighter depends so much on his magic weapons and armor, he should be able to make them...didn't see this as unbalancing).
6. Damage reduction has been slightly altered, using a sort of hybrid between 3.0 and 3.5. I like the lowered DR numbers (5, 10, or 15 vs. 10, 20, or 40). But I don't like the "DR #/magic" rule. Once PC's get a +1 weapon, they don't ever have to worry about half of the monsters with DR. So any DR with the tag "magic" on the end has now been changed to DR #/ + # (example: DR 5/magic becomes DR 5/ +1, etc.). This keeps the enhancement bonuses of weapons important like in the old editions of the game. Also, monsters such as a Balor with complex damage reduction values (DR 15/cold iron and good are being changed into this: DR 15/cold iron and good OR +5). This doesn't penalize players for not having the "golf bag of weapons" on their shoulders, which I think is kind of ridiculous. +5 weapons should be able to hit anything...am I right, or am I right?
7. Finally, death's door has been changed slightly. Instead of dying at -10, you die when you reach your negative Constitution score (so if the dwarf has a Con of 16, he dies at -16).
Current Player Characters (who are all now Level 3):
1. Talas (Brian)- Male human sorcerer 3. He serves as the "Corian" of the group. And he's not afraid to use "Magic Missile."
2. Tobias (Evan)- Male human rogue 3. The amazing, tumbling, flanking sneak attack of the party who enjoys a little sleight of hand when carrying his drunk "friends" home from the bar.
3. Balin (Evil Marc)- Male dwarf cleric of pelor 3. Played with a Sean Connery voice (which is friggin' hilarious). Only has a 6 Charisma (the worst turning cleric EVER).
4. Voltain (Roland)- Male dwarf monk 3. Carries a "barrel of holding" on his back, and loves to smoke his pipeweed even in combat.
5. Drogo (Josh)- Male human druid 3. Has a wolf companion named Chopper that, with the help of another summoned wolf, has been the MVP of most battles in direct melee.
6. Kaidoh (Rebecca)- Female human fighter 3. "Rebecca...SMASH!" She likes to whack things with her greatsword.
The First Session: Wizard's Amulet
The party journeyed along the perilous route known as the Tradeway, where they encountered an overturned caravan of goblin raiders, a pair of Worgs intent on eating the rogue, and the infamous "farmhouse." Taking too long to deliberate in the farmer's front yard, Vortigern springs his deadly ambush, summoning 6 skeletons, and raising the 5 dead bodies as zombies. Surrounded, the party quickly realizes that my warning of how dangerous this campaign would truly be actually had some weight behind it. The dwarf cleric fails to turn any of the undead with his only Turning attempt for the day, and as a delaying tactic, the druid (or maybe cleric...can't remember) casts "Obscuring Mist" to keep the undead from overwhelming them (and Grenag and Slaaroc from pelting them with arrows). The battle took approximately two hours of real time, and there were moments when it looked like the end for a party member or two. But the druid's rabid use of Summon Nature's Ally I (wolves with Improved Trip working together in pairs keeps even the toughest undead out of the fight and on the ground), and the party's successful tactic of funneling the undead into the farmhouse. Of course, the greatest moment was when the monk and sorcerer (both using melee) successfully killed Talon, Vortigern's familiar (an event I never thought would have actually happened). With his familiar dead and his magic missiles ineffective against the human sorcerer's "Shield" spells, Vortigern flees and commands his two thugs to follow. And that ended the first session.
The Second Session: Crucible of Freya
Quickly dispatching the untrained orcs just outside of Fairhill, the party makes its way into town, where they cause more trouble than necessary. Warming up to the captain of the town guard, a one-armed man named Baran, the PC's learn of the infamous dungeon called Rappan Athuk, the Dungeon of Graves. They are then directed to the Temple of Freya to pay their respects to the town's patron deity. At the temple, things go...well...badly for the party. Balin, the dwarf cleric, curtly refers to Shandril as a "she-elf" (and with his Diplomacy roll of 2, she takes that as an insult). Trying to dismiss the rowdy dwarf to the offering box and then the road, the dwarf then says, "Look, before I go and BRIBE your god with some well-earned copper..." Unfortunately, the rest of his question went unheard, due to all of the players rolling on the floor for about 10 minutes. Needless to say, HE has a -10 to all Cha-based checks when dealing with Shandril. Then the PC's wandered on over to the Market Place, selling their hard-earned loot and haggling over the price of a diamond ring and fancy clothes they found in the overturned caravan from session 1. Walking away with more than they should have (good rolls and great roleplaying), the PC's finally hit up the Green Dragon Inn (no Drunken Cockatrice in my game). Once there, the OTHER dwarf in the party (Voltain the monk) decides to issue a loud-mouthed challenge to all within, betting 20gp that he can take on anyone in a drinking contest (first one to pass out...loses). Accepting his challenge, a large drunk of a man throws in his 20gp, and soon the stakes are raised to 30gp a piece (60gp to the winner). After 11 drinks, Voltain walks away the winner...but soon passes out a moment later. However, the quick intervention of Balin casting "Cure Light Wounds" cures the drunk dwarf of his ailments, and the tavern believes the monk is still sober. A day passes, and as the PC's eat like kings inside the same Inn, orc raiders attack the Temple of Freya, stealing the sacred relic known as the Crucible of Freya and burning the entire structure down to the ground. In hot pursuit, the PC's track the orc leader Kren and his 6 remaining orcs down a secret path leading to Eralion's Keep (the PC's destination). Overtaking them in a well-planned ambush, the PC's recover the Crucible and decide to return to town. However, Baran and Shandril soon beg them to return to the Keep, to at least scout the base out.
And then the great, epic battle most of us know and love began...
