The Third Edtion Campaign:

Adventure 8: Bandits

Date: 7th March, 2001

The adventurers are:
* Anton De Mail, human, Fighter 5 (John)
* Emma, human, female, Paladin 5 (Nigel)
* Curly Greenleaf, Human, male, Druid 4 (Mark)
* Leith, human, male, Rogue 3/Fighter 2 (Trev)
* Douglas Deemitri, Dwarf, male, Bard 4 (Dale)

Adventure Details

Emma and Anton are summoned to the Church in Hommlet to see Emma's mother, the canoness Y'Dey. She informs her daughter that she has to go away on a top secret mission for the church that she will be away for some months, if not a year or more. However, the archbishop of Stormhaven has decided to send a replacement, who then enters...

"Greetings brother" says the stranger to Anton as he enters.
At which point Anton leaps at the throat of his brother, Jaeger, but is restrained but several acolytes, before being ordered out of the church by the Canoness. Later, after trying to settle things down in the Church, Emma finds him still fuming at the Inn of the Welcome Wench and finds out what the problem is.

Apparently back in their homeland of Druthnia Jaeger was a well respected official in the church but was corrupted to the dark side and became involved in an evil cult. Anton found out and rescued his young sister who was going to be sacrificed by Jaeger, but after the horrors she endured is now mute and a lifeless husk, unable to recognise or respond to anyone. In the ensuring battle, a second brother (also being tempted to the cult) was killed by Anton and although he saved his sister, he was ostracised by the family and exiled as they refused to accept his versions of events. It seems that Jaeger has managed to not only come out of the mess with his reputation intact but it also seems to have increased his standing in the Church to boot.

So now the head cleric (and the PCs chief source of healing, in Hommlet is gone, only to be replaced by an evil priest who has the full protection of the Church! Trying to prove him guilty should be an interesting challenge for the PCs! Anyway back to the adventure

. Emma also went and saw the dwarves and Durin Silverhamme, the dwarven clan leader, asks her to look after a young dwarf who is driving the elders mad. Apparently the young dwarf is a bard who loves to play the gong [enter one crazy sex starved, adolescent dwarf of the dwarven equivalent of a Scottish/Russian background, who's main aim in life appears to be getting into the pants of the paladin, Emma. Thus we have another role playing masterpiece from Dale].

Rufus, one of the two town elders approaches Anton and asks him to go scouting for some bandits that have been disrupting trade between Hommlet and Stormhaven of late. He says that given the tension in town at present maybe it would be a good idea if he left for a while and let things cool down. Anton agrees so gathers together his comrades and they head off.

By the end of the day they have arrived at a small farming community near where the latest attack took place and rest up in the farmers barn. The next morning the adventurers are lead to the site of the last attack by the farmer who tells them there is an old elven ruin a few miles into the hills in the general direction that the raiders took and that maybe they should check that out. After getting more concrete directions to the ruin from the farmer they part company and head off into the hills.

Things are going well until midmorning when 2 owlbears charge out from their ambush site in the undergrowth and attack. The two creatures are soon slain but not before Curly Greeenleaf and Anton are both wounded. Curly goes down and starts writhing on the ground in absolute agony. Anton and the others go to see what the problem is, just as he rises as a wereboar and attacks!

Now the shit hits the fan as the party try to subdue the ferocious boar. The boar charges Anton. "Bring it on Pork chops," the fighter defiantly replies.

Douglas spends much of the fight on his Incredible Armoured Mobile Chest (IMAC- a dwarven invention, basically a cross between an iron chest and a wheel barrow and the dwarves answer to farmer Bill Gates wheelbarrow monoploy with his Woodsoft brand wheelbarrows) Douglas alternately trying to install bravery in his comrades with his gonging or fascinatation in the wereboar. Early in the battle he casts a minor image of a plate of truffles turns to the boar and says... "Fetch!" When that doesn't work he says "Anyone got a sausage?" having confused boars with dogs.

In the end the rest of the party prevail and both Emma and Anton land telling (subdual) blows that fell the beast. Most of the battle though nobody could get through he boars damage reduction as most of the party lacked enchanted weapons (and those that didn't were trying to subdue him). During the fray both Anton and Douglas were wounded by the boar and thus they too are now susceptible to lycanthropy...

When he awoke Curly knew nothing of what had happened from the time the owlbear attacked and refused to believe the others as to what happened. At this point Anton says, "Is there anyone else in THIS party with anything in their background that they'd like to tell us?"

The party uses up all their healing spells and heads off to the ruin [DMs note: I thought thy would have rested up to regain spells but no, not them...] and, once located, investigate the old ruin.

They find stairs in the centre of the ruin and wander down. At the bottom there is a curtain and as they open it several arrows are fired at them (the bandits had plenty of time to hear them coming). A battle ensures with the bandits (cultists). Once again it is touch and go as the party are low on spells and already wounded. Leith's sharp shooting takes care of several of the lesser guards but the two spell casters are another matter. He is hit by a barrage of magic missiles and a flame arrow. Anton and Emma are also badly wounded. Anton sees and opening and charges the two magic users lurking at the back of the room wounding them both only to be dropped by a magic missile from one of them (he'd taken a lot of damage fighting three bandits). The other one unleashes a lightning bolt which drops Emma and Curly. The last warrior is dropped by Leith just as he was about to chop Emma's head off, while Douglas drags the unconscious Emma back outside. Anton also manages to carefully crawl away as the wereboar (for that is once again what Curly has become) tears up the bodies and anything that moves in the room. The survivors flee back to the treeline and spend an uncomfortable night perched in trees, while Curly wakes up bruised, battered and naked, the following morning in a copse. An hour or so after dawn Leith manages to find the confused druid and leads him back to camp.

Note: This was one fun adventure: Lots of excellent role-playing, poor planning and, as a result, mayhem. The screws really got turned up a notch and players background stories are starting to come back to haunt them, and make life interesting for the DM!

Adventure 9: Here a boar, there a boar, everywhere a wereboar!

Date: 13th March, 2001

The adventurers are:
* Emma, human, female, Paladin 5 (Nigel)
* Curly Greenleaf, Human, male, Druid 4 (Mark)
* Leith Blackstaff, human, male, Rogue 3/Fighter 2 (Trev)
* Pyhphor, human, male, wizard 5 (Dale)

Adventure Details
Anton and Douglas returned to Hommlet while Phyphor joined the others (most of whom were still down on hit points) on their next assault on the bandits tower.

This assault was very similar to the first. They started to advance towards the ruin only to be fired upon by marksmen so they charged, or some did. Leith killed one marksman but the second one retreated to cover and warned the rest of the towers inhabitants- who had plenty of time to plan a surprise or two. Leith moved down the stairs only to set off a trap just before Emma was struck, and all but killed by a lightning bolt (-10, only rapid intervention saved her!). After a brief fight the survivors fled, carrying Emma with them, back to the farmers hovel to rest up and lick their wounds.

A few days later, suitably rested, they made another foray into the tower, and Leith again failed to spot the warning trap. Battle broke out and things were going well until Curly was struck in combat, then things rapidly turned to custard for the wereboar returned and started to make a mess of everything in sight. Emma managed to slay one wizard by lopping off his head but Leith ran into trouble with a bandit warrior and was soon fighting for his life. At one point the bandit rolled a 21 to hit so Trev- the player- needed to equal it to parry. He rolled and totalled up his bonuses " Whoohoo! 20..."(dramatic pause while the maths sunk in) "DOH!"
He ran into even more trouble when the wereboar attacked him from behind and he was forced to flee at high speed (having just ben infected with lycanthropy!). The remaining spell caster cast a stinking cloud but it backfired as it was only his followers (and Phyphor) who succumbed to the spell.

Again the survivors fled for the woods and hid up trees while, just in case the wereboar (once he'd finished in the tower) returned.

The next day the final assault took place. The dead bandits had been animated as zombies but they were no match for the adventurers and soon the bandit's wizard leader was fleeing for his life. He fled through a portal to a strange city with elven like spires which the party refused to enter. Instead they stripped the bodies and searched the tower- finding one spellbook and a couple of scrolls in the process. After figuring out how to open the portal they returned to Hommlet to report while Curly took to the hills as he knew that the full moon was approaching.

Burne and Rufus thanked them and paid them but ordered them to track down the bandit leader, learn what was beyond the portal and what the bandits were up to. Then Emma went to Durgeddin's Forge to inform Durin Silverhammer that Douglas might be a wereboar as might Leith. The dwarves quarantined them both in a chamber deep under ground, the stone door of which was reinforced and securely barred. Durin then refused to let them leave least they begin an epidemic. After the full moon had passed (and they were indeed afflicted with the curse) Emma managed to convince Durin to let them accompany her to Stormhaven to get a cure from the archbishop. Eventually Durin, grudgingly, agreed but only if she promised to have them back before the next full moon if she was unable to find a cure....

Adventure 10: Buring down the House! (Or should that be barn?)

Date: 23rd March, 2002

* Emma, human, female, Paladin 5 (Nigel)
* Leith Blackstaff, human, male, Rogue 3/Fighter 2 (Trev)
* Pyhphor, human, male, wizard 5 (Dale)
* Anton De Mail, human, male Fighter 6 (John)

Adventure Details
The adventurers spend several weeks training in Hommlet. During that time four elves are brought to town by a company of guards from Stormhaven. The elves are locked up in the cells beneath the Church to await trial. While they wait a gallows is erected in the main square.

Two days later there is a mock trial presided by Jaeger de Mail at the four elves are all found guilty of spying and are sentenced to death by hanging the next morning.

The following morning many of the townsfolk assemble in the main square as the prisoners, amidst tight security, are taken to the gallows. Some villagers throw fruit at the condemned but most just watch silently. After they have been offered any last requests the elves are hanged.

Emma and Phyhor stand amongst the crowd. Phyphor makes a comment about elves in the hearing of Leith who takes offence. As Emma and Phpyor discuss the moral implications of the executions for the paladin, Leith sneaks up and hits Phphor over the head with a sap. A second blow knocks Phyphor unconscious and Emma tries to apprehend the culprit. From the gallows Jaeger calls on guards to arrest the trouble maker but Leith flees out of the village, adding the crime of failing to stop for the law to the charges of assault and disturbing the peace. Before long the list of charges would grow....

Two days later two guards are ambushed and killed by the vengence seeking rogue. Burne takes none too kindly to the death of his troops and begins to scry Leith. He learns that Leith is going to set fire to a barn on the outskirts of town that night so asks his comrades to stop him. They soon hatch a plan while Leith and the bandits that he has joined also plan their raid.

That night the bandits creep towards the barn while the ambushers wait. Leith silences the outer guards but not before the vigilant Emma has alerted the others. Pyphor, hiding in the barn begins casting protective enchantment's, while Anton charges Leith and his two companions. A brief melee ensures as bandits attack from several angles but are driven off by the Winter Wolves aided by the remaining three guards, one of whom turns out to be a crack shot (two twenties with his first two crossbow bolts). As soon as he realises it is a trap Leith flees as do the remaining bandits. Not a single PC was injured in the battle, the wizard Phyphor spent the three rounds of combat (all it took) in the barn casting protective spells on himself and by the time he emerged, ready for battle, it was all over. Two bandits were killed, two captured (one of whom fell into a pit trap dug by the party) and the rest scattered into the night. Thanks to some truly woeful dice rolling only one oil flask hurled by the bandits (out of about 12 thrown) landed on the roof of the barn but because the day had been spent dousing the thatch in water the fire was quickly contained.

The two prisoners are questioned and they soon divulge the location of the bandit camp so Anton, Emma and Phyphor, accompanied by ten soldiers race to the location but by the time the arrive the bandits have already scattered.

All that is left is a note pinned to a tree which reads

Better like next time Sis.

Amy.

Emma flies into a rage as she realises that she narrowly missed capturing her own twin sister.

And here the campaign ended.

I must say that the battle for the barn was a highlight. I was acting as referee between two different groups of PCs. Each got a map, the defenders noted their positions and informed me of defensive precautions they'd taken while Trev planned his assault. Then on a third map I revealed dispositions as they become known and battle commenced.

Notes
This rather brief campaign had some of the best role-playing I've seen in a long, long time. The character interactions were brilliant and there were many classic moments that I shall not forget in a hurry. Indeed the players don't want it to end but alas it has. The role-playing between the characters was the main reason that I kept it going so long, after a few sessions I began to realise that they system (3rd Edition) wasn't really the way I enjoy playing AD&D and I could see things escalating out of control unless I kept a tight rein on the PCs (by halving XPs for example). The more I played 3rd edition then more I realised that it wasn't my cup of tea. For the players the system is smooth and stream lined but at the expense of the DM requiring more work to flesh out the stat lines, feats and skills of the NPCs and monsters. Rather than make the game freer flowing it seemed to make the DMs job more burdensome, which coupled with the feats and skills system (which the DM has to memorise to be able to run the NPCs effectively) it seemed more effort than I for one was prepared to put in to learn a new game. The whole concept of feats seems fine but the more I played 3rd edition the more I realised that the direction of the game have taken a big swing in the favour of power gaming. As one player said it only becomes a problem if the DM lets it, but I began to realise that I shouldn't have to try to curb on potentially ridiculous feat combinations and that it wasn't me but the system itself which was at fault. Many people may like the new "stream-lined " D&D, I know my players do, but I for one don't. Don't get me wrong there are elements of the game that I like and will take on board and modify for my own (original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game ) in future but overall I can't say that I am taken with the "new and improved" D&D, at least from the point of view of a DM. For a start I don't like the combat system or the feats. The more I DMed the more I realised that there is a game that I've been playing for years that I do enjoy playing, 1st edition AD&D. I know I'll continue to play 3rd Edition as a player but I really don't have the time, patience, or enough interest, to master the new version. I've an old faithful system that is still workable, which may have problems (after all, all games do) but which I can use to run my old "classic" adventures and which (most importantly) I do enjoy DMing.

I do feel sorry for John, Mark, Dale and Trev (as well as the part-timers Logan and Bryce) as I know that they all loved the game and really put a lot into their characters but I for one just can't see me running a 3rd edition game when the characters are getting towards mid-levels, so have bowed out. I do feel like I've let them down and feel bad for cutting off what was developing into a truly great role-playing campaign but I'd rather it ended on a high note, and who knows in future somebody else might take on the mantle of DM and Anton, Emma, Phyhpor, Curly, Cammeron and, yes even Leith, may get to adventure again.

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Monday, 22 April 2002