The Gathering - session three


Once again I found myself running a converted AD&D module for session three of the campaign. Hopefully Living Room Games will churn out more adventures and less accessories, of course only if those adventures are of decent quality. Any way I found that the AD&D module I am using fits fine into Earthdawn and I in all honesty could not use it for AD&D because certain elements of it have been used to death in other modules, I won't of course mention what those elements are but it will be obvious to anyone who has played this AD&D module.

Any how on with the GM commentary. The group had decided to follow Simon's character Mantious as he had a message to meet his old trainer Debreus in Kratas. Along the way I threw in an encounter with Ice Flyers to emphasize the constant winter conditions around them. Mantious spent half the combat on the ground thanks to an Ice Shackles spell, but the group managed to win out in the end. I am starting to think that the Sky Raider discipline is a little unbalanced especially when Wulf used Fireblood to heal himself completely after being rendered unconscious! Wait to he hits 2nd Circle.

At the gates of Kratas they encountered the usual greedy guards who charged them to enter as well as for directions. As Simon put so well in Mantious' Journal, why steal the old fashioned way when you can do it out in the open. The group split up with Mantious and Valantas heading to the Sign of the Fair Warrior, Forge and Van Storme looking for a weaponsmith shop and Wulf investigating the supposed landing of a Sky Raider Drakkar in Kratas.

You can read about Mantious and Valantas' encounter in the Sign of the Fair Warrior in Mantious' Journal but as for the others. Forge cut a deal with a weaponsmith, Van Storme discovered that selling a grimoire is not as easy as it might seem, and Wulf discovered that the Sky Raider moot known as the Stone Claws was in town and went searching for the Captain, one Kargan Stonehammer.

Naturally all returned to the Fair Warrior and stayed the night. The next day Mantious, Wulf, Valantas went to help Johana. While Forge went to work and Van Storme hung out in the inn. Incidentally it seemed that only Van Storme paid any notice to the flyers handed out by the weedy little man in the Fair Warrior and that night he and Forge investigated the nightly meetings of Master Eloch. As for the others, read their antics in..yes you guessed it... Mantious' Journal. At the gathering Forge and Van Storme discovered the crowd enthralled by the speech made by Master Eloch. Forge, lacking any sought of morals whatsoever decided to pick some pockets, after all the people were so captivated by Master Eloch's pointless speech that they didn't notice. When Van Storme tried to approach the tower of Master Eloch in order to sell one of the grimoires he had he was told to return in the morning by some guards with hawk emblems on their tunics.

The next day found the group now consisting of Mantious, Wulf, Forge and Johana deciding to reenter the sewers. Valantas found someone who knew of Galen the elven thief that he was seeking and Van Storme decided not to get his boots wet after hearing of Wulf and Mantious' slippery ride. Must remind Van Storme's player Robert that to gain Legend Points one must perform heroic deeds, staying in the safety of an inn doesn't count.

I would like to mention that the sewer chapter of the AD&D module contained more cliche sewer monsters than a Ravenloft graveyard has undead. I naturally removed them and left one. A Globberog. Once again Mantious spent the whole combat lying on his back after being globbed (boy this is getting old ...huh Simon?). Wulf cleverly used his Fireblood Talent to heal the wound that was draining his blood when he became 'attached' to the Globberog. Some very nice hits from Forge and some burning oil put the monster down. Unfortunately it was too late for Johana's brother but they at least they tried right?

Back at the Fair Warrior Valantas decided to trail the seedy human who warned him to stop looking for this Galen. Well I would just like to say that Atilla, Valantas' player threw a comment of "Do your worst" to me the GM...BIG MISTAKE! When he found himself paralysed in a blind alley at the mercy of a low-life thief he realised why so many players fear Horror Marks. I could have killed him there and then but I have a heart, so I robbed him of his weapons and equipment, which included a certain criminals head worth a 1,000 silver pieces in Throal!

The next day at Van Stormes suggestion they paid Master Eloch's tower a visit. When nobody answered their knocks they decided to do what any law abiding adventurers would do, they broke in! A scuffle with a Stoneman put Valantas in la-la land and at this stage he is still walking around with one hit point off Unconscious.

In the master bedroom of Master Eloch several of the characters succumbed to a Suffocation spell while the others attacked the suddenly appearing Master Eloch. I must add that describing the Nobody Here spell can get a little confusing but the players got the idea at least those that have read the spell. Luckily (for me) Master Eloch managed to make his escape with the aid of a Flying Carpet, but the party has the strange lantern that he used to enthrall the crowd. What they do with it should be amusing.

Well once again another session came to an end, not at the point that I would have liked but sometimes real life and our jobs get in the way of a game (curse you reality!). Next game is this Friday 30th June, chance of party death.... well we shall see.

The Gamemaster - 25/06/00

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