Well how to describe tonight's adventure... madcap would be a good term. This was the first session of the new adventure, currently codenamed Surf Nazis Must Die. It was a fun night, with my gorgeous wife (who had helped me playtest certain elements of the challenges) sitting in to watch.
The adventure started where the last one ended, at Margera Draidoch's house. Chastity sent the party off to visit the great sage Yoogart the Irritable, giving them a yellow ball with which to gain entry and instructions to learn more about these Hengis Forges. Yoogart lives just outside of Sarvern, a small village to the north along the Liffey River (a river barge can take them there).
Leaving Margera's cottage the party ventured north back to Nerris where they were celebrated as heroes for dispelling the arcane winter. Some money was received (dealt with via emails) and the party would be welcome back at anytime. Transport to Sarvern was easily arranged on a river barge.
The river barge journey passed uneventfully until two brigands accompanied by an evil wizard decided they were going to raid the party. A surprisingly tough fight transpired and included knocking a bad guy into the water, however the party reigned supreme. Upon arriving in Sarvern the delighted riverboat captain took them to the local alehouse where he sang their praises long into the night. As a result the party now has guaranteed free passage on any river boat on the Liffey River.
After a boisterous night in the alehouse, the party awoke the next morning and set of for Yoogart's residence. They found the house after heading a few miles east and up a trail. The house was built right on the cliff's edge overlooking the sea, but appeared to have no doors or windows. A small garden shed in front of the building had the only door they could see. Entering the shed they placed the yellow ball in a small marble receptacle, which immediately revealed a door on the north wall.
Entering this door they party found themselves in a huge entry chamber where a massive fire archon greeted them and gave them instructions. To see Yoogart they needed to pass a "challenge of the flesh" or a "challenge of the mind". They would have five tests and must pass three. If they passed and Yoogart answered their enquiry, then they would owe him a debt of service.
The party immediately selected the physical challenge. After pressing a button to select their opponent they found themselves confronted with a mind flayer, who killed them fairly quickly. However due to the magical enchantment of the arena, at the conclusion of the battle the party reappeared alive and at full strength. A second battle against a Guardian Naga went much better, and although the party still lost, they managed to bloody their much stronger opponent. The third test pitted them against a single kobold, who upon his defeat handed them a green ball, indicating they had passed.
The final encounter pitted them against Chastity Marblemill himself, who explained he was also fulfilling his debt of service. He explained that his debt did not require him to wait here when not needed, he was teleported to the arena whenever he had to face a challenge, and was returned immediately upon conclusion. He graciously forfeited his initiative roll to allow the players to go first, and they managed to inflict a little damage on the wizard. However some devastating arcane forces promptly concluded the battle in the first round. Ouch. As he departed Chastity observed the party had had the misfortune of drawing three of the four most difficult opponents, and to not be downhearted.
With this third defeat the party had failed the physical challenge, so they selected the mental challenge.
The first challenge was a word puzzle which they solved with some aplomb, determining the answer to be "deadlocked" and "opened". Hence they moved to the second challenge which required building a bridge to an island - a puzzle which Tom demolished with amazing speed.
Brimming with confidence they moved on to the third puzzle - a number sequence. This stumped them and they could not determine that the numbers were arranged in alphabetical order. So with two wins and a fail as their score they moved on to the next puzzle - to identify the "most unique" design. This puzzle was a paradox - every box had some unique feature except for one of them, which was thus unique as a result of not being unique in any way.
The session ended with the players having a tally of 2 and 2, and needing to to pass their third challenge or fail the testing. If they fail again they have the option of going back into the physical challenge (but with better odds than before, with only two of the top five and four of the bottom five opponents remaining).
XP - no XP awarded at this point in time. Divine Luck points will be updated later (it's my bedtime).
The adventure started where the last one ended, at Margera Draidoch's house. Chastity sent the party off to visit the great sage Yoogart the Irritable, giving them a yellow ball with which to gain entry and instructions to learn more about these Hengis Forges. Yoogart lives just outside of Sarvern, a small village to the north along the Liffey River (a river barge can take them there).
Leaving Margera's cottage the party ventured north back to Nerris where they were celebrated as heroes for dispelling the arcane winter. Some money was received (dealt with via emails) and the party would be welcome back at anytime. Transport to Sarvern was easily arranged on a river barge.
The river barge journey passed uneventfully until two brigands accompanied by an evil wizard decided they were going to raid the party. A surprisingly tough fight transpired and included knocking a bad guy into the water, however the party reigned supreme. Upon arriving in Sarvern the delighted riverboat captain took them to the local alehouse where he sang their praises long into the night. As a result the party now has guaranteed free passage on any river boat on the Liffey River.
After a boisterous night in the alehouse, the party awoke the next morning and set of for Yoogart's residence. They found the house after heading a few miles east and up a trail. The house was built right on the cliff's edge overlooking the sea, but appeared to have no doors or windows. A small garden shed in front of the building had the only door they could see. Entering the shed they placed the yellow ball in a small marble receptacle, which immediately revealed a door on the north wall.
Entering this door they party found themselves in a huge entry chamber where a massive fire archon greeted them and gave them instructions. To see Yoogart they needed to pass a "challenge of the flesh" or a "challenge of the mind". They would have five tests and must pass three. If they passed and Yoogart answered their enquiry, then they would owe him a debt of service.
The party immediately selected the physical challenge. After pressing a button to select their opponent they found themselves confronted with a mind flayer, who killed them fairly quickly. However due to the magical enchantment of the arena, at the conclusion of the battle the party reappeared alive and at full strength. A second battle against a Guardian Naga went much better, and although the party still lost, they managed to bloody their much stronger opponent. The third test pitted them against a single kobold, who upon his defeat handed them a green ball, indicating they had passed.
The final encounter pitted them against Chastity Marblemill himself, who explained he was also fulfilling his debt of service. He explained that his debt did not require him to wait here when not needed, he was teleported to the arena whenever he had to face a challenge, and was returned immediately upon conclusion. He graciously forfeited his initiative roll to allow the players to go first, and they managed to inflict a little damage on the wizard. However some devastating arcane forces promptly concluded the battle in the first round. Ouch. As he departed Chastity observed the party had had the misfortune of drawing three of the four most difficult opponents, and to not be downhearted.
With this third defeat the party had failed the physical challenge, so they selected the mental challenge.
The first challenge was a word puzzle which they solved with some aplomb, determining the answer to be "deadlocked" and "opened". Hence they moved to the second challenge which required building a bridge to an island - a puzzle which Tom demolished with amazing speed.
Brimming with confidence they moved on to the third puzzle - a number sequence. This stumped them and they could not determine that the numbers were arranged in alphabetical order. So with two wins and a fail as their score they moved on to the next puzzle - to identify the "most unique" design. This puzzle was a paradox - every box had some unique feature except for one of them, which was thus unique as a result of not being unique in any way.
The session ended with the players having a tally of 2 and 2, and needing to to pass their third challenge or fail the testing. If they fail again they have the option of going back into the physical challenge (but with better odds than before, with only two of the top five and four of the bottom five opponents remaining).
XP - no XP awarded at this point in time. Divine Luck points will be updated later (it's my bedtime).
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