Post by makofan on Oct 26, 2010 11:08:18 GMT -6
Started a custom White Box campaign with my friend Tom, a D&D veteran for 30 years, his two kids Jacob (Grade 10) and Griffin (Grade 7), and my son Jamie (Grade 9). Jamie has learning disabilities, and problems writing and speaking, as well as the maturity issues common to many special needs children, so this was going to be a bit of a chore for all involved.
We rolled 3d6 in order, using bonuses on 15+ and penalties on 6-. Nobody rolled any 15's, but Jamie rolled a 3 Dexterity! Griffin wanted to play a Dwarf Fighter called "Griff", Jacob played a Halfling Fighter called "Jake", and Jamie decided to play an Elf Fighter Specialist called "Legolas" (I created a Fighter-only elf version that could go to level 5 and could shoot into melee at a -2 penalty). He didn't care that he only had a 3 DEX. Tom created a Human Magic-User called "Merlin".
They hired a non-combatant torch bearer and 3 red shirts, plus bought all the normal paraphernalia, including some wine for healing (I think that comes from FO #2 - when the going gets tough, the tough go drinking). Party was outfitted in Chain, shield and helmet, Griff had a hand axe and war hammmer, Jake had a short bow and a club, and Legolas had a sword and a long bow. Merlin took a staff. Marching order was 2 Redshirts / Griff / Jake Legolas / Merlin Torchbearer / Redshirt.
They entered some stairs that had been found outside of town, and came into a great hall with pillars, and a frog demon statue at the south end. The large statue was holding a stone bowl about 7 feet off the floor, from which came an everlasting flame. There were three other doors in the room. They spent a good deal of time checking for traps and secrets, then abandoned the statue and checked the doors. The standard MO became "three demi-humans listen, then dwarf checks for traps."
Griff heard some sort of scuttling noise behind the north door, and Merlin said to give it a pass - probably insects or spiders, probably not much treasure. They heard nothing from the east door, so opened it and followed to a T-junction with an opposite door. Listening revealed a slow drip - plonk sound. They decided to pass it up in case it was green slime. Continuing north around a corner, they traversed a corridor before barging into a room where five goblins were cowering. Some tense negotiating followed before the goblins bought off the party with 50 gold, and asked them to investigate the scary statues in the next room for them. Off went the party, entering a large room with six garish talking statues. The players really enjoyed talking to the magical statues, and even got into a battle of insults with them. They did find a secret compartment in one of the statues that held gems, and stole them despite the statues' protests. They then entered a romm hidden by a secret door behind one of the statues.
This was a lair of giant rats, who scurried away into holes when they saw the size of the party However, when the party advanced towards the store room that held the rats' food, they swarmed the group! One red shirt had his throat ripped out, and Griff sufffered a nasty bite, but the other mercs rolled a 20 on their morale check and went berserk! The party rested to catch their breath, and Griff drank the bottle of wine and felt much better. They stumbled on a secret passage in the storeroom, where they met an eccentric human who tried to claim he was a prisoner of the rats. Too much intense questioning forced him to snap, and he changed into a were rat. Merlin told Griff, Jake and the two mercs to rush him and grapple. A scuffle broke out, but while they were rolling around on the floor, Merlin took out some belladonna and rammed it down the wererat's throat, killing him, after which they snatched up the loot.
They headed back through the statue room, and decided to go kill the goblins they had met earlier, but they had scrammed. Heading back to the T-junction off the entry hall, they headed south and walked into an ambush. The goblins had fled to their lair, and warned the rest of them. 12 goblins swarmed the players, but Merlin managed to SLEEP ten of them, and Legolas rolled a 20 and put an arrow right between the eyes of the goblin shaman before he could get a spell off. The other two surredered, and the players killed them in cold blood.
* Alignment note. I rule that everybody is Neutral, until/unless they choose to join the side of Law or Chaos. I explained that they could get extra help by choosing a side (powerful magic items become available, powerful NPC friends), but also greater peril (marked by the other side). As of yet nobody has chosen a faction *
They did some more exploration and found stairs down, with a locked steel door at the bottom. They decide to come back later. Next, they entered the dripping room to see a puddle of water and a rusting helmet. They gave it a careful bypass, and stumbled into a room where a few giant ants (2' long) were scavenging. The fighters wanted to slay the ants and adventure in the ant hill. Merlin talked them out of it, suggesting they come back later with lots of oil and burn the ants out. Finally, they wandered down a corridor and had a second redshirt fall in a large pit and break his neck. They decided to call it a day, and headed back to town.
Jacob thought it lacked a bit in excitement, Jamie and Griffin really enjoyed it, and Tom was pleased with the way they didn't do anything stupid and gained half a level.
We rolled 3d6 in order, using bonuses on 15+ and penalties on 6-. Nobody rolled any 15's, but Jamie rolled a 3 Dexterity! Griffin wanted to play a Dwarf Fighter called "Griff", Jacob played a Halfling Fighter called "Jake", and Jamie decided to play an Elf Fighter Specialist called "Legolas" (I created a Fighter-only elf version that could go to level 5 and could shoot into melee at a -2 penalty). He didn't care that he only had a 3 DEX. Tom created a Human Magic-User called "Merlin".
They hired a non-combatant torch bearer and 3 red shirts, plus bought all the normal paraphernalia, including some wine for healing (I think that comes from FO #2 - when the going gets tough, the tough go drinking). Party was outfitted in Chain, shield and helmet, Griff had a hand axe and war hammmer, Jake had a short bow and a club, and Legolas had a sword and a long bow. Merlin took a staff. Marching order was 2 Redshirts / Griff / Jake Legolas / Merlin Torchbearer / Redshirt.
They entered some stairs that had been found outside of town, and came into a great hall with pillars, and a frog demon statue at the south end. The large statue was holding a stone bowl about 7 feet off the floor, from which came an everlasting flame. There were three other doors in the room. They spent a good deal of time checking for traps and secrets, then abandoned the statue and checked the doors. The standard MO became "three demi-humans listen, then dwarf checks for traps."
Griff heard some sort of scuttling noise behind the north door, and Merlin said to give it a pass - probably insects or spiders, probably not much treasure. They heard nothing from the east door, so opened it and followed to a T-junction with an opposite door. Listening revealed a slow drip - plonk sound. They decided to pass it up in case it was green slime. Continuing north around a corner, they traversed a corridor before barging into a room where five goblins were cowering. Some tense negotiating followed before the goblins bought off the party with 50 gold, and asked them to investigate the scary statues in the next room for them. Off went the party, entering a large room with six garish talking statues. The players really enjoyed talking to the magical statues, and even got into a battle of insults with them. They did find a secret compartment in one of the statues that held gems, and stole them despite the statues' protests. They then entered a romm hidden by a secret door behind one of the statues.
This was a lair of giant rats, who scurried away into holes when they saw the size of the party However, when the party advanced towards the store room that held the rats' food, they swarmed the group! One red shirt had his throat ripped out, and Griff sufffered a nasty bite, but the other mercs rolled a 20 on their morale check and went berserk! The party rested to catch their breath, and Griff drank the bottle of wine and felt much better. They stumbled on a secret passage in the storeroom, where they met an eccentric human who tried to claim he was a prisoner of the rats. Too much intense questioning forced him to snap, and he changed into a were rat. Merlin told Griff, Jake and the two mercs to rush him and grapple. A scuffle broke out, but while they were rolling around on the floor, Merlin took out some belladonna and rammed it down the wererat's throat, killing him, after which they snatched up the loot.
They headed back through the statue room, and decided to go kill the goblins they had met earlier, but they had scrammed. Heading back to the T-junction off the entry hall, they headed south and walked into an ambush. The goblins had fled to their lair, and warned the rest of them. 12 goblins swarmed the players, but Merlin managed to SLEEP ten of them, and Legolas rolled a 20 and put an arrow right between the eyes of the goblin shaman before he could get a spell off. The other two surredered, and the players killed them in cold blood.
* Alignment note. I rule that everybody is Neutral, until/unless they choose to join the side of Law or Chaos. I explained that they could get extra help by choosing a side (powerful magic items become available, powerful NPC friends), but also greater peril (marked by the other side). As of yet nobody has chosen a faction *
They did some more exploration and found stairs down, with a locked steel door at the bottom. They decide to come back later. Next, they entered the dripping room to see a puddle of water and a rusting helmet. They gave it a careful bypass, and stumbled into a room where a few giant ants (2' long) were scavenging. The fighters wanted to slay the ants and adventure in the ant hill. Merlin talked them out of it, suggesting they come back later with lots of oil and burn the ants out. Finally, they wandered down a corridor and had a second redshirt fall in a large pit and break his neck. They decided to call it a day, and headed back to town.
Jacob thought it lacked a bit in excitement, Jamie and Griffin really enjoyed it, and Tom was pleased with the way they didn't do anything stupid and gained half a level.
