Jungle: Movement and Clearing

Movement

• Jungle: 1/2 mile per hour; 1/2 mile per 2 hours if clearing.
• Cleared Jungle: 1 mile per hour.

• Stealth mode: in uncleared jungle x3 times as long; x2 times as long in cleared jungle. Cannot be clearing jungle.
• Search mode: x2 times as long.

Clearing

Per hex cleared, roll d20 on roll of 1 or 2, clearing weapon gains 1 dull mark.

Dulled Weapons

Reduce damage by 2 per dull mark. If weapon receives enough dull marks that (non-modified) damage cannot be greater than 0, weapon becomes worthless.

Repairing Dulled Weapons

A successful DC 15 with smith's tools will remove 1 dull mark.

New Weapon 

Machete 12 gp; 1d6 damage; 2 lbs; light, Dulls only on a 1

Drama Cards Changes

The Drama Cards (see here) have been a big hit. I just have one issue with the current mechanic. Currently and understandably only the more powerful cards are being used as the players can only use so many cards in a session and there is no downside from using a more powerful card over a lesser one.

So for now I'm making the following changes. Per session usage is no longer based on number of cards but on points. There are four categories of cards: copper, silver, gold, and platinum. To use a card costs a number of points based on the category: copper: 1, silver: 2, gold: 3, and platinum: 4. The number of points each PC has depends on his level.

I'm sure the players will be a little disappointed.

Character Level	Max # of Drama Cards in Hand Per Session	# of Points Per Session
1-2	4	2
3-4	5	3
5-6	6	4
7-8	6	5
9-10	7	6
11-12	8	7
13-14	8	8
15-16	9	9
17-18	10	10
19	10	11
20	12	12

Session 2015-07-12: As told by Roland Red Oak

July 12, 2015 Session Notes:

From the Diary of Roland Red Oak, acolyte of the Karlsburg druid circle.

A few days ago I hired a local mercenary, named Thagmar, to help shepherd pilgrims to the holy oak grove a couple of miles from Karlsburg. During our travels he told me of the group of adventurers he had joined and that some of their number had gone missing. It wasn’t until he mentioned the town of Orlane that I became interested. Archdruid Ferdinand had confided in me that our circle had not heard from the Orlane Temple of Desonia for some time and he was becoming concerned. When I approached him with Thagmar’s information, I was told to accompany him and any fellow adventurer’s we could gather and head to Orlane to investigate the town.

Before we left, Thagmar introduced me to, two of his companions. A halfing bard named Milo and a dwarven mage named Draven over a fine dinner and ale from a local tavern. During our conversation they both shared Thagmar’s concern for their missing companions and we agreed to set off first thing in the morning. Before retiring for the evening our small group was approached by an elven bounty hunter named Ouasi and his half-orc shield bearer (pack mule?) named Borg. They had overheard us talking about going to Orlane and the bounty hunter stated that they were seeking a local bandit who may have fled in the direction of Orlane and they asked to accompany our group. We agreed and retired to our rooms for the evening. (Strangely, the bounty hunter and his companion chose to sleep in a tent instead of a warm bed in the inn. Too each their own, I guess).

It should be noted that the bounty hunter and his friend purchased a large amount of silvered weapons; they seem to be expecting A LOT of trouble. Should I be concerned? Are we walking into a werewolf den or does he just like shiny things, like a magpie?

As we traveled down the road we over took a pair of travelers on the road to Orlane, a monk named Nengan and his cousin Tsiakune. They had been wondering the land looking to help the good people of Karlsburg in any way they could. Once introductions were made, we all agreed to continue on our journey.

We arrived around dusk at the town of Orlane from the west; from there we approached the Golden Grain Inn. A small establishment, populated with local farmers and merchants. We spoke briefly with the inn keep and asked about the missing adventurers. The inn keep assured us that the group had not been through the town. The rest of the patrons were also unfriendly and seemed in a stupor. However, we did learn the location of the local constable, a general store, and the location of the Temple of Desonia.

We decided to pay the constable a quick visit and see if he would be more helpful than the rest of the town folk we had met so far. His name was Donavon and he seemed normal enough, when asked about our friends he stated that the he was unaware of any travelers and they could have easily perished in the swamps around the town. Very upset and concerned the group left the office, that is when Milo informed us that he felt the constable was lying. A feeling of unease had settled on the group, deciding to not confront the marshal we visited the general store instead.

When we entered the general store we were greeted by the proprietor, Trawler. When asked about our friends he stated that he had not seen any such group. Once again detecting a liar, Milo attempted to bribe Trawler for information. At this point, events turned for the worse as three thugs emerged from the rear of the shop with loaded crossbows pointed at the group. Thagmar tensed for battle and uttered a low menacing growl as he prepared to launch himself at the crossbowmen. However, Nengan suddenly appeared in front of Trawler and his hand burst into flame, eyes glowing with fire and fury, he threatened to burn the old man to ash if they didn’t back down. I am not sure if it was the sight of the monks wrath or the armored form of his cousin that convinced him, but the group backed down. Sufficiently cowed by the experience, Trawler confided in the group that our missing friends had been through the village about 10 days ago and had visited the temple and had not returned. The group gathered our gear and headed to the temple.

We arrived at the temple just prior to closing and found an acolyte in the main entrance. Milo confronted the priest and “convinced” him that it would be in his best interest to take the group to the high priest. The acolyte took the group to the top floor, when we entered the first room, he attempted to flee. Milo leaped up and cracked the priest in the back of the head, dropping him to the floor like a sack of flour. Thagmar attempted to move the unconscious priest out of the entrance and somehow triggered a trap causing eight skeletons to charge the group from the back of the room. A short but furious battle ensued with the group eliminating the skeletons; of note, was the ferocity that Thagmar fought with. He downed three of the undead with mighty swings of his axe. 

After the battle Milo woke the priest and “convinced him” (personally I never knew haflings could be so terrifying) to take the group to the high priest. Shaking in his robes and being frog marched by Negen, the acolyte led the group towards the high priest. I could not believe what I saw next, a torture room, in a sacred temple of Desonia! I was so angry that I struck the acolyte for blasphemy and surely would have run him through if not for the sudden appearance of eight lizard men like creatures.

The battle opened with the group dropping four of the foul creatures in the opening moments of combat. What appeared to be a quick scrimmage, turned into a near route when two more joined the attack, the high priest and a dragonborn warrior. Thagmar, Milo, and Draven immediately recognized Froc, one of their missing companions. However, Froc did not recognize them and quickly vomited a thick stream of acid that struck both Borg and Quasi (the damage was horrible). Additionally, the coward acolyte found his spine and attacked Draven from behind. Combined with Thagmar succumbing to a command spell and fleeing the area, the group looked in dire straits.

Just as things appeared to turn for the worst, Milo put Froc to sleep with a spell and just as quickly the battle turned in our favor. Especially, when Draven blasted the high priest with a witch’s lightening spell. Even after the high priest succumbed to his wounds, Draven continued the assault. Quasi standing over the very dead and very crispy high priest summed things up the best with, “I think he is dead now.” Of note was Negen, the monk slaughtered three of the lizard men with a combination of fire and steel.

The group having witnessed to many horrors and being bloodied from the recent encounter decided to recover and take a short rest. After binding our wounds and catching our breath we decided to check the high priests quarters (in addition to being a snake worshiping blasphemer he is an incredibly messy house keeper). We found strange carvings on his desk of “snake mother” and “crocodile has many teeth” repeated over and over again in a shaky script.

During our search of the quarters Milo found a secret door that led to a secret room. Dominating the room was a giant statue of a jade snake with a woman’s head. Chained to the wall was Tiefling male named Eben and a young female held in a cage. Eben informed the group that he had been part of the group that visited the temple with Froc, Vroc, and Anders. He informed the group of the ill-fated expedition to the temple and how they had been captured. The young woman explained what had been happening in the town since the snake worshippers had come. Eben and the young woman rested in the high priests chambers and kept an eye on the acolyte while the group finished exploring the temple.

The group returned to the second floor to finish exploring the temple in an attempt to find the source of the corruption and evil that had permeated the city of Orlane. A trap door on the first floor led to narrow, dark tunnels underneath the temple. Quasi scouted ahead of the group and just as he rounded a corner a very large beast thing jumped from the shadows and attacked, Quasi parried the first blow but was struck with a vicious follow up attack. The group joined the battle and after flurry of attacks the monster dropped after being run through from behind by Tatsumi.

The group ventured deeper into the tunnels when Quasi stopped the group because he had identified some shrieking mushrooms. The group silenced them before they could raise an alarm. This allowed us to sneak up on a final group of the lizard men, we made quick of the defilers.

Unfortunately we could not find the source of the corruption, so we gathered up Eben, the female captive, the acolyte, and Froc (tightly bound and muzzled) and left the temple to find a hermit named Ramme that had helped the original group. Ramme explained that the original group was taken to the swamp, minus Anders (no one knows what has happened to the thief, has he escaped?). Ramme pledged aid when we are ready to venture into the swamp.


Thanks to Chris for writing it.

Drawing a weapon

From the Player's Handbook page 190:

You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free, during either your move or your action. For example, you could open a door during your move as you stride toward a foe, or you could draw your weapon as part of the same action you use to attack.

And from pages 190 & 191:

Standing up takes more effort; doing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your speed.

So my thinking is that as a trained adventurer surely one could draw a weapon as quickly as getting up off the ground. So here is what I'm going to rule regarding drawing a weapon.

Anyone can draw one weapon as a free action as stated above. If character has already used their free action and wishes to draw a weapon that they are proficient with, they may use half their movement speed to draw that weapon. If a character has less than half of their movement remaining or the they are not proficient with the weapon they wish to draw, then they must perform the Use an Object action as normal. 

You may also use your Bonus Action - should you have one - to draw any weapon.

Modification to Ranger

Favored Enemy

Whenever performing an attack with a weapon against your favored enemy you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll. At 14th level you add double your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll.

Rolling for Ability Scores

Here is how I will handle rolling of ability scores.

Roll 4d6 dropping the lowest value and re-rolling any 1s. Do that a total of six times. Assign the scores to the six abilities as desired.

This rolling must be done in front of me. Not that I think anyone is untrustworthy. But if someone brings in a character with very high scores, the thought is going to be in the back of someone's mind. This could lead to future problems. I just want to avoid all that. Thanks.

Session #4 Report - A Dark Day

Players and Characters

 

Chris

Anders Blackwood (2nd level Half-elf Rogue)
Eben Mourningfire (1st level Tiefling Sorcerer)

Brian

Frocensin Verth (1st level Dragonborn Fighter)
Vrocesin Verth (1st level Dragonborn Cleric - Life Domain)

With only two players and half of the available PCs still being first level it was decided to venture to the Temple of the Moon. 

What Happened

Notes: 
Text in italics is out of character comment.  

During a downtime of 10 days, Anders trained to be 2nd level. Eben and Vroc used their skills to earn some extra coins.


Previously the party had discovered a map inside the Mount of the Red Doors.

Unfortunately they had no idea where Gloris was located. They asked the bartender - Mitcherlitz - of the inn where they were staying in Karlsburg. He informed them that Gloris was a name he had not heard in some time. It's now called Orlane and is a day's journey to the east. He also said the villagers had a reputation was be a very unfriendly. Overhearing this conversation was a farmer by the name of Blentz. Blentz told them that the people in Orlane were being altered and the "changelings" could be recognized by fang marks on their throats. He also said a resident of Karlsburg, Old Man Skeeter had a brother that lived in Orlane.

Old Man Skeeter stated he last heard from his brother Rolo in a letter two months ago. The party asked if Skeeter would like for them to deliver a message. Which he did and told them thanks.

The party reached Orlane near dusk. On a hill in the northeast part Orlane is a 20 foot high stone wall in the shape of a square measuring 200 by 200 feet. They decided to hide on the outskirts of town and watch during the night for any unusual activities. As chance would have it. While being to far and too dark to make out much detail, shortly after midnight they saw a small group of humanoid shape beings talk towards the stone wall gates. The group stopped at the gate waiting a minute or two before the gate opened and they proceeded to enter. Around four in the mourning the gate reopened and a group about half the size of the original exited. Later that morning they entered town. 

They come across the local carpenter's shop. There is several example of finely crafted items. However, the table the man was currently working on was of rather shoddy workmanship. They asked about Rolo. The carpenter seemed to be almost dazed. Often staring into the distance.  He does tell them that Rolo used to live across the street. Has no idea want happened to Rolo. The carpenter has obviously been sniffing his wood stain.

Sneaking into Rolo's place they discovered it to be abandoned with evidence that the residence left suddenly and signs of a struggle in the bedroom. They also rediscovered under the back porch a sack of coins and a jade statue of the goddess Desornia (agriculture).

Next they come across the boarded up and abandoned Foaming Mug Inn.

They encounter a few rude and/or unfriendly villagers that firmly instruct the party to continue on their way. None had any idea want happened to Rolo.

They find the village store whose proprietor was the first fully "aware" and friendly person they met. He offered the party some wine, which Froc accepted but never drank. The players notice it's well stocked. Has no idea want happened to Rolo.

They eventually meet Killian Gade, who warns them about the Golden Grain Inn and the 2 strangers living across the street. Also tells them the a couple months ago, shopkeeper and his family up and disappeared, gone for a fortnight, then they came back. Didn't even leave anyone to mind the store. Has no idea want happened to Rolo.

They enter the Golden Grain Inn, they find a subdued clientele. The barkeep seemed friendly enough. Informed them he moved outside of Adamas.

Party goes to Inn of the Slumbering Serpent where they met Belba Cralloon and her husband Ollwin both very friendly and expressed concern about Rollo. Ollwin tells them if they wish get to the bottom of what's going on in town, they should talk to the hermit Ramne. The party rents some rooms at the Inn then visits Ramne.

With a good word from Ollwin, they convince Ramne that they have the village's best interest at heart and are willing to discover what is going on. He tells them he believes some sort of cult his behind the strange changes to the village. He believes people are kidnapped and taken to the Temple of Desornia, some return some don't. Those that return behave differently. He tells them to avoid the Golden Grain Inn, blacksmith, village store, carpenter. Party tells them about what they saw last night. Ramne believes it was another victim of the cult and if the person returns it will probably be today. This convinces the party to attempt a rescue today. 

He is too frail to go with them but he does grant three things: He allows his pet weasel, Wiskers to go with the party - he is a very good tracker, a wand of dispel magic, and a wand of globe of invulnerability. Ramne states each wand only has one charge remaining so be sure to use wisely.

They enter the temple. They meet the priestess Misha Devi. They're convinced she's not what she appears to be. Later they enter where she entered. After an epic battle where Misha used Inflict wounds to take out Froc - who was shortly revived by Vroc. Misha then took out Vroc with Inflict Wounds - this was to be a critical factor in the future combat.

Soon more cult members from the temple arrived. And eventually the party had locked themselves inside Misha's room that had two doors and trap door under her bed. From one of the doors Grover Ruskadal, constable, informed the party them were surrounded and should give themselves up. They refused. People started to batter down each of the three doors. The party hoped to hold off long enough (1 hour for a short rest) for Vroc to revive. Grover and 2 other men were able to break through their door. Unfortunately, from the time Vroc went unconscious it had been 54 minutes. 

Meanwhile outside the temple, more cult members from the village started towards to temple. However, Whiskers was a familiar of Ramne and was able to communicate the desperate situation in temple. Ramne was able to send a group non-cult members, which included the mayor, his body guard and two of his former adventuring partners, towards the temple. The two groups met outside the temple.

I had the players control the mayor's group during the battle.

At first it did not look good for the mayor's group, they were outnumbered. Fortunately many of cult members were only commoners and were quickly taken out and victory looked like a good possibility. But alas the tide of the battle of changed yet again. By the end two cult members remained standing and the good people of Orlane were gone, along with the party's hope of rescue.

Meanwhile back in the temple.

The party was able to take out Grover and his two compatriots. Unfortunately, the other 2 doors were soon battered down. From the trap door came a couple cultists and some bi-pedal lizard like creatures with a reeking order. And from the other door came four cultists and two wolves. Despite a valiant effort from Eben using Burning Hands to eliminate two of the four cultists and the two wolves, and using Shocking Grasp to keep the lizards at a distance the sheer number of opponents were able to take out the party.

Unfortunately on that day both Anders, Karl, and another hireling lost their lives. The rest of the party was captured - whose fate is yet to be announced.