For any interested geeks, a lengthy summary of my ongoing D&D game

I've posted a few times over the past few months about my now ongoing D&D game at my place every other Friday night. I've managed to find four reliable gamers that seem like decent enough people and have two others (a married couple) possibly on hold until January.

I am fairly pleased with my D&D game so far six sessions into what I hope develops into a campaign. I think my DMing skills still need improvement, but I have not scared anybody away yet. (Also why the couple is on hold, I'm not sure I can DM six people)

Session seven is coming up Friday.

Here is the long summary below, if interested.

Three of the PCs have just jumped up to 3rd level, while the guy that joined in session two is on the verge of third level. The three third levelers are a human rogue and sorcerer and an elven fighter, who is going to take his 3rd level as a Paladin of Freedom (A chaotic-good version of the paladin). The second level PC is a human cleric of the deity known as The Traveler.

I have even borrowed a few DU usernames as minor NPCs (with permission) – and I hope to introduce another DU namesake on Friday.

The setting I am using is the Kingdoms of Kalamar from Kenzer & Company, the company most famous for the comic Knights of the Dinner Table. However, Kalamar is a serious setting.

The players were initially hired by a wealthy merchant whose daughter had gone missing. They got a clue that she was possibly on the way to the evil slave-trading theocracy of Pel Brolenon and that they could possibly intercept her in the village of Yelden, on the good side of the border.

On the road to Yelden, the PCs managed to interrupt a raiding party of slavers from Pel Brolenon. They were able to save the head of the caravan guard, but got there too late to save the passengers (their Spot rolls sucked) But, they had the thanks of a crusty old warrior, and a friendly NPC could always prove to be valuable. The evil cleric that led the slavers managed to escape as well.

Upon entering Yelden, the players learned that the Duke who ruled the town had just been murdered and the Duke’s brother, Cardor, had gone missing. The locals were also not the friendliest of people to outsiders – especially nonhuman outsiders like the party elf. The elf had an incident with a priest of another evil deity – one that believed in racial purity.

Since they did not have a good first impression of the town, they jumped at the opportunity when a mysterious stranger told them his tale of his friend wrongly imprisoned and about to be put to death.

They proceeded to help the wrongly imprisoned guy escape from jail. Then, the mysterious stranger introduced himself as Mordeln, the bastard half-elf son of the missing Cardor and also a possible suspect in the murder of the Duke.

The escapee was actually a refugee from the evil theocracy and was going to help his friend Mordeln track down the missing (or dead?) Cardor. The players signed on to help, and Mordeln informed them there might be some clues in his father’s study in the castle.

So, more breaking & entering – this time through the sewers & dungeons beneath the castle. They encountered what was a dead town guardsman in the tunnels, and then another guardsman suddenly transformed into a giant ratman (wererat) and attacked the party. Luckily, Mordeln was also a sorcerer and the two sorcerers magic-missiled the wererat to his grave, as the others in the party did not have silver weapons.

They also discovered a small alcove under the castle filled with decaying and rotting flesh that was crawling with maggots – a shrine dedicated to yet another evil deity. (the cleric missed a DC:5 knowledge religion roll...)

Eventually, they managed to sneak up to Cardor’s study and found a map with some clues all over it, and some notes that dealt with lycanthropy. The map indicated that Cardor may have gone in search of a cure in a nearby forest that was right on the border of the fairly good kingdom of Mendarn (where Yelden is located) and the evil theocracy of Pel Brolenon. The map also indicated some notes about a woman who never ventures far from her tree.

(they also found a note from the father of one of the players, who seemingly knows Cardor and thought he would be a good match for his daughter – the sister of the PC. Another thanks to DU on that one)

On their way out of town, the evil “racial purity” guy rallied up some thugs and hoped to kick the asses of the elf and his friends who brought the elf into town. After a tough fight, the party was able to defeat evil racial purity guy, but realized they probably had to get out of town quickly. (in reality, they did not. The owner of the inn/tavern where they first encountered this guy would have been grateful for the party ridding him of a bothersome regular who was bad for business and I had a whole side adventure planned around the innkeeper and a group of escaped slaves... but, alas, the PCs never follow your exact script)

Anyhow, after a few encounters along the way, the players made their way to the forest and stumbled about for a bit, until they encountered a pseudodragon who offered to tell them where he had seen a man who matched Cardor’s description if the players would rid him of the troublesome goblins who had recently moved into the area.

The players accepted and charged into the goblin lair. Well, not quite... but, in a series of very tough encounters, the players and their two NPC companions (Mordeln and the guy they helped free) managed to defeat most of the goblins, and scattered the rest. Two players and both NPCs fell to either exactly 0 HP or below 0, but managed to get healed. At a particularly rough point, the players were helped by mysterious magic that caused some of the goblins to start fighting amongst themselves (confusion spell)

That was where the last session ended.

For now, they have to find out who their mysterious benefactor is (the confusion spell) and also find out from the pseudodragon where he saw Cardor. They need a lot of healing, as well as to see if the woman (dryad) who cannot venture far from her tree can help. There is also some fallout from not aiding the innkeeper with the escaped slaves as well.

They will eventually find out that Cardor had been captured by the goblins the PCs just defeated, but had just been “sold” (taken) by a tribe of orcs, who live farther up the mountains. The orcs are actually going to be selling Cardor to the slavers of Pel Brolenon.

Assuming they go to rescue Cardor and depending on their timing, the PCs can:
(1) stop the orcs before they encounter the slavers and have a very tough encounter
(2) track the orcs until they encounter the slave transaction between the orcs and the slavers (the slavers are led by the evil cleric they encountered way back in the beginning, and also feature two mysterious hooded figures) Most likely a fight will break out between the orcs and slavers. The slavers will win because one of the mysterious hooded figures is really a drow elf badass also named after a DUer. However, the fight will be tough and the remaining slavers will be an easier encounter for the good guys. The drow elf,though, might also notice something about the party that will cause her to look worried and seemingly flee, allowing the PCs a somewhat easier encounter, which they can hopefully win. They'll find Cardor among the slaves (3) if they’re too slow, they’ll encounter the slavers rolling their wagon towards Pel Brolenon, similarly weakened, but possibly having had a bit of rest.

Once rescued, Cardor will then reveal that he was inflicted by lycanthropy and had been looking for belladonna/wolvesbane for the cure. The poison in the belladonna weakened him and he was captured by the goblins.

The dryad will then become an important player, as she possibly has the means to cure Cardor, who is now in line to be the Duke.

Wish I was a part of it. You sound like a pretty solid Dungeon Master.

Washington to CT would be a tough commute every other week, though.

For a cross country trip? You'd have to have real live Orcs at the gaming table.

And don't just try and use Republicans, because I can tell the difference! Orcs smell better.

Republicans are like demons & devils - evil is in their nature.

Also, "Gee".
;-)

or, wow how could somebody post that much about D&D on DU?

I've never done D&D, but some other RPGs, and I do miss the fun! Great story too!

that part of the beginning adventure is from an older published adventure (2nd edition), or module to us old time D&D players.

I changed several things around - i.e., the dryad was a nymph as written, but I didn't really feel up to DMing what is such a strongly sexual being, and a female one at that with a group of male players.



And, I expanded a few other parts from the written adventure as well.

until the past few months...

and was forced to marry me.

but who would have suspected that it's difficult to find people in NYC.

I suspect that being on Staten Island has a lot to do with it. :shrug:

Your campaign sounds like a lot of fun. :)

I'm now running a Vampire campaign online starting this Sunday.

nobody has dropped out of the campaign yet.

I only did GM/DMing throughout the 80s, but did very little in the 90s or since 3rd edtion came out.

So, I still feel I'm rusty as a DM - especially with creating the atmosphere of a good scene, and also with some good sinister or condenscending one-liners from the bad guys - like Blofeld saying, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die," or Darth Vader saying, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."