Okay so we have a lot of people playing D&D this semester. We have two groups running in two campaigns. I DM this one, and Matt Connor's operates the other, where I play a Half-Elf Warlord. Jon couldn't make today's session with his rogue, but Harrison who play's a Wizard in the other campaign decided to hop in. I allowed it. It just means less experience for everyone (as the encounter XP rate is still divided by 5, though Harrison's Wizard takes none).
Anyway. The new party descended the stairwell into darkness. The musky smell of death was almost overpowering as the crew reached the bottom of the stairwell. Harrison's wizard cast light on his Orb and I appropriately drew in the visible area for the players. They found themselves in a strange network of ancient stone hallways.
Initially working their way north, the party soon came across a strange symbol on the ground. The rune occupied the width of the ten foot hallway. Matt's cleric bent down and recognized the rune as a Terror trap with a successful Religion check. Harrison used his skills in Arcana and disabled the trap after a few tense rolls of the die. The party worked their way to the northern most area, but only coming across more of the Terror Runes, decided they should double back and check the rest of the hallways for anything of significance.
After some uneventful exploration, the players found nothing but more rune traps and barren hallways. Only far to the south did they stumble into a room full of... ZOMBIES!!! (awesome). Quickly mashing their way through the fray, the players courageously dispatched the opposition.
The chamber beyond was a corridor lined with Sarcophagi. As the player's entered the sacred tomb, the Sarcophagi burst open. Fighting their way down the hall, the players took on horde after horde of skeletal warriors. As Harrison's figurine slowly approached the eastern chamber, still more skeletons poured from the Sarcophagi. I decided to switch up the rules on the original adventure for this scenario. Originally the skeletons were supposed to emerge every five rounds, but to make it a little more interesting, I rolled a 1d4 at the end of my turn every round. If it was a 1, another skeleton would emerge from each coffin lining the walls.
Even after Harrison illuminated two altars in the room to the east, the Players battled the onslaught of undead guardians. I thought that Rob might get the hint when I read the flavor text telling the players that something was written upon each altar in Draconic, but he ran to join the never ending melee in the hallway. Only when everyone realized there was no end in sight to these undead warriors did they order Rob to translate the inscriptions. Now carving his way back down the hallway, the group did their best to blast a path for him.
The Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen quickly realized the altars were to none other than Bahumut. The inscription on both altars read “The Platinum Dragon is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. He is my stronghold, my refuge, and my armor against the foes of life—I need only kneel and offer him my praise.”
Harrison got the hint and quickly offered his praise at one of the altars. As light shined upon the room, the skeletons withdrew from the attack. A cornered Stranberg seemed a little relieved. The undead filed back to their resting place and the Sarcophagi sealed shut.
Recollecting the dungeon map for the first floor incorrectly, I was hoping that the players would discover the hidden passageway to a secret armory near the altars (it is in fact supposed to be much farther to the north, but whatever). I rolled, and Matt Connor's Cleric (the only one with decent insight and perception) found the hidden passageway. What seemed like an empty chamber inside was revealed to be a clever ruse as Stranbergs Bugbear Warrior stepped through the far wall (I wasn't expecting HIS character to make the insight check lol). On the far side lay four Zombie guardians, who, after two critical hits (which kill them instantly, may I remind you) were useless.
For once I'd just like Zombie Grab to fucking work. Is that too much to ask?
Anyway- this was the part I was excited about. Rummaging among the rusted and useless weapons in the room, the player's approached an armor stand with decrepit armor upon it. A voice boomed out a riddle to the party:
A wondrous treasure,
Valued by all, sought by many.
Found in both victory and defeat,
Yet never at the bottom of a treasure chest.
It marches before you like a herald,
And lives long after you are gone.
Of what do I speak?
Matt and Rob quickly consulted and agreed the answer must be "Reputation". Ding ding ding! I didn't find the riddle that hard either, but I thought it was a neat little addition to the dungeon. With the correct answer the armor now glowed and returned to its former magical quality- a +1 Blacksteel Chainmail Armor. As the Player's debated over armor switches I prepared for the final chamber in this undead tomb.
As the player's had suspected, this was none other than the final resting place of Sir Keegan, former guardian of the Keep and its dark secret below. As the players approached his tomb, he burst out, threatening the Player's that he would never allow them to open the rift. Though Rob's Paladin was ready to roll initiative, the other player's decided to try to speak with the ancient warrior.
Now the fun part. The rules for these interactions were absolutely awesome and fun. First I checked who had the highest Diplomacy skill and would be the lead speaker. This (of all the people it probably shouldn't have been) was Rob's Paladin. Then, who had the highest Religion skill- Matt's Cleric of course. Next, who had the highest perception- again Matt's Cleric. Finally, who had the highest Arcana score- Harrison picked the right day to join the party.
Sir Keegan then interrogated the party, asking questions of each of these members. The challenge was 4 successes before 4 failures at DC 15 (not very hard), but the Player's rolled amazingly high anyway.I liked his sharp questions poised to each of the different players, it felt pretty cool.
When the player's easily convinced Sir Keegan that there intentions were to seal the rift and end the Death Cult operation I was a little disappointed (I REALLY wanted to mash at least ONE player's skull in tonight. *sigh*). Sir Keegan gave the Party his magical Longsword Aecris. Charlie took the weapon graciously. Despite it's uniqueness, the weapon isn't anything that great. A +1 longsword with a Daily power as a free action when the player downs an Undead opponent he/she can regain a healing surge. It's okay I guess, but not that practical. Great for a tank in the right situation, though.
After telling his sad tale and honoring his oath to spend an eternity in this tomb, Sir Keegan could only inform the player's of some magical wards within the altars they should take to aid them "in the darkest of times". The tokens could have been found earlier, but none of the player's really stood a chance against a DC 25 perception check. What they do exactly is still unknown, but Matt took all five of the Tokens of Bahumut and plans to hold them until the time is right.
Is it weird that the shortest play session we've had all semester has the longest blog entry?
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