The Pink Dice Chronicles

So the party of 3 characters (Lillian, Morrigan, and Sagittarius) and an eidolon started exploring from the room where the 2 ogres had been previously killed.  The room had two apparent exits besides the door they came in.  To the south, there was a closed door.  A small tunnel, large enough to crawl through led to another small door.  The party checked out the door to the South, finding a room with 6 metallic urns circling about a well with a bucket.  There was hideous giggling in the room and the doors opened and closed by themselves, exposing a storage room to the south.  The auras of the room appeared to have an evil tint.  The party decided to explore the small tunnel rather than to deal with the "ghost" here. The party opened the door and sent a rat into the room beyond the door.  The rat was able to spy a bedroom with bags against the double entry doors, and a large ogre with a club.  Unfortunately, the rat was quickly squashed and t...

This week the party, missing only Bengrim from its active ranks, conitnued trying to find their way back.  When last we left our heroes they had just talked a beautiful glowing green apparition out of protecting its territory.   Unfortunately two small balls of electrical energy were still hostile and attacking poor Sora. Sora continued to be attacked by the two small floating balls until he lie dying on the floor.  Lillian, Vinde, Morrigan, and others headed past the dangerous creatures.  Sowden fired his crossbow at the creatures.  Tabbris attempted to use spells on the creatures.  The floating electrical balls floated over and started attacking Hecate. Vinde was able to make it to the chest on the side of the cavern.  She opened it without issue and found a large stash of all sorts of random magical and nonmagical items inside.  Unfortunately with the attacks still going on, she had to grab what she could and run.  Morrigan's eidolon, ...

With a group consisting of 4 old players and 3 new players, Friday Night Pathfinder Horror got back under way this week.  As always, the new players started out with two players a piece.  Here's the starting party: Allison -- Human Bard Bengrim* -- Dwarf Paladin Hecate -- Half-elf Sorceress Lillian* -- Human Fighter (former paladin) Morrigan -- Human Summoner with a Panther-like Eidolon Sagittarius -- Half-elf Ranger Sora -- Elf Bard Sowden* -- Human Ranger Tabbris* -- Human Druid Vinde -- Human Psion Previously played characters are marked with an asterisk. The party starts out, having had new characters fallen down a crevasse into the cavern where the party waits to cross the lake.  Bengrim, Sowden (whose player is out), Lillian, and Tabbris sit near a camp fire.  The party gets briefly introduced and then starts to undertake the task of crossing the murky, putrid lake ahead. Bengrim grabs his climbing gear and climbs along the cavern face t...

The party had the unfortunate luck of running into two large stone earth elementals this week.  Bengrim, the dwarven stonelord tried to make peace with the elementals.  Unfortunately, it appeared they were tasked with guarding the area and would not give the party passage.  The party knew there was no other way out of the area, so they engaged the elementals. The mechanical pony, Gallop, rushed into battle.  One of the elementals slammed the pony twice hard, and it was crushed, never to move again.  Krull and Kilrax moved up to engage, as well, but the fists of the elementals was too much for them, and they too were killed. At this point, the party began to panic, realizing that the elementals were too much for them.  They decided the best option was to rush around the elementals and make a run for it.  With a just few bumps and scrapes, it went well, until the elementals turned on the party and gave chase.  After only a few seconds, Camden wa...

The first session for any campaign can be a bit daunting for any GM.  A new group of people, a new group of characters that no one knows, a new setting, maybe even some new rules and new tech -- it all adds up to a lot to learn, keep track of, and keep moving.  The first online Friday night Pathfinder horror game lived up to all of that. In the first session of using a tool like Roll20, I knew our focus had to be about tech, first and foremost.  If the players can't talk, roll dice, interact with me and the other players in meaningful ways, the game is going to be a failure.  As expected from pre-session testing, the audio on Roll20 was flakey on a couple people's laptops -- namely in that they could only hear a few of the audio sources, not all.  Some players couldn't hear other players.  That is a non-starter.  Luckily in the background, I had already set up a teamspeak3 server.  I gave the IP, password, and download location and we were up an...

So we've been getting things set up for the new campaign.  I helped set up character sheets in Roll20 for everyone.  We even did some testing tonight.  Audio was a bit iffy, so I decided to set up a teamspeak3 server as a backup, just in case. Some observations: Roll20 doesn't always give a good indication of what the players will see to the GM.  To get around this, I often end up running one pane as a user and one pane as the GM. Managing a large number of pages in Roll20 seems painful.  I am always scrolling around.  It also seems like the page scroller should disappear automatically sometimes but doesn't. It seems like I am setting page settings over and over again for things like distance in Pathfinder/3.5 units. Modern maps seems ill-supported on Roll20. Getting players to generate characters in advance is difficult. PCGen is a resource hog.  I don't know how they can possibly keep moving it up in version without addressing the resource ...

It has been a long time coming, but my Friday night Pathfinder game is restarting.  This time, because I know the move is coming up, I am starting a game online in Roll20.  I am running a Pathfinder horror game. I was lucky to get a solid party of 4 with another joining in the next month or so. I am trying out a lot of things at once on this game, so it is going to be a big learning experience.  Here are some of the new stuff in the mix: Roll20.net is new, which I have used slightly before, but has gotten a lot better.  It has really been a breeze to use it to set things up so for.  I even got a subscription so I could get dynamic lighting and help support them. DCC-style level "0" characters are a new concept for me.  In my case, I had everyone make two level 1 characters, but nerfed them just slightly by requiring a drawback for every trait and by requiring two skill points to be spent on a profession.  15 point build too, to keep things weak...

So in prep for Thursday night, I put together this rehash of where we left the two gaming parties: Friday Night Pathfinder Corrail, Don, Elliot (now shrunk with his shrunk mount), Felix, Sandra , Miroku, Yuri, the tiger, Kiva, and Chum were journeying through a tomb-level in a large multi-level underground temple, looking for a lost artifact.  They had successfully escaped a trapped room with a fountain of coins thanks to some well-timed help from Chum.  After moving farther into the complex, they had discovered a room with two Dark Nagas where a battle had ensued.  Some smaller creatures were lurking in the darkness nearby. Monday Night Pirates Kyte, Druid, Victaerus, Sheena, and Jericho has been part of a boarding party that was checking out a dead ship, presumably from Candlekeep.  The ship was damaged but seemingly empty except for some magical auras.  Below deck a number of auras seemed not to move, which the moving aura above turned out to be some s...

So we've lost a few players along the way, so now I am strongly considering combining the Pathfinder campaigns.  The Monday Night Pathfinder Pirates campaign has been taking place in the same world as the Friday Night Pathfinder campaign.  So how could this combination of campaigns possible happen?  First lets start with the current state of things in both: On Monday Nights, the crew of the Celestial Kyte is being followed by the massive Zelbinion as they make their way to the Cimarine Isles.  When last we left the crew, they had boarded a derelict ship out of Candlekeep that seems to have one sandman creature aboard that they've seen thus far.  He became very agitated about some scrolls and was threatening to drop a torch into the hold.  This is particularly frightening since the black powder wasn't anywhere else on the ship and yet there are numerous destroyed cannons strewn about. On Friday Night, the group has descended into a 10...

I waited a day to post this since I like to let emotions cool first.  This might seem a bit off-topic at first, but I think there needs to be a deeper reflection on the impact that gaming every week has on a person.  Its true that it is just a hobby for most, but it plays an important part in their lives, taking up precious time and being an escape from the stress of daily life. - I was all ready tonight for a cool new section of the dungeon for our Friday night game.  I packed up my Friday night GM backpack, collected together the specific miniatures I was going to use tonight.  I grabbed up the dungeon adventure that I had worked to prepopulate with stats this week.  I packed in my box of dice and shut down my laptop and packed it in too.  I also grabbed my copy of Elder Evils that was going to play a special role in tonight's encounter, if we got that far.  I was also looking forward to maybe buying a copy of the NPC Codex tonight, if they still h...

The party had defeated the two guardians last session and was now standing in a room of alcoves, each a grave.  Three doorways exited the room besides the direction they entered.  To the south, there was a small room with a single large sarcophagus, so covered in dust that Felix could not make out what it was made of. Felix entered, sure that there were no traps (and he would know!).  Unfortunately, 4 wraiths came out of the walls and surrounded him. Felix turned into a bat and flew away.  The rest of the party prepared for attack.  Corrail fired shots with his bow.  Chum swung wildly at the wraiths who pawed at him.  Elliot, the Cavalier, moved up to attack with his sword.  The bard played loudly  greatly inspiring the party.  Sandra, the summoner, buffed herself with magic spells, in prep for a lengthy battle.  Niva blasted the wraiths with magical lightning.  The monk, downtrodden and drunk after lamenting his answer ...

And so the party gathered together to venture into the temple.  The cavalier was leading the way with the rogue close behind, casters near the back, and Kiva riding Chum in the last position.  The white temple stones gleemed in the sunlight as they climbed the long stairs to the top of the temple platform.  Melee guards clad in shining armor with the symbol of the Morninglord stared unyieldingly forward as the party passed.  3 platforms adorned the top of the pyrimidal temple, one with the entrance surrounded with archers, and two off to the side with battle priests ready to defend. The party was surprised to find the temple in working order with gnomes and priests about.  The first level below was a speaking room, enchanced with magic to allow the large hall to be split into 4 podium areas with benches without having voices carry too far between the various areas.  AA search of the area turned up confessional rooms.  Don tried to entered but was...

Tonight Don the Magnificent's player was out sick, so I took him on as a NPC in cases where the group needed his help.  Because he is the only good knowledge character in the group, his help is sometimes pretty critical. --- The players also got started on a new background / contacts system that I have been working on.  It provides lifepaths to replace the existing trait system, and then provides a structure for getting and tracking goals, affiliate groups, contacts, and relationships. --- The last two weeks of game time has been spent repairing and augmenting the Thornhold's defenses so the party could move on to other things.  Felix has taken over tactical planning for the keep and added a moat complete with spikes and oil barrels that can be dumped into it and set fire.  6 ballistas were added to the keep (in addition to the cannon, 2 springals, and firewyrm).  A secondary gate was added to the main entrance so invaders will be trapped in the tower if the...

Tonight we continued the battle from last session.  Arrows flew, dragons pounced.  The cavalier charged through the rush of Dwarves trying to get in the keep.  Yuri went down (but not dead).  The bard jumped off the keep with feather fall and had the monk pick him up and carry him piggy-back style out within range of the Dwarven General for a blast of Dominate Person.  Siege weapons were reloaded.  The crowd anxiously awaited the result. "Fall back.  They are too much for us," said the General. The dominate person spell worked, and despite the successes that the group was having against the Dwarves, they didn't have to fight to the last man. They got some equipment from the battlefield and a domesticated Bullette worth 500 kgp in Mirabar.  Unfortunately Mirabar is 18 days travel there and back and requires one to go through Luskan. A messenger wandered by and took up lodging with them in the keep.  The word was not good -- Waterdeep h...

 Sandra and Don the Magnificent returned from Waterdeep with an army of defenders and many construction workers.  Construction was quickly underway to install the new gate and the firewurm.  Crews also assembled and placed the two new springals and the new cannon.  Felix scouted the region from the air.  Corrail scouted the region as well during hunting. A small caravan wagon train passed through on the road heading from Waterdeep to Luskan.  Don and Felix went out to try to negotiate trade with the familiar driver named Greenback.  Greenback seemed annoyed and nervous and insisted on moving on, promising to stop back if they weren't all killed by the time of his return trip. At dawn, assault on the Thornhold began with the blow of a Dwarven horn.  35 Dwarves appeared at the edge of the forest.  A group of 20 foot solders and their 4 commanders charged the hold directly with two gargantuan ladders and a gallery ram.  Several ranger...

Most of our session Friday night was spent dealing with new characters, new riches, and the new keep.  Ally the Gnome Sorceress is dead and replaced by Sandra the Half-elf Summoner.  Muroki the monk also has replaced Zirul.  Oh, hmmm... the group has no cleric now. --- Don the Magnificent took a crack at interrogating the two bandit prisoners.  Even with dominate person, Don wasn't able to get much information.  The two prisoners were new to the bandit group, knew of a hidden cave that the bandits used but not its location, and knew that there was only a week to the Forgebar Dwarve's attack.  He threatened to kill the prisoners, but one of them recognized the markings of the order on the cavalier's shield.  She called on the cavalier to let her go and he made it happen.  Meanwhile the giant who previously been under dominate person was now eating while sitting on the sliff ledge in the underground cavern below the castle, happy, for now. --- T...

The party checked out the the Thornhold, a great keep set on the side of a mountain.  They were given a map with a secret entrance.  Felix and Corrail crawled down the cliff and into a drain tunnel.  Invisible, they followed the tunnel past a one-way mechanism (that they disabled) into a cell.  Through the drain grate, they could see the cell's occupant, a ratfolk archaeologist named Byron.  Byron talked the two into escorting him into the tunnel, though he was wary of climbing out.  Corrail and Felix checked out the rest of the cell area and could peer out into a main chamber that opened out onto the cliff face.  There they spotted two large giants, sitting and eating. They returned, taking Byron along, and getting back to the rest of the party.  They diced to split into two groups.  Elliot, Ally, Zirul, the Tiger, and Yuri would hold back for a frontal attack, while Don, Corrail, and Felix would go in through the tunnel and try to take ou...

So the party started into the Sword Mountains, leaving Waterdeep behind and following their "new" guide Marlowe and keeping a watchful eye on the map they picked up in the city.  Up into the mountains, Felix, the rogue, spots two goblins and says 'hi'.  They run off.  The group continues on, and with the cavalier out in front on his horse, the rogue is too late in spotting the trap.  A sonic trap goes off all around them. Then goblins appear... lots of goblins.  72 goblins.  Goblins with crossbows.  Goblin shaman casters.  Goblin dog riders.  Goblin spearmen.  Goblin infantry with swords.  They were crawling out of holes in the ground.  They were appearing on the cliffs and rocks above. (To simplify tracking of 72 goblins, I had them attack mostly in groups, and I gave them only 1 hp.  If you hit, you kill.  On the board, they were represented by goblin miniatures with a die next to them keeping track of the numbe...

The party regroups, including Zirul, and the tiger, who now points a way to follow him.  The group searched the remains and finds out the secret of the Pyramid necklaces.  It is a big pyramid scheme for energy.  When one of them dies, the others get the energy.  Don, with his necklace, is becoming so charismatic that he can sparkle like a Twilight vampire. The group follows the tiger to a cellar door in a big old building.  Don talks his way mostly out of the fight after it started.  He realizes these are thugs for the Xanathar's Thieve's Guild. --- Meanwhile Felix awaits, tied to a stone chair in an underground cavern.  Marlowe is one of the guards keep watch over him.  He has been informed that he awaits trial for not completing his mission to deal with the red wizard in Secomber. --- The party gains access and follows the cellars through cavern after cave until they reach the beholder's chamber.  Don negotiates a price on Felix's hea...

The party as it now stands: Elf Ranger Corrail Winter Wolf Yuri Corrail's Father (Maiali)   Don The Magnificent, an older human bard Ally the Gnome Sorcerer Elliot, Human Cavalier Felix, Half-elf Rogue / Druid Felix's tiger whose name I forget Zirul, Half-elf Cleric Zirul and Felix were unmanned tonight.  Prior to reaching the courtyard with the adult red dragon, Felix and the tiger went missing. The party grabbed some potions from a potion cart in the courtyard while Don talked to the dragon.  On a lucky diplomacy reroll, Don was able to calm the dragon.  He demanded food and wine, which the party rushed to get, and ate his fill and then flex off to a hidden cave to rest.  Corrail noticed that the dragon had a bit of trouble exiting the city -- was that some sort of barrier? With the dragon gone, a massive tidal wave was seen heading into the city.  With seconds to spare, Don teleported the party to the Bowels of the Earth, a local Wa...