A terrible evil is coming! And a family of Gur nomads are the only ones who seem to be taking precautions to protect themselves. They even went so far as to steal from the goodly people who frequent the Crossing Inn. But a group of good-hearted adventures looking to make names for themselves stepped in and offered to recover the stolen property and return the Gur thieves to the authorities.
In the past two sessions we learned of four Gur men, what they stole, and where they were headed. The PCs recovered missing gems in COINS, stolen weapons in SWORDS, and a broken wand in STARS. This time out the PCs seek Papa who stole rare herbs and headed towards the foreboding and unwelcoming Quivering Forest in GLYPHS.
Loud voices arguing and accusing one and other alerted the Kuo-toa patrol that interlopers were nearby. Undetected, the Kuo-toa surrounded the party and sprang forth to ambush them.
This week at Face to Face Games in Toronto we had a noticeable dip in our numbers. We had to merge two groups together just to get my party up to four players. Only one of my regulars was present. Overall we had about 20 players at four tables. My party consisted of a Human Rogue, Aasimar Cleric, Drow Paladin, and Human Monk (new player to the store).
Unfortunately the dangling mystery of who killed the NPC Halfling they’d met last session and the fate of the false Dawnbringer sword had to be put on hold as the key players involved weren’t present this session.
The PCs began the adventure in the custody of Drow slavers. They managed to gain the trust and support of the other prisoners, and together they all escaped. But surviving in the Underdark isn’t easy. They spent days wandering aimlessly in search of food and water, all the while trying to avoid dangerous cre3aturs of any pursuers. During last week’s session the PCs decided to ambush whoever or whatever was following them. With a carefully laid trap and coordinated attacks, the party got the jump on four Drow scouts. With the immediate threat of pursuit eliminated (for now) they followed Shuushar’s lead as he led the party towards his village of Sloobludop.
Our numbers continue to hold stead in the low 20s at Face to Face Games in Toronto. We managed to run five tables again this week. My group had four PCs including a Human Druid, Dragonborn Fighter, Elf Wizard, and Human Rogue.
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had a chance to play or DM D&D Encounters. Games have proceeded at the two FLGS where I’m playing this season, but neither of my tables ran for the past two weeks. Sometimes real life just gets in the way of fantasy role-playing and you have to accept it.
When last we left the heroes they’d made a daring escape from the Drow outpost, Velkynvelve. The party’s Orc Fighter expected to die and wanted his sacrifice to be meaningful. He fought as many Drow as he could, engaging the two priestesses and numerous guards. In the end he remained behind, battling any Drow pursuers as he tried to give the rest of the party and the accompanying NPC prisoners a chance at escape.
This week at Face to Face Games in Toronto we ran five tables. We had 22 players and five DMs. My group of four consisted of the following members: Half-Orc Barbarian, Dragonborn Fighter, Elf Wizard, and Human Rogue. The Dragonborn Fighter was a replacement character for the player who lost his Orc Fighter in the last session.
During last week’s kick off session the PCs awoke in a Drow prison cell with no equipment, no armor, no weapons, and no spellbooks. Also in the cell with the PCs were 10 other NPC prisoners. Some were friendly and willing to talk and share info, while others were either unable to communicate because of language barriers or unwilling to speak because of their general disposition towards the PCs. What the heroes learned was that they were to be sold as slaves in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.
While they waited for the caravan that would transport them to their doom, they realized they should try to escape. Finishing their lives as Drow slaves was not a palatable option for any of the PCs. So while on work detail in session 1 they plotted, schemed and gathered information to make their escape more successful. When we finished last week two prisoners (a PC and an NPC) had thrown caution to the wind and started a bloody rampage, attacking and killing Drow guards indiscriminately. Read on to see how that worked out for them.
This week at Face to Face Games in Toronto we ran five tables. Two were starting from the beginning as they spent last week finishing off Princes of the Apocalypse, while the other three tables continued right where they left off last week. There were 27 players all together, I had five at my table. Four of my players were with us last week, the fifth player started with another group but decided to join us after some real-life conflict at his table last week. My party consisted of the following members: Half-Orc Barbarian, Half-Orc Fighter, Elf Wizard, and two Human Rogues (one from the other table, the other a change of PCs from the person playing the Ranger last week).
“Manticore! It’s on the move!” shouted one of the Feathergale Knight sentries. All the Knights stood as one, dinners left uneaten, and words from tales of their greatest triumphs left hanging in the air. “We should take this opportunity to slay the monster,” said Thurl Merosska, commander of the Knights. He then removed a gold ring from his finger. Holding it up he offered it as a prize to whomever could bring him the Manticore’s head. The Knights ran to the stables to get on their flying mounts and vie for the prize.
This week at Face to Face Games in Toronto we ran three full tables with seven players at each. I was again running the new kids’ table. A few players were not completely new as they’d participated in one previous week of D&D Encounters or one session of D&D Expeditions; the rest were brand new. The party consisted of a Dwarf Fighter, Dragonborn Fighter, Human Paladin and four pre-gens –Dwarf Cleric, and three Halfling Rogues.
Our story picks up a few days following the events in the Tomb of Moving Stones. The PCs have once again proven to the people of Red Larch why they deserve the title of heroes. Following their subterranean adventures in the last session there were still some unanswered questions regarding what they found in the caverns. They also still had a score to settle with some of the local merchants who had sent the PCs into an ambush a few weeks before.
Unfortunately our story took a bit of a detour. We’ve done a great job of growing the public play program at our FLGS and we’ve expanded into three groups from two. One of the players from my group volunteered to step up and become the DM. He’s been doing a great job running D&D Expeditions adventures so we felt it was time to get him to be a full time D&D Encounters DM. He took over my table since he already knew all the players, their characters, and the intimate details of the story so far. That allowed me to take on the table of newbies.
This week at Face to Face Games in Toronto my table had five players. Three were new to D&D Encounters, one had played a single session a few weeks earlier, and one was a vet I borrowed from my old table for one session. The party shaped up like this: Elf Wizard (new), Human Fighter (new), Dragonborn Rogue (new), Dwarf Fighter – greatsword (one game), and Dwarf Fighter – hammer (veteran).
I decided to just start them at the beginning of episode 3 so that the tables all remained more or less at the same spot in the story. This meant I had to provide a quick recap of the important plot points and introduce the new players to Red Larch. I dropped most of the threads that my previous group left dangling to keep things as simple as possible.
Our hears had made names for themselves in Red Larch and were enjoying some downtime in the small town. However, as they got to know some of the locals they realized that some NPCs were not as friendly or helpful as others. This made the PCs suspicious. At the end of the previous session the PCs were given a map and told they’d find the answers they were looking for in the Sumber Hills, a few days journey outside of town. What they found was an ambush that nearly cost the PCs their lives. Enraged by the betrayal, the PCs rushed back to Red Larch to confront the people they believed set them up.
We continue to provide recaps from our past few sessions while we get back into the swing of things and get back to sharing our weekly adventures one week at a time, as they happen. Yesterday you read our episode 2.1 recap and today we’ve got episode 2.2. Tomorrow we’ll share episode 3.1 and that will bring us in synch with where we actually are at our FLGS, Face to Face Games in Toronto.
We’ve finally found another full-time DM so we’ve split our groups into three tables. We’re still trying to figure out who’s playing at which table and under which DM, but for now I’m still running with some familiar faces. During this session my party of four consisted of the following PCs: Elf Bard, Dwarf Fighter (Hammer), Human Sorcerer (Wild Magic), and Human Monk.
It’s been a few weeks since we last posted our D&D Encounters recaps. There were many contributing factors to the disruption including absent DMs, personal vacation, and real life conflicts with blog posting. However, we’re back on track now and plan to keep up the weekly posts as we have in the past. I realize that our adventures may be falling behind the pace of many other FLGS, but we hope you still find these reports entertaining, valuable, and helpful.
In order to get things back on track with our adventure recaps we’ll be posting three articles this week. Today is episode 2.1, Tuesday will be episode 2.2, and Wednesday will be episode 3.1. That will bring us back to even with our ongoing weekly adventures.
A group of well-intentioned adventurers travelled to a forgotten graveyard searching for evidence of a young girl’s imaginary friend whom they believe was actually a Ghost. When they found the spirit it merely asked them not to descend into his master’s crypt. When they did not comply the Ghost forced them to retreat. It was then they were set upon by grave robbers. In the end the PCs defeated the opportunistic thieves and decided to rest before facing the Ghost a second time.
At Face to Face Games in Toronto we ran two tables this week. Our numbers were down and we only had 11 players this week. The other DM had six while my group was down to only five. The perfect number in my opinion.
The party consisted of the following characters: Human Sorcerer (Wild Magic), Elf Bard, Goliath Bard, Half-Orc Barbarian/Druid, Dwarf Fighter. This was the week when the Wild Mage finally rolled a 1 and suffered the consequences of the mishap table. Read on to find out how that altered the encounter in unexpected and awesome ways.
A terrible evil is coming! And a family of Gur nomads are the only ones who seem to be taking precautions to protect themselves. They even went so far as to steal from the goodly people who frequent the Crossing Inn. But a group of good-hearted adventures looking to make names for themselves stepped in and offered to recover the stolen property and return the Gur thieves to the authorities.
