Play report: Blackstone

   On Black Friday we had a long, involved session set in Blackstone, my AD&D 2e Players Option campaign, which is 14 years old ('the new campaign').

The party:
Disco (6th level fighter, master of the battle axe) [Alex]
Joan (6th level cleric, front line fighter) [Jen]
Albrecht (6th level mage, creator of the School of Healing) [Jack]
Alazne (7th level thief, assistant guildmaster of East Port) [Sam]
Lawrence (6th level mage, master of Song magic) [Nick]

Magic Item of the Week - back! The Headsman's Axe

   This is for AD&D 2e S&P.

  We love AD&D 2e in the house, and we LOVE the Player's Options books.
  In Combat and Tactics they introduced weapon styles and my Blackstone campaign includes several unique styles, including the beloved (by my darling wife Jennifer 'BLOOD! BLOOD AND SKULLS!' Stump) Headsman's Style which can be used with the great axe, bardiche, and greatsword.

  To use the Headman's Style you must already have two levels in the Two-Handed Weapons style and be at least specialized in great axe/bardiche/greatsword. The first level in Headsman's Style gives you an additional +1 damage and the second gives you a +3 (total) to damage

  Which leads us to the magic item the Headsman's Axe.

 This great axe is normally +2 to hit and damage. If you have both levels in the Two-Weapon Style it is +2 to hit and +3 to damage. If you have one level in Headsman's Style it is +3 to hit and +4 to damage. And if you have both levels in Headsman's Style it is +5 to hit and +7 to damage (not including style bonuses!).

  Other style-related magical weapons exist, of course

Blackstone: Massive Update

  Time for a dump of all the adventuring done in Blackstone since Christmas!

The Fever Lands
  Two groups of PCs went to the Fever lands.

      In the East a tough team of PCs crept down the Viper River, passt the ruins of Tamoachan (where they saw the ancient city swarming with megalocentipedes), and scouted the foreboding Jade Tower.
  They were forced to be very careful because of the winged apes that hunt throughout this area, but eventually learned that the last surviving leaders of the Necromancer Cult were hidden in the Jade Tower, led by an Ogre Mage chieftain. A judicious  use of illusions and misdirection and they successfully ambushed the Ogre Mage. It was a fierce battle, but the badly-bloodied party prevailed.
  They threw down the tower and left.

      In the West a very different party went to the colony established by the King of Blackstone two decades before and right into the middle of political intrigue.
  The military governor was Baron Addan, formerly an independent nobleman whose domain was annihilated by a dragon (an adventure the players had in in 2009!). Forced to appeal to the King he has been the military governor of the colony for almost a decade. Under his leadership the sleepy village that cost money to own was turned into a bustling trade town making the King great wealthAddan's triplet son Arran, Bordann, and Eamonn, were great assets. The soldiers were 50/50 retainers of Addan (and fiercely loyal to him) and royal recruits (who worshiped the triplets).
  But the king had sent his cousin, Count Farnorr, to the town to become the new noble ruler. Farnorr had brought his own sizeable group of retainers. The triplets were openly bitter and Addan had focused on building a sturdy walled village 2 days South into the jungle and was openly manning it with those most loyal to himself.
  Count Farnorr met with the adventurers (who were there for the Inquisition) along with the local bishop and Farnorr's daughter, Faella. They discussed the search for cultists, the dangers of the Fever Lands, and more.
  Addan left for the remote village the next day. And 2 nights later the PCs were summoned in the middle of the night - the triplets had kidnapped Faella and fled South, taking some of Addan's most loyal with them! As the Count prepared an actual army he begged the party to pursue, and pursue they did.

  things got weird almost immediately. Just 3 miles outside of town they found one of Addan's men beheaded next to a lame horse. The ranger was able to piece together that one of the triplets had had his horse tumble and go lame and then seemed to kill his own soldier and take his horse. They later found the rest of the troops, all killed in melee. But no sign of the triplets or Faella.
  The party forged on with horses, slowly losing ground to the triplets who were switching between 4 horses each.Then the party saw smoke on the horizon.
  The arrived to the village in flames. The dead were Addan's own men and the royal soldiers with Addan himself dead at the door to the main keep. The palisade and keep were burning allowing the ranger to deduce that the soldiers loyal to the triplets had ambushed their father and his men, then the triplets had killed the survivors before setting off South on foot (no horses beyond the village). Faella was still with them.

  The party buried Addan, placed the other bodies in the fires, and briefly rested before continuing on foot.
  Faella was slowing down the triplets and the party hoped to catch them when they were suddenly ambushed by a tasloi warband, including tasloi on giant wasps dropping nets.
  The fight was very tough, especially one the chieftain showed up armed with a Ring of Blinking, a Potion of Invulnerability, Bracers of AC 4,and a poisoned spear. But after a very, very tough fight the party prevailed, killing the chief and shaman and scattering many survivors.
  Pressing onward they were approached by a pair of jungle elves. Impressed that the party had defeated the tasloi warband the elves exchanged information about the terrain and the tasloi village for some arrowheads. The jungle elves referred to the triplets as 'the ancient evil' and reluctantly told the party where to find them.

  The party is soon ambushed by another tasloi warband... and the chieftain?! The fight was rough and the chieftain was insanely tough. And when they killed the chief? He turned back into he normal form.
A doppleganger.

  The party was able to track down Where the warband came from and found "the chieftain" exhorting another warband! The pary ambushed the warband, for once, and when the doppelganger was killed the tasloi fled.

  Following the directions the jungle elves had given (finally!) the party found an ancient Jade Empire (Mayincatec) building. As they approached the 30' stone dwelling two Faella's emerged! There was a bit of a standoff trying to figure out which was which until the mage cast Sleep and they killed the one who was confused, THEN fell down (the mage has a Ring of Mind Shielding).

  Looting the building they learned a lot, including that the dopplegangers had been living there for at least 3,000 years. The found a map to the Flint Skies (the mythical capitol of the ancient Jade Empire). Now, there are 6-7 maps to the Flint Skies but they are all proven inaccurate. This one, though, was complete enough for them to figure out why all the maps are broken - the map gave directions based on the stars and the map was so old the stars have moved.
  The party stashed the accurate map (they can adjust!) and took Faella home.

  They met the Count at the village. He was very happy to see his daughter. Over the next few days the truth of Addan's loyalty, the evidence that his son's had been murdered and replaced a year previously, and his tragic death, believing he was betrayed by his own sons, had a profound effect on the Count.

  The party rested, re-equipped, and headed right back out. With scouting they located the tasloi village and staged an attack that killed a few, but fell back, planning guerilla tactics against the number humanoids.
  But then a massive green dragon landed. At first the tasloi greeted it warmly, saying they were under attack and asking 'their master' to kill the intruders.
  But the dragon grew angry. When he learned that the magic items he had loaned to them had been stolen he bellowed,
  "You have failed me! You are TOO WEAK to be my servants!"
  And he killed them all before flying away.

  The party left, fast, and warned the count of the dragon just 4 days away!.

Next entry - catching up on Seaward.

Blackstone Campaign: The Cult That Waits

One of the overarching plots in my AD&D 2e S&P campaign (which is 13 years old already) is about M'Andry V'Heve've, a term in an ancient, almost forgotten language, that means She Who Waits.

Spoilers Follow: My Players Stop Here

A Host of Swords

  I infrequently post about magic items unique to my games (see Magic Item under labels) but I rarely talk about swords, especially powerful ones.

  But I have them! Here are a few:

Seaward Weapons
A almost 40 year old AD&D 1e campaign

Mor Altach: Long sword of Wounding. +1 to hit (only). Intelligence of 12-14, Chaotic Good. Speaks a few languages. Can be used by barbarians. Doubles the chances of a barbarian that wields it to go berserk. Can emit light as a lantern (this can be varied or turned off). The following special powers are 'secret' and must be learned through use and experience.
  Once a person that wields it as their primary weapon has leveled up twice it acts as a Ring of Free Action. Once its wielder has used it to kill a Devil it is +4 to hit devils. Once its wielder has fallen 21' or more while holding it, it acts as a Ring of Feather Fall. Once a person that wields it as a primary weapon has leveled up 6 levels it becomes +4 to hit and damage (if the Devil ability is activated, it is a total of +7 to hit vs devils). Once its wielder has failed a Petrification save while holding it, it grants a +4 on all saves vs Petrification.

Rupert's Blade: +3 broad sword. Wielder can boost their strength to 18/00 once a day - this lasts 5 rounds. Wielder also has a +2 save vs poison while holding it. Anyone wielding Rupert's Blade can instantly recognize an undead on viewing by type and kind (i.e., a master vampire, a frost zombie, etc.) and are immune to characteristic loss, level drain, etc. from any undead they can see.

Lawbringer: +4 longsword. LG, Int 13, can communicate with emotions and vague imagery.  The wielder can Detect Evil as a paladin. It is a holy weapon: in the hands of a paladin it is +6 and doubles the range of the paladin's Detect Evil ability and grants all powers of a holy sword as listed in the PHB. Lawbringer cannot be Cancelled, Disjoined, or otherwise disenchanted unless the being doing so is a Lawful Good cleric of 18th or higher level.

Thresher: Two-handed sword. +3 to hit, +6 to damage. It doubles the number of attacks versus low hit dice creatures to a maximum of 30 attacks/round.

Drachenbane: +3 two-handed sword. It does double damage to all drakes, dragons, and such creatures and versus chromatic dragons it does increased die as well (i.e., versus a dragon turtle it would do 6d6, but against a red dragon it would do 6d8).

Blackstone Weapons
From my 12+ year old 2e campaign.

The Seven- seven two handers of unmatched power. The ones seen by players-

Gatekeeper: +4, +5 versus extra-planar/summoned creatures. Once a month it can automatically permanently seal any Gate by touch. Wielder has a +1 on all saves, +2 versus Summoned or extra-planar creatures.

The Paradigm: +7. It's pluses do not get reduced by planar travel, etc.

Staredge: +4 to hit only. On a natural 18 or 19 to hit it does double damage. On a natural 20 it does double damage and will sever an extremity as a Sword of Sharpness.

Swords that are not of the Seven.

Death's Sting: +7 long sword, does double damage. (Destroyed).

Magekiller: +3, +5 versus arcane spellcasters or creatures with spell-like powers that mimic arcane spells. Grants anyone holding or carrying it a +2 on all saves versus spells or magic items and reduces damage from all magical attacks by -1 h.p. per die (minimum of 1). When in-hand it gives it wielder a 50% Magic Resistance. While intelligent and strong-willed, it rarely communicates. It can Detect Magic within 10' (automatic), Detect Arcane Spellcasters (and if they are good, neutral, or evil) within 60' (automatic), and can Dispel Magic at 18th level once a day. It will pass along what it senses to its wielder telepathically.
  Magekiller was forged to slay evil arcane spellcasters. It grants an additional +2 to save/-1 h.p. per die against spells cast by arcane spellcasters.
Once per week Magekiller can act as a Rod of Cancellation; the sword will decide when this power is used.

Massive Update on Blackstone

  Sorry for light posting, but contracting 40 hours a week plus running your own business equals looooooong weeks.

  For those of you unaware, I have been running an AD&D 2e Skills & Powers campaign called Blackstone for about a decade with the same very dedicated players. Despite my dedication to jazz band adventuring Blackstone has 4 distinct adventuring groups that have never directly interacted. The 4 groups range from 3rd level to well inside the domain game.

  For the entire decade of gaming the parties have grown aware of multiple Big Arcs floating around. With some subtle maneuvering and the willing by-in and actions of the players we had a massive crossover recently! Essentially, the various parties' investigations finally intersected forcing the parties to meet.

BIG Spoilers, so no players read below

Play Report/DM Report, Blackstone Record Keeping and the Domain Game

  Twenty months ago the party ended a 7 real-world year arc in the Blackstone campaign. The adventures were Big Deals and the loot was spectacular.
  In the approaching-two-years since we have played a lot of sessions, but the party never sat down to even divide the loot from this adventure! In the intervening time castles had been designed, built, paid for, etc. and a lot of Domain level diplomacy had occurred, but little nuts and bolts.
  I spent a little time doing a game-year worth of encounters and issued an update of what was going in in Blackdell, Doomsman's domain. Then we decided to sit down and settle some things.

Leveling Up: I Do It Weird

  Thanks to my G+ feed and the great folks on it, I am going to talk about how I do things and confuse the heck out of everyone.

  The topic at hand is leveling up in AD&D 1e and the fees, mentors, etc. The DMG tells us;

"Experience points are merely an indicator of the character's progress toward greater proficiency in his or her chosen profession..."
"The gaining of sufficient experience points necessary [for] a character to be eligible to gain a level of experience but the actual award is a matter for you, the DM, to decide"

  Interesting, isn't it? Gary goes on to outline a system of rating a character and the roleplaying involved and then discusses a program where characters will be out of play for weeks and spend money, sometimes vast sums, to level up. The fun thing? Going from 2nd to 3rd level should typically cost you so much money that you technically should be 4th level already.

Play Report: Fortress of the Death Knight Lord, End

  You can find part I here.

  The background and characters are the same.

Late Play:  The party immediately crossed the mile-long bridge, grabbed the prisoners (using a magical mirror to see if they were illusions, etc.), and headed west to their camp. At camp they grabbed the other prisoners (who had fled hours earlier), their steeds and supplies, and sung north and east to bypass the fortress, then grabbed a few hours of sleep to avoid forced march penalties. Awakening at Noon, they set out for the rendezvous with the Green Parrot, all while debating taking the sea rather than land.

Play Report: The Fortress of the Death Knight Lord, part I

System:
AD&D 2e with Skills and Powers plus house rules. We use spell points from Spells and Magic, specialized weapon styles of my own creation. No crusaders or 2e S&P monks, but plenty of magic types. I also use my inverted skills chart, found here.

The Adventurers:
Marigold- 6th level Human cleric. Played by the Wife.
        Kugel the Stern- 3rd/3rd fighter cleric Dwarf, henchman to Marigold
Tellon- 6th level Human fighter. Specialized in the falchion. Son #4
        Claron- 3rd level Human fighter, specialized in the spear. Henchman to Tellon.
Neun Hammerfist- 5th/5th fighter/thief Half-elf. Son #3
Drake- 5th/5th Half-elf fighter/mage. Son #2
"Steve"- 5th/4th thief/illusionist Gnome who always uses a different name. Son #1

Law, Chaos, the UK, America, Teutonic Knights, Orcs, and Just What the Heck is Going On With 9th Level Fighters?!

  This one is going to be weird, folks, so strap in.

  The sons and I were talking about gaming (like we do every day) and about some of our other shared passions; history, the Church, and books. We were also talking about my main campaign and how I was always surprised that the handful of guys that made it to 9th level did not get 'all fortressy' but rather angled to take over existing positions within the game

  What I mean is the few characters to hit name level who could then establish a demense all finagled with NPC rulers to take over existing fiefdoms rather than build from scratch.

  Which is, naturally, fine. My oldest speculated that he, himself, might never build beyond the border because there were so many interesting places on the map already; Dwarf Hill, Wyvern Keep, Skull Mountain, the Vanishing Manor, the Tower of the Air, etc. But then we began speculating;

  Why is the assumption that everyone from warriors to priests to mages will strike out into deep wilderness and hack out a corner for themselves?

  I mean, think about it; that is a tremendous amount of expense and risk. Why not do what people in my campaign did and just - get a promotion and retire rather than contend with plague, famine, and orc hordes?
  And why, oh why, would people flock to follow you if, and only if, you did that hugely risky thing?! And not just guys with levels! 0-level men, their wives, their kids! Pilgrims might come and just - settle. I mean, what is going on?

  For a while we speculated that the default D&D world is a lot like the America of the past - vast, largely unexplored, and daring people struck out to make their way.

  [We had the discussion Sunday, I started writing this Monday, and I saw this in my google+ feed Tuesday. Small world!]

  That might be part of it, sure, especially how followers appear and why random encounters sometimes stick around. But does the 'untouched wilderness' really apply to something so Dying Earth as D&D? As the great blog The Hill Cantons points out, based on the wilderness encounter charts the typical AD&D world is littered with ruins of past fortresses, cities, etc. all thrown down to ruin by war or time. And in a manner very similar to North America, D&D wilderness isn't 'untouched', it is full of intelligent being. Berzerkers, cavemen, orcs, hobgoblins, nomads, goblins, kobolds, etc., etc., etc. Heck, you leave patrolled demi-human areas and the 'wilds' are crawling with intelligent creatures. Sure, they're malevolent, but still!
  Plus the AD&D world isn't modeled after 2015 North America or even 1975 Europe, is it? No, the 'place in time' of the real world that seems closest to the default assumptions of AD&D is somewhere between 770 AD and 820 AD; yes, yes, this is speculation, but I can talk about that in another post. Sure,  there are anachronisms for that but that is my guess.
  Now,  modern Europe looks like this;

In 800 Europe looked like this;

Look at the differences! As I point out in my second most popular post ever, in the year 1000 AD the place that is now the Berlin Metropolitan Area, the 6th largest city in Europe, was uninhabited, howling wilderness. 780 AD is 400 years before the first Germans settled on the banks of the Spree!
  In other words, at the time that seems most like AD&D's assumed setting in history Europe was cheek-by-jowl with howling wilderness and hostile forces.
  This means that in the context of the setting and place well behind the curtain of AD&D (Charlemagne's Europe as described in the Matter of France) Europe looked a lot more like 1870's America than most people realize (Although Andy Bartlett did explicitly mention this in the article I linked above). In both places the average person who wanted a better life and who had the courage and resources (or just a lot of courage!) could, and did, set out into the wilderness and start a new life, Heck, that's where little towns like Leipzig and Berlin came from!

  There is also the very mildly controversial topic of the Northern Crusades. In a very high level gloss not meant to dive into the complex, nuanced issues associated with the Northern Crusades, but only to illustrate how it relates to the point at hand over a century of mutual conflict between pagan peoples in North/Northeastern Europe with the Catholic nations to their West and Orthodox nations of their East, where peaceful missionary and diplomatic activity failed, led to a call for a Crusade and a subdual of the pagans by force in the belief that decisive victory would cause the interminable wars to end.
  What followed was some pretty serious and organized expansion and battles from the West. Part of this was having some of the toughest fighters from the West build fortresses in the pagan areas, establish domains, and maintain the peace.
  Sound familiar?
  Heck, sometimes when there were no opportunities to set up in established areas tough, popular leaders would travel even beyond the pagan lands, set of a stronghold, 'subdue the wilderness', and attract people who wanted a better life who could count on the protection of this leader from bandits, etc.
  That had better sound familiar!
  So there is, interesting enough, at least one historical period where something vaguely like Name-level characters starting the 'domain game' did occur, which is pretty cool.

  But I think there is a bit more meta going on, here. In Three Hearts and Three Lions (as well as other books, like Operation Chaos) the author speaks of Law and Chaos as being opposed to each other in a sort of ongoing struggle. But this concept of Anderson's (that seems to have also influenced Dickson in The Dragon and the George) is a lot more complex and nuanced than the shallow, never actually quantified, Law vs. Chaos of Moorcock. Anderson's Law and Chaos (as well as Dickson's  Chance and History) are very much about Virtue/Civilization/Good (Law/History) against Amorality/Wilderness/Evil (Chaos/Chance).
  This was explicitly stated in Three Hearts and Three Lions;

"Holger got the idea that a perpetual struggle went on between primeval forces of Law and Chaos. No, not forces exactly. Modes of existence? A terrestrial reflection of the spiritual conflict between heaven and hell? In any case, humans were the chief agents on earth of Law, though most of them were so only unconsciously and some, witches and warlocks and evildoers, had sold out to Chaos."

  It is also essentially stated that the Church is Law while Chaos is a tool of the Devil. The faerie and their uncaring capriciousness? Chaos, because they could not be trusted.

Despite the desire of contemporary people to think of the faerie/sidhe as fun-loving hippies in folklore they're are much, much more like the Weeping Angels - inhuman, utterly other creatures that if you were lucky will only cast you decades through time away from all you know and love.

  This sort of 'axis' is pretty clear in OD&D where you are Lawful (good) or Chaotic (bad) and it was very much a fantastical experience of fey vs. man.

  But it is more complex and such in AD&D with both the Law/Chaos and Good/Evil axis and the Neutral section. But the core concept remains valid: when a party goes into the (wild, uncivilized) dungeon and destroys monsters the PCs are championing civilization against it's opposite, wildness; when a Lord goes into the wilderness, builds a stronghold, attracts followers, etc. he is championing civilization versus wildness, just on a different level.
  And no, I am avoiding the term 'barbarism' for a reason; woad-painted warriors, nomadic tribesman, etc., can be forces for Law or Chaos, it depends upon if they build or destroy, if they are trustworthy or capricious as a people.

  In my post on how I handle religion in my campaign I mention that the big divide between demi-humans and humanoids is if they are (in general) within the Church or outside of it. But the difference is also 'do those races build civilizations or destroy them?'. Sure, hobgoblins, orcs, etc. are organized, they have skills, etc. But they are wreckers, not creators. In my world they have no cities, they live in what they capture from demi-humans and humans; they have no trade, only plunder; they have slaves who often are worked to death; they have at best war chants but no music, enough writing to issue orders but no literature; etc. Where they go they push back civilization, scrubbing away cities and towns, fences and fields, and leaving behind only brambles, thickets, end desolate ruins.

  So a fighter, wizard, or cleric going into the wilds, building a strong place, attracting followers, and all the rest is, in a very real way, pushing back darkness, ignorance, savagery, and evil. Where there were brambles and thickets he puts fields and orchards; where there was a bare hill he puts a cozy home; where there was darkness there are the lights of a village; where there was isolation and fear he puts friendship and hope.
  No wonder those who want a better life follow.

  So why do 9th level fighters spend all that money and take all that risk? Because they are fighting evil an a new, more important, way.

DM's Play Report from Blackstone I: Assault on Tolmar- Last Days of a Seven Year Campaign

  The War against the Redcaps is Won!

Previous update is found here.

The Campaign
  Seven years old. AD&D 2e Skills and Powers.

The Players and Characters
  Je.: Stardust, 13th level Thief. Armed with a pair of +3 Daggers of Returning and a sneaky disposition. Party scout.
    - Deacon Samarr,  6th level cleric henchman. Rescued from a Hill Giant slave pit, he is loyal to Stardust and her friends. Focused on healing and abjurations.
    - Sir Raleigh the True, 4th level fighter henchman. Gained from a Deck of Many Things, he is perfectly loyal. A halberd specialist and armed with a +7 halberd!

Ja.: Mournglow, 11th level mage. A true generalist and the party's planner. The list of NPCs who owe him favors needs to be printed in 8 point font. Double-sided.
    - Whitestar, his Arcane Servant familiar.

A.: Doomsman the Destroyer, 12th level Fighter. A barbarian and grandmaster with the two-hander who is skilled in a number of melee combat styles. One of the deadliest men on the planet. His magical scabbard carries both Gatekeeper, the sword of that seals the planes, and Magekiller, which is just what it says on the tin. Lord of the North, Guardian of the Pass, and party leader. He thirsts for combat.

S.: Ember, 11th level Fire Elementalist mage. Wields a flaming silver short sword of shapechanger slaying. A true master of fire magic he is the hot-head of the group.
    -Flint, his Fire Spirit familiar.
    -Redfire, 5th level Fire Elementalist henchman. He has died three times, each from a giant's boulder.

N.: Darkwalk, 8th/9th Cleric/Magic-user. Also a skilled fighter, he is the voice of caution. He carries an Talisman of Ultimate Good that keeps reappearing in his backpack each time he tries to give it to the Pope.
    -Suregaze, his Elven Dragonling familiar.
    -Starwing, a 3rd/3rd/3rd fighter/cleric/magic-user henchman. Leader of the henchman, she has a calm demeanor and a knack for leadership.

Previously

  The party has spent 3 days lurking about the ruins within the city of Tolmar. In addition to the major attacks (detailed in the entry at the link near the top) they have ambushed a patrol or two. So far, all of their activity has been limited to the northern half of the city, formerly called Upper Tolmar. The party has been hiding in various bolt holes within the city while their henchmen strive to make it appear the party is camping outside and making repeated assaults over/through the walls.

  After resting and regaining spells the party decides they must strike at the heart of the enemy. The former Main Square of the city is now a hub of evil; the four corners of the square now hold the Tower of Necromancers (northwest corner) the Temple of Unlife (NE corner), the Fortress-Cathedral of the Slaughter-God (SE corner), and the High Church of the RotLord (SW corner). The party decided to assault the Temple of Unlife.

  As the party began to leave Upper Tolmar, divided from Lower Tolmar by a wall and a 20' escarpment, there was a minor fight as Whitestar, Mournglow's familiar who was scouting, was attacked by an imp. The party arrived in 3 rounds to find Whitestar wiping ichor from his miniature sword. Darkwalk healed up the Arcane Servant and the party continued.

  The party crept up to close sight of the mausoleum-like Temple of the Ghoul God to see - the low-level acolytes gather outside! The ritual of Blotting Out the Sun was about to begin. The party waited until the doors opened then struck with a Fireball. This wiped out the acolytes as the party charged inside. The party was met with mid-level priests just inside the doors, forcing them to halt their assault and fight. The High Priest of the Undead Demiurge stood by the foul altar wearing his Crown of Worms and guarded by 9 of his top priests. While the guards wielded the ceremonial bardiches of the deathpriests the High Priest wielded the infamous Staff of Death, a foul artifact carved from the thighbone of a shadow dragon.

  Doomsman hurled his Maul of Thunderbolts and struck the High Priest - but the Maul spun away instead of returning! The thunderclap revealed a shimmering aura cloaking the entire altar area and the casters decided to refrain casting attack spells on the leadership!

  As the party fought a swarm of 40 ghoul-rats poured through slots in the floor. Darkwalk turned most of them and Ember dealt with the rest as Doomsman cut down evil clerics like he was playing whack-a-mole. Stardust did her thing and threw her Daggers of Returning at the High Priest - they, too, spun away instead of returning! Stardust made her Awareness check and realized that the troops of the Temple of Slaughter were formed up and preparing to charge. She darted to the main doors, shut the massive portals, and dropped the adamantite bar into place just in time!

  The evil priests were casting nasty spells left and right, including one using a Spectral Hand from a magic item!  The party was using counter spells, Magic Missiles, and Cures at a prodigious rate.

  In the meantime Doomsman had fought his way to the steps of the altar, shrugging off a bolt of negative energy from a priest, making saves versus 4 more spells, and generally rolling 18+ on every d20 he touched, the jerk. Mournglow and Darkwalk both cast Dispel Magic on the protective aura around the altar, bringing it down in a flash of foul smoke. Doomsman was hacking his way through the evil hierarchy and now the High Priest was the target of spells. The next round the High Priest was struck down by magic!

  And the Staff of Death lashed out, striking on the the Death priests. That priest turned to ash and the High Priest laughed in delight as he was returned to full health! The High Priest then triggered the power of the Crown of Worms, blasting Doomsman and Stardust with a Mind Blast. Doomsman finally failed a save and was...

  [roll the dice]

  Enraged! Wait, what? The one save he failed made him better at fighting!

  What a jerk.

  The Staff of Death pattern - the High Priest was struck down, the Staff of Death drained the life force of another Death priest fully healing its owner - happened again before Doomsman finally faced him in melee and all the other priests were dead. Doomsman hit with a flurry of blows, the High Priest's staff lashed out and touched Doomsman!

  And, yet again, he made his save. He did, though, lose 1/2 his full hit points (really messing with him, as he had taken damage) and this was enough for the Priest to be at full health. Doomsman repeated his attacks, struck down the High Priest for the FOURTH TIME! The Staff of Death lashed out and -

  Doomsman parried it! The Death Priest fell.

  It was a great moment for the players!

  The party quickly caught his body on fire, not caring to touch any items on his body.

  Stardust searched the ground floor, quickly finding and sealing two side doors. Moments later something big tried getting into one of them. The pounding on the front door indicated the troops of the Master of Massacres had brought in a battering ram. The party gathered around and Mournglow cast Teleport.

  He made the targeting roll easily, landing them back in their hidey-hole where they could see the Tower of Flying Beasts, which they had destroyed days earlier. As everyone got healed up (and Darkwalk used scrolls of Remove Curse on everyone because Death priests). the party observed the beehive of activity around the Death temple, including the Champion of the Slaughter God flying around fearlessly directing searches.

  Acting on a hunch the party sent a Whispering Wind to the Champion, offering him something they felt he couldn't refuse - a duel of honor. As the Champion began flying, alone, toward them, Darkwalk used a long-cherished scroll to cast Regenerative Heal on Doomsman (he normally has no access to this spell).  

  The Champion landed and the terms were agreed upon: if the Champion fell his arms and gear belonged to Doomsman; if Doomsman fell his companions could keep his weapons, gear, and body but must depart Tolmar and never return. Then the battle was joined.

  Now, to repeat - Doomsman is a 12th level Fighter and Grandmaster in the two-handed sword/greatsword. He has 3 attacks per round, gets a free parry per round (from a style) and does one die larger damage. His was using the sword Gatekeeper, which is +4 normally. He is wearing a Girdle of Stone Giant Strength (+5/+10). he has a magic item that can cast an automatic Heal if he is reduced to 0 or less h.p. once per month.

  The Champion was built as a 13th level specialty Cleric using Skills & Powers/Spells & Magic/etc. He has THAC0, hit points, etc. as a fighter, is a grandmaster in the long sword, and fights with a +4 longsword and a +3 short sword of quickness, giving him 3 attacks per round with the long sword and 2 attacks per round (one in 'segment 0') from the short sword AND a free parry from a style. Essentially, he gets a 'free' attack before initiative, a parry, and 4 attacks, allowing him to theoretically parry every one of Doomsman's attacks and still strike twice, once with the short sword and once with the long sword. He wears Gauntlets of Might (+4/+7). He Regenerates 7 h.p. per round and has the innate ability to go Berserk (+4 to hit, +6 to damage for 10 rounds and +20 h.p., but no parry) 3 times a day and has a blessing of the evil War God so that once per week if he is reduced to 0 h.p. or less he is instantly Healed.

  I made this as closely matched as possible. While the Champion hits more often when Doomsman hit he does more damage. 

  The fight lasted 8 rounds, a long time at this level. Doomsman's dice deserted him for the first 5 rounds; he hit as often as math decided but his damage was low and he was getting hit a lot. Then, well, he hit. A lot. And did a lot of damage, enough to trigger the Champion's Heal. Then the Champion hit a lot and triggered Doomsman's Heal. And then the dice turned and two rounds later the Champion is dead. 

  The entire party agrees it was the toughest, closest fight of the 7 years of the campaign.

  The party immediately beheaded him and then burned him, after getting his gear. 

  After healing up Doomsman again the party was essentially out of most spells (except for Ember's "backup Fireballs". Yes, multiple). They decided to mix it up and leave the city and camp beyond the walls. As they are setting up camp they hear a horrifying roar/bellow from the city. 

  The camps under watch when - there is another  horrifying bellow/roar right by the camp and a cloud of black mist envelopes them. Everyone makes their saves but still lose some hit points. OK, for some of them a LOT of hit points. As the mist clears they see - the Horned One!

  Aside: The party has long assumed the Horned One is a hobgoblin chief with a horned helm. I have gently encouraged this. In truth, he is a hobgoblin, but one born of two survivors of whatever-it-was that destroyed the capitol of the Emerald Empire centuries before; a being born and raised in the Shadow of the City, the area of fear and darkness that festers many miles northwest of Tolmar. The thing before them, however, is 7' tall, has massive goat-like legs ending in cloven hooves, and a set of horns growing from the sides of his head. 

  Everyone but Stardust was sleeping and no one has had a chance to learn spells. Doomsman, sans armor, grabs his sword and wades in. The Horned One wields a two-hander in one fist and they start fighting. Mournglow activates his Wand of Conjuration, Darkwalk is digging into his packs for scrolls, Stardust is hurling daggers, and Ember is prepping his few spells.

  The beginning of round 2 the Horned One breathes on Doomsman and paralyzes him! Luckily the Wand of Conjuration goes off and summons a Stone Golem. Darkwalk rushes up and drags Doomsman back out of melee and begins to pour an Elixir of Health down his throat. Ember fires off a Magic Missile, Stardust is looking for an item to help out, and the golem misses.

  In round three Ember gets off his go-to max damage spell, Torrential Fireball. This is sto-, uh, borrowed from HackMaster 4th and is, essentially, just like Fireball except d8 damage per instead of d6. Under 2e rules once per day a fire elementalist may ad 1d4 to the effective level of a Fire spell they cast and my modified honor rules mean you can guarantee that this adds 4. So when the chips are down Ember can do 14d8 fire damage.
  Like now.
  He didn't mind including the golem because everyone knows stone golems are immune to fire. Unfortunately, this is how he learned that the Horned One is immune to fire.

  By the end of the round the Horned One has destroyed the stone golem! The party has done very little to the Horned One.

  Round three: Doomsman has been un-paralyzed by the Elixir and wades in again. He and the Horned One trade a lot of damage. Ember and Mournglow both toss more Magic Missiles. Stardust keeps throwing daggers. At great personal risk Darkwalk casts Stoneskin on Doomsman.

  Round four: The Horned One bellows again, this time surrounding the entire area with Solid Fog. The party is convinced they are in trouble.

  Round five: Darkwalk casts Dispel Magic; the Fog parts to show the Horned One finishing a potion.

  Round six: The Horned One charges Doomsman and hits, tossing him 30'! The Stoneskin saves him from certain death, but is used up. Another flurry of missile weapons and everyone but Ember is now out of spells.

  Round seven: Doomsman closes again and hurts the Horned One a lot, but bot enough. The Horned One's first counter attack knock Doomsman to 3 h.p. Before he can strike again Ember uses his last spell, a Magic Missile and the Horned One dies.

  The party rejoices.

  They use a lot of charges, scrolls, etc. to heal everyone at least a bit and then camp until dawn again.

  Darkwalk burns most of his Cleric spells to heal everyone and they begin to investigate. The Horned One is now - a big, tough-looking hobgoblin in armor that cloaks him with an illusion and makes him immune to scrying. He is still obviously heavily mutated by magic, though. And, luckily, still very dead. They discover that he had placed a magic item on one of the Champion's swords and used that to track the party.

  There is obvious fighting in the city and they see scattered groups of humanoids and even a few individuals slinking from the city. They grab a few for interrogation and learn a great deal;

  - After the attack on the Tower of Flying Beasts a number of goblins and hobgoblins had defected.
  -The head of the Necromancers had died suddenly the morning of the assault on the Temple of Death (they realize whose imp Mournglow's familiar had killed), throwing the necromancers into confusion and internal fighting for leadership.
  - After the Champion's body was found Alzozel ('Creepyhead') had ordered the Slaughter God troops to leave and then flew off himself.
  - During the confusion the priests of the Plauge God had simply vanished.

  The party had been working on the Horned One's power base for years; destroying the alliance with the Giant Lords; wiping out the Band; slaughtering the Pack; the capture of the northern fortress; the death of the Lord of Necromancers; the assault on the Temple of Death; the death of the Slaughter God's champion. The Horned One's only chance of maintaining his power had been to destroy the party himself, something he had almost pulled off.

  The party returned to their real base, gathered their henchmen and hippogriffs, and flew to the Horned One's fortified island. It was essentially deserted. Stardust and Darkwalk made quick work the the various physical and magical traps and the party got to the treasure vault to find quite a bit of loot. The highlights of the haul were:

  -about 350,000 g.p. value of treasure
  -a slew of minor (+1/+2) magical weapons and armor
  - A Mirror of Mental Prowess
  - A Book of Infinite Spells
  - a +7 two-hander
  - the Sceptre of Goodly Might

  The party was very happy that the in-game 15 year, real life 7 year, quest to break the power of the Redcaps was complete. They are concerned that so many villains got away, of course, but the general agreement was that the entire party will now "retire" to run their various feudal lands.

  I must admit - it was an emotional afternoon. The Blackstone 1 campaign has been running for over 7 years and was the primary campaign. When we began my oldest son was 11; he starts his first full-time job this week. Our fourth son practiced penmanship re-writing his character sheet. This campaign has covered nearly 1/3rd of my marriage! It was a big day!

  And Good Triumphed!

DM's Play Report from Blackstone I: Assault on Tolmar

  The War against the Redcaps Continues!

The Campaign
  almost 7 years old. AD&D 2e Skills and Powers.

The Players and Characters
  Je.: Stardust, 13th level Thief. Armed with a pair of +3 Daggers of Returning and a sneaky disposition. Party scout.
    - Deacon Samarr,  6th level cleric henchman. Rescued from a Hill Giant slave pit, he is loyal to Stardust and her friends. Focused on healing and abjurations.
    - Sir Raleigh the True, 4th level fighter henchman. Gained from a Deck of Many Things, he is perfectly loyal. A halberd specialist and armed with a +7 halberd!

Ja.: Mournglow, 11th level mage. A true generalist and the party's planner. The list of NPCs who owe him favors needs to be printed in 8 point font. Double-sided.
    - Whitestar, his Arcane Servant familiar.

A.: Doomsman the Destroyer, 12th level Fighter. A barbarian and grandmaster with the two-hander who is skilled in a number of melee combat styles. One of the deadliest men on the planet. His magical scabbard carries both Gatekeeper, the sword of that seals the planes, and Magekiller, which is just what it says on the tin. Lord of the North, Guardian of the Pass, and party leader. He thirsts for combat.

S.: Ember, 11th level Fire Elementalist mage. Wields a flaming silver short sword of shapechanger slaying. A true master of fire magic he is the hot-head of the group.
    -Flint, his Fire Spirit familiar.
    -Redfire, 5th level Fire Elementalist henchman. He has died three times, each from a giant's boulder.

N.: Darkwalk, 8th/9th Cleric/Magic-user. Also a skilled fighter, he is the voice of caution. He carries an Talisman of Ultimate Good that keeps reappearing in his backpack each time he tries to give it to the Pope.
    -Suregaze, his Elven Dragonling familiar.
    -Starwing, a 3rd/3rd/3rd fighter/cleric/magic-user henchman. Leader of the henchman, she has a calm demeanor and a knack for leadership.

The Background
  The party has been fighting the same humanoid force for over a decade of game time. This group, called the Redcaps*, consists of various allied goblins, orcs, and giants and have a number of human allies, notably the Cult of the Slaughterer (evil war priests), the Cult of the Rot Lord (plague priests), and the Cult of the Ghoul God (priests of the undead).  The Redcaps had been allied with the Hill Giant chieftain, the Frost Giant Jarl, the Fire Giant King, and the Grand Duke of the Western Cloud Giants. In addition to their various armies the Redcaps had two special groups of warriors that dealt with 'special problems', the Pack and the Band (sometimes called the Small Pack). The leader of the Redcaps, called the Horned One**, had ruled the group with an iron fist for a century.
  Many years ago when 2nd-3rd level the party wiped out a small Redcap outpost on the Black Ridge near Black Pass. The party went on the fight a number of Redcap forces over the years until they destroyed the Band and learned of the alliance with the Giant Kings. The party then spent over a year systematically raiding and destroying the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, the Glacial Rift, and the Hall [that's how I inserted the Giants into my campaign]. They went on to face the Pack and the Grand Duke of the Western Cloud Giants destroying them all in an epic battle atop a thunderhead.
  The party used the proceeds of their adventures and favors owed them by others to build a sprawling fortress complex on - the Black Ridge near the Black Pass, commanding the only pass connecting the Dells (a collection of small baronies) with the Lands of the Shadow, a monster-haunted region skirting the evil emanating from the doomed capitol of the fallen Emerald Empire; a region ruled by the Redcaps. Skullfang Castle ( an inside joke) is Doomsman's fortress and contains Darkwalk's cathedral as well as the towers of Mournglow  and Ember. Stardust has a very well hidden underground base for her followers nearby.

  A recent raid on the Redcaps is detailed in this post.

  Doomsman is determined that the threat of the Redcaps be eliminated so he can focus on building up his new realm. The party spent a great deal of time (both real and in-game) scouting and researching the Redcaps.
 The Redcaps had always had a presence int he ruins of the Emerald Empire port city named Tolmar, a 150 miles or so west of Black Pass. The party knew that the leaders of the Cults had temples there, that a cabal of Necromancers had a tower there, and they learned that the Horned One was moving there, too. Careful scouting revealed that the various evil temples and the tower of dark magic were all on an old city square, that the Horned One was residing on a fortified island on a river that passed through the city, and that a force of hobgoblins and salves were repairing the walls. The northern part of the city was on a higher elevation and a large tower there held some strange flying beasts that flew riders over the city on patrol during the day. The lower, southern half of the city was patrolled by undead at night. While the humanoid troops in the city were elite they were relatively few in number leaving most of the city empty.

 The party decided that they would use hippogriffs to fly near, then slip into the city and cause havoc with hit and run raids hiding in the ruins if possible in between attacks.

The Adventure
  The party was successful in sneaking into the city, largely due to the elven cloaks and boots they received as rewards from the battle they had won for the elves. The entered close to what they call the Tower of the Flying Beasts at the very northern tip of the city. The 12 story tower had been turned into a pen for 6 huge flying reptiles none of the party. The interior base of the tower was surrounded by a small hobgoblin war camp, complete with spiked ditch, rampart, wooden palisade, and secure gate. Although small, this camp held many elite hobgoblins in a small area.
  Theri leader was a human in plate armor and the dark purple robes of a Death Cultist carrying a black staff with a cobra head. Helmetless, he wore a silver circlet which Mournglow recognized as a device that allows it s wearer to control undead at range. The cultist went into the tower and soon after Whitestar reported that an invisible imp was perched atop the tower. The party hashed out a quick plan and struck.
  Stardust invisibly scaled the tower using her Bracelet of Escalade as Ember dropped a Wall of Fire the length of the camp, trapping and quickly killing all but a scant handful of the hobgoblins. Stardust slaughtered the imp virtually instantly, crippling the cultist, who joined the imp in death a round later. Stardust rejoined the party in moments and they scarpered for cover. They soon saw another of the lizards on patrol, this time with Creepyhead on it! The party was able to elude pursuit and find a secure hiding place, however. The night was filled with patrols and close calls, but they made it through, mainly because (as they alter learned) the defenders assumed they had fled outside the city.
  The party examined a book that the cultist had been reading and found that a fair amount of it was in a code The rest showed a sewer network under the northern half of the city. That night they also saw a ghost ship sail into the harbor!
  The next day the party set out early to scout more of the city. They very soon found a pack of ghouls slumbering in a basement with another death cultist sleeping in the middle of the pack! Darkwalk used the power of God to destroy the ghouls and Doomsman slew the cultist before he fully awoke. The party circled back toward the Tower of Flying Beasts to attack it again. Close to the tower the party was ambushed with Stardust narrowly being assassinated by a poisoned crossbow bolt! A quick skirmish dealt with the ambushers, who turned out to be wererat thieves using the sewers to move around the northern part of the city.
  Back at the Tower they observed Creepyhead land his flying mount and enter the tower. Hobgoblins were supervising human and goblin slaves burying the dead and repairing the burned camp. A human in ornate plate armor and wearing the symbol of either the Head of the Slaughter Cult or Champion of the Slaughter God was chatting with the human death cultist leading the repairs. After a moment the slaughter cultist flew away(!) and the death cultist went back to leading the repairs.
  Ember dumped a boosted Torrential Fireball on the caged flying reptiles, killing them as well as their handlers. Doomsman and friends charged the cultist and hobgoblins. Doomsman was his usual lethal self when - a ghostly black hand appeared and touched him causing him great pain. Creepyhead was up to his old tricks! Ember dumped a Fireball into the tower and Mournglow used a Lightning Bolt on the tower, as well, while Darkwalk dispelled the hand. The party fled but soon encountered - the last flying reptile and its rider! A volley of spells went off and that beast also died, as did its rider.
  The party fled and took shelter and we broke for the night.

Notes and Impressions
  Creepyhead is still a lot of fun to use on the party.
  The party is properly worried about the Champion/Head of the Slaughter Cult.
  Their guerrilla tactics have served them well so far.
  I am sure that the play reports from the players will emphasize different details.


* I got the name from the old tales from Scotland of particularly evil goblins; I originally added the Redcaps (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears in a a 'super tribe'), the Pack, and the Band to my 1e campaign in 1988.
**I just liked the name and got the idea from a sculpture of Lucifer. I added the Horned One to my 1e campaign in 1989.
  Imagine my shock when a friend gave me a Castles and Crusades module that had Redcaps led by the Horned one!

Magic Item of the Week - Magekiller

  No, not all of my magic items are low power or non-combat.

  One of the most terrifying NPCs in my Blackstone campaign is the Undying Witchking, Emperor of Zangara. The legends surrounding him are many, but they all agree - he is not undead but he can't die. He's been stabbed, punctured, burned, decapitated, and more and always appears fresh as a daisy a few rounds later. He has also ruled Zangara with an iron fist for 2 centuries and does not appear to age (he is ostensibly human).

  Note: Since he is one of the top BBEGs of the campaign and I assured the party I follow the rules very closely for NPCs a major meta-plot was them doing serious rules research to figure out how I did it. I am proud to say that, as hard as it was, they did figure it out.

  Two generations ago a conspiracy of Zangaran wizards and clerics worked for decades to create a weapon capable of destroying the Witchking regardless of the methods he uses; the result was Magekiller. The conspiracy was betrayed and killed before they could locate a hero to wield the weapon. The last survivors of the group, a father and son, fled in a ship that was destroyed by water elementals summoned by the Crimson Watch, the Witchking's personal guards (various wizards, clerics, thieves, and fighters). Magekiller was thought lost to the sea.

  Just a few years ago a barbarian warrior in a frontier district of the continent of Ansar began to rise in local prominence, eventually founding his own small fiefdom on the utmost border of civilization. He is a swordsman of great renown, considered by some to be the greatest living master of the zweihander. The sword he wields is rumored to be Magekiller, returned from the sea.

  Note: the Blackstone campaign is AD&D 2nd edition with all player's options books.

Magekiller

  +3 two-handed sword; +4 vs. creatures with spell-like abilities; +6 vs. any creature capable of casting arcane spells, summoned or conjured creatures, animated objects, constructs, familiars, and golems.

  Int: 17 Ego: 25 Alignment: Neutral Good Special Purpose: Destroy evil arcane spellcasters

  Can communicate telepathically with its wielder, can speak, read, read maps, and Read Magic

  Can speak and read: Bandur (the Western Common tongue), Kadathi (the language of arcane spell casters in the campaign), Zanzur (the Eastern Common tongue), Borelath (a creole common to elves, gnomes, and halflings), Low Pidgin (a language common to orcs, goblins, kobolds, etc. with no written version), and Denek (dwarven)

  Magekiller can see normally out to a range of 60' and has mystical sight that allows it to see normally in complete darkness (but not magical darkness) up to 10'. Magekiller has a field of view roughly equal to that of a person but can 'look around' like a character by altering its direction of sight. Magekiller cannot see through solid objects, etc., although it is possible to, for example, extend the sword's blade past a junction so that it can 'look around the corner'. Anything seen by Magekiller must be communicated to the wielder or spoken aloud; it cannot share its senses.

  Magekiller likewise automatically senses all magic within 30'.

  Magekiller can automatically detect if a creature has spell-like abilities or can cast arcane spells within 10'.

  Magekiller can detect alignment on arcane spellcasters (only) within 10' automatically.

  Much like vision, Magekiller must communicate what it senses to its wielder.

  Lastly, Magekiller automatically knows if its wielder is under the effects of a Charm, Quest, Geas, or similar spell.

  When worn or held Magekiller;

-Acts as an Amulet of Proof vs. Detection and Location

-Grants its wielder 20% magic resistance

-Grants its wielder a +4 on all saves vs. magic

-reduces all damage from spells or spell-like effects/abilities by 2 h.p./die (to a minimum of 1 h.p. per die); if the attack is set damage, etc., the damage is reduced by 1/4th.

  When held and the blade is bared the wielder may choose to activate the sword's power of Spell Turning. This is identical to the Ring of Spell Turning. While this power is active Magekiller does not grant any magic resistance, saving throw bonuses, or reduced damage from spells. The wielder also cannot engage in melee combat with Magekiller while Spell Turning is active, although he can move or fight with other weapons.

  When fighting evil arcane spellcasters Magekiller may invoke its special power of Cancellation when it strikes such a target. When used the weapon's blow does no damage but all spells and spell-like effects active on the creature struck are 'turned off'; the creature struck gets no save vs. this spell although magic resistance does apply at 1/2 strength. Cancellation may only be used once a day and only when Magekiller itself decides to use it.

  Example: Lord Doomsman and his companions had finally penetrated the catacombs beneath the Obsidian Fortress and cut their way through the hordes of undead - all that remained were the Necromancer Lord Pathin the Foul, his henchmen, and their personal guards.
  As the two groups closed with each other Bishop Darkwalk and Mournglow the Mage immediately began casting, their personal henchmen guarding them, while Ember the Pyromancer, always unpredictable, cloaked himself in fire and charged with his flaming sword bared, his henchmen trailing behind. Stardust had simply vanished, as usual. Doomsman charged the cluster of men surrounding Pathin, eager for battle, his lieutenants guarding his flanks as he cut down enemy mercenaries.
  The vast cavern flashed with terrible magics as the Death Priests and Necromancers sought to hold off the forces of good. Doomsman saw a Death Priest cast a warding upon Pathin as the necromancer lord drank a foul brew. A blast of shadow swept over Doomsman, Magekiller protecting him from the foul curse. He saw Stardust appear from nowhere and slit the throat of a Plague Priest before she vanished back into the darkness. Mournglow and Darkwalk were both blasting foes and protecting each other from counter-attacks. Ember was laughing with joy as he cut down enemy spellcasters with the cleansing flames of his blade and cloak.
  Doomsman and his men slammed into Pathin's personal guard like a hammer, cutting through rapidly. Some of his men froze, gripped by spells cast by the Death Priests, but Doomsman felt the magic glide past him like a breeze as Magekiller shielded him again. Pathin, obviously afraid of the tall barbarian lord, cast a spell that caused him to be surrounded by a shell of shadows.
  Doomsman was finally through the last guards and lunged toward Pathin. The necromancer also leaped forward with magical quickness, touching Doomsman's arm; there was a muted flash of green light and, once more, Doomsman felt Magekiller protect him. As Doomsman's first stroke lashed out he heard Magekiller's voice in his head,
  "Strike true"
  The blade hit but Pathin was unharmed; instead the shell of shadows, the green nimbus on his hands, and all the rest simply vanished [Magekiller Cancelled the spell effects of Prayer, Aid, Bless, Spirit Armor, Ghoul Touch, and Contingency as well as the effects of a Potion of Speed]. Pathin recoiled in terror as Doomsman's backstroke slashed across his torso, almost disemboweling him. The spellcaster staggered back and opened his mouth but the third stroke decapitated him before the scream could start.

  Magekiller's personality is very subdued; it almost never speaks aloud and is very taciturn even with its wielder. It will not allow itself to be wielded by an evil creature nor a creature capable of casting arcane spells; in the former case it 'turns off' it powers and uses its telepathy to make the wielder uneasy and fearful of it until it is sold or given away. For the latter it will telepathically urge that it be given to 'someone more suited' as well as 'turning off' its powers.
  Magekiller prefers to be wielded by fighters, then multi-class fighters (not including fighter/magic-users or such!), and then those clerics that can use a two-handed sword.
  Magekiller will usually only come into conflict with its wielder if the wielder has been Charmed, Geased, etc. If that occurs Magekiller will attempt to 'take over' and force the wielder to seek out counterspells. Note that Magekiller cannot use its Cancellation power on any creature that cannot cast arcane spells!
  Magekiller could potentially also come into conflict with a wielder who refuses to oppose arcane spellcasters at all.

  Anyone wielding this powerful weapon should expect to fact threats ranging from other who desire to own it to the enmity of virtually every evil mage to the machinations of the Crimson Watch.
  [The party that has it is justly paranoid of 'Witchking Infiltrators'].

  Some sages suspect that if Magekiller were to destroy the Witchking that the sword itself may become 'depowered', its purpose completed.

Inspired by Other Bloggers - Back in the Day and Now

  Last night I saw an interesting article in my Google+ feed - this fun bit. Inspired, I will do the same and related my experiences.

  I started D&D in '77 on March 15th. Yes, I remember the specific day because there was a Shakespeare play going on at the time. The guy running it was a college freshman at Ball State and was using the white box rules for a game with his girlfriend, some high school kids - and me. I am forever grateful to the two girls who insisted I be able allowed to play even though I was 9.
  I remember setting as fairly important; the DM used French to indicate when we were speaking to traders from other lands and his girlfriend used German to represent the barbarians from the North. I was soon with a group of middle schoolers with a high school age DM and he also had a fairly detailed setting with the politics between the elves and the dwarves really setting the tone.
  By the end of the year I had Traveller, the Holmes basic set, and Chivalry & Sorcery. C&S has a huge impact on me because it was very focused on setting and on background. And Traveller added skills! I loved the snap and crunch of Traveller with all the math, the ship design, etc. And I liked the complexity of C&S. But I played D&D the most, with a bullet.
  In '78 I started working on a setting for my own D&D campaign, a port city called Seaward. Originally it was a crude map of a small city, a nearby set of smugglers' caves, and where the wizard's tower was. My players seemed to love the background and settings. The style of play for us was similar to this;

-Make characters (3d6 in order, roll 3 sets and pick the one you like)
-Make the new character part of the setting with backstory
-Have fun.

  Character death was fairly common.

  Around 1980 I noticed that the modules I had gotten had really changed the map - figuring out where to put them, how they fit into the world, etc. really spread out the map and added a lot of depth. My house rules were both well begun and under constant revision. I was actively trying to figure out how to get Traveller-style rules in my D&D setting when three things happened in quick succession; I moved, I received the World of Greyhawk folio as a gift; and I received Rolemaster as a gift.
  The impact of Rolemaster on how I thought about gaming was huge, bigger than C&S had been. The Greyhawk folio made me look at the Seaward setting from a 'top down' perspective; my new set of players were very, very strong on the rules without being rules lawyers.
  Before you know it I was running two campaigns; one in Greyhawk where it was official modules and Seaward where it was original stuff. This was also the time of my first 'reboot' of Seaward - much like Crisis on Infinite Earths I fixed continuity errors and cleaned up the maps and storylines. Another interesting development was how the players wanted to move characters between the two campaigns. We also all used what we called 'strict time'; sometimes characters were unavailable so we began having henchmen go as adventurers when their boss was out - the beginnings of what I call jazz band adventuring although not nearly as sophisticated as it became later.
  During this time;
-setting was still very important as a tool for adding depth to the game
-a lot of my players had henchmen as quasi-substitute characters
-When character death was a little less common character 'so messed up he is out for months' was more common than ever

  After joining the army I was all over the map in more ways than one. My looooong training schools allowed me to participate in a very, very fun game of Champions and play in a campaign where the GM had only ever played Rolemaster, knew every rule inside and out, and was running in a homebrew setting. Those two GMs taught me a great deal about being prepared, session prep, plotline development, and collaborating with the players. I was also playing a fair amount of D&D including a number of very memorable 'one shots' with someone who went on to win several prestigious awards as a movie producer.
  Then I was lucky enough to join Lew Pulsipher's D&D group. As I have mentioned before, Lew had already solidified what I call 'jazz band adventuring' and his setting, Tonilda, was a revelation in its simplicity. Most importantly, he is a full-blown game theorist and we often had long discussion about theory and did a fair amount of experimentation.
  Of course, 2e cam out shortly thereafter and I did my second reboot of Tonilda to incorporate a lot of the things I had learned.
  During this time;
-setting settled in as what I still consider it to be to this day - a framework for plot development that allows various stories, characters, etc. to interact so that there is a feeling of verisimilitude to the game and more depth for all involved
-I realized that the balance between complexity and simplicity should vary and that the difference in 'feel' between systems is often about this balance

  I wanted to insert a little note, here, about my experiences as a gamer.
  I feel like I am a bit unusual as a gamer - I have been to two RPG conventions ever and while I enjoyed them well enough I doubt that I will ever be to many more. I have never, ever had any experience with being bullied, etc., about gaming. I had motorcycle racers and football players in my games from day one and a small majority of all of my players were special forces, airborne, or rangers. With a few exceptions I have always had girls or women in my gaming groups. I sometimes feel that this is anomalous since a fair number of my peers talk about their experience as very different than this.

  Storytelling/White Wolf/WoD came along just as I was transitioning from the army to civilian life. I have mentioned other places that I largely enjoyed WoD as a concept but I did not ever run it and was not a fan after playing it. Story and setting had been a part of my campaigns from the beginning but were always secondary to adventure and fun.

  I did run 3e for a number of years and used Seaward (not the main campaign area) for those games. While there are certainly great elements in 3e the complexity level was a bit too high for my players and I to enjoy it as much as earlier versions. We kept largely the same attitude; fun and adventure is first, story and setting add to fun and adventure, rules need to be balanced between simple and complex. My 3e campaign died a neglectful death since my players were always asking to play something else.

  I experimented pretty heavily in this time with Rolemaster, Fantasy Hero, new C&S, etc. but always kept coming back to 1e and 2e. I was an eager fan of HackMaster 4th and really enjoyed it. My wife is a huge fan of AD&D 2nd edition Skills and Powers so I eventually created a new campaign world, Blackstone, to run a dedicated 2e S&P campaign.

  Blackstone was the primary campaign for a few years while Seaward lurked about. Eventually my kids wanted to play more 1e and Seaward was back out in full. We still keep story and setting in support of adventuring and fun, as the kids age we use jazz band adventuring more and more, and we like the level of complexity between 1e and 2e S&P.

  4e went by pretty fast and it was some time sbefore I got the books - my sons play it as a tactical warfare simulator. I heard of and acquired OSRIC, S&W, etc. all pretty early and enjoy them a great deal.

  I currently run a 1e campaign (Seaward), a 2e S&P campaign (Blackstone), and a Champions campaign (Champions of Atlanta). I still wish I could figure out how to play Rolemaster more. I still wish I played as much as I GM.

  What are your histories like?

DM's Log - Blackstone Campaign, sessions 3&4

  Previous entry is here.

  This is 'Group 2' in the campaign and the party is;
  My son J. plays a 2/3 Illusionist/Thief Gnome named... Steve, Or Bob. Or Tom. It varies.  My son A. plays a Half-elf 2/2 Fighter/magic-user named Drake  My son S. plays a Half-elf 2/3 Fighter/Thief named Sir Neun Hammerfist  My son N. plays a Human 4th level Fighter specialized in the falchion named Tellon  My wife plays a Human 4th level Cleric named Marigold
  Also with the party is Marigold's henchman, Kugel the Stern, a 1st level Dwarf cleric and Neun's bodyguard (henchman) Clandrel, a 1st level fighter.

   After resting in the corridor the party continued their explorations. In the next room they found the large, seemingly-dead seemingly-a-tree room. Very concerned, Steve reached into his Bag of Tricks and pulled out - a bull! He sent the bull into the room where it was promptly paralyzed and the tree began to eat it. Realizing a majority of its tentacles were being used to haul the bull to the 'tree's' mouth the fighters closed with it and killed it surprisingly quickly. Beyond the room the party realized they were back in the large space where they had fought the amphisbaena. They checked the lone door from that room they had yet to open and discovered that the hallway beyond was rather odd. The floor dorpped off perhaps 20' and the floor was covered with pale thorn bushes and large, dew-speckled white flowers. There were bronze bars crossing the hall every 10'. The party uttered a collective 'not going that way' and shut the dorr, returning to what they now called 'the cat room' via the dead 'tree' room.

  Marigold, the cleric, had had a dream, however, about the room holding Xipe and the party decided they had to clear it out. The 'stuffed' jaguar was now pacing the hall but ignored the party. The walls had fresh human skins and fresh blood on the floor. The party was tightly focused on the statue and was preparing to unleash the majority of their spell power on it, thinking it was enchanted, when Drake wandered over to the well and realized it was full of liquid light. His insistence that the party examine the well and airshaft before they did more agitated some party members, but they listened. Another Bag of Tricks animal (a goat, I believe) was tossed into the well and showed that it was lethal. Drake, believing more was going on, shouted up the air shaft - and a booming voice responded! Drake (who speak ogrish) argued with the voice as Steve and Neun silently (and in the case of Steve invisibly) clambered up the shaft, trailing a rope.

  The two thieves soon realized that there was an entrance in the side of the shaft and that the voice was coming from inside. They swiftly anchored a rope as Drake told the 'god' that, intimidated, the party was leaving but would return with offerings. As soon as that was said the party began swarming up the rope to get into the room, Steve leading the was unseen.

  Tellon, who is a cuisinart, was the first visible member to climb in and held Xipe back as more joined the fun. Xipe tried his shout attack (with little effect) and the fight was over in just 3 rounds. The party realized "Xipe" was an Ogre Mage shapechanged to resemble the statue below and found journals in the language of Zingara that indicated he was an agent of some overlord who wanted to expand into the Fever Lands. The party gathered the valuables and left.

  Finally going through virtualy the last door on the level they came to a long corridor. At a bend in the corridor was a large stone lid in the floor inscribed with the phrase,

    "Dare not open this pit unless you are willing to meet the challenge of the game".

  The party uttered a collective, 'you got it' and continued.

  In a long room they found several rather messily-dead baboons from a long time before and, at the end of the hall, a large spherical object floating through the air with a central eye and eyestalks! Steve promptly feathered its brisket with a clothyard shaft, detonating the gas spore 40' away. After the cloud of dust (and a bit of the ceiling) settled the party went on and found a ramp going down. 

  As the party descended they heard grinding and saw a massive stone wheel careening down the ramp. Everyone was able to get out of the way, but Drake lost his backpack and (thus) all his rations, limiting the party's time underground. The wheel smashed open the doors at the base of the ramp and a large number of fire beetles rushed out. 3 rounds of spells, missile weapons, and a little hand to hand and the beetles were. all dead. Steve used some of their glands to save on torches.

  They cleared out the fire beetle nest in the next room and proceeded down a corridor. About halfway down they were trapped between two stone doors that slid from the ceiling and then they trap began filling with sand. Drake and Tellon immediately began hacking at the far door as Steve and Neun tried to disarm or block the trap. All saw a will o' the wisp enter the area and knew it was a death trap. 

  Once again the lethality of Tellon shone through and the door was hacked apart in plenty of time. Marigold covered Steve with a Protection from Evil and he warded the party from the will o' the wisp as they fled the area. Further down the hall the party encountered an open pit with long-dead bodies at the bottom. The further hallway looked clear. Steve once more fetched an animal from his Bag of Tricks, an own, and ordered it to fly across - it promptly hit an invisible wall and fell into the it. Only stunned, it soon revealed that there were gaps in the invisible wall on each side. The party was soon across the pit. From the far side the pillar blocking the middle of the hall was visible.

  Before much longer they party came to a fork in the passages. Deciding that since the only known way in was blocked by the sand trap the party had a new primary goal - finding another way out! The party changed its normal search pattern and started trying to edge back around to another way up. They came to a hall where the walls had stone eagle heads sticking out, one with a gold ring - the party simply marched past. Just beyond were dozens of human figures. As the party advanced they animated and attacked as zombies. Marigold turned her maximum number on her first attempt and then Tellon and Drake made short work of them with a lot of help from Neun and Marigold as Steve kept an eye out. 

  Beyond was a room with fading writing on the walls and two figures on stone couches that looked asleep. The writing spelled out,

  "The capitol has fallen. God save the emperor."

  Drake reached out and touched the male - within moments both had woken up and began speaking in Kadari [an ancient tongue that only survives as the language magic]. Drake could understand it but Steve could not (illusionists use another tongue). The Conversation went something like this,

  The Sleepers: "Who sits on the Jade Throne?"

  Drake: "The Jade Throne is empty"

  Sleepers: "The civil war still is fought? Which side are you on, the Imperial Family or [She Who Would Rule]?"

  Drake: "I take no side in the civil war"

  Sleepers: "A barbarian! Even in this foul shrine to an evil cult have the barbarians come! Pay us the [required fee to enter the empire] and you may loot this foul place as you wish"

  Drake: "I am no barbarian. The civil war is long over. The Jade Empire is no more. Since your time the Ruby Empire and the Emerald Empire have both risen and fallen."

  Sleepers [stunned}: "What year is it?"

  Drake [after checking with Marigold]: "6,640 years since the founding of the Jade Throne."

  Sleepers [the woman is now weeping]: "Our apprentices were to awaken us after the battle with the cultists was over. They must... They must have perished."

  He looked around,

  "The spells that trapped us here are long faded."

  Looking back at Drake,

  "Please take this and keep it."

  He handed Drake a piece of amber with a tiny red beetle trapped within. A moment later he had teleported them both away.

  The party did not disturb the room. Neun drank a potion of treasure finding to help them look for the golden idol. One of the doors led to the fire beetles nest, so they now had a way out. Checking the last door from the room of the sleepers they found a massive block sealing off a corridor. The party slid it left and found a ramp up with stone rollers in the floor. Steve went up alone to scout and soon realized that the ramp led to very near where he had killed the gas spore. he returned to the party and told them what he had found.  The party returned to their normal search pattern, soon finding a secret door they had previously missed in the corridor of eagle heads. While Neun and Steve were checking the secret door for traps Drake simply picked up the golden ring in the eagle head's mouth, showed it to the party, and pocketed it.

 The party went through the secret door and down into a tunnel knee deep in water (chest deep to Steve). At the end was a door with a keyhole through which light was shining. Marigold cast an Augury which brought the answer,

  "The idol lies beyond, but beware evil disguised by beauty"

  After a surprisingly long argument about who would look through the keyhole, no one did and they simply opened the door. The nereid on the far side immediately gobsmacked the male party members but Marigold had time to slam the door back shut, blocking sight of her. The party quickly prepared, retreiving a lion from the Bag of Tricks and Marigold reading a Scroll of Protection from Possession. The party entered the room with the lion suddenly being tied up with the electric eel and the nereid being surprised at men attacking her! The battle was short and vicious with the lion, the nereid, and the eel all dead in 3 round (!). The entire party had taken damage from the electric eel so a few moments were taken to heal a few people up. Neun detected treasure in the deep pool of water. The party pressed on.

  Soon they entered a room with a large, smooth boulder and a trash talking - crayfish. The crayfish waved its little pincers and utters dire warnings and the party - decided to see if they could go around. Another water-filled corridor and room later they realized they had to pass the crayfish and his giant hermit crab pal [the 'large, smooth boulder]. So the party sweet-talked the crayfish and crept to the next door. This worked and the party was soon sloping down again. They triggered a trap meant to harm them and block the corridor, but it only partially functioned due to age. The party passed on, entered a room and...

   ...finally found the idol! Steve sent in an owl from his Bag of tricks to retrieve it and the party quickly reversed course to get out of the pyramid! They spoke with the crayfish on the way and convinced him to come along (they realized he was there to protect the idol but since they had it his mission was over).

  On the way back they paused to retrieve the loot earlier detected by Neun (over Tellon's objections) and Neun used his abilities and skills to rig ropes so the party could exit from the amphisbaena room's collapsed ceiling. They rushed to the river, retrieved their hidden canoes, and beganpaddling immediately.

  Because they were so close to the dark of the moon and the return of the winged apes they decided to have Marigold and Drake sleep while everyone else paddled all night. Early the next morning they found the camp of their native allies who admitted they would have left before Noon. Steve took out the idol to show the natives of their success and, as sunlight struck it for the first time in centuries, ashimmering shockwave rippled from the idol in all directions. The natives were delighted since the idol would show that the Sun God favored the Northerners and that Xipe was too weak to defend the pyramid. The party explained that Xipe was an imposter and then grabbed some sleep. After a few hours they all set out and in 3 more days of uneventful travel they party made it back to Redport on the coast.

  Later that day the Sleepers teleported to Drake and asked him a few more questions before telling him they had to think about their future and teleporting away again.

  The party was well paid by Ewin and I distributed experience points.

Players in my campaign should stop reading here

  Modifying the Hidden Shrine to fit into my campaign was a great deal of fun. The main hook was the ogre mage pretending to be a god, which really set off the train of thought. The other main group in Blackstone has been searching for an artifact called the Water Tiger for a long time and the 'rippling explosion from the idol' was the ending of the spell that cloaked the Water Tiger's very existence. It will still be very hard to find but at least there is a chance, now.

  I have never cared for the nereid so I was pleased the encounter went so well. I dislike the 'all males are charmed automatically no matter what no save never' mechanic as I think it is a cop out. While the Scroll of Protection from Possession never explicitly states its stops nereid charm, it is in line with the scroll's powers, so I let it go. And I had forgotten Marigold had it, too! I changed some of the traps around and I really changed the sleepers! Originally they were 1e monks, now they are 2e specialist mages; originally they were Suloise exiles, now they were Jade Empire hostages taken by a necromancer death cult; originally there was no real clear explanation of why the monks had been just lying there for millenia, now they were unaware until awoken and had previously been trapped within wards. The tie in between She Who Waits and She Who Would Rule are nebulous, but I hope the party figures it out soon.

  The party is doing well and there was a lot of leveling up, so - it is about time to start a new party for some jazz band fun!

DM's Log - Blackstone Campaign: the Hidden Shrine background and sessions 1&2

  If you have read my first two entries on my 2e campaign, found here and here, you might understand the next bit better than most.

  This is 'Group 2' in the campaign and the party is;
  My son J. plays a 2/3 Illusionist/Thief Gnome named... Steve, Or Bob. Or Tom. It varies.  My son A. plays a Half-elf 2/2 Fighter/magic-user named Drake  My son S. plays a Half-elf 2/3 Fighter/Thief named Sir Neun Hammerfist  My son N. plays a Human 4th level Fighter specialized in the falchion named Tellon  My wife plays a Human 4th level Cleric named Marigold
  Also with the party is Marigold's henchman, Kugel the Stern, a 1st level Dwarf cleric

  The players were approached by Master Merchant Ewin Silverhand with a proposal - retrieve an idol and be well paid. The players sailed to his outpost to learn more.
  The Fever Lands are the name for the central portion of the vast Southern Continent. A massive jungle that stretches far to the south from the equatorial coast it is bisected by a huge swamp. While rich in rare woods, spices, gems, ivory, and precious metals few venture into its interior because of the savage tribes, terrible monsters, and the ever-present parasites and fevers. Instead brave souls built heavily fortified outposts along the coast and attempt to trade with the local tribes.
  Ewin is the founder of one such outpost, built on the mouth of a river far east of the edges of the great swamp where 7 previous outposts had failed - 2 simply through lack of trade, 2 wiped out by plague, and three destroyed by attacks of the locals. Ewin had very carefully cultivated good relations with the natives and was becoming quite prosperous when trouble began about 2 years ago. Rumors drifted from the interior that some foul demon lord of the locals had returned; Xipe, lord of flayed skins. Since then there has been less and less trade and the friendly local tribes are under more and more pressure from the interior tribes to obey the terrible torture lord. Ewin talked with each of the friendly shamans and learned that only if he held the idol of Tlaloc could he prevent the spread of the cult of Xipe. Ewin called upon he cousin, a Bishop, who divined that the lost idol of Tlatloc was hidden somewhere in an abandoned temple days upriver from his outpost. Ewin's own people either returned from the trip exhausted and lost or simply never returned. Desperate, he sent a note to the party who had once helped a ship captain based in Ewin's outpost.
  The party arrived a month later, were told the broad strokes of the problem (but not about previous missions failing or vanishing) and set out on foot to follow the river upstream.
  After a few encounters with monkeys, jaguars, and such they ran into two groups of men in a fierce fight. Recognizing that the smaller group wore the face paint of a friendly tribe the party waded into the melee and killed the attackers. Then Marigold healed their injured, sealing their faith in the party. The 4 rescued tribesmen explained that the worshipers of Xipe were raiding for human sacrifices to their horrible demon master and preparing to conquer all the lands between the ancient ruins and the coast, driving out the traders.After a bit of negotiations the tribesmen agreed to guide the party to a place close to the city. Soon the party was in two dugout canoes traveling upstream.
  With the expert advice of their new guides the 4 days going upriver went relatively smoothly. Before the tribesmen left them 1/2 day's river journey from the city they warned them that: A) the jungle around the city for several days to the North was full of Xipe cultists who would gladly kill them; B), in this region the north and west banks of the river (it was in a mighty bend) belong to Xipe tribesmen but never, ever cross to the south or east banks because that was where the cannibal dwarves lived and they were much worse than the Xipe cultists; C) they had to finish and leave before the new moon in 6 days because on the new moon the winged apes searched for a sacrifice to their dark god; and D) stay away from the jade tower because it was maybe worse than the cultists, the dwarves, and the winged apes.

  The party found the city around 10 am the next morning in a bend of the river where it changed from flowing east to flowing north. The stone quay had been recently repaired and there was no large animal alive in the city. They ascended the mighty temple and began searching for a way in. While looking they realized they could see the Jade Tower a few miles away, south of the river.
  Before too long Steve and Neun had found a secret door that appeared to have not been used for centuries. They also, through very careful examination, determined it required blood from a living creature to actually open the door. Steve pulled goat from his Bag of Beans, used it to activate the door, and the party entered the shrine.
  Drake was not super-happy with the goat sacrifice, but they soldiered on.
  They found a secret room containing a statue holding a scepter. The statue had the face of Tellon! The party decided to disturb nothing and continue with their exploration.
  The party passed through a room with a mummified centaur which attacked them as they  left; it lightly wounded Drake but Drake and Neun made quick work of it.
  Soon they found a room with a type of fountain in it; as they entered a Water Weird began to form but Marigold (who made her obscure knowledge and arcane lore checks quite handily!) immediately cast Purify Water and defeated it before it could even attack. They noted that one of the faces carved in the wall looked just like Tellon.
  After a lot of searching they eventually found a secret door to a hidden tunnel. This tunnel led to the top of a a 'hill' in a room that resembled a little 'country'. The party stuck to the defined path and left the room safely. As they left they noted that one of the many small figurines on the room was identical to Tellon. Outside the room they did their habitual 'go to the left' and quickly found stairs further down, which they took. As they descended the stairs a dragon statues emerged from a hidden room and blasted the entire party with steam, injuring everyone, then the statue returned to its hidey hole. Marigold and Kugel used the last of their healing magic to heal the party to full. Looking around and finding they were in an empty corridor they party set up a watch and slept the night at the base of the sitars.
  [end of session 1]

  Session 2 began with the party taking stock of their light sources. They were very low on torches, but Marigold's shield could emit Light at will. Then there was a long discussion on whether Marigold should take Speak with Animals or not - she habitually memorizes it but was unsure since animals should be rare in the pyramid. Eventually she took it 'just in case'.
  At the end of the hall they entered a large room with high ceilings and a rubble-strewn floor. As they entered they noticed mandrills staring down at them; the mandrills immediately began shrieking and throwing feces and rocks. Marigold cast Speak with Animals and learned the mandrills feared and hated humans because they had started to come to the city and hunt the mandrills for food. Marigold explained the party was there to stop the 'bad eaty men' and the mandrills, who believed her, brought the party a load of fresh fruit and even some branches to be made into torches (the party had oil and rags). The party then started searching the room when - two giant snakes attack from a pile of rubble! Both attack Neun who is surprised (so far Neun has been surprised in every single encounter in this adventure). Both heads hit for a total of 5 points of damage. Neun rolls his saving throws; a 17 and an 6. Neun falls dead from poison.
  Tellon and Drake were already running up and kill the foul two-headed serpent in a single round. Marigold casts Slow Poison, reviving Neun, and then uses her magical herbalism kit and magical healing kit, makes her skill checks, and neutralizes the poison.
  This led to a discussion of the rather interesting ex post facto nature of the Slow Poison spell. Technically, for many poisons (especially in 1e) the moment you fail a save BAM!, you're dead. But Slow Poison states that it slows the effects of the poison so it hasn't taken effect quite yet. In effect the game mechanics of Slow Poison mean that a dead character isn't 'brought back to life' - instead, they were never dead to begin with. Very fun and could lead to some interesting twists.
  Oh, and their search only revealed another carved face that looked just like Tellon.
  The party then found a room with broken pottery and an ash-covered floor where images of the dead would form from the ashes. They carefully walked around the edges of the room to avoid disrespect and went on.
  Beyond was a large room full of stuffed cats, a wall carved to look like a jaguar's face, and a stone statue of a cat-headed man. There was also an altar.
  Side note: in my campaigns religion matters. A lot. Failure to do the right sort of things = no cleric spells. Failure to follow tenets of your religion =  Cures don't work anymore. Thus, religion drives a lot of actions.
  The party puts Tellon and Drake watching the statues, Neun and Steve watching the rest as Marigold and Kugel take holy water and make sure the pagan altar is no longer consecrated to the evil gods. As this happens the statue of a man transforms into flesh and blood - and a jaguar!, and leaps for Steve. Tellon, who was ready, immediately struck at the leaping figure and did maximum damage (his dice were hot that night) causing the figure to fall to the ground, critically wounded, return to human shape and then revert to statue form. The party learned the statue (of basalt) was too hard for them to shatter with the tools they had, so they left Tellon watching it while they searched the room.
  The party discovered a secret door and followed it into a room that was a model of the city in which the pyramid rests, looking as it did when new. There was also a normal-sized coffin in the room. The party was standing on a columned area not part of the model and saw another, similar, area nearby. They decided to investigate but as Tellon passed the columns he was separated from the party by a wall of amber-colored flame.
  In a quick solo session Tellon fought and killed a doppelganger who desired to replace him. It was a rather quick fight with Tellon the clear winner but as he was finishing off the doppleganger. So the party just saw one Tellon kill another Tellon while claiming he was the real one and the other was a duplicate.
  It took some time, but the party was soon confident that their friend was, yes, their friend. They learned the other area was a foul altar used for human sacrifice and consecrated it (ruining it for evil) and [for once!] looted the room.
  About this time Marigold noticed that the air in the deeper pyramid areas was old and a bit foul. She concluded that too much time in the deep levels could eventually weaken and kill a person.
  They returned to the jaguar room and saw that the cat-headed statues was once again upright, not laying down. The party carefully entered the next door clockwise. Beyond a short corridor they found a weird two-part room. In one end was a well and a wide air shaft that obviously eventually led outside. At the other was a horrible statue of some foul demon surrounded by hot, glowing coals. The walls in between were hung with relatively fresh, still-bloody human skins. The party didn't fully enter the area, but only scanned it and decided it wasn't part of their mission. As they left they heard a deep, booming, mocking laugh echo from behind the now-shut door.
  Returning to the jaguar room once more they noted the cat-headed statue was now looking at the door they had just used. The went on to the next clockwise door. Noting the passage of time and realizing they were in another relatively secure corridor they spiked the doors and began a watch cycle.
  end of the second session.



NOTE: PLAYERS IN MY CAMPAIGN SHOULD SKIP THE NEXT SECTION.

  I love the old classic Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and always intended to have it in this campaign world. But since it has to fit into the world and 2e I modified some of the contents to reflect the backstory of my campaign.
  The background of the city and shrine are now that this was a stronghold of the necromancer cultists who obey She Who Waits and that Tamoachan was the center of the uprising that threw down the Jade Empire and led to the first of the seals that imprison She Who Waits to be broken. After the great civil war that ended the Jade Empire Tamoachan was abandoned due to both the great loss of life of that war and the departure of the Necromancer Priests that had built and ruled it.
  The Shrine itself, however, remained a lethal pit full of traps and worse. It was discovered by the archmage Malakar over 8 centuries before the time of the campaign and he learned a great deal from the inscribed jade plates he found within (and took with him). Another member of his mage house later backtracked its location from Malakar's journal and perished attempting to penetrate its lower levels. Eventually during the interregnum between the Ruby Empire and the Emerald Empire a powerful mage re-discovered the shrine, learned that its lower room was protected against all forms of divination, and hid a pagan idol that he had enchanted with a powerful effect there, in the innermost room of an abandoned and forgotten temple so that it might never be found. This idol is the one mentioned below.
  [note - in my campaign no level of anti-divination magic can fully stop the Commune spell or similar high-level holy magic. It may take a while, but that is one way holy magic is different]
  After many centuries a group of evil mages and foul clerics fled into the jungle, seeking a refuge. While at first they attempted to settle in the city of Tamoachan itself this proved far too dangerous. An ogre mage had moved into the temple and assumed the appearance and such of the demon-lord of torture and slaughter [the section of the module with an airshaft to the outside and hot coals] and had incited the worship of two groups - the degraded shamans of the southern tribes as well as a local tribe of tobelit, the fearsome winged carnivorous apes of the Fever Lands! The ogre mage is using the shamans to stir up the southern tribes into an all out war on the trading outposts along the coast. He hopes to call more of his people from the East to then rule a kingdom in the jungle as gods.
  The cabal of evil used the reanimated bodies of the dead city dwellers to build a citadel on the south bank of the river on which Tamoachan sits. This mighty building, made of a greenish stone, is now called the Jade Tower and although 2 miles away allows the inhabitants to watch the city and the shrine. Since it was completed no one has been seen to enter or leave.
  I modified essentially every encounter to be a little tougher, removed some traps, made the remaining traps deadlier, added some magic items and spells, and reduced the treasure. I also greatly reduced the effects of the poison because my time limit is imposed from outside the shrine itself.

  The original goal of the Shrine was to delay and distract the party so that the poisons killed them. For that end there are a lot of interesting rooms, puzzles, etc. as well as just old-fashioned confusing layouts, secret doors, etc. to slow them down. I am fascinated by how the party is staying tightly focused on their goal (finding the deepest room and retrieving the idol) so that they have completely bypassed several areas of the map!. Indeed, their focus led them to ignore Xipe, a decision that could come back to haunt them.