Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2013 11:07:02 GMT -8
Hello everyone,
I thought I would share my current games with you. To make a long story short, I am a long-time gamer who has recently returned to RPGs after an approximately 8 year hiatus. We are now playing Pathfinder, and I am running Carrion Crown and Reign of Winter, alternating between games every two weeks.
This thread is from my Carrion Crown game. So far, we have played two sessions, the first of which was actually the Pathfinder Society module, "Blood at Dralkard Manor." The first part of that session went great, the end was kind of lackluster. None the less, it ended with the PCs apprehending some evil cultists (Belya, a rogue, and Rale and Niccum, magic users) and delivering them up for justice at the local town. Mostly, I wanted the PCs to know each other and the professor's daughter (who was an NPC for this one) prior to starting the main AP.
I started the next session with the trial of the cultists. From there, we went in to the beginning of The Haunting of Harrowstone, with a hook set for the add-on module The Murmuring Fountain, and then played through the add-on module, The Fiddler's Lament.
Here is the summary:
The game began with the characters testifying at the trial of the cult members they apprehended in the last game. Belya and Rale were sentenced to death by hanging. Niccum was sentenced to death by immolation. As Niccum burned, Belya begged for her life, claiming to have been magically dominated by the others. Geldar (the paladin) attempted to intercede on her behalf, but the sentence stood. As Rale hanged, Belya cursed the mob, shouting, "You WILL meet the King! The King in Yellow! You will see the Yellow Sign! You will see the Yellow--" Then she too was hanged by the neck until dead. (I made a point of telling the players that the PCs were nauseated to find themselves salivating at the smell of burning meat as the necromancer burned. The witch shot an arrow through the burning man's eye, ending his misery).
Afterwards, the PCs went their separate ways, with Kendra Lorrimor returning to her home in Ravengro, in Ustalav. Shortly therafter, they received notice of the Professor's death. They traveled to Ravengro, where most served as pallbearers at the funeral. On the way to the burial site, they were accosted by local ruffians who did not want "the necromancer" burined in their cemetery. The paladin was able to convince the men to leave without incident, and they proceeded to the grave site, where they recounted fond memories of the Professor.
At the reading of the will, the PCs were tasked with staying with Kendra for a month while she settles her affairs. At the conclusion of the month, they will deliver certain tomes to individuals in the town of Lepistadt. For this service, they will receive 100 platinum pieces. Investigating the tomes, they find the Professor's journal and discover that the Professor was investigating the local prison of Harrowstone and a cult called The Whispering Way. As they relax for the night, they become aware of a tapping at the window--which turns out to be from a ghostly raven. The bird caws the word, "Eronel," before flying away.
In the morning, they head to the general store, while a ghostly violin song can be heard throughout the town. As they shop, "Grammy and Grampy" return from the grave and attack their former family. The PCs deal with them, then save the family from a creature of shadows upstairs. Upon emerging from the shop, they find the town under siege by the undead. They also find the town stray guarding a group of children from disembodied crawling hands. Upon fighting the hands, Kord the Seeker is sprayed with a geyser of pus, and grievously injured by the cold of the grave felt therein. After smashing the remainder of the hands, the PCs set off to sort out the music.
Along the way, they save a councilman from a ghostly ancestor, save the town newsboy from a villain hanged long ago, and saved Rufio, an acolyte from the temple, from a ghoulish wolf. Finally reaching the cemetery, they found an Elven woman dancing wildly while playing a gypsy violin. Around her, the undead danced and swayed. After a fierce battle, the heroes were able to subdue the woman, only to find that the instrument reanimated her each time she fell. Finally winning through the skeletons surrounding her, they were able to sunder the evil instrument, thus putting an end to the undead menace and saving the town.
All that before lunch!
Cheers!
Thuv
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Post by jazzisblues on Oct 9, 2013 8:56:30 GMT -8
I'm playing in the exact same Adventure Path. So much awesome to hear it related from another group. Very very cool. Looking forward to hearing the rest.
JiB
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RobMITC
Apprentice Douchebag
Posts: 67
Favorite Species of Monkey: Podcast
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Post by RobMITC on Oct 9, 2013 12:27:03 GMT -8
JiB, so I can read this without ruining anything we haven't done yet?
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Post by rickno7 on Oct 9, 2013 13:16:25 GMT -8
I'm playing in the exact same Adventure Path. So much awesome to hear it related from another group. Very very cool. Looking forward to hearing the rest. JiB JiB, there is/was a lot of module/adventure path hate on the podcasts, particularly in the earlier episodes. I am a fan of being a player and going through them. A few times I have had to defend or explain why they can be fun on the forums here. My main reason was because of exactly what you said and I quoted. Its like being able to interactively read a book and share the experience with people you've never played with, but can talk about it and your choices(like with video games). Do you think you could bring up and talk about the benefits and enjoyment of Adventure Paths? So many people think that its just something for the battlemat wargamer MMO player crowd or the unimaginative GM that can't think of his own stories. I'd like to see it put into a positive light on the show, even if you have to have a counter argument by someone that dislikes them.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2013 9:15:05 GMT -8
I forgot to add, for this particular adventure, I played the soundtrack to The Red Violin throughout, occasionally substituting in something from the Conan: The Barbarian soundtrack. Also, as a theme for the entire campaign, I play Ralph Stanley's O Death (YouTube it).
For ME, I *LOVE* adventure paths. I have two kids, I work close to 60 hours per week, and I coach soccer, baseball, flag-football, and basketball (depending on what's in season), which usually amounts to three practices per week with three games on Saturdays. If i didn't get to run an adventure path, I couldn't run anything! (Funny thing is, I don't like sports...it's just part of being Dad!) Arguably, i could play in a PFS scenario *rarely*, or run one of those, but I find the AP to be much more enjoyable!
Thuv
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Post by jazzisblues on Oct 11, 2013 6:25:21 GMT -8
I'm playing in the exact same Adventure Path. So much awesome to hear it related from another group. Very very cool. Looking forward to hearing the rest. JiB JiB, there is/was a lot of module/adventure path hate on the podcasts, particularly in the earlier episodes. I am a fan of being a player and going through them. A few times I have had to defend or explain why they can be fun on the forums here. My main reason was because of exactly what you said and I quoted. Its like being able to interactively read a book and share the experience with people you've never played with, but can talk about it and your choices(like with video games). Do you think you could bring up and talk about the benefits and enjoyment of Adventure Paths? So many people think that its just something for the battlemat wargamer MMO player crowd or the unimaginative GM that can't think of his own stories. I'd like to see it put into a positive light on the show, even if you have to have a counter argument by someone that dislikes them. I enjoy playing adventure paths and modules, I don't enjoy running them because I don't think I'm any good at it. I never feel like I know the material as well as I need to to make the game flow smoothly and I hate looking things up in the middle of play. Kind of like being a musician and not being good enough to play other people's music so you just play your own stuff. JiB
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Oct 11, 2013 7:47:29 GMT -8
That story line sounds really engaging and interesting. In the past all I would run were modules because I felt like my own plots weren't intricate or detailed enough. Now that's all I do is run my own. But, I also steal liberally from the the Pathfinder Adventure Paths for my games, they are so well designed and written. Again what makes PF shine...they make some really quality books.
I also enjoyed reading how the AP ran with your group. By the way what about the session made it 'lackluster' ?
Might be cool to run a short AP scenario for Jackercon. There are currently NO Pathfinder games offered...Tyler ?!? (does he even do the online gaming ?)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2013 9:06:26 GMT -8
The 2nd session (which gets most of the description here) was great! The first one, Blood at Dralkard Mountain, was the one that kind of went downhill.
**SPOILERS ALL OVER THE PLACE**
The gist of this module was that a group of local cultists got kicked out of town, and took up in an abandoned mansion that was ruined to be haunted. They began using magic to make it appear that this was true to keep the locals away while they planned to get revenge on the town.
So, the first part of the adventure has the PCs exploring the manor with all kinds of creepy stuff happening (caused by the magic user on the burned out second floor). Piano plays itself, chess pieces move on the board, creeking floor/footsteps, etc.
That part went great. However, at the point the PCs engaged the cultists, it went downhill. It went from interesting to, "oh. it's just them doing it." I.e. It went from creepy to a slugfest. It didn't help either that this was my 2nd time GMing Pathfinder, and I wasn't as prepared (in the right way) as I should have been. In short, I printed up all the stuff I needed to have rules for, etc., but ended up fumbling a lot looking through my pages.
The adventure also has a lot of player handouts. I cut them out and gave them to the players, which turned out to be a mistake because then the pages were chopped up and it made it harder for me to find things...
So, you know...inexperience, basically.
As far as GMing goes, when I really "do it right" as I did for the 2nd session, I take a notebook, and jot down each scene as I expect it might happen. And then I write dialog for NPC interactions, etc., if it's not already provided in the module. I list bits of info I want to make sure get provided, and list page numbers for things I know I might need to find. Then I run the game off my own notes. It was very important for session 2, as I had to keep up with elements from Haunting of Harrowstone, The Fiddler's Lament, and The Murmuring Fountain all at the same time!
Oh, as a final thing that I do--I *never* tell the players the names of the monsters. Vargouilles are WAY more scary when you don't know what they are! (Fantastic art for that in Blood in Dralkard Manor, btw).
Thuv
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Post by diabolicwombat on Oct 13, 2013 23:13:14 GMT -8
I recently finished this AP as a player, I look forward to seeing how your game plays out. We used Obsidian Portal to keep track of a lot of things since the AP takes quite a while to play out and the trail of clues got pretty convoluted at times.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2013 3:52:33 GMT -8
Next game coming up this Sunday. We should be sticking our toes into the real plot of Haunting of Harrowstone, and will definitely be diving into The Murmuring Fountain add-in. Details to be posted!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 7:06:16 GMT -8
In our most recent session, the PCs managed to find Lorrimor's stash of equipment in the Restlands, learn about the Whispering Way, quite a bit about Harrowstone, and all there is to know about Father Charlatan.
They also discovered the fate of Eronel (the Raven from The Murmuring Fountain), confront Antrellus the Mad, and kill the horror that burst from his chest. Oh, and they have started trying to figure out what's going on with someone defiling the statue...
This was a good session, but a very research heavy one. I.e. They talked to a lot of people, we had fun, but it doesn't make for a really interesting write up. I feel like at this point I am going to have to do something to keep the PCs from heading into Harrowstone right away (or maybe I shouldn't?).
I would like to delay them and have them learn the backstory for the Splatter Man. I think that's sort of a lynch pin for the adventure; they chose to look up Father Charlatan, then botched their research rolls for the other inmates. Father Charlatan has the least interesting back story of any of the haunts! Hopefully, they will give it one more go before they go in...otherwise... I don't think they're going to make it!
Any comments/advice is welcome!
Jonathan
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