# Ben's Ptolus Game - First Session



## Odhanan (Oct 1, 2006)

Here are pictures of our Ptolus first session.

Context: The PCs have been hunting for ratmen tails in the sewers of the city to collect bounties offered by the Church of Lothian. Sometime during their explorations, they have been ambushed. They just remember a bright flash of light, and then everything faded... dreams...

They wake up in a sort of laboratory set up in a natural cave deep under the earth. They are each floating is some sort of glass jars filled up with amniotic fluids. One of them, the monk Beket Per Aau-Nu, breaks free and notices the machine wired to their jars and somehow sustaining them has been breaking down. 

She then frees her friends. They cross the lake surrounding the machine, and attempt to escape. To do so, they must face Zalathar, a student of magic who has been trapped in this cave along with his bugbear bodyguard for quite some time. 







A shot of the players' characters. From left to right: *Heinrietta "Henny" Nagel*, a human sorcerer of House Nagel (a Ptolusian noble house which has fallen on hard time recently, played by Caroline), *Beket Per Aau-Nu*, a human monk of The Old Man and acolyte to the Watcher in the Skies (with some Celestial ancestry, hence her rather surprising appearance, played by Nerissa) and *Simone Ahrenameer*, rogue Shoal elf servant to (and spying on) House Sadar (known in Ptolus as "House Shadows", with plotting wizards and shadow-stuff afficionados) played by Tiana. 






Set-up overview. It uses Cavern, River & Walls and Lake sets from Dwarven Forge. 






Another overview of the game table, from the players' side. 






Beket breaks free. 






Another view of Beket's escape. 






A view of the lake surrounding the machine's island.






Zalathar and his bugbear bodyguard. 






And yet another view of Zalathar and his "friend". 

After confronting Zalathar and his friend, the PCs use Zalathar's notes and equipment to activate a teleportation circle nearby. They teleport somewhere whithin Ghul's labyrinth, in a area that served as the living quarters for the mysterious people who were operating the lab. This area has been completely trashed and is now covered with obscene graffitis among which a black hand print is repeated over and over again. 

The area is now inhabited by a group of kobolds which flew the Halls of Cordaris and found refuge here. The PCs sneak past them and after dealing with some of the mercenaries highered by the kobolds' leader, they manage to escape the area and get back to the surface, in the Guildsman District. 

I used Skeleton Key Games' e-Adventures Tiles to represent the Lab's Living Quarters/Kobold Lair in the game. This worked admirably. It used Ghul's Labyrinth vol. 1, Ptolus Sewers and e-Adventure sewer corridors. Here is the map I worked out (click on the picture for a larger version):


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## Bobitron (Oct 2, 2006)

Wow! That is very impressive. Thanks for posting the pics.


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## Odhanan (Oct 3, 2006)

You're welcome Bobitron! 

I'll post more as sessions unfold!


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## Kris (Oct 3, 2006)

Very nice!

Do you generally set up the entire area before the game begins, or add pieces as you go along?


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## Odhanan (Oct 3, 2006)

Kris said:
			
		

> Very nice!
> 
> Do you generally set up the entire area before the game begins, or add pieces as you go along?



Ta! I set things up before the game begins, when using DF. If I need areas of the game table to be hidden from the players' eyes, I cover them with some sheets of cardboard and uncover them as the PCs progress.

By the way, for a complete summary of this first session, check out our *Praemal Tales*!


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## TarionzCousin (Oct 5, 2006)

Odhanan, this is great. You've got style.

Also, seeing Tiana's character's name jumped out at me as two people in my long-time gaming group are named Simone and Ameer. Whoa.


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## Odhanan (Oct 6, 2006)

TarionzCousin said:
			
		

> Odhanan, this is great. You've got style.



Well, thanks TarionzCousin!



> Also, seeing Tiana's character's name jumped out at me as two people in my long-time gaming group are named Simone and Ameer. Whoa.



Wow. Indeed. A soul split in a parallel multiverse, maybe?


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## TarionzCousin (Oct 6, 2006)

Odhanan said:
			
		

> Wow. Indeed. A soul split in a parallel multiverse, maybe?




Perhaps. Simone is blond and brilliant. Ameer is very hairy and laughs at everything. If you combine those two, does it sound like Tiana's character?


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## Odhanan (Oct 6, 2006)

Maybe! After all, Tiana's character is a female blond elf rogue. Maybe she secretly has dwarven tendencies and would like a beard, hence Ameer, and vice versa?


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