# The Ballad of the Dukes



## egomann (Sep 21, 2004)

Hi everyone. I recently took over GM’ing our game. I have not run a game since ’86 or so, and I would appreciate some feedback if anyone can give it to me. Our old GM, Dave Wooley, had to stop running the game to take care of some family business (nothing bad), and I decided that it was time I started running the game again. I let the players keep their old characters, because starting over sucks.  

We are playing Hackmaster. If anyone is not sure of what that is, it is basically 1st & 2nd edition D&D, with a bunch of house rules thrown in. The most notable are Honor, Crits & Fumbles, a new Skill system, and coupons. Otherwise it runs very much like 1st edition. 

Here is some information about the players. 

The “Dukes” 

Dave Sullivan: Malleus - Elven 6/5 Fighter Mage 
He has a set of Mithral Elven Chain Mail, and a Robe of Eyes. 
Brandon Peterson: The Black Talon - Elven 7/6 Fighter Thief 
He has a Mithral Elven Chain, a Rod Of Lordly Might, and a Stone Horse Figurine 
James Kobel - Elven 5th Battlemage 
He has a set of Elven Chain, his Spellbook, and his trusty normal shortsword. 

NPC's 
Yelm - 5th Level Human Fighter. Malleus's sidekick. He became Malleus's sidekick as the result of a draw from the Deck of Many Things. 
Zach - 3rd Level Chosen One of Deb'Fo. Basically a walking Hospital. I gave them an NPC cleric that does not contribute to combat when my PC left when I started GM'ing. 

Other: 
Kandor Kildem - My Dwarf 5/5 Fighter Cleric. Left the party when I started GM'ing. Has a keep from the Deck of Many Things and he left to take care of it. 
Cedric Sturmenkreig - PC of a player who moved about 3 months ago. Paladin of Deb'Fo. Died at the end of a module destroying a temple of Dread. 

Before I started, Dave Wooley, our old GM had run us through his "Hacked" version of the Grey Citadel from Necromancer games. At the end of the module we discovered a map on a dead body of one of the other adventurers in town. We became the heroes of the town, and after everyone trained up, we decided to investigate the map. The map came from a downloadable adventure on Necromancer Game's website. Dave Wooley gave me the adventure, and it was up to me to "Hackify" it. Starting with week 2 it is all original stuff from me. Please let me know what you think. I know I used the plot stick pretty hard in week three, but other than that, what do you all think?  My players say they are having fun, but I would really like some outside feedback. Thanks. 

Week One 

Well, after everyone trained and whatnot, we got started. I introduced Zachariah Sturmenkreig, Cedric's brother. He is a Chosen one of Deb'Fo. He dual classed from a 5th level Holy Knight, but he has taken a vow of non-violence until such time as Deb'Fo reveals to him that it is time to take up the good fight again. Once I had done that, I sent a messenger to Kandor telling him that he has to come to his keep, but he must come alone, because it was "Family Business". Kandor told them to investigate the map, and then afterwards meet him in his keep.  

Well they make their way to the village, and begin to speak to some of the farmers. Talking to Bort, they find out that recently he has been losing a couple of sheep a month, but they could not find any predators. They find the pool shown on the map, and The Black Talon dives in and finds the secret door. 

They all take off everything that will be ruined by going underwater and leave their gear and horses with Zack. They swam through the secret entrance, and came up on the landing. Showing nothing there, The Talon snuck up to the sleeping chambers, and found 2 cultist and an acolyte. They started to wake up, but then Kreog cast sleep on them. They tied them up and then The Black Talon drank his potion of Human control, and they woke up the Acolyte. The Acolyte failed his save, and then totally gave up the whole deal.  

Not sure if the cultist were evil or anything, they went to the meeting room, and yelled down the corridor "Hello, We Want to Talk!!!" A cultist saw them, and yelled "Unbeliever" and summoned all of his buddies. Mostly 2nd lvl fighters and 2nd lvl Clerics. They rushed the party, and combat was pretty swift. The party was made most of their saves, but Brando missed one on a command spell. Too bad that only last one round. Yelm got hit by a fighter with a crystal dagger, and it was broken off inside of him. He has to withdraw from combat to try to get it out. They eventually killed the cultist and the leader, but just as they did, the leader said with his dying breath "Avenge Me". 

Well, the crystalline horror in the module was pretty stupid and weak, so I changed it to a modified Stone Golem. Basically a broken glass golem. It slowly lumbered toward the party, and swung its arm at them, releasing a lot of shards of broken crystal. Saves made and failed, and I rolled a 16 on 4d12. What a crappy roll. Anyway everyone takes damage, and next round The Black Talon closes on it, and Malleus hits it with a lightning bolt for a ton of damage. Brando follows it up with a Crit; however Golems are immune to Critical hits.  Anyway Malleus pulls out a scroll of MM and penetrates a ton of times and kills it. Well, they pretty much mop up, and bring the evidence back to the Duke. He thanks them, and tells them they can take what they found as a reward.  

After that, they leave town heading for Kandor's keep. But at night, The Black Talon keeps seeing flickering lights and hearing laughter during his watch. He manages to track one down and surprise it, and it turns our to be a Pixie Farie. It vanishes, leaving no trace. The same thing happens the next couple of nights, but The Black Talon is not able to sneak up on them. The third day out, the are riding through some woods, and as the day goes on the woods get thicker and much much greener. The path seems to disappear, and the horses begin to get spooked. Then suddenly, the PF who taught The Black Talon PF Marital Arts when he was in prison, Willowdew, appears. He tells the party that he needs their help, and that is where we stopped. 

OK, when we last left our adventurers, The Black Talon was confronted by his PF martial Arts trainer, Willowdew.  

He explains that the party has been brought into the realm of Fey, and that he will lead them into his home village, Harmony, and the village elder will explain what has happened. They travel for a while, and notice that the surroundings start to lose its glow, and the bright emerald greens and vibrant colors are replaced by drab olive and browns. Finally they come into a PF village, and the colors are all muted, and all sorts of Fariekind are present, but they are all listless. 

Willowdew brings them to the largest building in town, and introduces the village elder. The elder explains that the reason that the town is so gloomy is because the "Immortal Guardian" of the town, Singring, has been kidnapped. He was stolen away by an evil Grel mage, and trapped within his Crystal Lute. The village of Harmony and Singring are the source of all Fariekind music throughout the realms, and with him gone, all Farie Bards and dancers have lost their ability to make music and merriment.  The party agrees to help, and the elder goes on to explain what needs to be done. 

Singring Is trapped in his Crystal Lute, and has been brought to the Gruel’s jungle fortress. However he can only be released from his prison by using four Relics to strike the Lute simultaneously. Each of these Relics has a connection to one of the elemental planes. Willowdew is using his network of spies and sages to find out where the four relics are, and who has them. So far, he has only found the first one. The Eye of Francor’Dios, the evil god of Earth. The Eye is in the possession of the Clan of the Evil Eye. A group of Simian Orc bandits, with a hideout on the Elemental Plane of Earth. The PF's have found the portal that the Clan uses to make it's raids on the Prime material plane, and can bring the party to it. 

So, the Party rest, and the next day they take off, guided by a PF. They travel until they are back in the land of Fey, and then the landscape begins to change to that of the Underdark. Giant mushrooms and glowing moss replaces huge trees. The travel through a large tunnel in the underdark, until they see what looks like a whirlpool of shifting sand. They all jump in, and are transported to the Elemental plane of earth. The gravity is much higher, and the air is thicker, and I inform them that they are all -1 to STR, CON, and DEX while they are on the plane, because they are not used to the conditions. The Black Talon takes the Rod of Lordly Might out, and tries to detect North, but it points straight down, toward the center of the plane.  The air is hazy, and the visibility is only about 100 yards in any one direction. It looks like the worst badlands they have ever seen, with impossibly high cliffs and mountains going off above their range of vision in every direction. The notice a bunch of Simian Orc tracks, and follow them until they see a hole cut in the side of a cliff, and two Simian Orc guards. The Black Talon hides in shadows and sneaks up there and backstabs one while Malleus takes out the other one with his Bow. They manage to take out both of the guards before they can sound the alarm.  

The go in the entrance, but then they see it goes back about 20' and then straight up. There are many handholds on the side of the tunnel, so it is easy for The Black Talon to climb up. He climbs about 50' and sees it branch off  He uses the rod to make a ladder so the rest of the party can make their way up, and sneaks down the corridor and looks into what he finds is a dining/meeting room. Inside there are about a 1/2 dozen Simian Orcs, and a couple of Orangutan Men (Rambuttas). Once the rest of the party is up there, they jump in  the room and attack. They fail to surprise the monsters.  

OK, Kreog cast Phantasmal Fireball, but only one of the Orcs fall for it. The monkeys charge the party, yelling and screaming. They begin to take out the monsters, but one of them scores a low crit on The Black Talon. Then the Orcs eyes roll back in his head and he begins to foam at the mouth. The figure out that he is a Bezerker (4th Level)!!! The party finally manages to kill him and the rest of the monkeys there, and proceed to search the bodies and the area. They find a kitchen and a pantry, and there is a case of Elderberry wine of a rare vintage there. Zack (the NPC Cleric) heals most, but not all of the parties wounds with the healing spells he has available. Once they are done searching, they go back out in the corridor. 

They go back about another 40' and then see the corridor go back up about another 40'. They climb up, and there is a narrow corridor that goes back about 30', and then goes up into a room. They hear chanting and screaming in the coming out of the room, and then more Simian Orcs and Rambuttas begin jumping down. This time the Bezerkers are already rampaging (they heard the noise in the meeting room, and had spend the last 10 rounds going Berserk while their Shaman cast buff spells on them), The party begins a fierce combat against 3 more Ramuttas, 3 regular Simian Orcs, and 3 Simian Orc Bezerkers (one 4th, one 5th, and one 6th). After a long combat the party finally takes them out, but no one has more than 15 HP's left. Once the last monkey falls, they still hear the Chanting up in the room. The Black Talon jumps up just in time to see the Shaman making his way up another tunnel. The Black Talon chases him, and uses the Rod of Lordly Might to spring up and attack the Shaman. He makes a called shot to the arm, and manages to disable it. The Shaman makes his DEX check, and holds on. The Black Talon then hits the other arm, and the shaman falls down, and the rest of the party kills him when he lands. 

Well, at this point the party has been beaten down and they are pretty much out of healing spells. The hunker down in the meeting room to get some rest. The night passes uneventfully, and the next morning they let Zack pray for spells and heal them as much as he can. They all get up to about 75% of HP's and then they start to explore the rest of the lair. They find an empty barracks room for the Simian Orcs, and connected to it is the Shamans room. They get some Treasure, and continue to look around. Then they find the Rambuttas room, and in that room there is a Large circular stone door on the ceiling. Using the Rod (you are a bastard for giving him that) they open the door enough to go through, and find a 20" tunnel going up, with another stone door on the top. The try to open the door, but realize that it will not open unless the door at the bottom is closed. The close the door at the bottom and open the door at the top to find a large room with a dirt floor, but no features. They all climb up, and begin searching for secret doors. After about two rounds of tromping around, they suddenly hear a loud roar as a Bulette dives out of the ceiling and attacks The Black Talon. They manage to avoid surprise, and begin fighting it. They notice the Bulette has a third glowing eye on it's forehead, and suddenly a beam of light flares out and hits The Black Talon for 6D6 damage. That's right. It is a Landshark with friggin Lazer Beams on it's head. Anyway, after an epic battle they manage to kill the Bulette.  

The party is hurt but not down, and they continue to look for secret doors. Yelm, of all people, finds one, and they open the door and The Black Talon scouts down the corridor. After about 30' the corridor turns up, and The Black Talon looks up and sees a big spherical floating rock, just hanging there. He calls back to the party to tell them what he sees, and when he does that, the rock rotates, and he sees a huge Eye in the middle of it. You should have seen his face when he realized it was a Beholder. Anyway, he starts to run, and it chases him down the corridor into the room with the Bulette. Well, Kreog and Malleus both cast spells at it, and they fizzle away in the Anti-Magic from the central eye. The Black Talon attacks it, and starts to do called shots on the eyestalks. In the first round he destroys the Cause Serious wound eye, but Yelm gets hit with the Charm person and attacks The Black Talon, and Kreog gets hit with the Flesh to Stone, and fails his save. Next round The Black Talon gets the Disintegrate eye (which he was not going to use anyway for fear of collapsing the tunnel), and Yelm manages to hit The Black Talon for about 18 points. Malleus rolls under the Beholder trying to get a spell off, but gets hit by the fear ray, and fails his save. Next round The Black Talon gets both the Death Ray eye and the Telekinesis eye, and at this point the battle is pretty much over. Once he kills the Beholder, Yelm comes out of his charm, and Malleus returns to the party. They climb up to the Beholders room and find the Eye of Francor'Dios. The Black Talon grabs it, but gets zapped because he can not use it. Malleus then gets it, and makes his spell save, and bends it to his will. It has a bunch of earth based powers, and one of them is Flesh to Stone. They cast the reverse, and turn Kreog back into his normal self. 

Well, the party makes their way back to Harmony, and are met with much rejoicing and admiration. They are told that Willowdew's spies have learned that the next relic they need is the Finger of Suter, and it can be found in the City of Brass. That is where we left off. 

Week Three 

The party returns triumphantly to Harmony with the first relic. The Black Talon leveled up, and while he was training, Kreog and Malleus learned some new spells. After the week is up, the party is told that that Willowdew's spies have located the next Relic, the Finger of Suter. It is in the possession of a powerful noble merchant, He-Mazt, in the City of Brass. The players make arrangements, and the PF's transport the players to an volcanic island. They find a pool of lava swirling, and are told by the PF that it is the gateway to the elemental plane of fire. Kreog jumps in, followed by the rest of the party. 

They come out on a rocky plane, and it is very very hot. In the distance they see a HUGE Gleaming city with brass walls. It looks kind of like Gondor if Gondor's walls were made out of solid shining brass. Brando rides up on his stone horse, and scouts out the city. He sees only one gate open on the walls, and a long line of all kinds of different creatures waiting in the queue. Not seeing any easy way into the city, he rides back and they walk up and begin to wait in the line. 

After being in the line for about 20 minutes, they show a short squat person running up to them. It looks like a fat human with red skin and pointed ears. He walks up to them and says "Greetings, you must be the Dukes". The look at him and say yes, and he tells them "Please, no need to wait in line. My master He-Matz has prepared a feast to welcome you to the city. I am Abdullah, Please come with me."  They ask him how he knows they are coming and he tells them "My Master will answer your questions at tonight's feast". Then Abdullah leads them to the city gates, and they are allowed to cut the line and enter the city. Abdullah leads them through the city to a magnificent palace made of gleaming brass, and brings them inside to a large common room. They are told to make themselves comfortable and the feast will be starting soon. Then Abdullah leaves, and shortly thereafter five serving maidens come in and give the party five bowls of water to clean up with. Brando remarks that He-Matz must be very hospitable if he is giving them such a precious gift. They all take off their adventuring gear, and leave them in the room and try to clean up for the feast.  

After about a half hour, another servant comes in and tells them "Greetings, I am Osama, and I am the Majordomo here. My master has prepared the feast, and it is ready for you." He leads them to a huge banquet room with a large table prepared with a huge feast of peppers, chills, and many other hot food items. They sit down, and then shortly a 8' tall Efreet enters the room with a half dozen serving maidens in tow. He welcomes them to his house, and they begin the feast. The party tries to talk business during the feast, but He-Mazt looks almost insulted, and casually explains that they will be able to talk after dinner. The party is very happy to have real food after living off of dandelions and flowers for the last couple of weeks. After the banquet is over, the party are lead to the drawing room, and He-Matz comes in and they begin to talk. 

He-Matz tells them "I know why you are here, and what you have come for. You are seeking the Finger of Suter. Don't look so surprised, just let me say that Willowdew's spies are not as discreet as he would like to believe they are."  They ask how much it will cost them to buy, and he tells them "Please, I can not accept your currency, but there is a service that you can perform for me. The Sultan's niece disappeared two weeks ago, and no one has been able to find her. My spies have found out that she was kidnapped by the Red Pharaoh. He holds a grudge against our Sultan for expelling him from the city many years ago, and probably plans to sacrifice her to his patron God Set. His fortress is about three hundred miles away, on an island in the river of blood. The blood is fed from some dark quasi-elemental plane, and the plane of fire heats the blood to boiling before feeding a lake of boiling blood in the Nine Hells."  They ask how they will get there, and he hands them a sealed envelope and a map. Then he tells them "Tomorrow, Abdul will take you to a merchant in town. Give him this envelope, and he will take care of you." Then He-Matz leaves, and Osama brings them to their bedrooms. During the night, He-Matz sends some members of his harem to "entertain" the boys. Only Zack refuses.  

The next morning Abdul awakens them, and after they get dressed he takes them into the marketplace. He shows brings them to a large tent with many merchants wandering around, and stacks and stacks of carpets. Abdul introduces them to one of the vendors, Stefan, and they show him the envelope. Stefan says "Ahh, He-Matz wishes me to repay his favor. I have just the thing for you". He goes into the back of the tent and pulls out an old beat up large carpet. He unrolls the carpet and gives The Black Talon a sheet of paper. He says "This is the command word. When it is spoken the carpet will bend to your will. Just do not try to go too fast when you are standing up, and whatever you do, do NOT fly around the city." They roll up the carpet and walk it out of town. 

They climb on the carpet, speak the command word, and then begin to follow the map toward the fortress. A couple of hours later, they see a large (about 1/2 the size of the Mississippi) river of boiling blood. In the center of the river, there is an island and on it is a Huge Pyramid with two pyramid's in front, and some smaller buildings around it. The come up closer, and then cross the river behind the Pyramid. They check out one of the buildings and see that the entrance was bricked up some time ago. Brando uses the Rod of Lordly Might to smash down the door, and inside the see the hundreds of corpses of the slaves used to build the pyramid. They then bury the carpet under some sand, and begin to sneak around to the front of the pyramid.  

Once the turn the corner, they are attacked by a pair of Heirosphynxes. A couple of rounds later there is two dead spynxes, and the party is slightly wounded. One of them even managed to rob the party of a kill by fumbling and killing his buddy. They look up on the Pyramid, and see their nest. They head up there, and find their treasure (1300PP, Curse you Treasure Type I), and find the secret entrance into the Pyramid. A quick trap sweep later, and they are opening the door, and heading into the first room. Once they enter in they see 4 human figures with the features of a Jackal (Minions of Set from Gawds & Demi Gawds), and the battle is joined. I played a coupon on the party so that the monsters get initiative in retaliation for Kreog playing a mulligan coupon last week trying to make his spell save, and failing, against the Beholder. Poor tactics equals Yelm unconscious and most of the party under their kicker after the battle. Brando took a level 12 crit and whined because he thought his AC was too low for that to happen. He did not understand that the Minions fight as 10th level fighters, and had a +4 to hit between their STR and their +1 Kopeshes. Zack uses all of his healing spells, and most of the party is feeling better.  

Once the battle is over, Malleus, using the robe of eyes, notices that they are being Scryed. They figure there is nothing that they can do about it and head out the door. Going up some stairs, they see another room. Brando sneaks a peek in the room and sees a priest (Zealot of Set) chanting at an altar and four more Minions. This time, they do not rush the room, but form a conga line of death with Kreog and Malleus taking out the Zealot with spells and Brando and Yelm holding off the Minions. Kreog manages to kill the Zealot before he can get his Rigor Mortis 40' Radius off. Bastards. Anyway the loot the room, and proceed through another door and up a set of stairs.  

They come to a landing, and written on the wall (Brando makes his read languages) it says "The Beloved of Set", and the stairs lead upwards. The stairs end at a door, and written on the door in the same language is "The Children of Set". They open the door and inside are a half dozen Giant Snakes. Well, since giant snakes only do 1d4-1, and poison saves are made, they are taken out with little difficulty. I had planned on the next four rooms to be nuisance rooms anyway. Once they kill the snakes, Malleus critically fails his Anatomy roll, so they are unable to skin the snakes and take their hides. They leave the room, and follow the corridor down to the next room that says "The Pets of Set". They open the door, and there are four bright red (Blood Variant) Giant Crocodiles. They prove to be a little tougher to kill, and one even manages to clamp onto The Black Talon's leg before they manage to kill them. Malleus, once again, critically fails his Anatomy roll, ruining the Croc hides. I had ruled that the hides were so rare that they would be worth 1000gp each. Oh well, Better luck next time. They left the room and the next door said "The Brethren of Set", and that is where we left off. 

OK, Week Four...  

We left the Dukes at the door marked "Brethren of Set". A quick trap check and they open to door to find a half dozen Jackalwares. They take them out without too much trouble, and find a couple of hundred electrum in the room. Then once again down a corridor to a door. This one says "Warriors of Set". They are a little more careful, and open the door. Inside are six Hell Scorpions. Well, the scorpions blow their surprise roll, and the party gets three free rounds. By the time their surprise is over, only one scorpion is still standing, and they quickly take him down. Inside the room they find a body. Curse you Treasure Type D. It had been eaten away, but it still has 11000 EP, 300 PP, 4 nice Aquamarines, a potion, some incense, and a Cape. The Black Talon looks at the Cape, and ask "What, Like Superman’s?". I tell him no, more like Batman’s. He gets the hint, and tries it on. I tell him that it is a Cloak of the Bat, but he can not use any of it's powers other than the improved AC until he has had time to practice with it.  

They are all down below 1/3 of their HP's, all spell casters are out of spells, and there is a huge set of double doors in the room. They decide they need to rest before they try to take on the rest of the fortress. I feel that my bad guy is sufficiently entrenched, so I let them rest (in Peace).  

After this room, they start to go up another set of stairs. They come to a door, and after a quick trap check, open it to find a huge barge gilded in Gold and Platinum. Unfortunately for them, they also find the crew of the Barge. Six Horned Devils. Initiatives rolled, and combat begins. The Black Talon, Malleus, and Yelm rush the boat, while Kreog throws a Lightning Bolt spell their way. Of the three he hit, only one did not make his Magic Resistance, but he did make his spell save. He conjures up a Wall of Fire on top of Kreog, and the two not in melee gate in two more.  

Next round the two that gated in more jump into combat with the players, and the one that summoned a wall of flame tries, and fails, to gate in another. One of the ones that was just summoned manages to bring in another, but the other one fails. The Black Talon, Malleus, and Yelm take out the ones they were fighting, and Kreog runs out of the wall of flame. Next round the players quickly advance on the ones who had not tried to gate any in yet, and Kreog uses his Wand of Conjuration to gate in four Whip Scorpions. One of the Devils throws another Wall of Flame on top of Kreog, trapping him behind his own scorpions. The party quickly chews through the rest of the Devils, but not before The Black Talon has to make a couple of saves to avoid being stunned by one of their whips, and Kreog almost bites it from the damage from the Wall of Flame. A quick looting roll, and they find a really nice Black Pearl necklace, and a couple of hundred Platinum.  

Well, the room with the boat has a huge set of double doors. They figure that the big bad guy is directly on the other side, so they cast a bunch of buff spells on themselves, most notably Haste (but not on Yelm and Zack because they actually cares about aging a year). They open the door, and find a huge set of stairs leading up. Not wanting to loose the effect of their buff spells, they start to run full speed up the stairs. Halfway up the stairs, they notice a red ball coming at them. They all think it is a fireball, but once it hits them, the find out it is a huge ball of blood. Everyone takes damage, and they are all surprised that they do NOT get a save against it. They do not want to be sitting ducks, so The Black Talon runs up the rest of the stairs as fast as he can, but the other ones do not make their Con checks, and are going to be a round behind.  

The Black Talon is the first one to the top of the stairs, and he sees the throne room of the Red Pharaoh. He is seated on a throne of Blood, and there are four Minions of Set in there with him, and tens of thousands of Scarabs running around the room. In the center of the room there is a huge pool of boiling blood. He charges into the room, and the Scarabs swarm around him, blinding him (look them up, they are a friggin nasty thing to have to go through, thanks Tim for pointing them out). Not being able to see, he is unable to make a b-line to the Pharaoh, and the Minions close on him. The minions are also blinded, but the Pharaoh hits him with a Boiling Blood spell. Pretty friggin nasty one that. Damage every round, and no save.  

The next round Kreog and Malleus make their way up the stairs, and Malleus runs into the room, and is blinded also. Since he has the Robe of Eyes, I ruled that he only has a -2 because he has 360 vision. Kreog starts casting a Lightning Bolt, but his spell is stopped dead in it's tracks when the Pharaoh hits him with a blood missile, bringing him down to -4. 3d4 +8 No Save. Friggin nasty. The Black Talon manages to take out one of the minions, but between the devils and the Minions they are pretty beat up.  

Next round Zack and Yelm show up at the room, and Zack immediately cast a cure light on Kreog, bringing him back to positive, barely. Yelm enters the room, and is blinded also but starts laying into the Minions. The Pharaoh sends a blood missile and hits The Black Talon. Between the Boiling Blood, the Blood Ball, and this spell, he drops below 5 HP's. They take out another Minion, and only two left.  

Next round Zack throws a Heal Light on The Black Talon, while Yelm and Malleus take out the last Minion at the door. Kreog dual cast Magic Missile at the Pharaoh, but they bounce off of the Magic Shield that he has cast. The Pharaoh then cast Enlarge on the last Minion, who is right beside him.  

The Black Talon, Malleus, and Yelm rush the Pharaoh, and swing at him, and take out some of his stoneskins. The last minion swings at The Black Talon, but manages to fumble and drop his sword. The next round they take out the minion, and get through the Pharaoh’s stoneskins. The Pharaoh knows he is in trouble, and starts to run to dive into the pool of boiling blood to make his getaway. I say they all get one swing on him. Yelm and Malleus both do a little damage, but then The Black Talon scores a nasty Crit, nearly cutting his leg off, and taking him out.  

Once the Pharaoh is killed, The swarm dissipates, and they start to search the room. The Pharaoh was wearing a Robe of Stars and had a Staff of Striking and a Ring of Human Influence. He was also wearing a gold crown with 8 perfect bloodstones. They search and find a secret door, and behind it they find the Pharaoh’s chambers, with a cage in the corner and a very attractive female Efreet bound and gagged inside. They release the prisoner, and The Black Talon turns up the charm, and she is smitten with him. They search the room, and find a chest. They remove the traps, and open it up to find a lot of gold, platinum, gems, and a couple of potions, and a brilliant golden helm inset with many gems (a helm of brilliance). They also find his spellbook in a secret chamber in the chest. They are all beat up really bad, and decide they need to rest. The Efreet (the Sultan's Niece) drags the Black Talon into the chambers, and shuts the door behind them. The rest of the party is pretty cranky they are left outside, so The Black Talon opens the door, and throws them some pillows.  

Well a night of pleasure for the Black Talon (by the way, I tell him the Efreet was a Virgin), and some rest for the other members of the party, and they all wake up. Malleus fills all of his first level spell slots with Reduce, and the party goes down to the barge that the Devils were on. He cast Reduce on the ship so it is small enough to fit down the corridors, and they all begin to carry it out. Using all of his reduce spells, they manage to get it out of the Pyramid before they run out of them. They want to try to rest so that they can reduce it again, and put it on the Stone Horse, but the Sultan's Niece wants to get back to the City as soon as possible, so she can tell all of her girlfriends about her new boyfriend.  

The party leaves Zack and Yelm to guard the barge, and take off in the flying carpet to head back to the City. They make it back, and head straight for He-Matz's house. She thanks He-Matz, and his Majordomo takes her to clean up, and get ready to go see her uncle. He-Matz brings out a box and tells them that the Finger of Suter is inside, but he warns them that a group of Fire Giants had come by earlier and tried to purchase it (after all, it is a Holy Relic of their Gawd). Then He-Matz ask them where the rest of their party is. The Black Talon tells him that they stayed behind to guard "Some Treasure". He-Matz's eyes light up more than normal, and he ask "Did you get the Barge of the Pharaoh?" They tell him that they did, and he laughs. He tells them that he was going to send a group to recover it if they managed to kill the Pharaoh, but were not able to get it out. He thanks them for saving him the trouble of getting it out of the fortress, and offers them a magic item for it, and that he will also send Osama out to pick up Zack and Yelm. I tell the party that it will be a random misc. magic item. They agree, and we roll up a pair of Boots of Levitation.  

Then, the Black Talon brings He-Matz in close, and tells him what happened with the Sultan's Niece. He-Matz laughs and tells him that she is very young for an Efreet, and they had better get out of town fast. They take his advice, grab the box with the finger of Suter, and begin to get out of town.  

Halfway between his palace and the gate, they hear someone yell at them "Oi, Stop You!!!" They look up and see 3 Fire Giants with boulders in their hands. The crowd parts and the Fire Giants say "We know what you have. Hand it over, or there will be Trouble". The Black Talon says to them "Take it if you can", and the party charges them. Three boulders thrown, one fumble, and one miss, but the Black Talon gets one for about 24 points of Damage. Ouchie. Then they draw swords, and the fun begins. Kreog manages to hit one of them with a bunch of Magic Missiles, and Malleus gets one with an Acid Arrow. The Black Talon takes one of them down, and the other two manage to hit Malleus disrupting his Lightning bolt, and Kreog misses with a couple of Chromatic Orbs. Malleus draws his swords and attacks one of them. The Black Talon gets smacked for about 30 more points, and Malleus gets a NASTY crit on the foot of his and he falls to the ground grabbing the hamburger that used to be his foot. The Black Talon gets smacked again, and is down to five HP's. Malleus hits him, and then Kreog takes him downs with a couple of Magic Missiles. The crowd is amazed that they just saw three Elves take down three Fire Giants in a fair fight.  

They do a quick search of the Giants and find a Magic Ring (of Swimming), a shotglass around his neck (a Never Empty Mead Tankard), and a scroll, potion, and 1000 EP's. If they had time to do a more careful search, they might have found the 100k Ruby that they had hidden away that they were trying to trade for the Finger. The Black Talon then uses his Dust of Illusions to disguise the three of them as servants, and then blend into the crowd.  

They make their way out to the Gate, and a little while later, Osama shows up with Yelm and Zack, and Zack heals up The Black Talon. Osama tells them that the Sultan is outraged over what happened with his niece, and has placed a bounty on their heads. He tells them it would be a very bad idea for them to come back to the City of Brass anytime soon. He also passes on a message from his master. He tells them to be careful because things are not as they seem.  

Well the party goes through the gate, and make their way back to Harmony. Malleus and Kreog level up, and The Black Talon practices with his new Cloak of the Bat. They have everything identified, and the Mages copy a couple of spells to their spellbooks, and everyone rest up. After two weeks, Willowdew tells them that they have found out about the next Relic. They need to get "Tiamat's Wing", and it is being held by a clan of warriors from a land far far away. They are called the "Kaze Kah-Gay-Mu-Sha". That is where we left off. I figure that the party now has made mortal enemies of any Fire Giants that hear about them, plus the Sultan has placed a bounty on their heads, so they will have some bounty hunters coming after them.


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## Desdichado (Sep 22, 2004)

I'd suggest cross-posting this in general...  in, err, a summarized format.  If you want advice, that is.


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## egomann (Sep 22, 2004)

I have not been here very long, and I would not want to get accused of spamming. 

What I will do is post in general, and ask people to come here and look at this post. Thanks.


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## Desdichado (Sep 22, 2004)

No prob; but General is where the old ...uh... can't remember the name of it, but the forum where DM's asked for campaign advice now belong.

The other comment I had was that a very long post like yours is fine in Story Hour, where it's expected, but if you want replies in general, you'd probably better go for a greatly summarized version that people can read in a minute or two tops.


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## Fathead (Sep 22, 2004)

egomann,

Well, having read your story hour post, it sounds as if you've done well settling back into the GM seat.  Reading about the group's excursion to the City of Brass was interesting.  It makes me want to pick up the supplement myself.

What sort of advice were you looking for?   How has the group responded?  Do they seem interested in the plot and adventure?


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## egomann (Sep 22, 2004)

Yeah, we are having fun. 

The City of Brass was kind of a red herring. I used the background, but I made up the adventure (the Red Pharoh) myself. I told the players that they were going to the city, so I am sure they were thinking they would be fighting efreets and such.

The advice I am looking for is about my GM'ing style. I know I used the plotstick pretty heavilly in the City of Brass, and I will try not to do that so often anymore. I just am looking for someone not connected with my game to tell me where I could be going wrong.


Also, it is nice to see some posters from the Kenzer boards. Since I am in exile, it is nice to see familer faces.


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## Fathead (Sep 22, 2004)

egomann said:
			
		

> Yeah, we are having fun.
> 
> The City of Brass was kind of a red herring. I used the background, but I made up the adventure (the Red Pharoh) myself. I told the players that they were going to the city, so I am sure they were thinking they would be fighting efreets and such.
> 
> ...




Heh.   Glad to see that you're still in the game!  I clicked on your post in the General section just because I recognized your screen name.    Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have bothered.  I usually only browse links that spark some interest (and I haven't had much of that lately...and the slowness of the boards hasn't helped much).  

The City of Brass was the most intriguing part of your adventure synopsis.  I'm glad that you added that to the adventure.  If it is interesting to read, it's generally a good indication to me that the session was received well.

Hmmm...GM advice.  Well, you've already pointed out the force-fed plot.  I don't always think that is a problem.  When I plan to force feed a plot, I generally try to make it less noticable...I'll try to make it seem like it was their decision.

Most frequently, I try to devise plots that I believe would interest the party, and I introduce a few ideas early (with as much subtlety as I can).  Often, if the group is interested, they'll pursue a particular story arc on their own (and it is generally more satisfying to them, because it seems as though the story is evolving due to their actions, rather than having the story evolve despite them).  So, I'll often throw out ideas (I'll flesh out each one a little bit, but I won't devout a lot of time to it until they actively start into it).  This leads to potentially good ideas being abandoned (which I don't mind, because I'll just try to introduce some of the ideas again later) and I sometimes have to improvise (if they get too far along in a plot that I don't have developed).

Hmmm...reading what I just wrote, I realize it is a little general...but that will have to do for now.  I'll try to come back and put some examples in context.

Overall, it seems as though you've jumped back into GMing fairly well, and the group are enjoying themselves (which is really the goal anyway).  So, stick with it.

My most constant advise on GMing is to help the player characters develop into prominent and interesting personalities.  Bring their background into the adventures.  Have frequent appearances by NPCs whose personalities you've developed...they'll be more memorable, and add some depth to your campaign world.  Make things happen in the world while they are out adventuring.  The campaign will seem more dynamic.

I'll check back a little later!  I'll also take stock and list a couple of my favorite resources for GMing advise (I'm always looking for new perspectives and ideas).


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## egomann (Oct 5, 2004)

*Week 5, Meet the Sidekicks.*

Before I start, a little background. Since we only have three players now, and I worry about accidentally overpowering the party, and  Dave already has Yelm as a sidekick, and he has the advantage of Yelm being supernaturally loyal. I ask Brandon and James if they would like one, and they both say yes. Brandon rolls up his own, an Elven Zealot of Zealur, and James tells me he wants a badass fighter. Since he is not very familiar with the rules, I roll up one for him.

Well, we skipped last week due to the weather, so we start out where we left off with Willowdew telling the party that the next relic is being guarded by the Kaze KaGayMuSha. They ask for more information and he tells them that they are a group of feared assassins from a far away and exotic land. They have a stronghold on the Elemental Plane of Air. After the Mages learn a couple of spells from the Red Pharaoh's captured spellbook, and the Black Talon spends a couple of days practicing with his new cloak, they take off for the portal.

They find the portal, and it looks like a mini-hurricane. They fly the Magic Carpet through the eye of the hurricane and emerge on the other side in the Elemental Plane of air. They look around, and see nothing for miles and miles in any direction. Several minutes later they manage to spot a small speck in the distance, and begin to head that way. As they approach it appears to be a rock suspended in air, with a tower on the rock. As they approach, they see two reptilian figures take off from the rock and begin to fly toward them. Brandon, OOC, says "Oh , Dragons!!!". The Black Talon uses the cloak to fly off the carpet, and attracts on of the figures. Both Croag and Malleus let loose Lightning Bolts, frying the one coming after them. The Black Talon scores a Crit with a Called Shot to the head. Nice Roll, Brain Goo. I tell them that when they look closer at the bodies as they begin to drift away, they look like a small dragon, with scorpions tails. OOC I tell James and Dave "Thanks for wasting your best spells".

They fly over to the tower, and the closer they get, the larger it looks. Much Larger, about 4-6 times as large as they would expect. As they get closer, they hear screams coming from over the wall in the courtyard. They fly over the wall, and see two figures, and Elf and a Human, dressed in rags and tied up in a fenced in area with six spotted lions. The Black Talon flies over to the Elf, while Croag jumps off of the carpet and releases the human.  A couple of rounds later there were six dead lions and some minor damage to the party. The Elf introduces himself as Belarian, and explains he is a Zealot of Zealur. As he is doing that, the Human is bowing to Croag, and speaking to him in a language he does not recognize. The Black Talon introduces himself, and Belarian tells him that he has heard of his exploits even in his homeland. The Black Talon does not bother to explain that he was probably talking about the original Black Talon. Belarian seems very impressed and taken with the Black Talon. Belarian explains that he was traveling to the distant Chuun empire, to learn about their concept of Honor, and he was staying with the Biku clan. Their compound was attacked by the assassins, and were decimated, with himself and Micharu Biku the only survivors. Belarian translates what Micharu is saying to Croag, and tells him that since he saved him from a dishonorable death at the hands of the lions, he owes him a life debt, and will serve him faithfully until he feels that the debt is paid.

Well, the party, with their two new friends, head on over to the door to the tower. The Black Talon checks for traps on the huge doors, and the party rigs up some rope to open them. Expecting to be attacked when they open the doors, they are pleasantly surprised when the see a huge hall, decorated with silk wall hangings many art objects and miniature trees, but no bad guys. Malleus uses the rod to cast Stoneskin on himself, while the Black Talon goes into the hall to begin his trap sweep. Halfway through the room, detecting still looking for traps, he hears the sound of 20 small swords being drawn as he is attacked by 20 Bonsai Ninja Treants. They make their surprise roll, and jump him. He calls for the rest of the party, but they get one round of free attacks on him. Well, the Bonsai Ninja Treants are not much of a threat, and after around 8 rounds they are all gone. The Black Talon took four criticals during the combat, but since his AC is so low, and they are only 2hd creatures, they were all level 0 crits. No honor for you buddy. Also they managed to take all of Malleus' Stoneskins. He he he.

At the end of the hall, there is a large sliding door. A quick trap check, and they open it to show a huge hall with doors on the left and the right. The Black Talon checks the hall for traps, and then the party goes to the door on the right. Opening the door, they see several huge tables, very close to the ground, with pillows on the floor. Figuring they have found the kitchen, they go check out the other door. They open it up, and see a room full of all kinds of weapons, armor, and various other kinds of trophies. The Black Talon enters the room to check for traps, and once he gives the all clear, the other party members go in. Belarian and Miku see their gear, and start heading toward it.  Once Malleus enters the room, his Robe of Eyes reveals two Huge humanoid figures dressed all in black, wearing mask, hiding in the shadows. He calls out to the party, and the figures respond by throwing Shiruken at Malleus the size of manhole covers. Cloud Giant Ninja (CGN) #1 hits Malleus for 24 points, however CGN # manages to fumble, and hit his buddy. The Black Talon, Croag, Belarian and Miku go after CGN #1, while Malleus and Yelm go after #2. The four party members manage to take down CGN #1, however Malleus fumbles and drops his sword in front of CGN #2. Just before CGN #2 was going to beat down Malleus, Yelm lets loose with the highest damage Crit I have ever seen. 2 hnd swords do 2d10 to H sized creatures, and with a level 14 crit to the thigh and triple damage, penetrating several times, he manages an 84!!!! Point critical hit, and drops the CGN in one blow. Well, as the rest of the party looks on in awe, two more CGN's tumble their way into the room, and attack the party. Taking one down at a time, the party manages to take care of them, but they are getting very low on HP's. They all go back outside, where Zack was tending to some of the slaves, and he uses all of his healing spells to get the party to almost full.

The party goes back in, and after carefully searching the level, they find stairs going up. They take the stairs, that lead to a landing with a short hall, and a door at the end. After carefully checking the door, they open it up to reveal a large that can best be described as a Dojo. Practice dummies, mats on the floor, and all of the walls are mirrored. The entire party, expecting a trap, enter the room. As soon as they do, the mirrors swing open to reveal 5 CGN's!!!. Combat starts, and since the party was expecting this, I did not make them roll for surprise. The CGN's all had throwing stars ready and throw them at the party. Belarian, Yelm, and Malleus all get hit, but Croag gets hit twice, bringing him down to about 3 HP's. He and Belarian exit the room, while the rest of the party charges CGN #1. The party manages to gang up on CGN #1 and take him down, however the Black Talon fumbles, gets blood in his eye, and has a -3 to hit for the rest of the combat. The rest of the CGN's charge the party, drawing weapons on the way. The next round Malleus takes out CGN #5 with a Ralph's Placid Arrow, and the party starts beating on CGN #2. In the other room Belarian heals up Croag. Just as Croag comes back in, CGN #4 smacks Miku twice, bringing him below 10 HP's. The rest of the party is hurting badly as they start to take on the last two CGN's. CGN #3 takes a big swing at Croag a badly injured , and Malleus jumps in the way as CGN #4 goes after a badly injured Yelm when The Black Talon jumps in the way and takes the hit for him. The party manages to take down CGN #4, and only CGN #3 is left. Everyone is below 20 points, and any single hit will probably kill whoever gets it. Initiatives are rolled, and the CGN goes on 4. The Black Talon strikes on One and Two, hits and misses. Malleus goes on two, and scores a mighty blow, and then Croag strikes true on three, and delivers the killing blow to the last CGN.


Well, that was it for this week. The party is out of healing spells, mostly out of arcane spells, and everyone is below 20 HP's. Next week should be interesting. Let me know what you think. This was one of our best sessions yet, I think.


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