# Trashing an Adventure



## Gryphon (Oct 16, 2002)

A tale of an DM a Low Magic Campaign and an experienced group of players

We were 3 months into our campaign all set up for the middle part, 7-15th level. The first half had been a difficult to roleplay in setting, mainly due to the fact that the known world was just coming out of a magic induced ice age, players had not been outside in their lifetimes(nearly got killed by the elements several times the monsters were relatively simple to defeat). Evil was stirring and the forces for good (us if you can believe that) were rising to combat them, blah blah blah.

So we had survived the trauma's of low level having discover the lost keys that activate the portals between underground holds and other areas making travel that much easier than shuffling about in the underdark, a damned dangerous place if I say so myself. We were now happily learning the ins and outs of our shiny new character personas, abilities and Feats.

We were;

Dwarven Fighter(Delusions of Paladinhood)
Elven Sorceror(Delusions of Halflinghood gimmie all the treasure)
Human Cleric(Morning Lord-How he survived 500 years of his worshipers underground never seeing the light we will never know)
Elven Monk(The Cluts of the party, you want a “1” I got it)
Halfling Swashbuckler(A rogue but not a thief "I don’t know how to pick a lock, I am not a bloody Thief")
Female Halfling Bard(Sorry was that yours)

Cue the new great big "should take you three months of play"  setting.

A city sunken under a glacier, the inhabitants mysteriously left after a great defence was raised against the encroaching glacier. The barrier was raised by the cities most powerful clerics and mages using powers and spells long since lost, basically a big wall of force a bubble over the city, you seen snow globes well that’s what this is. The centre of the city is a huge temple and the centre of the spell is in the huge temple.

Cue City Elders “We have found out about a portal position in a place of refuge and you found the key. We are pressed on all sides by evil blah blah blah go find out if we can take over the city.”

Ho-hum off we go. I should point out at this point we have virtually no magic items, the sorceror apparently had loads but we don’t know this, sleight of hand and a naughty use of a wand of identify. A couple of which are going to be very important.

Entering the city we find Undead everywhere, and I mean everywhere, some very odd encounters with undead in the weirdest places till we realised that the light which was everywhere was magical in nature and not actually daylight through the ice sheet. The light was the same inside houses and out, which gave it away a bit.

So dwarfy being sneaky decided to get up on the walls. Damn, now PC’s can see that all the paths they have taken are really channels leading a dark nasty looking tower. PC’s use the walls as roads and miss all the undead. Ambushing those they fancied taking on ignoring those that they didn’t fancy. A bit of bad programming on these undead creatures they were to kill anything that approached on the roads from a certain direction. 

The walls are 50ft high and from rooftop to rooftop so with a bit a light footwork PC’s make sure no intelligent undead look up.
Not too bad I suppose as soon as we are noticed by the big baddy I am sure we will get absolutely minced the DM does like to try us.

Off we go to the temple. Cue big detour round all the damned traps. The Big temple into which only those who have a patron can enter, and only though an archway marked for your god. This leaves half the party outside, Dwarfy, Cleric and the Monk being the only ones with patrons. In the centre of the room is a crystal and from this crystal shoots up a beam of light which is what powers the globe of force. SHED loads of positive energy. Only thing is everything magical on each of the three is sucked dry and no magic abilities like lay on hands etc work inside. Good job we didn’t have anything magical on us worth worrying about isn’t it(should have seen the sorceror blanche at that point)

Dwarfy, and almost everyone elses reaction is “Cool lets nick it” 
But no one bar the Cleric can get near enough to the crystal and he doesn’t want to do anything other than sit there in tune with his god.

So we drag him out to go and explore the horrible looking tower.
At this point we realise that the Halflings I AIN’T A THIEF protestations are true and we have only the old fashioned fighter find trap ability(click “what was that” Boom), and this begins to bloody sting, everyone ingenuity is stretched to the max getting around all the traps in the tower(how the hell does anyone get in an out of this place I have no idea.)

After a meeting with some very old and very weird vampire elves (locked them back in the room we found them in) the odd band of gnoll, eek gnoll longbows are mean, and then Lizard men-----yawn. We find out that someone else is gating in creatures, which makes this place less secure than our home and certainly no fun at all with the undead wandering about.

So ignoring the rest of the tower and the city we pop back home.
News is exchanged and a bit of research is done about the way in which the globe is held up so after a bit of preparation we get ready to go back. 

We decide to buy a scroll of circle of teleportation, a scroll of wall of force and oddly enough a wand of delayed blast fireball. Sorcy sorts all this out(The complete toad took money from the kitty and wandered off and came back with the items, which were actually in his bag all the time, as was all the money) We were all amazed at this as magic is in short supply there being virtually no components available for big spells, and exteremely impressed with his ability to procure items.

Our research descovers that the city is under a 100 meter thick ice glacier, which is melting and a bit unstable, but still hold the magic of it’s creation. The only thing stopping the spells that power the glacier from crushing the city is the spells holding the globe up.

So back we go, Clutsy Monk, Bard and the Swashbuckler guard the portal. Sorcy memorises its location for the return flight, then he Cleric and Dwarfy pop back to the temple.

Wall of force goes up from the edge of the temple to the floor cleric goes and gets the crystal, while sorcy sets up the teleport and dwarfy gets ready to fend off anyone turning up to investigate. No one does turn up, guess the undead learned to stay clear of the temple and the big bad guy wasn't watching us(idiot) suddenly the lights go out completely and the cleric returns. 

Sorcy fires off all the delayed blast fireballs at the roof and teleports us all out. Portal gets us back and that’s that. 

One magic eye later reveals that the city is now flat, and I mean  completely flat under the 100 ft of ice sheet. The big necromancer is toast(well iced tea) we never got any magic out of it but we get the crystal. After a bit of a joke on my part to the elders theydecide to set it up at our own hold and make it a globe this time so nothing can get in at all unless they have a token or come through a portal entrance. (I could have sworn they had no idea how to do this sort of magic when we set off but what the hey)

This took two sessions, one for the wander round, and orientation exercise, one car trip (½ hour) home for the PC’s to plan what they would do. Then half a session (1 ½ hours) to completely wreck a detailed and extensive 3 month campaign.
Ahh the joys of Gaming, naff all experience, and a very pissed DM(very self satisfied party though)

3 months of gaming indeed.

Who am I
Me well I am, Edran, Tree Toppler, City Smasher, Dragon Slayer, Dwarven Paladin of Moradin, thane of Deephold, and Master of the Mithril Keep.Ft7/Pa8

Don’t envy me though for I am now stood in some hot and smelly corner of the abyss thinking that the levels I should have gained in the city would have come in very handy at this point. 
Still not got much magic, nice bit of armour we found a vein of Mithril, (the armour isn’t magical but it does the job), cool dwarven axe(properly magical +3 I think, but the sorceror “doesn’t know”) and a very handy great big lump of an adamantite shield. That’s it. Oh I got a helmet of persuasion I think, again Sorcy “doesn’t know” but I seem to be a bit better at my charisma skills than I was.


I should point out that the DM was new to the group and had no idea that we would be to DnD “what a group of SAS soldiers are to TFC”(his words). Youngest member of the group is about 28(DM), most of us are over 30, oh except the monk who is 18 I think.

Dead along the way Bard, Monk, Barbarian(monks replacement), Ranger(Barbarians replacement). Pretty close to death on more than once everyone else.

We have been playing for 10 months straight on this campaign and we will soon be resting. THe DM is getting irrational (A BALOR you are taking the P!!!!!!!, and it died so damned quick I had to look the thing up when I got home, soooooooooo badly refereed).

I should point out that instead of making the Roleplaying harder the DM seems to think that the game will be harder with harder monsters and this is getting very very dull now the shine has worn off the setting, time for a change I think.


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