Notes

Players: {{{1

• Alayna: Vanth, Fire Demon Rogue. Adds: 76, 5d6+2. Imprisoned for burning demonic symbols onto a church.
• Bryce: Firenzia, Centaur Wizard. Adds 9, 5d6+2. Imprisoned for public intoxication.
• Dalton: Lupin, Werewolf Rogue. Adds: 16, 5d6+2. Imprisoned for killing a child.
• Kinzie: Haela, Vampire Warrior. Adds: 16, 8d6. Imprisoned for... well, being a vampire, pretty much.

Scenario:

First meeting: In the prison of a local corrupt baron. The PCs have, for various reasons, run afoul of the man and have ended up here as punishment. Now it is time to escape.

Locations: {{{1

• Baron's Castle Lvl -1
• Baron's Castle Lvl 0
• Rat's Nest
• Summershore
• Temple of Yendor
• Sewers
• Countryside
• Eirford
• Harveston
• Galfindor
• Witbury
• Flo Bos
• Lostbeach
• Bineley
• Barham
• Wadington

Persons: {{{1

• Larry the orc: Drunk from the Tavern, now their friend. Pointed them in the direction of Bob's Bed & Breakfast, a cheaper alternative to the Greasy Lizard Inn.

• Otto: Blacksmith of Summershore. Hires party for a heist. Actually works for Shazora and the Order of Endless Night.

• Grimblegrum: Hedge wizard in Summershore. Does odd enchantment jobs for pay. Did not like the Baron, and not entirely honest, but is nevertheless very uneasy to see the stolen Amulet of Yendor in his house. Accepts 50 gp to inform the party of the security surrounding the statue of Yendor in the Temple.

• Shazora: The Big Bad. Head of the Order of Endless Night, a cult of necromancers who hope to destroy the relative peace and prosperity of the land and profit from the ensuing chaos. Shazora herself is actually a demon... Shazora was once a beautiful maiden from the village of Galfindor... loved a knight... prayed to Yendor for his affections... was seduced, then abandoned by the knight... in her rage, she desecrated the local temple... was cursed by the priest... suffered a miscarriage... lost her mind... became obsessed with looking after her dead infant... eventually preying on unwary travelers, using their bodies in necromantic rituals... her body became twisted and misshapen... retreated into the nearby swamps...

Quests: {{{1

• Quest - Chalice of Ceres
• Quest - Creature in the Lake
• Quest - Thieves and Liars
• Quest - Staff of Vediovis
• Quest - Undead Soldiers
• Quest - What Will Become of the Baron
• Quest - Wizard School
• Quest - Shazora

Miscellaneous Notes: {{{1 Items: {{{2 Speed potion: +5 SPD for 5 rounds. 25 gp Health & mana Potions: +10. 25 gp

General Advice: {{{2

• Allow individual battles. What can it hurt? Let players change minds midway through battle.

• Avoid mazes from this point on. It takes much too long to draw them. Keep things lively!

• Dramatic questions: A restatement of the party's current objective in the scene, in yes/no question format: Does the party find Otto after he enters the Sewers?

• Conflict: When a monster/enemy/obstacle's purposes obstruct the party's. The resolution of a conflict MUST answer the dramatic question of the scene. When the answer is clear, end the conflict (e.g., monsters run away in the face of certain defeat -- don't drag it out).

• When two (or more) items are in conflict, in a way that could be open-ended or end without decisive resolution (like a overlong battle), give each item a score of 0-10 (e.g., an orc's ferocity vs. its fear). Every time something happens, decide whether it increases or decreases one of those scores. When one score overtakes the other (or when one reaches 0 or 10), that motivation wins and the conflict ends appropriately.

• Come up with some event, to which each member must individually respond. Go around and collect responses, give each player a chance to do something in character.

• Traps: party discovers the corpse of a previous adventurer. The setup gives them a clue as to the types and locations of traps further in.
• Party finds a coin on the ground. When they pick it up, they are teleported to a different location. TODO map & make puzzle to solve in order to return to Summershore

• Also, the party doesn't have to be the one stealing all this stuff -- the baddies can mount attacks, which the party can attempt to anticipate or thwart. Or, barring that, simply fight the baddies to get the talismans back.

Ideas for future monstrous abilities: {{{2 Lupin:

• Controlled Rage. Werewolf transformation as before, but combined with

berserker attacks. Costs WIZ, without the drawback of CON depletion.

• Lunacy. Chance occurrence during full moon of losing control and falling into a rage.

Haela:

• Bat/wolf/mist transformations.
• Sensitivity/weakness to holy items.

Firenzia:

• Drunken Master. While drunk, his combat abilities actually increase, giving bonuses in the same way that he suffers penalties on SRs. (Roll an extra 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, keep the highest.) Possible to create a tension between out-of-battle penalties and in-battle bonuses; picture him drinking during combat, getting mad buffs, then being totally useless for anything else afterward.

Vanth:

• Summon Hellhound.
• Possible bonus from evil / demonic influences in the vicinity (if any).

Dice Mechanics {{{1