Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for February 4, 2017, Small Adventures campaign, for Small Timers. Session included: Delwyn Underhall (Dwarf Arcanist played by Jack Smalling), Elowyn Graycloak (Half-Elf Arcanist/Cleric/Rogue played by Noah Smalling), Reth Steelarm (Half-Orc Fighter/Rogue played by Luke Smalling), and Valetin Krupova (Halfling Paladin played by Jared Smalling). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The team was tasked by a local baron to hunt members of the Red Hand orc tribe.  They were to recover the small statues each orc makes from trophies and spoils of battle as proof of death.  The team tracked the orcs to a dungeon and charged in.  Within they discovered two large orcs wielding bardiches and enraged dungeonbred manticore!  The team surged in and killed one of the orcs quickly.  The manticore hurt Valetin a bit but got blasted by Delwyn’s magic.  In retaliation, it sent a volley of spikes at Delwyn!  The team overcame the enemies, but only after the remaining ferocious orc got in a final shot at Reth.  Before advancing, they found a lose rock in the wall and a hidden ancient crossbow of magical power!

The team entered a second chamber to find a dire ape and four orc goons!  The goons swarmed in but were hurt by flying crossbow bolts and magic missiles.  The dire ape closed in but was overwhelmed by the team.  Slow burn bolts, Reth’s stabbing dagger, and burning sling stones from Valetin was just too much.  The orcs were ferocious but unable to withstand the team’s onslaught!

The party ducked through an archway to find a massive hole in the ground… a refuse pit.  Nearby sat a chest, and a stake was driven into the ground with a rope looped over it leading into the bubbling morass of filth.  Valetin hoped down off his dog and moved to open the chest.  To his horror, it was a mimic!  He was glued to the creature which immediately began constricting him.  The team unleashed a barrage at the mimic, and Reth discovered another occupant of the room:  an otyugh was hiding in the pit!  The creature surged forward, tentacles flailing.  It grappled Reth and began crushing the life out of him.  Fortunately, Elowyn and Delwyn were able to rain down death from afar and help rescue their injured comrades.  After defeating the aberrations, the team pulled up the rope and found the orcs had hidden some magical treasures!  The team gathered these up and fled to patch up their wounds and return another day.

Game summary for January 14, 2017, Small Adventures campaign, for Small Timers. Session included: Delwyn Underhall (Dwarf Arcanist played by Jack Smalling), Elowyn Graycloak (Half-Elf Arcanist/Cleric/Rogue played by Noah Smalling), Reth Steelarm (Half-Orc Fighter/Rogue played by Luke Smalling), and Valetin Krupova (Halfling Paladin played by Jared Smalling). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The party entered the first chamber to discover a vicious minotaur and a pair of goblin rascals.  The team swept in launching magic missiles and swinging with abandon.  The minotaur savaged Reth with its greataxe and then unsuccessfully charged Valetin.  The team took down the goblins with relative easy suffering only a few slices from their wicked dogslicers.  The minotaur closed in on the team and forced Reth to fight despite his grievous injuries.  The half-orc was able to slip past its defenses and land a fatal blow to the gigantic brute!  The group then discovered a small chest buried under a flagstone.  Messing with it, they triggered a burning hands trap that singed several of the party.  Within the chest they found some magical trinkets, crossbow bolts, and some coins and gems.  Elowyn went up to the door leading to the next chamber and began messing with the lock with his thieves’ tools.  After a few moments effort, he realized he had locked and unlocked door!  After a few more moments, he once again had the way ahead open.

The team slid into a frigid room filled with glowing blue mist and an ice sculpture of a dragon!  As the team entered, the sculpture animated and attacked.  The team quickly chiseled away at it with dagger, sling, and crossbow while Delwyn moved to the side and blasted it repeatedly with fire!  The team destroyed the sculpture and found a potion and wand along with some jewels within the rubble.  The exit from the room presented itself as a puzzle door.  The team had to decipher the right combination of buttons to press in order to open the passage.  After some debate, the team succeeded on their first try.

The next room appeared to be a tomb with skeletons in niches, and a single coffin sitting in the center of the room.  Off to the side sat a chest.  Elowyn went up to examine the coffin, and it animated!  The mimic adhered itself to Elowyn and began constricting the very life out of him.  Valetin tried bravely to chop into the monster but glued his sword to it.  Delwyn blasted away with magic missiles while Reth ended up with his dagger glued to the beast as well.  Finally, Delwyn killed the creature, and the team was able to revive Elowyn from the brink of death.  Valetin then went to open the chest and shocked himself terribly with an electricity arc trap.  Elowyn then picked the lock, and the team found several magical sling stones, a potion, and some coins and gems.

Horrors were discovered behind the next door.  The dead were piled about with droning flies buzzing all around.  Two female zombie lords jerked to motion to attack the team.  Filled with righteous wrath, Valetin charged in and declared a smite against one of the evil monsters.  The group entered quickly but found the creatures largely ineffective against their good armor.  Reth did suffer a stiff punch to the throat, but once the team figured out piercing weapons were ineffective, the zombies were slain quickly.  The group lowered Valetin down on a rope into a pit to retrieve some magical keys and a potion.

The group moved into another room to find a savage orc and his two pet dire rats.  Reth, a half-orc, walked in and attempted some diplomacy.  It went badly.  Very badly.  The team could only surmise this orc was racist and hated Reth’s heritage.  That or he just had a bad attitude.  Regardless, the orc ordered his rats to attack.  Reth sprang into action and killed one of the rats with ease.  This enraged the orc, and it came charging forward swinging its axe with brutal effect.  The team took a beating, and one of the party was even bitten and infected with filth fever by one of the rats.  The group was successful in defeating them, however, and Reth claimed the orc’s axe for his own.

A dead end presented itself, and the team had to backtrack.  Just past the charnel zombie room they ran into a trio of heavily armored axe-wielding individuals.  The team almost talked to them but decided to attack instead.  Elowyn’s nerve broke, and he tried to slip past them to flee.  He was caught with a critical attack of opportunity and driven unconscious and dying to the ground.  The Small Timers smashed into the enemy and discovered the suits hollow.  These were phantom armors animated by the spirits of the dead!  In short order the team eliminated the creatures and moved on to safety.

Game summary for December 26, 2016, Small Adventures campaign, for Small Timers. Session included: Delwyn Underhall (Dwarf Arcanist played by Jack Smalling), Elowyn Graycloak (Half-Elf Arcanist/Cleric/Rogue played by Noah Smalling), Reth Steelarm (Half-Orc Fighter/Rogue played by Luke Smalling), and Valetin Krupova (Halfling Paladin played by Jared Smalling). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.

The Small Timers adventuring group gathered together to seek their lost friend, Rusila Steelhelm.  She had set out with several dwarven companions in search of the lost Shield of the Foamflagon clan.  It is an emblem of the clan’s pride and legacy, and it went missing several years ago.  Rusila heard it had been seen hanging on the wall of a nasty ogre warlord named Scraggletooth.  She set out on an expedition to recover it, and the entire party went missing.  The team went out to discover her fate, and if possible, to recover the shield.

The team entered the cavern and found goblin, dwarf, and ogre tracks.  They saw webs and cocoons along the ceiling.  Reth Steelarm climbed one of the walls and used his spiked armor to slash some webs and drop a cocoon to the ground.  The group opened it and found a desiccated dwarven corpse!  They continued to move through the cave and found a pair of giant black widow spiders that shot webs at Valetin Krupova.  Fortunately, they missed their mark.  The team closed in unleashing magic missiles, blasts of a fire, and slashing blades.  The spiders stood no chance and were cut down in short order.

The group discovered an opening into a man-made chamber.  At the end of a short hallway the found an ornate door with a series of stone buttons.  The group also found scorch marks and surmised they needed to enter the proper combination of buttons to open the door.  They stepped back and hurled rocks and skulls to press the buttons.  The first combination resulted in blasts of flame ripping through the hall.  Fortunately, the team was well out of range.  The second combination was correct and opened the door.

The next room contained half a dozen goblins armed with bows and dogslicers.  The creatures were crouched behind crates and barrels and so gained surprise on the Small Timers!  They launched arrows and charged in swinging.  The goblinoids scored several good blows, but the party quickly rallied and pushed their way into the room.  Reth put pressure on one side of the room while Elowyn and Delwyn filled the air with magic missiles.  Valetin encountered some issue hitting the goblins with his sling because of low lighting conditions.  However, he kept hurling and started dealing some damage.  Soon, the goblins were laid low.  The group found several dwarven and goblin bodies that had died previously proving the sought after party had been this way.

The group entered another chamber to discover skeletons armed with bows and a number of four-armed skeletons with swords!  A brutal battle ensued with the skeletons proving resistant to several of the team’s attacks.  Reth proved strong enough to smash through their bones regardless.  Unfortunately, he accidentally sprung a trap and fell into a pit lined with spikes!  The skeletons began firing arrows down upon him as he sought to free himself.  Elowyn successfully channeled positive energy and obliterated some of the undead.  Once they were all defeated, the team healed their injuries and prepared to enter the next chamber.

On the other side of the door the team found a male and female ogre!  Behind them hung several gibbets, and within one someone moaned in pain.  They party could see a glowing shield hanging on the wall emblazoned with the emblem of a foaming mug of ale!  The Small Timers surged in, and the female ogre tagged Valetin with a javelin.  The male charged Reth and hit him solidly.  Elowyn and Delwyn unleashed a barrage of magic missiles and helped bring down the female ogre.  Enraged, the male ogre swung at Reth and crushed him beneath its club!  However, the powerful half-orc limped forward and slammed his punching dagger into the ogre’s skull, killing it!  The team rescued their dwarven friend, Rusila from the gibbet and recovered the infamous Foamflagon shield before retreating to the safety of the surface world.

Note:  This adventure included characters from the Instant Character product line from Black Falcon Games LLC.