GM Commentary: Session 3 wrap-up

This time around only Kat, Chris, and Austin showed up. Austin was playing remotely via the internet. We had him up on Kat's laptop sitting on the window seat like a disembodied head. I had set up my webcam so he could see the game table. It worked out pretty well except for the sound quality which garbled his words at times. I'm curious to hear how it worked out from Austin's side of things and if he'll want to do that again some time.

It was a bit troublesome running two PCs as NPCs during this session. Characters have so many options on what to do each round of combat, and I am still pretty new to all the character powers of 4th edition. I wasn't fully prepared to run two characters in addition to all the enemies who have their own special lists of powers. I think that made a couple of the encounters more difficult, since Jym and Mina were not being played very effectively. In hind-sight, Mina and Jym should have been the ones caught by the pit trap near the end of the session to neatly take them out of the last couple combats which would have lightened my load quite a bit.

I think the discovery and encounter with the slaves wasn't very impressive. It was nearing the end of the session and I hadn't prepared fully for any dialog. I should have realized that the Black Shet encounter would flow directly into the slave encounter. Rather than dragging it out I opted to quickly resolve the encounter without much input from the players. The beggars I took out of the equation, since they would have just betrayed the party at the first opportunity. The party isn't the most trusting group and would have ended up killing them anyways. They wouldn't be worth any XP in that case. I thought Crox and Vismund could have had an interesting exchange being two dwarven craftsmen, maybe with some distant connection, a friend of a lost sibling or a shared clan affiliation, but I was unable to develop this properly. Since Sunny wasn't present I didn't develop the background of the Baroness's mysterious abduction. No one had chosen the side-quest to rescue Lorilass and his apprentice so there was no need to develop that story either.

Progress was made on many side quests. Regnor had already completed his quest of recovering his sponsor's brooch. Aletha took a trophy from Zeb'oltha to prove her death, Vismund found his stolen goods, and Jym discovered the missing Baroness. All that remains is to find the Beggar-King and slay him. After the module is finished I'll remind the characters to go claim their rewards. I'll have to remember to give quest experience to the party at the beginning of the next session. I also need to give more experience for the traps and hazards the party overcame in the last session. I'm hoping the characters can get to 3rd level before we are done with this module.

The party is almost through with the module. There are about six encounters left, not counting traps and hazards. They will be much more difficult than any that have come before so I hope the full party will be there to enjoy it. I may end up rearranging the dungeon a bit to space out the encounters. I may also tinker with the ending to make it more interesting. Either way I'll need to spend some time considering how to end the game gracefully.

Sellswords of Punjar, Session 3: The Slave Pens of Punjar

Vismund and Regnor were trapped in a cage, swinging suspended by a chain from the ceiling far above. Below them they could hear the sounds of rushing water echoing off the sides of a sizable cavern. Regnor exerted himself in an attempt to bend the bars, but only managed to make the cage swing more pendulously. A monstrous roar echoed across the cavern and then the cage began to move, slowly being pulled toward the sound they had just heard.

Mina, Jym, and Aletha were still above in the Beggar-King's chambers. Mina discovered a hidden trap-door in the floor in the corner of the room. Jym and Aletha made her open it, just in case it was trapped. Beneath the door was a ladder leading to a rocky ledge. They descended into the chill of the cavern. The ledge overlooked an underground river that ran swiftly far below. Suspended high above them, an iron cage pitched drunkenly from side-to-side with Regnor and Vismund inside. Through the mist the party could see that the cage was being pulled slowly towards a series of slave pens raising to a platform, cast red in the flickering light of braziers. A huge desert ape, shackled to an equally enormous windlass, was feverishly working the crank.

A hobgoblin slaver stood nearby cracking a whip over the ape's head menacingly, and he watched as the iron cage was wheeled in. He caught sight of Jym, Mina, and Aletha approaching along the rocky ledge, placed a warhorn to his lips and blew a single long low note of warning. A pair of similar hobgoblins appeared, carrying short bows, and began firing on the intruders. Aletha, Regnor, and Vismund fired back as Jym and Mina closed the distance.

At this point the cage was directly over one of the open slave pens. The hobgoblin with the whip and horn ran to a lever on the wall and pulled it, releasing the floor of the cage. Vismund and Regnor were unceremoniously dropped into the pens among the other slaves. Next the slaver removed a pin from the ape's shackles and then the three hobgoblins quickly retreated down a connecting passageway. The ape, seeing that it was now freed of the hated windlass and it's tormentors had disappeared, leaped in ferocious anger towards the party. He landed in front of Jym and Mina, roared and pounded his chest, and with an almost casual backhand, slammed Mina off the ledge and into the slave pits below. Jym lashed out with shield and scimitar, but was pounded into unconsciousness on the stony ground by the desert ape's strong fists.

Regnor, Vismund, and Mina recovered enough from their falls to launch a barrage of missiles at the beast on the ledge above them. Aletha hurled fey magic at the creature, blinding it to her presence and blasting it in turn. Before long the creature fell under their concentrated attacks. Mina was able to pick the locks on their cage and Vismund made it to the aid of Jym before he passed into death.

Among the other captured they met two miserable human beggars covered in weeping sores, an aging dwarven tinker name Crox, Baroness Lady Constance and her two ladies in waiting, and an ancient and sickly sage named Lorilass and his lovely half-elf apprentice Neveril. The beggars seeing a chance for escape quickly ran off. Crox thanked the party for the rescue and offered to help carry the sage, who could not move under his own power, back to civilization. The party let all the captives go, and would only have come calling to claim their rewards back on the surface after they had dealt with the Beggar-King and these slavers.

At this point the party had earned enough experience to level up. Regnor traded spinning sweep for the passing attack encounter exploit, gained the dragon frenzy feat, and learned the unstoppable utility exploit. Vismund gained the dwarven weapon training feat, and gained the arcane springboard utility spell. Aletha gained the ethereal stride utility power, and used her feat to become an arcane initiate which granted her access to the wizard spell scorching burst as an encounter power. Jym and Mina have not yet trained in new abilities.

Sellswords of Punjar, Session 3: Court of the Beggar-King

Mother Zeb'oltha's room had a pair of dingy windows overlooking a small courtyard that fronted a rotting warehouse. A door led to a short flight of stairs leading down to the courtyard. All was suspiciously quiet below. The party pushed Mina in front and down the stairs, in the hopes she would spring any waiting traps or ambushes. None came.

The courtyard was ringed by a high wall. The ground was muddy from pouring rain and bits of trash, broken bottles and cast-off crates stood in the shadowy corners of the yard. A well worn path ran between the warehouse's double-doors and another flight of stairs leading back up to the common quarters. A black swirling fog could still be seen clinging to the remnants of the ancient charnel tower situated behind the warehouse. A single small window overlooked the courtyard from a loft built over the warehouse.

The party moved across the courtyard cautiously. Aletha spotted a watcher in the small window above. The sound of a bar being drawn back from the warehouse doors alerted the party to the approach of more enemies. The doors flew open as an angry mob of beggars armed with daggers and short swords screamed and charged into the courtyard. The watcher from above broke out the window panes and fired a crossbow upon the party.

Despite the ferocity of the attacking hobos, the party was easily able to mow them down. One last beggar attempted to run away but was shot in the back with Regnor's new dragonhorn bow. Once the riffraff were slain the party moved into the warehouse for cover from the rain and the bolts of the crossbowman.

Scattered piles of moldy hay littered the warehouse floor. The walls and ceiling were charred black with soot from some past fire. Streams of water dripped from holes in the ceiling, pooling in cold puddles on the muddy floor. A ladder stood in one corner of the warehouse, rising to a closed loft door.

The party searched the goods in the warehouse and found more weak beer and wine in barrels. Aletha pilfered some of the wine to mix with her magical powder and make healing potions. Vismund exclaimed with joy when he discovered his stolen arms and armor hidden under a filthy tarp. Aletha was sceptical of Vismund's claimed ownership, even after he showed her is "personal mark" on each of the items. Vismund offered to split the profits from the items with the party if they all worked together to kill the Beggar-King.

Once again the party elected to send Mina up the ladder and through the loft door first, in the hopes she would set off any nasty surprises. At the top of the ladder was a chamber bedecked in moldering splendor. Stained tapestries, lit by flaming tapers and bronze braziers, glistened with mold and rainwater. Pillows and blankets, black with mildew, covered the floor. Cracked mirrors and tarnished copper shields hung from a fishing net strung along the exposed rafters of the roof. The air was thick with incense, but no amount of scent or perfume could conceal the oppressive reek of sweat and spilled wine.

Past a low table strewn half-empty jugs of wine and nibbled sweetmeats, Mina spotted an ancient divan hung with furs at the far end of the chamber. Apparently asleep in a drunken stupor atop the divan was a bald and portly figure in an embroidered robe. A glittering crown, topped with gems, sat nearby on a small gold coffer. A trio of hooded guards, dressed in the formless gray cloaks of executioners, stood watch over the sleeping form. Mina could see the window looking out over the courtyard, but there was no sign of the crossbowman.

Regnor was next into the room, and seeing that the guards hadn't noticed him yet, drew a bead on one of them with his bow. The shot struck one of the guards in the chest with a wooden sounding "thunk" and the guard went crashing to the floor. The other guards didn't make a move. Jym fired a shot at another one of the guards, which when struck collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. Aletha wasted no time, on entering the chamber, and immediately cursed and struck the sleeping figure with an eldritch blast. The scream of a young girl escaped the body before it died.

Seeing that the party was distracted by the decoys, the crossbowman, known to the other beggars as Black Shet, attacked from his hiding place in the rafters. Mina returned fire and winged him. Wounded, he retreated to the far corner of the room. Vismund charged across the room, but a portion of the floor under him gave way. He fell for a while and then struck the metal floor of a hanging cage. Regnor also attempted to charge across the room at Black Shet, but stepped into another pit trap, landing hard next to Vismund in the cage. A spring loaded lid, triggered by their combined weight, slammed into place above them, and locking them in.

Having learned from their companions' mistakes, Jym, Mina, and Aletha carefully edged around the sides of the chamber to get at the assailant, taking shots at him as they went. Jym closed in and attempted to dislodge him from the rafters. Black Shet ignored Jym and found Aletha to be an easy target, hitting her with a well placed shot. Aletha cursed the marksmen and then burned him with eldritch fire, causing him to scream in pain and fall dead to the floor.

The trio quickly searched the room before attempting to locate their missing party members. Black Shet was wielding a magical duelist's dagger +1, etched with the name "Felis" on the blade. The guards were simply mannequins dressed in robes and hung with weapons. The dead figure on the divan turned out to be that of a young girl with a shaved head and wearing a padded robe in order to better play the part of the missing Beggar-King. The tapestries, furs, crown, and coffer turned out to be a fakes, but the jingle of coins could be heard from within the coffer. Mina attempted to pick the lock on the coffer and triggered a fusillade of darts to fire on the party, stinging all three of them. After they picked darts out of their skin they opened the coffer to find it filled with worthless tin coins.

At that moment a metallic rumbling came from below, causing the floorboards to rattle. Time was running out for their companions. Finding nothing of worth in the room they began searching around for a way below.

Sellswords of Punjar, Session 3: Mama Zeb and her boys

After dealing with the mercenaries and their war captain, Irocar, the party searched the loft area. The captain was wielding a bastard sword +1, and an ornate longbow carved from a black dragon horn. The bow was not magical, but Regnor took it as a replacement for his short bow. No one could use the bastard sword without special training so they threw it on the pile of treasure to sell on the black market.

The loft also contained an ancient crumbling chimney that had gone long unused and was clogged with debris. Vismund discovered some suspicious looking bricks and began pulling them loose. Disturbing the bricks brought the entire pile down around him, covering him in brick dust and leaving him cut and bruised, but not seriously hurt. Sifting through the wreckage the party gathered together the mercenaries hidden treasure horde which consisted of a bag of various coins, a large jug containing the equivalent of five healing potions, and a quiver of javelins (4 silvered, 3 normal, and 1 javelin of lightning +1).

Further searching of the loft revealed a secret door. Regnor tried to pry it open, triggering a vicious trap, as a pair of spears shot up from the floorboards, piercing him in the ass and thighs. Enraged and embarrassed, Regnor tore the barbs from his body and slouched off to a corner to recover. Mina rigged the trap to fire if anyone came through the door. With the secret door trapped and the stairs alarmed, the party felt comfortable enough to take an extended rest. Vismund performed a brief ritual to summon a wizard's curtain to hide them from casual viewers and the settled in for some rest.

Six hours later the party was fully rested, healed, and ready for more action. Mina disabled the spear traps and opened the secret door. Beyond was a store room, piled with crates and barrels. Glittering eyes of chittering forms crowding the tops of the stores reflected the torch light. Before the swarm of hungry rats could react to the intruders, the party attacked. The rats were dispersed after a brief melee. The store room was filled with moldering foodstuffs and weak wine souring to vinegar. Vismund discovered a small cache of copper coins and a pair of silver earrings someone had hidden there earlier.

One door led from the store room into a larger room. Regnor and Aletha recognized it as the common quarters where they caught up to and killed Arthuro the fence as he tried to flee. His corpse was still lying in the room undisturbed so it did not appear that anyone had come through here in a long time. There were two exits from the common quarters, a set of stairs leading down or a short passage leading to a door. Mina listened to the door and heard a woman's voice chanting in the tiefling tongue. After describing what she overheard, Aletha recognized it as being part of an infernal warlock ritual. The party prepared for a fight and burst through the door.

The chamber behind the door was littered with the remnants of eldritch witchery. Shattered vials, broken canopic jars exposing the viscera inside, bits of bone, and the glowing slime of demon-kin were scattered about the rough wooden floor. The walls of the chamber were covered in bizarre diagrams drawn in chalk and blood, the obvious signs of an infernal witch's lair. In the middle of the room crouched a corpulent tiefling, engrossed in her current ritual. Aletha recognized Mother Zeb'oltha, witch-for-hire, from a description she was given by "The Sisters". With one talon-like finger she pointed at the party and croaked, "Kill them, my eunuch thralls."

A towering, muscled figure cloaked in hooded black robes and swinging a vicious spiked chain stepped between the party and his mistress. His twin moved up to intercept anyone who pushed past the first bodyguard. Regnor engaged the first eunuch, and struck a solid blow and marked his opponent. The bodyguard swung his chain and tripped up the dragonborn, spilling him onto the floor. Aletha placed her fey curse on the witch, but the tiefling resisted the eladrin's eyebite. Mother Zeb'oltha cackled evilly as she retaliated, cursing Aletha and then burning her with the flames of Phlegethos. Aletha was overwhelmed by the attack and collapsed in a flaming heap, nearing death. Jym brought her back with an inspiring word before being forcibly dragged into the room by Zeb'oltha's diabolic grasp spell. This put him in a dangerous position, flanked by the bodyguards. Regnor, Aletha, Vismund, and Mina teamed up on the eunuchs to bring them down and rescue their warlord.

Regnor was first to reach Mother Zeb'oltha, blasting her with acid breath and then reaping her with his axe. She shrieked in pain, pointed her rod topped with a ram skull at him and struck out with a hellish rebuke. Regnor was forced to quaff the dregs of a healing potion to regain his strength. Aletha hit the witch with an eldritch blast which backfired causing Regnor to be burned again so that he was rendered unconscious. Vismund was able to hit him with a healing admixture that brought him back to his feet.

With the bodyguards out of the way the party was able to focus their attacks on the witch. Vismund charged into melee and struck Mother Zeb'oltha with his warhammer which had been itching for the taste of tiefling blood. Aletha finished the witch off with a final blast of eldritch power and then made a trophy of one of her gnarled horns as proof of her death.

Vismund took the witch's skull rod +1 to add to his arsenal. Her sweat-stained cloth armor +1 was rejected and added to the pile to sell. Amongst the trappings chaos of the room the party found a few rare treasures: a pseudodragon egg kept warm on a bed of coals, a glass orb containing a living black dragon eye which watched the party warily until Vismund covered it with a spare cloth and slipped it inside his pack, Regnor discovered a worn unicorn horn, and Aletha found three jars containing a finely sifted powder that could be combined with wine to make effective potions of healing.