Last week we had our character creation session. Everyone liked the sound of the second level 1 encounter power, so we went ahead with that. We ended up with:
Elyissa Soulaxe, axe and shield-wielding dwarven fighter. She is of a clan that, two generations ago, brought ruin to their mountain through unchecked avarice. They ended up migrating south and becoming seafarers. Driven by wanderlust, she has struck out on her own, to see the larger world.
MorCu, elven beastmaster ranger, and his Unnamed Raven. His tribe is from a series of islands off the western coast, with a strong Pacific Northwest tribal feel. When away hunting, his entire tribe vanished without a trace, and he left the silent haunt of his home.
Constantine, a human hybrid barbarian/ranger. His tribe, the Obsidian Spear, lives in not too far from Briarridge, and he has had dealings there. However, with the encroachment of both growing operations in Briarridge, and an increasing Torrenvold presence from the south, his tribe is finding itself squeezed out. Seeing the writing on the wall, as it were, he seeks to find a place in the larger world.
Lucan, half-elven archer bard. Adopted and raised by elves, he originally envisioned a life as a priest of Corellon. But Sehanine has other plans for him, and with her touch on his destiny, he seeks out the deeper mysteries of past empire.
Yesterday we had our kickoff session. It went smashingly well, all things considered. The first few encounters I did kind of softball in how I built them. However, the creating characters together and everyone talking about what they were taking really paid off tactically. They, sad to say, took my monsters apart. The first encounter had Elyissa yo-yoing on HP for bit as she was surrounded by minions, until Constantine finally hit with a power that did a burst 3 CON mod damage to enemies and swept all but one out. MorCu, predictably, was a killing machine. Lucan really fouled things up for me, between his Virture of Cunning, which broke my flanks several times, and a power which let an ally make an at-will as an interrupt, which basically aborted half of the frenzied mountain spirit's avalance charge.
Everything flowed really well. We got through four (simple) encounters, and a bit of exposition and set-up in town, all in three hours. Everyone was fine with the set-piece encounters and the light narrative thread, this being the war up for the whole campaign and for our group. More story and character oriented stuff will come in time. A big part of that was my pre-game prep. I got a multi-pocket plastic file folder. For each encounter, I had a card with the monster, XP, and treasure info, printed out stat blocks for the monsters (cut apart), and the map or tiles for it, all in its own pocket. I had minis picked out and bagged for each encounter. So when it was time for a new encounter, I was able to pull everything right on out and have it ready to go in just a minute or two.
Into retrospect, I was pretty happy with the bandits and crazy critters encounters. I think the goblins at the looted wagon could have used a little more oomph, and the frenzied mountain encounter probably needed more than just the spirit. The players really enjoyed that one, both seeing the potential threat it presented (even as they punked it), and the flavor and background of the encounter. I will definitely have to think of a way to reuse the spirit as an NPC.
Going forward, I know I can punch things up a bit. I think I will aim more for level+1 and level+2 encounters, and a more varied monster mix. I certainly need some lurkers and artillery to put pressure on MorCu. I also will be looking at doing some more complex encounters. The next one is going to be the party busting into the mine, and I figure that will be fun, as they assault a defended location. There's also the encounter with the falling stalactites coming up as well. Good thing I have plenty of commute time during the week!
Finally, there's my personally victory: not only did I run a fun, entertaining game with nary a hitch, I did so with almost no nerves. Sure, I was anxious about how it was going to turn out, but I had none of the fear of public performance that has undermined previous attempts to run games. That has really helped get things off on the right foot, and I look forward to next week's game!
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Anger about Messerlee. Understandable.
ReplyDeleteThey need to understand this man was pushed into the offense. Cops have been getting away with killings like this for a long time. Blacks in the South know this all too well. Each time they were all confident the Blue Shield would protect them, and it did. The difference is in many IF NOT MOST of these cases they were rogue cops who the Gods tempted. They did it intentionally thinking they were "earning", knowing they would get away with it. They were the ones whom the Gods disliked, while the Messerlees of the world who get caught are being punished, feedback reserved for those the Gods have interest in keeping.
There are those in the ghetto whom are singled out, targets of the community whom everybody hates. The rogue cops in the South who are guilty of these kind of killings have been reincarnated into roles like this. It's just one of the clues the Gods offer to the community. Lucky for those preditors the ghetto has been an ignorant community, but I think that might be changing.
Of course there could be anoher possibility:::::Due to the history and resulting legacy of hatred for the Gods, since I am guarenteed a spot on the next Planet Earth I will be the original "bad seed":::The Lucifer-figure of the next reality. Unlike Christian dogma, he may just represent the solitary target of the God's ire early, a disgruntled asshole who pissed the Gods off, the proverbial "apple" of the next reality, beginning the process which leads planets to where we are today. A crucial figure in any planet's history, he represents the "beginning of the end".
People, especially liberals give W a very hard time.
Don't forget what I say:::Everything today is both good and evil. The Gods have positioed it as such as we have become increasingly disfavored, confusing the enviornment.
Republicans and conservatives as well, only they fall more on the good side while their adversaries fall more on the evil side, quite contrary to the God's positioning.
Yes, W's evil is illustrated in the United State's efforts in Iraq, and the "Red State"r's who believe we were "earning" are among the worst of them.
If conservatives fall on the side of good, Fox News falls on the side of evil. They pander to the type of trash my brother is, the kind of trash who thinks their war mongering efforts "earn" for them and all others who think like them.
Anyways, it is positioned that W trashed the economy before he left office. Selfish it didn't happen while he was in office, granted, but economic turmoil is a motivator. It's not cancer, mind you, but many have begun praying hard because of their experinces in this event, and it says something about those affected as opposed to those sheltered from affect.
One day just as they will allow vaccines to diseases, especially AIDS, encouraging deviacy the likes which hasn't been seen since the 70s, they will allow cures for cancer, MS, COPD, alcoholism, etc.
Women's diseases will be last. Just as research into women's diseases receive the least amount of funding so is it justified their cures come last, and both for the same reason:::They have the most favor, and the Gods use their diseases as a motivator to pray and find the path. As such they get God's benefit as long as they are willing to offer it.