that was releases. It was a hell hound. And it is still in there, we can release it with a command word and tell it to go back home or...

even better, we can command it to attack  the hags

I also been doing some trolling around these postings to see how many XP we will be getting. From what I see the 7-8 level guys will go up a level, but the two 12th level guys will not even come close to leveling up.

OK, we start in the subterranean town (can't remember the name).

There we
-  rescued Kratos
- rescued Karen
- rescued Gears
- other things I can not remember

Then we head to the mancave where we went to that demiplane
- killed a bunch of stuff
- claimed some stuff

Back at the mancave
- chassed after the troll

I do not remember a lot, but hopefully we can remember.

Quote from: imurrx;659764that was releases. It was a hell hound. And it is still in there, we can release it with a command word and tell it to go back home or...

even better, we can command it to attack  the hags

Actually, the iron flask contains a Balor. I know this, because, it's still on my character sheet...

ok... We release the balor with the command word. We order him to kill the hags and then we magic jar it's ass and kill it's body.

or then we use Amir wish the balor back to its plane and for get about us.

think of the xp! You can milk anything with nipples!

Quote from: imurrx;659927ok... We release the balor with the command word. We order him to kill the hags and then we magic jar it's ass and kill it's body.

or then we use Amir wish the balor back to its plane and for get about us.

think of the xp! You can milk anything with nipples!

Milk! It does the body good...

We're not quite ready to get into a slapfight with a Balor yet, so an alternate plan might be more appropriate...

Oh, and here are the stats for an Elemental Crystal, which can be used to power an Elemental Vessel, like the one used by Hrothgar...



ELEMENTAL CRYSTAL

This gem is attuned to a specific Elemental Plane (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water). It can be used to provide healing and nourishment for a creature with the appropriate elemental subtype. For example, if a Red Dragon establishes physical contact with a Fire Elemental Crystal, it can heal itself for 1d4 points of damage, and is fully nourished for the next 24 hours. Each crystal possesses three charges, and this ability uses up one charge.

The Elemental Crystal can also be used to power an appropriate Elemental Vessel, providing it with enough power to keep it running for 24 hours with each charge expended. For example, an Earth Elemental Crystal could be used to power an Earth Sled. These crystals are sometimes used as a more humane alternative than binding an actual Elemental, and Elemental Vessels that use these crystals are considered unbound.

If an Elemental Crystal has all its charges expended, it can still be used as a conduit to power an Elemental Vessel, by utilizing the pilot's own energies. Using it in this way requires the pilot to make a successful DC 20 Concentration check every hour in order to make it function. Regardless of success or failure, the pilot still suffers 1d12 points of nonlethal damage. If the pilot fails the skill check, he can make another attempt the following round, though he risks suffering additional damage.

Creatures with the Elemental Type, or the Air, Earth, Fire, or Water Subtypes gain the scent special ability in regards to detecting a fully charged or partially charged Elemental Crystal, and will often seek these items out.

If at least 100 fully charged or partially charged Elemental Crystals of the same type are affixed to the walls of a chamber (they automatically attach when placed against a wall), they transform the room into a Planar Rejuvenation Chamber, which provides fast healing 1 and constant nourishment for any creatures of the appropriate Subtype (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water), as long as they reside within the chamber. An Elemental Crystal of the wrong type (such as a Fire Elemental Crystal brought into a chamber devoted to elemental earth) can completely negate these properties until the offending crystal is removed from the chamber. Such a crystal can be removed from a wall as easily as it can be attached.

The coloration of the crystal varies with the type of elemental energies it contains. Air Elemental Crystals are transparent, Earth Elemental Crystals are light brown, Fire Elemental Crystals are reddish orange, and Water Elemental Crystals are blue-green. When the charges are fully expended, such a crystal changes to a smoky gray.

Faint conjuration; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, goodberry, summon nature's ally I; Price 300 gp.

...continued from before.

After much deliberation, the characters decide not to fake Rufus's death via chopping Rufus up, and using a magic jar spell.

Meaty then starts growling in alarm...

...and the wagon begins to shake.

Something huge is moving the wagon back and forth, and then begins thumping on the door. Lucy looks out the window, and sees the largest troll she's ever encountered. This particular troll, however, is familiar....as it's the troll that the characters once encountered in an extra-dimensional demiplane, known as the Labyrinth.

The characters ask Hrothgar if this creature is capable of damaging the Earth Sled.

Hrothgar: "Probably."

Max then decides to teleport a suitable distance away, tens of yards from the wagon...in an attempt to distract the troll.

Max and the troll begin to parley, while the troll slowly approaches him...



Troll: "I'm lookin' for someone named Max or for someone named Rufus. Either one will do. Are you who I'm lookin' for?"
Max: "Who wants to know?"
Troll: (grinning) C'mere, kid. I've got something to show you..."

Max really doesn't like the look in his eye, and attempts to use his telekinetic powers on the troll...

....but to no avail. This guy is so tough, that he just shrugs off those invisible ribbons of telekinetic force, like they're nothing.

To be continued...

....continued from before.

One important detail that I forgot to mention is that the characters have devised a plan to keep the night hags at bay. Hrothgar will cast a hallow spell on the wagon, while Horatio will craft a dimensional anchor scroll, so that it can be used in concert with the hallow spell. This will act as an effective means of limiting the hags' ability to torture the characters with constant nightmares, or enter the wagon in ethereal form. The problem is that the characters would then be forced to sleep inside Hrothgar's wagon in order to benefit from these enchantments...

Take note that since Horatio and Hrothgar are focused on making these enchantments, they cannot take part in the battle....

Anyway....

....the troll lunges forward, and starts whacking Max with his sword. Fortunately, Max has already erected a force field to protect himself....

....but it's not enough. This sucker hits hard, and brings the force field down within seconds.

The troll then grabs Max by the throat, and effortlessly plucks him up off the ground. Max shouts his defiance...

...but then Meaty (the bulldog) arrives on the scene, and attacks. This troll is so tough though, that Meaty's attack inflicts no damage. Lucy and Kratos appear on the scene as well.

Lucy's blades swirl about in a whirlwind of steel, right in front of the troll's eyes....

...but she barely inflicts any damage. It is enough, however, to convince the troll to drop Max to the ground...

Kratos then charges at the troll, and hits him hard enough to knock him a considerable distance back. The troll really doesn't like that, and counterattacks Kratos with his sword....inflicting significant damage.

At this point, Max turns invisible.....and disappears.

The startled troll halts his attack, and goes apeshit when this unexpected event occurs. Max reappears a significant distance further away...

Troll: "Why are you being so difficult?! I'm just trying to do my job!"

The frustrated troll decides that he's had enough, and just walks away...into the night. The characters don't really know what to do at this point. Max considers telekinetically chucking a small boulder at the troll, but then decides against it....as he sees it as an exercise in futility. The troll seems mostly unharmed in this encounter, and the last time they fought this dude in the Labyrinth, the troll seemed almost impervious to lasting harm.

Anyway, the characters let him go....for now. And that's where the last session ended...

I have never DM (or GM if you prefer) before. I have always wanted to and have been mulling when and how I should do so. Well, it has passed.

Since Sacrificial Lamb moved over the past week, his life has been anything but normal. While I has helping him with the move, I talked about GM'ing. He was all for it and relived because he has so many thing to focus on. Also, since he hardly every places as a PC, this should be a fine respite.

Now, I have bought two adventure modules. Now, keep in mind that I picked these two larger modules so we can all alternate as DM's. The first one I bought is the Worlds Largest Dungeon. I figured that this would be a decent one to learn the whole mechanics of running the mechanics of the game with out too much plot and roleplaying for NPC. The other one was The Shackled City. I would rather play that one if I can get the handle better and we are happy with our PCs. The goal is to play one of these goals and rotate DM so we all do not get stuck.

Now, I had a few ideas how I would handle my first session. Everything I had wanted to do had failed or did not execute.

I am sure Sacrificial Lamb will do the journal of what happened. He has always done a fine job at it. I am going to post what I did right and what I did wrong. My posts will be more or less to learn from my mistakes and to improve.

Problems I encountered

First, I had been up for the whole day. I had gone to Staples bought some supplies. I wanted to print out the map of the dungeon out on magnetic paper, cut out each room and put it on a magnetic white board. This would the characters map to show where they have been at. We had a white board, but I bought a cutting board, X-acto knife #2, 8 sheets of magnetic paper and plain paper. I printed out the maps and proceeded to cut them out. Well, after 1 hour and 40 rooms of first 100, I stopped. I did not like how it turned out and I forgot to bring it to the session.

Second, I wanted to use Dwarven Forged dungeon tiles to handle the combat.  We could not use it because Sacrificial Lamb had not finished moving and they were not readily available.

Third, we ended using 3D Virtual Table Top. It is a good app and I booted my HP Touchpad in CM9 and ran it from there (I was hoping to use my Touchpad for all reference and game docs. This was a positive point.

Fourth, we arrived latter than I though. I wanted to be at Meatlips house by 9pm and did not get there until half past. Sacrificial Lamb needed food and I can sympathize.

Fifth, I was exhausted. I had to guzzle down several cans of Diet Mountain Dew (yes diet). All the reading I have done with the WLD, I had a foggy recollection of the material.

Sixth, neither Sacrificial Lamb or Meatlips had not created characters. So they created them. That took time. We made some adjustments and looked up information for them to move the process along.

Seventh, I had decided to created a character (factotem) to help them along and move the game forward if we hit a snag. Unfortunately, my minmax gremlin inside of me took over. More later.


Now for my screw ups.

• So, now it is 1am and we finally start, and I drew a mental block how I would begin the game and how the PC's got to the dungeon. I botched it. I had  mentally drafted a script and I did not implement it at all.


• I also missed a few things how the modules handles the entrance to the dungeon. Not much impact about the game but more for flavor and only really relevant at the exit of the dungeon when the characters are at 20th level.


• As for the game mechanics, I screwed up in two glaring errors. One, I accidentally jumped the gun when Meatlips character searched for a trap and failed. I accidentally assumed the trap went off when it should have not. So when he rolled for 1.5 points of damage, I rounded down for this one time. The other error was keeping initiative when the characters encountered the dark mantle. I should have been more attentive to that.  


• I did not utilize the 3 orcs the PC encountered better. I could have them talk more about what is going on here. Along with that. I could describe the rooms and the style of the dungeon better.


• Now, there were a few other errors such has keeping track of time and some other stuff I cannot post because the PC's have yet to encounter them or they are events that are to come.

What I think I did well

• I created a Google spreadsheet with an online form to enter successful encounters the PC earned XP. It worked well, BTW, you guys have 700 xp. You are close leveling up.
• The next thing I did was using 3D Virtual Table top. I think did ok when it came to moving the game along.

What to work on

• Now, for the next session. I need to reread the upcoming rooms.
• I also need to better flesh out the NPC interactions with the players
• Utilize a notebook for initiatives, time keeping, and other in game notes
• Perhaps ditch my PC. I may tone him down. He was to be a human factotum, but I made him a dopliganger instead. I will probably revert back. may be a retcon or perhaps kill him off. The players will be bringing two more characters in the dungeon (they are lagging behind) and that new factotum be a guide for the.
• Address any other issues that the player's will post here.

Sorry for the long post.

nice post