Prologue
Rob Someone and Moe jumped through the portal together, last of the party, and when the party comes to, they are nowhere to be seen.
Session 1: The Journey Begins, Again… Again.
This time they're BEAR-Naked.
The players drop out onto the stone floor of a bizarre inverted summoning circle, deep within a cave. As they peer out they find that they are deep within the Desert, and from the skeletons littering the cave and the writing on the walls, it is Jubruq territory.
- Sha Caw (Caleb); Blue jay feather (Shocking grasp), Humming Bird Feather (Expeditious retreat), Hammer Cordless Drill, Pistol, 5 assorted dog toys, Good condition Combat Boots, $361 CAD, $2500 CAD, 2 gold chains, 6 barbed devil spikes, Snahfuu
- Smokey (Berthelot); Facemelter (+1 Sledgehammer of Corrosive Burst), Belt of Athleticism, Boots of Big Stepping, Greater Cloak of the Salamander (1d6+7 fire damage to those striking him), Robe of Thunder (5 rounds, 2d6 Sonic damage to all striking), Crystal Mask of Dread (+10 Intimidate), Beholder Crown (DC 17 Spells left; charm person, deep slumber, fear, finger of death, slow, telekinesis (violent thrust against a target of up to 325 pounds), Potion of Cure Critical Wounds x4, Incandescent Blue Ioun Stone
- Charlie (John); +4 Amulet of Health
- Symphony (Haley); +1 Spell Resistance 15 Breastplate, Cloak of Minor Displacement
- Rob Someone (Jean-Inactive); +1 Medium Sized Shocking Burst Dagger, 6x Alchemist's Fire, 6x Alchemist's Frost
What they don't have
Food, water, clothing
The party quickly comes to the realization that they have no food or water, and no clothing, although Smokey seems to revel in this fact. It appears the monk may still not have completely regained his senses, repeated resurrections have taken their toll on his mental stability. They start trekking to the west towards a billowing ash cloud which denotes the volcano town of Flameberth, which Smokey remembers as a small meeting point and trading hub for the desert tribes.
On the way there they encounter a freak rainstorm which lasts for just over an hour, which helps them cope with the heat and rehydrate. About a half day's trek after that they find a small oasis which is being frequented by an androsphinx at the time. Smokey approaches the Sphinx, asks permission to join him at the oasis, and if possible fly one of them to Flameberth or to find a caravan. The sphinx agrees, and flies with Smokey on his back, but with a day of searching outwards finds no sign of a caravan. They fly back to the Oasis that night and spy tracks which denote a small party of raiders had slipped their notice and is approaching the party's camp. As they fly in closer they see that the caravan appears to be part of the tribe The Gray Ones, mummy worshipping half-undead.
A dozen of the riders with the raiders start charging towards the oasis, securing it before the noncombatants get there, unawares that the party lays in ambush. Smokey lands atop the largest wagon and attempts to persuade the caravan to take them along with them, but the guard whom he was talking to only stalls him so that their patron mummy, The Black Monk could attack him from behind. Smokey spots the mummy and screeches, running away as fast as he could, even passing the riders, half of whom had slipped on Sha-Caw's grease spell. The mummy begins flying towards the party as Riler runs out to engage the riders with his warhammer and Sha-caw prepares a spell. The mummy strikes Riler with a sunbeam, as the half-orc smashes down several of the guards. Sha-caw preys on the Mummy's fire vulnerability and shoots it with 2 scorching rays, dropping it to near death. Sensing that the more impending threat is the mage, the Mummy then begins to cast Earthquake which would swallow up Sha-Caw and Smokey, most likely killing them, but he is cut-off by Riler's thrown warhammer catching him square in the face and killing him outright. The party then commandeers the spare horses, the large wagon, it's contents, and begin the trek back to Flameberth as the caravan's new masters.
XP Gained: 900 xp for mummy fight. XP Calculator
CP Gained: John gets 25 CP for the incredibly unlikely hammer throw, Caleb gets 25CP for keeping his character sheet uploaded with the loot, which makes it easier for me to keep track of it.
Name |
Class |
Player |
Beginning XP |
Session End XP |
Sha-Caw |
Elan Wizard |
Caleb |
28,550 |
29,450 |
Symphony |
Elf Cleric |
Haley |
28,350 |
29,250 |
Riler |
Varies |
John |
27,850 |
28,750 |
Smokey |
Human Monk |
Bert |
28,100 |
29,000 |
Session 2
The players are going to begin suffering the effects of their souls being partially in another realm now. They will go through 3 stages of mental instability
Stage 1 - Minor Personality Disorder
This manifests on the first night in town, and is foreshadowed by a nightmare by the subject. I have pre-rolled the insanity effects from Call of Cthulu to save time.
Caleb - Has a sexual dream about zombies; Sha-caw is now a Necrophiliac and suffers a -2 penalty on any save vs undead.
Haley - Suffers through a night of ambushes, things leaping out at her from every dark corner; Symphony develops a nervous twitch which imposes a -1 penalty on attack rolls and -4 to any social skill checks.
Riler - Has a dream of being buried alive, must chew his way through his coffin; Has an uncontrollable urge to eat dirt every so often. Causes a -3 fort save and potions have a 5% chance of backfiring on him.
Smokey - Dreams of waking up to his hand being chewed off by a Devil, only to replace the hand with the Devil's own; There is a 5% chance during any attack that his right hand instead attacks himself, stops working, or does something else strange, as determined on a table.
Stage 2 - Major Personality Disorder
After a few weeks the insanity progresses and the next stage begins.
Caleb - Starts hearing alien voices, and to dull them he becomes an alcoholic. When he doesn't drink he hears whispers from the alien deities controlling his soul, and when he sleeps, if he's drunk, he dreams of them. Has to do will saves to keep from drinking.
Haley - Her terrifying dreams have progressed to the point of Night Terrors. She awakens constantly, with a 25% chance of awakening in a frenzied terror. Because of this she has to make DC 15 concentration checks at the DM's discretion, or fall asleep.
Riler - Already has split personalities. He got his early.
Smokey - Believes he hears voices from a judgemental god, condemning him for being an evil monk and threatening to punish him for disgracing monkhood. Develops Hamartophobia, he is terrified of committing sin or of making an error. Must make will saves to commit an evil act, and if he critical fails an act than he suffers a cumulative -1 penalty to attack and ac until he repents to his god at a later time. The repentance demanded by his god is randomized and can range from simple prayer to sacrifice or self-flagellation.
Stage 3 - The Deep Sleep
Each character must roll a d6 to determine which of the three mental ability stats they lose 1 point from, every 2 weeks, as they slowly lose their minds and fall into a coma. This ability damage can only be restored by a wish spell, or the return of their soul fragment in the dark dimension between worlds.