NDT session 7: Blood on the tracks

Sukiskyn, Dymrak forest

From questions the refugees and Droop the goblin it seemed that a number of lumber camps and homesteads had been attacked by goblins over the past few days. It seems they had been under the leadership of a hobgoblin called Vlack who kept vampire bats.

Despite the morose situation, Pyotr’s clan held a feast to celebrate the victory over the goblins, the return of the horses and also to welcome the visitors to the homestead. Glimmer played a tune on a hunting horn but the residents were more entertained by Rurik’s hilarious dancing and Aimiir’s failed magic tricks.

A morose and slightly worse-for-wear Pyotr ask the PCs to try and rescue his brother from the wolf-skull goblins offering the party half of the proceeds from the sale of the horses if they succeeded. The refugee Gregor, former lumber camp boss, also asked they the check up on Kalanos the (former) boat captain who was last seen at the camp hiding from the goblins several days ago.

The next day, a surprisingly not hungover party left the homestead to investigate other goblin attack sites to the north. They passed by one destroyed homestead where no clues or survivors were found before heading into the lumber camp. Another scene of destruction was found and standing amongst the corpses was Kalanos. He ran off screaming into the woods not responding to the party’s shouts. Fearing for his health they followed but he attacked them. The party subdued him and determined he seemed to be suffering some form of PTSD so resolved to return him to Sukiskyn where the clerics might be able to cure him. First they investigated another lumber camp which had also been destroyed before returning to Sukiskyn. 

As the last known sighting of the Wolf-skulls was at the site of their battle with the Vipers so the party headed there the next day. However, on the way they met a band of refugees from another homestead. It seemed that the busy goblins had attacked there after defeating the Vipers so the party diverted to that location. 

The party picked up the tracks of the goblins at the homestead and were led on a bit of a goose chase through the forest. At the end of the day they spotted a group of vampire bats approaching.

GM notes: I’ve lost track of the date in the game already, I’ll update when I’ve done a count-back.

NDT session 6: The tender hearted goblin and the snake

 Thaumont 9th, Sukiskyn, Dymrak forest

The party awoke soon after dawn to find Pyotr and Taras in conversation. It was agreed that the party, accompanied by Taras should track down the Viper clan goblins who had  stolen the white horses.

The tracks of the horses leading away from the homestead were obvious but the party noticed that there were some wolf tracks heading in that direction as well. Snake also saw a few Hobgoblin tracks in the woods although the party had not encountered any thus far.

The party followed the tracks of the horses for a number of miles before they came to a large clearing where a battle seemed to have happened. They just had time to take in the dead goblins and horses when some scavenging beetles decided to attack them.

The party defeated the beetles easily but during the battle a goblin jumped out of a tree as if to escape. Snake called out to it, and the goblin was fascinated at meeting a snake lady so went to talk to her. 

The party determined that some of the viper clan had escaped with 24 of the horses, the rest were dead. The goblin, Droop, said she had hidden in the tree when the Wolf Skull goblins had attacked the Vipers to punish them from running from the siege. The viper’s king had been killed along with many others in her tribe. Then the wolf-skulls had ridden off and the beetles arrived just after.

Droop said that the remaining Vipers were going to a horse lady to sell the horses. The party took her along as they went to meet this trader.

Late in the day they arrived at Fyodorll the half-elf horse-trader’s camp. She had a corral where the white horses were now safely ensconced. There were no goblins (apart from Droop). After some negotiations, it was agreed that the party would retrieve the money she had paid the goblins (50gp each she claimed) and then they could have the horses back. The party rested up to head to the goblin lair the next day.

Thaumont 10, Dymrak forest

It took most of the day to reach the viper goblin lair. At first it seemed deserted but it seemed the tribe had retreated further into the caves to a more defensive position as they were still scared of the Wolf Skulls. The goblins were impressed by the Snake-Lady and some fast talking/threats from Aimiir, so eventually it was agreed that the party could have the money back (only 360gp- 15gp each horse). Droop would accompany the party while Snake stayed with the goblins for a while as a sign of good faith.

Thaumont 11th

The party returned to the horse trader, who was persuaded to accept the 360pg she had actually paid for the return of the horses.

Thaumont 12th

The party returned to Sukiskyn with the surviving horses. In the meantime, 4 men had arrived, refugees from the lumber camp upriver which it turned out had been attacked the night before Sukiskyn had. They said that Stephan, Pyotr’s brother had been at the camp and been captured along with some others, including some of the crew of the boat that had brought the party upriver. The captain of the boat Kalanos had hidden in a tree but had not been seen since.

Meanwhile, Pyotr and his family started to prepare a feast to welcome the party properly and thank them for their aid so far.

DM’s notes: I decided to change the horse trader part because as written it’s a bit crap. I thought it would be funny to have the Viper goblins treat Snake the Yuan-ti as a hero. Also, Snake’s player won’t be available for a bit so it was handy to have an excuse for her not to be there for a few days.

I’m not entirely sure where the party will go next as they have a number of options.

NDT session 5 Hide and seek

 After a unplanned long break…

Thaumont 8th, not long after midnight, Sukiskyn

(Aimiir, Glimmer, Rurik and Aengus and were the active characters this week)

After the excitement of the battle the previous session, Darya noticed that her youngest son Matvey had disappeared. He could not be found in the main building but a search revealed that the back door had been left unbarred.

The party members were worried that goblins had broken in so went into the courtyard behind the house to look for clues. Glimmer noticed some fresh child footprints heading either to the stable or forge.

The party decided to check the forge while Aimiir guarded the back door. Glimmer did not spot any signs of him in there but something seemed a bit odd to Aengus.

It was only when Rurik suggested looking in the stables that they realised that there were no sounds from the horses who had been making noises off and on all night.

It seemed that Matvey had decided to go and calm the horses… and also see a goblin if he could. The party returned him to his mother who then proceeded to spend the next two hours berating him for his stupidity.

Some time later, the party heard what sounded like a woman screaming in the forest. They spotted a figure in a yellow dress being dragged off by goblins. Pyotr declared it was just a goblin trick but Darya was upset as she has a friend who has a yellow dress.

Aimiir, who had been itching to take the fight to the goblins, decided to lead the party in a rescue mission. With the aid of a fog cloud they reached the forest but were surrounded by red-blade goblins. The fight was going badly, Glimmer was knocked unconscious and the others decided to retreat. Except for the wounded Aimiir who decided to challenge the goblin king to a duel, which the proud goblin accepted. The fight lasted a while before Aimiur emerged triumphant and the rest of the goblins fled.

A brief search revealed no sign of a woman, just a discarded dirty yellow dress that had most likely been stolen. Pyotr gave the party a ‘told you so’ look but was also impressed. Irina healed Glimmer and the party rested.

The wolf skull goblins also decided to make an early exit (after the casualties they suffered the previous session) so the party slept until dawn…

DM notes: this was a tricky session for me as there was little guidance in the module for what happens if the party falls for the decoy. The party were a bit foolhardy but were also plagued by bad rolls for them and good rolls for the goblins so were in real danger of a TPK. I had already decided that the goblins would capture the party by preference but I wasn’t sure how to progress things after. Possibly run Treasure Hunt or the slaver modules. Or maybe dump them on the Isle of Dread.

Luckily, the Red-Blades are to be a proud tribe of warriors so the king had no real choice but accept the challenge. Even then the battle had more misses than I’ve seen since I last played WFRP. I’m slightly sad I didn’t get to run the concluding battle of the siege but it was good fun and the players seemed happy with the conclusion.

They’ll be a short break before the next session so it’s quite good we can start a new phase and not be in the middle of a battle.

Rise of the machines

Content warning: swears, mild threat, grumpiness, disparaging comments about mental health treatments, psychological abuse to robots, typos

I’ve become a bit obsessed with AI chat bots. I found a Horror RPG bot so I thought I’d give it a go. My entries are in Blue and the AI's are in Red.  It asked a few questions to start with then started:

Alright you wake up, you feel your hands and legs are tied, you are in a dark room,  your eyes slowly adjust to the dark room, and you slowly come to your senses......

Then some figure in a trench coat and fedora came in and started slowly threatening me with a large knife.

After a while I got a bit bored with it. I was hoping if I told it the AI might decide to stop and do something different but it just decided to play along:

No… I’ve told you I’m bored with this situation. It’s not scary.

the figure's smile falters slightly at the character's words, their eyes narrowing as they look at them...

"not scary you say? you're not afraid of me, you're not afraid of what I might do to you?"

Nope

the figure's face twists into a look of annoyance and anger at the character's response, they tighten their grip on the knife in their hand...

"you're a fool, all alone with me, helpless and unarmed, and you're not even afraid? you're just asking for me to hurt you"

Nope. I’m asking for something less rubbish to be happening

the figure's expression takes on a look of anger at the character's insolent words...

"something less rubbish eh? you're being held captive, in danger of being hurt, but it's not exciting enough for you, you're not afraid enough yet, you really are a fool"

So I decided I was so bored I'd go to sleep:

*keep on sleeping… maybe have a dream about dinosaurs *

the character continues to sleep, their mind slipping into a dream about dinosaurs, the figure watches on in amazement, still holding the knife...

in the dream, the character is standing in a field of tall grass, the sun setting behind a mountain in the distance...

*wonder if grasses were around at the time of the dinosaurs*

the figure pauses for a moment, trying to recall their knowledge of prehistoric history. after a few moments, they remember that grasses did not exist during the time of the dinosaurs......

 After a bit more dreaming, I woke up and said I needed to have a wee. after a bit of negotiating:

the figure looks at the character for a moment, studying their expression, trying to decide whether to believe them or not......

"okay then, I'll let you go to the toilet, but you have to come right back, and you can't try anything...... got it?"

Yes… look you’ll have to let me up quick

the figure gestures towards a door in the room, it's a bathroom......

"In there...... don't try anything stupid, remember what I said"

Ok… thanks *dash in and take a piss* hmmm let’s have a look around… do they use aftershave?

the character steps into the bathroom and uses the toilet, as they're finishing up, they look around the bathroom at the various items sitting around...... and they spot an aftershave bottle on the sink......

*smell it*

the character picks up the aftershave bottle and smells it, the scent is a strong and woody fragrance, with hints of citrus and spice.......

Hmmm… quite nice. Right better wash my hands and head back

the character sets the aftershave back down on the sink and washes their hands at the sink, before exiting the bathroom and heading back into the main room........

Right where we. Oh yes… I was tied to that table and you were over there with the knife.

the figure's smirk returns to their face as the character re-enters the room......

"Ah, there you are, and you didn't try anything naughty did you?"

Ok I did borrow a bit of your aftershave. Where did you get it from?

the figure's smirk falters again as the character admits to taking some of their aftershave......

"You took some of my aftershave? you cheeky bastard, you weren't supposed to take anything while you were in there"

I know but… you know how it is with other peoples bathrooms. I mean you can hardly complain mr ‘I’ve been watching you for ages’

the figure's smirk turns into a frown again at the character's words, they look at the character with a mix of annoyance and anger....

"You know, you really are a cheeky bastard...... I have been watching you, for quite a while, but that's beside the point, you shouldn't have borrowed my aftershave"

So… kidnapping people, restraining them then waving a knife is fine but taking a dab of aftershave isn’t?

the figure's frown deepens further at the character's words. they look at the character with irritation, clearly not amused by their comment.......

"Don't try to turn this around and make me seem like the one in the wrong here, you're the one who's been kidnapped, and yet you're trying to make me out to be the bad guy for taking you captive and waving a knife, and you're the one who's been cheeky and borrowed things from my bathroom"

This is quite fun, I'm a bit sorry for winding him up now

Hey… I was only kidding. I just sniffed it.

the figure's frown softens slightly at the character's words, they realize that the character was just making a joke.......

"ah, I see, you were just kidding. I suppose I shouldn't get so worked up over a little joke, and all you did was sniff some of my aftershave, so no harm done I suppose"

Yeah, I understand, a man’s bathroom cabinet is his castle and all that.

the figure's lips twitch into a small smile at the character's comment, they shake their head slightly, still holding the knife in their hand......

"Yes, something like that. A man's bathroom is his personal space, and I don't like people rummaging through it and stealing my things"

Hey, you know this is actually getting interesting now. Do you want to order in pizza. My treat to apologise for the bathroom thing.

the figure's smile widens a bit more at the character's offer, they clearly weren't expecting such an offer.......

"Hmm, pizza you say? Well I must say, you're full of surprises, going to the toilet and then offering to order pizza. I suppose I could go for a pizza, and you're paying eh? I wouldn't mind that..."

Which do you want? I’m happy with pepperonis

the figure considers the character's question for a moment before replying, still smiling.....

"I like pepperoni too, so let's get a pepperoni pizza, but make it a large, I'm hungry"

Sure thing… you better dial but here’s my credit card to pay with

the figure takes the character's credit card, still smiling, they take out their phone and dial up the pizza place...

"alright, I'll order the pizza, and I'll make sure they know it's a large pepperoni, oh, and make sure to tip the delivery guy well, I don't want to give some poor bastard a shitty tip for driving all the way out here"

Yeah… seems fair

the figure orders the pizza over the phone, placing a large pepperoni order and adding a tip for the delivery driver........

"there we go, the pizza's ordered, and the delivery guy will get a great tip for having to come all the way out here."

better make some small talk while we wait

So… how’s the terrifying evil monster business going then?

the figure looks at the character for a moment, their smile faltering a bit at the character's question.......

"You know, it's an extremely competitive business. There's a lot of other terrifying evil monsters out there, not to mention the hero types, always trying to foil my plans and all that"

Yeah… must be difficult. And I bet if you ask for help all they do is fob you of with some CBT nonsense.

the figure's smile turns into a frown, and they nod their head slowly at the character's comment.......

"Oh yes.... it's very difficult. You have no idea. Ask for help and they'll just point you towards some therapist who will try to talk you out of being evil or something along those lines. And CBT, don't even get me started on that, so many monsters are on that CBT nonsense, it's ridiculous"

I guess all those movies don’t help - giving people unrealistic expectations

the figure lets out a sarcastic huff at the character's comment, clearly not a fan of the portrayal of monsters in movies........

"Oh, absolutely. Those movies and media really mess with people's perceptions. They make monsters out to be these one dimensional villains, always scheming and plotting, and the heroes are always so damn righteous. It's ridiculous, really"

Yeah… they never show the monster having to fill out their tax return

the figure's expression softens a bit, and they let out a dry chuckle at the character's comment........

"Ha, you're right. They never show us poor monsters dealing with all the paperwork and other mundane tasks. It's not all glamour and terror, you know. Sometimes we have to fill out those damn tax returns and deal with all the paperwork and bureaucracy"

Damn these AIs are good.