NDT Session 18: The Lion, The Witchbolt and the Orc Goths

 Int. Gnome Mine, Wulfwolde Hills

Cast: Rurik, Bait, Glimmer, Namfoodle

The party started to head down the tunnel the orcs were guarding and immediately another small group of orcs ran down it to attack them. A few seconds later more black-clad orcs arrived including their leader. 

The fight was fairly desperate with Bait and Rurik getting badly wounded but Namfoodle’s Witchbolt spell badly hurt the leader and Rurik’s Bear wildshape causing finishing off a few wounded orcs meant the party prevailed.

However, the party had hardly time to get their breaths back before another small group of orcs appeared. Rurik cast a moonbeam spell on them and they fled. The party decided they might be getting reinforcements so they sldo retreated to the relative safety of the gnomes mine to rest up for the night.

The next morning they returned to the orcs lair, which had been mostly stripped of valuables. The remaining orcs had left during the night via a different exit of the tunnels. The only thing of note left was a tatty stuffed lion. This appeared to contain valuables but to get to them required putting one’s hand in its mouth triggering a trap.

Instead the party decided to hack it open revealing some silver, some jewelry, a scroll that had unfortunately been cut into pieces and a single magic boot. Rurik seemed to think he had seen a similar boot somewhere in Sukiskyn so they packed it away.

The party then moved onto the large cavern that had been blocked halfway by stalagmites until  the gnomes had broken through a few days earlier. The only exit was a tunnel 30ft above the floor. Rurik turned into ape form to climb up carrying Namfoodle and they then helped the rest climb up with ropes.

TBC

NDT session 14: Babushka, Babushka, ya, ya

A battle with a shadow.

 Wolfskull Lair.

Present: Namfoodle, Bait and Glimmer.

The party finished exploring the lair and found some treasure including magic arrows.

Then they took Babushka back to Sukiskyn. Along the way she explained some of the plot and revealed the hobgoblins were looking for a ‘great map’ and there was someone known as ‘ole skinny legs’ at Xitaqa.

The residents of Sukiskyn didn’t know anything about Xitaqa but Stellios and Kuzma suggested they ask the Horse Lord in the hills. He could be summoned near some ancient tombs by standing on one leg and whistling at midnight for 3 nights running.

The party travelled to the tombs with the intention of travelling in to see the gnomes. The tombs turned out to be 3 burial mounds of scorched barren earth. The camped out and at midnight Glimmer did as suggested. The next day the party decided to explore the ruins. After losing a race to the bottom of the mound, Glimmer had to go and lead the party into the first tomb.

 As soon as she stepped onto the mound darkness surrounded her. This was not apparent to those still outside the mound. 

Worse was to follow as 5 shadows emerged and attacked Glimmer draining strength as well as causing significant wounds. A desperate battle followed as the shadows wrecked havoc on the part. However the battle finally started to go the way of the party when Bait turned the undead.

To be continued…

DM notes: I let the party level up after finishing the wolf skull lair, which probably saved them from a near TPK by the shadows, which are nasty.

NDT Session 11: More Goblins

A Petrified Forest within the Dymrak Forest

Present: Rurik and Glimmer (plus Droop)

The group had arrived at a petrified forest, presumably caused by some ancient curse, that was said to be the home of the Wolfskull goblins.

After travelling along a creepy trail they heard a group of goblins and wolves approaching. The party successfully hid themselves and ambushed the patrol.

The party gained some unexpected assistance from another goblin, who seemed quite handy with a whip. The Wolgskull’s were quickly dispatched. 

The newcomer turned out to be a renegade Wolfskull called Bait who was seeking revenge on Kloss the King of the Wolfskulls. He decided to join forces with the party.

Bait led the group to the Wolfskull lair which was formerly a copse of tree surrounded by a black stream. 

The party crossed the bridge into the lair where they were attacked some goblin guards and a wolf. A couple of the guards ran off deeper into the lair.

The remaining wolf and goblins were quickly despatched, mainly by a moonbeam spell from Rurik but more wolves kept arriving from deeper in the lair. The guards had obviously started releasing them from pens within.

To be continued.

NDT session 8: Bat Country

 Dymrak forest

The party had a tough fight against the vampire bats whose ability to paralyse wrecked havoc on the party’s frontline fighters.

The party finally prevailed but had no time for a breather as the bat’s owner, Vlack the hobgoblin, appeared riding a white wolf along with a few hobgoblin guards.

Aimiir remained paralysed but a moonbeam spell from Rurik and archery from Aengus and Glimmer badly wounded Vlack who attempted to flee leaving the other hobgoblins to cover his exit.

Glimmer ignored them, chased after Vlack and killed him with a single shot. Unfortunately this enraged his mount (a winter wolf) who return to avenge Vlack by using its icy breath to bring down Glimmer. The other hobgoblins fled so Aimiir, who had finally shaken off the paralysis, was able to revive Glimmer, and the party weee able to kill the wolf before it could cause more damage.

A search of Vlack turned up his nice looking Greatsword with a fine gem in the handle, some other gems in a pouch but no other useful information.

The party then decided to resume following the goblin tracks southwards through the forest.

In the second night, when Aengus was on watch he spotted a black shadowy form approaching. He was able to raise the alarm and wound the spirit but was damaged by its weakening touch. The party were hampered by its abilities to hide in the shadows but a moonbeam spell from Rurik finished it off.

DM notes: The battle against Vlack and his bats was very closely fought. Aimiir’s player kept failing his paralysis saves and Vlack would probably have brought him down if he hadn’t decided to flee instead. 

Amusingly, my most novice player, who didn’t know what the Winter Wolf was, said that it could probably bring down the badly wounded Glimmer by breathing on her, just before it did that.

On the other side of things, I rolled terribly for the Shadow’s stealth when it approach the camp, which probably saved Aengus from additional strength drain.

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.