[game night] She's a what? [Rowan Tree and Red Thread]

We're in a long-running, well slow-moving, D&D campaign, currently working our way through The Forge of Fury. To be honest the PCs are a bit overpowered for the adventure and it hasn't been too difficult for the most part (we'll leave one irritating troglodyte sorcerer out the reckoning however) but that all changed last night.

We were lucky with an Allip, my cleric Grann turned the incorporeal bugger before it had the chance to suck wisdom from our crew. Next however we met a lovely, raven-haired prisoner, languishing in the dungeon and oh so grateful for our help in rescuing her.

A bloody succubus! I know I said we were overpowered for the level of the dungeon but I mean, really. Luckily for us a combination of dysfunctional wheedling at the GM and the threat of having to use the grappling rules save our sorcerer Nrel from a negative level. I think it worked in play too, as for all his 16 Charisma Nrel has a face only his mother would kiss and we've already established she was a half-draconic crossbreed with odd tastes in men.

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Hee hee! There are at least three encounters in Forge of Fury that are /way/ out of most party's capabilities (or at least can be if the GM plays them straight up and mercilessly). I think the intention is to throw a series of curve balls at the party where the right answer is not "direct tactical action" each and every time. For various reasons, I'm not a huge fan of this kind of dungeon writing, but I still liked FoF, and it provided more fun for my players overall (I think) than Sunless Citadel...

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Three encounters? Hmm, I wonder if this is only the first of three then?

I like the idea of some encounters the PCs have to run from in theory, but in play it's not always obvious, and a Total Party Kill can sneak up pretty quick if the group isn't careful.

Our group has played through the Burning Plague, the Sunless Citadel, the Ettin's Riddle and now the Forge of Fury. It's been very traditional D&D so far, and I'm regretting having not twigged to that when I created a Diplomatic-minded cleric with 14 Charisma. I really would have been better served by 14 Strength. Sigh.

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I'm quite looking forward to our Friday Night Friends getting past their new baby delivery enough so that we can start playing again... I'm rather itching to get Paizo's Pathfinder stuff onto the table: I've really liked what I've seen so far. It has a nice combination of "traditional DnD" with some newer notions. I'm sort of musing about using Green Ronin's upcoming True20 Revised for it, as well, under the notion that it might be simpler and more straightforward for my players than full-blown DnD3.5.

I really like the look of True20 though I've never had a chance to try it out for real. It certainly looks easier to handle (and explain) than D&D 3.5 in all its glory.

I know nothing about the Paizo Pathfinder stuff. What's good about it?

The adventure material in them is competently done; there are a few hitches and things that make sense only in a DnD world, but overall, what I've read so far has seemed quite playable and interesting. What I really like about them is all the extra care that's given to buff out the setting: history, locations, monsters, interesting NPCs that seem more than simple one-offs (including some warnings in the text that look ahead to subsequent adventures). I think they're great value for the money if you can get them at a decent price, and they're exactly the kind of thing that a time-strapped and occasionally idea-strapped guy like me needs to feed his game. In some ways they remind me of the level of support that Chaosium used to provide for CoC. They're not paper thin modules with dodgy ecologies: they seem very well thought out.

Did you ever get that CD I mailed you, by the way?

Sorry, yes I did, and thank-you very much! It's actually the first stuff I have of hers, and so it's much appreciated! I haven't said anything to this point, because I was going to send my thanks back with my package, which is mostly collated, but not yet entirely. Working on it, working on it! (That makes it sound fancier than it is, but still, not quite collated.)

Snerk! I was there and I still nearly sprayed the PC to death with tea reading that. Ah good times!

Ah! I finally have parsed that sentence! I kept thinking, "You sprayed a player character with a tea reading? How did that work, exactly? And, that what?"
8)

Oh you give me far too much credit for being interesting - for which I thank you - and I promise to buy some commas this week with my pocket money. :)

Rowan Tree and Red Thread

[game night] She's a what?

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January