D&D Session 28 (10/27/21): Something Fishy This Way Comes

 

Text by Paul O'Connor, Dungeon Master 

With a locking door the team spent an uneventful night, with the only moment of consequence being Dee Dah curling up with Jenny, striking a spark of jealousy with Blah.

After a bit of debate the heroes decided to go down (the other choice being, "up"), and after several hundred yards travel they found themselves in a tall chamber where the floor had collapsed to natural caverns below. The walls of the chamber told the story of Blue Noggak Dungeon -- a dwarven community founded centuries ago to mine the mountain, and which for a time collaborated with human traders (building the now-demolished Blue Hills Castle) before falling into decline after a war over precious ice opals.

With some floating and glowing, the gang investigated the natural cavern through the wrecked floor. Slimy and wet down there, and getting wetter -- a natural spring gushes from the rocks and sends a trickle down the sloping tunnel. Khostov dispersed a flock of stirges with his pipes.

Lots of arguing and making of loud noises before the group decides to press on down the tunnel, with Arthur getting tangled up in a net by ambushing Kua-Toa ... but it wasn't long before the fish-men were routed, and their arch-priest's tongue fed to the owlbear cub. Three other hapless fish heads were taken prisoner. (Don't call them guides!).

But as the literal fog of battle lifted, Jenny said, "Where's Farrah?" and Khostov remembered that he'd failed to spot something during the melee.

D&D Session 27 (10/21/21): The Clothes Make The Man

 

Text by Paul O'Connor, Dungeon Master 

Remind Arthur the magic-users need their rest, next time ... the plucky rogue may easily have gotten in over his head by exploring the dwarven armory at bed time.

It was bad enough even Sommpher had to mobilize for battle, setting aside his evening prayers, and disappointing Farrah ("He IS a shy one, isn't he?")

But up in the armory, it was on -- flying swords, living rugs, and descending from above with supreme arrogance, a finely-wrought helmed horror of living dwarven armor.

Arthur threw himself on the living armor's shoulders, and gave it his all, but only his elven dagger found purchase, and that only slightly.

Khostov got more than he bargained for with his mage hand gag, and his magic missiles failed to blunt the magic armor's progress, though thunderwave was still money in the bank.

But it really was Blah's Big Day, slicing flying swords asunder with his own vorpal blade, and chasing that hovering suit of armor around with a will, hacking and frothing in fine form.

The battle may well have gone on all day, but for Blah scoring a critical hit and decapitating the living armor. The helmet flew across the room and sounded like a paint bucket when it hit the floor; the light faded. Alas!

Now free to explore the room at leisure, our heroes found all the mundane gear they could use, and a few magical items as well, including a powerful spell scroll for Khostov, and a powerful set of playing pipes that put everyone in the mind of Jethro Tull!

Another good night of D&D. Sarkagan sends out a Thunderwave.

 

Top left to right: Kostov Sarkagan, Blah, and Paul the DM (this time playing as the Helmed Horror)

Lower Left to Right: Arthur Two Penny and Sommpher the Cleric.

D&D Session 26 (10/13/21): Down The Oubliette

 

Text by Paul O'Connor, Dungeon Master 

Well we had three heroes backed in a tiny tunnel with a flaming Gelatinous Cube but somehow no one died. I've lost my fastball.

The grim purpose of the oubliette is discovered -- those side-tunnels are crude prison cells. Took some time to navigate down from one to the next -- all bones and despair.

But then a glimmer of hope -- a prisoner had escaped through a crack in his tunnel cell wall. Following this path, Arthur crawled through a tight natural cavern and came out into abandoned dwarf tunnels.

After scouting up a long ladder -- and backing away when unusually wet stone raise his hackles -- Arthur suggested the heroes follow up and make camp. This took some time, having to transport Farrah and Jenny and all the gear. Sommpher summoned a repast of fresh water and bland food that was gratefully consumed by all.

There was some talk of making camp, but Arthur wanted to see what was beyond a nearby dwarven door. What could go wrong? A bit of work and the lock was sprung -- on the other side, a tall, narrow, cylindrical room, lined with shelves and balconies and sliding ladders. On those shelves -- dwarven arms and armor! On the topmost tier, and ornate suit of armor, and on the floor of the room, an opulent and cushy rug ...

... which came to life, and failed to smother Arthur. Regrouping for another attack, the creepy carpet faced off against everyone's favorite Murderball ...

(to be continued)

N64 Dark Rift Motion Capture Session. Kronos Digital Entertainment. Circa 1996

 Images I found of our motion capture session at the now defunct TSI motion capture studio in Los Angeles for the N64 game Dark Rift.  State of the art optical motion capture (not that old crappy magnetic MC) in an old junky warehouse.  Bring your own outfit, and we will tape the marker balls to your body.  Cutting edge stuff!  I am the guy getting the balls duct taped to my shoes.

Performance actors (Mostly Kronos developers) are as follows: 

John Paik (Niiki, Morphix, Zenmuron, Aaron, and Scarlet), Steve Knotts (Gore, Demitron, and Sonork), Theodore Warnock (Demonica), Sandra B. Christensen (Eve)

https://youtu.be/-_XiC1iA_2Y?t=873

D&D Session 25 (10/6/21): Forces Of Nature

Text by Paul O'Connor, Dungeon Master 

What's worse -- a vengeful dragon or an avalanche? How about ... getting stuck between those things? A-yup.

It would have been easier to run for it. Over the wall! Into the mine! But, nope, the heroes picked the main keep. It was close. But it was also right in the path of the avalanche.

Run! Up the stairs! Get the girls! Quaff a speed potion and get moving! And for the most part, that's what happened ... with a path clearing to safety when Codoroth the Longtail -- the aforementioned dragon -- failed (for a second time!) to pluck Sompher up in his claws, and instead pranged off an elevated bridge and crash landed in the castle courtyard.

And then Arthur, who might have been baited a bit by an evil DM,  saw that dragon was on the ground, maybe disoriented, certainly with its back toward our Murderball, and the halfling thought that "Arthur Dragonslayer" had a nice ring to it.

So up he leapt, in between the shoulders of the beast, where the wings come together and there's sure to be a weak spot. Sure to be. Right here. Somewhere around here. Oh, dear.

Enter Khostov Sarkagan, who conjured the Phantasmal image of a giant to fight Codoroth, and the surprisingly dim dragon bought it, and thrashed in futility as that imaginary giant did very real damage to him (and as Arthur finally got through those dragon scales). Quickly getting the worst of the fight, Codoroth surged off to return to the skies, flapping hard and barely clearing the ground as the avalanche slammed into the castle. Arthur deftly leaps from the back of the rising dragon, turning an ankle but making it to the keep just in time to see the dragon wing into the oncoming wall of billowing snow. Escaped? Buried alive? None can say.

Then the avalanche hit the tower, and the tower hit the ground; with our heroes inside. One of the girls was pinned -- I think it was Jenny -- but Khostov blew the beam aside with a Thunderwave and the whole group rushed down into the basement of the tower as the walls gave way before a whole mountain on the move.

Everyone hung on to their gear! Blah even got the Vorpal Sword, though he cut himself and Sompher pretty fierce in their panicked flight to safety.

In the basement ... rotten supplies, and a place to rest up, sealed in by who knows how many tons of ice and rubble above. Also the entrance to an oubliette.

After determining that trying to dig out of the basement could take weeks (or more, or forever), the heroes cranked open the oubliette and reveals what sure seemed like a bottomless pit beneath. Or functionally bottomless, in any case. Blah went down on a rope, and eighty-odd feet down the well found a side passage, maybe four and a half feet tall.

Unroping himself, he went in, at a crouch, axe at the ready, scanning ahead with his keen dark vision. Up above, Sompher headed down on the rope.

Blah thought he saw something in the tunnel ahead of him ... but the dice were not kind. Some of the most dreadful words in the D&D language are "You noticed the Gelatinous Cube, but too late." Glug!

And that's where we left it! 

D&D: Session 24 (9/29/21): ... The Harder They Fall!

  Text by Paul O'Connor, Dungeon Master  

After six weeks (real time) in the Castle of the Blue Hills, King Gut finally makes his appearance. He's 22 feet tall! He has icicles for beards! He's got two heads, and a sword so sharp it can cut the sky. He's got Jenny Agutter tied to one forearm, and Farrah Fawcett on the other!!

But all this was not before the lads had another stellar night, faking out an ogre punishment squad set to execute the remaining slaves when Blah masqueraded as the orcish cheiftan, Hakkon. Sending most of the ogres to reinforce the south gate against an imaginary attack divided the enemies in two, where Murderball, Sompher, and a raging Blah could make short work of the ogres that remained behind. They even freed the slaves (sort of), though an attempt to convince the ogre's dim-witted wolfpack to flip sides didn't amount to much.

And what was Sarkagan up to through all this? Biding his time, mostly, but when Gut appeared from his castle the wizard was quickly into action, blasting a magical gust of wind through the signal horn atop the citadel, ringing it out well above OSHA safe decibel standards, rocking the very earth and unleashing ... a massive avalanche bearing down on the castle!

Things began to move fast. The heroes piled on King Gut. You could almost feel sorry for the old blue bastard as he was held in place, hamstrung, had one of his girls cut free, and eviscerated by not one but TWO convincing magical illusions of a dragon attack. But no sooner did the wicked frost giant collapse to the snow than Jenny pointed to the sky, did her best Faye Wray scream, and shouted DRAGON!

That's right, our old friend Codoroth the Longtail is back! Summoned by the horn, this is no illusory dragon ... this is a pissed off an hungry dragon, alerted by the dinner bell, and seeing before him prey that escaped and shamed him once before -- the cleric Sompher. He's swooping in for the kill ...!

(and happy birthday to Paul)