York Dobyns' Scenario

Run 1 #

Party's mission is to kill a human hero known only as "George." George, a warrior in plate who carries a flaming sword, has been roaming Joysea, killing monsters singlehanded; he seems to have an especial knack for bumping off Drakes/Dragons. Party is accompanied by NPC drake, named Bait. Orders are to proceed to the village of High Bridge, near George's last known position, and have Bait terrorize the village conspicuously while the other monsters lurk to ambush George when he shows up.

Players concoct an ambush scheme that centers around the bridge High Bridge is named for -- an 80-foot span across a gorge 200 feet deep. Bait goes about his depredations, the Doppelganger is in town pretending to be a traveler trapped by the Drake's edict that "No one leaves!" (Needless to say, occasional escapees were actually encouraged, to spread the news -- but mass exodus was halted.) The Gargoyles lurk under the bridge, prepared to shatter it and let it fall into the ravine while George is on it. The remaining monsters hide at various locales in the ravine, prepared to pounce if there's anything left of George after the fall. A clever scheme of contingeny instructions was given to Bait to ensure that, no matter what direction George approached from, he would have to cross the bridge.

Of course, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. The Hero arrived wearing Weightless Plate Armor and Boots of Speed; moving four times as fast as they expected, he made it to the edge of the bridge before the Gargoyles could even start their undermining. However, the hidden Fey ordered Bait to stop him, and Bait found the presence of mind to charge forth and intercept George before he left the bridge. For his courage, Bait was rewarded with a Crossbow Bolt of Dragon Slaying, and perished just as George plummeted into the ravine.

And came to a soft landing. Unbeknownst to the monsters, George had a support crew; Mages and Clerics lurking out of sight, with an item that allowed them to cast spells on George from a safe distance. Levitate Other brought George to ground unhurt. The monsters found themselves facing a hasted STR-22 fighter with Fight Like A Lion IV; three perished in the melee, but George eventually fell. Mission accomplished.

Run 2 #

George is now identified as a member of the Order of the Red Sword. The Red Swords have been identified as a thorn in the side of the Dark Ones. Not least of their aggravation, all members of the order carry Flaming Swords -- fakes that cannot usefully be captured; their enchantments fade before the triumphant monsters return home. The party is tasked to learn who is casting Lasting Flame Weapon with such gleeful abandon.

The party casts about searching for members of the Order. They find an inn where some are staying, and ambush them -- sort of. They drop large boulders onto the roof of the targets' room from high in the air; flying characters escape with a survivor to interrogate. ESP interrogation reveals that these are novices who know little of the Order; they get fresh swords at regular intervals, carried by a variety of couriers. After some further unfruitful investigations, the party finds a band of 15 Order members coming to investigate the strange disappearance of the novices. They choose to follow secretly, waiting for a courier. Some days later, the courier arrives, hurtling out of his sky in his 40-league boots. He plans to stay overnight with them.

So the monsters ambush the party in the night; more large rocks are dropped onto tents, followed up with dragonbreath, Cone of Pain, and Fireballs. Even after all this softening up, the surviving warriors put up a heavy fight, and one monster dies, but the mission is successful; the courier is captured alive with a Stone Blow spell (or was it the Mindflayer's Stun? Anyway, he failed a save and was helpless long enough to be tied up), and interrogation reveals that the courier runs his missions from the fortress of Clifftown, near Hack'N'Sack. (The party vampire was very alarmed to find Holy Orbs in the possession of the Order.)

Run 3 #

A simple mission: Assault the Fortress! Eleven monsters set out to kill the mage in Clifftown.

Initial scouting proves unpromising. The Fortress is small but sturdy. Very sturdy. Grand-Patterning-type sturdy, in fact. Careful scouting reveals that all of the walls are Grand-Patterned by repeated application of the Daglir prayer; this means even the Specter can't penetrate. Also, observers note layered Magical Traps poised to fill the courtyard and the area before the gates with Ice Storms followed by Fireballs; trigger conditions unknown. Not-so-careful scouting revealed that, though no patrols walk the walls at night, the watchtowers hold alert watchers with short tempers and a mistrust of unexplained strangers. (The Djinn escaped by going gaseous again and browbeat the Fey into healing his jaw.) The Figurine of Truth tells them that 52 defenders staff the fortress at this moment. They decide a frontal assault would be a bad idea.

However, the back of the fortress abuts a mountain -- the fortress is, in fact, carved into the mountain. The scouting Specter finds that the Patterning is a full enclosure -- but an underground passage, big enough even for the Cyclops, leads to a back gate. Following the passage leads to the ruins of an underground Dwarven city, and eventually to other passages that connect to the surface. The Beholder's Dimension-Door spell gets the Cyclops and Drake past a narrow stretch, and presently all the monsters are ensconced in lovely dank ruins, poised to attack the next night after they rest and recover spell points. The Vampire scouts up the passage in hound-form and finds that only a single life form waits behind the back gate.

Alas, the ambush doesn't go so well as the planning. As the party comes to the gate in full battle array, they note there are now 3 living beings behind the gate in full battle array, and more rushing to staff the "murder holes" that cover the approach. The party realizes that somehow, the inhabitants of the fortress are ready for them -- but they decide to attack anyway. After the initial salvo of crossbow bolts and a Fireball, an illusion is used to block LOS from the murder holes. Beholder TK raises the bar on the gate, Knock opens the lock, and the battle is on.

The monsters hold the advantage briefly, but the guy with the Velocity Finder Glasses, the Crossbow of Speed, and the Crossbow Bolts of Many Shots makes the monsters unhappy. The Holy Orb rolled into the midst of the undead cluster makes the monsters unhappy (even though they all saved against being dispelled). The Scroll of Dispel Undead V makes the monsters unhappy. The armored fighter-mage with the fireball wand makes the monsters unhappy. The defenders who fall are replaced by reinforcements who are Hasted and Fighting Like Lions, and the monsters decide enough is enough. They flee through a Dimension Door to the outside. One overeager defender follows them, and dies before his comrades form up into an assault team. Having fled much more effectively than they fought, the party loses only one gargoyle.

Run 4 #

Remember that lone defender? Dead men do tell tales when the Dark Ones are involved. It turns out the Fortress is a gigantic red herring, a deliberate ploy to invite attack if anyone looks into the Order's logistics, and run any such attack through a mincing machine. The true leader of the Order is a high-level fighter-mage who wanders the countryside with his closest comrades, pretending to be an ordinary combat team of the Order. A party of seven assembles to follow a locator stone enchanted by the Dark Lord and show this elf the error of his ways.

The enemy are located in due course, and the monsters sneak up while they sleep. Well, while most of them sleep: six on the ground, two on watch. A clever plan is hatched in which the Succubus will try to Charm one guard while the Vampire uses his gaze on the other.

Of course, a figure like the leader of the Order can be counted on to have more than meets the eye -- in this case, an item that warns him of hostile intent within 480'. So while the monsters creep into their ambush positions, trying not to be seen, the high-level Order members are awake, trying to pretend to be asleep, while the Carrunos cleric casts Hunter's Blessings on everybody.

So the ambush is blown (again), and battle is joined as soon as the monsters can arrive from their sundry hiding places. There are 4 defending humans and elves of significant skill, and 4 more trainees (not yet members of the Order) who become irrelevant somewhere between the Dragon Breath and the Ice Storm. The fighter-mage demonstrates his ability to cast despite being interrupted by damage. The other elf in chain demonstrates that he, too, has a Crossbow of Speed and plenty of Bolts of Many Shots to put in it. Unfortunately, the human fighter doesn't get many opportunities to show off his Arrows of Pain; the Succubus compels him to attack his leader for a round, and by the time that's sorted out, everyone's in melee. (Sort of. The Leader, being hasted by this time, is alternating spells with swings of his flaming sword.)

(That's right, Carrunos cleric. You didn't think everyone in the Order was a Leo, did you? This is an Elf we're talking about, here.)

Between the elf's spells, and the annoying habit the defenders had of exploding in 7-die fireballs when killed, the battle got very bloody. By the end of the fight, only one character was left standing: a Lich. (The Succubus also survived, but not exactly "standing" -- she inadvertantly Timestopped herself trying to use a rigged item.) Hail the Conquering Villains! I've never seen a party lose 5 out of 7 but still achieve their goal.

PrinceCon 23 Summaries & Run Recaps: #

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