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Highfell Journals Session #13 (30 DECEMBER 2024)

    Well, Down two players at start of session and they were in mid exploration but at the end of an encounter from last session. SO that means we quickly go over the events of the last session as having missed a session in between we are all a little rusty and disoriented from the holidays. I quickly rule that Postulant Alaric joins up with Hjort in the Secret Room on the 3rd level. There is an option to delay session but the players are excited to play and decide to delve further down the Tower of the Woad Goblins.     The room is searched, I note we did that last session and t hat treasure was added already and is carried in a Small Sack by Gerean Halfling Swords-Thug, I call the character "Gary". The Party returns to the Hall and travels south to a door before the turn in the corridor. I call for a "Caller" to be chosen of one of the two Characters in the Front of the Marching Order . The Cyclops  Vettag is chosen this session. They flank the door while ...

Highfell Journals Session #12 (16 DECEMBER 2024)

   Picking up where you left off in a dungeon runs the greatest risk of one player out and another player in, Almost every single time. SO having paused after the Wandering Monster attack of more of these Woad Goblins the PCs I check the Time sheet at a glance. Determine how I am adding one character to the party and then have to figure out what to do with the PC not present, to run as a NPC or not. I chose not to as it is a very large group anyway. I allow the Postulant Alaric to have imbibed his Potion of Flying and have been about a Turn or so behind the party. Observing their rudimentary explorations before landing on the tower they are currently exploring now. Making a few rolls on the top of the tower he notices nothing and descends striking up a torch to see as the party below is searching. The PCs are reunited shortly and begin examining the norther chamber where the goblin in Ring Mail adorned with bone and  the Adamantine Coif came from. They discover some tre...

Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #35 (11 DECEMBER 2024)

    Camping in an old dwarf miner barracks ? Yeah, no problem if you are a group of Dwarf and finally find rotten old cots that are the just the right size. No one really said anything about doing anything about the dead wolf and young adventurer so I guess they slept next to the dead. When you think about it adventurers are creepy and weird. Prolly why the normal village folk view them with a bit of suspicion.      We rotated the same pair of adventurers out this session so ruled that Namman and his Retainer Gro would be staying at the Campsite on the upper level of the Lost Dwarf Mine and gathering firewood from the local area. Geoff and his Crossbowmen rejoin the Brotherhood for this delve. There were no Wandering Monsters during the restful evening but they heard the loud exit of the bats from the bat cave to the east. The howling whistling sound continues all evening and seems to be a geographical feature perhaps. When Redrum wakes he notes he is feel...

Highfell Journals Session #11 (9 DECEMBER 2024)

    Woodvale , sitting at the Flaming Faggot Inn the party debates on their next course of action. We have a late member nut nothing so late that it delays our tight window of play. A wee bit of Meta to start things off but nothing to get irritated at so they begin their trek to Thatchum in order to acquire a means to travel to HighFell . A minor magical item is burned unintentionally with the fallen Elf and honestly I think maybe a  Long Bow as well. I'll have to double check shortly.     There is an abundance of chatter this evening and joke cracking. The tone is set but I do not foresee it being a problem. At times I am naïve.     The party begins their trek to Thatchum and it is an 8 Hour Travel Time so I roll the regular Hex Exploration Checks and get  an encounter, I have misplaced the ones I made for the general region of the Northern Reaches so go with the generic one in the Dragonslayer RPG Tome ; Yeah we are totally calling it a Tom...

Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #34 (4 DECEMBER 2024)

      34 sessions really...     I almost stopped making recaps of this particular campaign this week but then reminded myself. It's a fucking game, never take any of this seriously. Various reasons why but mainly no one reads them and they started a a  Why I as Dungeon Master make decisions in my games and how a table actually works. The reasoning of rulings, The interactions and odd quirks of the gaming folks. I am blunt and unapologetic by nature. I think I have gotten away from the reasoning's for my rulings but I have had fewer rulings to be made as the campaigns settles into a pattern. But anyway,     We started with one player out and another who was unavailable last week to pop in. It's a simple X and Followers leave while Y and Retainers follows information that leads them to pass X on Road on their way to the adventure location. Its hokey and cheesy but works to keep a table going in the same direction. Sometime reason and logic take a ba...

Highfell Journals Session #10 (2 DECEMBER 2024)

    Well, it's been a gap in play which always means this session is going to be bumpy as folks get back into character. Remember what we were doing and for those in multiple campaigns separate which campaign they are playing in this week from the last game they played. Picking up in Woodvale they attempt and discuss at length how to sell and to whom to sell the loot from the Sacern caverns where they encountered and fought the Hidden Dagger Orc Clan . Between session they Magic-User Talen-Zin was arrested by the town watch under the direction of Handel Bjornson. Oddly no one questions what becomes of the architect of the Orcish raids out of the Fargonne Forest . A definite zero-fucks attitude which changes into an obsession about getting all of the weapons out of the Sacern Caverns to sell in Thatchum . This is pretty much the entire discussion for the first 25 to 35 minutes of our session.  Scylenta The Serpent is particularly keen on getting the weapon cache for futur...

Dwarf OSE+ Dark Citadel Session #33 (20 NOVEMBER 2024)

        Well, it has been a long time since we got a full session in for this campaign. Technical issues and scheduling issues have plagued the Brotherhood of Expendable Strangers for a over a month. We had a short logistical session a week ago and they learned of some adventure hooks and have chosen those over delving deeper into the Dark Citadel or assaulting the Temple of Zuul who has contracted Assassins to kill them all. Several Retainers were hired after meeting at Skald and interviewing them individually, Redrum has used his Know Alignment ability on them and determined they are not agents of Chaos or possibly Assassins out for a quick bounty. The Warrior-Loremaster Geoff has sent out prospectors in the Trollscrag Mountains where the Emerald Keep's upper Tower resides and they have reported back on finding an old mine. A few days from the watch Tower.      I had Geoff & Redrum dice off for the location of the mine in proxim...