Run Date: July 4, 2023
Independence Day festivities kept a couple players from joining us this week. I continued to flounder looking through the 2e documents and spent a lot of table time explaining various options available in ACKS.
PCs
Conner:
Lv1 Fighter
Tabitha: Lv1 Bladedancer
Conklyn: Lv1 Explorer
Tavi: Lv1
Shaman
Last Minute Decisions
The session opened with me reminding the group that if they want me to adjudicate downtime, to do so well ahead of time and not at the last minute. Time moves ever onward.
The group decided to do a bit of brigand hunting this session since they'd heard rumours about Saltstrikers hitting the local settlements. There wasn't much information to be found within town since the raids happened throughout the region. They headed east to hit up a nearby hamlet in the hopes of learning more or running into Saltstrikers themselves. What the party found instead was a trap. Conklyn, the explorer, never saw it as he stepped over the edge of a hill near some tall grasses. He spotted a path leading into the hamlet and thought it safe, but was quickly devoured by a pit with a pair of spears set at the bottom. Tabitha quickly rushed to his aid with a rope and checked to see if he was still alive. Whether he was lucky or not would later be revealed, but at this time he managed to survive with the loss of half of his hand. He could no longer wield his bow, but at least he had a spear.
With their wounded member in tow, the group walked into Chipton (named because they went in with a chip on their shoulder). They met an old lady in a rocking chair and learned that the Salstrikers had been recruiting from the hamlets and occasionally demanding tithe. She noted things weren't too bad if you acquiesced, and that Farmer Dennis's son ended up leaving to join the brigands. She then invited them inside for roasted sweet potatoes. The party offered some extra money to use a nearby barn as a shelter for the night while Conklyn recovered.
The next day, the group set out north in the hopes of finding bandits. What they didn't realize is they had gotten extremely unlucky and veered off course. After traveling a ways, they found a safe haven near the Sapphire Road, the river that cuts through the Flaming Valley. It was an abandoned burrow of some unknown beast, supplied with comfortable surroundings and a small pond of fresh water. The group decided to continue scouting the area and followed the river downstream. They came across several miles of abandoned farms; a veritable wasteland tainted perhaps by Bazuman's black fire. Since it was getting to be afternoon, the party hit up a nearby hamlet to continue their questions. It was not meant to be.
The party stepped into a shanty of a tavern and were immediately yelled at to leave. Their hesitation resulted in the keeper grabbing an iron pan and his cleaver while two more farmers grabbed their implements. For one reason or another, this tavern wasn't welcoming strangers. The party tossed a gold coin in good faith and only enraged the patrons even more. Soon after, the party headed back to the wasteland to find an old broken barn to retire in. They had traveled an extra half hour into the night to ensure no angry villagers with torches and pitchforks would get at them.
The next morning, and a bit of discussion, lead to the party heading to Luxa, and making a wide berth around the hamlet that chased them off the prior night. They didn't spend much time in Luxa, using the chance to resupply and have a mid-morning lunch while discussing their next move. Since the brigand hunting hadn't turned anything up yet, it was time to go looking for trouble. Conklyn lead the way back out of town and upriver to do some lair hunting.
It took a few hours to locate their first lair, having only discovered a hillock with a great view prior. An ancient tree that appeared black or grey, seemingly petrified, was their first hit. Atop it was a single wyvern. Though it had spotted them, it didn't seem to pay them much mind. The group, after figuring out what it was, decided to avoid it and hunt elsewhere. After several more hours, the party came across a miniature "Cave of Wonders;" a lion shaped head burst from the savannah, its maw large enough for a human to enter. Nothing ventured and all that, the party descended into the cavern.
To their surprise, the Cave of Wonders was more of a chamber. Within it were a variety of caveman-like paintings and a pool. Hanging above the pool was a bundle of long, reddish hair. Tabitha looked into the pool and found a lifelike visage of a lion staring right back at her. There was a bit of discussion here and not a lot of exploration so I took the lead and revealed a multitude of secrets "for free." It was a teaching moment regarding exploration, identification, and the interaction of various proficiencies. My hope was to get the group used to thinking of possibilities, especially when entering such unique terrain.
To wit; The Font of Courage contains a magical resource tied to a lion (the hair/mane being the component) worth up to 15k gp. Since the characters didn't have any Magical Engineering or similar skills to actually identify the value and use, nor Mapping to sell the information, the Font was left more or less untouched.
With a few hours still left in the day, the party continued to search. Conklyn's luck continued to show as he guided the party through a somewhat rotten part of the wasteland, resulting in the contraction of Bilious Fever. Everyone saved except him, who hit the dreaded Nat 1. I ruled that the effects would appear the next day (there doesn't appear to be any advice on gestation periods, etc). Before becoming incapacitated by the sickness, Conklyn pushed for that one last lair.
Success! Conklyn located an ancient step well with a large, vaulted stone ceiling supported by pillars; at the center was a statue with ruby eyes and flanked by two flawless shields. He lead the way down to test the murky waters, agitating the creature within. The party soon saw a grey-blue fin cut through the water's surface and approach Conklyn; and wouldn't you know it? He was the only one who was surprised.
The party were quick on their feet (my initiatives being low more than high) and set up a defensive line on the stairs with readied attacks. As soon as the creature burst forth, the group laid into it. This creature, an abominable shark/centipede hybrid, took heavy blows as it began tearing through the party. Both Tabitha and Conner dropped, saved only by Fate and successfully resisting the poisons. Tavi desperately fended off the next attack with her spear. The combat was interrupted by me looking for the monster morale rules, and forgetting that +4 means there is no roll... Oh well, I got the chance to explain the various modifiers available (despite that, it would have fearfully fled). The next round Conklyn finally got over his surprise and laid another strong hit into the Maw's hide. So close, but the simultaneous action rules weighed in favor of the Maw. It bit into Conklyn, who again failed with a nat 1; and cleaved into Tavi, another point in which Fate intervened.
I don't just mean Fate points this time. The party was due for a wipe, and only one creature remained: Tavi's totem horse. The maw struck out at it, but somehow missed and the horse retaliated hitting well above AC5 and doing max damage. So the battle ended, not in a full wipe and a life lesson, but a damned horse stomping a shark monster into the stone. Still, the explorer was dead and the other three were wounded. The party decided to spend the night and hope nothing else came for them; and it didn't.
The next morning, after some magical healing and an Overcast, the party got their guts up. Tabitha swam into the pool and recovered the ruby eyes and two shields. They then decided to just rush home with Conklyn's body and call it a day. The rest of the session involved resolving the sales of the rubies and figuring out what to do with the (+1) shields.
Ruling made: The party hired another PC (a bard) to negotiate a deal with Fang Visserius of Fayum. Her demand was free rent for the townhouse they hoped to purchase. Visserius turned over the deed to a nearby, recently vacated, townhouse and assisted in commissioning a variety of other items for the party; some mules, horses, and a cart. The bard also negotiated a tax exemption, and hot damn if I didn't roll a well above a 12 on the RR. It resulted in a 6 month exemption for any item less than 5k GP. The party was quite happy. Moreover, I awarded the full XP value to the party.
Rewards (Totals)
1340gp per PC
3550xp per PC
Afterword
Two PCs would have double-leveled this session, especially after the sale of the +1 shield. I've heard tale that picking herbs is adventurous enough to gain 1xp and get that level, but perhaps they'll look into campaign XP ideas to push them over. Despite the death of the explorer, this session was rather lucrative. Then again, tons of risk resulted in a good reward. Recommended name for the horse is: Bullshit Luck. We'll see if it sticks.
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