Monday 10 July 2017

Session 143 - Let's Split Up, Gang!

Man, a whole lot happened this session due to a forcible dual session situation!
Always split the party. It is known.
One group went under the cathedral and found the secret research lair of a Necromancer.
The other group went into the forest and found the not-so-secret zombie lair of another Necromancer.

And TWO SESSIONS REMAIN before Henry disappears on us. He is now DRIVEN to complete the summoning fetch quest before he leaves! Godspeed.

Check out Tom's latest edition of the Moondin Trumpet attached, and enjoy these art attacks!


Tom depicts the brave Hacker's Halberdiers marching to their mutual deaths






- Charles doodles the session's major incidents and locations


- Tom draws the big ol' frog statue!


​- And James Ratman discovers the violence inherent in the system!




Session 143 - Let's Split Up, Gang!
Campaign Date:
Thursday, 4 July, 1660
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Zodiac: Gemini

New Characters:
- Hacker's Halberdiers, a ragtag group of Extras led by one Chuck Leratt. Ex-colporteurs, all.

New Backstory:
- Carrie has a horrifying secret - she's been crafting jewellery from the aborted foetuses of Moondin's prostitutes... then selling it on to Necromancers as macabre thematic jewllery. (Once per session, force a morale check by telling the table a new horrifying anecdote about something that actually happened to you)
Enemies Defeated:- 10 animated skeletons (100 exp)
- 2 big big animated skeletons (150 exp)
- Mrs Fasburg, Necromancer (75 exp)
- Some floor-zombies (20 exp)
- Mr Zombiemaster (100 exp)
Total: 445 exp

Treasure and Equipment:
- 1sp, 3cp (2 exp)
- Wooden jester mask
- Strange hollow metal object, vaguely gunlike
- 30gp, 250sp, 2500cp in a 1000sp-worth copper chest (3000 exp)
Total: 3002 exp

Exploration:- First party to meet the Frog Idol (200 exp)
- First party to reach the Zombie Master's Casa del Cadaver (200 exp)- Travelled 30 miles or so (100 exp)
- Explored 4 unexplored rooms (80 exp)
Total: 580 exp

Events:
- A message is received from Fate! A letter to Rake written by none other than fan favourite Guido! It's a conditional acceptance of Rake's new role as steward (50 exp)
- Given a choice of quests, the party picks... both!? (50 exp)
---Team Moonminster
- Waking up inside Moonminster, Rake has mysteriously vanished because Tom's decided to play as Hacker's Halberdiers tonight. (50 exp)
- It's a small group remaining in Moonminster, and POWERLAD has the bright idea to boost torch duration via oiled-up grave linen. Tinker time! Maybe it'll work! (50 exp)
- The uncharacteristically small team descends to the third level again... reaching the blood fountain. POWERLAD tastes it, expecting deleterious magical effects... but it's just blood. (50 exp)
- To the right, spooky blue light quavers from the cracks around a spooky door. Like that bit in ghost busters that fucked me up as a kid. (50 exp)
- Carrie investigates the door, but oh what's that? A left turn reveals a copper chest! The others are distracted! (50 exp)
- POWERLAD gets it open with Carrie's lockpicks. Lots of coins arranged in a bullseye pattern. Zena pokes it with a stick and CRIKEY! A COIN SNEK! (50 exp)
- Zena wrassles it and kicks it back against the wall, where it bursts into component coins. They begin reforming as soon as they lose cohesion. (50 exp)
- Carrie abandons the scary door (things move past the light occasionally, there's chanting) and grabs the snake! It works! (50 exp)
- The snake grabs back, hauling Carrie away. Zena strikes through at an angle, splintering a limb into multiple coins, while POWERLAD crits with his armour-busting dual hammers! (50 exp)
- The snake loses cohesion, Carrie is dropped, and it seems to be struggling to stick back together after that one! (50 exp)
- POWERLAD strikes forth once more... but the snake is ready and manages to damage the hammers. Dismay! (50 exp)
- Carrie manages to wrestle it and slams the majority of its body into the chest. Score! Unfortunately, wormlike, the severed snake wrings her neck! (50 exp)
- Zena stabs the snek a bunch, and POWERLAD finishes it off with damaged hammers! (50 exp)
- The coins clatter to the ground... and don't disappear! Phew! Loadsa money! (50 exp)
- With that threat dealt with, the chest gets dumped near the stairs up via a Take-Mass-Mass glyph. (50 exp)
- The glowing door is re-examined... and pulled open! Within, a proper Morticia Addams-style Necromancer in the midst of some DARK RITUAL! (50 exp)
- Zena calls out, and the Necromancer sends her skeletal minions to kill those who defile the family crypt! (50 exp)
- Zena's prepared... SCATTERSHOT! Saviour of all! Unfortunately skeletons resist non-smashy damage so they're not super affected. The Necromancer dives behind some of them and seems ok. (50 exp)
- A one-two combo of POWERLAD's Web and Carrie's Turn Undead force the skeletons to try to flee while also immobile. Zena tosses in a torch and closes the door. FWOOM! (50 exp)
- Somewhere, far off, a member of Hacker's Halberdiers says "Smoking... kills" to the confusion of his colleagues. (50 exp)
- After an appropriate amount of time, they reopen the door. Looks like the skeletons are all dead! At the end of the room, the Necromancer is frazzled but alive. (50 exp)
- Carrie rushes in to save her... but SURPRISE! Two big bone golem-types were stationed on either side of the door! (50 exp)
- She dodge-rolls between them while POWERLAD hits the Necromancer with a crossbow bolt to disrupt her casting! It works! Vindictive ghosts really hurt her. (50 exp)
- Zena and POWERLAD make short work of the big golem things. The fire really did a number on them. (50 exp)
- The Necromancer is bleeding out and pleads for her life. In a moment of compassion, Carrie first aids her and gets only half the potential ADAM. (50 exp)
- After a quick chat, it seems that she's been experimenting down here to push the boundaries of Necromancy! Down here she's far enough from the surface that hopefully nothing too bad will happen if something goes wrong. (50 exp)
- She tells the group about the pentagram-shaped corridors to the south, all with experimental traps to deter the increasingly active mould people, and that nobody should touch her treasure chest. (50 exp)
- "Ha ha treasure chest? Huh interesting no we didn't see it" etc (50 exp)
- Zena brings the Necromancer the corpses of the mould people as a peace offering and skeleton components. How nice! (50 exp)
- She gives them a gnarly key to open the door to the trap corridors, in case they want to check it out. They do! A flaming skull floats above a magical containment circle. Impressed, they sloooowly back out and close the door. (50 exp)
- They ask the Necromancer about the mould people. She reckons there's a whole network down here, full of mould. Doesn't know much else though because she rarely leaves her work. (50 exp)
- Also there's definitely a way into Moldus Vane's main lair if you follow the south wall to the bit with gigantic mushrooms growing through all the houses. Can't miss it! (50 exp)
- With that, the group hustle the rune-lightened chest up the stairs and out. Mercifully, the horde of mould people aren't outside any more. (50 exp)
- They head out to the safe zone, and on the way meet up with some uninfested escapees. After initial confusion over the party's strange helmets, they join forces and escape together. (50 exp)
--- Team Swamp
- Blue Jon is dead set on this Baba Yaga resurrection quest, and tells Castirake his plans. Castigate grants Blue Jon a letter saying that he's an ally of the Necromancers and not to be harmed. (50 exp)
- Hacker's Halberdiers, Rake's newly raised militia unit, is sent with Blue Jon! They are a motley band of colporteurs led by a shifty Ratman in a not-great disguise. (50 exp)
- They head off into the forest, following the instructions Blue Jon was given by the Oracle. Bizarrely enough, nothing randomly encounters them on the way. The only thing of note - a fallen wooden jester mask. (50 exp)
- Chuck Leratt grasps this clearly mystical object... and in a mirror of the blood drinking scene, this clearly spooky magic item turns out to just be a spooky non-magic item. Maybe... (50 exp)
- Leratt puts it on (a perfect disguise!) and strange tinkling laughter comes from the trees. Something rustles past in the trees above. (50 exp)
- Nevertheless they reach the area the Oracle spoke of. A grungy village, a smoking hill framing it, and nearby a big statue of a frog! (50 exp)
- They go straight to the frog statue as they were told. It's made of the same smooth white stone as the Alabaster Oracle, and when Blue Jon mentions her the whole statue animates! (50 exp)
- It has a big long slow voice and will talk bullshit for hours if you let it. I immediately enjoy playing this statue a lot. He talks for a while about a fly. (50 exp)
- Blue Jon explains his quest to unite the artifacts of Baba Yaga. The frog explains the items needed, her Pestle, Mortar and Broom, have been inconveniently spread out across the forest. (50 exp)
- He also opens his mouth to reveal that he contains Baba Yaga's heart. Bring all the items to him, and she could be resurrected! She kept the tentacle down in times long past, if she was brought back she could do it again. (50 exp)
- Blue Jon and Hacker's Halberdiers set off to find the Pestle, which the frog says is buried in the Zombie Island that floats in a lake to the south. Other components are the Mortar, used as a boat by "nixies", and the Broom which rests in the Heart of Thorns. (50 exp)
- On their way, they find a strange hollowed-out metal tube that looks a bit like a real-life-modern gun. Very strange. (50 exp)
- They reach the lake, and indeed there is a floating island made up of zombies, floating wood, and various detritus. Stranger still, there's a hut on top! (50 exp)
- Blue Jon's familiar is sent over to scout and knocks on the door. A strange, gaunt man opens the door and lets the familiar in. Odd. (50 exp)
- The Halberdiers begin swimming over to the island... and discover there are zombies underwater!!! (50 exp)
- It's fantasy fucking vietnam in here. Halberdiers are being dragged under the water left and right! Chuck Leratt desperately scrabbles for the zombie island shore! (50 exp)
- Seeing all this going down, Blue Jon lights a joint. Then he casts fly and stutter-glitches his way over the water. When he's near the hut, he casts Locate Object on the Pestle. It's inside the island itself! (50 exp)
- Chuck Leratt, the last surviving member of Hacker's Halberdiers, is pulled underwater to his death. Hacker's Halberdiers are dead. (50 exp)
- Blue Jon barely notices, and flies down to the shack door. He knocks, and the gaunt man with a skull-and-spine staff opens it. A zombie silently reaches up behind Blue Jon to grab him... but luckily it's seen in time! (50 exp)
- Blue Jon drifts upwards and out of reach and tries to talk to the man, using Castigate's letter as proof of his purpose. The man takes it and keeps it, then fires an Ectenic Blast out of his staff and throws Blue Jon into the sky! Blue Jon's blasting off again! (50 exp)
- He lands a while later and trudges, alone, towards Moondin. Eventually he reaches the city walls and meets up with Castirake, and they ride back towards the lake. (50 exp)
- A brief encounter with a Cunning Man stalls them when they end up back at Moondin. Wearily, they turn back around and try again. This time it works! (50 exp)
- Rather than risk swimming, Blue Jon lashes together a raft from wood and rope. Castigate casts Protection from Undead on the raft, and they use it to get across to the floating island. (50 exp)
- Castigate discovers that he's gotten stronger! He can now augment Rake's strength! (50 exp)
- They approach the shack again. The gaunt man opens the door again, and is surprised to see Castigate. He calls himself Mr Zombiemaster, and warns that if he's attacked he'll split the island into pieces and kill them both! (50 exp)
- Floor zombies grapple Rake, but they both fail. Strength Augment On! Castigate helps break the both of them free! (50 exp)
- Blue Jon is in worse shape, the zombies manage to wrestle him down to the ground! No worries, he's high. With a shout he summons the illusory black dragon! (50 exp)
- Somewhere, somehow, POWERLAD grumbles about intellectual property theft (50 exp)
- The dragon starts tearing the shack to pieces, and Mr Zombiemaster slams the door and runs inside. Rake pursues, but is stalled by grasping zombie hands! (50 exp)
- Castigate tells him to stop for a second, and casts Subjugate Dead! The zombies let Rake go, and he smashes in through the front door. (50 exp)
- The shack is empty... and an ominous hole in the floor seems to be the obvious escape route of Mr Zombiemaster. We end on this dramatic cliffhanger.
Total: 3350 exp

Misc:
- Absolutely Disgusting bonus (50 exp)
- Aggressive Negotiations 
bonus (50 exp)
- Antagonist Antagoniser bonus (50 exp)
- Balls to the Wall bonus (50 exp)
- Best of Intentions bonus (50 exp)
- Breach and Clear bonus (50 exp)
- Brutal Kill bonus (50 exp)
- Classic Charles bonus (50 exp)
- Dramatic Battle bonus (50 exp)
- Enmity Inciter bonus (50 exp)
- Fame bonus (50 exp)
- High as Fuck bonus (50 exp)
- I Immediately Regret This Decision bonus (50 exp)
- Kill It With Fire bonus (50 exp)
- Leave a Man Behind bonus (50 exp)
- Ludicrous Gore bonus (50 exp)
- Politico bonus (50 exp)
- Pundemonium bonus (50 exp)
- Split the Party bonus (50 exp)
- Spoopy bonus (50 exp)
- Tactical Fighting bonus (50 exp)
- Tomb Raider bonus (50 exp)
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong bonus (50 exp)
- WWE bonus (50 exp)
Total: 1200 exp

Party Roles and Individual Exp:
- Remembrancer (Charles / Zena - 100 exp)
- Caller (Kitty / POWERLAD - 100 exp)
- Treasurer (Tom / Rake - 100 exp)
- Quartermaster (
Henry / Blue Jon - 100 exp)
- Guard (
Tom / Rake - 100 exp)
- Tracker (Henry / Blue Jon - 100 exp)
- Art Attack bonus (Charles, Tom - 100 exp ea.)
- Artapalooza bonus (Charles - 100 exp)
- Attacco d'Arte bonus (Tom - 100 exp)
- Fiction Fanatic bonus (Tom - 100 exp)
- Snackbringer bonus (Charles - 100 exp ea.)

Death Toll and Injuries:
- Hacker's Halberdiers, pulled underwater one by one as they attempted to swim across a zombie-infested swamp
Exp Totals:
- Tom / Rake Hacker, Level 5 Fighter: 26964 (Level up at 32000)
- Henry / 
Blue Jon Goujon, Level 5 Magic-User: 25972 (Level up at 36000)
- Kitty / POWERLAD!, Level 5 Muscle Wizard: 25201 (Level up at 36000)
- Charles / Zena, Level 5 Fighter: 21636 (Level up at 32000)
- Andy / Carrie Meleste, Level 4 Cleric: 11768 (Level up at 14000)
- James / Raaf van Held, Level 4 Fighter: 11407 (Level up at 16000)Tom / Hacker's Halberdiers, Level 1 Extras
*DECEASED*

Absent or Retired:
- Fraser / Nix Neckbiter, Level 5 Barbarian: 28366 (Level up at 32000)
- Ollie / Ollie's next character: +300 exp
- Ollie / Andromeda Spiderbite, 
Level 4 Muscle Wizard: 17372 (Level up at 18000)
Will / Cecil Fulbright, Level 5 Cleric (Termaxian): 15063 (Level up at 28000)
- Tom / Insanity Mammoth, Level 3 Barbarian: 5192 (Level up at 8000)
- James / William Fox-Shitt, Level 3 Cleric (Zeanist): 4571 (Level up at 7000)

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