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| #1Igfig2May 27, 2015 14:31:47 | The last campaign I ran was probably my favorite I've ever done. The RP, the developing plot, and the players' reactions all came together to make something that I'm still amazed to have pulled off together.
One of my players (Varus' player) and I decided that this was an experience that needed to be shared. There were a lot of things going on behind the scenes that Varus didn't know about, though, so we thought we might do something a bit unusual: recount the campaign from both of our perspectives, oral-history style.
The game is D&D 5e, set in Eberron, with the players starting at level 7. We play on IRC about once a week. There are a couple of house rules, but the only one you really need to know is that we replaced the Inspiration and FBIT (Flaw/Bond/Ideal/Trait) system with Fate Points and Aspects from Fate Core. Oh, and I let each player start with a custom minor magic item of some sort.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Sharn |
| #2Igfig2May 27, 2015 15:02:50 | Session 1: The HeistDM: Our story begins on a quiet night in the railyard of Sharn's lightning rail station. An inept elven clerk searches an office for a shipping manifest he claims to have misplaced, while his dwarven supervisor looks on with exasperation and complains to the night watchman who let them in. Eventually the watchman, nervous at having his rounds interrupted for so long, goes in and finds the manifest himself, right in the drawer where these things are always filed. The supervisor thanks him and leaves with his clerk and manifest.
Once they're out of earshot, the dwarf and elf drop the act and run off, laughing, to where an owl perches in lookout. For these are no administrators—these are Orrin Torrin and Varus Amastacia, two of the most infamous air pirates in all of Breland! The owl, for its part, is Kevlik "Blaze" Softpaw, of similar repute. And these three have just acquired confirmation of a hot tip: there's a lightning rail leaving Sharn for Wroat tomorrow with a big load of dragonshards in the cargo, on House Cannith's dime.
Needless to say, they intend to be on this train.
Varus: As all good train heists go, we make our move when the train is halfway between destination and beginning. We're serious. Dead serious. This is the most serious train robbery airship heist that's ever happened. We stand up and walk back towards the galley, loudly talking about how hungry we are boy I sure am looking forwards to a hot meal! We exit the third class cart and stand between the carts. Of course everyone knows that all adventuring trains must have ladders to climb on top, and so there is.
The wind is fierce up here, and the footing unstable. Blaze has no problem because he is one who is Guided by the Wind, so it splits to allow him to practically prance along the top of the train. Me and Orrin have a rougher time of it. Still, it's preferable to going through the dining and galley cars and having to deal with a lot of hostile cooks and conductors.
We reach the other end of the cart easily enough. Blaze wastes no time in hopping over the gap to the cargo cart with a 20, while I only barely make the jump because of the wind. It's then that we realize we have been followed; a cloaked figure stands at the other end of the galley cart we just traversed. Orrin shouts that the dining cart was like, really crowded.
DM: The figure flicks out her arm; a spear appears in her hand. And that's when the battle music starts.
She charges forwards and Orrin moves to engage while the others hurry down toward the last car. She swings her spear, which ripples and morphs into a halberd, and just as it clashes against Orrin's greathammer the front of the cargo car explodes.
Varus: With the door to the cargo basically gone, Blaze notices that there are definitely people inside who should not be inside.
DM: Rather than dive into an unknown situation, Blaze charges up a Heat Metal spell in a level 4 slot, and invokes his Plays With Fire aspect with a Fate Point to allow him to target—the entire train car. One really good roll later, after the screams have subsided, the car is occupied only by the well-cooked dead and dying.
Varus: With Orrin occupying the woman I spin around and go to jump down between the carts. Suddenly, though, an arm sticks out from the train window and launches a crossbow bolt at me, and I crash land in between the cargo and galley.
DM: That's when they realize that
Varus: I think to myself at this point that everyone on this train and likely in the entirety of Eberron is after this cargo.
Dodging crossbow fire, Blaze drops into the cargo car and throws down a Flaming Sphere in the galley doorway to prevent the chefs from rushing out at us. The chefs blind-fire several crossbow bolts through the flaming sphere, all of which sail over my head and into Tiger Blaze's hide. I stand and cast Thunderwave, launching all the chefs backwards into the kitchen. One flies right into a knife rack and is killed instantly. The flaming sphere is also launched, crashing through them catastrophically. All but two are obliterated, and the chickens in the kitchen are cooked to PERFECTION. All that's left after that is to mop up.
DM: Back on the roof, however, Orrin is having a harder time of things. This woman is just plain a better fighter than he is, and her weapon keeps shifting into new shapes: falchion, longsword, ranseur. He manages to knock her down once with a bright "cha-ching!" from his hammer (he had it enchanted to make cash register noises whenever it landed a blow), but she just uses that as an opportunity for a sweet spinning get-up move that turns into a kick to the face. Orrin goes reeling back, only just catching himself at the edge of the roof. He can see the bridge they're going over, and the fields and rivers far below.
Her weapon is a spear again, pointed at his belly. "In the name of the King," she says, "I am placing you under arrest. Drop your weapon and stand down." On her chest, Orrin notices a small silver pin he does not recognize: a lantern. "I'll, uh... pass," Orrin says.
Varus: With two quick jabs, she shoves him off the edge. Thankfully though, he rolls an INCREDIBLY lucky dexterity check and grabs her spear as he falls, pulling her off with him.
DM: He swings his other arm forwards and the spike on the back of his hammer digs into the roof, stopping his descent. Now they're both clinging to the side of the train with one hand, and the spear with the other.
Varus: They struggle for a moment; the woman tries to yank her spear back, but fails an opposed Strength check by a large margin. Orrin pulls it violently out of her hand. She reaches both her hands out towards him to prevent losing her weapon, then immediately realizes how bad of an idea that was and flies off the train. A few moments later a tiny splash is seen below, as per tradition.
DM: With the dynamic morphing weapon in hand, Orrin hurries off to catch up with the others. We unhook the cargo cart just in time to see some very confused conductors looking out the slowly retreating back door of the galley. Orrin flips them a coin. "Sorry about the mess."
And then the view is obscured by the arrival of the party's final member: a one-hundred-foot-long sentient elemental airship named Frosty.
Varus: We load the dragonshards in and take off with our prize in hand. After a good night's sleep I enchant the dynamic blade for Orrin with the cash register noise upon request, and he describes the pin he saw on the woman. A silver lantern: the sign of Breland's secret intelligence service, the Dark Lanterns.
As the first session came to a close, we knew we'd be seeing this woman again.
SMASH TO CREDITS |
| (Reply to #2)Igfig2 | The Good Ship FrostySeason 1: Blades of TreacheryINTRODUCING: The Men of the SS FrostyA ragtag band of airship pirates with a heart of gold… well, more like silver.
Varus Amastacia, NG elven wizard. Self-righteous, but a genius at magical theory. A former weapons researcher for House Cannith, Varus fled in horror after the Day of Mourning, suspecting that his work may have contributed to the cataclysm. A true scientist at heart, Varus has a passion for taking the worst course of action just to see what happens.
Orrin Torrin, N dwarf paladin of Kol Korran (god of wealth). A professional gambler, con man, and bon vivant, Orrin worked his way up from the bottom and is hungry for more. While he's obsessed with money, his greatest priority in life is making a good story to tell in the tavern later.
Kevlik "Blaze" Softpaw, N half-elf druid. A former initiate of the Ashbound sect, the fire druid turned his back on the his order when he discovered that civilization wasn’t as bad as he had been led to believe. He left to wander the world and find some place where he could belong. Soft-spoken until fire gets involved.
Frosty, CN fire elemental. Frosty is the elemental that powers the crew's airship, which is also called the Frosty. Both are unusual examples of their kind: Frosty is unusually intelligent and free-willed, can enter and leave his dragonshard at will, and control the ship on his own without a crew. He is filled with anger and resentment for the humans who once enslaved him, but is otherwise laconic.
ALSO INTRODUCING: Team DMA ragtag band of dungeon masters with a heart of gold
Igfig, LG dungeon master. Master of mechanics, ace of improvisation, and roguishly handsome to boot. Fortuna, CG sassy dicebot. She rolls dice, she banters, she kicks you from the chat if you're being rude. |