Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: 10/21/206

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 16th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

The Way Up

After defeating the monstrous crab the avatars of the Great Tree proceed up Granite Head. Po and Bilby take to the air to survey the rocky outcropping. Near the top of the 300′ peak is a landing with a tower that appears to be roughly four floors tall. On top of the tower are two smaller lookout towers. The main tower looks like it has been in a siege as there is a large hole in the wall near the top floor. On top of one lookout tower is a metal flagpole with a body lashed to the top. The body is a skeleton wrapped in a green and blue banner.

After Oren and Cillian reach 2/3 of their climb they are surprised when crossbow bolts come out of the wall with a loud screeching sound! The bolts tear into Oren but he manages to ball over Cillian to protect them both. After the first volley the PC hear movement and crossbows being loaded. Cillian attempts to look through the wall but he cannot see any light. After a second volley Oren blocks the holes why Cillian finds the concealed door and picks the lock. When the door slides open the PC find a group of skeletons armed with crossbows. Oren charges into them destroying three in one arcing blow! Bilby lands with an acrobatic roll and strikes a couple of blows. The skeletons are defeated without much effort once the door is opened.

Eventually Oren and Cillian reach the landing below the tower. At this point the party considers running a rope from the hole in the 3rd floor and climbing inside that way. So that Cillian can get a better look inside Bilby throws a torch into the hole. When Bilby makes this move four Raven headed mutated creatures attack! Two assault Bilby who dodges to avoid getting hit. The other two swoop down to attack the rest of the party. When these two see Po they hesitate. A male speaking in Raven Kin beckons to a female that, “He is not the Dark Lord…we should attack!” Po tries to calm down the Rooks but this act seems to convince them that he is not the Dark Lord and they attack. Bilby lands near the party and quickly draws two blades with a deft acrobatic roll. Po then lands and draws Crimson Tears from his sheath! This surprises the PC as they thought Cillian had the blade. The male Rook seems frenzied and attacks Po. The female hesitates then caws in a booming fashion that sends chills down the spines of the PC! As the Rooks approach Oren downs one with a couple strikes. Cillian fires with his bow then quick draws his sword. Bilby starts landing blows as well. When Bilby takes a heavy blow Po calls for the Dark Lord then does a healing spell of immense strength. After all of the other Rooks have fallen the female flies back to the hole in the wall.

When the female Rook enters the hole in the tower Oren confronts Po about the sword. Oren is upset that Cillian is not carrying Crimson Tears and asks that Po gives it to Bilby. When Po tries to explain Oren gets angry and says he will take it away forcefully is needed. Po then hands Crimson Tears to Bilby. The PC then take a moment to rest then decide to enter the tower through the main door.

The Tower

After bashing down the door the PC start to explore the tower. They first proceed up the stairs to the top floor. At the top floor they then proceed up the tower to retrieve the body. The body appears to be wrapped in a blue and green banner from House Gunard. Oren relays that House Gunard is the name of the noble house that once ran the keep. Symbols on the man’s clothing tells Oren that he was the Captain Of The Guard. Cillian carefully searches his clothing and finds a key. Oren bags the chainmail. On the way down the tower the PC search some of the rooms. In one room they find a knocked over bedstand that has a blast mark in front of it. Po detects a damaging spell on the bedstand. Cillian carefully unlocks the drawer then stands back and opens it using his wind power. A blast goes out but does not hit anyone. With that the PC search the drawer. Inside is a velvet pouch with four magical arrowheads and a piece of paper. Po detects that the arrowheads are magical and can deduce how they are used. The paper has ramblings from the former resident of the room with clues about the last days of the Siege Of Sorrows.

On the lower tower levels that touch the base of the rock the PC look for concealed doors. Eventually they find one on the bottom floor of the tower. The lock on the concealed door is opened using the key from the Captain Of The Guard. After opening the door the PC venture forward very carefully…

Date At End Of Game: 10/21/206

I recently updated three of the Spirit Storm (Fantasy Hero) files.

• Spirit Storm Campaign Document – Version 1.8 – Very minor change to clarify knockdown rules for the campaign.
• Spirit Storm HD3 Templates – 5th Edition – Updated with my latest working copy. This copy includes Luck cost changes.
• Spirit Storm HD3 Templates – 6th Edition – First draft of templates for Hero 6th Edition.

Head over to the File Downloads area of the site to find the files.

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GAME ON!

-== What is it? ==-

The Scourge Of Raftport is a D20 fantasy adventure written by C.A. Johnson. It is intended for characters of 8th or 9th level. The basic plot involves disappearances at the village of Raftport that lead to a much darker plot. This review will have some minor spoilers so if you are a player turn back now!

The book has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8.5” x 11” and is 40 pages in length. It includes a one page table of contents. There are two additional pages spent on the OGL and advertisements. I purchased the PDF which is what I will be reviewing. I have converted the adventure to Fantasy Hero and run it twice for two completely different groups of players.

-== What I Like ==-

I liked the fact that the adventure was very easy to adapt to my campaign setting and to convert to Fantasy Hero. There are really only a couple of major players in the adventure. These major factions can be easily stripped out and sanded down to fit any campaign. The adventure itself is not overly loaded with elements that are specific to D20. Thus it was also very easy to adapt to Fantasy Hero.

I enjoyed the dungeon layout. There is a bit of work in the village of Raftport, a small excursion into the wilderness, then on to two medium sized dungeons. The variation in environment is nice and the size of the dungeons are great. They are not too large and not too small. I also like the volcano element of the dungeons quite a bit.

The various encounters had quite a lot of flavor. Dervish and Sly comprise one encounter that is particularly memorable. These are two brigands from the adventure that I enjoyed quite a bit. I changed the final encounter in the second dungeon area but the presented big baddies are also quite memorable.

The PDF is well done and includes accurate and complete Acrobat bookmarks. I especially liked having extra links to the maps. This makes is easier to jump back and forth from the text to the room encounters.

The cover artwork by Alan Pollack is exceptional. I love the sadistic looking demon guy under the pier. Very nice.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Do not expect a cerebral adventure. This adventure is lean and will not confuse anyone. I added a bit more plot when I integrated it into my campaign but that is not required.

Unlike the cover artwork the interior material is mediocre at best. Some of it could have been excluded completely without impacting the quality of the product.

-== Summary ==-

The Scourge Of Raftport is a fun little fantasy adventure that has some flavorful encounters. If you need an adventure to add to your existing campaign this one should be on your list. At a $2.50 price point this sucker is a complete and total steal!

You can get it on Amazon for $9.99 at this URL. It can be obtained at DriveThruRPG for $2.50 at this URL. $2.50! Are you kidding me! Go out and buy this please!

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.

The 2010 nominations are posted and some of my favorite products are up for awards! Very cool. Here is a link to the complete list.