Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: 1/13/207

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 25th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

The Ruins

After defeating the deadly acidpede the PC search its lair. Inside they find what appears to be a large square pillar roughly 5m wide on a side. The pillar goes from floor to ceiling and appears to be of newer construction that the rest of the ruins. After looking around Cillian spots an opening in the ruins near the tower above them. The PC decide to investigate the opening. Oren digs a tunnel into the region. When he breaks into the room the PC see a strange half deer half alligator creature, a stagator, watching two of her young. After Bilby does a quick search the PC back down the tunnel not wanting to rile the creatures.

Next the PC decide to break into the pillar which they think might be a stairwell. Oren uses the Granite Head forge magical hammer to bust down the wall then the group removes the rubble. Inside they do find a stairwell. Carefully Bilby investigates. At the top the PC find ruins of some cells but decide not to investigate. Instead they head down stairwell. At the bottom they find a strange chamber with 3 levers and force fields. After playing around carefully for a bit Cillian is able to safely trip the trap which fills with acid. After finding a hidden latch the PC are able to get by the trapped room.

In the next area the PC find a larger room with four small holes in the floor. Po can detect that they are magic but the PC cannot find objects the properly fit in the holes. Again not wanting to search the ruins Oren caves in part of the wall and the PC move into the next area.

In the next area the avatars find two doors. The PC take the door that is toward the direction of the tower. Inside the find a gas traps that locks them into the room with a steel plate. Thinking quickly Po seals up the gas jets with magical ice sling stones. At the same time Oren bashes down the wall on the side of the door again using the Granite Head hammer. The top door leads to several long hallways with pit traps. Po and Bilby lead the way setting off the traps carefully. Oren jumps the pits and Cillian disables them.

In the following room the PC find a small iron chest and an iron door. Cillian carefully checks the chest and finds a trap that drops a lever inside the box. He tries to pick the lock but it is too difficult. Next the PC investigate the door. The lock is normal looking but Po detects that there is some type of spell on the lock. Oren again digs around the door. In the next room the PC find an empty hallway. At the end Po finds an illusionary wall covering a force shield. On the way back Cillian unlocks the door from the rear side. The group then hears a panel slide open in the ceiling and six strange half mosquito half spider creatures, spisquitos, fly down and attack. Four attack Oren and Cillian. Two more chase after Po as he flies out of the room. Oren and Cillian are both bitten and paralyzed by the creatures! After paralyzing their prey the spisquitos continues to suck out blood! As Oren fights to escape Kanga starts shooting them down. Once the ones on Po are down he starts shooting them off of Oren and Cillian. Oren eventually escapes and pounds some. Bilby cuts down one but is eventually bitten and becomes paralyzed. With a couple more shots Kanga finishes them off. After healing up Cillian takes another look at the difficult lock on the chest and is able to pick it. Inside they find an iron key that appears to be magical. Placing it in the look of the door opens the illusion wall and force shield.

The Tower

After opening the force shield the PC see a passage way leading to the tower. At the end of the hallway is a door into the tower. Just outside of the force field is a lever. When the PC throw the lever the force shield on the tower drops! Immediately after dropping the shield the howling spectral form that they saw earlier laughs then flies away. As it flies past the PC they note that it appears to be a Cougar Kin…could it be Soza?

When the PC open the door they discover that it opens in the middle of a large 10m diameter tower. It appears that the inside of the tower is larger than the outside. The room is setup like a fancy bedroom and study. The floor is covered with rich carpets, the bed is a work of art, there is a large desk with magical lanterns, an overflowing bookshelf, and a tall wardrobe. Po detects magic on almost everything in the room. He carefully checks the desk and finds that it helps one concentrate. Using his new spell he shrinks the desk and hands it to Oren to carry it for him. Oren agrees if Po carries his backup maul. Po agrees then shrinks the maul. The group searches the room for secret doors. Oren is surprised when he searches the wardrobe and emerges with clean clothes. Eventually the PC discover that on the back of the door they used to enter the room is another door! When they open this door they find another room that is void of furniture but has a large circle and lots of notes. It appears to be a work room of some type.

Cillian then decides to look on the back of that door. He finds another door and opens it before really searching the workroom. To his surprise he finds a room filled with a mound of red silk pillows, lots of treasure, and a large creature resting on top! The creature appears to be a giant Goat Kin type being around 4m in height! When the door opens the creature beckons to Cillian, “Fine sir. Please do not step any farther into this room or I will be forced to make you leave.” Quickly the rest of the PC join Cillian to speak with the creature. The PC eventually learn that the creature is named Cizbakri. He is a mystical creature known as a Kirin that has given his word that he will protect Soza’s treasure for 1001 years. (He is only 275 years into the period.) Po knows that Kirin are legendary creatures with vast powers of wind that come to the aid of good heroes during epic struggles of good vs evil. While speaking with Cizbakri Po notices that a normal looking brass candlestick on the top of the pile radiates with powerful healing magic. He guesses that this is Donovan’s Mate! Eventually the PC decide to tell the Kirin about their journey as avatars of the Great Tree. Oren spins a fantastic tale which mesmerizes the Kirin. After the story Cizbakri is impressed and sensitive to their quest but he tells the PC that he has given his word to guard the treasure. Next the PC ask Cizbakri about Soza and their arrangement. According to Cizbakri Soza made a fatal mistake when he setup the shield around his tower. He miscalculated and put the shutoff lever outside of the shield. Soza was trapped in his own tower! After researching a way to escape for almost a month Soza passed away due to starvation. His spirit was haunting the tower until the PC released it. Next Cizbakri reveals that he too was tainted by Nombrian magic. He seeked out Donovan’s Mate to heal himself. Soza had the artifact so he made the deal to guard the treasure if he could use the magical rod. The PC then convincingly argue that Soza stole the staff from Cragspine so really it is not Soza’s treasure at all. This puts the Kirin in a quandary. He agrees to let the PC have Donovan’s Mate but he warns them that the rod has been trapped by Soza and that the healing it bestows comes at a price. According to Cizbakri if you touch the staff it will transport you to a pocket dimension. The large Kirin then warns the PC that inside of this pocket dimension there is an “evil part of his spirit”. Inside this realm this evil spirit is akin to a god. If the avatars can pass challenges from this creature it will “free” Cizbakri and he will be willing to give them Donovan’s Mate and anything else they want from the treasure room. Steadying themselves the PC reach out for the candlestick…

Date At End Of Game: 1/14/207

Today Jason posted a fantastic blog entry on IPR. You can give it a read at this URL. I wanted to say a few things about Jason and his Posthegemony RPG project.

First off I consider myself lucky enough to be a friend of Jason’s. I have also read most of his RPG work, pretty much all of his published fiction, and actually given him detailed feedback on several of his projects including Scourges of the Galaxy, An Unforgiving Land, and lately, Posthegemony. Me and most of my Monthly Sunday Game (MSG) group were also privileged enough to play in a Posthegemony play-test at DunDraCon this year.

I really think Jason has something special with Posthegemony.

In my experience when a writer is passionate about a subject it really shows in his work. I think this is especially true in RPG and definitely true for Jason. I personally feel that Jason’s strongest work so far is his fiction book An Unforgiving Land because he is so passionate about the topic…the Black Rock Desert and the people who choose to live in such a desolate but beautiful place. As reflected in Jason’s blog post he has the same level of passion for Posthegemony and the stories that it will allow everyone to experience. I was excited after reading it the first time, excited after the play-test session, and elated to have the opportunity to read it several times now to give Jason my feedback.

There is a free PDF novelette up on IPR called A Remembrance Of Her that will be part of the Posthegemony RPG product. Go check it out for a preview of what is on the way.

When Posthegemony comes out at GenCon this year go buy it Interesting Person. 🙂

I’m excited that soon I will get the opportunity to instruct a new soul on my favorite hobby. Having this opportunity got me thinking. Stand back please! 😀

Over the years I have had the opportunity to instruct many people on role-playing. I’ve taught adults and children. I’ve done sessions for new players, experienced players, and people trying to learn a particular RPG system. These sessions have been conducted in homes, stores, and conventions. Even though I have done this instruction in the past it has been quite a while.

With that in mind give me your best response to this question…

What is your best piece of advice when breaking in RPG noobs?