Heroes of the 13th Age: Part 7 Mondru, an Owlbear, and Sethus Maximi, oh my!

After a very long hiatus, we played 13th Age again on Saturday, September 14 (our last game was back in May and is the write-up is here).  This was the first game where we had the actual hard back 13th Age rulebook at the table (and our friend Steve actually bought his own as well, so we had two!)

The best thing about our session was that everyone was at the table and really engaged in the game.

Our cast continues to be as follows:

Cerise, the Spirit-Touched Cleric

Indigo the Gnome Cleric
Zuzu (yet again the name changes), the Half-Elf Rogue
Legolis, the High Elf Ranger
Hey Watchit, the Half-Orc Fighter
Lief, the Human Bard
Delthen Eversoar, the Human Paladin
Rolen Stillwind, the Wood Elf Sorcerer, and
Yoshi Antien, the Samurai flavored Half-Elf Fighter

The continue to explore the Orc created dungeons beneath the crumbling (and now burned down) Citadel by the Sea.  They search for an ancient magic weapon, Alkaarg, a spear forged in alliance between the followers of the Orc Lord and the Diabolist in an earlier Age (some 500 years ago).  The speak was especially designed to kill Elves.  The Priestess and the Elf Queen dispatched the heroes to locate the spear, secure it, and return it to Santa Cora for safekeeping.

At the end of the last game, after a big fight against undead skeleton rats and a nasty Ghoul, our heroes earned a full rest.

The returned to a side chamber where in a previous game they had left a prisoner and found a carving and inscription that spoke about the spear.  Some members of the party wondered aloud where their prisoner, the Orc Garshak, had disappeared to?  Delthen, the Paladin/Inquisitor of the Crusader gave a "who can know" shrug, not looking at the pile of dead Orcs that Garshak had joined after he proudly declared how he and the other Orcs were accepting aid from the Diabolist.

During the rest, Rolen received a sending from the Court of Stars, and an Handmaiden of the Elf Queen informed him in his dreams that he and his companions were close to finding the spear.  The Elf Queen had made provision for this and sent him aid.  When he awoke, he found a shroud for the spear, woven of starlight and gossamer, but as strong as steel, with a silver mesh end to contain the wicked spear and transport it safely back to Santa Cora (this disposed of his last unused Icon Roll with the Elf Queen).

Zuzu also had a dream.  In it she was wandering the Wild Wood, where once she was lost without her memory.  Here she was aware of who she was and she followed the flight of a great owl down a path into a grove dedicated to the High Druid, surrounded by Standing Stones.  Within the circle stood a great bear.  The owl landed on the bear's shoulder and the creatures spoke as one.  Zuzu understood that the spirits of the High Druid would allow her to rescue the Owlbear who resided in the fortress' cistern (brought there by the Orcs) and in return the Owlbear would not be dangerous to her and her friends, and it would help with their task.

After these dreams were experienced and explained, the party evaluated the treasure they had obtained so far (coins, jewelry, etc.).  They felt rich.

Then the characters all made Icon rolls and I secretly rolled for an additional Icon influence.  Many helpful Icon rolls ensued, some to be awarded immediately, others to be held for later. 

Delthen rolled a 6 on his positive relationship with the Crusader and a 6 on his negative relationship with the Diabolist.

Legolis rolled a 6 on his positive relationship with the Elf Queen.

Yoshi rolled a 6 on his complicated relationship with the Elf Queen and a 6 on his positive relationship with the Emperor.

Lief rolled a 5 on his positive relationship with the High Druid, and he rolled a 6 on his positive relationship with the Priestess.

Indigo rolled one 5 and two 6sfrom his positive relationship with the Priestess.

Cerise rolled on 5 on her positive relationship from the Priestess.

Zuzu rolled a 6 on her positive relationship with the Priestess.

Hey rolled a 5 on his negative relationship with the Orc Lord.

The additional Icon turned out to be the Orc Lord, which was no surprise.

Half-Orc Hey Watchit made sure everyone knew he was going to use the "facilities."  In the mean time, the Cleric Indigo prayed for the Priestess to intercede with the Gnomish Gods and give him a sign to guide them to the spear.  His hammer began to glow faintly, and he knew that as the brightness grew, he would be able to tell how close they were getting.

Zuzu also prayed for the intercession of the Priestess, and she plucked a newly appearing gem from her magic necklace (her One Unique Thing) and asked for a sign of guidance.  The gem glowed to show which path to take, with one of the points of the gem glowing to guide Zuzu on the path.

Yoshi awoke from a dream of his grandmother, the Elf Queen, and found himself drawn to a pile of old armor and weapons in a corner of the room.  Beneath it, he found a quiver filled with 12 arrows.  The quiver bore the coat of arms of the Court of Stars, and the arrows flickered such that sometimes each arrow appeared to be two, and sometimes just one.  Yoshi immediately shared half the arrows with the other follower of the Elf Queen, Legolis the Ranger.

After rising from meditation, the Paladin Delthen realized that a power had awakened in his weapon of office, his mace, which now was show to have the power of the Crusader enchanting it.

Hey Watchit decided that the name of their band of adventurers should be called the "Hey Guys."  No one is sure if that is going to stick.

Zuzu declared to the party that the Owlbear, "Who-grrl" wanted to be set free, and that she aimed to do it. 

They gathered their equipment and headed back to the unexplored section of the dungeon.  Briefly they thought about going through to what might be a "short cut" through the room with the giant spiders, but no one wanted to fight the spiders, and both Zuzu and Indigo decided that the signs were clearer to proceed down the main passage.  They could hear the cries of the Owlbear.

They found a secret door behind an old tapestry in the hallway, and they discovered it opened into the fortress cistern, at the bottom of which was the Owlbear.  The Owlbear immediately started climbing towards them.  Zuzu met it once it clambered into the dungeon.  Delthen tossed it his dried up Wyvern head, and Hey tossed it some croissants.  The Owlbear ate indiscriminately.  Zuzu used her background of having once worked with a menagerie to read its mood.  Also, some of the magic of the High Druid's dream lingered.  She understood that the Owlbear would be friendly and would help with one task, and then all bets might be off.  Zuzu decided the Owlbear should come with them.

They proceeded into an Orc spirit temple filled with dark foreboding and menace.  Nonetheless, Rolen the Sorcerer was not able to detect much in the way of mystic forces from outside the room.  The temple was a huge room, over a hundred feet on each side.  Massive pillars lined the center, each decorated with the depiction of an Orc hero bearing a spear.  The construction was originally human (Imperial) and Elvish, but the Orcs had redressed and re-purposed the room.  They could tell from the entryway that one side of the room was dominated by a throne, behind an altar.  The throne was occupied by an Orc skeleton dressed in plate armor, holding a great spear.  Before the throne/altar area were arrayed the skeletal forms of about 30 other armored Orcs. 

Yoshi, Delthen. Rolen and Indigo entered the chamber.  Yoshi, Rolen and Indigo began edging around the chamber on the side away from the throne.  Legolis picked up the tracks of their rival "Seth" heading out of the chamber down a stone staircase.

Delthen, meanwhile, defaced one of the columns with his mace, smashing the features of the carved Orc.  He then was joined by Zuzu and Cerise and approached the throne.  They all felt a brief wave of fear, which then they each faced down.

Cerise, taking no chances, case her Spirits of the Righteous at the figure on the throne, blasting it to pieces.

There was no reaction from anything in the room.

Delthen tried to sense whether there was any demonic or other malevolent presence in the room, but the sanctifying light from Cerise' spell just made him feel itchy.

Indigo, moving opposite of the throne, continued to detect nothing, but the light of his hammer grew as they crossed the room to a staircase that lead out the back.

Meanwhile the other members of the party, led by Hey, decided that Who-grrl the Owlbear, should be called Perry.

Having renamed the Owlbear, and Hey then went to sit on the throne.  It was nicely sanitized by the blast of holy light.  Legolis quickly sketched the scene and posted it on Elf-Scroll.

Hey noticed in the fragments of the skeletons left gauntlet a mysterious ring covered in skull motifs (like this).  He loudly announced his find.

Delthen tried to recall if anything about the symbols of the ring from his training as an inquisitor, but he could think of nothing.

Zuzu also examined the ring, but came away with no impression of it.

Delthen decided to set aside his magic mace and try on the ring, but just before slipping it on, a pinprick of intuition, like a dark whisper stopped him, and he began to see the aura of cursed magic around the ring (cross off his successful Icon role for his negative relationship with the Diabolist).

Indigo then took charge of the ring, and praying through the intercession of the Priestess to the gods and light and wisdom of the Gnomish pantheon he divined the nature of the ring (a curse ring of terror).  He carefully wrapped it up and put it away among his things.

The adventurers then decided to take the stairs down.  Along the way Zuzu spotted a trap, which was on the landing at which the stairs down turned.  She detected pressure plates that would unleash a barrage of darts.

Legolis carefully examined the tracks that Seth had left passing over the pressure plates and he easily passed the traps.  He pointed out how to get passed, but it still took some fancy footwork.  Fortunately, Hey had long studied interpretive dance, and he easily waltzed through.  Most of the other members of the party made it safely as well, using a variety of Dexterity based tricks, but both Zuzu and Rolen took one solid hit from a misstep.  Delthen decided to try to the Strength-based trip through the trap, hunkering in his armor and jamming his shield against the wall to block the darts.  He was surprisingly successful.

The chamber at the bottom of the stairs was lined in black marble, and the walls held rows of skeletal Orcs in armor, and the trophies made of the skulls and other body parts of the Orcs enemies.  Delthen decided to, out of an abundance of caution, smash all the standing Orc skeletons in the kneecaps, at least along the right side of the chamber.

Meanwhile, Indigo and Zuzu figured out that while there were several passages off this main chamber, their true path led through a seemingly blank wall.  The wall soon yielded a secret door, and they passed through a series of rooms with murals and more sepulchral guardians, until they reach a final chamber.  At the end of the chamber sat another mummified Orc on a throne, but his spear looked far more convincing, especially when the tip began to burn hot in the presence of the elves and half-elves in the party.

The chamber was also lined with heavily armored skeletal Orcs, each bearing a spear.

Round 1 Escalation 0
The party moved into the room, and I called for initiative rolls.  The skeletons had top initiative, followed by the reanimated Mondru, Fourth of his Name, then Zuzu activated Who-grrl, the Owlbear.  After that were the two clerics, Cerise and Indigo, then Lief the Bard, Legolis the Ranger, Yoshi the Samurai (fighter), Delthen the Paladin and Rolen the Sorceror, then Zuzu the Rogue and finally Hey the fighter.

A phalanx of spear wielding Orc skeletons charged the party.  Legolis was hit critically, but then the next skeleton fumbled, injuring the first skeleton.  Yoshi was missed, Delthin got hit, Hey got hit, Rolen was hit twice, Lief was hit and then missed, and using his magic hood he converted the miss into a fumble, which hit the next skeleton. 

Mondru, wielding Alkaarg the Elf Destroyer, struck at Zuzu (a half-elf) hitting her for 23 points of damage (normal hit).

She used her Ring of Defense to lower the damage to 13.

The Owlbear then attacked, savaging a skeleton (but these skeletons were tough and heavily armored, thus it survived).

Indigo cast Turn Undead, Dazing four of the skeletons.

Cerise cast Spirits of the Righteous with a critical hit for 36 points on Mondru.  He was staggered.

Lief began his Song of Spilt Blood, then unleashed his Battle Chant to damage a skeleton.

Legolis sought to disengage with the skeletons attacking him, but failed and instead, at the suggestion of Hey to "Axe them a question!", he swung his axe, regretfully only doing "miss" damage.

Yoshi, engaged with two skeletons, drew his Katana and did 16 points with a Power Attack.

Delthen stepped forward to Smite Enemy on Mondru.

Rolen failed to disengage, but moved anyway, avoiding being hit by an opportunity attack, and unleashed his Scorching Ray.

Zuzu hurled a throwing "glaive" with her flying blade attack and hit.

Hey rolled a fumble, and started to fall over, however he gained a re-roll with his "lethal" talent and he cried out "Hey just kidding!" as he smashed his tree into one of the skeleton's kneecaps.

Round 2 Escalation 1

The skeletons, all still up, struck.  Two misses on each Legolis and Yoshi.  Two hits on Delthen.  One hit and one miss on Hey.  Two misses on the Owlbear.  Two misses (which would have hit, had it not been for the ongoing Song of Spilt Blood) on Lief.

Mondru attacked the Owlbear and missed.

The Owlbear struck back at Mondru, crushing him, putting him to rest permanently.

For a moment it looked as if the destruction of the reanimated Mondru would have some effect on his skeleton guards, but then the Necromantic Tribal Curse marked onto the Bard Lief's skin pulsed, channeling necrotic energy into them, and they fought on (Hooray One Unique Thing (1UT)!).

Indigo moved up and cast a quick heal on Delthen, then cast his Javelin of Faith, which missed.

Cerise also cast a quick heal and struck a skeleton with her Javelin of Faith.

Lief continued his song, lashed out with Battle Chant, thunderously damaging a skeleton, and he allowed Legolis to disengage through his battle cry flexible "attack"!

Legolis used his Ranger's pet snake to "mimic" Rolen's Elven Grace, but failed to activate it this round.  He then pulled out one of the magic Double Arrows, and fired, destroying a skeleton with the first arrow, but missing (and missing his Archery reroll) with the second.

Yoshi deals damage to a skeleton with his Katana.

Rolen unleashes the fire of Scorching Ray on another.

Delthen strikes with Smite Enemy against another.

Suddenly, out of the shadows, the creature know as Seth (a Man Orc whose real name is Serga Ulmus) appears and picks up Alkaarg.  However, now the party, in melee with almost a dozen skeletons, lies between him and the exit.

Zuzu immediately springs into action; she spend her Momentum on Swashbuckle and runs up the back of the Owlbear, flips off the Owlbear's back, over the heads of the skeletons, and neatly kicks out at the speak in Seth's hands.

Her kick, unfortunately, is not effective and Seth retains the spear.

[n.b. Zuzu's player found this highly unsatisfactory, and she wondered whether Swashbuckle had any real value to contribute; I told her we could discuss it when she leveled up; while I let her narrate a lot, I think she probably should have received a bonus to her attack (it was pretty spectacular), which I did not give her (probably a +2); however, in the end, she missed by a lot still, so that probably would not have mattered; I think it might be worth her giving the talent a few more tries, but I happy to let her work in whatever she thinks will best go with her character).

She then called on the Priestess to grant her a second strike.  She found herself paused in the air, able to take another strike.  Her role was woefully bad, and she landed on her feet having failed to disarm Seth.

Hey then swung his tree using his Reach Tricks, to smash two skeletons back into Seth, and they all ended up in a pile on the floor.

Round 3 Escalation 2
The skeletons continued their relentless attack.  Legolis was missed, Yoshi, now with three attacking him, received a hit, a critical hit and a miss,  Delthen was hit.  Who-grrl the Owlbear was hit once and missed once.  Lief was hit.  The two knocked back by Hey disentangled themselves, and stood and moved up to him, but had not attack.

The Who-grrl smashed one of the skeletons attacking her and hit the other one (it was an even escalation die and she got two attacks!).

Indigo healed Delthen and then did a quick heal on Rolen.  He then cast his Javelin of Faith at Seth, but missed.

Cerise then invoked the Priestess to intercede on her behalf to allow her to cast Spirits of the Righteous for a second time in battle.  Her prayer was answered and she let loose on Seth for 20 points of holy damage.  As a side effect she Blessed Legolis.

Lief continued singing his Song, he then cast forth his Battle Chant at a skeleton, resulting in a critical hit.  He also used a flexible "attack" to allow Delthen to disengage.

Legolis fumbles a disengage, failed to make a borrowed Elven Grace roll, and he missed with his Axe.

Yoshi struck down a skeleton with his Katana.

Delthen stepped forward and seized Alkaarg from Seth, wrenching it from his grasp (19 Strength).  Unfortunately, he then had to fight the cursed, Diabolist and Orc Lord linked Champion Tier weapon.  He managed to save so that he could release the spear.  He hoped to heroically hurl it away, but barely managed to open his fingers to allow it to fall to the ground.  The heat of the spear badly scorched him.

Rolen succeeded in his Elven Grace roll.  He used his first action to gather power, and then let loose a Lightning Fork of double power against Seth with his second action for 34 points damage.

Seth/Sergus in response blasted Delthen with chaos magic and Delthen crumpled to the ground atop the Spear.  His shield began to smoke.

Zuzu attacked, but missed against Seth with a Flying Blade.

Hey missed a skeleton.

Round 4 Escalation 3

The relentless skeletons continued their assault.  First Legolis was his.  Three misses ensued against Yoshi.  Hey was missed.  The Owlbear was missed.  Lief was missed.  [Bad round for the skeletons]

Who-grrl smashed another skeleton to pieces.

Indigo once again sought the intercession of the Priestess with his gods to once again cast Turn Undead.  His spell lashed out, dazing four skeletons once again.

Cerise cast a quick heal on Delthen, but then missed Seth with her Javelin of Faith.

Legolis, close to going down, called out to the Elf Queen, and then entered a brief trance (during which he had the equivalent of a Quick Rest, allowing him to use as many recoveries as he wanted).  He used two recoveries to get out of immediate danger.  He then failed to disengage and instead killed a skeleton with his axe.

Yoshi hit one of the skeletons.

Delthen, rising from the ground, struck out with his mace, which had a special additional damage due to the Escalation Die, and he killed Seth.  Because he follows the Way of Evil Bastards, that use of Smite did not count against maximum (score!).

Rolen cast Scorching Ray on a skeleton, setting it aflame.

Zuzu stepped into the shadows with Shadow Walk.

Hey bashed a skeleton with his tree.

Round 5 Escalation 4

Three attacks against Yoshi by the skeletons resulted in two misses and a fumble (the skeletons starting to malfunction and damage one another).

A skeleton missed Hey.

A skeleton hit Who-grrl the Owlbear.

A skeleton hit Lief.

Cerise summoned to her the powers of the gods of light for her Javelin of Faith.  She fumbled.  The gods interpreted her prayer to allow her to strike against the agents of darkness directed a strike against Delthen the dark paladin.  He roll was a miss, but did miss damage.  Delthen's player interpreted this as his shield blocking most of the strike, but some of it bleeding through to harm him. ["Rejected light gods! Ow!"]

Indigo summoned his Hammer of Faith and bashed a skeleton.

Lief continued to thunder his Battle Chant against another skeleton.

Legolis fired a second set of Double Strike Arrows, hitting one skeleton over Yoshi's shoulder, but then fumbling the second attack and sinking an arrow into Yoshi's back. ["Good shot! Ow!! Bad shot!!!]

Yoshi, ignoring the damage, slashed another skeleton.

Rolen succeeded in his Elven Grace roll and gathered power, which had the side effect of damaging all the skeletons (because they were all staggered) and he then did a double damage scorching ray on a skeleton.  It barely remained standing.

Delthen then struck that skeleton down.

Zuzu returned from the shadows to destroy another skeleton.

Hey destroyed yet another.

Round 5 Escalation 5

The last skeleton missed Yoshi.

The Owlbear smashed the last skeleton to pieces.

After a long desperate struggle, the characters are now triumphant.  Their prize is within there grasp and their enemies lie dead at their feet.

What could possibly go wrong?

Short Notes: New-ish Comics

I ran through a period of time when I tried my hand at some regular comic book reviews.

Then I ran out of time.

Also, they cancelled Greg Rucka's Punisher and that was the book that pulled me into trying my hand.  I kind of lost heart after that.

Still, I continue to read a handful of comics regularly.  So, because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, I thought I would give some quick thoughts to recent issues (and thanks to my local shop, Beyond Comics for pulling my books and especially for Lazarus #1, which due to a miscommunication did not get pulled for me so the owner gave me HIS BOOK; thanks guys! You rock!).

First, Lazarus #1 by Greg Rucka (writer), Michael Lark (artist), & Santi Arcas (colors): GET THIS BOOK.  This is the first issue in a planned long (but finite) story set in a dystopian future.  Now, from Hunger Games (book and movie) to Elysium (upcoming movie with Matt Damon) and everything and more in between, dystopian future settings are hot, and some may feel saturated.  If you were to give Lazarus a pass because of that feeling, it would be a BIG MISTAKE (yes, it's my blog, I can yell if I want to).

Lazarus is the story of a world ruled by powerful families who control almost all wealth.  Each family has vast holdings, private armies, scheming members, and at least one champion, who is a bioengineered miracle.  The family at the center of the tale is Family Carlyle, and their champion is Forever Carlyle.  In the first pages of the first issue she is mortally wounded.  Then we get to see why her kind is termed a Lazarus and why she is a bioengineered miracle.

If you want a taste before you buy, there is a free teaser story (complete unto itself and not part of the first issue) here.  You should read it, then you should go get issue #1 and you should put the series on your pull list. 

RIGHT NOW!

Hawkeye #12 All I have to say is DAMN YOU MATT FRACTION (in the best possible way).

I opened this book, which continues the storyline of the last few issues, and I was just going to look at the first page . . . . and . . . the next thing I knew, I was at the end, and I do not have issue #13 in my hands yet!!

DAMN YOU!

Read this book.

Captain Marvel # 13 In general, I love what Kelly Sue DeConnick has done with Captain Marvel.

I did not love this issue.

Not really even a little bit.

The art was a mess.

The story that had been building within the title got hijack for an "event" across a bunch of other books I don't want to buy.

I got to the last page, and I kinda did not care.

That made me sad.

I hope this mess is over soon and Kelly Sue can get back to her focus on the character driven book of fun and adventure that I so admire.

Sad to say it, but unless you are a completists or collecting all the other books this story got splashed across, you can skip this.

I may not do more reviews, but then again I might.  We'll see what next month brings.

Short Notes: BJ Shea's Geek Nation

This summer has been insanely busy.  The 13th Age game has been on unintended hiatus as no-one has been able to synchronize their schedules.

So, in the meantime, let me recommend to you the fantastic podcast BJ Shea's Geek Nation.  I ran across this program first for their 13th Age actual play broadcasts.  I had not planned to become a regular listener, but I gave some of the regular shows a try, and I was hooked.  The general show runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday; Tuesday they focus on Magic: The Gathering, and on Thursdays they have "Special Ops," which focuses on special topics that writers Brandon Jerwa and Mark Rahner choose and discuss. 

I find all the regulars on the show to be interesting, funny and to bring a diversity of perspectives which alert me to interesting topics, new trends and new media to check out (books, comics, film, games, etc.).

The interplay of the cast is lively and fun, often tinged with the kind of joking, puns, "friendly" put-downs, and movie and book quoting that characterized the time I spent with friends in my formative years growing up geeky.  Listening to one of the shows puts me back in a room among people who speak my language fluently.

I recommend the podcast very much.

Star Trek--Into SPOILERS!!!!

SPOILERS-SPOILERS- SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS-SPOILERS



Damn it Jim, I'm a SPOILER!




Okay, with that out of the way, I would like to discourse about Star Trek Into Darkness, Trek in general, and, of course, me (my blog and all).

Bottom line first: I liked the new movie.

It is clever and exciting.  I think they have a solid cast for the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and the supporting cast, particularly Peter Weller and (break out performer soon to be starring in everything) Benedict Cumberbatch, were outstanding.

Still, I have problems with the movie, and even moreso for what it says about the future of Star Trek as a franchise and cultural phenomenon. 

This history of Trek is well know and covered by pop cultural historians and science fiction gurus of much greater brain than me.  However, I have my own personal take.

Star Trek was first broadcast in 1966, the year before I was born.  Before I was two, the show was off the air.  But the phenomenon was just starting.

I don't remember when my father first introduced me to Star Trek, but I was probably fairly young.  Until I was in middle school, we only had a black and white TV, so my memories of Star Trek start without color, though I have mostly overwritten those memories with having seen all the episodes in color, and many of them remastered and enhanced.  Still, my father, who had worked in the aerospace industry and contributed to the development of the Saturn V rocket (one of thousands of engineers, but still, SATURN V!), introduced me to science fiction, first with Star Trek, and later with books like Ringworld.

As a little kid, I not only got to get acquainted with the Original Series, but I also saw quite a few episodes of the Animate Series, which, despite mediocre animation, actually holds up with pretty good writing for a lot of the episodes.  I absorbed a lot of Trek.

When I was in fourth grade, my dad spent a semester back as a visting professor at his alma mater, University of Utah, teaching in the math deparment.  This would have been 1977 and I was 10 years old.  I remember owning a Star Trek uniform shirt with the insignia patch (blue, though I think the patch had the "Command" insignia, because it was just some off the rack novelty shirt).  I also had bought the plastic model kit that let me build my own phaser, communicator and tricorder.  I was a firm fan.  And one magical night in Salt Lake City, my dad took me to a Star Trek presentation.  I wore my shirt.  It was not really a convention, as far as I can remember.  We went to an auditorium, and Gene Roddenberry was there, and gave a talk, and then showed "The Cage" and then a blooper reel, and it was really cool.  And my dad gave me the Star Trek Concordance, by Bjo Trimble, which I devoured.

So, I have to say I have a fundamentally emotional connection to Star Trek, which starts with my childhood and my dad, and continues to present.

Along the way, there have been other notable connections.  In 1979, when the Star Trek movies launched with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I went on my first date with a girl to see the movie.

I'm not sure whether she thought the movie or me was more boring, but I mildly enjoyed the movie.  They had successfully got the crew back togeher.  The film is ponderous, a script and production that was neither in touch with the old series, nor with the cinematic zeitgeist that had seen the revolutionary change wrought by Star Wars.  Star Trek TMP harkens back to films like 2001 A Space Odyssey in its shots of space and space ships, and that was rendered a dead language by the fast flight of the Millenium Falcon and the run of Luke's X-Wing down the trench on the Death Star.  It did, however, manage some of the character work decently, especially the critical relationship between Kirk and Spock.  Still, the movie is hard to watch.

However, without The Motion Picture, and its modest box office success, you would not have had the next movie.

I saw Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, with my family in Monterey California in 1982.  Everything that had been wrong with the first movie got corrected.  The writers and the director understood the series, the characters, and understood the cinematic language needed to tell a story of the 23rd Century as envisioned in the Original Series.  I was on board for almost anything they would feed me.

I enjoyed Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, despite some flaws.  I loved Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  It's focus on the characters, especially Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the humor, and the setting (some of which was filmed in my home town) all hooked me.  Also, it came out on my birthday in 1986, and I managed to make it home from college and to the theater just in time to join other high school friends to see it.

Also, by this time, I was not only watching Star Trek, but playing a role playing game, run by a friend, with my own captain and ship.  We were not content to just watch Star Trek, we were making our own memories and adventures with our imagination, using the tools Trek had given us.

The year Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, I was studying abroad and missed the first run of the season.  However, my friend and Trek RPG game master, sent me a huge care package for my birthday with included posters of some of the cast, the novelization of the first episode, and also hilarious "radio drama" he had made with friends at college, which was all about the crew of my starship in the game going in search of their lost captain.  In my friend's letters, I got an overview of how the series was developing, the positives and setbacks.

Then, when I got back, my mom had a friend who had video taped all the episodes, so I had my first experience with binge watching a series in 1988, as I caught up on the entire season.

My fandome was firmly renewed.

Then Star Trek V came out and my fandome was sorely tested.

Still, I stuck with it for seven seasons of TNG. 

I loved Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (actually, I think I cried a bit when they did the sign off at the end.

I stuck with Deep Space 9 for all seven seasons.

I enjoyed Star Trek Generations.

Star Trek Voyager lost me in season 4 or so.

Star Trek First Contact was a revelation, and I saw it on a day that was one of my best and then became a nightmare of one of the worst times in my whole life.  Through it all, the fictional heroism, sacrifice and friendship of the crew of the starship Enterprise shadowed me and help hold me together just a bit.

I terribly disappointed with Insurrection and Nemesis. 

I never watched Star Trek Enterprise (though riding a wave of nostalgia, I watched the pilot: Broken Bow, this past weekend, and it was actually pretty good).

So, in 2009, when they were leading up to the JJ Abrams reboot/What If? version of Trek, I had not been watching a regular show since 1999, and the last movie I had seen in the theater was First Contact in 1996.

I was skeptical.  Very skeptical.

It seemed to be taking one of the worst rejected ideas of rumored Trek development "Starfleet Academy," which would recast the main crew with new, young and more attractive actors, and running with it.  Also, by doing a kind of reboot, it put the creators in the position of taking the pieces of what made the Orignal Series great, and just cherry picking from them rather than doing much new.  I wasn't sure how it would work out.

However, the first movie in 2009 was a lot of fun.  They did play with the elements of canon and character to recombined them in new, but interesting, ways.  Sure, in some ways it was a revenge movie akin to Star Trek II, madman Nero and all.  Also, it rehashed some of Star Trek The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with giant space probes coming to destroy Earth.  It also had a dash of the time travel timeline change elements of Trek IV and Star Trek First Contact.  The changed a great deal about the technology and they rode roughshod over a lot of logic.  They left the timeline "polluted," but all in the name of a "fresh" start.  Yet it all worked.  It made me interested in what they would do next.

So fast foward four years.  In that time, many things had been tossed around as being what was "next."

The thing I was certain would be a terrible idea would be to bring in Khan Noonian Singh.  TOS episode Space Seed and Star Trek II are pretty sacred objects in the Trek pantheon.  It seemed like there would be so much room to screw it up, and, in a limitless universe, it seemed like you could find some other stories to tell.  Besides, the whole reason for the reboot was in order to escape the shackles of the canon.  Take the characters, with some twists, and do them afresh with new adventures and new developments.

So, what did Star Trek Into Darkness bring us?


KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I have to concede that they were extremely clever with the "What if?" scenario.  In the wake of the last movie, including the total destruction of the planet Vulcan and the majority of the Vulcan race, we are in a darker, more frightened Federation.

So, in a timeline that fractured off from the old timeline when the Narada (a Borg enhanced Romulan supership) crossed back into this period, destroyed the U.S.S. Kelvan and set Kirk on his divergent path, you get Khan, but a Khan who makes a different entrance into the Federation.

He is not encounted on the Botany Bay by the Enterprise, but instead by some other ship, and he and his crew are not revived, but instead, brought back to earth.  Admiral Marcus wakes Khan up and employs him as a special advisor on weapons and tactical developments because it is a darker and scarier universe out there.  Marcus is eying war with the Klingons, Khan is biding his time to free his fellow Botany Bay exiles to return to his dreams of conquest and rule.

Clever.  Well done.

But . . .

Like the last movie, there are more than a few holes.

Like:

Why is Khan paler than the paint on the Enterprise hull?

Look, I know Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor, and his performance was terrific.  It was a great way to make a counterpoint to the way that Ricardo Montalban owned the role.  However, while you could almost believe that the Mexican Montalban could be a Punjabi Sikh, I can't for a minute see Cumberbatch in a beard and turban and being at all convincing.  Of course, the selection, beyond the intensity and capability of the acting, served another purpose.  It is hard to guess that Cumberbatch is Khan because it is so ludicrous that the Sikh Khan Noonian Singh could be played by the very English Cumberbatch.  Further, Cumberbatch is a decade younger in his portrayal of Khan than Montalban was for the filming of Space Seed.  So, it serves the deception.

JJ Abrams could have cast someone who knew and trusted as a much more believable Khan, Naveen Andrews, who is of Indian heritage, who played a Sikh in The English Patient, and who worked with Abrams on Lost.  He is also in his 40s, just a Montalban was.  Of course, if he had been cast, it would have ruined the surprise.  Everyone could have guessed that he would play Khan, because it is an obvious choice.

They had to preserve the gimmick.  As much as I loved Cumberbatch in the role, I think Andrews would have been better casting.

That aside, the other BIG THING, is the death scene for Kik.  Now, on the whole, I thought they handled things well.  They made the dialog between the dying Kirk and Spock a similar, but different conversation than the reversed situation in Star Trek II.  It was clever.

But it was not earned.

Between the Chris Pine Kirk and Zachary Quinto Spock we have hardly any relationship built.  The 2009 movie started it, but then we had a four year hiatus, and then this movie.  While we can accept that off screen they built the relationsip that brings Spock to tears as Kirk dies, all the work, all the heavy lifting is done by the work done by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in three seasons of The Orignal Series and five movies (okay, there were six, but I really want to forget one of them).  The emotional depth is there because we know not this Kirk and Spock, but because we know the REAL Kirk and Spock (or at least the original versions).

I mean no slight to Pine and Quinto.  They nail the scene, but they had to come to that scene with little groundwork for their portrayals of the characters, not to mentione them just being younger men and actors than Shatner and Nimoy were when they played their version of the scene.  They just don't have the mileage in the relationship on and off screen. 

For this accelerated, streamlined version of Trek, this has to happen, not after decades of service together, but after just a few years.  Further, it continues the trend of sidelining McCoy.  DeForest Kelley was at the center of the dynamic that made The Original Series work.  While Karl Urban is doing a fine job with what he's been given, this version of Trek has him sidelined.  While the Kirk-Spock relationship is key, where it is not leavened with McCoy, it just is not working as well as it could be.  It seems to have been replaced, in some ways, with the Three being Kirk, Spock and Uhura.  There is some interesting dynamics there, and I am not opposed to widening the roles of other characters, but McCoy either is a central part of balancing Kirk as a leader, or we are not balancing the characters in a way that I think is needed.

And finally, as we are moving at Warp speed through the highlights of the Trek universe in the new version, we already know from not one, but two BIG HINTS, that Kirk won't be dead for more than a few minutes of screen time.  For Spock, there was a funeral and a whole other movie.  For new Kirk, we know before he went into the warp core that he would be back on top before the movie was over.

Some other obsevations I had that nagged me from the movie.  The second half is choppy. 

We get the battle, Kirk's death, but then KHAN!!!! and we are having a huge mass casualty crash of the Dreadnought (another old Trek concept) into San Francisco, then a foot chase between Spock and Khan, then Uhura is beaming down and shooting Khan and calming Spock, then Kirk is waking up Alive! (what a surprise!) and then he is making a speech a year after the events.  Then they start the 5-year mission.

That was a bumpy road to the ending.  They tried to do a lot.  It was all exciting and all, but it did really give me a little mental whiplash.  Not a smooth conclusion.

Okay, and a year later and . . . why aren't we at war with the Klingons?  Kirk and Khan beat, kiled, and exploded a bunch of them and their ships.  How is it that there are absolutely no reprecussions?  Well, in our accelerated Treknoverse, either 1) the just didn't notice because it would be an inconvenient plot development, or 2) it all got resolved off screen before Kirk made his speech. 

Either way, a little cheap there.

Carol Marcus.  I have mixed feelings.  Clever introduction.  Good tie back and across to Star Trek II.  She gets added to the crew, so, maybe they will try to realize some really different ideas, but I knind of think they are going to blow it.  I did think it was interesting that in Star Trek II she was a total peacenik scientist, at odds with, but begrugingly cooperating with Starfleet (really a reflection of what was the zeitgeist of the early 1980s), but here she is a weapons expert who was only a few steps behind her crazy warmongering Admiral dad.  But they have to go somewhere with the character or it is just a "look how clever we are" moment which is all sound a fury, signifying nothing.

They continue to make the galaxy feel very small.  It takes seconds, seemingly, to travel to the Neutral Zone with the Klingons.  And seconds to get back from there too.  This is just like the seconds it took to get to Vulcan.  True, there are explosions and chases and huge starship crashes that need to get on screen, so spending time getting from point A to point B is kind of a waste for what they wanted to do, but it does kind of take the Trek out of Star Trek.  There is little sense of journey.

Finally, Old Spock.  Okay, glad to see Nimoy and Quinto on screen besides a car commerical.  It doesn't add much.  Hey young Spock, as you guessed, Khan can't be trusted, he's a dangerous, and it might cost a lot to stop him.  Of course, most of the cost is off screen.  Kirk is less than temporarily dead.  The thousands of people that would seem to be killed with a Dreadnought crashing into San Francisco, well, we don't even get to spare a thought for them.  This is, after all, a BIG MOVIE.

And my really big but . . .

While we have been shown two movies where the writers and production staff have cleverly reimagined the Federation and the Enterprise crew, they have not reached escape velocity from the gravity of Trek Canon, which was something they had intended to do.

We are still telling the same stories.  This movie, expertly made (with some issues), is a mash up of themes, events, ideas and characters from Star Trek II and Star Trek VI.  It is bright, shiny, exciting, but it is essentially a retread.  There is not much new here.

Now, maybe all the stories have been told.  But then, that might mean trouble for Trek.

I don't believe all the stories have been told, but I think it is going to take a great deal more brain and imagination and a willingness to leave the clever twists behind.

I think they need something new.

Ironically, I think they could get there by going old school.  JJ Abrams can't direct the next movie as he takes over the Star Wars franchise, though he will stay on as Executive Producer.  Who should direct?

Paging Nicholas Meyer! 

Really, I think it could work.



So, to bottom line it, again, I liked the movie. 

But I fear for the future of Trek.  I mean, it will never die.  Fans proved that after it was cancelled.  But, as a living franchise that can add ideas that appeal to people going forward.  We are on the point of losing it, it seems to me.

First, with no episodic series, there is no journey, no long development of characters and relationships.  The movie cast won't be coming to our small screen, and it is unclear if any other story vehicle for the new or old Trek universes ever will again.  So, what we can look forward to is perhaps a few more New Trek movies, spaced out over many years.  And, while they have achieved great success as spectacle and action, they are coasting on character.  I don't mean to downplay the performances of the actors.  I admire them, but much of the ensemble gets little to do, and so these alternate versions of the beloved characters are either coasting on the groundwork laid by other actors, or reduced to mere characatures.  While there are fine moments for Kirk, Spock and Uhura, and a good portion for Scotty, McCoy, Sulu and Chekov don't do much.  I've already commented about how we really don't have enough screen time with these characters to have had the new journey with them.  So instead, we are forced to rely on what came before.

I think we need a movie that is less explody and chase filled, and one that explores some ideas, and most especially this crew and their relationships.  If they can do that, they can trascend just cleverly reconstructing plots and reassembling characters from old Trek movies, and move really into a new universe.

If not, well, its been fun, and it probably will be fun.  But it won't be the kind of Trek that Gene Roddenberry bequeathed us. 

Maybe they will bring us the next Voyage Home or Undiscovered Country, in that they bring us original elements of character, humor, zeitgeist and an ineffable feeling of Trek, or maybe they are going to jump the shark and give us Insurrection or, gods forbid, Final Frontier.

Or maybe they will just bring us a big loud Transformers like Sci Fi movie, or some other pleasant enough actioner with Star Trek trappings, but the fact that it is Trek won't matter at all.

I am hoping that Nicholas Meyers or the next generational heir of his approach is coming to set a strong course for us.

But I just don't know.

Live long and prosper.

Heroes of the 13th Age: Part 6-Dungeon Ecology 101--Everything IS trying to kill you

Our last 13th Age play session happened last month, and we found a few hours this last weekend to get in a play session for May.  With one combat after another, I thought we might settle down into more exploration and role playing for this session.  I even mentioned this to my son.  He laughed.  He was right.  Read on to find out what else they decided to fight in this session.

The adventuring party still consists of

Cerise, the Spirit-Touched Cleric

Indigo the Gnome Cleric
Zazz (and once again the name changes), the Half-Elf Rogue
Legolis, the High Elf Ranger
Hey Watchit, the Half-Orc Fighter
Lief, the Human Bard
Delthen Eversoar, the Human Paladin
Rolen Stillwind, the Wood Elf Sorcerer, and
Yoshi Antien, the Samurai flavored Half-Elf Fighter

All players were present and accounted for, and we had a fun, if shorter, session.

Initially, there was a firm conviction on the part of the party as a whole to continue down the main passage forthwith, and to find the way down to the crypt level, where they hoped to find the Elf-slaying spear Alkarg and keep it out of the hands of suspected Man-Orc Seth. 

Ominously, they heard the cry of the Owlbear echo down the main passage.  Again, they went over the fact that, though the Owlbear was in the courtyard cistern (upon which they had placed the old partially broken stone cover, it was possible that there was some access to the cistern from this lower level, as that would be a convenience that would fit the design of an early Imperial fortress (according to researcher Monk Crommard, one of the two essentially helpless civilians that they were having to drag along since the party had rescued them).  Listening carefully and creeping forward, they determined that the Owlbear had not yet broken its way into this level, but, it seemed possible that it could.  They noted that the main 20' wide passage continued after taking a sharp left turn off into the darkness (towards the sounds of the hungry Owlbear).  They noted several side passages, and, after the turn, several old tapestries covering possible openings on both sides of the main passage.

Then they go distracted by the side passages.  Retreating back up the main passage, they first proceeded twenty feet down a side passage where they found a door, which had been jammed by the settling over the years of the stone lintel.  However, they also noted that some animal or animals had, over the years, chewed open a significantly large opening at the base of the door.  After some examination and discussion, they concluded that probably giant rats were the culprits.  They also decided that someone needed to check the room.

There was a lot of joking about how it was a low entry and that the Gnome, Indigo, ought to fit right in.  Indigo was having none of it.  Every dutiful to the party, Samurai Yoshi set aside his pack and larger weapons, drew his wakizashi and crawled through the hole.  Unfortunately, despite years of training, Yoshi's characteristics are no great shakes for alertness, and he was easily surprised by the giant spider dropping onto his back as it crossed the threshold.

Unfortunately for the spider, it totally failed to make an effective attack. 

Round 1

Everyone rolled initiative.  Yoshi (with Improved Initiative and a high DEX) scored a 27, to easily win ahead of the spider and everyone else.  That was the good news.  He planed to stand and fight the spider in the room.  However, the superior initiative allowed him to wisely scan this "battlefield" before standing, and he spotted the five additional spiders rushing down the webs that lined the ceiling and walls of the room.

New plan.

He quickly backed out, shaking off the Spider and grabbing his larger weapons while shouting "burn them!!"

Now, among the party is one spider expert, Indigo.  He was very interested in the spiders and was ready to use his background (+5 Raised Spiders) to assist in the battle.

The rest of the partly simply let loose, initially on the spider they could see at the base of the door.

Legolis the Ranger, however, missed his bowshot.  1 point miss damage.

Leif the Bard shouted thunder with his Battle Chant.  This was, unfortunately, a fumble.  Borrowing from Dungeon World, I asked "What happens?"  The players quickly decided that the blast of thunder blew the door open, so that their plan to pour flammable liquid under the door and ignite it was spoiled, and also permitting the six spiders all to boil out of the doorway more easily to attack the party.  Oops.

Hey Watchit, the Hal-Orc Fighter swinging his mighty tree. . . missed, doing miss damage.

Zazz the Rogue dashed forward, still hoping to used lamp oil to some effect.  However, her attempt to parkour her way forward and throw the oil flask forward in a cool action-movie like slo-mo coating spiders and then igniting was interrupted by her fumbling her roll.  In order not to land among the spiders coated in oil herself, she invoked a maneuver using a combination of DEX and her Raised in a Tavern background (which is perhaps the most broadly useful background ever perpetrated in the game; it is also highly amusing, and thus the player gets to push it a lot).  I let her roll.  She rolled a 20.

Okay, we had a fumble followed by a critical.  Both had to be honored.  So, the oil flask skittered harlessly into the web strewn room without breaking.  The Rogue remained uninjured.  However, she was now front a center and made the main target for the spiders, and slightly tangled up in the doorjamb such that she could not easily retreat.

Dark Paladin and Inquisitor Delthen Eversoar then charged forward shield first to hold the door.  Normally, he could have placed himself alone between the monsters and the rest of his companions, but Zazz was all tangled up beside him, so that put both him and the Half-Elf Rogue at the top of the target list for the spiders.

I ruled that three spiders could make their attacks that round.

I rolled three attacks (1 for Delthen and 2 for Zazz).  I rolled 3 consecutive 3s.  Stupid d20!

Shimmering with holy light, Cerise, the Spirit-Touched Cleric loosed her Javelin of Faith.  Miss.

Finally the spider expert Indigo had his turn.  He rolled a phenomenally good roll using his background to find out what odor would attract the spiders away back into the room (a helpless fear drenched halfling was the suggestion of one of the players).  Using his Illusion Domain, Indigo created the smell in the room, forcing all six spiders to make standard saving throws (11+).  All of the spiders except the first one failed the save (yes, that's five failures in a row--stupid d20) and turned to charge back into the room to retrieve the mysteriously appearing yummy snack.

The last spider continued to hang at the top of the door frame, attempting to bite Delthen's head.

Rolen the Wood Elf Sorcerer focused his Scorching Ray at the last remaining spider.  Fizzle.  Nothing.

Round 2

Yoshi, with the initiative, lunged forward over Delthen's shoulder with his katana, and he missed . . . no wait, hit!  Thank you Escalation Die!  Max damage!

Legolis also rolled a miss, and invoked his Archery feat to reroll, which was unfortunately a miss.

Lief determined to try to charm the spider, using his Linguist feat and enormous CHA.  The spider was not impressed.

Zazz then pulled herself away from the door and made a quick crossbow shot at the spider, making a hit!

Delthen then swung his mace, powered by his Smite Evil, and landed a 14 point damage blow.  However, he then went on to try to flick the spider off the doorjamb with a maneuver, but failed.

Cerise sent blazing forth another Javelin of Faith, this time landing a critical hit.

Indigo also fired off his Javelin, but missed.

Rolen then cast his Scorching Ray to minor effect. 

The spider was mostly done for, but not yet dead.

Round 3

Before the spider could make a move to retreat, the swift moving Samurai Yoshi thrust into it again with his katana, slaying the arachnid.

With the immediate combat ended and the other spiders still looking for a helpless hafling that they could smell, but could not find, the party backed into the main corridor to regrroup and continue to explore.

A couple of things became apparent.  First, as Lief looked down to the left turn in the main corridor, off of which was another side passage, he began to feel a distinct foreboding.  Second, Rolen, the Sorcerer, realized that the cursed mark on his left hand reacted with what seemed like hungry interest every time it could "see" Legolis (whom Rolen nearly incinerated last time with a critical fumble).  If the curse were a being, it would be saying something like the Wild Things in Maurice Sendak's book "I'll burn you up I love you so."

Both revelations got the appropriate "well, that's not good" reactions.

Moving down the corridor, they noticed that the next side passage was filled with bones.  Indigo suddenly sensed a powerful emanation of undeath from the passage.  Lief suddenly realized what was bothering him, as he had the same feeling he had experienced when he was ensorcelled by the Tribe of Necromancers (his One Unique Thing).  From the dark, some THING started to call his name and to call him to the service of the Lich King.  The voice told Lief that they could glorify the Lich King and leave his living companions behind (by killing them).

That was enough for the party, who all prepared for a fight.

Round 1

Zazz was first, tied with the suddenly rampaging giant rat skeletons (mooks).  The Rogue easily slipped into the shadows with a Shadow Walk.  There were ten skeleton rat attacks, with more coming out of the piles of bones.  Most missed, one fumbled on Rolen, preventing another's attack, but Cerise, Indigo and Lief were hit, with Lief being hit critically.  The hit on Cerise caused her Halo power to do down, much to her chagrin.  However, the little rat skeletons did not pack much of a punch otherwise.

Delthen and Hey then counterattacked, quickly destroying three skeletons.  These, however, were just as quickly replaced from a total pool of 20.  Yoshi had a swing and a miss.  Cerise's Javelin of Faith missed.  Lief began his Song of Spilt Blood and then hit with his Battle Chant and Rolen made a successful Elven Grace roll, allowing him to make an empowered Scorching Ray attack.  Legolis also scored an arrow hit.

At this point, out of the bones sprang a rag clad, tattooed Ghoul Necromancer.

Gnome Cleric Indigo then called on the gods of his people and blasted out with his Turn Undead spell.  This had an immediate effect on the rat skeletons, two more of which disintegrated, and the rest became dazed (-4 to hit, as if they were not rolling badly enough already).

Round 2

Zazz stepped out of the shadows behind the Ghoul Necromancer, but only nicked him with her dagger, rolling a miss.

All the rat skeletons attacking missed.

The Necromancer turned on Zazz.  Madness burned in his dead eyes.  Dark power shimmered across the foul tattoos etched on his corpse body.  The temperature dropped around Zazz, as the cold of the grave seeped into the space between her and the Necromancer.  Her breath frosted in front of her.  With a cackle of glee, the unclean spellcaster unleashed his blast of necromantic energy.

Zazz carefully stepped aside as he missed, leaving his lethal attack nothing more than a cold spot on the wall (stupid d20!)

Delthen, Paladin of Darkness, charged forward swinging his mace at the Ghoul's head.  The Ghoul neatly side stepped and it was Delthen's turn to miss. 

Hey mashed some rats with his tree.

Lief unleashed the thunder of his voice, smashing more rat skeletons.  The magic of his voice also allowed Zazz to freely disengage from the Ghoul.

Yoshi drew a bead on the Ghoul, and his fumble almost put the arrow into Delthen's back.  Fortunately, the arrow pinged harmlessly off his armored shoulder.

Cerise, suffused again with holy light, cast forth the Spirits of the Righteous, dealing a serious, but far from lethal blow to the Necromancer.

Rolen's Elven Grace failed him in this round, yet his Scorching Ray was effective, not only frying another skeleton, but also setting the rat mooks alight for ongoing damage.

Legolis fired his bow at the rat skeletons, rolling a critical hit.  The table suggested that he had made a double shot, loading two arrows onto his string and hitting two separate rat skeletons, destroying both!

Indigo hurled his Javelin of Faith and did damage AND befuddled the Ghoul.

Round 3

Zazz, having taken a few steps back, let loose with her Flying Blade attack, arcing her throwing glaive at the Ghoul.  Once again, the capering spell caster stepped aside, only getting nicked by the miss. 

The Ghoul again called upon the cold of the grave to attack Delthen and Zazz.

And . . . nothing.  Swish.  He did save and end the effects of being Befuddled.

The few remaining burning rat skeletons tried to attack, but failed.  One fell apart. 

Hey missed his main swing, but the slight impact of his tree on a miss was enough to shatter the last charred rat skeleton.

Delthen had a swing and a miss.

Cerise called upon the powers of light and cast forth her Javelin of Faith once again, this time landing a solid hit on the foul undead Necromancer.

Yoshi's arrow missed its mark.

Lief's Battle Chant only rattled some old bones.

Rolen's Elven Grace once again failed him, but his Scorching Ray sizzled the tattooed skin of the Ghoul.

Legoli's arrow found its mark.

Indigo's holy Javelin of Faith also struck.

Suddenly, the fearsom Ghoul Necromancer was down to very few hit points (13).

Round 4

Zazz loosed another Flying Blade attack, with another glaive and hit . . . for 12 points.

The Ghoul, now with one hit point, sought to disengage with Delthen and dive back into its river of bones.  However, that (stupid!) d20 roll failed.  So it instead launched itself in a frustrated physical attack against Delthen.  It bit and slashed and battered the Paladin, finding every chink and weakness in his defenses, doing 21 points of damage after scoring a special attack with its rolll.

The Paladin, battered and bleeding swung his mace . . . miss.

However, the one point of miss damage, the slight glancing blow, easily shaken off usually, felled the dread Ghoul.

End of combat.

Once again the, the adventurer's triumphed!  Everyone celebrated by digging through piles of bones and trash in the Ghoul's lair to find coins, gems, jewelry and other sundries!

Treasure!

Delthen sucked down a healing potion, because he was about, literally, dead on his feet.

In the distance, they heard again the wild cry of the Owlbear seeking some way to enter the level.

They decided they needed to find a place to rest, and indeed, after suffering so much punishment, with their recoveries nearly all exhausted, they had earned a full rest.

But where . . . ?

Find out next time as we continue Heroes of the 13th Age!!!

Heroes of the 13th Age: Part 5-Fire and Dark for Dark Business

Several weeks ago we concluded our 13th Age play session having completed one huge combat, and then almost immediately jumping into another one.  So, this latest play session started with Round 2 of combat. 

The adventuring party still consists of

Cerise, the Spirit-Touched Cleric

Indigo the Gnome Cleric
Zillo (once again the name changes), the Half-Elf Rogue
Legolis, the High Elf Ranger
Hey Watchit, the Half-Orc Fighter
Lief, the Human Bard
Delthen Eversoar, the Human Paladin
Rolen Stillwind, the Wood Elf Sorcerer, and
Yoshi Antien, the Samurai flavored Half-Elf Fighter (due to a communications break down, which really was unfortunate, Yoshi’s player could not make it to the session, so the group determined his actions)

There were several notable things about this play session.  First, I was able to use my flashing Critical Hit D20, produced by Think Geek and generously donated to Labyrinth Games & Puzzles for their Table Top Game Day raffle a few weeks ago.  That die did some serious damage to the player characters.  Thanks Think Geek and Labyrinth!  You helped keep things tense for the players.

Second, the players had some really terrible rolls during this combat.  It was sad and amusing and wonderful in ways that only RPGs can be. 

Also, at the start of the game, Lief's player informed me that his Bard had chosen his second Feat: Linguist.  Suddenly, anything language wise that would be interesting or difficult was going to be his shtick.  More fun!

So, without further ado, let me plunge back  into the narrative:

The adventuring party had entered the dungeons underneath an ancient fortress called Jawarl Avignon.  They entered the dungeons to seek an ancient Orc weapon forged long ago and used by an Orcish Chieftain, Mondru Fourth of His Name, to ravage the countryside and take the fortress some 500 years ago.  However, the spear seemingly never left Jawarl Avignon because the Orc invaders were struck down by a plague after they executed the last Elf defenders.  The Priestess and the Elf Queen both fear the spear can be used to strengthen the power of the resurgent Orc Lord.

After a small bit of exploration, the party had charged into combat against a strong force of Orcs in a large pillared chamber.  The initial attack was not as surprising as they had hoped and at the end of the round Delthen, their paladin, was unconscious on the ground.  Leading to . . .

Round 2

Lief the Bard shouted his Battle Chant, striking one of the Orcish Soldier/Sentries for thunder damage and also activating one of his Battle Cries (Move It!) which allowed the Cleric Cerise to freely disengage from her attacker so she could rush to the aid of the downed Paladin.

Legolis unlimbered his axe and struck another of the Soldier Orcs.  Yoshi also attacked with his katana, but failed to connect.

Indigo, engaged with one of the berserkers, set aside a Trick Die roll of 17 for later use and then made a mighty swing with his hammer.  It swung wide however, and only nicked the berserker for "miss damage."

Sorceror Rolen succeeded with an Elven Grace roll.  He took his two actions to gather power and then unleash his Burning Hands of fury with which he flailed about uselessly hitting nothing.

Cerise quickly moved to Delthen's side and cast a quick heal on him.  She then cast her Javelin of Faith at the Orc Chief, who, due to Indigo's Trick Die, essentially stepped right into the holy bolt.

The Orc Soldier/Sentries made coordinated attacks against Lief and Legolis.  Lief was hit and Legolis took some significant "miss damage."  These Orcs were not mook pushovers.

Zillo then stepped around a pillar and stabbed the Orc attacking Lief with a sneak attack.  The Orc fell dead.

The Orc Bodyguard/Berserkers went next.  The first attack was a critical hit on Gnomish Cleric Indigo, which definitely hurt, but he kept on fighting.

The other Berserkers missed Rolen and Zillo respectively.

Delthen, having been raised up by the healing power of the House of Light, notwithstanding his devotion to the House of Shadows, pulled a quick manever that allowed him to go for the Orc Chief's knee with his mace.  He barely landed the blow, but managed to inflict another 17 points of damage to the Orc leader.  In response, the Orc Chief . . . missed :-(

Half-Orc Fighter Hey Watchitt concluded the round with a maneuver of his own.  Using his Reach Tricks feat and his handy Tree, he fended off the three Orcs nearest him (who were also attacking Legolis and Zillo) and he managed to knock each Orc back with some token damage such that they became unengaged, leaving Hey's companions the freedom to move and maneuver in the next round.

Round 3

Human Bard Lief let loose with his Battle Chant againt on the Orc Bodyguard/Berserker who was continuing to attack Rolen the Sorcerer.    His voice struck like thunder, this time with a critical.  He also used a Battle Cry to improve Rolen's armor class.  Yoshi then stepped forward and struck the same Orc using Deadly Assault and his Katana.

Legolis, having been freed from being engaged by Orc Sentries charged forward and unleashed his Acid Arrow spell at the Orc Chief.  This, however, was a miss, though it inflicted ongoing acid damage to the huge Orc.

Gnomish Cleric Indigo quickly healed himself, allowing some recovery from last round's critical hit and then he swung his mighty hammer . . . for another round of doing "miss damage."

Wood Elf Sorcere Rolen succeeded in his Elven Grace roll.  He fired off a quick burning hands, with which he fumbled and, forced to roll a second attack, he lit up his companion Half-Elf Samurai Yoshi.  With his second action he simply missed with his burning hands.He was, at least, keeping his part of the chamber illuminated.

Cerise summoned her Javelin of Faith and cast it at the Orc Chief, but missed.

The Orc Soldier/Sentries attacked Hey Watchitt, landing one blow.  Meanwhile, Zillo attempted to walk into the shadows, but, failing that, simply launched a new sneak attack on one of the Orcs fighting Hey.

The Berserker/Bodyguards then launched their counter attacks.  One hit Indigo, one critically hit Yoshi and the last charged up on Zillo, but his axe swung wide, missing her.

Delthen then stepped up against the Orc Chief again and took a mighty swing, which completely missed.

He took aim with his tree on one of his opponents, but missed, though he was able to boost his miss damage to cause a bit of extra discomfort with his glancing blow.

Round 4
Lief continued the rolling thunder of his Battle Chant, again damaging the Berserk Orc attacking Rolen.  His Battle Cry this round increased Yoshi' armor class. 

Legolis unlimbered his bow and smoothly shot an arrow into the chest of the Orc Chief, who promptly died.

Lief, observing this, attempted to dampen the moral of the Orcs by shouting in perfectly inflected Orcish (hey "Linguist"!) "The Chief is dead!"  This had no appreciable effect on the battle enraged Orcs.

Yoshi lunged with his Katana on the Berserker still attacking Rolen, but failed to make a solid hit.

Indigo once again healed himself, and invoked Trickery to make odd rolls misses for the Orc on him.  He then struck the Orc with his hammer, landing a Befuddling blow!

Rolen's Elven Grace failed him this round, but he was able to hit with Burning Hands finally, continuing to wear down the Orc who had been blasted with thunder and slashed with steel since the beginning of combat.  The Orc was still after him though.

Cerise stepped around a pillar and cast her Javelin of Faith at Indigo's opponent, but missed. 

The two Orcs fighting Hey suddenly surged forward with a furious attack.  One landed a solid blow, and the second hit him critically (I was seeing a battle axe cleaving into his helmet--ouch!).  Hey went down.

Zillo, however, quickly ducked passed the attackers and had a healing potion into Hey in a trice!

The dazed, tricked and befuddled Orc fighting Indigo missed.  Yep, just missed. 

The Berserker who had been trying to kill Rolen decided that Yoshi was actually more of a threat and pivoted to strike with his axe.  He swung, however, where Yoshi wasn't.  Miss.

Delthen charged around a pillar and Cerise to land a solid blow to the chest of the Berserker fighting Indigo.

Hey then stood up, refreshed from his short bout of unconsciousness, and killed on the the three Orcs in front of him with a tremedous blow from his tree.

Round 5.
Legolis shot first, trying to aid Zillo and Hey, but that went badly.  In the end, his arrow clattered to the floor and his bowstring broke (attack against Orc, rolls a 1; I ask "what happens" he says, "my arrow might hit Hey," I say "roll for it," he rolls another 1; okay, the bow is out of commission).

Lief sings out with his Battle Chant again, and his Battle Cry allows Legolis to draw his axe and to close on the knot of Orcs fighting Hey and Zillo to be able to attack next round.

Yoshi, is able to draw his bow and shoot Rolen's Orc at short range, leaving a lifeless Orc on the floor.  He pivots to take a second shot at the remaining Orcs, at hits one of the Berserkers.

Indigo lightly grazed (with "miss damage") his attacker.

Rolen attacks the Berserker attacking Zillow and Hey with Scorching Ray and sets him aflame.  The Berserk Orc continues his bellowing attack.

Cerise then strikes Indigo's attacking Orc with her Javelin of Faith.

The last remaining Orc Sentry/Soldier misses Hey, but has a significant "miss damage power" which puts Hey close to going down again.

Zillo disappears into the shadows using Shadow Walk.

The Berserker set alight by Rolen swings his axe at Legolis, but misses.

Indigo's Berserk Orc swings and would have landed a critical (from expanded crit range), but as the roll is an odd roll, Indigo's invocation causes the swing to go wide and completely miss.

Delthen then hits the Berserk Orc upside thehead with his mace, but the Orc keeps on going.

Hey whips his tree around with trememdous force, rolling a critical hit and dropping the last remaining Sentry/Soldier Orc to being close to death.  Hey then rallies as a quick action to keep from getting nicked and going unconscious.

Round 6
Legolis chops at the flaming Berserker before him, but only scratches him (with "miss damage").

Lief marches forward singing a song of victory and unleashes his Battle Chant at the Sentry/Soldier in front of Hey. 

Yoshi then shoots the sentry through the eye, killing him.  He takes a second shot and lightly grazes the flaming Berserker.

Indigo strikes again with his hammer, but does minimal damage with another miss.

Rolen succeeds again with Elven Grace.  He gathers power for a massive strike, and the Chaos Magic does incidental damage to the two remaining Orcs.  He then unleashes the awesome power of his Scorching Ray!

And he rolls a 1.

Fumble.

In the line of fire is Legolis.

Rolen makes a second roll, hoping against hope to avoid massive collateral damage.

Ooops.

20.

32 points of hot flaming death rain down upon the High Elf Ranger.  His long beautiful golden hair is turned into a military buzz cut.  His armor and weapons take on a blackened cast.  It happens so fast, he does not know what hit him. 

Legolis falls.

Two words occur to Rolen.

"Epic Fail"

He says "Sorry!  I'm really sorry!"

[note, the damage probably should have "only" been 24, as the double damage should have only gone to triple with the critical on top of the empowered spell, but we played it as doubled double damage, and it was funnier that way; really folks, Legolis will be okay!]

Cerise immediately steps forward to heal Legolis, the magic of the Lords of Light soothing his burns, and bringing cool air back into his lungs (his hair, however, is still short).

Zillo then appeared out of the shadows to strike the last remaining Orc.  Sadly, only with "miss damage."

Delthen then bashes the Berserker in front of Indigo, and the Orc that had seemed too mean to die, died.

As Legolis stands up, the last reamaining Orc, berserk and on fire, tries to take off his head.  Legolis fortunately ducked and the Orc misses.  The flames, however, went out on him.

Hey then stepped up to try to give a love tap to the Orc so they could interrogate him later, but he missed.

Round 7
Yoshi steps forward and it broken Orcish demands that the Orc surrenders.

The Orc screams a battle cry of defiance.

Lief then speaking in perfectly inflected Orcish again tries to persuade the crazed Orc to give up.

No go.

Legolis then bashes the Orc with the flat of his axe and the Orc goes down, out, but not dead.

"There, he surrenders," Legolis might have muttered.

End of Combat

[End of Battle Score:
Cerise: 1 (Shaman)
Zillo: 1 (Sentry/Soldier)
Legolis: 1 (Orc Chief) + 0.5 (knocked Berserker unconscious)
Hey: 1 (Orc Sentry/Soldier)
Yoshi: 2 (Orc Bodyguard/Berserker; Orc Sentry/Soldier)
Delthen: 1 (Orc Bodyguard/Berserker)]

Delthen quickly bound the unconscious Orc.

The non-combatants travelling with the party, Monk Commard and Nuri the Apprentice Builder entered the room.  The party took a short rest to recover and explore the room.

The main chamber was originally part of the ancient human fortress that the elves took over many hudreds of years ago.  However, after the Orcish conquest about 500 years ago, the chamber, and this level in general, were remade by the Orcs.  They converted this room to a sleeping hall for Orcish warriors, and very old remains show evidence of sleeping areas, racks of old ruined armor and weapons of orcish make.

Monk Crommard explained that old Imperial Records show that only one dungeon level existed during the time of the Imperial occupation of Jawarl Avignon.  However, little is know about the briefer Elvish tenure at the fort.  However, reports gathered by Imperial Intelligence during the Orcish invaision 500 years ago indicate that the Orcs build another level, further below.  Rumors included that the lowest level held the resting place of Mondru, Fourth of His Name, and his mighty spear, Alkarg.  Mondru's tomb became the final resting place for much of the Orc military leadership as the plague struck and crippled the Orcish army.

After hearing this historical discourse from the old researcher, the party continued to explore.

Off to one side of the chamber was a smaller room.  Inside that room was mainly layers of dirt and old bones.  However, inscribed on one wall were Runes of Orcish character and a crude petroglyph (did I forget to mention that at the table? Well next game there will be a handout!).

While Monk Crommard was excited by the find and wanted to discourse on it, Lief, the expert in all things linguistic, quickly translated from the ancient Orcish to the common imperial tongue of the Dragon Empire:

Down to the Pit - Take the Right Hand Path
At the Point of the Speak Alkarg Waits
For the Hand of Mondru's Heir, Mighty Servant of the Orc Lord

At this point they decided to interrogate the prisoner.

Lief began by trying to win the Orc over.  Though his diction was pleasing, the Orc could see that this human speaking his language consorted with Elves, so all Lief got were statements like:

"I Garshakl!"
"Garshak see you die screaming"
"Garshak hate Elf lovers!"
"Garshak tell you nothing!"
"Garshak eat your heart!"

Delthen asked to try a different tactic.

Delthen, clearly a dark scary guy, tried to build rapport of a different kind with Garshak.  His Orcish was much poorer than Lief's, but he had the basic course in "scary Dark Paladin Inquisitor school," so he tried to convice the Orc that it was clear that he was not like the other light loving members of the group.  He was just using them.  "Help me find the spear.  You can live.  I will leave these light-lovers behind and take the speear to the Crusader."

At that, Garshak shook his head violently and shouted (his usual mode of communication), "No!  Crusader is bad!  Fire Lady help us!  You will all die!"

Delthen replied, "Thank you, that was all I needed to know."

He then took out his Crossbow and was about to execute Garshak, but Yoshi and others stepped up and pulled him away.  He tried to explain to them that the Orcs were clearly working with the Diabolist and all had to die.

Lief and Yoshi tried again to coax something out of the prisoner, but he just shouted death threats and obscenities at them. 

Delthen again unlimbered his crossbow to squeeze off a shot, but he did not notice Indigo walk under his line of sight and gently tip up the crossbow as he pulled the trigger, causing the shot to go high into the ceiling.

"We are not executing the prisoner," state Indigo flatly.

They left Garshak tied up in the inscription room.  The party returned to the main passageway and began to examine and explore the aread.  nearby they located a room lined with crude statues of Orcish warriors, all wearing helmets marked with the icon of the Orc Lord.  Ahead, down the main passage, they could see many piles of bones and rusted armor and weapons.  Also, they could see slight movement and hear the clacking of small claws against the flagstones of the passageway.  Signs in the dust indicated that rats, maybe very big rats, tread through the dust.  Also, they could see that suspected Man0Orc, Seth, seemed to have proceeded down the main corridor.

While this exploration was happening, Delthen, playing rear guard, slipped away to have a last chat with Garshak.

He let his dagger do the talking.

[Revised End of Battle Score:
Cerise: 1 (Shaman)
Zillo: 1 (Sentry/Soldier)
Legolis: 1 (Orc Chief) + 0.5 (knocked Berserker, Garshak, unconscious)
Hey: 1 (Orc Sentry/Soldier)
Yoshi: 2 (Orc Bodyguard/Berserker; Orc Sentry/Soldier)
Delthen: 1 (Orc Bodyguard/Berserker) + 0.5 (executed helpless Garshak under the authority of the Inquisition)]

Delthen quickly returned as the party arrayed itself in loose formation to move down the main corridor to pursue Seth and find the way down to the lowest level beneath Jawarl Avignon.

What dangers still await them?

Stay tuned!!