Noah's Game: February 21st

Featuring

• Tanya as Lulabelle, a half-elven sorceress with an owl, and she's not afraid to use it.
• John as Kikow !!(pronounced 'click-click'), a gnomish barbarian. Long on passion, short on range.
• Jake as Böbō, the dwarven barbarian and only returning character. Might berserk from afar.
• Emmy as Droso, a (male) gnome cleric. Rides a dog well.
• Triften as Hands, a human rogue. Occasionally has the feeling that others in the party are out to get him.
• Sean as Vindo, a half-orc monk. Enjoys insulting Kikow in Orcish.

Also With

• Lt. Horowitz, the Unfortunates dispatcher. He's got a no-nonsense haircut. Whatever that means.
• Bella, Lulabelle's trusted familiar. Quite fond of mice, rats, and other vermin.
• Charles Van der Schmidt and Iggy Rodriguez, a pair of Monstrous Scorpions on the run, and with nothing left to lose. Or so they thought.

Summary
Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago, except for Böbō. The date is Grunfast, Grune 16th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

Horowitz summons the party to tell them that bounty season has begun. Starting today, there is a two thousand gold bounty on scorpion tails (of 6 feet or longer). The bounty is offered regularly by the Alchemists guild, presumably for ingredients. Horowitz doesn't have a posting for the party, but advises them to take advantage of the bounty while it lasts. Bounty season also marks the end of the trial period for all new Unfortunates, meaning that combat rates will be going up, but that the party will no longer be getting special rates on healing from Rothgab's temples.

The party decides to go after some bounty cash, and heads for the Unfortunates' gate. There is a cluster of merchants by the gate. Vindo buys a long pole from one of them.

The party exits the city through the Unfortunates' gate into the desert, Böbō upon his pony, Kikow upon his attack pig, and Droso on his riding dog. There are tracks of other hunters heading in various directions, the majority going south. The party heads south as well. After a little while, Lulabelle sends Bella ahead to scout for scorpions. Bella leads the party south-southwest, where they come upon a pair of monstrous scorpions sunning themselves on a rock.

Kikow leads the charge, jumping off his pig, and running full pell down the dune. Vindo and Hands follow behind, but hold their distance. Lula, Böbō, and Droso set up a position on top of the dune, and

Böbō shoots Hands in the back by accident. The scorpions jump off the rock. One attacks Kikow, but is unable to hit him. Lulabelle shoots a succession of magic missles into the scorpions, weakening them severely, and Droso casts "Heat Metal" on Böbō's arrows to increase their potency. The other scorpion overwhelms Vindo while Hands flanks the first and attacks it.

Böbō continues shooting into the melee, while Droso rides her dog down to the fight, and does a ride-by healing on Vindo, bringing him back to the brink of consciousness. Kikow, in his beserker rage, misses the scorpion at first, and attacks Hands. Hands pulls back. The party manages to kill the scorpions, and Droso finishes reviving Vindo.

The party chops off the scorpions' tails and other bits, and drags them back to Rothgab, where they collect their bounty of four thousand gold, which they split evenly. Vindo and Hands buy healing from Droso at half the market rate, and the party disperses.

Noah's Game: January 31st

Featuring

* John as Rathnor, a half-orc paladin. His people are not your people.
* Triften as Arden, a human paladin of law. Law. Not Good.
* Sean as Rob, a half-orc rogue. Weighs in at several hundred pounds, not counting the bag of cod.
* Emmy as Cinnamon "Buns" McCabe, a gnome bard. This former stripper can use her skills to distact and delight.

Also With

* Lt. Horowitz, the as-yet undescribed Unfortunates dispatcher. A little bit shouty, when stressed.
* Guy in a chair. Don't get too attached to him.

With Appearances By

* Spanky and Jessica, ninja Unfortunates.
* Gladwell, an occasionally effective Unfortunate mage.

Summary

Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago. The last game session took place two days ago, making today Slausengot, Grune 15th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

The party is summoned to see Lt. Horowitz. He is in the midst of dispatching them for another escort mission when his badge starts glowing. He uses it to trace a door in the air, and then rushes the party through to another location in the Rothgab. Once they arrive, the party notices a "tear in the air", glowing pure white.

Soon, other Unfortunates appear on the scene, including Spanky, Jessica, and Gladwell. Apparently, this is an unauthorized portal into the city. Horowitz tells Spanky and Jessica to track down anyone who has already come through, and Gladwell to lock down the portal. Then, he tells the party they will be going through the portal, to see if there's anyone worth trading with on the other side, as procedure requires. The party is told that their badges should let them through Gladwell's lock on the portal.

The party goes through the "tear" and emerges in a dark room. Cinnamon notices some torches in sconces on the wall, and pointes them out to the rest of the party. Arden lights one up, so that he can see. The room is finished stone, with three doors leading out. On this side, the portal is pure black, sucking in light from all around it.

There are three doors out of the room. At 6 o'clock is the portal. At 9 o'clock is a door of decayed wood, covered in moss. At 12 o'clock is another door, the same size as the first, but in good condition. At 3 o'clock is another door, also in good condition, but smaller. Rob checks for traps on the 3 o'clock door, and the party goes through.

On the other side of the door is a stone corridor that goes about 40 feet and then turns left. After the turn is another door. Rob checks for traps again, and doesn't find anything, and the party deliberates about what to do. After a little while, some of them hear muffled noises on the other side of the door, and they go in.

In the room is a man tied to a chair. There's also some other furniture, including a desk in the corner, and another door on the other side of the room. The man is bound and gagged. Rathnor searches him and finds a key.

When they ungag him, the man says some others tied him up and went past him towards where the party came from. He tells the party they're in the city of Tharn. The party decides to unbind him, and Rob and Rathnor go to investigate the other door. On the other side, they find a spiral staircase. Rob skulks up it, while Rathnor waits at the bottom, after Rob tells him his armor is too loud.

After a few minutes, the man who was in the chair starts making noises and hunching over. He changes into a werewolf, and attacks Arden. Rathnor hears the noise and comes in, but Cinnamon puts the man to sleep with a dance. They tie the man back up.

Meanwhile, Rob has gotten to the top of the stairs, where he finds a door. He checks the door for traps, and, finding none, heads back to get the rest of the party.

Before he can get back though, the man in the chair wakes up. Rathnor and Arden take turns hitting him in the head while Cinnamon hits him in the shin, but he eventually breaks his bonds. They manage to knock him out before he can do much damage, and Arden delivers the finishing blow.

Rob gets back, and leads the party up the stairs, where they find the door is locked. Rob makes a mental note to check for this in the future. The key Rathnor took off the dead werewolf doesn't work. While Rob picks the lock, a shadow peels off the wall and attacks Rathnor. Rob finishes picking the door and rushes the party through, but the shadow follows. The party finds themselves in what looks like a cobblestone alley. It's nighttime.

The rest of the party attacks the shadow, and Rob ducks back through the door, closing it behind him. The door clicks and locks automatically behind him, and Rob immediately sets about unlocking it. Cinnamon casts a light spell on the shadow, but it is unaffected. Between the three of them, Rathnor, Arden and Cinnamon manage to finish off the shadow, but they are seriously weakened.

Rob re-unlocks the door. The party hears noises and baying coming their way, like a pack of werewolves. They high-tail it back through the door, letting it close and lock behind them, and then run back downstairs and through the rooms to the portal, which they go through.

They find themselves in the desert outside of Rothgab. They go back into the city, and head back to the city's side of the portal, where they find Horowitz. They tell Horowitz what they found. Horowitz yells at Gladwell for screwing up the lock spell and bouncing them, and tells him to shut the portal down. Horowitz explains that Rothgab has had this kind of problem before with Tharn, calling it "attempting to set up improper trade relations." He sends the party back to headquarters. The party collects their pay, and finds healers to help with their wounds.

Noah's Game: January 24th

Featuring

* John as Rathnor, a half-orc paladin. Grumbles a lot.
* Tanya as Gadfly, a (male) human wizard. Fashionable, yet assumes all creatures have golden hearts.
* Triften as Arden, a human paladin of law. Only one who has no way of seeing in the dark.
* Jake as Böbō, a dwarven barbarian. Takes care of his pony.

Also With

* Lt. Horowitz, the as-yet undescribed Unfortunates dispatcher. Thoroughly bored.
* Mak-Tak, aka Mak. A kobold trader from Rothgab. A little bossy and callous, with a weird scratchy voice.
* Chief Biren, a kobold chieften. Has a history with Mak.

Summary

Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago. The date is Throgsday, Grune 14th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

The party is summoned to see Lt. Horowitz. He tells them they'll be escorting Mak. They meet Mak, and head out of the city, exiting into a mountainous area. The gate vanishes behind them into rock. They escort Mak (& his 20 or so ponies) down to the valley floor, where Mak points out the entrance to the mine they'll be going into. He leads them away from the entrance, saying it's not safe, and into the mines through a crack in the mountain a little ways away. He blindfolds his ponies first, so they don't panic. Böbō is forced to leave his pony outside.

Once inside, everyone can see fine, except for Arden, who can't see anything. Gadfly uses his familiar, a bat, to see for him. At one point, they are attacked by a dire bat, which the party quickly kills. One of the ponies is injured, but is able to continue.

Eventually, Mak leads them to the more developed part of the mine, where there are chambers. He yells at a door in Draconic (which only Gadfly understands, of the PCs), and argues for a while with a voice on the other side. After ~15 minutes, the party is let in, and escorts Mak & his ponies through a crowd of ~50 kobolds to a large chamber, where Chief Biren is waiting for them.

Biren and Mak bicker about the price of the coal Mak has come to buy, and the crowd clears out. After they agree on a price, the chief and his guard clear out, and the party is left alone in the room with the coal and the ponies. Arden helps Mak (actually, Arden does all the work) load the ponies panniers with coal, while the rest of the party waits for the chief's betrayal. Mak tells them that the chief tries to kill him every year. Suddenly, Böbō and Gadfly hear something moving near the sacks, and rush to attack it. It's a grick, which the two of them quickly finish off. The rest of the coal is quickly loaded and the party heads out. After a few rooms, they hear cries of sorrow behind them, presumably for the grick.

The kobolds are nowhere to be found, but the passage that the party took in has been blocked. Mak leads the party out through the front entrance to the mine, where Rathnor is ambushed by an ogre. The ogre manages to knock Arden out, and shrugs off Gadfly's attempts to beat it with his staff. Rathnor manages to kill it, and then revives Arden. The ogre seemed to have nothing of value, so Böbō retrieves his pony, and the party escorts Mak back up to the hidden gate and into the city. Mak parts ways with them, and does not tip. Horowitz gives them each a 1gp bonus for combat duty. Arden goes to a temple for healing.

One-Shot Game Description

I'm going to start my one-shot oriented campaign .
One of the goals of this campaign is to have a game that we can play when not everyone can make it.
I'll be making an effort to tie up each "mission" in a single session, and to design the story so it makes sense
if a slightly different group of characters takes on each mission week-to-week.

If you can't make it Wednesday, that's fine, that's how this campaign is supposed to work.
Whenever you can show up for this game, here's the details so you can be prepared. So, Katie, if there ever is a week where you're feeling up to it, swing on by, it shouldn't interrupt normal game flow.

Character Creation
It's going to be D&D 3.5. You should have two 3rd level characters ready, a primary, and a backup.
Character death will be a reality in this game. Don't take it personally. If your primary character dies, or is otherwise
incapacitated, your backup will become your new primary, and you'll need to roll up a new backup.

NOTE: Triften, John, & Jake - You guys can use your old characters from my Half-Sea game as either
your primary or secondary, if you wish. Tell me if you think I have your character sheets, and I'll look for them.

Stats: You can use one of two methods to generate your character stats. You can use different
methods for different characters.
1) 28-point buy - From pg. 169 of the DMG
Each of your stats costs a certain number of points.

STAT COST
5    -3
6    -2
7    -1
8    FREE
9    1
10   2
11   3
12   4
13   5
14   6
15   8
16   10
17   13
18   16

2) Best 6 of 7
Roll 4d6 and sum the best 3
Do this 7 times, and use the best 6 rolls for your stats, in any order you wish.
I'm trusting you to be honest. :)

Concepts:
Any race/class/alignment combination is legal. (Yes, that includes chaos monks & evil paladins).
I am going to limit the classes for new characters to the ones in the PHB, though.

Character Knowledge:
The characters have all been recruited to be part of the mercenary guard of the merchant city of Rothgab, the city of gates.
Voluntarily. No, they were not drugged, drunk, or charmed into it. The pay is one gold per day, with combat bonuses, and such.
(For a frame of reference - a tradesman can earn 1sp/day on a good day).

None of you are from Rothgab. None of you have been there before. It's merchants are known for going and trading everywhere.
The city itself is in the middle of the desert, though its gates open onto places far away.

The citizens refer to the guard as "The Unfortunates".

All the other residents have been "peace-branded". They can do no harm to others. The Unfortunates have not been peace-branded, but are not citizens.
The most severe penalty for citizens is exile.
The most severe penalty for Unfortunates is peace-branding and exile.

Unfortunates may choose to leave service on their anniversary. Instead of leaving Rothgab, they may apply for citizenry.

The Unfortunates are used as the city's all-purpose guard. (They're not just fighters). They are the hand of the merchant council, the city's ruling body,
and are used defensively and offensively. Common day-to-day purposes include guarding merchants outside of the city, and internal policing and investigation. Special puposes abound.

Equipment:
Shop w/ 300gp.
You may have one +1 weapon or equivalent magical item to start (free, not included in 300gp budget).
Each character is issued a small brass badge as your mark of office. It is a minor magical item, granting +1 to saving throws, allowing you to see the peace-brand, and can be used to issue a summons.

A cheap apartment in the city is 1gp / month.