Skarr

Session #9 - Stay on Target...
(Or How to cover some miles to get to Carrion Hill)

In attendance:
Tharros, Elven Psion Telepath (played by Tim Roussel)
Garros, Aasimar Wizard (played by John Townsend)

So lots of travelling was done this session, despite many distractions.

Some of the distractions passed up:

Giant bat flying overhead during the night
Colossal Bear tearing a path through the trees during the night
Avoiding a fight (multiple times) with a Greedo the Gnome and his Gator-man companion (slave? employee? neighbor?)

As we wrapped up, the party had traversed the tainted forest, taken the ferry across Lake Lacunae, and were headed to the inn near the dock to rest and recuperate.

View
25
MAR/2014
Session #8 - Overcoming the Warped Wall

In attendance:
Tharros, Elven Psion Telepath (played by Tim Roussel)
Sudein, Human Druid (played by Kyle Summers)
Phil, Gorilla/Superhero (played by Kyle Summers)
Riley, Human Rogue (played by Danielle Landry)

Continuing on with the journey, the party was finishing their search for treasure in the maggot gore that lay about. They stumbled up on Riley, a human Rogue who greeted the party, but wanted to keep her distance from the foul smelling maggot stench. After Tharros and Sudein turned on the charm a bit, Riley all but reluctantly followed.

Upon the journey to east toward Carrion Hill, Sudein noticed a shimmer of the path in the forest. After…..

View
19
MAR/2014
Session #7 - Maggots Galore
(or how NOT to keep your clothes clean)

In attendance:
Tharros, Elven Psion Telepath (played by Tim R)
Hoagus Scrumbleright, Dwarven Cleric (played by William A)
Sudein, Human Druid (played by Kyle S)
Pickles, Orc Fighter (played by Ron V)
Zig, Human Gunslinger (played my Chris M)
Garros, Aasimar Ranger (played by John T)

As the party headed east, a clearing in the woods appeared to the south of the road. This clearing appeared in a dip in the road, and formed a natural bog or small swampy area. in this bog writhed a multitude of giant maggots.

After a short discussion, it was decided that the trip to Carrion Hill could be delayed, as this constituted a threat, and must be dealt with.

The party ended up destroying many of the foul creatures at range. They also fought the giant horsefly that landed suddenly by the party. By various means, they ended up dispatching the entire hoard without taking any damage – from the enemy, that is…

Tharros slipped on some maggot entrails that splattered there by the druids “Batnado” a swirling swarm of bats wreaking havoc on the maggots. Once the maggots were dispatched, the horsefly appeared. After it was grievously wounded by a potshot from Zig, Tharros slipped just as he was causing a deadly bolt of energy to fly out to incinerate the dying horsefly. His aim, unfortunately, went awry, and squarely hit the gorilla, Phil, faithful companion of the druid, Sudein. It was the first time Phil was hit and damaged by anyone…or anything.

Phil was immediately taken care of, and healed. Tharros apologized, and Phil seemed to forgive him.

The party continued on, not knowing what to expect next on this journey, but it certainly would not be good…

View
19
MAR/2014
Session #6 - More Spiders in the Woods
(or how following Nergal gets the party killed)

So, after some initial gathering up of treasure from the giant trap-door spider, the party rests and heals for the night. The druid makes good use of his skills and makes a magical shelter around the campfire.

At one point during the night, a giant tree spider is observed making a patrol. When the path is followed the next morning, a discovery is made.

in the heart of the forest, the party discovers a wooded depression, roughly 250 feet in diameter, with a gentle bowl-shaped slope and swampy marsh at the very bottom. A large amount of tree spiders are present in the area (between 30 and 50). As the party approaches, they notice lots of wisps of webs in the trees in the area, and a loud chittering sound (or clittering, as the barbarian Crag Hack insists). As the party prepares to investigate stealthily, Nergal lobs his last bead from his necklace of fireballs into the spiders ahead. The obvious result occurs.

As the party battles with the crowd of spiders ranging from large dog sized to horse-sized, Nergal slips past the fray and rushes downhill to the center of the depression. There, near the water, is a colossal spider, obviously a queen of some sort. The queen is covered in black and orange hairs, like a tarantula, and is guarding a great pile of eggs. The queen seems to be directing the other spiders to do her bidding.

Nergal is attacked by the queen, and has many poison-covered spines flung at him, most of which hit. As he stands paralyzed, he sees the party surrounded and subdued by the giant spiders. They are quickly enveloped by webs. Then his own sight is obscured by webs as well. All goes black.

The party awakens at night time, being rescued by a mysterious elf. Everyone is amazed to see that the elf has single-handedly killed all of the spiders. Once a hasty retreat has been made back to the safety of the road, the stranger introduces himself.

“I am Tharros. I was on my way to Carrion Hill to the east. I saw your party following the trail of the spider north away from the path, and thought I might follow you to lend a hand if needed. It seems it was.”

(Tharros is Tim’s new alternate character. I’ll let him speak for Tharros from now on)

While no closer to your goal of arriving at Carrion Hill, you have the makings for a free ale at any inn or tavern where this story gets told. Congratulations on your valiant efforts, you are all ready to ascend to the ranks of 5th level! This is truly where characters really gain signature powers and abilities, coming into their own and wielding much more power than before. At this point, all XP will be tracked individually, with those showing initiative and courage gaining experience faster than their comrades.

View
5
MAR/2014
1 comment
Last commented on:
Mar 18, 2014
Session #5 - Spiders in the woods
(or how NOT to light the path in the woods with your familiar)

The night began with a character swap, with many ducking out and a few new faces. Jeff Bacon showed up with a new Barbarian, as did Tim Roussel. Kyle Summers presented his druid (with gorilla companion), and John Townsend debuted his Wizard and Capuchin monkey familiar.

The party continued east, towards Carrion Hill, still ten days away. As night fell, they entered a forest of gnarled, Dutch Elm diseased mighty trees. The effect was very creepy. The road the party was on led straight into the darkness under the twisted and evil-looking trees. The party balked, looking for alternatives. None being found, The wizard used his monkey familiar to scamper down the path, casting light spells on trees as he went, while everyone else waited. About 100 feet down the path, the monkey suddenly disappeared. Even the druid, using his detect animal power, could not sense him, which boded ill. As the party started to slowly and cautiously proceed down the path, the druid’s ape tugged on his armor.

“What is it boy?” the Druid asked his companion, the ape.
“Little brother hurt… Smell little brother’s blood,” the ape responded.

As different attempts to discover what happened occurred, it was noticed that the ninja was missing. Then everyone saw what happened next: The Barbarian, stepping near an old rotten gnarled tree, was snatched inside in the blink of an eye! What grabbed him was almost a blur, but it was huge, and had many legs!

It was subsequently deduced that a giant trap-door spider had grabbed the monkey, the ninja, and the barbarian. As an all out assault on the spider’s lair was commencing, the wizard, ducking around the back side of the tree away from the others, was yanked into the sky unexpectedly. This attack came from a giant web-slinging tree spider!

Everyone fought valiantly, except the wizard, who simply out-clevered his opponent by jumping off of a tree branch 60 feet off the ground, and casting featherfall on the way down. The spiders were dispatched, people were healed, and most importantly, treasure was found.

Here is the highly anticipated list of what was found in the trap-door spider’s lair…

1) (non-magical masterwork), Armor, Splint Mail : 350gp – Crag Hack
2) (non-magical masterwork), Shield, light steel : 159gp – Crag Hack
3) Alchemist’s lab 200 gp [185%, Exceptional Quality] : 370gp
4) Crossbow, repeating heavy 400 gp [69.25%, Very Cheap Quality] : 277gp
5) Lock, Good 80 gp [96.25%, Low Quality] : 77gp
6) Chainmail Armor 150 gp [124.67%, Fine Quality] : 187gp – Crag Hack
7) Ink (1 oz. vial) 8 gp [75%, Cheap Quality] : 6gp
8) Buckler 15 gp [86.67%, Low Quality] : 13gp
9) Saddle, Riding 10 gp [Standard Quality] : 10gp
10) Scholar’s outfit 5 gp [Standard Quality] : 5gp
11) Whip 1 gp [Standard Quality] : 1gp
12) Sap 1 gp [Standard Quality] : 1gp
13) Potion, blur : 300gp – Crag Hack
14) Potion, resist energy, sonic : 300gp
15) Potion, gaseous form : 750gp – Crag Hack
16) Potion, protection from good : 50gp
17) Weapon (non-magical masterwork), Starknife: 324gp
18) Weapon (non-magical masterwork), Dart: 300gp

Gems and Jewels Breakdown

Coral 62gp
Chrysoprase 29gp
Lapis lazuli 4gp
Deep green spinel 66gp
Lapis lazuli 9gp
Carnelian 44gp
Jade 64gp
Garnet Ring 27gp
Blue quartz 8gp
Blue quartz 6gp
Rock crystal (clear quartz) 37gp
Chrysoprase 46gp

Coins Breakdown

pp: 2
gp: 30
sp: 130
cp: 400

Treasure Value
Treasure(3480gp)
+ Gems & Jewels(453gp)
+ Coins(67gp)
= 4000gp

RULES FOR CLAIMING ITEMS…

1. Make sure your character sheet is on the portal and is current.
2. Edit this wiki post, adding your character link next to whatever it is that you want. (not saying you got it, just assigning your preferences) Use the character link button just to the right of the edit pane. If you need help, let me know. If you cannot edit, also let me know.
3. Before the next session begins, once we are all around the table, we will divide stuff up. I will arbitrate any conflicts that arise.
4. Add those items to the character sheet on the portal. then we can play. If we can get this done prior to the game night, via email, for example, that’s even better.

XP Awards:
Everyone is ridiculously close to 5th level. One more session should put you guys over the top. So let’s hold off on individual awards for now.

View
12
FEB/2014
Session #4 - Feast, standing stones, and a baby Owlbear
(or curiosity hurts)

The session picks up shortly after the killing of the two bullettes. Villagers BBQ’d the beasts and the village treated the party to a triumphant feast. Wine, women and song was plentiful.

The next day, the party left (with extra provisions) and headed east to the city of Carrion Hill (roughly two weeks away).

As the party marched east, night began to fall just as the party left the forest. As preparations for camp were being made, someone spotted a group of hooded and robed figures leaving the forest edge and walking through the grasslands, heading south. They party decided to stealthily investigate.

As stealthily as they could manage (just one grassland fire out of control) they followed. Eventually, they saw the hooded figures enter a ring of standing stones, similar to Stonehenge. They seemed to clear a spot in the center, then started chanting. As the chanting increased, and the party approached to see what was going on, a black, impenetrable wall appeared, surrounding the stones. After some party members climbed the stones to peek over into the circle, this is what they saw…

12 black-robed and hooded figures were kneeling in a circle, chanting. By this point, the chants were loud and rapid. The ground within the circle seemed to ripple and warp. Suddenly, a dozen large, black tentacles burst out of the center of the circle, like a black twisted tree erupting from the ground. Each tentacle snatched one of the robed figures and pulled them almost instantly into the shadowy void in the center of the circle.

Instantly, they were gone. There was nothing there but cleared earth. No hole, no disturbed dirt. Simultaneously, the black veil preventing the party from seeing inside the circle shattered, sending razor sharp shards flying out of the circle in all directions. Only the few who climbed the monoliths to peek over were saved from numerous cuts and massive damage. Shortly after, they dissolved into black wisps of smoke, and vanished.

Not sure what to make of this, and finding nothing of interest left behind, the party returned north to their camp, rested, and healed.

As the party followed the road east the next day, they approached a small cabin along the road. There were multiple bodies nearby. As the party got closer, the scene became even more horrific; pieces and parts of a large group of humanoids had been murdered here, by some large beast it seemed.

As the party investigated the cabin, it looked abandoned, and in terrible disrepair. nearly half of the roof had fallen in, and rubble blocked most of the entrances. As the back was investigated, a large owlbear leapt out and attacked. There was a flurry of inept attempts to damage the beast, including lighting the cabin on fire, then the gnome cast a spell putting the owlbear to sleep. This allowed the gunslinger to approach, hold his pistol to the beast’s temple, and kill it in one fell swoop.

It was then that the party noticed something else in the cabin… a baby owlbear, about the size of a soccer ball in a large nest made of branches and detritus from the cabin. After some coaxing, the gunslinger was able to convince the tiny beast to trust him, and a wonderful friendship blossomed.

The rogue noticed some loot (go figure) in the nest, and expertly retrieved it (nearly getting caught in the burning building to do so).

View
14
JAN/2014
1 comment
Last commented on:
Feb 28, 2014
First Session

Okay, let’s fill in the adventure so far so others joining can read the backstory and catch up. This will help us from having to waste valuable gaming time with multiple rehashes of the backstory.

I’m going to need some help here, folks :)

View
25
JUL/2013
Origin of Skarr

Origin of Skarr

In the early 90’s I was in the United States Air Force. I had lots of time on my hands, and many of my friends and I played D&D to pass the time. These were weekend-long sessions, with breaks to eat, and periodic showers and changes of clothes (albeit hurried). It was a much needed escape from some pretty grim reality happening around us. This made it all the more precious, and floods of nostalgia always come when I think of my first “great” D&D group; Ron and Melany Ethridge, Todd Gehris, Rob Corra and Rob Fish, Scott Morgan (I’ll never forgive you for killing my character the first hour in your game by a drow ambush I had no way of knowing about, Scott), and all the rest. Ron, Mel, and Todd were the core, the others faded in and out. Tomb of Horrors, Greyhawk Ruins, and many extemporaneous sessions made about four years of our lives brighter… Okay, enough of that.

I used a closeup topological map of the moon as the basis for the map. I simply added oceans and slowly raised the water level to the point where two distinct land masses stood out from the rest. Much was modified, but that is the origin of the world map of Skarr.

I created this world in an attempt, albeit cheesy, to create a solipsistic D&D Multiverse. I wanted Mordenkainen and Rary to meet with Raistlin and Elminster. Spelljamming was an original attempt to create a D&D metaverse, but it was rejected as too “out there”. After looking at the Spelljamming method of bridging campaign worlds, and after reading Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” (for the umteenth time), I decided to give it a shot. This is the result. It is not complete. Also, this was the starting point for this endeavor, and as larger and larger changes were made, some of the original intent was lost. I simply thought you guys would like to know the origin of this windmill I’ve been tilting at for twenty years now.

In order to flesh out this campaign setting, I am using the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Book as a template. No content, just the framework to hang all of our own content on.

Now, this world has morphed into an endpoint, not a bridge. The Intro module can be easily adapted for almost any campaign world, not limited to just high-fantasy… D&D Modern, Steampunk, and other such campaigns could also have parties land in the world of Skarr, much to the same effect. It is a new world, a new time. Starting over is not optional.

View
4
JUL/1992