Campaign Chronicles

Day Three of the Odinsleep – 9:52 am   At the appearance of the small hoard Shadow has produced from the pockets and pouches of the slain Jotun, the party members make their way over to the dark elf and the dwarf Ivaldi.   Hansuke thanks Cedron for the healing, wipes the blade of his naginata and then moves to the perimeter of the group to watch for approaching enemies.   “I’d be interested in those prayer beads and maybe a scroll or two depending on what they do,” says Cedron.   Ra’ziir turns his arcane sight upon the pile, scanning the items for anything that may be magical and is pleased to discover that the majority of the pile bears a number of different enchantments.   Kysek looks to the bladesinger, “We need to begin identification as quickly as possible.   We’re going to need every last bit of this and more if we are to survive until this Odin character feels the need to wake the hells up.”   Shadow nods and introduces himself ...

While my players were adventuring through the Grimmlands, I wanted to do things that were a bit more unusual than the standard “Kill the Monster, Take its Treasure” type of encounters.   Most of the antagonists they ran into were based on the darker versions of the original Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm.   That’s all fine and well, but still was not what I was looking for. After much thought, I came up with a pair of somethings that I felt fit the setting pretty well. The first was the Curse of the Helpful Elf.   In many fairy tales, elves are like little helpers – milking cows, fixing shoes, doing chores and so on for an older couple or down-on-luck craftsman.   But the party’s elves – well, if you’ve been reading the other stories in this blog, are anything but tiny Keeblers just trying to make people happy.   They are full bore, ultra-violent combatants who hack and slash first and speak with dead later.   So… this is what I did to them… ...

Day Three of the Odinsleep – 9:52 am After the last two Jotuns are blasted in bits of unrecognizable meat, Raven drops to the ground and blows out one long breath.   “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am tired.   If they can do THAT, what do they need us for?”   Kysek looks over at his elven friend and deadpans, “Why can you guys not do that?”   Morn nods, “And I am the only from Toril having flashbacks of the lightning storm at the start of this escapade flashing before their eyes?”   Grotto’s mouth hangs open, in awe of the incredible power unleashed by the man in the chariot.   “Hanseath has blessed us indeed with so powerful an ally!   All hail Hanseath!”   Raven chuckles at that, his thoughts drifting back to taking shelter in an abandoned temple dedicated to Talos the Stormlord.   Lightning had bombarded the temple, charging some sort of magic circle within with every strike until the circle reached a criti...

Day Three of the Odinsleep – 9:50 am   Raven continues to throw himself into the fight.   He ducks and dives, closing with the Jotun as Korbin’s butterfly swarm dissipates into nothing more than fading motes of energy and strikes with Nightwatcher.   The moon elf roars as he swings the blade.   The first blow takes the giant in the ankle, finishing the job of collapsing the already wounded joint.   The giant’s footing gives out underneath it and the titan crashes to the ground.   The Jotun grits his teeth, places his palms flat on the ground and starts to push back up but Raven is on him in an instant, driving the sword in through the left temple to pierce the brain.   The Jotun’s entire body goes limp as the elf saws back and forth with the sword, scrambling the grey matter that he can reach and sending the Jotun tumbling down a dark abyss to the realm of Hela, goddess of the dead.   Kysek shouts to the group that the fleeing giant...

Chlorokill is an antagonist (and one of Earth-218 ’s first supervillains) that my players will encounter in the 1920s  portion of our current campaign (his level will be adjusted to a point where he is an appropriate challenge for the group).   Based in part on Swamp Thing and Bushroot from Darkwing Duck, Dr. Anatoly Yasen, is a Russian immigrant to the United States, and had been a victim of famine in his homeland.   He had been experimenting with a means of creating human photosynthesis but he was bullied by several of his colleges who exposed him to his formula, hoping to embarrass him in front of the research center administrator’s beautiful daughter.   The formula worked but he was transformed into a half-man/half-plant hybrid.   The transformation drove him mad and he killed his co-workers and then turned his attention on attacking meat packing plants in Chicago.   The party will run into him when they investigate these attacks. ChloroKill...

Day Three of the Odinsleep – 9:50 am Raven snarls and wields Nightwatcher’s in both hands.   He puts all of his strength into his blows as he swings the nigh-unbreakable blade.   His blade whistles as it slices through the air to slam into the back of the Jotun’s calf.   Blood sprays as the sword cuts through the layers of boot leather and muscle to smash into the bone in the Jotun’s lower leg.   The giant howls in surprise and pain as the elf spins, driving the blade into the side of the giant’s other foot only to spin back with a thrust that crack the delicate bones in the titan’s ankle.   The giant staggers and reverses the grip on its axe in an attempt to slam Raven with the butt of the weapon but the elf has already moved back to the other leg to deliver a pair of slashes that leave the giant unbalanced and vulnerable to the rest of the party’s incoming attacks. Ra’ziir orders the remaining elementals to break off and protect the rearguard.   ...