stevekenson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevekenson) wrote2007-03-02 10:34 pm
stevekenson) wrote2007-03-02 10:34 pm
[RPG] Swords Against Khyber
Chapter 3: Maze of the Iron Minotaur
The party descends into the lower level of Blackhearth to discover it is a maze of twisting tunnels, containing the remains of some warforged apparently destroyed by traps they triggered. They also find the maze’s end: at the entrance to an even deeper underground passage to Khyber, the Underdark. In the antechamber is an iron statue of a minotaur and a pair of ancient pillars flanking the entrance to the tunnel. Old orcish script on the pillars reads: “Those below are bound for all time in Vvarrak’s name,” according to the translation by Maester Namuras.
In the tunnel, the heroes encounter some darkmantles and fight them off in the magical darkness they create. The minotaur takes the opportunity to seize Corlan as a bargaining chip, but releases him as a show of good faith. The party agrees to help the iron minotaur—a construct created by the artificers of Blackhearth during the Last War—to leave the magically warded lower level of the forge. In return, he reveals there is a wealth of Khyber dragonshards further down the tunnel, the reason why House Cannith built Blackhearth.
The adventurers brave a fire cave and lava flow to get the dragonshards, but a massive fire worm rises from a pool of lava and they’re forced to flee with what they have. The worm doesn’t pursue them and they’re able to leave the abandoned forge, only to encounter a band of warforged marauders. The warforged demand the dragonshards, but the adventurers are able to negotiate with them for access to Blackhearth, as the key only works for the dragonmarked and no warforged has manifested one. The Minotaur decides to remain with the warforged, which are more of “his kind” as part of the agreement, sending his rescuers back to Angwar Keep.
Game Play: Pretty smooth, for the most part. I figured out that initiative worked better dealing new cards each round: much more fluid (I’ve gotten too used to the d20 way of doing it). My house rule for “improvised” powers might be too restrictive, at least, the one opportunity that came up during the game was forgone due to the perceived difficulty, so I’ll need to consider that. Otherwise, the system worked pretty well, although it’s clearly not difficult to have an opponent the characters essentially can’t harm, like the fire worm. Fortunately, they were smart enough to run when faced with a fifty-foot worm made of volcanic stone!
The party descends into the lower level of Blackhearth to discover it is a maze of twisting tunnels, containing the remains of some warforged apparently destroyed by traps they triggered. They also find the maze’s end: at the entrance to an even deeper underground passage to Khyber, the Underdark. In the antechamber is an iron statue of a minotaur and a pair of ancient pillars flanking the entrance to the tunnel. Old orcish script on the pillars reads: “Those below are bound for all time in Vvarrak’s name,” according to the translation by Maester Namuras.
In the tunnel, the heroes encounter some darkmantles and fight them off in the magical darkness they create. The minotaur takes the opportunity to seize Corlan as a bargaining chip, but releases him as a show of good faith. The party agrees to help the iron minotaur—a construct created by the artificers of Blackhearth during the Last War—to leave the magically warded lower level of the forge. In return, he reveals there is a wealth of Khyber dragonshards further down the tunnel, the reason why House Cannith built Blackhearth.
The adventurers brave a fire cave and lava flow to get the dragonshards, but a massive fire worm rises from a pool of lava and they’re forced to flee with what they have. The worm doesn’t pursue them and they’re able to leave the abandoned forge, only to encounter a band of warforged marauders. The warforged demand the dragonshards, but the adventurers are able to negotiate with them for access to Blackhearth, as the key only works for the dragonmarked and no warforged has manifested one. The Minotaur decides to remain with the warforged, which are more of “his kind” as part of the agreement, sending his rescuers back to Angwar Keep.
Game Play: Pretty smooth, for the most part. I figured out that initiative worked better dealing new cards each round: much more fluid (I’ve gotten too used to the d20 way of doing it). My house rule for “improvised” powers might be too restrictive, at least, the one opportunity that came up during the game was forgone due to the perceived difficulty, so I’ll need to consider that. Otherwise, the system worked pretty well, although it’s clearly not difficult to have an opponent the characters essentially can’t harm, like the fire worm. Fortunately, they were smart enough to run when faced with a fifty-foot worm made of volcanic stone!
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Heh. Unlike our group that had to have it pointed out that unlike dragons, there is NOT a vampire for every level in 3rd ed..."There's 5 of us!" "Err....vampires start at 5th level...you're 2nd..." "Oh...hmmm...run away!"
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I have found the card-play mechanic a nice balance in terms of mixing up initiative without slowing down game-play. Having a card face-up in front of each player lets me see at a glance who goes first, next, and so forth.