Art Appreciation Post

Short post to show off the blogs banner art, made by my friend Emma. Made using watercolours and coloured pencils. The full image is sadly a little too large to use all of it as banner art and therefore I thought it prudent to give it its own post. I think it gives a good idea of a typical fantasy party; an elf in a green cloak, an axe wielding dwarf, a gnome wearing a pointy hat, and a tiefling, all taking a rest beneath a starlit sky. I am very happy to have the original piece framed at home. 

If you're reading this Emma, thank you for not only being a great artist but also a wonderful friend.

 

by Emma Svensson

Against the Cult of the Recap God

Following up from the adventures in the Keep on the Borderlands, that party has since continued their adventures in the classic adventure: Against the Cult of the Reptile God. For a bit of background on the previous events of this mini-campaign see the "reviewcap" of that module. It is worth noting that this campaign is set in the world of the Hill Cantons, so certain setting-specific adjustments were made during the course of the adventure. 

Written below is a recap of the events of this particular playthrough, with a brief review of the module itself at the very end. Happy reading! 

Characters

• Bear Stormpissed - Level 5 Fighter
• Jarno Ironbraid - Level 5 Dwarf
• Pearl the Reckless - Level 5 Magic-User

Followers

• Dromat - Level 3 Fighter 
• Ranulf - Level 2 Fighter
• Galdrel - Level 2 Elf
• Argo - Loyal Dog
• Mika - War Ocelot

Graveyard

• Hillcox - Level 1 Fighter
• Banjo - War Dog

Note: Character levels are taken from the end of the adventure. 

Cover Art by Tim Truman

Action Report

Following up their adventures in the Caves of Chaos the party travels northwards to investigate the mysterious village of Orlane. The group had previously heard rumours of people of the village mysteriously disappearing only for some to return acting strangely, seemingly without memories of their previous lives. 

On their way to the village the party find two dead elves. Upon further inspecting these bodies the players find a letter wherein the local boyar of Orlane asks for help in uncovering a supposed conspiracy. 

Arriving in the village the party find it to be very still and near dead place. Villagers seem to hole up in their houses and visiting the nearest inn they find it to be occupied by many unsavoury patrons. Regardless the party purchase a room though they refuse all offers of free drinks from one of the other patrons. 

Following up on the letter they found on the road, the party decide to pay a visit to the local boyar. Meeting with the man who is named Zacharias and after dispelling any suspicionsm, they are told that the village seems to be under some sort of a curse. For a year the people have periodically been going missing with only some returning, many people have also packed up and left the town due to this. Zacharias himself suspects an old sorcerer living in a nearby grove named Ramne to be behind the disappearances. 

Before heading back to the inn the party investigate the grove but are turned back after Pearl is temporarily blinded by the sorcerer himself who shouts for the party to leave. 

The groups rest is interrupted by a sudden ambush during the night, luckily both Dromat and Argo are able to hear something approaching and warn the rest of the group. The ambushers themselves are a duo of strange ill-smelling lizardmen whom the party are able to easily dispatch. 

The party leave the inn only to hear the screams of several people echoing across the nearby hills. Following the sound the party discover tracks which seems to lead from the now ransacked boyars manor all the way into a large and fetid marshland. 

The party spend their night in the manor and the next day once again decide to try and follow the tracks into the marsh. In this they are ultimately successful and the party finds themselves entering into a strange barrow-like structure dug into a mound of earth. After fighting some guards and exploring the first few rooms finding nothing, the party make their way back to the village. 

Once again the group visit Ramne the magician who learning of the partys excursion into the swamp immediately warms up to them. According to him the village is plagued by a strange cult dedicated to some sort of serpent known only as Explicitica Defilus. The village sun-dome Ramne says,is one of their headquarters and he urges the characters to mount a raid against it, offering to help himself. 

The characters take him up on his offer and together they discover what Ramne has said is in fact true, as the temple houses several chaotic monks whom the party manages to defeat before concluding their scouting mission. 

Realizing that this cult must be the very same the party faced at the end of their adventures in the Caves of Chaos they decide to leave the village and head north to the city of Dregendorf to rest up and gather supplies and men-at-arms before mounting a proper assault against the village temple. 

Arriving in the city of Dregendorf itself the party purchase both supplies and spend some time in the alehouse carousing. Finding the city much to their like they all pool their resources and buy a townhouse in the city. Through having a bit too much to drink Bear manages to drunkenly marry a woman working at a nearby "house of pleasure". Luckily for both parties the match is in fact a good one and the two fall in love. 

With their larders stocked and with three new hirelings and several animals acquired, the group make their way back to the village of Orlane to wrest it from the cult of Explicitca Defilus. 

Check out Petar Gnip for some great maps for the adventure

A Return in Force

As the group ride into Orlane they are saddened to find the grove of Ramne burnt to the ground with no trace of the wizard. As it is nighttime they all decide to immediately take revenge for the old mage and mount an attack against the corrupted sun-dome. 

Delving through the upper levels the party discover many normal amenities such as a kitchen and common room, though importantly also a trapdoor which leads the party into an underground complex. Here they fight and defeat a half-ogre and also come into conflict with a group of robo-dwarves. These almost kill the party by collapsing the ceiling on top of them, though the party are able to flee before this happens. 

Heading further down into a natural cave system, the group find two cells with a prisoner in each. One is one of Zacharias' two daughters and the other a man simply calling himself Frank. Both had been captured and taken below, being used as servants for the evil clerics above. 

Heading back up to the temple proper the party take an alternative route and come face to face with the turncoat head cleric. She is paralyzed by use of a wand and slain, but not before she is able to kill Frank. 

Finding no other routes the party take a large staircase leading up to the top floor of the temple. Here they encounter and defeat a large group of skeletons and are almost ambushed by a group of goblins throwing burning oil. As the characters are busy fighting the goblins a woman with scales and snakes eyes appear in one of the doorways, beginning to weave a magic spell. Thankfully she too is paralyzed by use of the wand and captured as the group defeat the last of the temples inhabitants. 

As the group discuss their next course of action the paralysis wears off and the woman is able to take the form of a large snake and slither out of her bonds, fleeing into the night. As they still consider the village to be hostile territory the players once again travel to Dregendorf to rest up. 

---

Returning to the the marsh for their final assault against the cult, the party are overjoyed to find Ramne waiting for them! Being a mage of great power he easily escaped the mob of angry villagers who burnt down his house, now joining the party to free Orlane of its curse. 

Delving through the lair of the reptile cult the PCs encounter many strange creatures; a caged woman with the appearance like that of a songbird, several more lizardmen, one giant weasel and several giant snakes, loosing their hireling Hillcox on the way. The party also encounter the ghost of the mayor of Orlane. Speaking with him, the party swear to defeat the reptile cult and rescue his remaining family. 

Heading through a secret door the party come face to face with the snake-eyed priestess they had previously captured. As battle is drawn she turns into a giant snake and summons undead to aid her against the party. Though Bear is bitten by her poisonous fangs he is able to resist its effects, Jarnos dog Banjo is sadly not so lucky and perishes. The party are ultimately able to slay the priestess and take from her the keys needed to open the nearby prisons. 

Inside the cells the party find Zacharias eldest daughter and wife but also a magician none of them recognize going by the name Glamdalf, claiming he had traveled north looking for an oracle to answer several cryptic dreams. All three have managed to resist the hypnotic gaze of Explicitica Defilus, and have been kept here awaiting whatever grisly end the cult has planned for them. 

After enlisting the captives the party tacitly enter the chamber of the serpent goddess, readying themselves for battle. They hears a loud hiss as the horrific creature appears, slinging a deadly fireball towards them. Realizing the grave danger the party is in, Ramne throws himself before the front line - absorbing the attack and getting brunt to ash. Little time is left for the party to grieve as the hypnotic gaze as all who are clear of mind can hear the approach of many angry lizardmen. 

As another spell puts many of the hirelings to sleep, those awake make a desperate effort to defeat Explicitica. Jarno and Galdrel are turned by Expliciticas hypnotic gaze and begin attacking their party members, leaving Bear to fend for himself in the front row. With the aid of a clutch light spell from Glamdalf, Bear is able to duel and slay using his enchanted blade Moonblood.

The party gather what they can from the hoard of Explicitica and rush their way out of the underground temple, before they are overrun by lizardmen. Arriving on the outside they let out a sigh of relief as they are greeted by the morning sun. 

As they travel back to Dregendorf the party reunite Zacharias family and say their goodbyes to Glamdalf. Before leaving he helps identify the PCs magical items, telling them to beware of events in the south. The party decide to spend their next few weeks in the city, taking some well earned rest. 

by Jim Holloway

GM Thoughts

By jove was this adventure a banger! It should be noted that as of me posting this, it has been a little less than a year since the events described herein were played through, the campaign having ended since then. In total the adventure was played through in eight total sessions, being sessions eight though fifteen of the campaign. 

Using keep on the borderlands as part of the set-up for this adventure worked really well, especially since this adventure is not as low-level friendly as you might expect (more on that later). The final battle against Explictica Defilus really felt like the culmination of a an epic quest against the cult as a result of this interweaving (one of the players even cried when Ramne sacrificed himself). I would absolutely recommend this approach to anyone else who wants to run both these modules in succession. 

As the characters were more mid-level no one had the displeasure of having their PC die throughout this adventure. In contrast to general OSR attitudes I actually do think this is quite a nice thing. It is rare that having your character die is a positive experience, though I think the risk of character death is important to establishing stakes in any given situation. A few deaths on the part of the party hirelings or animals only reinforce these stakes whilst not harming the PCs themselves. 

This is not to say that I "went easy" on the players or fudged the dice. The PCs survived the adventure mostly in part to their own burgeoning player-skills (and of course a little luck considering the high amount of instant-death poison in the adventure). The growth of the Players themselves was quite notable when put in contrast to the groups previous adventures. Considering their approach and plan of attack when encountering monsters, as well as keeping a good feel for whether they were in over their head is the biggest reason for why this adventure did not see any PC deaths. 

At the end of the keep of the borderlands i bemoaned me not throwing in more Hill Cantons specific creatures and concepts. This time around was a little better, as i filled the Orlane with various enemies emblematic of the setting. Still more could have been done, and I feel like the campaign was not really served by setting it in the Hill Cantons as opposed to some other generic fantasyland. 

The one caveat is the crossovers that were made possible by having the game set in the same world as the "main" hill cantons campaign. The appearance of Glamdalf at the eleventh hour of the adventure was a happy surprise to the player who knew who he was, as well as a fun bit of colour for the other players. I made extensive use of fantasy calendar to keep strict time records and keep track of events. This way I was successfully able to provide a sense of scale and distance between the two games, with characters in one game hearing about events taking place in the other. 

I have written about having high level NPCs in the party before, and I applied the lessons learned from then to now (both Glamdalf and Ramne were left for the party to control like hirelings for example). It should be noted that when the party found Glamdalf he had no spells memorised and the party had to expend a rare potion to generate him a set of new ones randomly, thus requiring the party to spend a rare resource. No player complained about the railroad-like death of Ramne, and I think that if he had been allowed to take part in the final battle it would have felt like a deus ex machina. 

by Harry Quinn

The Module

Against the cult of the reptile god is a module that successfully meshes an investigatory start with some classic dungeon-crawling. At 36 pages it presents both a couple smaller dungeons and a nicely fleshed out village, with better layout than other modules of a similar ilk (the Village of Hommlet comes to mind). I find that the beginning of the module is the stronger part, having a very strong hook for the party to investigate. This investigation is however not without its flaws. 

I would suggest removing one or two of the friendly NPCs in the adventure (the wizard, the mayor, the two elves), as having too much assistance at the very start of the adventure lessens the need for the players to run their own investigation. For this reason I actually think that the wizard Ramne makes for the best ally out of these three as he needs convincing to aid the party. His assistance essentially serves as a reward for the players once they have identified the village temple as the centre of the conspiracy. As an added benefit he can also help lead the party towards the main complex if the GM doesn't want to bother with the party searching the marsh. If the GM thinks that their players would feel overshadowed by having a high level NPC in the party you might de-level him to alleviate this. 

This adventure is not very 1st level friendly, regardless of what the cover might state. The troglodytes that are a main enemy in the adventure make for very powerful opponents, and even a few of them might easily overpower smaller parties. As the cult will actively send agents to combat the PCs there isn't always a lot the players can do to prepare themselves for these battles and as such they should not be able to simply crush the party. Explictica Defilus herself makes for an incredibly imposing opponent for a party who might have only reached second level, being able to potentially wipe out the party with her fireball, sleep, or web spells. 

Having this adventure be the second or third in a larger campaign solves a lot of the issues with the adventure. A lot of the scenarios are not nearly as deadly, and even the high level NPCs do not outshine the characters as much if they are of a more comparable level to the party. This way the GM can also seed rumours about the village before the characters arrive. 

I think this adventure has aged very well when put into comparison with other contemporary adventures. A lot of the mainstream discussion around RPGs these days are very focused around the story as something pre-prepared by the GM, though heavily influenced by the backstories of the PCs. This module certainly has a very strong narrative while still being a very open-ended adventure. Running this for players more familiar with 5th edition I don't think it would stand out, in fact I would say that AtCotRG shares more with Lost Mines of Phandelver than it does the Village of Hommlet. 

Running this adventure a potential second time, I would most likely run it the same as here. The focus on roleplaying in the first half will undoubtedly make any new playthrough very different than the last. This I think is what earns the adventure it's status as a classic. 

Hill Cantons - Session 11

Here I am again back with another Hill Cantons recap! This session was actually played more than two months ago, so expect a big combination-recap coming up soon. Happy reading! 

Characters

• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 5 Cleric
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 4 Psychonaut
• Natalie Bukowski (new) - Level 4 Monk

Followers

• Stephen (new) - Man-at-arms
• Katja (new) - Man-at-arms
• Alexei (new) - Man-at-arms
• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Tom - Trained Badger

Action Report

Following their previous adventures in the Glittering Tower, Lasryn and Frankopan say adieu to Luka as he rows off eastwards headed for the port of Bystrica. There he will spend some time contemplating the adventures thus far and scribe some new spells. Figuring that two persons are not enough to continue exploring the dungeons, the other two head back to Kugelberg where they hope to recruit some additional travelers. 

Once they arrive they are met by Natalie Bukowski; a monk traveling the cantons in search of herself, abandoned by her former party for her infectiously positive disposition. The three companions decide to then spend the rest of the day having a picnic before heading off towards the northerly town of Muth the next day to look for hirelings. 

During their rest in the old smith's barn the characters uncover a strange golden chariot, but decide to question Jaromir about it in the morning. Going back to sleep, both Lasryn and Frankopan each have a strange dream... 

Lasryn finds herself standing on one of the dunes around the Glittering Tower, looking out across the sea towards the misty isles beyond. The surrounding night sky is suddenly broken by a speck of light going across the sky, clearly seen by Lasryn to be a golden chariot pulled by chargers with burning manes. As the chariot passes over the isles the mists are briefly parted and a paradisiacal green and forested place can be seen before the chariot zooms past and clouding the sky in darkness. 

Frankopan's dreams take him to a featureless plain, stood face to face with what seems a perfect copy of himself. He hears a phrase and as if possessed proceeds to attack his lookalike, slashing him until he dies. 

The next morning the party confront Jaromir about the chariot in the barn but get nothing but reflections in answer. Eventually Jaromir leaves to fetch firewood with Frankopan following close behind him. When the two are alone the smith grabs Frankopan by the shoulders, telling him he has had prophetic dreams - a shadow is approaching, and it comes to claim the lives of the group. 

The suitably shaken party say their goodbyes and leave for the north. During their two days of travel nothing eventful happens aside from happening upon a group of rooster-headed bards. The two groups have a pleasant conversation, though nothing ultimately comes of it. 

Arriving in Muth the characters are dismayed to find the town to be incredibly run down. Tall rickety and mildewed wooden buildings shield dark alleyways where shady fish-eyed townsfolk furtively eye the party. The party stock up on supplies and hire three men-at-arms at the local tavern, one of the less run down buildings in the town. Frankopan procures a tall brimmed hat which along with his trenchcoat gives him a suitably mysterious appearance. 

Exploring the town the seaside the party come across an "acropolis like" temple standing out like a sore thumb between the wooden townhouses on either side of it. Knocking on the temple doors, the party meet a strange looking priest of Dagon named brother Occhus. Conversing with the priest the party are offered a job; northward along the coast there is supposed to live a powerful magician by the name of Cetus the plangent who supposedly has taken a horn-like artifact holy to the Cult of Dagon. At the promise of great rewards the party buys a fishing boat, wanting to speed up their travel to the wizards tower. 

Arriving at the island where the wizard is supposed to live, the party first stop by the nearby village of Imbrich. Speaking with the locals, the party find them to be friendly although visually similar to the fish-eyed inhabitants of Muth. Learning about a nearby group of beached whales the party decide to investigate. 

The party are surprised to discover that one of the whales is strange hue of hot pink. They are able to have a rudimentary conversation by asking questions aloud and being able to read the whales mental response. Through this process it is discovered that this pink whale is in fact Cetus himself! The group learn of the location of the horn, the bottom of Cetus "undertower" but also that it is guarded by a monster which Frankopan only receives a brief mental image of. Before leaving Cetus to die (as is his wish) the party help push the other whales back into the sea and promise the wizard to lay to rest the spirit of his beloved dead wife. 

GM Thoughts

After having a few character deaths this session ended up being focused on finding something to do whilst Luka's player has a vacation for about a month. In a sense this became a sort of "filler" session (perhaps set-up would be better?), where the characters didn't do much "adventuring" but instead did a lot of in-character roleplaying and spoke with a bunch of NPC's. As a GM this was highly enjoyable as I got to flex some of my acting muscles playing both the old smith and brother Occhus. 

Narrating cryptic dreams is something I have done many times before, and I thought both dreams from this session went over quite well! The players were left pondering what these dreams meant, each having their own theories. 

Since my players have never read any pulp fiction, the references to Dagon and this strange horn went totally over their heads. This I think is really cool! I was not aware how familiar with my players were with Lovecraft or 1980s fantasy films, but it turns out they barely are at all. Expect this game to feature a lot more evil sorcerers and unknowable horrors in the future. 

Hill Cantons - Session 10

Another session, another play report! Considering last session was quite uneventful, this time around the characters once again lept into the action - delving down into the dungeons of the Glittering Tower. Happy reading! 

Characters

• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 4 Cleric
• Luka Winograd - Level 3 White Wizard
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 3 Psychonaut

Followers

• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Mojo & Mavi - Baboons
• Sir Duke - Squirrel Monkey
• Tom - Trained Badger

Graveyard

• Asim "Ace" Bakir - Level 4 Mountebank

Pirates Cove, by Midjourney

Action Report

Waking up from the previous day of adventuring, the party find the servants of the glittering tower busying themselves with the removal of the eld instillations on the upper floors. After a quick chat with Pan Orso the group is directed towards the dungeons of the tower in order to clear them out. 

Heading down the staircase the party find themselves in a large hall illuminated by a strange pink gemstone hanging above from an alcove. The party notice several silvery grooves carved into the ceiling, which Luka manages to figure out are depictions of leylines all converging at the glowing pink gem. 

The group decide not to mess with the gem and instead head through the first of the room's eight doors. Here they find a smaller cluttered room filled with broken shelves and crockery. With some further investigation the party find a chest put against the wall, on which there is a mural depicting a human-like figure. Frankopan opens the chest and the Mural on the wall behind suddenly comes alive and attacks the party! Luckily the party act quickly, and are able to destroy the mimic before it can do any harm. 

Going through a western hallway the group enter a room filled with ropes alongside a large statue of a bear. Finding nothing besides a strange smell of sea the group return to the main chamber once more. 

Before they can enter another one of the doors they hear a strange deep chatter. As they hide in the room with the broken crockery the source of the noise enters one of the other rooms and disappears. The group quickly move on and enter one of the large hall's eastern doors. 

Inside they find piles of old cloth, which after moved reveal the skeletons of several rats arranged in a strange circle. Suitably weirded out they progress to another chamber where they find rows of jars containing an orange goo. Finally the group enter a third chamber wherein they find a boat made of reeds, alongside a couple oars and what looks to be a wall painted black with small points of white light. The party toss a rock against the wall only to find it floating through and into it, as if the door is a portal into outer space. 

The party make their way back towards the large hall and are surprised to once again hear the chattering noise, this time coming from the room with the rat skeletons. The group burst into the room managing to surprise the two large white apes inside, making short work of them via a very successful backstab by Ace. As the group congratulate themselves on their victory, they hear even more voices from the door leading into the large hall. Fankopan quickly sets up a snare at the door, and the party ready themselves for yet another battle. 

As the door is opened, three small fishy-looking figures enter. Two are caught by the snare whilst the other charges the group seeing his companions captured. The party quickly find that their weapons are totally ineffective against the hide of the creature, with only Frankopan being able to hurt it using silvered arrows. By using his charm person spell, Ace is able to stop the fighting and begin a parley. 

The little creature introduces himself as Pingu, telling the party that he is a lesser wereshark and part of the crew of Ondrj (whom the party had entered the dungeons with the intention to kill as per the wishes of Medved). Pingu is convinced to lead the party to Ondrj so that the party can make an alliance with him. He also pokes fun at his captured companions and is even fine with leaving them hanging, laughing at their misfortune. The party takes the opportunity to let Ace and Pingu walk ahead as they finish off the snared weresharks. 

Pingu leads the group to the room with ropes and proceeds to move the large statue, revealing a trapdoor underneath. Following the trapdoor into a long corridor, the characters are led to a large cove with a moored ship. Luka goes invisible so passes inside unseen as Lasryn blesses the group in case things turn hostile. 

The party are led up on the ship, coming face-to-face with Ondrj the reaver - pseudo-god of weresharks. Some light mind-reading by Frankopan discerns that Ondrj has to restrain himself to not immediately attack them. Ondrj suggests that the party kill Medved, something he would pay a kingly sum for. The conversation winds on, seemingly going nowhere. As Ondrj seems to have lowered his guard Ace attempts a hypnotism spell which lulls one lesser wereshark to sleep but enrages Ondrj. 

A desperate battle ensues between the party and the pirates. Frankopan is wounded by one of the weresharks, yet Ace suffers the most as he is cut down, his last words in Himyari lost on his fellows. Luka luckily casts a light spell, blinding Ondrj and allowing the party to strike back and slay the weresharks - including Ondrj - using their blessed weapons. 

Lasryn makes several desperate prayers to resurrect Ace, offering both her services and much material wealth. Her cries go unanswered and the Sun Lord remains silent. The characters somberly loot the sizable hoard of treasure from the ship and bring the body of Ace to the surface to bury. 

Reporting their success to Medved they are offered  a small reward of gold and a magical item from the master's treasury; a pair of gauntlets of ogre power. Burying Ace, the group take their rest in the now reclaimed upper levels of the tower. 

Player's Map of the Dungeon

GM Thoughts 

RIP Ace! It's always sad when a character that has been part of a game for it's entire run passes away, but such is life I suppose! His death was caused equally by very good rolls on my part along with a lack of hit points (11 hp max at 4th level). I don't think of this game as being particularly lethal, but at this point a fair few characters have been lost adventuring through the Hill Cantons. 

Luka's player wasn't here for the session and so he was relegated to NPC status. The player will in fact be gone for quite a while and so expect some time before everyones favorite monkey-monger appears again. 

The party has at this point dealt some serious damage to the Eld plans for the dunes AND killed Ondrj which has left a power vacuum that will inevitably be filled by the servants of Medved. For the high price of both Ace and Paula, the party has certainly granted the master a second wind which will finally allow the bears to begin reasserting themselves as the rulers of the dunes - a positive development to be sure!

One thing I have noticed whilst playing through the Slumbering Ursine Dunes is that though there is not lack of danger, I find the amount of treasure to be lacking. At the very least the gain is not equal to the danger, as many times over there are masses of high hit dice opponents with no treasure to be found, the upper levels of the tower being a prime example. Ondrj doesn't seem like he has an amount of treasure befitting a legendary pirate figure, so for this session I also rolled on an appropriate treasure table to bulk out his hoard. 

Hill Cantons - Session 09

This ended up being quite a short session with not a lot happening, therefore this recap is naturally also shorter than most. This also means that there was little for me to reflect on, hence no "GM Thoughts" section either. In any case, happy reading!

Characters

• Asim "Ace" Bakir - Level 4 Mountebank
• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 4 Cleric
• Luka Winograd - Level 3 White Wizard
• Frankopan Vladislav - Level 3 Psychonaut

Followers

• Nosewise - Old but loyal dog
• Mojo & Mavi - Baboons
• Sir Duke - Squirrel Monkey
• Tom - Trained Badger

Action Report

Continuing the action from last session, the party grieve the death of Paula as they prepare to storm the third floor of the glittering tower. Luka had previously scouted the floor whilst invisible by climbing up one of the ladders leading there. Inside he found an eld captain berating two technicians surrounded by a variety of strange materials. 

After some deliberating the party use a phantasmal forces spell from Ace to make the three eld believe the roof is caving in, knocking out the captain and "wounding" the others. 

The party charge up the ladders to face off against the last eld. As Frankopan climbs up the top one of the eld seem to recognize him. The eld shouts a phrase at Frankopan which sees him suddenly turn around and attack the rest of the party! Luckily Luka has a Light spell on hand, blinding his companion as the rest of the group finish off the last eld. The party then use a rope to tie up the now impotent Frankopan. 

Luka loots a strange tube-like device from the eld captain, which with his great intelligence he works out is a ranged weapon of sorts. A test shot reveals the weapon fires large balls of goo. Lasryn climbs a central ladder to the roof of the tower, finding the top empty of anything besides a large steel tube. Satisfied, she climbs down as the rest of the party begin to interrogate Frankopan. 

To their surprise he seems to have no memory of attacking his fellow party members, nor of the phrase the eld spoke at him. The party release him from his bonds and then decide to report their successful clearing of the upper levels to the master, though not before smashing the eld equipment they find in the room. 

On their way downstairs the party notice that the two large humming metal boxes stood at the top of the stairs seem to have strange hand shaped indents. Thinking quickly, the group run back and cut off the hands of the captain which they then press into the indents. As they do, the boxes cease their humming. The characters notice a sudden shift in temperature as the room suddenly gets a lot less cold, and a gust of fresh sweet smelling air drifts in from the outside. 

The party descend the stairs to report their success to the Master below. They are a bit miffed at the reward of 1000gp and a couple spells considering the death of their companion, but still decide to take Medved up on his request of ejecting his semi-divine "cousin" Ondrj from the lower levels of the tower. 

The party hold a small but sombre burial for Paula, and then settle in for the night. As they listen to the gentle sounds of waves washing against the sand they are approached by Pan Orso, the majordomo of the tower. The party and the old soldier bear have a long and pleasant conversation, with Pan Orso telling them the story of the dunes creation as they are slowly lulled to sleep. 

Paula blinds Lady Szara

Paula & Fifi

Keep on the Borderlands, a Reviewcap

Having run my Hill Cantons campaign for several months in person by this point, there are always those who for some reason cannot commit to meeting in person that regularly. For some of those friends of mine that would normally not be able to join in person I have been running a mini-campaign playing through the titular module. 

The campaign is set concurrently with the regular Hill Cantons campaign, being set in the more northerly borderlands province of Hoimatbuch (I decided to base it loosely on Austria). With continual squabbling between the various petty fiefdoms the area has been left without a strong central power to protect the people of the province. 

Aside from the recap itself some GM thoughts as well as a mini-review of module have also been included below, happy reading! 

Characters

• Bear Stormpissed - Level 4 Fighter
• Jarno Ironbraid - Level 4 Dwarf
• Pearl the Reckless - Level 4 Magic-User
• Huldovic Klyvballe - Level 3 Fighter

Followers

• Dromat - Level 1 Fighter 
• Pavel - Level 1 Thief
• Argo - Loyal Dog

Graveyard

• Jutta Longbeard - Level 2 Dwarf
• Belnar Longbeard - Level 1 Dwarf
• Etti Fogcrest - Level 1 Elf
• Men-at-arms - x11
• Torchbearers - x3

Note: Character levels are taken from the end of the adventure. 

A certified classic? by Dave Trampier

Action Report

Meeting up at a fort near the southern border towards the Hill Cantons our dramatis personae are as follows; Bear Stormpissed, a former mercenary and self described "power twink"; Belnar Longbeard, a dwarvish scoundrel and all-round asshole; and Etti Fogcrest, a plump elf who has distanced herself from her fae heritage. 

The characters find themselves contacted by a local noble named Hermann von Hyggvald. The man explains his brother was traveling to meet him in the local capital of Dregendorf when he and his entourage was ambushed and captured by goblinoids from a local series of Caves. Hermann offers the party a rich sum of 3000 gold suns for the retrieval of his brother and his sister in law, giving the party 500 suns up front with which to outfit themselves and hire additional help. 

After a series of short delves into the caves fighting everything from kobolds to goblins, Belnar is killed by a local Ogre whilst Etti is speared to death by a goblin (not to mention the many hirelings who perish during these delves). The two are replaced by; Pearl the Reckless, a mage who lives up to her name both in the dungeon and the alehouse; and Jutta Longbeard, the daughter of Belnar whom had come to track down her deadbeat dad. The party eventually manage to fight and trick their way to the hobgoblin prisons and rescue the prisoners therein. The brother of von Hyggvald and his wife are are rescued from near death and the party return triumphantly to the keep. 

The party spends their next series of adventures exploring the lands around the keep itself, and hearing rumours of treasure in the dens of a nearby group of Lizardmen they decide to investigate. In this the party is joined by Huldovic Klyvballe; a warrior on a quest to cleave as many schlongs in twain as she possibly can. The party also enlist aid from Pearl's continual hookup Pavel, whom had been the one to originally tell the party of the treasure. Though the party defeat the lizardmen in a desperate battle, Jutta is sadly slain in the process. Pavel claims a magic sword as his share and subsequently heads off to the capital to meet with a supposed buyer. The rest of the group divide the treasure amongst themselves with Pearl taking one of the eggs to raise as her own. 

The group spends the next expedition exploring the so-called "cave of the unknown" and find it to be overrun by ghouls. They slay many of the undead, rescuing the cave's resident oracle and her dog Argo from the creatures and leaving them behind as they head back to the keep. 

As the characters are preparing their next delve, they are surprised to once again encounter Pavel only for the man to remember none of them. All attempts to reconnect with Pavel are met with failure, and eventually he goes back the way he came. The only explanations the party find are vague rumours of a strange town up north where folks seem to be loosing their memories. 

Before the party can investigate further Argo arrives at the keep seeming worried. Following Argo the party find a raided campsite and signs of a struggle. The characters come to the conclusion that the Oracle has been kidnapped and use Argo to follow her track. Eventually the tracks end up leading them back to the Caves of Chaos, specifically a cave which the party had been told was inhabited by humans. 

After encountering strange acolytes as well as various undead creatures and a gelatinous cube, the party eventually manage to find the tracks of the oracle. Sneaking past perfumed pleasure dens the group make their way to the main chapel of what they now figure to be a strange snake cult. 

As they burst into the chapel the group are shocked to discover the oracle captured and about to be sacrificed in what is clearly a demonic ritual. The party valiantly charges the assembled cultists, making short work of most of them. This is still not enough to stop the head priest from performing the sacrifice and ushering forth a giant frog demon from the depths of the hot hells. As the situation seems the most hopeless Huldovic throws herself against the frog demon whilst tossing a heap of burning oil against the now jubilant high priest. The oil miraculously burns the priest to death, whilst with a single desperate stroke Huldovic slashes the crotch of the demon sending it back to whichever dank place it came from. 

With her last breath the oracle grants her last bit of power onto Pearl. Finally the party loot the priests chambers before retreating back to the keep to celebrate their victory. All the characters spend some time carousing, with Pearl hooking up with Dromat - a Brazonian exile and the groups last surviving hireling. The party finally decide to take their leave of the caves and further investigate the strange reports of people loosing their memories, trekking north to the village which they by now have learnt the name of: Orlane. 

by Jim Roslof

GM Thoughts

This game has so far been a blast to run with a lot of the sessions being played whenever me and the players have the time (which has so far been multiple times a week). The first session of this campaign was in fact the longest I have ever played, totaling around eight hours. In total the adventures took place over a total of seven sessions. 

What I initially found interesting was the high amount of character deaths at first and second level. This was largely skipped during the Hill Cantons campaign due to the speed at which the characters leveled up, but here it was really apparent how vulnerable low level characters really are. I'm also sure that the greenness of some of the players in this campaign also was a contributing factor as it has either been a long time since some last played D&D or they have never played before at all. 

At this point the party has survived the grinder of lower levels and are now beginning to become the types of characters that can both take and deal out a hit. Bear especially has by this point acquired both a set a magical platemail and a magic sword, alongside having rolled incredibly high on his hit point rolls. The fighter class is one which I don't see nearly as much as the other "basic" class types and I'm happy to have it nicely represented in this campaign. 

I have tried to interlink this adventure with the next one (can you guess which one?) as best as possible, which in hindsight has worked quite well. The way I've directed the players has been very natural so far, even though this is not a sandbox the players have very willingly bought into the "adventure path" (or railroad if I'm being unkind to myself). In this way I think starting with a more sandboxy module and getting more linear from there is a good idea, since it gives the players time to buy into their characters and the setting as well. 

One thing I regret about setting this adventure in the world of the Hill Cantons is the lack of setting specific monsters and treasures. Aside from the frog demon and parts of the snake cult it has all been very vanilla fantasy stuff, which is something I would have liked to change. Perhaps this is not as bad as I think though, as since a couple players are very new it might be good to have a more vanilla introduction before things get truly strange. 

Lovely cover art by Jim Roslof

The Module

Does this adventure deserve its status as a classic? I certainly think so. The content to page count ratio is quite high, the amount of mileage you get from its 30 or so pages is really quite a lot. I'm sure the characters could have stayed in the caves for many sessions more if they had wanted to. 

The fact that the tentpole dungeon - the Caves of Chaos - is made from many separate small caves is also great since it allows a GM to simply drop in one of the caves somewhere on its own should they be in need of a quick dungeon. 

The keep itself is fine enough, very utilitarian as a home base and not very intricately detailed. I am not the first to notice, but a lot of the NPCs described therein are perhaps more villainous than the various humanoid groups in the caves. Having run this module twice now I'd like to run it one final time "in reverse" with the players being part of one of the various humanoid groups making raids against the keep. 

Much has been written in regards to the largely problematic nature of this module, something to which I readily agree. In the two times I've run this adventure I've generally played it very straight ("what are you going to do about those orc babies?"). I think this adventure generally works when your style of play is more "beer and pretzels", as has been the case both times I've run this adventure. 

I really do think the adventure kind of falls apart when you really do take it seriously. It makes very little sense to be rooting for the characters when they invade the homes of and kill sentient humanoids without provocation. Framing the initial delve as a hostage rescue did make the initial delve somewhat more justified, which was also helped by the players being happy to negotiate with and ignore those humanoid groups that were not involved in the kidnapping. Each time the players came across humanoid civilians they either scared them away or circumvented them. 

Framing the human cultists as the real threat is also something which I would consider an idea. Perhaps the humanoids would normally live in the valley peacefully if it were not for the influence of the real bad guys. This also opens up for the potential for the players to take a more diplomatic stance. A campaign centered around social conflict and by diplomatic means turning the humanoids against the cultists sounds like a fun time! 

I would still recommend the adventure, with the caveat that GMs should take care to consider if their players are the type to stop and think "are we the baddies?". If so perhaps this is not the adventure for you. At least I think the GM needs to add additional reasons for why the players should charge headfirst into the home of some kobold. 

Hill Cantons - Session 08

Hello again! This session was mostly focused on exploring the area and getting to the Glittering Tower, as the characters find their footing in the Slumbering Ursine Dunes. Many hijinks were had and all in all I thought this was really quite a fun session! In any case I hope it is at least half as fun to read after the fact 

Characters

• Asim "Ace" Bakir - Level 4 Mountebank
• Lasryn Thunderhammer - Level 4 Cleric
• Luka Winograd - Level 3 White Wizard
• Petar "Duckboy" Mihailovic (New) - Level 1 Druid

Followers

• Mojo & Mavi - Baboons
• Sir Duke - Squirrel Monkey
• Tom - Trained Badger
• Strawberry (New) - Donkey

Graveyard

• Paula Puddlelob - Level 2 Gnome
• Fifi - Chihuahua Familiar

Action Report

Picking up from last session, the party are alerted by Paula to the danger approaching her in the cave. After leveling up and developing a fear of boogeymen, Frankopan flees as Paula screams for help against a quickly approaching wall of darkness. Acting quickly the party successfully yank Paula out of the hole, though not before she takes a nasty hit from whatever creature is attacking her. 

As the party recuperate they are joined by Petar "Duckboy" Mihailovic; a druidic acolyte seeking the glittering tower for news of his supposed masters, joined by his donkey Strawberry. 

After introductions are made the party once again take a look down into the cave only to find it pitch black. Hoping to maybe blind whatever creature they are facing, Luka throws a light spell into the hole which seemingly dispels the darkness. Luka and Ace just manage catch a glimpse of the strange creature as it flees further into the cave. After a quick vote the party decide to take their leave of the current clearing to backtrack and try to find their way to the Glittering Tower instead. 

Going past some of the centaur toll-collectors, Paula decides to make a rude hand sign which enrages the four centaurs present. Paula and one of the Centaurs challenge each other to a one-on-one which is interrupted halfway through before the centaur can pummel Paula to death with its hooves. Petar pretends to be a centaur which serves as a much needed distraction, allowing the party to intervene and apologize for the situation. Paula eventually gives the centaur twenty gold pieces which ends the altercation. 

After passing by an ironwood grove and slaying a wayward giant snake, the characters proceed to go south eventually arriving at a large four-way intersection with a wind chime of human bones hanging from a nearby ironwood tree. 

The party debate their next move but eventually vote to go east to explore more of the dunes. To their surprise they end up at a large field of rye with several paths going out of it. As the party discuss their next move, Strawberry wanders into the field only to come back running in pain. The party investigate the donkey to find a strange black spot on her stomach. Lasryn tosses a torch into the dry field in an attempt to set it alight in retribution. This has no effect however as there is a rustling in the rye from where the torch lands. Luka attempts the same and starts lighting a fire at the edge of the field. 

As Luka hunches down with his tinderbox several figures spring from the field. They are short and bearded with wild eyes and wielding sickles, recognized as poleviks. Even though they make several attacks against Luka, the party manages to calm the situation and are told to leave immediately. Petar gives one of the poleviks a potion of unknown liquid which gives him the ability to fly. The party make a break for a southern path on the far side of the field as the other poleviks look on as their comrade flies circles around the clearing. The party manage to get though without taking any damage as Ace causes a distraction by making an illusory fire on the far side of the field using phantasmal forces. 

Going south, the party arrive at a large amphitheatre guarded by several war bears bearing polearms. After speaking a bit with the guards the characters decide to take a night and rest whilst they are surrounded by friendlies. 

After venturing west in the morning the party arrive at the remains of a giant statue inhabited by a religious hermit named Oldrich. The party stay to chat and listen to an impromptu sermon, after which Oldrich heals up Paula after her tussle with the centaurs. 

As they head south the party finally arrive at what can only be recognized as the sandstone walls and marble foundations of the Glittering Tower. After a quick chat with the guards outside they are let in to talk to the tower's elderly war bear majordomo Pan Orso. After a quick chat the majordomo falls asleep in the corner of the hallway as the group await an audience with the master. After waiting for more than half an hour the party simply enter the masters chamber. 

Inside they find the naked and reclined form of Medved, master of the dunes, alongside his lover Yavo. The party quickly realize that Medved is unaware of Glamdalf and their supposed quest, yet they still put themselves at the service of the seemingly uninterested godling. At his behest the party decide to attempt to retake the upper levels of the tower which the master says has been occupied the eld, a group of elves hailing from the dimension of the cold hell. 

As the master seems magically unable to enter the upper levels the party send Luka up invisible to scout out the upper floor. Luka sneaks past several sentries and explores the entire floor, finding a common room with several eld playing dice, a room with several large energy beams, and a room with an altar with different liquids put into two bowl like impressions. 

By use of a sleep spell Luka put all the sentries to sleep, allowing the party to safely head up the stairs and silently kill them off. Lasryn recognizes one of the liquids in the "bowls" as a potion of gaseous form and the party fill up their empty vials. 

Charging into their surprised enemies, many of the eld in the common room are slaughtered before they can draw their weapons. Paula decides to bodyblock a trapdoor leading up to the next floor, though is charged and slain by one of the eld attempting to fetch reinforcements (this also leads to the death of Fifi). The party mop up the remaining eld and grieve for their former comrade...

GM Thoughts

It seems my fears at the end of last session were realized after all, though not at the point at which I thought they would. Paulas player really has a penchant for throwing themselves into the fray of quite dangerous situations which they have now repeatedly paid for with their life. In my ongoing against the giants game, the player has excelled as a fighter so perhaps a martial class would suit their playstyle here. Although the player was really quite attached to Paula they still took her passing like a champ, even though her death came quite unceremoniously at the very end of the session. 

The party has also finally made it to the Glittering Tower! I expect this place to be the focus of play for many of the upcoming weeks (do prove me wrong players), after which we'll see where the campaign will end up afterwards. Perhaps the characters will try to mount an expedition to the misty isles, maybe delving more into the dunes trying to find the golden barge, or maybe the glittering tower will serve as a nice end to the campaign. Regardless of how many sessions are left the characters still need to square off against Lady Szara (and maybe the potential TPK resulting from that will be what ends this off). Fighting the eld is something I have tried to gently nudge the characters into since character creation however. Whilst avoiding spoilers for those of my players who read this, all I can say is that there is perhaps a lot of potential for some character focused beats should they pursue that path. 

I'll finish off by saying that this might perhaps have been once of the funniest sessions so far. Petar was played by a guest player and alongside Paula the two brought a very chaotic energy to the session with a lot of zany plans and hijinks. Not only is that just fun in and of itself, but is is also something that fits with and really plays into the actual setting. All I can say is thanks to Petar's player for joining us, let's hope they join at some point again!