Aias and the Aliens
atcDave
Member Posts: 2,384
I’ll spoil the gag here right away, this team is aliens because they’re not from the Forgotten Realms. They are characters from my own game setting, something I first dreamed up some 45 years ago when I was still in high school. It’s a post-apocalyptic setting, first inspired by the old Gamma World game, something more like Wasteland or Fallout. But I always used the mechanics of AD&D. That is a much more sophisticated system than what Gamma World was with more involved combat, a meaningful class system and gaining levels meant something. Then I set it much further into the future, 500+ years past the cataclysm. With a tagline of “the World of science and technology had failed, time for a return of gods and magic.” It allowed for everything from high tech, to superheroes, aliens, constructs, mutants, mythology, magic and fairy tales… basically whatever I wanted to do. If I were doing it now I’d tighten things down more. But it served me well enough to use for 30 or more years. Now, many years later, I have files full of old characters of every bizarre description and sort. Some characters I have no idea how to present in a more traditional AD&D sort of computer game. But a few I have ideas for, even some of the more “out there” concepts. A couple were adapted for my previous “Wendelin and the Illegals” run, one of those will be slightly re-imagined again here.
Another obvious change, I always ran a Greek pantheon. We’ll switch that up here and assume its always been the same pantheon as the Realms.
This time, I’m creating a whole crew from that setting to plop right into the Realms. Some of these characters knew each other, some did not. This setting ran for a long time with completely different groups of friends, and these characters were not all chosen from the same group. The goal was to find characters I could make work in IWD, and still give me a balanced party. Of course this will be told from their perspective. So the Realms will be the alien world. Also, the set-up will be from a time slightly after anything I ever ran, a time of War I was building towards in the latter years of the game but never quite made it to.
*****
Aias had been born to wealth and served the Queen all his life, and had risen to a position of prestige and power. He had his own Barony by the time he was 30. A few years later he met Ila. She was training at the Temple of Tyr he himself had sponsored. She had no idea who he was when they first literally ran into each other. They got to talking and quickly became very fond of each other. After getting close for a few weeks she grew hesitant, suddenly concerned they were breaking church rules by her, a mere acolyte, getting involved with someone in leadership. Aias had no choice but to explain, he wasn’t actually a part of the clerical hierarchy. He just owned the land and built the temple. That became the sort of story they could retell for years…
They were married a short time later. Ila was maybe half way through her paladin training when she became the Baroness. And she was with child almost right away. Aias remained highly valued in the Queen’s service and was often called away to deal with trouble. So the couple decided Ila would withdraw from her training to run the Barony and raise their children. They had three more in the next decade. Six months ago, Aias was working with friends, a group he knew well, when he found himself cut-off. Deep underground. Surrounded by vampires. It was a terrible fight. His friends got back to him when he was almost at his end. They prevailed. But Aias was not the hero he had been. The vampires had stolen so much life from him, he simply couldn’t fight or call down power from Tyr as he had. [note – in PnP level drains are a far bigger deal than in the IE games. Restoration cost a caster years off their life. Most people level drained will have to simply carry on from their current state. That is the case here, Aias lost over ten levels from each of his classes. I will assume their homeworld follows PnP rules on this]
He was given time to recuperate, really as much time as he wanted. Ila was suddenly motivated to return to her paladin training as an Undead Hunter.
Then the War came. The Queen and The Empire had shared an increasingly contentious border for years. Aias’ old crew were all capable of much greater challenges than he was currently up to. So Aias was given a new team, a dozen kids fresh out of training to raid an Imperial estate just on the border. It was being used for gladiator slave training, and Aias was tasked with shutting it down and freeing the slaves. They might even gain some skilled warriors in the process. This raid was a big success. Just one minor problem that would maybe become a bigger problem. In the course of bringing 50 freed slaves to freedom Aias equipped and deployed them all, to evaluate so those who were willing could be quickly put in jobs they were suited for. One of the freed slaves, a young woman named Jill, was determined to fight with the Queen’s forces against the Imperial slavers. But Aias was quite certain she was a poor candidate as a warrior. Almost certainly she was being trained purely to die a showy, bloody death. She was determined however. He thought Jill was eager, but foolish, weak and frail. She was maybe agile, but her training was entirely in swords. He recommended she be trained in bow and posted to a garrison.
A month later Aias was given a new mission and new team. Ila was now done with training and she’d be coming along. He was assigned two other young women who’d been with him on the previous mission; Jinella was a capable warrior, a big hearty woman who could dual wield long swords. And Charity was a mage, a Reiman, which was a race that often favored magic use. A new team member was a young Samblon, Pikwell, a scout and cleric of Tymora. Aias had not seen many Samblon in the military, but Pikwell seemed ready and happy to help. And there was Jill. Somehow she’d convinced people she had to fight with the heroes who’d saved her. At least she was now trained as an archer.
The mission involved recon of an Imperial observation post. High up a mountain on the border. Some opportune foul weather had moved in, and a couple of the Queen’s mages could ensure it would stay that way for several days. Aias and his team could approach while the outpost was blind. Their first mission was to see what they were up to, and what they could see. Second mission, if feasible, was to destroy the outpost. It was conceded Aias had a small and inexperienced team, bringing them all home alive was a higher priority than destroying anything.
Before setting out, Aias pulled his wife aside. “Ila I have a concern. I think Jill is eager but foolish. I’m going to ask you to be my Sergeant on the grounds I want a woman directly responsible for these young women. But truly, I’ve worked with Jinella and Charity and trust them to know their jobs. But I need you to look out for Jill. Keep her in support, doing overwatch. She should avoid melee, I think that will get her killed.”
Equipment would be light since most of the mission involved climbing a mountain. Apart from vile weather, things were going well. As they approached their target Pikwell announced a problem, he’d found a trip wire type trap between two rocks and he couldn’t find what it was tied to. Charity thought it looked magical and they were discussing what to do… FLASH! Everyone fell to the rocky hillside, Jinella dangling from a ledge. The snow was blinding. They were all woozey and dizzy for a moment. [and I think they all heard that ringing sound that always gives my wife a headache]. Ila helped Jinella back to her feet and they were all fine. But looking towards the outpost that had been just in sight, it was now gone. And actually, the mountainside seemed to have changed. The rocks were different. Gradually the snowfall let up and visibility cleared. Where were they? Looking to the hill country below, none of it looked like where they’d just come from. Not too far down, was a large lake. A small fishing village visible on shore.
“I don’t know where we are, but I know where we’re going” Aias pointed at the village. “We need to reorient ourselves and figure out what’s happened”.
Aias
Aias is a human. None of his ancestors were changed much by the cataclysm, so apart from being large and muscular he is “normal”.
40 years old. LG Fighter/Cleric of Tyr. 6000 xp
18/86 – 16 – 16 – 18 – 18 – 15
EEKeeper – scores and starting experience
Ila
Ila is a human, but unlike her husband, her ancestors were mutated by the various environmental hazards in the post-apocalypse era. Most noticeable is her vivid blue skin. She has a form of Infravision. She also has a mutated alteration of extraordinary dexterity.
35 years old. LG Paladin – Undead Hunter. 0 xp
17 – 20 – 18 – 14 – 17 – 18
EEKeeper – Create as a Human, change race to Half-Elf, then alter skin color. Scores.
Jinella
Jinella is a human, maybe. She has the unmistakable flat black skin color and white hair that would mark her as a Garn, that is a genetically engineered race from ancient times. But the trait is inconsistent in her family. And while most Garn are notably stern and dour, Jinella is jovial and known for telling epic stories that are always larger than life. It should be mentioned, in the Empire, Garn are an enslaved people. And Jinella is taking this War personally.
Jinella has two other mutation abilities that are not typical of the Garn. The first is the alarming fact that extreme heat and flames heal her. She also has a mutation called duality, which gives her perfect ambidexterity. It might be safe to say, Jinella has some significant Garn ancestry. But recent generations have been more mixed, she got a heavy dose of Garn appearance, but a number of non-Garn traits.
20 years old. LG Fighter. 2000 xp
18 – 13 – 10 – 11 – 11 – 14
EEKeeper – Skin and hair color. Normal and magical fire resistance set to 127%. 3 pips to two weapon style specialization. Starting experience and scores.
Charity
Charity is a Reiman, that is an extra-terrestrial race that settled on the planet in ancient times. Characteristic of her people she has metallic gold skin and flaming red hair. As typical of her people Charity is small, around 5’2”, slim and has an affinity for magic. Reiman can and do mate/partner with humans, (mostly) pure examples like Charity are becoming rare. Also note, Charity is actually older than the rest of the crew, Reiman are longer lived and reach maturity a little later. They typically (as noted above, many are mixed blood which causes odd variations on this) show no aging at all until around 200, at which point their colors start to fade and they may end up with mostly white skin and hair (but show no other signs humans would associate with aging) by the time they pass from old age at around 300 years.
Like all Reiman, Charity is 25% resistant to non-magical cold, fire and electricity.
45 years old. CG Mage. 2000 xp
15 – 15 – 13 – 18 – 12 – 18
EEKeeper – Skin and hair color. Cold, fire and electricity resistance set to 25%. Starting experience and scores.
Jill
Jill is a human. She has two mutations. First, rather obviously, she has purple hair. Second, Jill doesn’t even know, she has a quirk of Kinetic Absorption. Meaning she will take reduced damage from physical attacks.
Jill was born a slave of the Empire. She carries a burning hatred towards those who often took advantage of her in a range of unsettling ways. From her early teens she was employed as a courtesan. More recently, her last owner decided it would be fun to see her chopped up in an arena fight and sent her off for gladiator training. She had planned on finding an opportunity to kill the man, but such was not likely to ever happen. When she was freed from warrior training she swore a life debt to the team that got her out, on this current team that means Aias, Jinella and Charity. She knows Aias doesn’t believe she’ll be a good warrior and is determined to prove him wrong.
18 years old. NG Fighter. 0 xp
9 – 16 – 10 – 12 – 8 – 15
EEKeeper – Hair color. 25% resistant to piercing/slashing damage, 50% resistant to crushing damage. Scores (note – her score total is below the game minimum. In essence, Aias’ judgement of her is correct. But I’m betting she’ll prove useful anyway!)
Pikwell
Pikwell is a Samblon. That is, a member of a race genetically engineered in ancient times to be a “service animal”. A corrupt company had thought they could sell a lot of a lesser primate, a lemur, if it was altered for slightly improved strength and intelligence so they could be functional and useful in a range of menial service jobs. The genetic modifications were more successful than intended, many thousands were sold before many of the young Samblon started talking. This resulting in scandal and lawsuits… and isn’t really pertinent here.
Most Samblon are pleasant and good natured, good citizens of wherever they may live. Few go into the military, adventuring or crime. They are a bit small, and they are notable for an agreeable temperament. [note – Samblon life span is a little shorter than human. They reach maturity a little after 10, and typically live to around 50].
Pikwell is uncommon for being a little bold, and a little daring. His first passion was to be a cleric, a Luckbringer of Tymora. But with this new war, he has chosen to serve his Queen by enlisting in the military as a scout and healer.
15 years old. CG Cleric/Thief. 0 xp.
8 – 17 – 15 – 11 – 16 – 14
EEKeeper – Created as a human, then changed to a Kobold avatar, recolored white and grey. Movement tweaked if too slow? Scores.
Also, we will assume he starts with leather armor designed for his anatomy. He will not be able to wear any armor from this setting and will have to improve via magical protection (essentially like a mage).
*****
As suggested previously, these are adaptions of the PnP characters. Many mutations of trivial impact are simply omitted. There are several detail differences in making this a good team, and some background story changes for the same reason.
The warring factions in the backstory, “The Empire” and “The Queen” are not what they were normally called in the original PnP game. Just an effort to keep things simple here and not launch into lengthy descriptions.
It is funny and incidental that these characters I chose to represent, are mostly normal looking except for skin or hair color. Part of that has to do with choosing characters I can see working well in this game.
Update 1
This is for the Easthaven part of the beginning, normally a short amount of gameplay. But it will be significant for our strangers in a strange land. Although perhaps, not as shocking as you might think…
*****
Aias warned everyone to be on their guard entering the little village, they still did not know exactly where they were. And being *at war* things could turn unpleasant very quickly.
But right on the main street, Pikwell saw something that just demanded immediate attention.
“Hey kids, don’t be poking at that little squirrel, his mama will be missing him.”
The kids looked at Pikwell and seemed stunned. Then they pointed and laughed.
“Well that was strange. Usually they sass back or call me names.”
Aias suggested they head into what seemed to be the only tavern in town. Some warmth would be nice, and that’s a good place to get information. “Just remember everyone, we’re travelers looking for business opportunities. Say we’re from Springfield unless we determine this area is loyal to the Queen.”
“I don’t believe I’ve served your kind before.” “What? Human?”
“So I was hanging by one arm, from the face of a cliff, snow blinding me… when Ila walks up and says ‘let go, you’re only two inches from the ground!’”
“Hi boys, do you think we can find room for me and my friends”
“I don’t get it Charity, why are they all looking at us funny?”
“I think they don’t get a lot of visitors here.”
“What a mess Pik. We’re supposed to be doing recon on that observation post, now we don’t even know where it is. We don’t know where we are! And our simple presence here seems to be drawing a lot of attention.”
“Oh my. You’re a Dwarf!”
“Aye missy, and you’re a funny lookin’ elf.”
“Aias! Aias, I know where we are! Sort of.”
“Catch your breath Charity and enlighten me.”
“Have you been to the Capitol, Omega?”
“I have”
“I’ve read there’s a gate there. A permanent gate with another world.”
“Yes, its heavily guarded too because its a dangerous place. It goes to a city called Southdale which is loosing a generations long war. They will soon be overwhelmed and our Queen is preparing to take up to half a million refugees when the time comes. We do not want their enemies getting into our world.” Aias recalled.
“But the natives aren’t like us. Well there’s mostly humans, so they may be like you. But there are others, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves” Charity nodded towards the Dwarf across the room.
“You think we’re in Southdale? Wait, no, that’s all tropical” Aias was alarmed.
“No not Southdale. But someplace similar. Like an adjacent plane or however that all works.”
A man came to Aias and introduced himself as Hrothgar. He looked them over curiously, then said he was rounding up warriors and adventurers to answer a call for help from a town called Kuldahar, nearby to the south.
“The bad news is, we still don’t know exactly where we are. But good news, I don’t think we need to worry about bumping into The Empire and we may have work lined up.”
“I know your heart Aias, we will get home to the kids.”
Another obvious change, I always ran a Greek pantheon. We’ll switch that up here and assume its always been the same pantheon as the Realms.
This time, I’m creating a whole crew from that setting to plop right into the Realms. Some of these characters knew each other, some did not. This setting ran for a long time with completely different groups of friends, and these characters were not all chosen from the same group. The goal was to find characters I could make work in IWD, and still give me a balanced party. Of course this will be told from their perspective. So the Realms will be the alien world. Also, the set-up will be from a time slightly after anything I ever ran, a time of War I was building towards in the latter years of the game but never quite made it to.
*****
Aias had been born to wealth and served the Queen all his life, and had risen to a position of prestige and power. He had his own Barony by the time he was 30. A few years later he met Ila. She was training at the Temple of Tyr he himself had sponsored. She had no idea who he was when they first literally ran into each other. They got to talking and quickly became very fond of each other. After getting close for a few weeks she grew hesitant, suddenly concerned they were breaking church rules by her, a mere acolyte, getting involved with someone in leadership. Aias had no choice but to explain, he wasn’t actually a part of the clerical hierarchy. He just owned the land and built the temple. That became the sort of story they could retell for years…
They were married a short time later. Ila was maybe half way through her paladin training when she became the Baroness. And she was with child almost right away. Aias remained highly valued in the Queen’s service and was often called away to deal with trouble. So the couple decided Ila would withdraw from her training to run the Barony and raise their children. They had three more in the next decade. Six months ago, Aias was working with friends, a group he knew well, when he found himself cut-off. Deep underground. Surrounded by vampires. It was a terrible fight. His friends got back to him when he was almost at his end. They prevailed. But Aias was not the hero he had been. The vampires had stolen so much life from him, he simply couldn’t fight or call down power from Tyr as he had. [note – in PnP level drains are a far bigger deal than in the IE games. Restoration cost a caster years off their life. Most people level drained will have to simply carry on from their current state. That is the case here, Aias lost over ten levels from each of his classes. I will assume their homeworld follows PnP rules on this]
He was given time to recuperate, really as much time as he wanted. Ila was suddenly motivated to return to her paladin training as an Undead Hunter.
Then the War came. The Queen and The Empire had shared an increasingly contentious border for years. Aias’ old crew were all capable of much greater challenges than he was currently up to. So Aias was given a new team, a dozen kids fresh out of training to raid an Imperial estate just on the border. It was being used for gladiator slave training, and Aias was tasked with shutting it down and freeing the slaves. They might even gain some skilled warriors in the process. This raid was a big success. Just one minor problem that would maybe become a bigger problem. In the course of bringing 50 freed slaves to freedom Aias equipped and deployed them all, to evaluate so those who were willing could be quickly put in jobs they were suited for. One of the freed slaves, a young woman named Jill, was determined to fight with the Queen’s forces against the Imperial slavers. But Aias was quite certain she was a poor candidate as a warrior. Almost certainly she was being trained purely to die a showy, bloody death. She was determined however. He thought Jill was eager, but foolish, weak and frail. She was maybe agile, but her training was entirely in swords. He recommended she be trained in bow and posted to a garrison.
A month later Aias was given a new mission and new team. Ila was now done with training and she’d be coming along. He was assigned two other young women who’d been with him on the previous mission; Jinella was a capable warrior, a big hearty woman who could dual wield long swords. And Charity was a mage, a Reiman, which was a race that often favored magic use. A new team member was a young Samblon, Pikwell, a scout and cleric of Tymora. Aias had not seen many Samblon in the military, but Pikwell seemed ready and happy to help. And there was Jill. Somehow she’d convinced people she had to fight with the heroes who’d saved her. At least she was now trained as an archer.
The mission involved recon of an Imperial observation post. High up a mountain on the border. Some opportune foul weather had moved in, and a couple of the Queen’s mages could ensure it would stay that way for several days. Aias and his team could approach while the outpost was blind. Their first mission was to see what they were up to, and what they could see. Second mission, if feasible, was to destroy the outpost. It was conceded Aias had a small and inexperienced team, bringing them all home alive was a higher priority than destroying anything.
Before setting out, Aias pulled his wife aside. “Ila I have a concern. I think Jill is eager but foolish. I’m going to ask you to be my Sergeant on the grounds I want a woman directly responsible for these young women. But truly, I’ve worked with Jinella and Charity and trust them to know their jobs. But I need you to look out for Jill. Keep her in support, doing overwatch. She should avoid melee, I think that will get her killed.”
Equipment would be light since most of the mission involved climbing a mountain. Apart from vile weather, things were going well. As they approached their target Pikwell announced a problem, he’d found a trip wire type trap between two rocks and he couldn’t find what it was tied to. Charity thought it looked magical and they were discussing what to do… FLASH! Everyone fell to the rocky hillside, Jinella dangling from a ledge. The snow was blinding. They were all woozey and dizzy for a moment. [and I think they all heard that ringing sound that always gives my wife a headache]. Ila helped Jinella back to her feet and they were all fine. But looking towards the outpost that had been just in sight, it was now gone. And actually, the mountainside seemed to have changed. The rocks were different. Gradually the snowfall let up and visibility cleared. Where were they? Looking to the hill country below, none of it looked like where they’d just come from. Not too far down, was a large lake. A small fishing village visible on shore.
“I don’t know where we are, but I know where we’re going” Aias pointed at the village. “We need to reorient ourselves and figure out what’s happened”.
Aias
Aias is a human. None of his ancestors were changed much by the cataclysm, so apart from being large and muscular he is “normal”.
40 years old. LG Fighter/Cleric of Tyr. 6000 xp
18/86 – 16 – 16 – 18 – 18 – 15
EEKeeper – scores and starting experience
Ila
Ila is a human, but unlike her husband, her ancestors were mutated by the various environmental hazards in the post-apocalypse era. Most noticeable is her vivid blue skin. She has a form of Infravision. She also has a mutated alteration of extraordinary dexterity.
35 years old. LG Paladin – Undead Hunter. 0 xp
17 – 20 – 18 – 14 – 17 – 18
EEKeeper – Create as a Human, change race to Half-Elf, then alter skin color. Scores.
Jinella
Jinella is a human, maybe. She has the unmistakable flat black skin color and white hair that would mark her as a Garn, that is a genetically engineered race from ancient times. But the trait is inconsistent in her family. And while most Garn are notably stern and dour, Jinella is jovial and known for telling epic stories that are always larger than life. It should be mentioned, in the Empire, Garn are an enslaved people. And Jinella is taking this War personally.
Jinella has two other mutation abilities that are not typical of the Garn. The first is the alarming fact that extreme heat and flames heal her. She also has a mutation called duality, which gives her perfect ambidexterity. It might be safe to say, Jinella has some significant Garn ancestry. But recent generations have been more mixed, she got a heavy dose of Garn appearance, but a number of non-Garn traits.
20 years old. LG Fighter. 2000 xp
18 – 13 – 10 – 11 – 11 – 14
EEKeeper – Skin and hair color. Normal and magical fire resistance set to 127%. 3 pips to two weapon style specialization. Starting experience and scores.
Charity
Charity is a Reiman, that is an extra-terrestrial race that settled on the planet in ancient times. Characteristic of her people she has metallic gold skin and flaming red hair. As typical of her people Charity is small, around 5’2”, slim and has an affinity for magic. Reiman can and do mate/partner with humans, (mostly) pure examples like Charity are becoming rare. Also note, Charity is actually older than the rest of the crew, Reiman are longer lived and reach maturity a little later. They typically (as noted above, many are mixed blood which causes odd variations on this) show no aging at all until around 200, at which point their colors start to fade and they may end up with mostly white skin and hair (but show no other signs humans would associate with aging) by the time they pass from old age at around 300 years.
Like all Reiman, Charity is 25% resistant to non-magical cold, fire and electricity.
45 years old. CG Mage. 2000 xp
15 – 15 – 13 – 18 – 12 – 18
EEKeeper – Skin and hair color. Cold, fire and electricity resistance set to 25%. Starting experience and scores.
Jill
Jill is a human. She has two mutations. First, rather obviously, she has purple hair. Second, Jill doesn’t even know, she has a quirk of Kinetic Absorption. Meaning she will take reduced damage from physical attacks.
Jill was born a slave of the Empire. She carries a burning hatred towards those who often took advantage of her in a range of unsettling ways. From her early teens she was employed as a courtesan. More recently, her last owner decided it would be fun to see her chopped up in an arena fight and sent her off for gladiator training. She had planned on finding an opportunity to kill the man, but such was not likely to ever happen. When she was freed from warrior training she swore a life debt to the team that got her out, on this current team that means Aias, Jinella and Charity. She knows Aias doesn’t believe she’ll be a good warrior and is determined to prove him wrong.
18 years old. NG Fighter. 0 xp
9 – 16 – 10 – 12 – 8 – 15
EEKeeper – Hair color. 25% resistant to piercing/slashing damage, 50% resistant to crushing damage. Scores (note – her score total is below the game minimum. In essence, Aias’ judgement of her is correct. But I’m betting she’ll prove useful anyway!)
Pikwell
Pikwell is a Samblon. That is, a member of a race genetically engineered in ancient times to be a “service animal”. A corrupt company had thought they could sell a lot of a lesser primate, a lemur, if it was altered for slightly improved strength and intelligence so they could be functional and useful in a range of menial service jobs. The genetic modifications were more successful than intended, many thousands were sold before many of the young Samblon started talking. This resulting in scandal and lawsuits… and isn’t really pertinent here.
Most Samblon are pleasant and good natured, good citizens of wherever they may live. Few go into the military, adventuring or crime. They are a bit small, and they are notable for an agreeable temperament. [note – Samblon life span is a little shorter than human. They reach maturity a little after 10, and typically live to around 50].
Pikwell is uncommon for being a little bold, and a little daring. His first passion was to be a cleric, a Luckbringer of Tymora. But with this new war, he has chosen to serve his Queen by enlisting in the military as a scout and healer.
15 years old. CG Cleric/Thief. 0 xp.
8 – 17 – 15 – 11 – 16 – 14
EEKeeper – Created as a human, then changed to a Kobold avatar, recolored white and grey. Movement tweaked if too slow? Scores.
Also, we will assume he starts with leather armor designed for his anatomy. He will not be able to wear any armor from this setting and will have to improve via magical protection (essentially like a mage).
*****
As suggested previously, these are adaptions of the PnP characters. Many mutations of trivial impact are simply omitted. There are several detail differences in making this a good team, and some background story changes for the same reason.
The warring factions in the backstory, “The Empire” and “The Queen” are not what they were normally called in the original PnP game. Just an effort to keep things simple here and not launch into lengthy descriptions.
It is funny and incidental that these characters I chose to represent, are mostly normal looking except for skin or hair color. Part of that has to do with choosing characters I can see working well in this game.
Update 1
This is for the Easthaven part of the beginning, normally a short amount of gameplay. But it will be significant for our strangers in a strange land. Although perhaps, not as shocking as you might think…
*****
Aias warned everyone to be on their guard entering the little village, they still did not know exactly where they were. And being *at war* things could turn unpleasant very quickly.
But right on the main street, Pikwell saw something that just demanded immediate attention.
“Hey kids, don’t be poking at that little squirrel, his mama will be missing him.”
The kids looked at Pikwell and seemed stunned. Then they pointed and laughed.
“Well that was strange. Usually they sass back or call me names.”
Aias suggested they head into what seemed to be the only tavern in town. Some warmth would be nice, and that’s a good place to get information. “Just remember everyone, we’re travelers looking for business opportunities. Say we’re from Springfield unless we determine this area is loyal to the Queen.”
“I don’t believe I’ve served your kind before.” “What? Human?”
“So I was hanging by one arm, from the face of a cliff, snow blinding me… when Ila walks up and says ‘let go, you’re only two inches from the ground!’”
“Hi boys, do you think we can find room for me and my friends”
“I don’t get it Charity, why are they all looking at us funny?”
“I think they don’t get a lot of visitors here.”
“What a mess Pik. We’re supposed to be doing recon on that observation post, now we don’t even know where it is. We don’t know where we are! And our simple presence here seems to be drawing a lot of attention.”
“Oh my. You’re a Dwarf!”
“Aye missy, and you’re a funny lookin’ elf.”
“Aias! Aias, I know where we are! Sort of.”
“Catch your breath Charity and enlighten me.”
“Have you been to the Capitol, Omega?”
“I have”
“I’ve read there’s a gate there. A permanent gate with another world.”
“Yes, its heavily guarded too because its a dangerous place. It goes to a city called Southdale which is loosing a generations long war. They will soon be overwhelmed and our Queen is preparing to take up to half a million refugees when the time comes. We do not want their enemies getting into our world.” Aias recalled.
“But the natives aren’t like us. Well there’s mostly humans, so they may be like you. But there are others, Elves, Halflings, Dwarves” Charity nodded towards the Dwarf across the room.
“You think we’re in Southdale? Wait, no, that’s all tropical” Aias was alarmed.
“No not Southdale. But someplace similar. Like an adjacent plane or however that all works.”
A man came to Aias and introduced himself as Hrothgar. He looked them over curiously, then said he was rounding up warriors and adventurers to answer a call for help from a town called Kuldahar, nearby to the south.
“The bad news is, we still don’t know exactly where we are. But good news, I don’t think we need to worry about bumping into The Empire and we may have work lined up.”
“I know your heart Aias, we will get home to the kids.”
0
Comments
We did a little exploring around town. Charity's theory helps this make sense. Well, maybe not the how of it, but certainly the where of it. We dealt with an insufferably smug shop keeper who claimed to be from a place we've never heard of. We went into the inn and met an Elf! We also confirmed the expedition Hrothgar is putting together seems valid. Hrothgar is known as a protector of sorts for the area.
In the morning we continued, a child reported some goblins had stolen his fish. We found the ugly little humanoids and reclaimed the fish. Continuing on we encountered a fisherman who reported his dreams being haunted by a song and beautiful woman. Next a merchant reported his shop was invaded by a large wolf. We slew the wolf. Then stepping into a secluded cove we encountered a woman, a water spirit of some sort, singing a haunting song.
We had met Elisia who claimed to have fallen in love with an ancestor of the fisherman we met earlier.
We were tasked with returning a broken sword, a family heirloom of sorts, to the fisherman. This seems to have brought some peace to both parties. Heading over to a Temple of Tempus we learned the story of Jerrod, and how he'd shut a gate to the Abyss right here. Next we found ourselves at Hrothgar's home. He explained the coming mission a little more, sounds like there will be a fair number of us heading out for a nearby town in another day or two. In the meantime, he asked us to look for a caravan expected from the east.
We found it raided and ruined, near an inhabited cave. Entering, we found it inhabited by a number of, something. They looked much like the Goblins we faced earlier, but fully man sized.
"What are they? I mean, apart from ugly?"
We fought a number of them, over 20 in all including a couple of priests. They were led by a big guy, maybe something different?
The big guy was fearsome. Jinella took him down with a brilliant upcut.
We went back to town to tell Hrothgar what all we'd found. He supplied some names, it seems we fought orcs led by an ogre.
The next morning we were off for the town of Kuldahar.
In a high mountain pass, we saw movement of something large a long way up. In no time, the snows, the whole side of the mountain was thundering down towards us. I have no recollection of what everyone else was doing. But my husband yelling for us all to run, forward, double time! We escaped the avalanche, apparently the only ones who did. Maybe some others escaped back towards Easthaven? But we alone made it clear, on the road to Kuldahar. It was good to be alive, but I wonder how our little relief force of six aliens will be greeted in the town we're going to help.
The immediate pass area where we found ourselves was overrun by a large number of goblins. At least we're putting names to some of our challenges.
We killed over 30. In an old mill we found several human dead, a small number of orcs and more goblins.
"Guys I hear something over here!"
I knocked along the walls and found a small hidden closet door. Inside was a small, sobbing little boy. We had met Jermsy, the millkeeper's son. We would take him with us into Kuldahar. He said I was funny looking, but Jinella was scary. We'll need to learn more about what the associations are everyone is making with us.
Charity
We made it into Kuldahar. We were expected, but actually a much larger group was expected. There was some disappointment we were the only six survivors of the avalanche. I'm sure it didn't help that we were six strangers, no Hrothgar or any other locals.
We made our way to Arundel, the local druid who had requested help. He explained there were a number of oddities, from unusually warm weather, to aggressive raids and attacks on the outlying areas, to disappearances of residents. Arundel thought the key was the nearby "Vale of Shadows", an ancient burial ground. The dead had recently been restless. This was close to the village and demanded immediate attention.
Aias and I had broader questions about this world.
I chatted with Arundel for several hours, he was generous with his time. And he was as curious about what we were as we were about him and his world.
We learned Ila and Jinella could conceivably be mistaken for another race native to this world, that meant serious trouble to most people. A type of elf called Drow often had coloring that could look like either woman. Drow are much hated and feared. Although Arundel thought both women acted *very* unDrow-like, and such impressions would likely pass quickly. My own choice of robes were often associated with an evil group of Wizards as well. All told, we may find ourselves correcting a lot of mistaken impressions. Sadly, Aias and I were actually more knowledgeable about planar and planar travel issues than he was. But Arundel was a rich source of information about his world. We were told that apart from undead, the Vale of Shadows was home to an increasingly aggressive tribe of Yeti. I had always thought Yeti were myths from the past, monsters when there were no monsters. But apparently here they are real, that's exciting.
I think Aias and I made Arundel's head spin, I'm peppering him with questions about the Yeti's social groupings and what they eat; Aias is asking about their tactics and weapons. The undead sound like our own sorts, Aias and Ila are knowledgeable about them.
After some time exploring the little village of Kuldahar, and getting to know the brave souls who consider this inhospitable arctic cold their home, we set off for the Vale.
The Yeti were indeed aggressive! We had no choice but to fight them.
The first couple attacked us right on the edge of town, one townsman informed us his brother had been taken by the Yeti.
All the larger tombs had skeletal guardians, and other minor undead. None were serious threats, but so many of them! A lot of fighting that could wear us down.
We found the tribe of Yeti had made home in a large cave that was not a tomb, but there were crates and other signs of recent human activity in evidence.
We also found some secured gates, we found keys in other tombs. This meant we had to scour all of them to proceed. There seems to be a few different things going on.
One tomb at the end of the snowy Vale seemed most important. Carvings indicated it was a dedicated to "Kresselack" or "The Black Wolf". It is the biggest and last tomb, must mean we'll find some answers?
Aias
Entering the tomb of the "Black Wolf" it was obviously more elaborate than any others we'd seen, and bigger than all the other tombs combined. It was also packed with lively undead! One specter, by the name of Mytos, spoke with us and demanded why we disturbed this domain. We explained the threat to the town Kuldahar, and that we were looking for an explanation. This led to a fairly metaphysical discussion about the nature of undeath, but ultimately we were forced to battle.
This temple was a maze of undead, traps and more undead. No doubt, Ila dominates this sort of fighting. I'm coming to feel pretty good about this whole team.
Kresselack was happy to admit he was evil. But denied causing the trouble that beset Kuldahar. He did offer information if we helped him deal with an Aurilite Priestess who'd been poking around his tomb.
The priestess we recognized as the barmaid Lysan from Kuldahar. We tried to talk with her, but Auril's agenda is about removing all warmth from the world. Even if we'd reached an agreement about leaving Kresselack's surprisingly comfy abode alone, Kuldahar itself would remain an impasse. So Lysan had to be removed. No big surprise, she had a number of Yeti followers we had to contend with too.
Kresselack was appreciative but not extremely helpful. Merely assuring us he was not the threat to Kuldahar.
Fair enough. We seem to have restored peace to the Vale of Shadows, so we'll take the win and look for deeper answers elsewhere.
We talked to Arundel when we got back to town. He was both pleased with our success and disappointed in the lack of further information. He suggested we track down an ancient scrying device at a remote temple he could point to on our maps. We set off to the "Temple of the Forgotten God" quickly. Just outside we met a fleeing giant (guard?) who said something about "bad priests" taking over. On entry we were accused by a priest of slaying his brothers, then immediately called to defend ourselves. We had to fight through a mixed force of priests and their giant guardians.
This was not such a hard battle, although a few us did get "Held". Hah, yeah, well... we always were strong enough to win the fights with little drama. We arrived at their Holy Vault just too late, a raiding force just ahead of us had already seized the "Heartstone Gem". We gathered what evidence we could of the attackers and returned to Kuldahar, hoping Arundel could make some sense of this.
"Jill I'd have to say you've been a great asset to this team. Even when a few us went down you provided steady and effective fire against our foes and prevented any of us from getting hurt. I had my doubts, but good job. Now, don't get cocky"
There was a vial of poison we found, that Arundel identified as a snake venom. Which indicated a dungeon south of here known as Dragoneye. Lizards and snakes should be expected.
*****
A brief update from the gamer...
This may not be the strongest party I've run, but they are adequate. Everyone is around 5th level now.
The melee unit is husband and wife Aias and Ila, with the young warrior Jinella. They are pretty effective. Aias is the strongest, but as a multi-class fighter/cleric he will lag behind the others as a pure warrior. He remains the team leader, he is more experienced than his mere levels indicate and he is very smart.
His wife Ila is the weakest of the melee types, but as an Undead Hunter her specific skill set will be a huge help throughout this run. Its also worth mentioning, with her outstanding Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma I have her on point. She is the tankiest and most diplomatic of the team. Whether we're facing hordes of skeletons, or a shopkeeper, she's the first one to interact.
And Jinella is no slouch. As a single class fighter she already has mastery in her long swords, and that will improve. She has no bonuses from Dexterity or Constitution, so she's sort of a glass cannon. But you know, cannons hit hard, she just needs protection.
The support team is also capable.
Charity might be considered the leader of the rear ranks. She is Intelligent and Charismatic, which defines the role. She's a good enough mage, although having just hit 5th level she's only just now at the point she can contribute more significantly in combat.
Pikwell is the cleric/thief. He is capable in both roles, but not overtly powerful in any sense. He can Find/Remove Traps, Open Locks, and heal people. The definition of a support character. When the rear ranks get over-run he is the first to melee. Not because he's good at it, but because the others are better at range.
Jill is a good archer. With a 16 Dexterity she is not "great", but she does have mastery in her short bow and that will get better. She also is specialized in Short Sword, she would be better in melee than Pikwell is, but I don't want to give up on her missile fire. That will always be her primary job.
That's the team and they're pretty good. They struggled in a couple of the bigger fights in Kresselack's Tomb, but blew threw the Forgotten Temple in record time (no rest stops). I will do a couple of the Lava side adventures before they head off to Dragoneye.
The whole write-up, with more pictures, is available as "Aias and the Aliens" at davesgaming.blog