Astolpho and the Replacements
atcDave
Member Posts: 2,464
Another new run and team for Icewind Dale. I have a twist I want to try out that will come with the first update, but not here at the start.
This is another PnP based team, all from the same character folder. Readers may recall my previous “Psyche and Diomedes” run in Baldur’s Gate. Astolpho and his crew are from the same DM’s setting. When Psyche and Diomedes got to be higher level, the DM would sometimes require me to play a different character. Astolpho was the first of those characters. In time, he and his wife became powerful and higher level in their own right. They built a fortified manor house (they weren’t *castle* rich!), a chapel, and wound up with a bunch of followers.
Unlike the Diomedes’ team, Astolpho’s followers, and later kids, never adventured much on their own, and never made it to higher levels. Astolpho is locked at 11th level now for all time. It was later established Astolpho was a cousin of Diomedes, which had no particular game play impact. But the character folder remains a snapshot of a successful but not hugely powerful character.
And now a few of them are coming to Faerun….
*****
Astolpho is the son of a knight, and not first born. So he always knew he’d have very little inheritance. No title, little money. But his father was a good man, who ensured his son would have the best sort of education. This meant travel to the Temple of Lathander in Waterdeep, where he would train for several years as a Paladin. That temple is partner with a martial academy, to train not just clerics, but Paladins, Rangers, and even Fighters who wish a mixed curriculum of both spiritual and warrior types of courses.
Astolpho was a good student, with good aptitude as expected from the son of a knight. Hunting undead seemed a particularly useful skill set to him, so that was the specialty he chose.
The couple of years this all took proved to be a turning point for his whole life. First he made several good friends; his best bros, Orestes, Dubin and Marcus. Even in training they all came to be known as willing to help not only around their school(s), but in the greater community. And they did it with an enthusiastic and hearty sort of spirit that was alternately endearing and annoying. Certainly they all became well known. And Astolpho was always the ring leader.
A late joiner of this fellowship, was just known as Bob. Actually called JustBob by everyone. A little more on him below.
But the most important person to Astopho was Anastasia. They met and dated almost from Astolpho’s arrival at the school, and they married six months before graduation. As a couple they intended to do good and right in Faerun, to make a difference. And they eagerly sought a mission. Anastasia was fully accepted, loved by the Bros. Astolpho and Anastasia’s wedding was an epic party at the Temple of Lathander, with the whole crew involved and the surrounding community all invited.
Astolpho. LG Human male. Undead Hunter
18/01 – 9 – 17 – 13 – 15 – 17
Anastasia’s background was a little different from most, and only Astolpho actually knows all the details. If Astolpho came from rank and prestige, Anastasia was important. Her father is a Count, wealthy and powerful. Anastasia is not the Heir, being the 7th of 7. But she is a loved daughter of nobility. And Anastasia was a serious and gifted student, eager to do her best and be worthy of her privilege. Studying for the clergy of Lathander was a natural path for her and she took to it with enthusiasm. She does have one other small secret, she is naturally blind. As a girl, her father had made the silver circlet she wears on her head. It gives her perfect, 360 degree vision out to 120 feet. Which gives her an unusual view of the world, perfect in close but nothing at much distance. And maybe ironically, immune to any sort of magical blindness, illusion or darkness.
Anastasia is a driving force behind her and Astolpho’s plan to adventure, and be a source of light in Faerun. In fact, it was Anastasia’s own dream, literally a dream, that would see them all travel north to Icewind Dale after graduation. She was called to meet a man named Hrothgar in the town of Easthaven. She’s always known the Bros would join, as long as she and Astolpho make some sort of alone time together, she will enjoy this sort of big family lifestyle. And being everyone’s little sister. Being the 7th of 7, this is how its always been.
Anastasia. LG Human Female. Cleric of Lathander
8 – 18 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 17
Orestes is maybe the most like Astolpho. At least, similar goals and objectives. From how they see the world, to how they want to help. Both are Holy sorts of warriors. Orestes maybe has more a love of the outdoors mixed in. Although he’s a city boy by background, his parents ran a successful business. As a younger son, Orestes always knew the business would not by “his” from a young age, which led to him finding other ways to make a difference. Which in turn, led to the Ranger program at the Temple of Lathander in Waterdeep. Specifically, Orestes is an archer.
The friends he made has led to him thinking always of the “team”, a little different from many Rangers who become lone wolves. But Orestes likes this team, and trusts Astolpho’s drive and courage for getting things done and Anastasia’s wisdom and compassion. He is ready to do great things!
Orestes. LG Human Male. Ranger-Archer
13 – 16 – 15 – 15 – 14 – 16
Dubin also is an enthusiastic helper and do gooder. He loves his friends and is eager to follow wherever Astolpho leads them. But Dubin is a little different. He doesn’t quite grasp the more devout parts of his friend’s motivations. No doubt, doing good matters a lot to him, he did choose a program at the Temple of Lathander after all. But his father was a military man. And Dubin approaches life with the same sort of practicality, and “bottom line” view of things. He’s built the most like a warrior; big and mighty, if force won’t solve a problem, you’re obviously not using enough.
Dubin. LG Human Male. Fighter
18/60 – 14 – 17 – 12 – 13 – 11
Marcus is the last of the original Bros. He sometimes looks like the odd man out, he isn’t a warrior at all. Although he is big and hearty as Half-Elves go. He has a ready laugh, and is the sort who seems to fit in wherever he finds himself. He particularly bonded with this crew of “good guys”… and their little sister.
Marcus’ own field of study was a little uncommon, and he’d already been at it for several years when the others arrived at the Temple. He’s both a cleric of Lathander, and a mage. His studies are more bookish than the others, even Anastasia spent more time learning the ways of arms and armor than he did.
But his more outgoing nature led directly to many of the good chores and tasks in the local community that the whole crew set themselves to. Marcus is also a bit of flirt, a ladies man among the clergy. No serious relationships yet for young Marcus, but no doubt he hopes to settle down. Which leads to some mixed feelings as the team prepares to head off on a great journey. He reminds himself he’s young, and this might lead great things.
Marcus. LG Half-elven Male. Mage/Cleric of Lathander
17 – 12 – 12 – 15 – 17 – 17
Marcus’ more varied training has also involved study with a local group of mages. And an unusual friendship with another young apprentice. Bob is awkward. Which Marcus took as a challenge, and a requirement to befriend the young man. Bob is a hard worker, and thus in demand, “popular” among the other mages for his intelligence and aptitude. And he has the good grace to laugh at being “JustBob” to pretty much everyone. When Marcus befriended him, and introduced Bob to his Bros, Bob was awkward there too. What a shock.
But they accepted him. Really, with better grace than the mages ever did. And JustBob became a sixth member of Astolpho’s team as they set off for the frozen North.
JustBob. NG Human Male. Mage
9 – 15 – 14 – 18 – 11 – 8
*****
A few comments on this team. For starters, they were all 1E. Never “officially” updated in the game they ran in, although I see at some point I worked up 2E sheets for all of them. Most differences between those editions were small (maybe more like going from 3E to 3.5E ?). The most obvious thing would have been no kits, Astolpho and Orestes are redesigned in this dimension for IWD.
I’d also add, Anastasia was a psionic, so that 17 Intelligence you see was not really wasted (although in PnP, the 17 Intelligence is of more help than in IWD). And she’d specialized entirely in healing related things. So she was a super-healer. Even from low level Astolpho and Anastasia function as a team with him fighting, and her right behind, keeping him on his feet. She was a force multiplier of sorts, and Astolpho was a *whole lot* more powerful with her there. Mostly, apart from buffing, that won’t translate to anything here.
I also could not figure out how to do all of Anastasia’s immunities with EEKeeper, so I gave her “True Seeing” once per day. That seems close enough.
None of these other characters ever adventured much, or even at all. They were just sheets in a folder, Staff for the nice home. So this is their big debut!
The build this time is the same as just used in “Aias and the Aliens“. I like this build, so I expect I’ll wait one more run before I maybe look at a few more mods.
I’ll be back soon with the 1st Update.
This is another PnP based team, all from the same character folder. Readers may recall my previous “Psyche and Diomedes” run in Baldur’s Gate. Astolpho and his crew are from the same DM’s setting. When Psyche and Diomedes got to be higher level, the DM would sometimes require me to play a different character. Astolpho was the first of those characters. In time, he and his wife became powerful and higher level in their own right. They built a fortified manor house (they weren’t *castle* rich!), a chapel, and wound up with a bunch of followers.
Unlike the Diomedes’ team, Astolpho’s followers, and later kids, never adventured much on their own, and never made it to higher levels. Astolpho is locked at 11th level now for all time. It was later established Astolpho was a cousin of Diomedes, which had no particular game play impact. But the character folder remains a snapshot of a successful but not hugely powerful character.
And now a few of them are coming to Faerun….
*****
Astolpho is the son of a knight, and not first born. So he always knew he’d have very little inheritance. No title, little money. But his father was a good man, who ensured his son would have the best sort of education. This meant travel to the Temple of Lathander in Waterdeep, where he would train for several years as a Paladin. That temple is partner with a martial academy, to train not just clerics, but Paladins, Rangers, and even Fighters who wish a mixed curriculum of both spiritual and warrior types of courses.
Astolpho was a good student, with good aptitude as expected from the son of a knight. Hunting undead seemed a particularly useful skill set to him, so that was the specialty he chose.
The couple of years this all took proved to be a turning point for his whole life. First he made several good friends; his best bros, Orestes, Dubin and Marcus. Even in training they all came to be known as willing to help not only around their school(s), but in the greater community. And they did it with an enthusiastic and hearty sort of spirit that was alternately endearing and annoying. Certainly they all became well known. And Astolpho was always the ring leader.
A late joiner of this fellowship, was just known as Bob. Actually called JustBob by everyone. A little more on him below.
But the most important person to Astopho was Anastasia. They met and dated almost from Astolpho’s arrival at the school, and they married six months before graduation. As a couple they intended to do good and right in Faerun, to make a difference. And they eagerly sought a mission. Anastasia was fully accepted, loved by the Bros. Astolpho and Anastasia’s wedding was an epic party at the Temple of Lathander, with the whole crew involved and the surrounding community all invited.
Astolpho. LG Human male. Undead Hunter
18/01 – 9 – 17 – 13 – 15 – 17
Anastasia’s background was a little different from most, and only Astolpho actually knows all the details. If Astolpho came from rank and prestige, Anastasia was important. Her father is a Count, wealthy and powerful. Anastasia is not the Heir, being the 7th of 7. But she is a loved daughter of nobility. And Anastasia was a serious and gifted student, eager to do her best and be worthy of her privilege. Studying for the clergy of Lathander was a natural path for her and she took to it with enthusiasm. She does have one other small secret, she is naturally blind. As a girl, her father had made the silver circlet she wears on her head. It gives her perfect, 360 degree vision out to 120 feet. Which gives her an unusual view of the world, perfect in close but nothing at much distance. And maybe ironically, immune to any sort of magical blindness, illusion or darkness.
Anastasia is a driving force behind her and Astolpho’s plan to adventure, and be a source of light in Faerun. In fact, it was Anastasia’s own dream, literally a dream, that would see them all travel north to Icewind Dale after graduation. She was called to meet a man named Hrothgar in the town of Easthaven. She’s always known the Bros would join, as long as she and Astolpho make some sort of alone time together, she will enjoy this sort of big family lifestyle. And being everyone’s little sister. Being the 7th of 7, this is how its always been.
Anastasia. LG Human Female. Cleric of Lathander
8 – 18 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 17
Orestes is maybe the most like Astolpho. At least, similar goals and objectives. From how they see the world, to how they want to help. Both are Holy sorts of warriors. Orestes maybe has more a love of the outdoors mixed in. Although he’s a city boy by background, his parents ran a successful business. As a younger son, Orestes always knew the business would not by “his” from a young age, which led to him finding other ways to make a difference. Which in turn, led to the Ranger program at the Temple of Lathander in Waterdeep. Specifically, Orestes is an archer.
The friends he made has led to him thinking always of the “team”, a little different from many Rangers who become lone wolves. But Orestes likes this team, and trusts Astolpho’s drive and courage for getting things done and Anastasia’s wisdom and compassion. He is ready to do great things!
Orestes. LG Human Male. Ranger-Archer
13 – 16 – 15 – 15 – 14 – 16
Dubin also is an enthusiastic helper and do gooder. He loves his friends and is eager to follow wherever Astolpho leads them. But Dubin is a little different. He doesn’t quite grasp the more devout parts of his friend’s motivations. No doubt, doing good matters a lot to him, he did choose a program at the Temple of Lathander after all. But his father was a military man. And Dubin approaches life with the same sort of practicality, and “bottom line” view of things. He’s built the most like a warrior; big and mighty, if force won’t solve a problem, you’re obviously not using enough.
Dubin. LG Human Male. Fighter
18/60 – 14 – 17 – 12 – 13 – 11
Marcus is the last of the original Bros. He sometimes looks like the odd man out, he isn’t a warrior at all. Although he is big and hearty as Half-Elves go. He has a ready laugh, and is the sort who seems to fit in wherever he finds himself. He particularly bonded with this crew of “good guys”… and their little sister.
Marcus’ own field of study was a little uncommon, and he’d already been at it for several years when the others arrived at the Temple. He’s both a cleric of Lathander, and a mage. His studies are more bookish than the others, even Anastasia spent more time learning the ways of arms and armor than he did.
But his more outgoing nature led directly to many of the good chores and tasks in the local community that the whole crew set themselves to. Marcus is also a bit of flirt, a ladies man among the clergy. No serious relationships yet for young Marcus, but no doubt he hopes to settle down. Which leads to some mixed feelings as the team prepares to head off on a great journey. He reminds himself he’s young, and this might lead great things.
Marcus. LG Half-elven Male. Mage/Cleric of Lathander
17 – 12 – 12 – 15 – 17 – 17
Marcus’ more varied training has also involved study with a local group of mages. And an unusual friendship with another young apprentice. Bob is awkward. Which Marcus took as a challenge, and a requirement to befriend the young man. Bob is a hard worker, and thus in demand, “popular” among the other mages for his intelligence and aptitude. And he has the good grace to laugh at being “JustBob” to pretty much everyone. When Marcus befriended him, and introduced Bob to his Bros, Bob was awkward there too. What a shock.
But they accepted him. Really, with better grace than the mages ever did. And JustBob became a sixth member of Astolpho’s team as they set off for the frozen North.
JustBob. NG Human Male. Mage
9 – 15 – 14 – 18 – 11 – 8
*****
A few comments on this team. For starters, they were all 1E. Never “officially” updated in the game they ran in, although I see at some point I worked up 2E sheets for all of them. Most differences between those editions were small (maybe more like going from 3E to 3.5E ?). The most obvious thing would have been no kits, Astolpho and Orestes are redesigned in this dimension for IWD.
I’d also add, Anastasia was a psionic, so that 17 Intelligence you see was not really wasted (although in PnP, the 17 Intelligence is of more help than in IWD). And she’d specialized entirely in healing related things. So she was a super-healer. Even from low level Astolpho and Anastasia function as a team with him fighting, and her right behind, keeping him on his feet. She was a force multiplier of sorts, and Astolpho was a *whole lot* more powerful with her there. Mostly, apart from buffing, that won’t translate to anything here.
I also could not figure out how to do all of Anastasia’s immunities with EEKeeper, so I gave her “True Seeing” once per day. That seems close enough.
None of these other characters ever adventured much, or even at all. They were just sheets in a folder, Staff for the nice home. So this is their big debut!
The build this time is the same as just used in “Aias and the Aliens“. I like this build, so I expect I’ll wait one more run before I maybe look at a few more mods.
I’ll be back soon with the 1st Update.
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We arrived in Easthaven and immediately set to meeting people. Hoping to locate this Hrothgar, Anastasia dreamed needed our help. We stopped at the local Inn, the obvious place to meet people. And Hrothgar was there, specifically looking for adventurers to join him on an expedition to Kuldahar! Serendipity. I just glad Anastasia is not the “told you so” type!
Hrothgar had a few little tasks he needed help with just to get going, like a missing supply caravan should be close by.
On the way out of town we fought a small group of goblins.
When Dubin crashed into that group of goblins, he became the first of us to have any actual combat experience!
Leave it to Dubin, more energy than brains. Naturally, I was right behind him.
Not too far out of town we found the shattered remains of the supply wagons. And nearby, a cave had become a base for orc raiders. We entered…
I met the first orc, we were both charging at each other.
That collision shook me to the bone. We fought a half dozen orcs total. Dubin and I are the melee front line, so its on us to keep the others safe. I’ve already learned this could be a hard business!
This is the part that makes it worthwhile! … “Now don’t you be TRYING to get my attention!”
We cleared out the cave, around 20 orcs total. And an ogre! We found documents from the caravan and returned to Easthaven to report our findings. We made our reports, and learned we’d be all setting out in the morning. Over 20 of us! We looked like a great troop setting out to save the day.
Not too much after noon, we were in a great valley between mountain ridges, I thought I saw movement up along the ridgeline. Something really big? I looked around and no one else, none of locals seemed to have noticed anything. I looked around at where we were and saw a cave opening just nearby. I looked up again and saw the snow up high, like the whole mountainside starting to move. I hollered as loud as I could “Take cover!” I grabbed my wife and ran towards the cave. I saw Marcus right nearby and pulled at him as I passed. He was talking with someone I didn’t know, but they both saw the cave I was heading for and quickly followed. I didn’t see anyone else right close by. As soon as we got into the cave mouth the mountainside was collapsing behind us.
I’m not sure if running into a cave is the smart move for an avalanche? When I think about it, it seems kind of stupid. But I think there was no outrunning that snow in the valley. The avalanche roared outside the cave for what seemed like hours. Probably ten minutes? As it let up I heard the sound of us breathing. I know Ana can see in the dark like its daylight, so I asked her what it looked like and how we all were. She said we were sealed in by snow. She was fine, so was Marcus and a woman with him. A woman’s voice I didn’t know said “Carmen, I’m Carmen. Do we have any light?” I was worried about spoiling our air, so I suggested we wait a minute while Ana looks things over.
Marcus asked if we’d seen anyone else make it out? I’d seen nothing but the four of us. We have three dear friends missing. Of course, we’re buried, they may be thinking we’re missing!
Fortunately snow can be dug easier than rock. My wife insists this could be quite hazardous, but we seemed to have no choice. So we started digging, Ana guiding. She might not be an engineer, but she sees things and she’s smart, so this worked. We had an assortment of weapons and a couple shields, which all proved useful for digging. It took a couple hours until we saw daylight. But we did, and it was beautiful.
As we came out of the cave we saw a changed valley. No more path, no more ground. Just a vast field of snow chunks across the whole valley. Debris stuck up here and there. Everything was silent. We all called and got no answer. At first. Then we heard a shaky voice call that he needed help. We found a man a bit up the cliffside in a sheltered cove. We helped him down and realized he was a very small man! A halfling.
Hold on man, I’ve almost got you.
His name was Patrick, he was an archer. I was getting very worried and mentioned we were still missing three friends. Patrick and Carmen had been alone on the adventure. We carefully searched the area, this newly dumped snow was unstable. There were voids, broken trees and debris from our own expedition above the snow in places. We worked our way across the expanse towards the pass and our original destination. A few minutes later we found a body, a breathing body mostly above the snow. He was unconscious, and pretty battered. Ana used a Cure Light Wounds on him, and the rest of us dug him completely free. He was a big guy, almost as big as Dubin! When he awoke we learned his name was Eriksen. He was from Icewind Dale and had joined Hrothgar’s expedition to help Kuldahar.
Carmen is already a huge help, and we got Eriksen out from under the snow.
We finally got out, the battered six of us to the higher ground at the end of the valley.
Maybe they got back the other way?
We all knew we’d just lost a dear part of us. We’ll carry on and see this through. But the loss will be unavoidable.
After catching our breath for a few minutes, the six of us set out for Kuldahar.
Carmen’s survival may come down to the simple fact she was flirting with Marcus when the mountain fell on them. She was close to Marcus, Astolpho and Anastasia when they all found that cave. Digging out was a chore, but at least none of them were crushed.
Carmen comes from Neverwinter, her parents were both in the City Guard. She took after them in obvious ways, she was big and athletic. And enjoyed bashing things around. She got warrior training to develop her skills. Her dad actually suggested she join the army instead of the guard, at least until she could calm down and take a steadier view of things and people. Well humph. That kind of stung. But she knew it was true, she wanted to dive in and help people, not listen to their excuses and “keep the peace”. Rather than the army, Carmen decided she should be an adventurer. She spent a few months traveling the Sword Coast, hoping to find other like minded travelers. But mostly that led nowhere. On a whim, she decided to travel further north. Maybe there would be adventure in Icewind Dale? Which led to her encountering Hrothgar and joining his expedition to Kuldahar.
Carmen. NG Human female. Fighter. 2-handed sword specialist
17 – 17 – 15 – 9 – 10 – 14
Eriksen grew up in the Dale. His father was a woodcutter, and Ericsen did the same through his teens and early 20s. But Ericsen yearned for adventure. And when a reclusive local warrior offered to train him in the local ways, he leapt at it. And he took to it well.
He is big and strong, and very focused on whatever the task may be.
Freshly trained and eager to be a help, he heard of a gathering of heroes in nearby Easthaven. He would join and hone his skills.
Eriksen. CG Human male. Berserker. battle axe specialist
18/39 – 16 – 18 – 11 – 12 – 8
Patrick is a businessman of sorts. A halfling from, wherever he wants to be from. He’s always wandered. And he always finds things to sell. He truly never means to cause anyone harm or hardship. But he’s never had a home, or family (except for the dimmest memories) and has always survived by “finding” unclaimed things and either finding their rightful owners, or a good fence. Either way makes him enough money to survive on.
Maybe not a life of luxury, but Patrick feels no need for what he’s never had. And Patrick recently picked up archery to add to his skills. Maybe he could get a job with an army somewhere? While pondering that, he heard of a call for heroes to join with Hrothgar in Easthaven to help with some local trouble. That might be interesting? So Patrick joined up, to see what it led to.
Patrick. NG Halfling male. Fighter/Thief. Short bow specialist
11 – 18 – 16 – 11 – 9 – 16
*****
I’ve finished Icewind Dale 30 or more times. Recently, it struck me as funny how you set out with an armed expedition of heroes, including locals to save the day. An avalanche strikes, and its the six foreigners… 1st level foreigners who are the only survivors.
I thought it would be an interesting sort of role playing twist to have to change up your team 20 minutes into the game. That could be an interesting mod, what if everyone (except the main character maybe?) had to make a save vs death or something to survive. If you loose a single character you’re kicked to the party arbitration screen and have the option of replacing those who failed their saves, or continuing on short handed.
I would play that! Well once anyway. But this is sort of my way of doing that. Obviously its very early in the game, it shouldn’t have much of a game play effect. The lost characters were all 1st level (Dubin was 50 exp from 2nd). The new characters are back to 0 exp. Small loss I think. I guess this means Marcus is the only one of those followers who has never been played, that will get played. The new characters are all original to this run.
It also means I suddenly have a better balanced party, well at least I have a thief. Only one mage, and he’s a multi. But three melee types now. I think in terms of this game, that’s an upgrade.
As mentioned previously, I don’t expect I’ll do as many updates this time. I’ll do some, when an idea to be visual comes to me. And I’ll do an epilogue.
The team met with Arundel and learned the scope of the problem. They settled on an initial course of investigation.
That night, at the Tavern in Kuldahar, Anastasia was moved to sing a lament to their missing friends. The missing were all Astolpho’s oldest and dearest friends, he showed much emotion.
Marcus was also moved to weep. His new friend Carmen provided support.
They investigated the Vale of Shadows, and battled Yeti and Undead. Eriksen has already proven to be a valuable warrior.
They didn’t find the answers they were looking for, except a threat from Lysan, a priestess of the Frost Goddess Auril. Patrick is a valuable archer and fills gaps Astolpho hadn’t realized the party had.
The growing comradery of the new team, and some intense action together, is lifting spirits and provides a needed focus.