The Adventure Continues .... 26. Farewell Scraps! (v2.50)

I have a number of things to speak about in this post, for there has been a lot of fixes and updates; some minor, but a few "major". I also have one or two other "updates" in the idea stage, which I will also talk about. As there is a lot to say, I will get stuck straight in:-

The List of Fixes

1) MAP BLOCKS: On the back of a previous fix, I decided to improve the "door code" so that monsters do clear an associated map block when opening a door if the PCs are nearby.

2) LOAD GAME: There has been some loading improvements, which also required a fix to allow CURSED items to work on a reload properly.

3) MAP PINS: Some map pins were not updating due to other nearby potential targets being activated instead. The target system for such has been fixed.

4) JOURNAL UPDATE: The "Lady of the Lake" journal had a repeated updating due to an error in a conversation. This has been addressed.

5) TB COMBAT: Some creatures were slow to start TB COMBAT upon activation. This has now been fixed.

6) AUTO EXAMINE OBJECTS: Some placeable objects are designed to give a full examine feedback prior to further use. Some objects were having issues between showing the info and starting interaction within our MP session, causing difficulty in closing a GUI. This has now been fixed.

7) GOLD HANDLING: This was a bigger issue, and is related to the old Money Pouch issues of previous reports. This time I gave the system a complete overhaul, removing any reliance upon heartbeat calls and ensuring all "Give" and "Take" of gold functions are replaced with my own home-brew versions that immediately fire the weight check scripts upon gold transactions. Furthermore, additional checks at PC entry have been added to ensure gold pouches are not prematurely added when nearby companions with pouches still need to be joined.

8) CURSED ITEMS: There was a timing issue that prevented the cursed items working as expected on a reload of a game. This has now been fixed. Furthermore, the cursed item descriptions have been updated to reflect that such items can only be removed with "Oil of Unbinding" or a cleric can cast Remove Curse on any cursed items that they carry only. i.e. The Remove Curse spell cannot be used to free other PCs of their cursed items.

9) CODE IMPROVEMENTS: I have also reworked some old coding related to storing of items when companions either leave the party or die and leave a tombstone. This had to be done due to the overhaul of the gold related issue.

10) GAME BREAKING TRANSITION: Fixed a broken transition to Demons Bowl. (Was in emergency v2.49 release.)

The List of Updates

1) UNDERWATER: I added a "slowed" effect for being underwater.

2) LIGHT BLINDNESS: Credit to KevL who fixed a problem I noticed where Light Blindness was not penalising a PC when in daylight. This code has been slightly altered and added to my campaign to work now.

3) GAME BALANCING: A lot of effort was placed into re-calculating the challenge rating of monsters, both placed and encounters. Balancing was adjusted to cater for smaller or larger parties, and the difficulty setting the player had set among other factors. A battle we had on the night showed the balancing was much better and made for an epic battle, in my opinion.

Potential Updates

1) DEFAULT STATS: After some feedback, I am considering adding a section to the character sheet that shows the DEFAULT ability and skill values (without any alterations due to bonuses or penalties.) This allows players to more quickly ascertain by how much something has been positively or negatively influenced.

2) HENCHMEN WAIT: After leaving Scraps at the water side and finding him gone upon returning, I am considering possibly allowing such creatures to stay around a little longer "waiting" for the PCs to return than they currently do. Subject to how much time I get, I will look into this.

The Lady of the Lake

Arlen Awakes!

A Sea Hag Attacks!

The Talanthian Tower At Night

The Statues Awake!

And Attack The Heroes!

The Talanthians Are Not Amused

And Are A Formidable Force!

The Adventure Continues ... 26. Farewell Scraps!

To The Faithful Man's Best Friend.

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.


After hiding the gold in a chest back at the Talanthian caves, the heroes retraced their steps to Demon's Bowl where they investigated the lake and its statue. After wading into the water and diving underneath a few times, Helden was quickly able to ascertain that a large cave entrance was accessible below the lakes surface. And after checking the large statue at the back, he soon discovered a small plaque that suggested an answer would aid them in gaining access to the caverns beneath the lake.

Thankfully, the heroes had discovered the secret to the statue from an earlier quest at the goblin tower to the east and upon uttering the phrase that the statue sought, the heroes were suddenly enabled with an ability to breathe underwater; rare and wonderful magik! With their new found ability, the heroes made their way through the cavern system and to an underwater grotto on the far side. Conscious that the magik may not last for long, the heroes wasted no time in exploring the area as quickly as they could, even though the drag of the water slowed them down greatly.

It did not take the heroes long before they came across the sarcophagus remains of Arlen .. and within only a few heartbeats later, they also were confronting the remains of Arlen herself. This watery undead monster was in no mood to talk and came into instant combat with the heroes who had come to disturb her peaceful rest. More than once, the heroes felt her drag Life Essences from them in the way that undead do, but after a short while, Helden, Flint and Myara were able to bring her down with the aid of some magic missiles from a wand of Karasten's. (It had been obvious spells were likely to fail down here.) The turning attempts of the clerics had simply not been good enough.

After relieving the water undead of her treasures, the heroes continued to explore the small area. Indeed, there was little else to find, although they did also encounter a Sea Hag that gave them a frightful gaze. Again, however, the heroes still won the battle, and apart from some small treasure, they found little else and decided to leave the watery grave behind.

"Scraps! Here boy! No, he's nowhere to be found." said Helden hoping to be reunited with his faithful hound after the animal had refused to follow the heroes into the watery caves. Scraps, however, was nowhere to be found, and Helden silently hoped he had made his way back to the safety of the village .... somehow. After all, he was a smart dog, and intelligent enough even to enter a teleport if he had to.

After drying themselves off, the heroes continued their main quest. It was night time now, and the Talanthian tower looked ominous as its lights shone in the night. Carefully navigating  the suspension bridges, it did not take the heroes long to reach the entrance. It took just a little longer for Myara to bypass the magikal lock that protected the tower's entrance.

Once inside, the heroes could tell this tower was different to the last two. This one was nicely decorated and obviously still used. Helden made his way across the room of what appeared to be some sort of chapel. In an alcove he spied a golden statue and picked it up. Immediately two statues, previously lifeless, sprung to life and attacked the heroes. The leader's lust for gold had triggered the two huge pewter statues to life and they meant business.

Although surprised, the heroes were already quite rested and so were quite prepared for combat. As much as the huge statues pummelled into Myara, they could not deliver the final blow before the rest of the party had delivered a strong defensive attack of their own. It was not long before the two statues crumbled into nothingness, relieved of the magik that bound them. Furthermore, Helden was now quite prepared for a similar attack from two other nearby statues that he knew would animate after he picked up a second nearby treasure. No lumbering statues, no matter how big, were going to get between Helden and his gold!

After recovering from the battle with the pewter statues, the heroes readied themselves for the next chamber that was on the level above their current. It was obvious this place was inhabited, and more than likely by Talanthians ... and even more likely to be found on the next floor. Fully buffed with protection magic, and having shared the Life Essences between them, Helden felt they were prepared enough to meet anything, and so they climbed the steps to the next level.

Sure enough, as the heroes entered the next the next level, they were greeted by a smooth talking Talanthian who introduced himself as Herodias and simply asked why they had entered his tower. Helden's sarcastic answer did not help matters, and soon the inevitable happened: combat was started. This was never going to be an easy battle though. Immediately two Talanthian guards blocked the way to the three Talanthian clerics beyond, who in turn, immediately started to cast spells.

This was unlike any battle the heroes had encountered before. Normally they were the ones with the advantage of spell casters, but now they had met their equal. Even as the fighters approached the combat, they were dazed and left dumbfounded unable to return any sort of melee. This was not going well. Next, the heroes were engulfed in flames as the enemy spell casters took advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, all the heroes had done was summon creatures, but did so right in the flames of the enemies spells. As a result, the summons were dismissed by fire almost as quick as they had arrived.

Myara was doing her best with her bow, and Threska tried to aid the fighters as Karasten simply had to try and run from the Talanthian fighters who had started to focus on him. And as drastic as this tactic had sounded, placing the magic user in great danger, it was also the break that the heroes needed to allow time for the fighters to recover. So, even as the wizard was falling from the blows of the enemy, Elana too, the fighters were at last finding their feet.

Thankfully, even though the fighters were also being punished by the Talanthians again now, they were able to stay standing by the energy of the Life Essences. The careful deployment of these vital essences were paying dividends, by the very fact that the Talanthians were now unable to deliver enough final damage to drop the fighters. Their delay by concentrating on the wizard and cleric and not being prepared for such resilience in the fighters caused the tide of battle to change. For now, Flint and Helden were able to add their mighty blows to the still arrow firing halfling. Now, the battle was turning.

In fact, as soon as the heroes had managed to bring down Herodias, and a cleric, two of the enemies summons also dissipated, leaving the final cleric and fighters vulnerable to the heroes blades. Now, victory that had seemed so distant to the heroes at the start was now assured, and as the fighters delivered the final blows, it was not long after that they were tending the wounds of the fallen. A few minutes later, everyone in the party had received healing and were discussing how better they may have been able to manage the battle if they encountered another situation like that. In this way, they grew in confidence and experience.

The wounds healed by the clerics prayers, the heroes were now able to explore the library (for that is what the room was) in peace. Karasten was in his element as he went from bookcase to bookcase, grabbing as much information and recipe pages as he could find ... and he found a lot! Unfortunately, however, in his zeal to grab as much information as he could lay his hands on, he also grabbed a cursed book, which instantly affected him in his reasoning. Sadly, even the clerics were unable to remove this curse, and they all knew it would mean acquiring some Oil of Unbinding at the next available opportunity before the wizard would be able to relieve himself of its evil effects.

The books searched, and the bodies of the Talanthians looted, the heroes found a key that they guessed they would need to further explore the tower. If this was the owner of the tower, as the evil cleric had stated, then hopefully, it would mean any further encounters may be a little easier ... but things did not always work out like that.

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 24 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 52 Hours 13 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 10 QUESTS COMPLETE: 22 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 25. The Weight of Success! (v2.48)

Another successful session! I, however, noticed some minor issues that took some digging into the code to find the fixes. Hopefully, however, I have got to the bottom of these nasties - and players from the latest updates will gain the benefits. To this end, not only has there been the regular Campaign folder update, but I have also needed to update the Module again. This was for game balancing purposes. NOTE: If you are playing MP, then all players will need to update their campaign folder as their is an update to some XML code that all clients need. So, here's the latest ...

The List of Fixes

1) DATABASE CHECKS: The database duplication check had been inadvertently switched off for the last few updates, but I have now fixed that and added the ability to DELETE any database associated with a PC should the player wish to start over using a PC of the same name as one which they have used before. I have added the warning that any previous save games with said PC to date would have some unexpected results if a player tried to load an "older" game after deleting the associated database.

2) CONTAINER FEEDBACK: The CONTAINER feedback had a couple of minor fixes (one of which requires the fixed XML file): (a) First the container limit was showing on container items, which it is not meant to. Hopefully this no longer shows on an item container. (b) Secondly, the object container info section (yellow text at the top) was not always giving/updating with the correct info subject to the object being used. Hopefully, the change to the XML should have fixed this.

3) WALKWAYPOINTS: I noticed an instance where a creature that I was expecting to be patrolling had not resumed their patrol, even though the time of day meant that they should have been. It appears to be a problem related to GetIsDay, and so I have now changed all checks to do with that based upon the HOUR instead. With an added variable reset, this now appears to work as expected on testing.

4) PARTY BAR TOGGLE: Toggling the size of the Party Bar during TB Combat caused the round to move forward unexpectedly. This has now been fixed.

5) MAP BLOCKS: I noticed that some monsters opened the door that are supposed to also update the map by removing visual blocks. However, this only happens when PCs open the doors. It was a quick workaround on the night, but now I have added backup map block removals via triggers as well - in the rare cases when this may be required. (MODULE FIX.)

6) SLEEPING MONSTERS: The TB Combat system was triggering auto-pause even for a sleeping monster (that were not a threat). Checks have now been put in place to prevent this.

7) GOLD WEIGHT: The gold "Money Pouches" returned with an new problem: Disappearing altogether! It turned out that the timing of the gold calculations to ensure the PCs had the right amount of pouches to the gold they carried was off, due to relying on a heartbeat call. This worked well most of the time, but failed when a player entered from a saved game and had left pouches on other PCs to spread the weight. I have now removed the function call from the heartbeat and given it a priority call as part of a home-brew function rework of LBGiveGoldToCreature, which now immediately updates the pouches upon receiving gold, as opposed to within the heartbeat. So far, testing to date shows it works fine.

8) GAME BALANCING: One of the biggest issues for me on the night was recognising that some of the encounters were not balanced for the "large" party my group had managed to gather. Therefore, the encounters were on the easier side for them. As a consequence, I carefully went over the code for the encounters and believe I have now addressed such issues. Time and feedback will tell. Again, variables needed to be added to the module. (MODULE FIX.)
 

The Ettin

The Ettin's Treasure!

Bugbear Tower Approach

The Bugbears Defend

The Heroes Gain Entrance

More Bugbears, Including Clerics!

The Bugbear Chieftain!

All That Gold!

The Water Elemental

The Adventure Continues ... 25. The Weight of Success!

The Burden of Gold.

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.


The decision was finally made: First they would deal with the ettin and try to retrieve its stash, and then they would face the Bugbear tower. The heroes did not have to travel far before they reached the valley where the ettin stood guarding the way. Helden surveyed the beast from afar off, realising it had not seen them yet, and so organised an attack by the summoned creatures first, in much the same way they had dealt with the giants. By the time the ettin was aware of what was happening, the summons and Scraps had made their mark, and even the giant boulders it threw could do nothing to stop its demise.

After relieving the ettin of its treasure, Helden led the group along the valley to the boulder at the end where they knew the beast had hidden more of its booty. After Helden smashed the suspected boulder (as it was too heavy to lift), the heroes were indeed rewarded with a stash hidden beneath it. For the first time in a long while the treasures were back in human hands.

Now it was the turn of the Bugbears - and Helden made sure the party were well rested before the attack would begin. After backtracking to the tower, the heroes decided that the summoned creatures approach was the safest and most likely chance of a quick victory, and so once again, the summons and Scraps were sent ahead. The battle was a bloody one, in which Scraps fell to a mighty blow of a large Bugbear. But the wave of summons kept strong by the spell casters quickly brought on the onslaught the Bugbears faced, driving them all the way back to the tower entrance. By the time Scraps was revived with healing, the summons had cleared a path and the heroes met only one other Bugbear as they climbed the hill path to the tower.

Gaining entrance to the tower itself turned out to be a bit tougher. However, the occupants were caught by surprise, and the heroes managed to make careful use of spell fire from the entrance foyer after quickly disposing of the guards. It turned out that the Talanthians also had a presence here and were the control behind the Bugbears. Although, while the evil brotherhood certainly added to the tower's defence, it did little to stop the heroes from eventually prevailing and gaining entrance. Once inside, the heroes searched the ground floor and found more evidence that the Talanthians were making use of the Bugbears strength.

Climbing to the second floor, the heroes met with more resistance from Bugbears, and even a clerical one who tried to keep the fighter Bugbears healed as they defended. The ratio of blows to heals was against them, however, and like their brethren on the ground floor, they too soon fell. The party still had the advantage of surprise and so they pushed on and headed for the next level. Here, apart from a lone guard protecting some cells (which they quickly dealt with), they found a male prisoner who mumbled a word before he died in Helden's arms. It turned out to be a password to a chameleon stone that Myara found nearby. With little knowledge of the man, the heroes were grateful for his final word, as it transformed the Changing Stone into a spell book, which Karasten graciously accepted.

Reaching the top floor, they came face to face with a huge Bugbear, who immediately summoned a creature to its aid. However, as big as it was, it had no-one else here to help it, and so the heroes all attacked it at once, bringing the chieftain to its knees quicker than any other combats in the tower. With the death of the chieftain, the heroes knew they had broken the Bugbear hold in the area, and that it was yet another potential threat removed.

On the large Bugbear, Myara found a key and noticing a door nearby, went across and unlocked it. Then, before her eyes, she spied thousands of gold coins! This was a find indeed! The only problem was, the more gold they carried, the more it weighed them down. What a cruel turn of events. Here they were, with a massive haul and yet even sharing the gold they had found to date among the whole group still gave them little room for manoeuvre. Helden, who carried the most for the group, could barely move under its weight - and yet move he did. Nothing, he said, was going to stop him removing this haul from the tower and finding a safe place for it.

Before the heroes were done with the Bugbear tower,  there was one last region, beneath the tower, accessible by a ladder, which they had not yet explored. Placing the gold they found to one side by the tower exit for the time being, the heroes lightened themselves so they could manage the ladder and carry their animals with them to the lower level. Once below, they viewed a cavern full of water ... and Karasten spied something glistening in the rocks ahead.

Carefully, Helden led the way and waded into the reasonably shallow water - although neck deep for Myara - and removed the object caught in the rocks. It turned out to be another Changing Stone, but even before they could do anything with it, a water elemental suddenly rose from the waters and started to attack the party. "Back up to the dry ground!" cried Helden, and the group obliged, leaving only the summons and Scraps to stay behind and fight the elemental.

This strange monster was surprisingly strong, however, and had soon taken out all summons and Scraps, and made its way towards the heroes. The fighters had taken position, however, and as soon as it hit dry ground, the fighters let rip, and water splashed everywhere as they took chunks off the strange creature. Whether it was because the creature was no longer in its home water or simply because the fighters were prepared, it was hard to tell. Suffice to say, the last of the water beast was dripping from their weapons after only a few more rounds.

That was the last battle within the bugbear tower, and apart from deciphering the Changing Stone riddle with a little help from a Life Essence and recovering a Fireball Lore scroll, the heroes found nothing else. Recovering the dropped gold by the exit, the heroes decided to leave this tower, grateful in the knowledge that the Bugbears were defeated and that their pockets were that much more laden with gold! 

"What shall we do with it all though?" said Myara to Helden as he staggered to move.

The gold they now carried was indeed turning into an issue, and so it was decided that they needed to find a safe place to stash it while they continued their mission within the enclave. To this end, they made their way very slowly, back to the caves where they first encountered the Talanthians this side of the portal. They would find a chest and place it in there ... and remember it when they came back!


TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 9 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 49 Hours 49 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 11 QUESTS COMPLETE: 21 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 24. Escaping The Ancient Crypt (v2.47)

Another great session, with some completed quests. There were a few issues I needed to deal with after the session, but nothing that affected play: One issue simply involved removing some debug text, but a few other issues were more important, which I detail below. Also, I have tweaked the ranges.2da, which means players will need to download and update the "Others.7z" file, which contains the hak folder, which in turn holds the althea_campaign.hak, which contains the altered 2da file. NB: For ease, a player need only replace the single hak file from the download to gain the benefits. Furthermore, this alteration mainly affects gameplay from module 2 onwards.

I have also updated an encounter within the module, which means a newer version of the module is also available. Note: I have started to align version numbers with the latest campaign version number. So while some file releases are fewer and in between the regular campaign releases (like modules and others), they will now reflect the version that the campaign was on at time of their version release.

The List of Fixes

1) RUNE LOCKS: There were two issues with these: (a) I had left some debug lines in place after the last fix, which needed removing. (b) The ability to interact with a Rune Lock was disabled after resolving the puzzle, which should NOT be the case, as some of the locks can be used again. Both of these problems are now fixed.

2) FAST TRAVEL PILLARS: Some of the fast travel destinations were not being presented due to them NOT being limited to the current area. This meant some of the valid ones had run our of space to be displayed. This has now been fixed.

3) RELOAD (DEAD HENCHMEN): If a game was saved with a dead henchman (which it should not be really), then it caused problems with the henchman not reviving on a reload. This has now been fixed so that they do recover if that is done by mistake.

4) RELOAD (VARIABLE BAG): On a rare occasion a "variable bag" ("VAR BAG") could be found on a game reload. This is only likely to be the case if the game did not save correctly or the player was doing something during a save. A check has now been added to help remove/fix any instances of that occurring.

5) ENCOUNTER (MODULE UPDATE): There was an encounter that needed altering to prevent it firing too soon. While not a critical fix, it makes the game flow better.

Heroes Defeat Melakar!

Heroes Escape The Crypt!

Heroes Return Magnici Devadi To Zakeree

The Ominous Bugbear Tower

Trying To Avoid The Bugbear Tower

Demon's Bowl!

Heroes Attack Hill Giants!

Hill Giants Retaliate!

Heroes Confront Ongar!

The Adventure Continues ... 24. Escaping The Ancient Crypt

The Beauty and The Beasts!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

"What makes you so sure we need all this buffing Helden?" said Myara as Helden ordered the clerics to cast more buffing spells on the group before they opened the door they had just unlocked.

"Let's just call it a hunch ... like one of those moments when your gut warns you that undead lurk just beyond."

In truth, the heroes had already lived this moment of time, and were now about to play it out again ... and so as the door was opened and the summoned creatures followed Helden into the room beyond, Melakar advanced out of the gloomy darkness ahead of the group, along with a pair of wights.

Scraps and the summoned creatures were the first to respond, quickly forming a block between the undead and the heroes. Unfortunately, they were able to do little against the undead and rapidly suffered drains of life as they fought bravely to hold ground. The time they gave, however, was enough to allow the spell casters to send magic missiles and spheres of electricity towards the undead, which did make their mark, quickly sending the wights back to their graves.

Melakar, however, remained, and was even regaining strength by draining life from the summoned creatures that remained. It was at this realisation that Helden ordered the clerics to unsummon their creatures to allow the fighters, Flint and himself to break through to the dread wraith to deliver their stronger blows instead. It was risky, but the summons were simply unable to do enough damage, and Scraps was now out of the fight, fleeing in fear.

As the summoned creatures dissipated, the fighters stepped into the combat, and swung their weapons with as much accuracy as they could, with some blows simply gliding through the air as the incorporeal monster faded in and out of the material plane. However, when the fighters did strike, it was sound, and as fearful as the touch of a dread wraith was, the fighters were well prepared and buffed with many cleric spells, making it difficult for Melakar to strike them too.

The battle went on for a number of rounds, with each strike of the dread wraith threatening to drain the life of the one it struck .... but the life draining touch that they all dreaded, never succeeded. At the last moment, Helden did feel the wraith's touch, but the fighter was able to shake off the draining effect just as the final blow to the ghostly apparition was delivered. The battle they had been dreading was over ... and apart from Scraps, everybody else in the party remained undrained.

The heroes spent the next few minutes exploring the area where the dread wraith had been encountered, but they found nothing apart from another key that allowed them to open a locked door in the Rune Creation chamber. In that small room was a chest, which contained among other things, a few more runes. As the heroes had already created all the ones they were missing, the new find was not required.

The heroes now had now explored the entire area and had everything they needed to leave. They took one last rest in a small side chamber to allow the clerics to learn spells to heal Scraps from his draining, and then recovered the book they had acquired for Zakeree before using the runes one last time on the exit pillar to finally escape the crypt. Outside, the air smelled sweet.

The heroes wasted no time in returning to Zakeree, and took the fastest route possible to help avoid any activity that would cause the ancient tome they carried to be damaged any more than it already was. Thankfully, they managed to return to the hermit with the book without any further encounters and so the book was in relatively excellent condition considering its age and fragility. Zakeree was most pleased and gave the heroes a hefty reward of gold and gems for their efforts. Their business with the hermit settled, the heroes bid their farewells.

Helden had received a bloody nose the last time he had encountered the bugbears in the centre of the enclave, and so wanted to try to avoid them for the time being if possible. To this end, he led the party as far west as he could, skirting the river to the far side of their tower, and then once past, turned back and tried sneaking along a small gully to the south of them to try to sneak around them going east.

As the heroes tried to sneak around at the closest point, however, a bugbear archer caught sight of their movement and started to let arrows fly. Some caught Karasten, who immediately returned fire with his crossbow. Then, deciding magic would serve better, he loosed a magic missile, which quickly finished the bugbear archer off. Thankfully, that had been the only bugbear to have spotted them, and so with it silenced, the heroes were free to continue their path.

After the incident with the bugbear was over, the heroes realised that the path they had been following had led them to a circular dip, not unlike a large land bowl with water in. Reading an inscription on a nearby stone marker quickly revealed that this place was called "Demon's Bowl" and somebody called Arlen was supposedly buried somewhere in some caves beneath the water. An interesting folly, but without an ability to breathe underwater, of no use to the party - and so the heroes continued to follow the valley around.

As the heroes entered into the next valley, east of the bugbear tower, a fey creature, a beautiful dryad ran up to the heroes and began to speak with them. Helden was immediately on his guard, fully aware that these creatures were known for their beguiling nature. Karasten, on the other hand, was curious as to why this fey had revealed itself to the heroes, which was quite against its nature.

It turned out that the dryad had had its tree, which was critical to its survival, recently cut down by some giants and that it needed some ingredients to help its tree to recover. Unable to make any promises, nevertheless, the party agreed to keep an eye open for the items it required. However, it was not long after this encounter with the dryad that the heroes encountered the giants accused of being responsible for the trees damage ... and supposedly carrying one of the ingredients that the dryad required.

The beastly giants had been seen from a long way off, and it gave the heroes time to plan how they were going to deal with them. They had seen at least two, and both were within long distance spell fire. That was one advantage. Furthermore, the heroes planned to send in the summoned creatures first. That would be a second advantage. In fact, by the time the giants knew what hit them, the battle would already be half over .... and thankfully, this is exactly what happened. There was one minor incident when Myara panicked and froze not knowing what to do, as a huge towering giant ran straight for her after she had moved forward for better aim with her bow. But then, after what seemed like seconds, the halfling came back to her senses and ran back towards the party, whereupon the summoned creatures and Scraps intercepted the following giant, giving the halfling the time she needed to escape.

Shortly after this the two giants were dead, and from where the giants fell, the heroes could see the remains of a fortress just beyond them on some higher ground. Not finding the item the dryad required on these two fallen giants, the heroes decided to approach the fortress with the aim to search it. As they climbed the hill and passed though a large gate, they then spotted a third giant branding a massive club. Without delay, the same tactics that had just brought them victory were employed again ... and quickly brought about the same results. Ongar, the fortress hill giant was dead ... and this time the heroes discovered the magik leaves the dryad sought upon the giant's body.

After searching the fortress and relieving it of its treasures, the heroes decided to search for the magik soil that the dryad said could be found at the waterfall where the hermit lived. After a quick retrace of their steps, carefully avoiding the bugbears, they found the soil with ease. With equal care, they made their way back to the dryad grove, who appeared to them as they entered it. Needless to say, the dryad was delighted and for their reward she offered the heroes information. Some of which related to the Demon's Bowl and a secret on how the heroes could enter the water and still breathe! Pushing the dryad for more information, Helden was also able to learn of an ettin that walked in the next valley further east, which had stashed some booty under a boulder near the end of the river.

"What shall we do now?" asked Myara, to which Helden simply looked ahead pondering the exact question..

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 1 Hours 55 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 47 Hours 40 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 13 QUESTS COMPLETE: 19 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 23. Better The Demon (v2.46)

We had a handful of different issues in the last session. Nothing too drastic, and only issues that would have (mostly) affected either a MP or DM hosted game - both of which is our current situation. There was one other minor issue that would have affected all game types, but nothing too serious. Here is the rundown.

The List of Fixes

1) GUBRIEL ROCK PUZZLE: When the players went to respond with the correct answer to the Gubriel Rock test, the rock did not reveal its treasure. I had to alter the code to ensure the variable was checked against the Main PC even when playing a different PC.

2) SUCCUBUS JOURNAL ENTRY: There was a trigger that started a conversation with the succubus when the players came within sight of the demon. However, the journal entry for the appropriate conversation line was missing on its node, so while we received my own coded "Journal Updated", the actual journal entry did not fire and update. Thankfully, the journal rights itself on the next trigger point, but it has now been fixed anyway.

3) PICK LOCK INTERACTION (MP): The pick lock GUI could fail interaction after first usage in a MP game. An incorrect variable check has now been fixed and checked working.

4) RUNE LOCK INTERACTION: The runes selected with a Rune Lock interaction (four runes to activate) could fail to enable correct interaction after first usage. Checks have been put in place and the code made more efficient to ensure the runes display their correct state. NB: This fix likely needs to be in place before any interaction with the rune locks within the Ancient Crypt.

5) UNDEAD DRAINING: This occurred because I recently altered some code to give DM feedback. The problem was, I used the same variable to send the feedback to the DM (or player) as the one who received the draining. Therefore, none of the draining (either levels or abilities) was targeting the correct PC when called. This has now been fixed. (For our own session, we are considering replaying the last battle where the scripts would have been most used.)

6) INCORRECT LIFE ESSENCE COUNT: The statistics was showing an abnormally high figure for Life Essences collected. The problem appears to have been because I had done some testing between the save game sessions, which allocated around 60 (3x20) Life Essences, which upped the global count, but were never actually present on a player reload. I have since edited the global value to the correct value and edited the script that adjusts the value to ignore "tested games". I will watch this closely in case it was caused by anything else.

The Gubriel Rock

The Demon In The Dark!

Brendagoth's Revenge?

Giant Spider Attacks!

Clay Golem Surprise!

Another Dangerous Encounter

The Rune Creation Chamber

Melakar The Dread Wraith!

The Adventure Continues ... 23. Better The Demon

So, We Meet Again!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

As Elana approached the Gubriel Rock, she heard a question within her head and to speak an answer before the great revolving boulder known as the Gubriel Rock would reveal its secret. Without hesitation she remembered the passages from the book they discovered in the Eastern Tower where Soul resided and spoke the word she knew would release the Magnici Devadi book, which the rock contained.

The ancient and extremely delicate tome in hand, she returned to the group. Then realising transporting the book was not going to be easy, the heroes decided to leave the book in a safe place while they continued to explore the Ancient Crypt. At least with the finding of this ancient tome, they knew Zak, the hermit, would be happy; as long as they could make their escape!

Finding the last runes and escaping the Ancient Crypt was the heroes next task. It was also the reason why it was Elana who had come ahead of the group rather than Helden. For earlier, the group had heard a female cry out across the chasm at them: it was the succubus demon! Knowing the demon's past influences with male adventurers, the females of the party had decided to take the lead, and ensure their male counterparts stayed away from the beguiling nature of the demon.

Now it was Myara, Elana and Threska who approached the succubus demon, who stood alone in the dark within its Demoncage. "Please help me", whined the seductive demon. The female half of the party were having none of the demons guile, however, and questioned the demon carefully. (Their male counterparts had remained back close to where the Gubriel Rock had stood.)

As the conversation continued, it seemed that the Demon was in quite a strong bargaining position, because it held runes that the heroes needed to escape the chambers. Not the exact runes, but ones that would allow them access to a temple area where they could acquire the ones they needed. The female heroes, played their hand carefully, however, and believed that they could win the runes without aiding the demon by using the secret word that Dringle had given them when performing the reversal of the Demoncage Ritual to free the demon. From what Dringle had said, it would destroy the demon and end his own curse.

Playing along at first with the succubus, the female heroes placed the ritual bowls and items required within them around the circle. Then they chanted the words needed and added the word Dringle had given them. However, it was a ruse and had been all along! The demon had out-smarted the heroes and it had now been freed. Furthermore, it then came to light that the demon was in fact the one and the same Brendagoth, a barbed devil the heroes of Isil Ia Dom had once encountered many years ago. At that time, the barbed devil had escaped, but had seemingly survived its return to the Outer Planes, although it had been demoted in rank and changed allegiance to serve a different cause - it's own! The devil had been reborn as a succubus demon, bent on its revenge to destroy those that had caused its downfall all those years ago.

To this end, the succubus also summoned a second demon to aid in its attack. At the sight of this, the female heroes could do nothing more than run - and run straight back to the support of the males. The succubus had no idea that it was running into a second trap - even though this trap had never been intentional. However, because the males waited on the far side of the chasm along a narrow ledge, it meant that once the females had gone over, it left the succubus vulnerable to attacks from the waiting hordes of summoned creatures and additional attacks of the male heroes waiting on the other side. The succubus's own demon trapped behind its summoner and unable to offer any further help. It was due to the fortuitous circumstances that the heroes were in that meant their victory was assured. Brendagoth, the demon, now faced a beating for a second time, and at its defeat, the second summoned demon dissipated with it.

"Thank goodness Herreta had the foresight to trap the demon on the other side of the narrow ledge", said Myara, and the rest of the party had to agree, knowing it went a long way in helping the heroes have an advantage in the battle.

After the battle, Helden was able to gather the runes that had fallen from the demon, and sure enough, the few collected were found to make a difference. Having followed the halls back to one of the rune locked gates, they presented the runes that included one from the demon's collection and the rune lock opened and allowed access. The heroes could now explore the northern regions of the crumbling crypt.

The northern section of the Ancient Crypt was even older than the area they had been exploring. The crumbling walls were lined with sealed walls that guarded the way to more mausoleums, which Helden was able to break down and allow Myara access to the chambers to search for any more runes they may need. In the course of their search, giant spiders dropped from the ceiling and came out of the shadows, giving the fighters another excuse to draw their blades .. and blood. Compared to the combat with the demon, however, these were a simple task.

Eventually, after much searching of the northern end of the crypt, the heroes found enough runes to try another large gateway that had blocked their progress to the north-west of the crypt. Thankfully, and although still four missing from the set, the heroes had the right runes now to bypass the large gate, and was made much quicker with Myara's abilities.

Beyond this large gate was the temple itself, and the heroes were able to investigate some corpses that lay strewn around the ground here, and finally glean some information from a book near one of the corpses to discover what had happened. It seemed an ancient sect of Abbathor followers had come here with somebody called Malakar to progress their evil plans. However, it appeared that whatever their original intentions (something related with the runes), Malakar, their leader had taken steps just a bit further than some of the followers had originally intended.

The heroes did not have to wait long to see the proof of what had happened, when wights stood from the ground and started to approach the heroes. The spell casters did not need to wait for Helden to give the order, and immediately summoned creatures to make a barrier between them and these undead. Threska and Elana then started trying to turn them, as the fighters kept their distance and used missile fire. Nobody wanted to get too close to a wight, which had the ability to suck the life from you ... especially Helden, who for this very reason, hated undead.

The well timed  summons and powerful turnings made their mark, and it was not too long before the undead showed signs of being rebuked and the summoned creatures were able to drive them back to the graves without too much retaliation. The battle over, the heroes sighed a relief,  as nobody had suffered any draining.

The temple had two exits: further west (opposite the way they had entered) or south. Myara asked to go south first, and so Helden agreed and the rogue led the way checking for traps. As the group turned a corner, there was a heavy scraping sound behind them, and from the shadows of an alcove, a large humanoid statue had animated; it was a clay golem closing to attack!

The golem had caught the heroes off-guard, and this turned out to be a battle tougher than the succubus because not only had they been surprised, but they also were soon to learn that Myara's arrows had no effect. The clay golem had resistances to both weapons and magic! Thankfully, Helden and Flint managed to form a barrier between the golem and the more vulnerable members of the party. The battle that ensued turned out to be one of attrition, which the party won, mainly thanks to the supporting healing from the clerics as the fighters took blow after blow from the lumbering monster.

At the end of the corner from where the golem had attacked, the heroes found a chamber that appeared to be some kind of sacrifice pit that disappeared somewhere into the mountain deep below. It turned out to be a dead end and there was nothing new found here, and so the heroes doubled-back to the last passageway they had to explore of the area that led west. At the end of this passage, after dealing with a couple more wights in much the same way as before, the heroes opened a door onto a chamber that supported some strange devices.

Next to a large circular device, the biggest in the room, Helden spied another husk of a body, similar to those they had encountered before, but this one was different. Karasten confirmed that this looked like magik and not the touch of undeath. From a nearby large tome, the heroes were soon to learn the nature of this room, and from a smaller book next to the corpse, the final understanding of what had happened here.

It turned out that the large circular device was a means of extracting Life Essences from living beings, which the sect of Abbathor wanted to follow up by Gathering peoples to use within its magik to collect Life Essences. Then, in another nearby device, they could use the Life Essences to make the magik runes. However, it seemed Malakar, the husk on the floor near the large device had other plans, and simply wanted to convert (drain) everyone to a state of undeath, where they could then "live" forever, and serve Abbathor forever. Not everyone had wanted this, but their fate had been sealed by the evil high priest.

"Watch out!" Helden cried out to Myara, but his cry came too late. Her curiosity simply got the better of her and she stepped through the large circular gateway. The leader had just been using the second device to construct the runes they were missing using some of the Life Essences they carried, when the halfling had wandered close to the large Life Extraction archway.

"Arghh! That felt awful. I feel weak now. But hey, I just got four Life Essences!" It had been a small reward for the sacrifice of her constitution, but the rogue at least knew what it was like to use the magik of the gateway. Elana sighed at the folly of her small friend, and Karasten hoped that it may be possible to find a way to reverse the effect some way. For now, however, the rogue had to accept that things were going to be a little tougher for her now, until anything could be done.

There had been two other doors that the heroes had not yet tried, due to being locked. On the body near the archway, they had found a key. It did not fit the door in the room they were in, but it did turn out to fit the door in the corridor just prior to the rune chamber. Myara used the key to open the lock and Helden stepped into the dark room first. There was a terrible scream from within the darkness, and the heroes were about to discover what had become of Malakar: A dread wraith!

Helden immediately ordered the group to send in the summons and Scraps to form a barrier between Melakar and themselves. Then, it was a matter of standing their ground or run! The odds of the latter increased when the heroes also noticed a couple of wights come to the support of their leader. In response, the clerics starting turning and Karasten cast spells. It seemed, for now, the battle ensued, but was this going to be the death of them too?

0 --- 0

DM REPORT: Eventually, the heroes were victorious in this battle, but the code was broken that affected draining. While previous battles had also been affected, the outcome was less likely to be much different compared to this one. At this point in time, we have decided to replay the battle with Melakar now that the code has been fixed. However, as the heroes had been victorious previously, I added the benefit that if the result differed too greatly (i.e. the heroes lost), then I would simply reload and allow the previous result to stand. However, because this battle would affect the PCs final Life Essence count and constitution attribute states, then I felt the battle was worth replaying to have a balanced result if possible. So, join us next time to see what happens .... ;)

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 58 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 45 Hours 45 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 12 QUESTS COMPLETE: 18 (Ignoring Rule Info)

The Adventure Continues .... 22. Searching For Runes (v2.45)

Last session played without any hitches or problems at all. In fact, the only reason for the latest update was to improve the Rust Monster code that seeks out metal items on PCs to "eat" ... or basically, destroy! The code was slightly off, and so I include it as a fix anyway, even though it worked reasonably well in our own session. Apart from that, I have been taking the opportunity to look over some old notes again with respect to working on module two. Some days I am better than others when it comes to doing any coding. Lately, I have had to resort to doing less due to tiredness and lack of concentration. Hopefully that will turn around again soon ... and at least looking over the notes is quite relaxing.

The List of Fixes

1) RUST MONSTER AI: A loop that determined what items to attack was not very efficient. I have now added a more direct order of preference for the creature, and it works more efficiently now. Make sure you don't get caught up close by one of these fellows!

A Dead End

Lower Caverns

An Ornate Room With Fountain

Rust Monsters!

Caryatid Columns!

The Gubriel Rock!

The Adventure Continues ... 22. Searching For Runes

Protect The Equipment!

NB: Contains spoilers for ALL backgrounds.

"It's a dead end this way," said Myara as she scouted the pathway ahead in case of traps. The path she had followed came to an abrupt end where it had fallen away, lost somewhere in the deeper caverns below. Instead, Helden led the party back towards another circular door they had seen earlier and led them to the chamber within. Inside, alongside a couple of useful workbenches, they noticed another Rune Panel, that required four runes to unlock its mechanism ... whatever that did? For now though, they decided they did not hold enough runes to risk experimenting on the lock's requirements and so left the chamber and continued their search for more runes in other areas of the crypt.

They went via another circular door they found within this chamber and discovered that it went downwards and into some natural caverns instead of the clean cut walls of the upper chambers. "I want to head back up and finish exploring the upper chambers before we head further this way", said Helden, and the fighter led the party back up and towards another section of the upper chambers.

As they went their way, they followed a mausoleum lined passage and through another circular door into a large square chamber, more elaborately decorated than the previous ones, sporting the remains of a library and a fountain in the middle of the room. The heroes wasted no time in carefully searching this chamber and were rewarded with some ancient texts, as well as the all important book containing information about the Demoncage that they were after. They also found a small magikal ring caught up in the fountain brickwork that enhanced its wearers intelligence. A find indeed!

There were two exits to this decorated chamber. One was blocked by another rune lock panel and the second by a locked door that Helden made short work of breaking down with his heavy axe. Beyond was another dark passageway, which the rogue went ahead scouting for traps. After indicating it was clear, the rest of the party caught up and Helden spied a corpse off to one side. As he went to examine it, he suddenly noticed some creatures out of the corner of his eye approaching to attack. "Rust monsters!" the experienced fighter called, and the party instantly took up a defensive stance to guard against losing any items that contained metal to these metal eating monsters.

The battle was eventually won by the heroes, but not without cost, as both helms and shields had been lost to these dungeon vermin before they were disposed of. Thankfully, however, the use of summoned creatures, Scraps and ranged weapons helped to minimise the loss, and a bigger thanks was uttered by all that no magik items were lost! The metal eating monsters now removed, the party looked closer at the corpse, and from a diary found on it, realised they had discovered what had happened to Herreta, the female cleric of the party of Dringle. The heroes relieved the corpse of its items, recognising that there was no point leaving anything that may be useful, especially as they had just lost some of their own.

The rest of the upper chambers could not be reached by the looks of it, unless they happened to have the correct runes to bypass one or two rune locks that may have offered another path. Helden was not prepared to risk this just yet and so decided now was the time to explore the lower natural caverns beneath the decorated area of the crypt. To this end, Helden led the party back to the lower caverns and began to search of the eastern section first.

The search involved taking risky narrow path ways that required extra care to pass. Once navigated though, the heroes found themselves within a mining area and were able to collect various ore and rocks, including some of the the very rare Ammonite ore, which the group had also just recently learned from the book found in the library, would be needed in the situation involving the succubus. Continuing to follow the path around, the heroes eventually discovered two exits. One linked up with a secret door back into the upper chambers, which they had discovered a short while earlier, while the second opened into a new unsearched area of the upper chambers.

Ahead was a sectioned off area of the inner room with four raised portcullis doors, within which stood a lone chest. "I don't like the look of this. Even I can see that this looks like a trap! We need to take precautions," said Helden. Then the heroes cautiously searched the large chamber, taking extra care to avoid the central section with the chest. However, after checking the nearby mausoleums for anything useful, and only finding the odd rune, a group decision was made to investigate the chest after all. So Helden, being the strongest, took the lead and stepped into the inner section towards the chest with the others close behind him for support.

Thankfully, at this point, nothing happened, and every party member was able to enter the small area unhindered. However, at the moment the chest was opened, Helden's theory was proven correct and the four statues that surrounded them jumped to life as the four portcullis doors slammed shut behind them. The battle was on! To the unprepared or lone adventurer, these statues would have been deadly, but to a well organised and fully prepared group of adventurers, these animated Caryatid Columns were no more than an inconvenience, which the heroes swiftly dealt with. The battle over, Myara was able to confirm that the chest did contain something useful ... a golden ritual bowl, something that was mentioned in the ritual for the Demoncage.

The heroes had now found about half of the twenty four runes that made up a complete set, which Helden figured was still too little to attempt any of the rune locks that required them for now. Instead, the leader of the group decided that they needed to backtrack and check the other region of the natural caves; the place where the heroes believed the succubus to be located, trapped within its Demoncage. The confrontation had to happen sooner or later, if the heroes wanted to recover the runes they needed, but every member remembered the last encounter with a demon and that could have gone better.

As they made their way west through the caves, carefully checking for traps as they went, Helden commented, "I can see a large floating boulder ahead, like the one we read about in that book we found." Sure enough, about one hundred yards ahead, a large heavy looking boulder could be seen floating and spinning slowly around in quite an unnatural way.

"The Gubriel Rock," Karasten mumbled under his breath, as the group of heroes slowly moved towards the legendary rock, not knowing what awaited them.

TOTAL SESSION TIME (UNPAUSED): 2 Hours 16 Minutes.
GAME TIME SINCE START: 42 Hours 47 Minutes.
QUESTS ACTIVE: 13 QUESTS COMPLETE: 17 (Ignoring Rule Info)