Dungeon Camp – Bespoke Legends

August 18, 2018September 3, 2018

A Storm of Locusts: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 5)

Looming before our heroes, the forward walls of the cloud giant’s fortress rises some fifty feet above the misty islands upon which it rests. With treasure sold off and fresh supplies stocked, our heroes spent some time considering the best approach to the walls, eventually deciding to head straight towards the center at what seemed to them, ‘ground’ level. Alas, invaders had penetrated the inner sanctum of this ancient place and the guards had little trust in their hearts as they tried to keep their watch with the din of their masters fighting desperately to repel the invading swarm of giant locusts that had descended on stone cast down by the taller-than-the-sky bank of inky black storm clouds pouring over the face of the world to consume the cloud kingdoms themselves.

After taking stock of the looming walls ahead, our heroes break into teams to ferry allies across.

Slowly, cautiously, the crossed to the nearest spit of cloud, offloading allies to what they hoped was a safe approach to the fortress.

A brief negotiation with the guard, who would only speak to someone who spoke giant. Hadarai tried to be diplomatic, when the guard wanted a simple answer. Vague threats from the rest of the party in common (which they thought the guard didn’t understand) moved him from suspicious to paranoid and he swung a knot of wood on a rope above his head that gave off a thrumming whistle sound. Cloud sharks came bounding up from the misty mass, to lunge for our heroes.

From the masses of cloud above, mist bodied chimera lumbered forth, dragging themselves from the vaporous mass and coalescing with defiant roars.

Meanwhile below, Hadarai, atop his tamed cloud leads the party against the cloud sharks bearing down on where they were boxed in on their tiny spit of cloud.

Behind the mighty wall the eldest of the cloud giant king’s sons battle valiantly to defend the Star Spire from the strange being who descended from the heavens alongside the eldritch storm.

High above the melee below, the druids (Wolf and Frigga) carry allies over the wall in the form of giant eagles. This resulted in the instantly infamous “dwarf-bomb” maneuver. To be repeated as often as possible.

Meanwhile, the battle against the cloud chimeras spun away from the cloud-spit, out amongst the carnivorous clouds whirling in the vortex formed outside of the fortress by the huge storm clouds towering over head. Hadarai urged his tame cloud to rile up the others.

The cloud giant princes are not fairing well.

As our heroes begin to cross over the wall, they encounter the strange, insect like creatures for the first time. Long manipulator limbs tear at cloudfolk bodies, shredding them into the surrounding misty fluff. Huge sets of wings hum through the air as the insects flitter about the wall, the starspire and the slowly princes.

Having once again spread themselves thin, with a second conflict blooming behind the wall, things begin to look dire.

Ralph and Thor face off against the cloud sharks. A little fancy footwork almost saves the day, but…

A few missed steps and our heroes are falling to their doom, over a mile below, along with one of the sharks.

Wolf swoops down in the form of a giant eagle, while Ralph pushed away from the cloud shark, hoping to stay clear of it’s snapping jaws.

Hadarai saves Ralph using his tame cloud, then flies away with the eagles, leaving the cloud shark to evaporate on impact with the distant ground.

The rescued and their rescuers arrive at last amongst the teleportation stones floating amongst the anchor clouds that undulated in place gently above the hardened face of the cloud itself. Thirian, Thor and Korathank take stock of the battle below while Wolf circled high above the scene in her giant eagle form, calling back to her allies with piercing signal cries. This actually played out as table talk, which I allow for reasons you can find here. What would they have talked about in the seven hours tramping through the plains of cloud other than strategy for surviving what lies ahead and who could do what?

The elder of the cloud giant brothers is pulled down by the enraged insects, his younger sibling held at bay by the telekinetic powers of the others.

Their father stood atop the back of the fortress, using all of his power to hold back the unnatural wall of cloud that slowly subsumed the vast man.

At last the whole party of adventurers found themselves behind the wall and facing the psychic insects that have descended on the gleaming tower in the center of the cloud giant fortress. A single stalk of gleaming golden stone, Al called it a Starspire, but what precisely that meant, none of the characters could say. No one made their History check alas.

Our heroes rush to the aid of the surviving cloud giant prince, teaming up to take down the first of the insects.	While the insects above are distracting lifting the cloud giant prince away from his rescuers, Thor gets the drop on them!
The insects stole minds and threw objects and allies alike about with their telekinesis, but our stalwart heroes were relentless in their bid to end the invasion.	In a furious battle that left more than half of the party unconscious or dying, the last of the alien insects were slain. But the black powers of the looming tempest were not finished with the remaining creatures who tried to retreat.

When several players cast summoning spells at the end of the battle, the dark, liminal forces pulled down by the wall of storms still crashing against the cloud giant fortress, brought forth the mighty Cloudthulu! The fell entity’s consciousness having been somewhat focused on our heroes since his cleric, Korathank, foolishly told the mountain guardian of his service to the ancient one.

With the cloud fortress cleared of the alien insects, and their meddling with the star spire ended, the rains drowning the world evaporate, but the looming mass of inky black cloud still presses forwards…

Will our heroes be able to activate the starspire and reach the heavens where the cause of the fell storms yet lurks?

We’ll let the dice decide, next time in:
Dungeon Camp 2018 Week 2, Shadow of the Star Dragon

August 16, 2018August 27, 2018

Cloud Giant’s Gate: Dungeon Camp (Day 4)

After rappelling down from the cloud the guardian of the peak had placed them on, our heroes made their way across the vaporous planes to the edge of a gap between cloud banks. A gap at least 100 feet across left a channel through which dozens of smaller clouds flowed on a strong breeze from the west.

Eight layers of fluffy clouds rushed by at speeds varying from 50 feet per turn to 15 feet per turn, depending on the size of the cloud. Our heroes, bound to one another by 45 feet of rope between each, began a long and treacherous game of leap frog in the sky.

Taking a long moment to consider their options, our heroes try to organize the party by size and strength, with Hadarai, the ranger I generously suggested take ‘Sky’ as a favored terrain, in the lead.

I drew a height map and talked the players through their options after doing a narrative description of the mountainous cumulus banks rambling up into towers ahead of them. It was an eighth of a mile to the towering cloud walls. The purple hashmarks are roughly ‘ground level’ on the planes of cloud. The stacks above rise as high as 120 feet overhead.

Hadarai guessed that there would be a village or town of some kind about where the blue X marks are on the left and right hand sides of the map. Our heroes argued at length about which way to go, whether the river of passing clouds was the safest route. They even considered staying right where they were to rest instead of making for a village, several of them were very low on hit points after all…

Unfortunately the smaller of the clouds rushing by were a carnivorous variety not native to the material plane, and rare in such tremendous numbers.

Every step on the bloodthirsty clouds left red prints behind (made with a hand mixed dye on pulled cotton clouds)

Those already wounded had the worst time of things, though their allies worked hard to aid them.

Missed leaps and ropes pulled unexpectedly taut began to take their toll as the carnivorous clouds circled hungrily.

Which clouds were safe and which weren’t became quickly obvious, first because the blood stains were so easy to see.

It became evident (by process of elimination) that the carnivorous clouds were (thankfully) only the smaller ones.

The ropes drawn between our heroes proved both their salvation and nearly their doom as they alternately saved those who missed their leaps or were dragged down by the attacking clouds.

Those at the end of the line had the most trouble with taut safety lines and enraged, ravenous clouds.

A few helpful allies and a timely casting of the spell ‘Fly’ rescued the operation, as swarming clouds managed to capture Al, who fell unconscious into the clouds below.

The last desperate survivors sprint, leap and fly to escape the clouds, which seem unwilling to move beyond the shore of the vast stratocummulus the players had finally cross to.

Friga discovers that ‘Destroy Water’ will annihilate a carnivorous cloud instantly.

Hadarai anchors the rope, utilizing his ‘Sky’ Favored Terrain ability.

After a ‘theater of the mind’ style visit to the cloud village atop the vast rolling plains of mist, they stand upon the shore opposite the great Cloud Giant fortress. Within a tower rippling with lightning, beyond which a wall of dark, thunderous cloud towers from the peaks below to the wrack the stars themselves.

Can our heroes find a way to penetrate the mighty fortress and discover the source of the scourge of rain born floods that threaten to drown the world?

We’ll let the dice decide, Next time: A Storm of Locusts: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 5)

August 15, 2018August 19, 2018

Enter the Sky: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 3)

The lust for power and wealth outweighed half the party’s common decency. While Al, Thor, Thirian and Korathank tried to sing a dwarrow funeral dirge for the honored dead, Ferran hacked open the large chest, while Hadarai smashed a barrel against the wall. Wolf perused the books on the shelves, while Korathank held back, trying to urge patience to her more excitable comrades before deciding to join in the prayer.

Of course the unquiet dead were enraged at those who would not only disturb their rest, but their actual funerals! Whiskey burst from the broken cask, along with the festering ghost of a maggot riddled dwarrowknight.

Apologies and joining in the funeral service apeased some of the ghosts, but the ancestors did not make it easy. The suddenly frigid air froze the lungs (Con save) of some.

Enough of our heroes managed to finish the dirge that the spirits were able to find peace. The ghost of the dwarrow chief even bequeathed his armor and blade to Thor in gratitude.

This is also the day we began learning to paint miniatures. We used a selection of reaper paints and learned how to add a base layer, and for campers ready for more advanced techniques, got to talk about washes, glazes and dry brushing.

Constructing and using a wet palette is one of the most important parts of this curriculum. Being able to keep color blends fresh is a valuable skill.

Waiting between layers of paint isn’t always easy for every kid, but luckily there’s a lot of in character near death experiences to keep them distracted.

Behind the book cases a secret room is revealed, with a gate key set into the wall, a puzzle meant to be opened by the intitated… unfortunately the books were mostly destroyed in the struggle with the ghosts. When Wolf tried to activate it, everyone in the treasure room was frozen inside a block of ice.

Wolf was trapped in the secret room with the puzzle. Korathank and Ferran were trapped outside of the cave on the cliff face. Everyone else suffered the torments of the uninitiated as several wrong sequences of gemstone keys were tested.

This puzzle was improvised based on the gem stones that were rolled for treasure after the ancestor spirits had been appeased and Thorin had agreed to be the blood protector of the mountain, and was welcomed into the clan of the dwarrow they had respectfully buried. One of the chests contained 2D6 gemstones worth 750 gp each. I rolled 4, so I made them elementally themed in my description of how they were carved. Then when it came time for the puzzle to open the way forwards into the cloud kingdoms, I thought it would be more fun to work with what I rolled randomly to have in the cave.

I figured each gemstone rod would fit into a slot and that it would have an effect on the runes chiseled into the heart of the mountain above the key slot. When the ruby was put into the first slot, for example, flames would dance from the runes. sapphire in the second slot would then weep hot tears. diamond in the third slot freezes those tears to ice. (as noted in the left hand column) When the fourth stone was inserted, a horrible effect befell those trapped in the treasure room based on the elementally themed logic of the inputs.

In the first example. We start with Ruby (fire), which is then quenched with Sapphire (water), which is then cooled by Diamond (air), which is then made solid by Emerald (earth), thus freezing everyone in the room in a solid block of ice.

In the second example, Ruby (fire) and Sapphire (water) went the same, but Emerald (earth) was made more fluid and loose, but then dominated by it’s opposing element (air), which reversed the gravity in the room, forcing wolf to climb from the ceiling and hold the gemstone rods in their key slots by force.

When at last they had survived a high speed electrified whirlpool of melted ice, which thembecame an electric whirlwind,which became a shocking storm of steam, they found the correct combination (in order by alchemical density, starting with earth because it’s a dwarrow temple).

As they made their way from the temple to the mountaintop, our heroes faced the guardians of the peak, another form of creatures who had once already tested their mettle.

One by one as they meet with the towering beast standing before the now shimmer quartz monolith that dwarfs even the huge Elder Wolf.

Yet, not all went smoothly. Korathank the Paladin stated proudly that his master Cthulhu had sent him on this quest. The Elder Wolf was not pleased.

Meanwhile, Al was furiously recording all the various permutations and runes to be found in the tomb and the traps to be found there. Ferran stuck around to steal the gemstone rods before making an escape.

The Elder Wolf had no patience, but (with a Natural 1 on a check against Korathank’s ridiculous Persuasion check claiming Cthulhu was an okay guy) chose to grab for Ferran first. While the guardian pulled Al and Ferran up through the stone itself, Korathank dove through the rapidly closing crystalline portal.

While Al was answering the guardian’s question as to why he sought passage. (Curiosity, of course! I’ve never been there, so I’m going.) Ferran snuck through the portal. When they arrived on the other side, Korathank and Ferran both found themselves under terrible curses, as the granite that covered the crystal slowly burrowed it’s way into their bodies. (Cursed: disadvantage on Dex checks and saves for Korathank, Con for Ferran)

Now that our heroes have made their way into the cloud kingdoms proper, will they be able to reach the source of the trouble in time? or even survive the journey?

We’ll let the dice decide in:
Cloud Giant’s Gate, Dungeon Camp (day 4)

August 14, 2018August 27, 2018

Belly of Stone: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 2)

Within the vast mountains, beyond the reach of Dwarrow or Eagles, our heroes face a band of water wolves, who leap straight from the slime stained creek that runs backwards and, as they soon discovered, loops back onto itself.

Hadarai (woodelf ranger) and ‘Wolf’ (woodelf druid) struggle beneath the current, held fast by canine teeth dug deep into their limbs. Ashore, their allies rally, pushing back the smaller wolves, while Friga (dragonborn druid and giant white wolf fig) tries to stare down the Elder Wolf.

As the battle rages on, the stream is revealed to have transformed into a loop somehow, drawing a nearly drowned and bled out Hadarai back to where his allies can save him. Yet the transformation boggles our heroes, who struggle to understand, even as they struggle against the wolves…

As the pack collapses under the party’s counter offensive, the Elder wolf roars in Frigga’s borrowed wolf face and chases her down the tunnel in a blind rage, ultimately cornering itself between those she’d thought slain by her pack, and those ignored at her flanks…

With Friga taunting the Elder Wolf, the rest of the water wolf pack fell into disarray and was picked off swiftly, leaving the surrounded Elder to attempt a vaillant stand, and then to flee.

Before resting the adventurers split into teams to explore the tunnels (darkvision, wild shaped dire wolves and torch bearers respectively), making certain there were no more foes to be found, and discovering a new side tunnel, leading to a new whirlpool. Assuming this was a portal, they set up camp in a dry patch at a bend in the creek.

After working out who would take which watch, we broke for lunch and boffer sword construction.

Our boffers are made with PVC pipe, pool noodles, rounds cut from foam pads and duct tape. IFGS rules.

While everyone else slept, Frigga prowled the tunnels in her wolf form, discovering that the water wolf pack’s scent grew stronger when she stalked widdershins and stronger clockwise. What’s more, her allies were gone when she made her way back around once, though she found them again when she went back the way she had come. There was a great deal of speculation about what this meant, but ultimately came to naught. Ferran had gone out exploring as well, trying to leave marks which vanished from the walls, and going so deep into the spiral that he lost track of time and space. Somewhere in the depths, the side tunnel leading to the whirlpool, led instead to a impenetrably black wall. Ferran saw a glimmer of his fingers reflected back from the surface before they touched. The wall burst, letting out a wave of water that filled the tunnels, flinging Ferran at the front as it spiraled up to sweep the party from their camp into a newly formed dead end. Quick thinking ‘Wolf’ transformed into a dolphin and began to ferry everyone to the whirlpool, which now spun inwards at the center of the flooded chamber.

While ‘Wolf’ was able to get all of her allies to the portal, their armor and weapons were left pinned to the cave floor. Anything that could float was grabbed as best our herores could.

Not everyone made it all the way to the whirlpool, with a few awry strength saves leaving heroes swirling in the dolphin’s wake, where they snatched at gear, or made for the portal on their own.

Two by two the dolphin ‘Wolf’ pulled her allies to the portal, though the tunnel began to retract as she did, almost crushing her as she reached the portal on the final pass.

The whirlpool fed through darkness and out a spout that spat our heroes one by one onto a narrow ledge above a cliff face. A tower of rock that jutted from the heights to stand above the clouds themselves.

The narrow ledge was host to a view of the distant slopes, some hundreds of feet below, and the span of thunderous, gray clouds that poured torrential rain across the plains.

In the deluge of bodies, two of our heroes nearly had the chance to take a more accurate measure of the cliff’s height (on the way down), save for the quick reflexes of their fellow travelers, Thriran (human monk) and Thorin (dwarrow fighter)

From left to right, Ferran, Al, Thirian, Thor, Wolf, Korathank, Hadarai, and Frigga, take stock of their situation at the top of the world.

As the party spreads out to explore something about the carving of the stone steps reminds him of his ancestral home, or the deep temples, dug millenia past. A natural 20 of a history check has him scurrying up towards the peak to confirm his suspicions.

Another natural 20 on a nature check, and Thor realizes the structure atop the peak looks more like a crystalline mass coated in a layer of granite! A third natural 20 (that set the whole table to shouting) on a religion check, and we rush to the pathway beneath the spire to find…

A hidden chamber, filled with the bodies of dwarrow, slain in battle. Thor insisted that the dead be laid to rest and prayed over before anyone dares to touch the chests, or bookshelves…

Alas, the rest of the party wasn’t feeling so patient. Will they simply reap the rewards of their cunning dwarrow friends findings? or will they reap the wrath of vengeful spirits of the ancestors?

We’ll let the dice decide in:
Enter the Sky: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 3)

August 13, 2018August 27, 2018

The Inn at the Top of the World: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 1)

The skies are aboil with lightning, the thunder constant as vast continents of vapor clash against one another. All nations and peoples below suffer the consequences as the chaos in the cloud kingdoms reshapes regions with landslides and floods of proportions thought long relegated to myth.

Above the banks of refugee clouds that sail ever lower to avoid the storm of storms, Eaglespoor Perch stands on the crossroads of the old Imperial roads and the tracks of countless trappers and miners that call the lofty peaks home. The giant eagles that roost amidst the surrounding peaks control the trade routes skyward, to the Cloud Kingdoms themselves, yet none will venture into the looming banks of inky black clouds.

The first thing we do is learn to make characters. I talk to the players about the story that’s coming, the title and the starting place. Then they tell me about why their characters would be in that place, and together we weave together a beginning.

Then the hard part starts. The first time through building a character in an RPG can seem daunting for some kids. I’ve always loved doing it, and still use it for a character analysis system when I’m trying to organize thoughts around a new work of fiction, so teaching it is fun for me too.

The most important part of building a character is having a chance to see how the numbers show up in the game, when the action is really happening. So after everyone has got their race, class and background sorted out, abilities set, proficiencies noted, we’re off to high adventure!

The common room of the Eaglespoor Perch, somewhat less lively than usual without the eagle’s deck in operation.

Survivors of the Apotheosis Institute, the idle curious, and fortune hunters find themselves sharing a roof, and perhaps a quest.

What may have otherwise been a quiet evening had settled into the Eaglespoor. Dom and Myrt had finished serving dinner, though dueling bards had kept the guests lively and (more importantly to Dom’s thinking) ordering ale. That several bands of adventurers at once didn’t seem like a coincidence, and Dom was happy to adjust his prices to match his concerns. It also distracted him as his bouncer kicked out a local woman whose husband had died in the mines. An incident also missed by the adventurers as they made for the bar to fill their empty bellies.

The majority of the Legends who answered the call to discover the source of the chaos in the Cloud Kingdoms chose to share the inn’s main bunk room.

One spent quite a bit more to ensure his privacy, the better to confer with his dark patron in the long night before the journey up, and above, the mountain.

A camper who arrived late, found their character still making for the inn, only to happen across Cerran and her children just in time to rescue them from wolves.

And so night settles over the inn, as ‘Wolf’ (Woodelf Druid) kept watch over her new found allies, and Korathank (Halfelf Paladin) pushed himself to the limit to carry Cerran and her children, Amli and Fellden up to the inn. Luckily, the druid heard the crying of little Fellden and then the grunting of Korathank struggling up the last few feet of the ragged cliff face with the family clinging to his back.

Korathank, semiconscious from blood loss and exhaustion, managed to push the wayward family up into the courtyard in front of the inn.

While ‘Wolf’ rushed the injured Paladin and terrorized family upstairs to their room, the pack that had hunted them up the mountainside sized up the inn…

In the bunk room, our heroes learn that Cerran had been trying to talk to Dom for quite some time. With a bit of healing magic, the family were fast asleep.

In the morning everyone gathered at the bar, taking extra care to sneak Cerran and her children past the bouncer. Myrt was horrified to see Cerran and stormed out back to clean the eagle deck, while Dom first thanked our heroes for saving his friend, but for letting him know what had been going on behind his back.

It didn’t take much convincing for Tomack to be the one doing the bouncing as Dom threw his former employee out, sending him skipping across the courtyard like a stone.

Meanwhile, the guard arrived to ask about a wolf corpse that had been discovered down the trail and were as horrified to hear about such an organized pack as they were thankful to have some already dealt with.

After a solid breakfast (on the house) and a bit more gossip with priests about the nature of what might be causing the floods, local mavens about how all the roads were blocked, and at last a young merchant calling herself Sam, who first offered to deliver a letter for Ferran (Warlock), then asked if they would be interested in the reward being offered for any information leading to the reopening of the cloud kingdoms and an end to the flooding and destruction.

A contract was produced, wisely tested for magic and trickery by several canny players, all of whom signed, though there was a bit of a conjuration spell upon the parchment. When they had all signed, the masked bard, who had been dueling with the satyr flutist the night before, tumbled atop a nearby table and pulled duplicate contracts from his calico coat.

The contracts sighed, the masked bard flipped the table Sam had been sitting at to reveal a teleportation circle drawn on the underside. (a back door to the mountain peaks now trapped beyond the lightning wracked banks of cloud that loomed above.

The masked bard spun through the air and leapt through the portal, calling for our heroes to follow, only after they had begun to jump through after the man did anyone realize they had forgotten to ask him his name.

One by one our heroes come shooting out of an inverse whirlpool, which rises up as it swirls and which water flows away. The Paladin quickly lights a torch, as most of the band is blinded in the dark. The bard’s mask gives off a faint glow of visible light itself, though it glows like a bonfire to those with. drakvision

Draw by the sounds of our heroe’s haphazard splashing through the underground river, water wolves come diving up from the flow to drag the unwary beneath the water, and dig teeth and claws into those who remain above.

The huge white wolf is Friga (dragonborn druid), trying first a little diplomacy, then intimidation as her allies get pulled down or cornered.

Will our heroes escape the fetid dark and nashing jaws in the strange tunnels beneath the mountain?

We’ll let the dice decide in:
Belly of Stone, Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 2)