Seabarrow: A Short Horror Adventure (2nd Level, D&D 3.5)

[Inerrant Lust]

Your band of adventurers have just completed your first quest! Clearing out kobolds from a cave or dire rats from the sewers- no sweat, right? You stop by the small hamlet of Seabarrow to restock on items and seek new quests for your next adventure... but all the villagers here are just... weird.

Then things go... very very wrong.

Game Information
I can run 5e but I am intimately familiar with 3.5e. We can do either/or depending. Please cast your vote when you post here.

Party size... 3-4 sound about right?

Starting at level 2. You've just completed your first level adventure, so you are a band of adventurers that are still pretty green... but maybe that cakewalk of a last dungeon has made you overconfident.

Bad Ends are possible. In fact, they may be expected. The final boss is CR 10 if we use 5e. I considered making it easier... but then I remembered this is supposed to be horror! The possibility of defeating it IS there, if you're lucky or I'm generous with leveling (as I tend to be) but I do feel like the threat of a party wipe enhances the horror atmosphere. Not only death if you roll poorly (though I'll try to avoid outright killing of characters), but imprisonment and rape and all that fun stuff.

This should not be a very long game. I only envision making two areas for you to explore.

X-Rated Information
The Horror elements of this may include monsters of the aberration category. That's all I'll say. Rape and 'Bad Ends' as discussed above are possible. That being said, I am very keenly aware of people's O/Os so I won't try to make anyone uncomfortable.

[inflatetress]

Ooo fun!

[wander]

Potentially interested!

I don't own the DM Guide for 3.5, just the Player's Handbook, so I'd like to know how much extra gold a 2nd Level adventurer starts with, if possible. :)

I know when you start at higher levels you get gold for extra items and to buy magic stuff to equal things out.

[Inerrant Lust]

It's just a flat 900gp in 3.5e. In 5e, it's just normal starting equipment.

As an aside, I kinda hate the name Seabrrow... and may change it. But, you know, it kind of invokes Lovecraftian horror in its name so...  ::)

[wander]

I recommend Innsmouth. ^^

Cheers btw. If interest picks up, I'll see what I can get for that 900 GP. I have a Rogue character ready to go.

[Inerrant Lust]

Idly considering this for the town itself.

The problematic thing is the big buildings I labeled as ruins. The presence of a castle with armed soldiers/guards would kind of make the premise impossible... or, alternatively, it would make things a little too difficult for the PCs.

And yes, the villagers were dumb enough to build a barrow before realizing that there's precious ore they can extract from the ground beneath it...  ::)

Essentially, the mini narrative is that the town was built around a place that had or required a big barrow. There was a battle there or something... and then they found precious metals in the mountainside, so the local authorities built a fort, a watchtower, and some stables to house an armed presence there. Probably in the middle of a war or something. Then the ore dried up and they left the place to ruins.

[schnookums]

ooh, this sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. Color me interested

[wander]

Me and my Rogue are still interested also. :)

[Inerrant Lust]

Oh hey, Schnookums! Long time no see. ;)

For Char Gen, I'm thinking Point Buy 28, 2nd level, 900 starting gp

3 players is sufficient for a small adventure, though I think we could take more. Worse comes to worse, I can whip up an NPC that was with the group in their first adventure if we wanted a standard 4-person party. ::)

[Hexed]

Any limits on classes?  If nothing else can fill any gaps in the party.

[Inerrant Lust]

At 2nd level, I don't foresee any problems with allowing any class.

I'm taking a page from Matt Colville's YouTube series on GMinh and say 'party balance doesn't matter'

No need for a healer/tank/dps or whatever. Play what you want.

[Hexed]

Huh. Interesting. I'll see what catches my eye when I get home then.


3.5 right?

Looking at a half-elf or human dusk blade from player's manual 2. Gets to swing a hammer and cast spells!

[Inerrant Lust]

Centuries ago, Highbarrow(?) was the site of a terrible battle against the legion of the Dread King. Outnumbered and cornered, the paladins of Cometfall put their backs to the nearby mountains and forced the legion to assault them across the river that marks the town's border. The Dread King was defeated, his armies (and remains) scattered. The fallen were buried in a great barrow on the mountain and the area was consecrated. It became a place of pilgrimage for many Cometfall clerics and paladins.

100 years ago, Mithral flakes were found floating down from the river after a rockslide by some pilgrims. Some of the younger clerics and paladins figured there was more money to be had in mining and obtained permission to (very carefully) start an operation there. The town boomed and expanded into the town it is today. Due to its strategic value, the King established a fort, some watch towers, and a stable to house a small fighting force.

Some 30 years ago, the mithral deposit was starting to run dry. The fort was abandoned after the war and largely left to the cobwebs and dust. The already aging wooden stables fared worse and have begun to fall apart. Highbarrow began to decline as well, the town's trade economy dwindling to a shadow of its former glory. Though habitual trade was only a memory, it became a waystation for adventurers and pilgrims again.

Today, Highbarrow's inhabitants are a far cry from the faithful who founded the town in the first place. Last year, Cometfall petitioned the King to censure Highbarrow when a desperate expansion into the mines there unearthed bones from the barrow above... but nothing came of it.

[Cataclysmic Archangel]

I'm tempted.  I only have one idea right now, but what's sticking is the 'short adventure'; I don't get to play D&D very often, and knowing it might be limited makes me wonder if I should bother.  On the other hand, it's been so long since I played, anything is better than nothing, right?

[Inerrant Lust]

Well, I can certainly work with a party of 5. ;)

I think it's kind of risky to aim for a long epic campaign on any PbP forum, even Elliquiy. People struggle to find their muse, there's a lot less communication than there would be on Skype or in person, and it's kind of easy to just... stop posting. It's my hope that a smaller adventure will be nice and compact. Consider this something akin to one module in one of those old school D&D books.

If it works out, then I'm certainly not opposed to running more games. Even if the characters might be... slightly disposable (but really, I don't go out of my way to kill PCs! Well, unless they ask for it. *eyes inflatetress*), having met good players and (hopefully) a good GM is a worthwhile trade in my book.

I ran a system game for 7-some odd years on Elliquiy. It ended, but we all got out of it a pretty dependable group of players that I'm in a game with right now, in fact. :P

So, if we can get everyone's sheets in this weekend, I'll be able to start the game proper.

[Hexed]

just making sure!

The characters are NOT from Highbarrow right?

It's more of a party wiped some little thing off the map (those poor goblins or kobolds) and while going back to "home" decide to restock in this ex-mining town?

[Inerrant Lust]

Yep. You're just a group of novice adventurers passing by, looking for a place to stay/adventure hooks/people to swindle. :P

[wander]

Okay!

Shall Level up my Lv.1 human rogue to 2, then figure out their gear list. Gear is probably going to take a fair amount of time... I have their basic stuff from starting cash, the rest of their gear I'll probably sift over the SRD magic item costs for. Maybe upgrade their armour and weaponry to magical/masterwork too.

[schnookums]

Thinking I'm going to play a Cloistered Cleric for this

[Hexed]

Gear and a pic, plus writing down the backstory are all that's left for my duskblade.

Found out something rather stupid. Duskblade spell list has 4 cantrips total. I get 5 known cantrips due to 2 start + 3 int mod which adds more cantrips.  They did not think out the spell list very well. :D

[wander]

Can I get someone to link me to a webpage with a 3.5 point build calculator?

I don't own the Dungeon Master's Guide with it in, just the Player's Handbook which doesn't have the point buy option in it. I think my Rogue may be built with 28pts so I want to make sure they'll be legal for the game.

[Inerrant Lust]

http://www.myth-weavers.com/pointbuy.html

There you are. :P

[Hexed]

So. Winding up with a... good chunk of gold. Given the short nature of the planned adventure would a mule and cart be a worthwhile purchase? Or just stick all the remaining gold in cure potions?


Also!

Can't decide between these pics. Any slaps upside the head to help me chose? :D

First

Second

Third

Fourth

[Inerrant Lust]

I kind of like the third, personally. Suitably modest for a low level adventurer, the style is a bit serious and dark for a horror game... and a little sexy too. ;)

As the GM, I won't say one way or another whether a mule and cart or more potions would be useful.  ::) Potions are probably the 'safer' bet, since their use depends on taking damage and being in combat. While a mule and cart would be useful for transporting a lot of things or something very heavy... which basically might mean a lost opportunity or a huge inconvenience if it's something you have to bring with you.

[Haztur]

I am really interested in this if there is still place, I read there is a rogue and a cloistered priest, then I could play a sorceress

As mentioned above, being horror I do expect bad endings (I just prefer the bad ones where  I am not killed, but the capture and all sort of abuse is welcome!)

Maybe any of these outlooks

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

An option besides skype or person could be roll20, obviously not everyone can participate in the same timeline, so its a shame, but its a rather useful system to play online too.

[Inerrant Lust]

It won't be my explicit intention to kill anyone, really... but I'm basically not going to go out of my way to avoid it.

I do think what I've prepared so far is certainly doable with the right kind of crazy gamist mindset. ;)

So perhaps instead of a small group, since we've gotten a few more people interested, I'll go with a slightly larger sized party and... uh, expect to lose a few here and there. Maybe not to death, barring some bad rolls or suicidal acts..

But even in normal games, most of my NPCs don't try to kill PCs if they can avoid it. Even goblins know they can probably get a good ransom from a captured hero instead of a dead one. Or at the very least, can use them as a hostage.

But I really don't want to reveal too much. A big element of horror is fear of the unknown, no? ;)

It's also looking like we just might have an all female party. ::)

[Haztur]

sounds good to me, love the ravenloft-like or lovecraftian games :D

[wander]

My Rogue is a fella! ^^;

So, for better stuffs, I'm looking at some Masterwork armour (can't afford magic armour) and weapons with his adventuring gear. Then rid the coins on some minor wondrous items (Especially a few Elixirs; Elixir of Love anyone?  ;D ), then grab some potions. I'm not gonna waste coin on scrolls or wand at Level 2 (Use Magic Device has rather high DCs).

Due to probable lower strength, potentially I may end up snagging a mule to help out some... ^^;

[Hexed]

Got masterwork blade and armor. Shield, crossbow, explore/travel gear, some healing potions, mule and cart.  I'll recheck my math when I get back home but should be right. Had to fiddle with stats some more but duskblade is done.

Just don't expect much casting from her. :)   
Sword and board fighter mostly till lvl 3. And light armor till lvl 4 or 5.

Anyways. Point was mule and cart are set so the low stress folks don't need to worry.

[ShadowFox89]

 Gonna toss my hat in

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

"She's unarmed and not wearing armor, doesn't look to be a spellcaster. What threat could she possibly be?"

[Hexed]

It's also looking like we just might have an all female party. ::)

Well. Can't claim for the rest. But in my case the female hero this time is due to the bad end/rape flag. For some reason I can pull it off with a female but not a male. Just way to much time scratching my head going "now what?" That said it's very easy to swap to male if needed/wanted. :)


Speaking of. Here she is. Hopefully I can pull the personality off right as it's a far cry from my usual energetic crazies.

simmi krillom

pic

Youngest daughter of an Innkeeper she grew up learning the family trade, not that she'd actually be more then a waitress or cook when her elder sibling inherited the Inn. And whenever she scrapped up free time she'd constantly harass traveling adventurers to teach her anything they could. Not surprising it was the warriors who were more willing to show her more tricks what with it being easier to teach one sword strike then it is to show how to pick a lock. Things changed when on cleaning one of the rooms she found a spellbook left behind by one of the adventurers that had stayed the night. After a month of not seeing the adventurer again she began slowly reading through the book and attempting to understand the things it contained. Time past and while many may have said things about her odd preferences in activities she kept up her training and while not quite able to combine her spells and her bladework she felt ready to actually join up with a group. A shield to hopefully keep her companions safe and a blade or a spell to hinder any threats faced.

[Inerrant Lust]

If her charisma's anything to go by, she must be quite abrasive. :P All those warriors must have been like "Ayyy, I'll show you a thing or two about swinging a sword, rite?" and then they start talking and they're like, "Euhhhh, I'm going to.. uh, go... do something else."

An all girl party except one would work fine, though. :P

As an aside, I am thinking that instead of just starting with 900 gp, maybe I should have just rolled treasure tables for a small 1st level dungeon and pooled it together for the party to pick from. I realize that if you start the game with everything you need, there's no reason to go to the backsmith or the general store or the merchant house... Though Highbarrow was made famous for its mithral, so there's that.

[Hexed]

Very much that. :D

Mithral armor counts as one grade lower right? Given that the highest duskblade spellcasting ignoring goes is medium armor that's a very nice crafting material. Hell. Unless there's a monk in the group pretty sure that's a very nice material for everyone.

And you have a point. Looks less like a group returning from it's first dungeon and more like a group about to set out for its second dungeon.


Heh.  A low charisma will be interesting to try playing. Wisdom's my usual dumpstat. Going to try for a "She cares but has a very blunt approach to things". Although given charisma's usually a dumpstat for warriors too I doubt they'd even notice. :D

Hmmm... Should pick up a pipe and tobacco or something as a bad habit she's mimicked.

[Inerrant Lust]

I would be inclined to be a little generous with the tables- there would be some magic items in there on top of spending money... more than 900 gp per person but the downside is that it's random. Could get a +2 dire flail shaped for a small size adventurer. ;)

Put it up to a vote, eh?

And that's right about the mithral armor. While the mines have gone kinda dry and the big boom is over, it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest they still have quite a few products laying about for a premium price.

[ShadowFox89]

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1066347

Who: Lea Brewtreks
What: Whisper Gnome Dragonfire Adept

Lea Brewtreks spent much of her life relaxing and generally enjoying things. Her clan was fairly well off thanks to their draconic guardian, and caravans going in and out of the village meant there was little end to stories and... other entertainment. Of course, when you're entrusted with following in the footsteps of your ancestor, spending your days loafing around is a tad looked down upon. Especially when your clan elder finds you in a pile of naked bodies after a night... or two... or three of carousing.
Booted out until she "found some damned responsibility", because even gnomes have some sort of sense of duty, Lea wandered a bit until she joined up with an adventuring party. After their first big adventure, they decided to stop by a quaint little town to stock up. What could possibly go wrong, right?

[wander]

Adapted character statistics are as follows;

Str 11 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 14 (+2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 14 (+2).

So here's the sheet before equipment comes in;

Ability Scores:
Str 11, Dex 14 (+2), Con 11, Int 14 (+2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 14 (+2)

Languages = Common, Dwarven and Elven.
Speed= 30ft.
Hit Points = 11 (7+4)
BAB = +1 (+3 for Ranged Attacks)
Armour Class = +2 (add armour modifier later)
Fort +1, Ref +5, Wil +1
Special Abilities: Sneak Attack +1d6, Trapfinding, Evasion.

Skills:
Bluff 5, Disguise 5, Disable Device 5, Diplomacy 5, Hide 5, Jump 5,
Listen 5, Move Silently 5, Perform (Dance) 5, Search 5, Sense Motive 5.

Feats:
x Martial Weapon Proficiency: Composite Longbow (this is based off my Lv.1 character and may change)
x Point Blank Shot

Gear shouldn't take that long to do now, though I'm going to be out and about today. Once Gear is done, I'll share face-claim and short bio, adapt Armour Class and possibly Feats as shown above. He doesn't have Open Lock as I'm looking to go for Shadow Dancer with this Rogue later, though I figured anything with a lock on it can just be smashed open by someone else. ^^

[Inerrant Lust]

Still waiting on some sheets... ::)

Oh, for HP. Max die at 1st level, half at every level. So a D8 would be 8+Con Modifier at 1st level and 4+Con Modifier at 2nd.

As it is, we have 7 people interested. That's a lot. I may have to refuse some people. :-\ Having a slightly larger party's fine for tabletop, but it can get a bit problematic for PbP..

[wander]

Cheers, I'll need to edit the HP then. :)

*Worries* I haven't done my Gear yet! Ah, I'm near done though! Oooh... I always end up being the one being refused... @__@;;;

[Hexed]

^^

It is what it is.

Thanks for the HP rules. I completely forgot to ask about them. :D


Speaking of gear. Did you decide if you were going to do the 900g or base gear + random loots?

<.<  >.>

I'd vote for random loots myself. Can always get the oddest stuff that way.

[Haztur]

Still waiting on some sheets... ::)

how complete the character sheets?

[Inerrant Lust]

For me, the most important thing on the sheet is personality and background and that stuff. It doesn't have to be an extensive multi-page biography but that sort of thing helps me a lot as a GM. :P

We're unlikely to jump straight into combat (though skill checks are always possible) right away anyways. Besides, it shouldn't take too long to make a 2nd level character. :-\

[ShadowFox89]

how complete the character sheets?

If you need help Haztur, I've been playing 3.5 for a LOOOONG time. I'm no expert in optimizing things (go poke Glyphstone about that), but I can at least help you get the sheet done quick.

[Haztur]

If you need help Haztur, I've been playing 3.5 for a LOOOONG time. I'm no expert in optimizing things (go poke Glyphstone about that), but I can at least help you get the sheet done quick.

nah, the question is more about how lazy I am.
I am well versed in DnD, from 2nd ed to 5th... well not 4th, hate 4th... that is a wargame not an rpg :P

We have already acloistered cleric, right? ok Sorceress is it :D

[Inerrant Lust]

I guess I'll cut off recruitment tomorrow at midnight, EST. If you don't have a sheet in by then, I don't know what to tell you. :P

While that'll suffice, wander, I would prefer something like Mythweavers that's easy enough for me to quickly reference.

[wander]

Can I just PM you the sheet instead?

This is the character's standard starting gear, it's easier for me to just get some random items atop of it.

Equipment:
Composite Longbow (3 lb)
20 arrow quiver (3 lb)
Sickle (2 lb)

Clothing:
Explorer's Outfit
(Cloak, scarf, shirt, jacket, gloves, belt, leather breeches, sturdy boots)
Leather Armour (15lb)

Backpack (2 lb)
Bedroll (5 lb)
Flask (1.5 lb)
Flint and Steel (-- lb)
Lamp, common (1 lb)
Oil (1-pint flask) (1 lb)
Signal Whistle (-- lb)
Trail Rations, x2 days (2 lb)
Whetstone (1 lb)

Belt Pouch (0.5 lb) containing;
Coin:
1 Gold Piece
8 Silver Pieces
5 Copper Pieces

The reason is I have this logged in and I just haven't had the time to sift through all the lists of stuff to adapt and figure out what I'm going to spend 900 gold coins on.

I'd rather get my character's personality and backstory written up and sent in PM to you with their consolidated sheet so they're in and ready. I'm not on Mythweavers, so getting on there and learning my way around it in less than a day just isn't going to happen with RL things happening too.

[Inerrant Lust]

Sure, a PM works but Mythweavers is actually pretty easy to use if you already know everything about your character. I'd highly recommend it not just for my ease of use, but for yours. ;) You create a new sheet, use any one of the templates (3.5 in our case) and it basically just duplicates something similar to the ones in the back of the PHB with empty spaces for you to fill out. As far as I know, the only thing that is automated is that it calculates maximum skill ranks for your level. Other than that, everything else has to be written by hand.

I like it because it'll always exist in that link and you can edit it on the fly. So whenever I take a look at your sheet, I know it should be up to date. A sheet written on a PM or in a thread can become quickly outdated. ...BUT considering the relatively small size and scope of this game, that shouldn't be too much of an issue anyways. I just think it's a great resource. ;)

[inflatetress]

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1065802

Who: Chatel
What: Human Bard (Dancer)

Meet your resident blonde bimbo bard! 

[Hexed]

Might wanna check your stats again. Your total's a little short. It's a 28 point buy. :D

you've only got 23 points spent.

[ShadowFox89]

 I think Inerrant wanted us to make characters who could be coming out of their first dungeon... or at least in between adventures... I don't think someone who's only stat above a 10 is charisma really counts.

[wander]

Wasn't it a 29pt buy? @_@

Because I have 29pts... Originally the character I had was 28pts Level 1, that I boosted to Level 2 with 29pts for attributes...

[ShadowFox89]

 You don't boost the points every level....

[wander]

I wasn't talking about the attributes being boosted, so much as other stuff such as skills, which do get boosted up.

Fuuuu... Just noticed it's 28pts anyway.

Ah, fuck it. I'm just going to drop out at this point as it's clear I'm not going to make the cut anyway.

[Haztur]

Still checking the equipment

Zyllia an archeologyst sorceress who came to check the ruins and some odd rumors she has heard http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1068190

Zyllia is an archeologyst that recently discovered her mystic powers and she has decided to use them to help her investigations, she is smart, but she is reckless, forgetful and in general a bit careless (low wis), fortunately she is very likeable so that usually helps her out of trouble and when not, she knows how to make herself scarse... which is often necessary when she does something stupid or offends someone.

[Inerrant Lust]

Okay, everyone's in.

Except schnookums, though he's been a bit busy. Still, I can think of a way of having him enter the game midway through.

Here is the OOC thread.

I wrote a little backstory of how you all know each other and a little bit on your first adventure. I also fleshed out the setting a bit, but you'll have to make a few rolls to make it IC knowledge. It's actually Forgotten Realms, because why not? It did take a lot of time figuring out how to fit it into a place that made sense, though... I don't know much of Faerun other than a few of the Salvatore Books and Neverwinter, so predictably this is a Sword Coast adventure. :P