Time to start catching up!
This is the DM's Summary and Notes - for more details and the players' take on things take a look here.
We begin in Hommlet after a night's rest. The prisoners have been escorted to safety and various abilities have been recovered. After some light shopping the party returns to the Moathouse area and sets up a camp some distance away. Our protagonists are:
Malice (Human Bard) played by Grognard MikeBraeden (Human Ranger)played by Battletech TerrySir Kentor (Human Paladin) played by Paladin SteveSir Lantor (Human Fighter) played by Boom Gun BrandonXyzzifax (Human* Wizard) played by Blaster
(He's not an Apprentice anymore, and really past Journeyman, but I just will not call him the obvious)Samson (Halfling Mechanist) played by Shootist WillJaric (Human Cleric) played by Variable David
All are level 2 or 3 at this point
Heading down into the dungeon beneath the moathouse they start poking around some empty rooms and manage to trip a falling portcullis. The sound draws the attention of some Gnolls which starts a fairly vicious fight where Malice the Bard starts to look a lot like a 4E Warlord and the Flaming Sphere spell plays a big part. As the fight winds down the magical owl familiar spots a new set of creatures creeping down a corridor towards them.
As the party reforms to face the new threat Braedon the Ranger starts taking shots at anyone he can see and the flaming sphere rolls over to intervene as well. The beasts manage to drop Lantor the Fighter with concentrated javelin fire but their follow-up charge is thwarted by the traps laid down on the way in by the ranger. Kentor the Paladin is bearing the brunt of the melee attention now and he too drops. The bugbear leader is a tough customer as he stays on his feet despite multiple melee attacks, missile attacks, and being partially petrified!
More of the bugbears drop but Lantor and Kentor are healed and then fall again. The wizard uncloaks, revealing some insectile wings and starts throwing thunderwaves to drive the creatures back which actually works. The enemy leader is beaten and battered when he finally shakes off the petrification and staggers back with his one remaining warrior ... "next time, humans ..." is the last exchange as they slink off into the darkness.
The familiar monitors their retreat as the party pulls itself together and heals up to the point of mobility. Our heroes find the way back out blocked by the fallen portcullis and Sir Kentor has to strain and break it to open the way.
Back at the camp Xyzzifax shares his origin story as a once-normal man warped by his former master into an insect-man on a quest for power.
DM Commentary
This session started with some banter and exploration but turned into one long, running fight through a small complex of rooms as the noise from the initial trap drew the attention of the gnolls and then that noise drew the attention of the bugbears. It's all fun and games until the Fighter and the Paladin both go down and the Cleric and the Ranger become the new frontline with the halfling Mechanist trying to help out. The Bard usually fights from the second line when needed - with a glaive so she has reach - but she's much happier doing that with the two tanks in front.
Having realized that a group this large was going to be tougher to challenge and knowing how this level was set up I started making notes on who would react to the alarms and also to the sounds of fighting in different parts of the dungeon. The familiar being both recon drone and security system continues to be a bit annoying and I'm having to get picky with the wizard about when he is seeing via the owl vs. seeing out of his own eyes at times.
The Gnolls were Tome of Beasts Gnolls and they're fine - the "taunting bark" ability forces an opponent to move towards the Gnoll and attack it on its turn - shades of 4th edition! The Bugbears were led by a Bugbear Champion from that book and he is a little bit nastier and made the whole thing better. He is tougher, has more attacks, and has a Recharge reaction ability to change one miss to hit so he can really put out the hurt. He ended up becoming a bit of a nemesis as he spoke, survived their best efforts, and threatened to come after them again. They would hunt for him in the next few sessions but he did not return - though he will later.
The wizard has become one of the stars of the campaign as Blaster uses a distinct voice when he speaks and tends to refer to everyone as minions. Getting his backstory out there for the group was a good moment and made everything that much more personal for everyone. Also his in-character writeups are pretty funny if you get the chance to check those out.
Overall I really like the system. There are some potential concerns with a few things and with the size of my group but we are going to finish the Moathouse mostly as-is and then see how things stand.
