Bloodfall 10

"Ok team, what are yall gonna to do tonight?" says the DM, wincing at the response. "Who's got a Good PC? Cuz you can't come." That pretty much set the tone for the session, balanced around 2 (two) separate heist schemes to be investigated, planned, and executed all at once.

There was some chatter in downtime among a segment of the party calling themselves "Team No-Good" where they wanted to steal the Falcon Idol from Bloodfall. Yngve the Fighter had personal reasons due to a downtime pbp run by a separate DM and the rest were just looking for a payout. If Yngve's hook generation bothers you, well, you are Not Going To Make It. Hold on loosely, brother, and lean into inserts to the campaign. This is part of playing in a club atmosphere.

So there we were with a massive party of scoundrels, ne'er-do-wells, and apathetics. They wanted to break Baldrig the Enforcer out of prison and also steal the Falcon. Much time was spent planning and investigating, with creative use of resources earning them quality intel and disguises. One group was going to infiltrate the Great Hall as part of the guard unit while the other was going to stake out the Falcon and secure their exit.

Vigi the dwarf was able to verify that Viseworth was indeed paying for Baldrig's release after some frustrating encounters with scoundrels. I think it was Hymir that laid a fat bribe on Rosco the Barkeep that revealed a sekrit tunnel used for smuggling and Hymir, Van, and Thornbro in some combination that convinced a trollop to involve herself as a distraction. Rollo and Yngve were persona non grata after their participation in the Bloodstein on the side of the besiegers of Bloodfall, so they were laying low and waiting to engage with muscle. Lloyd and Thornbro used their animals and magic to gather intel. Samson ran as face with Broderick the Neon, paladin guardian of the Falcon and also a PC not played during session, to get a written pass to get them past the gate. Thornbro commented, "Oh no we're going to have to kill my own PC!" and then continued with the heist because he's not a baby.

After some two hours of set-up, they purchased some supplies and another PC joined briefly only to be run out because he was Good aligned and also very very late to session. He insulted them and they insulted him and he left. Bros gon bro.

Van and Hymir infiltrated the Great Hall, but there were many more guards involved than they anticipated, a full squad for each shift. Istrid the trollop got to work but was a little overwhelmed at the attention. The SGT on duty was unimpressed and guarded the door to the cell dutifully. The two tried to convince him to leave, involve himself with Istrid, or something but he wasn't biting. So they ambushed him.

A SGT is generally a 1st level fighter. Ok, not that tough. The PCs generated two segments of surprise. This was gonna be a quick ordeal quickly resolved and I began to think about how to run the "hiding the body" Splinter Cell/Assassin's Creed scene. The slap fight that ensued took several rounds, alerted the room, and turned into chaos.

Van eventually choked the guard out and claimed him to be angling for Baldrig's release. There was much confusion and eventually Istrid fled, some guards chased her, and a runner went for the CPT. Leadbelly came out, quickly and incorrectly assessed the situation, and tied the unconscious SGT to a chair for the CPT to sort out. Then he plopped down in a nearby chair to observe.

Hymir and Van were on the clock, so Hymir went big and tried to slip in the door. I use 2d6 to resolve most anything that doesn't have an exact mechanical representation in the game I'm playing. Low is bad, high is good. Simple and effective. Boxcars got the elf into the room with no one the wiser while Van rambled at those present as a distraction. Baldrig nearly killed the elf but bought his story about freedom. He took the offered uniform and left promptly, never to be seen again in session. Hymir was left in an unlocked cell while Van ran interference outside.

The CPT showed up, called Van out, and once the bullshit was clearly drying up Van tried to split. A melee ensued where mercs tried to grapple him but by some miracle he fought each one off. Hymir dashed out in the confusion but caught a sword blow for his trouble. The two lightly encumbered PCs broke free and fled into the town. This was the first indication that their planning was not as precise as they'd hoped. No one knew where their rendezvous point was because they hadn't set one. Samson even waited in a different location to be notified when it was time to leave. They hared off into the town, Hymir eventually losing his tail but Van being caught and killed in the ensuing struggle due to ignorance of the winding alleys of Bloodfall.

Hymir the Elf, probably

In the meantime, Rollo had snuck out through the sekrit passage to try and drum up a distracting raid on the town and gather his men to meet with whoever escaped in the chaos. Unfortunately, none of the enemies could be convinced to go against the Gnoll King's wishes to lay a siege with his ever-growing stockpile of catapults.

Growing impatient and running low on both session and game time, Yngve set fire to a house nearby as a distraction. While it caused quite the alarm, the guards on the Falcon maintained discipline. It should also be noted that Broderick was not on duty on the Falcon at this time. Eventually enough of a conflagration was under way to encourage the Gnolls to probe the town's defenses. Between the fire, a raid, and a breakout, it was full bedlam. Vigi the Dwarf ran forward and rallied the guards to join him at the raid, half of them joining him to run off into the darkness only for him to slip away and return to the Idol.

The remaining guards were quickly subdued with magic, missile fire, and charging attacks by Yngve, Lloyd, and Vigi, but not before one could escape. Uh oh they were on the clock. If Fost or one of the leveled guys showed up they knew they were chalked. Yngve jumped up on the statue to use some dust he was given to turn it invisible, but a hidden glyph of warding sparked off and paralyzed him. The rest struggled the idol into the waiting wagon and beat it for the gate, Hymir sprinkling the fairy dust or whatever on everyone in the back.

The guards on the gate were very confused about a seemingly empty wagon, but they had a pass signed by the hero Broderick so surely they were legit. Off they went into the night and were joined shortly by Rollo and his men who scared off a goblin patrol and "escorted" them through the besieging beastmen. Samson still waited at Thor on the Floor, left behind either on purpose or by accident, who knows.

As they struggled with their wagon in the dark through the hills, the members of "Team No-Good" sprung their betrayal, pushing the Idol out onto the ground and informing Lloyd and Thornbro that they were gonna take it for themselves so scram. Lloyd was pissed but outnumbered and Thornbro had to leave for RL so he just followed Lloyd's lead. They shook fists but otherwise carried on towards Svarthold. No-Good enacted their downtime plan, loaded the Falcon onto their waiting cart, and departed for destinations unknown.

Musings:

It should come as no surprise when the party intentionally comprised of scumbags does scumbag things. There was some frustration over the treachery and some apologies as players, but Yngve at least was magically compelled to act as he did. I find it interesting that despite all of the drama, laughs, and ultimate goals achieved during the session that no one got paid. Baldrig disappeared and the Idol, while in their possession, had not been liquidated. There were many witnesses to their various criminal acts, and these PCs are pretty much all wanted in Bloodfall should the town even survive. Downtime should be interesting.

Grading:

- Yngve: Excellent. Pursued his mission doggedly. Solved problems like a fighter.
- Hymir: Excellent. Disguising, spying, killing, fleeing.
- Rollo: Excellent. Gathered his men, tried to influence from his position as a commander, intimidated the goblins and escorted the cart through the line.
- Thornbro: Excellent. Druid in town played up social awkwardness, engaged with animals at every opportunity, set clear moral guidelines for participation
- Samson: Excellent. Ran interference with Broderick, missed the fighting because no one told him where the fight was.
- Lloyd: Excellent. MU focused, involved in planning with spells, used familiar to scout.
- Van: Deceased. RIP
- Vigi: Excellent. Solved problems like a fighter.

Combat
Total XP:	100
Cuts:	16
PC:	12.50

Moonshine Malcolm and the Krieger Dilemma

LT Malcolm Krieger (RET) 558A98 Age 22 One Term 5000cr

Rifle 1, SMG 1, Brawling, Fwd Obs

Malcolm Kriger was an aimless youth of no great potential. He was smart, but not particularly athletic or ambitious. By way of an upper middle class upbringing, he was able to dodge most levels of responsibility until he was tossed out of the house after a barfight and embarrassing-to-the-family-name night in jail. The Army recruiter loved him.

During his first term, he excelled mostly by faking it until he made it, his laziness flying under the radar as he tripped over a commission as a Lieutenant and stumbled through officer training as a forward observer. A disagreement with his CO, CPT Trigger, a flash of characteristically self-sabotaging temper, and a month in the brig left the young LT without an invitation for continuing service with the Army.

CPT Trigger, as a last middle-finger to the PITA Krieger, left him at a backwater waystation called Moonshine with no ticket out, no farewell weaponry, and only the wages that he had not wasted on liquor, fighting, and women in that order.

Thus far able to coast on above average intelligence and the bare minimum of effort, Krieger was left to actually have to make something of himself without any kind of real foundation as a man. Great. A temper and a little experience does not a brawler make, but he at least knew how to handle a weapon and call in an orbital strike? What the fuck use is that in civilian life?

Wandering the streets of the city leaves him with little other than rumors that a local shipment of corn destined for the corpo-distilleries was overdosed with pesticides and like to kill anyone that drinks anything made from it. Maybe that info could be peddled to someone of note if he could find out more information, but until then he needed a place to crash and probably a weapon. This place is definitely sketchy.

Put Some 'Spect On That Name

I want to thank Knight Captain Dawes for his expediency in helping the Holy Rollers conclude our recent task in Gradsul. Without his aid, we would have undoubtedly erred through ignorance. This report will explain.

Fr. Cassian prayed upon his wounds suffered in the service of Pelor and was granted the restoration of his flesh by our Holy Lord. During his convalescence, we learned more about the task the Khajit Danconia wanted us to perform. He also offered a solid reward. I am troubled over the moral implications of completing it and will pray on it for guidance.

Our party renewed our quest to recover Sir Willers' remains from the wilderness. We offered to escort some halflings along the road and spent a little time investigating for rumored bandit activity which was ultimately fruitless. Depositing the halflings at my vassalage of Starnsville, we carried on.

The scout Zimon reported a hub of activity ahead, where men in aprons were loading wagons with harvested nuts. He took this as an illegal nut-butter operation and acted accordingly, setting a distracting brushfire and spurring us to attack. We arrived on the scene to armed but unimpressive men fleeing in panic. I quickly gathered their leader, asserted control over the situation, and organized the extinguishing of the fire.

Their story was that they worked for a grocer of sorts named Mr. Whole. He dealt in organically sourced, high quality produce and provided it to a discerning clientele. In other words, he picked berries out of the woods and sold them at an obscene markup to delusional morons. (DM had recently visited a Whole Foods for the first time. RIP). We met with Mr. Whole, quickly determined that while absolutely a den of Chaos, it was not one worth immediately burning to the ground without further investigation, and departed to revisit the place with cleansing fire at a later date. A scowling harridan threatened me on several occasions to "go back where I belong". I nodded politely and saluted her. We will meet again and her howling under the attentions of my Inquisition will soothe my irritated soul.

Zimon led our party onwards, where eventually we discovered the site of an old battlefield. Our teachings tell us that places of concentrated death often develop into sinkholes of evil and begin spawning undead, but none of that was happening here. We investigated and found it was clearly Sir Willers' resting place, where he had his heroic last stand against hordes of beastmen, primarily orcs by the bones.

A few hours after we had collected his remains and those of whatever officers we could find. This site clearly needed further work to set to rights so Zimon flew back on his magical steed to get a work crew while Fr. Cassian sent a magic message to Gradsul to notify the church of our success. We aimed to follow all proper procedure to avoid any confusion that we were simply grave robbers.

Thanks to Knight Captain Dawes, we made contact with the Willers family and estate, apparently well-connected at court in Gradsul. I borrowed the flying steed and delivered Sir Willers home. The family hosted me and offered a reward which I accepted. It also improved our standing in all the right places with the nobility. The Holy Rollers are known now, and will continue to grow in renown as we fight the good fight on the frontier.

We set Fr. Jasper and his pilgrims to restoring the site and continued combing the territory for threats. Some foul creatures, undead constructs of heinous and unknown origin, were dispatched at the cost of much of Zimon's blood.

A warband of ogres stumbled into our party and said something absolutely foolish like, "You got trade?" with the glint of greed and naivety in their beady, retarded eyes. I suppose they missed the banner, holy symbols of Pelor, and resolute purpose in ours. As we rode them down, they scattered, seeking to notify their nearby village of attack. We prevented their escape but we may have been discovered and while I relish the thought of wading in ogre blood, chose the better part of valor against hundreds of them and we retreated.

Our trackers suggested doubling back and making false trails before heading home. It was a sound tactic. We will begin preparations to exterminate this nest of pests as soon as possible.

Yours at the tip of the spear,

Knight Justicar Percival, Lord of Horizon

Musings:

We're approaching the level of the game where it begins to beg for a wider scope. We're gaining renown with nobility at home, making allies abroad, and taking on larger tasks like domain building, vassals, and the like. The ogre village is our first large scale encounter. Something we're learning is building an army is possible, but it isn't fast without taking some extra steps. The markets available to us are small or distant. If we're going to clash on a battlefield with anything, we're gonna have to grow beyond our handfuls of troops. Our recent allies, recovered magic items, and market class manipulation should see us with a decent recruiting pool in May.

Bloodfall 9: Bloodstein

I am not a true believer in TNB, but I do recognize the Braunstein as a valuable tool to resolve some types of scenarios within your campaign that crop up organically. Much to my dismay, I realized that the Bloodfall campaign had many factions at odds with each other that were barreling towards conflict. Because it's a living campaign, this friction could not be ignored until I felt like feeding it piecemeal to the players. I was going to have to run a Braunstein session.

I am wargame coded. I tried to set the conflict up in an interesting way, which I thought I did ok at, but after stepping back it was clear that I had a wargame scenario that we were going to resolve differently. I needed many fewer zero-sum goals but this is why we try new things. My previous events have all been play by post.

The Roster

Madcow - Leadbelly, Captain of the Guard
WeatherReport - Halforn Halfornson, previous Jarl's son
Joshinyu - Jibberwall Goblins
Matthew - Jarl Fost, High Priest of Odin
Polyfamous - Howler the Blackblade, Gnoll Chieftain
Hollyfelled - Xandir the Shaker and the Sons of Loki, Cthaylor Cultists
Bdubs - Viseworth the Taxman
Boldvay - Olvar Goldeneye, Comall Trading Post
J - Sandwich Goblins

The McGuffins

The Falcon Idol - Installed by PCs. Permanent Plant Growth, infinite food, big status/wealth
The Blackblade - Legendary sword of Howler the Gnoll King. Unifying force for beastmen.
The Witness - Info on the previous Jarl's suspicious death.
The Jarl's Seat - Meet the new boss...

Each faction had overlapping interests in at least a few of the McGuffins, plus their own individual things like survival, unification, revenge, or greed. I set a basic resolution system of a CRT for combat and 2d6 for anything else, then immediately shot myself in the foot by declaring that movement had to run through the DM. My vision of watching different conflicts develop and be resolved independently was dashed.

Despite my best efforts to ruin things, the players persevered, spending most of the time negotiating, setting, and breaking alliances. There was bribery, treachery, and double-treachery, all the greatest hits. I made the mistake of trying to keep tabs on everything which eventually turned into information overload. Add to that the need to track movement and special actions like theft, spying, and recon and I was toast. It was a mistake to emphasize the war element over top of the shenanigans element at the same time.

Ultimately, the goal of any of this is to set up solid scenarios for the campaign's PCs to play out during sessions. This event ended with the namesake town of Bloodfall under siege by a coalition of beastmen and Cthaylor cultists, the beastmen shooting themselves in the foot by killing their outside supplier of arms and armor, and the town's unsurprisingly infamous tax collector MIA.

There were several PCs allied to various factions and they all survived their various conflicts. On review, play was strong all around but Fost was closest to all of his goals. He maintained his seat as Jarl and possession of the Falcon Idol. He failed to discover the witness, but so did everyone else. Gnoll King also hit a goal and also wins the trophy for Funniest Voice D&D with his Scandinavian accent. I give myself a D-. Set up was poor, adjudication clunky, but we did get to an interesting resolution that all agreed was the right play.

Braunstein is the right tool for some jobs, but not every job. It helps to run it well and identify the correct application. Maybe this conflict needed a more dedicated wargame approach but we got there anyway. Special thanks to the good sports of Bloodfall. Let's see how the PCs get out of the siege.

Bloodfall 8

Big fighter party, buncha mercs. Gnomes under the thumb of a Cthayloric priest. Paladin drove the party to mobilize and have them shake it off.

Ferocious cult leader

We basically had two side sessions, a scout/recon/thief role and big clog-the-gap army battle. I'm gonna bullet point the big picture and then talk about the nuts and bolts of the session.

- Scout the gnome encampment, catch them mid heinous evil ritual, most gnomes hidden indoors
- Get discovered, try to lead gnomes into the hills and lose them, try to capture one
- Corrupted gnomes gather their numbers and rush after the party
- Big battle in the pass, PCs hold the front line, thieves sneak around
- Clean-up, treasure, cult journal

I pulled the scouts into a separate room in the hopes it would accelerate the recon part and preserve a little tension. It failed at the first, succeeded at the second. I used surprise to determine the initial situation. Hymir the elf was discovered! The few gnomes (30-40) that were outside scrambled to get ahold of him but he ran. Samson the dwarf waited to ambush a straggler but was discovered and ran the other way. Floyd the half elf tried to lead a bunch of them down the pass towards the waiting party.

Hymir doubled back to witness more than a hundred gnomes gathering at the camp from the nearby caves. Samson eventually did find a straggler and tried to grapple him before being forced to kill him. Floyd outpaced the gnomes who gave up on him, eventually returning to warn the party. The group formed up and began marching to meet the gnomes. They didn't yet know there were over 100 to their ~30. Samson and Hymir returned with more info.

Now with badger heads!

The party wanted a flat part of the pass and to hold the front line with their PCs. In a more open battle to maneuver in, I would have scaled up the fight to accelerate resolution, but this would have unfairly penalized the PCs' individual power in this narrow gap. I chose to just run it as it was.

I had ruled during the recon that the gnomes were not as hampered by the rough hill terrain as Hymir. This opened the door to a possible flank during the battle which could have turned the tide. I used 2d6 to determine if the gnomes would/could execute on that and failed, ruling that their limited leveled presence kept them from having enough control to execute complex maneuvers.

Hymir was able to pelt the enemy cleric at perfect times to interrupt several spells and Floyd blind him with his own, effectively removing him from the combat. The rest was just a slog of numbers and morale. Ormr and Gunnbjorn went down, among a handful of mercs, but eventually the gnomes withdrew. Broderick the Paladin declared a counter-charge which resulted in more combat but ultimately broke morale for the gnomes. 

Pretend there are a bunch of gnomes

I missed a morale check for Gunnbjorn's men when he went down. I missed treating the gnomes as individual units or clusters based on their leveled LTs and subsequent morale checks when they went down. Had I scaled up I would have tracked that a little easier, but as it was I defaulted to two sides. Morale is the deciding factor in most pitched battles and it was in this one too, just took a while to get there and made this a bit more of a slog than it had to be.

We had our first engagement with the unarmed combat rules in Bloodfall. I am on record as despising AD&D unarmed combat. I find it an unwelcome change of pace during an encounter because of the jarring shift in system and the friction it causes. I refuse to grapple when I'm a PC and have missed many opportunities to train myself on it. I'm gonna have to get over that as a DM and start pummeling. My personal preferences have no bearing on PC choice of action. I suggest that if you think you're going to grapple, review the rules in the DMG and have your modifiers ready as much as you can.

Grading:

The Good aligned PCs nearly caught a hit across the board for making the gnome open the first treasure box, but review of notes and discussion showed they believed the captive to be an evil cultist priest and not the native gnome captured priest. The Paladin opened the second box once that seemed more clear.

• Hymir the Assassin: Excellent. Scouted, tried to murder the cleric, kept him pinned during the battle, tried to set traps.
• Samson the Fighter/Thief: Excellent. Thief role declared, much scouting and recon. Good RP with Paladin. Discovered loot, picked lock. Some argument over not opening the chest. Not aberrant enough for a grade hit in that scenario where it was unlikely he could get away with skimming anything.
• Vigi the Fighter: Excellent. Bold, front line fighter, rejoined the fight in Ormr's place despite low HPs.
• Lloyd the Cleric/Magic-User: Excellent. Supported recon group, used every spell to great effect, combat medic
• Gunnbjorn the Fighter: Excellent. Bold, front liner, led his men
• Broderick the Paladin: Excellent. Bold front liner. Pushed for killing blow on cult after withdrawal. Good RP.
• Rollo the Fighter: Excellent. Bold, front liner, led his men, enforcer
• Ormr the Fighter: Excellent. Bold, front liner

Combat
Total XP:	1543
Cuts:	16
PC:	192.88

A Good, Honest Quest

I am invigorated writing this report and trust that Knight Captain Dawes will share in my excitement upon reading it.

I, Knight Justicar Percival, Lord of Horizon, led the Holy Rollers into the wilderness to carve out more territory for our growing flock to settle in. Danconia the Khajit had wares. He also had information about a legendary jewel, partner to the crown that we recently parted ways with, deep in the interior of the Sea Princes. No conversation was had about incentive to retrieve it and since we passed on the crown we have no claim to it for ourselves. The hook remains set nonetheless and we will undoubtedly trip over it at some point of weakness or idleness.

We departed for Horizon with the intent to comb the regions north for evil to vanquish and lush green fields to cultivate. A band of pilgrims camped along the newly constructed road. They were led by Fr. Jasper and had a thrilling story to tell of Edward Willers, a champion of Pelor who had a heroic last stand against Chaos somewhere to our north. They were on a mission to seek out this relic but were ill-equipped for such a task. We offered to escort them to Horizon and naturally took on the quest for ourselves.

Gaia the elven spellsword joined our party, a fine example of his kind who was immediately baptized by Prelate Cassian in the cool clean spring water nearby. Let our magnanimity ring out to the elven community! All are welcomed into our protective arms, if you swear to Pelor's Holy Light. 

Our searching for the relic discovered several lairs of Chaos, gnolls and hobgholls and the like which Pelor graced us with the strength to dispatch. We also discovered the halfling community Skarnsville led by Sheriff Squibbles. I was a bit surprised at the zeal with which Sanji and Zimon threw themselves into the local hobby of gambling. I did not see any of the usual degradation surrounding such practices like prostitution, drug use, or a debtor's prison so I restrained my judgement and allowed them their fun. After exceedingly large sums intimidated Squibbles off the table, we had some rooms comp'd at the Little Caesar's Palace for the night. Squibbles agreed to ally Starnsville to Horizon's cause.

We carried on our mission the next day, finding a vile terrain of mushrooms and disease north of the halfling community. A short engagement with monstrously large wasps concluded our excursion and we retired to Horizon and then Bonevale. I account this a successful foray into the north and am aquiver with anticipation to recover the honor of Edward Willers and entomb him properly at Prelate Cassian's Cathedral at Horizon.

Questing for the Glory of Pelor,

Knight Justicar Percival, Bonevale

Musings:

This was a classic session and a great example of random encounters driving engagement. First the pilgrims then the halfling village became the bulk of the roleplaying interaction throughout the day. By extrapolating what the pilgrims might be searching for and building on what the halfling community is like we now have a true Knight's Quest to pursue along with interesting additions to our milieu. None of it required an abundance of preparation to play out, either.

Bloodfall 7

We had a lighter than usual roster for this session due to Bdubs' appearance on ACKS to Grind and time jail for some PCs. Rollo took the lead on a delve into the Fist, with Thorgal, Aevarr, and Aleks in support. They had a scheme to do... something?.. to the Loki statue on level 2 that they had found previously. Alright cool.

It didn't take long to get back into the dungeon. They found a weird ritual site in one of the rooms with some dead halflings. Aevarr saw to their proper rest on a pyre of broken furniture. They took notes about the strange sigils along the ritual circle and carried on.

Their attempt to bypass the chute trap to level 2 failed, thwarted by the supernatural slipperiness of the sliding stair. They found themselves trapped again, but didn't appear particularly worried and I didn't care at all.

They found Loki's idol again in his widdershins swirling mist but chose not to molest it. Chatter was that it was their only safe way out should something go awry. I giggled to myself at the party relying on Loki for salvation.

A giant oxen carcass housed a bunch of giant rats. The warriors held the line until morale broke and the remaining critters scurried away. There was some treasure in the carcass used as a nest which they shared out and kept moving.

There was an illusory feast that the mercs tore into before Rollo scolded them. When it was revealed to be magic they freaked out and fled the room. Aleks drank from the only actual physical horn in the place and regained some health. I didn't care for the phrase, "I'll do it, I'm only level 1" as though he was sacrificial. While technically true (the elites don't want you to know 1st level PCs are free), no character sees themselves that way.

A sekrit compartment held a suit of chainmail fashioned from the same dark iron as the fixtures on this level of the dungeon. I think Rollo ended up with it. He's so edgy. The next exploration connected this delve with their last in the room with the spaghetti slime monster corpse that ate a hole in the floor. With an exit secured they felt more comfortable just poking about.

Platinum script in an unknown language covered the floor in thick inlays in the next chamber. Rollo pried at it and despite taking electrical damage, retrieved a whole coil of the valuable metal with no thought as to why it was there or what it was powering. By weight it seemed significant, so the rest of the party started prying until they ran out of hps.

It took a long time and the original intent behind the trap was time + random encounter + hps cost. Oh man I rolled a massive lizard with 6 HD, it was gonna ambush them outside the room. Oh man someone's going alone to stash some silver in the sekrit compartment nearby due to weight. Unfortunately, the stupid lizard couldn't roll a hit, the fight was anticlimactic, and the party exfilled with a big ole fat ruby.

They were in the dungeon so long they had to camp outside. Travel back was interrupted by random halflings. Why? Hell idk, but seems like they'd be looking for their missing family that got sacrificed in the dungeon. The group was uber suspicious and Rollo wanted to turn them away, but Aleks convinced them otherwise and they escorted the little people back to Bloodfall.

Jarl Fost was... standoffishly understanding of the halflings' plight. But they weren't Norse or human so he suggested that the party investigate the Cthaylor cultist activity and otherwise the halflings should return home. Aevarr burnt the halflings' scrap of cultist script as heresy and the party asked Malvith the Speckled if he knew anything about their notes. He didn't, that's some cult shit, but he could cast a spell the next day for gold. I forget why but the group declined and we ended there. I think Rollo was suspicious of Malzith too.

We've taken to having the party split treasure and assign gp xp. This is suggested in the PHB and while it can be cumbersome, leads to more engagement between party members. Its working ok right now mostly because they're in and out quick, with time to spare at the end of the session. IME, it's very difficult to have those discussions by chat after the session because some players simply don't engage like that.

4/8-4/9, active 4/10

• Aleks the Fighter: Excellent, held the line
• Rollo the Fighter: Excellent, caller, held the line, led his men
• Thorgal the Ranger: Excellent, mapper, held the line, scouted
• Aevarr the Cleric: Excellent, engaged with cult stuff, much spells, rites for halflings

Combat
Total XP:	653
Cuts:	8
PC:	163.25