Continuing from the previous session.
Date: 11/23/2025
Game Date: 10/5/2025
Weather: Warm and mild.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (362 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (346 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (360 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (347 points)
Rogar Thane-Blood, human barbarian (250 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (368 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (333 points)
Bullet points to cover the action in the continuing big brawl:
- The Gith turned their focus to Rogar, with the "main" Gith - blurred, enhanced by spellstones and potions - joining a Gith Lichtor and their axemen in attacking him. Hannari ran over to help, himself doubly boosted by a DX potion (+4 to DX) and a Speed potion.
- The remaining thorkers around Percy and Thor kept piling on to keep them busy, along with a Gith Lichtor.
- The other thorkers mobbed Chop, Vlad, and Duncan.
- Chop kept healing Rogar from afar, Cursing any non-cursed foes, and used Purify Air to clean up a nageteppo used to (it turns out) obscure incoming reinforcements.
- Hannari put down three of the axemen with help from Vlad's arrows right after they finally knocked Rogar unconscious, Percy put down a few thorkers and a Gith Licthor, and Thor decapitated a hapless norker brute and then put a few thorkers down.
- Alarmingly, 10 or so (by Hannari's quick count) Gith came running up, and then shieleded themselves with a layered wall of smoke from nageteppo. And even more alarmingly, a few more thorkers - supposedly bashed into death or unconciousness - clambered to their feet and re-engaged, not much worse for wear from endless head blows, neck shots, and "chop[s] to the hit points."
We left it with 4-5 thorkers up, and a lot of incoming Gith. The PCs plan to hold them off at a hallway so Duncan can temporarily wall it off with stone so they can haul ass and haul corpses out to get a lot of loot. We'll see how much they can take with them, assuming they get to that point, given that they're 100% sure the enemy can get around the walls rather more quickly than they'd like. That is where we'll pick up next time - Operation Build a Wall and Have the Gith Loot Pay For It.
Notes:
10 seconds of combat time. Took a while today - I was lagging toward the latter half of the session and that slowed us a lot.
MVP was Chop for his curses, which disrupted several critical successes by the enemy.
I like that the PCs call their enemies Gith, so I named them all that way in the VTT.
I don't like that one particular group of them shows with their DR under Actors, but when I add them to the map and use them to fight it goes to 0. Editing it doesn't help. Manually typing in DR on every hit isn't fun.
“Operation Build a Wall and Have the Gith Loot Pay For It” is pretty amazing. Probably will turn into “build several walls,” unfortunately. Hopefully we can secure the area and walk away with some sweet loot.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see it turn into Operation Get Really Greedy and Stay Too Long And TP Will Be K For It.
DeleteWell, we definitely don't want THAT!
DeleteMission creep isn't something anyone wants, but hey, one more body, let's carry everything we can out, if I drop these spare torches, and if you carry my shield, and . . . hey, look, we stayed too long!
DeleteMission creep is the way.
DeleteAbsolutely, it's the only way to keep new characters coming!
DeleteI had a couple thoughts before and during this update. First, they are going into session 4 of this battle to clear the stairs so they can explore a new area (soon to be session 5) and it is most likely all for naught because even if they clear it and limp home, by the time game time catches up with real time for the next session months will have passed and the GFS will be reinforced and new defensive tactics will be prepared for the next incursion. Basically no progress will be made for all this work unless it is so costly the "Felltower Gith" (as opposed to AD&D Gith) decide they are better abandoning it...but given how much of an advantage they have for positioning and being the current holders of the terrain I find that extremely unlikely. Second, spending five sessions on a fight is hurting the party in terms of XP. As you've already pointed out, the rules for multi-session delve awards are less brutal than they started out but are still costing the party a lot of potential XP compared to 5 full, distinct delves. If they manage to keep the GFS under PC control it would be worth the lower XP but that doesn't look like it will happen. Third, wow a fifth session for a single battle! That's by far the longest battle I've read about (with all the top five longest being on your blog). The longest I've participated in was most of two short (3 hour) sessions in D&D 3E or most of a single 5 hour session in SW (that was similar size and situation to your current battle but ended in TPK for us). I really hope your group doesn't meet another TPK. It's always a long slog to find a way back to point levels where Felltower can be tried again.
ReplyDeleteIf they take a lot of loot, that's still a solid delve for them . . . even if it doesn't solve the problem of having to do it again. They may have a better idea of what to do next time. Some of it depends on what they can take out, and at what cost. So far, the cost seems like purely material costs.
DeleteI was seeing it as opportunity cost: in 6 sessions they might get a minimum of 18 character points with minimum exploration and treasure awards but by fighting for 6 sessions even if they make a major loot threshold they will probably only get 5 character points. You give MVP award to one character each session, but the other awards are per delve of which this is all considered a single delve. The cost is -13 (or more if those potential delves led to much exploration or loot) character points of advancement.
DeleteThere are the material costs you mentioned but usually those seem small potatos in your game since they do have to bring in a constant supply of treasure for experience which is then available to buy virtually unlimited expendables with.
Sure, but the actual minimum XP per session is zero - no new places, no loot. One long fight with a solid amount of loot will still be a solid delve for the PCs. If there were 6 places they could go and get +1 for exploration and +2 for loot, they'd have done it already. In fact, they have . . . cracking this nut may take a few tries but it's something that needs doing before delves like you describe can be a true option again.
DeleteAlso, if we get back, I kind of see this as getting a solid 8 xp or so (4 for loot, +4 game sessions, I think i recall the new multi-session delve XP formula correctly). But more importantly, I think we've taken down 5-7 Gith Lichtors and maybe 10 or more Gith Axemen. That's, I hope, a decent dent in their forces, making repeat delves here hopefully more accessible (remains to be seen, of course). Yes, they will reinforce, but are their forces unlimited? Plus, getting this level of loot (some of which will not be sold but used, I think) is helpful even if exploring other areas. It may be high time to go after the dragon, or even possibly the beholder. If only Vlad could get a few critical hits on that Beholder from very long range...
DeleteThere's another point to be made here: Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? It's a level that we know has to have a good amount of loot. There's the Gith, who we at least perceive as capital-E "Evil" down here, who tortured and eventually killed prior delvers. The delvers have to take it to them, and it's hard to do (like the Brotherhood Complex), but sometimes it just has to be done, and it's not clear if it will be a one-session raid or a six-session battle. We just can't know until we try.
DeleteAlex and Vic, thanks for the discussion of this. I love to read this kind of feedback from a reader and a player.
DeleteI appreciate reading Vic's viewpoint. I'm casually enjoying a story whose pieces I forget or don't connect due to the time between posts and I'm being an armchair quarterback--I see the numbers and the outcomes not the reasons to keep at it. As someone invested in the characters (or at least one of them :) ) and directly involved in the story, he can give voice to the characters'/players' viewpoint of why this long a fight is not a wasted effort and really their viewpoint is the only one that counts.
Delete" their viewpoint is the only one that counts"
DeleteAgreed. As long as I'm willing to run game and they're willing to keep at it, Felltower is still a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon every few weeks.