Date: 8/24/2025
Weather: Warm, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (362 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (346 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (360 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (332 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (358 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (318 points)
The PCs started out in town, gathering rumors and taking delivery of some items ordered way back when.
The goal was to take out the iron golems, as they called them, first encountered years ago.
The armed up, with a lot of blunt weapons to potentially avoid breakage, and headed down.
Long story short, this did not work out.
The PCs found the room alright, and forced the door. Beyond it were three golems - with the appearance of knights. They were made of dull steel, two with sword and shield and one with a poleaxe. The PCs let loose with a Stone Missile and Thor and Percy moved in. The Stone Missile hit one square and dented it, but didn't stop it. Vald pinged arrows off of the golems to no visible effect. Neither did Percy - he smacked one three times, two hits, one block. His flail almost broke on the first hit, averted by Luck, and the second hit broke his flail. A Fireball didn't do much better, and the golems breathed poison gas - averted by everyone having Resist Poison, and one breathed fire and set Thor alight and wounded him badly. Resist Fire saved him.
The PCs pulled back, and the golems closed the door on them.
The PCs tried again - buffed Thor, readied Lightning, and opened the door - why? To retrieve the broken flail that Percy had dropped when it snapped in half.
Lightning didn't do much better, inflicting damage but not stunning. But the golems rushed forward, and engaged. Thor rushed them back. In a tough and short brawl, while Duncan used Apportation to get the ball and chain portion of the flail, Thor held off the golems. But then suddenly, after lots of critical successes by the PCs and none by the golems . . . they got a few. Whack. Off came Thor's leg. Then he fell, and his left arm was lopped off.
The PCs desperately managed to snag Thor's limbs - he grabbed his own leg, Percy his arm and shield - and beat a hasty retreat, chased by the golems that suddenly seemed willing to pursue. They were chased to a nearby intersection, and left the dungeon directly.
Notes:
It was a funny session more than a fun one - it cost $3200 to fix Thor's lost limbs . . . all to rescue half of a nicely made but no longer enchanted broken morningstar. Heh.
Percy broke his morningstar on his first swing at a golem. He used Luck, and rolled twice more. The next two didn't cause breakage. I said, just keep the last roll for the second swing that he hit with. The players argued that Luck needs three rolls. Okay, I said, nevermind, I was being generous, but fine, roll for the second breakage roll. 1. The flail broke. Insistance on the rules overcoming GM generosity . . . heh.
MVP was Percy for Leadership. Otherwise XP was 0.
Next game . . . TBD.
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Friday, August 15, 2025
Random Links for 8/15/2025
Some stuff I found interesting to read this week.
Why Magic Users Suck at Fighting. In general, I think is a perfectly reasonable explanation. It's hard to do two hard things well without a large time investment in each. The dedicated fighter and the dedicated magic-user should be more effective in their niche than a person who does both equally, given the same constraints of time, resources, etc.
OLD DM TRICK #3 - I don't know, this doesn't seem like it would work, especially if anyone maps or the party spreads out a bit.
Of Periwigs and Pallid Masks - while pre-1776 colonial America seems like an interesting place for a Call of Cthulhu campaign . . . all you get is early pre-1776 divisions and violence and political splits. That might help give players a hook, but I don't think you get to have colonial America without all of the politics that made it a rebellion. It's not like one thing happened, simplified text in school textbooks aside, that suddenly made it all explode. Still, given a group of players with a similar interest in history, it could be interesting.
Sharp Practice: The Relief of Dojjibotti! - I love minis, and I love Indian Mutiny mini battles. They're so visually interesting and the conflict is both messy and easy to understand.
Why Magic Users Suck at Fighting. In general, I think is a perfectly reasonable explanation. It's hard to do two hard things well without a large time investment in each. The dedicated fighter and the dedicated magic-user should be more effective in their niche than a person who does both equally, given the same constraints of time, resources, etc.
OLD DM TRICK #3 - I don't know, this doesn't seem like it would work, especially if anyone maps or the party spreads out a bit.
Of Periwigs and Pallid Masks - while pre-1776 colonial America seems like an interesting place for a Call of Cthulhu campaign . . . all you get is early pre-1776 divisions and violence and political splits. That might help give players a hook, but I don't think you get to have colonial America without all of the politics that made it a rebellion. It's not like one thing happened, simplified text in school textbooks aside, that suddenly made it all explode. Still, given a group of players with a similar interest in history, it could be interesting.
Sharp Practice: The Relief of Dojjibotti! - I love minis, and I love Indian Mutiny mini battles. They're so visually interesting and the conflict is both messy and easy to understand.
Sunday, August 10, 2025
When is next Felltower?
The next Felltower session is up in the air. It was supposed to be today, but unfortunately we had too many people unable to attend after all.
It's unclear when it will be.
It's unclear when it will be.
Thursday, July 10, 2025
GURPS & Pyramid Bundles
GURPS and Pyramid are available over on Bundle of Holding:
Pyramid 1 Bundle
Pyramid 2 Bundle
GURPS Essentials
Pyramid 1 Bundle
Pyramid 2 Bundle
GURPS Essentials
Monday, July 7, 2025
Summer Vacation
Expect sporardic posts for the next month or so - I'm going into an extended vacation period.
Felltower will return in "Thunderball."
I mean August.
Felltower will return in "Thunderball."
I mean August.
Monday, June 30, 2025
Magic Items Are Gone for Good - Except for Arbiter
When a magic item is sold in Felltower, it's gone. Lost. Gone for good. It disappears from the game - you can't sell something now and get it back later. It's one of a few reasons you don't see Raggi anymore - he died in two delves, and the PCs sold his Weapon Bond-linked axe to pay for bringing him back. That was the final straw for his fun and value as a character, and he'd need a replacement he wasn't likely to ever encounter.
There is an exception - Arbiter.
Arbiter was given to the church, which paid out its full value - $60,000 - for its return.
But Arbiter is a potentially useful tool for the church in the hands of a Holy Warrior. It's a Fine, Meteoric Holy Sword. That's potentially +3 to hit, +4 damage in the hands of a Holy Warrior with Holiness 6. Few weapons like it exist - there are perhaps a handful of Holy Swords in the world, and likely this is one of only one or two that are meteoric.
Therefore, the church would be willing to put it back in the hands of a PC . . . for $60,000. Naturally, PCs are totally able to use clever explanations, carefully-worded speeches to the church, appeals for charity, good deeds, and reaction rolls to attempt to get it. That's fine. Any and all of those, plus $60,000, no less, will get them the sword. Heh. Just heading off the usual "but we'd really benefit from it and the church would benefit from giving us $60K and then the sword just because" stuff I expect to come along.
So this rare weapon is still available, for now, at a high price. Is it worth the price? It will be when you're chopping at a lich unable to stop your sword with its Shield or Iron Arm and hitting for swing+5/cutting. I don't expect anyone to see it that way, not until $60K is something people have laying around.
There is an exception - Arbiter.
Arbiter was given to the church, which paid out its full value - $60,000 - for its return.
But Arbiter is a potentially useful tool for the church in the hands of a Holy Warrior. It's a Fine, Meteoric Holy Sword. That's potentially +3 to hit, +4 damage in the hands of a Holy Warrior with Holiness 6. Few weapons like it exist - there are perhaps a handful of Holy Swords in the world, and likely this is one of only one or two that are meteoric.
Therefore, the church would be willing to put it back in the hands of a PC . . . for $60,000. Naturally, PCs are totally able to use clever explanations, carefully-worded speeches to the church, appeals for charity, good deeds, and reaction rolls to attempt to get it. That's fine. Any and all of those, plus $60,000, no less, will get them the sword. Heh. Just heading off the usual "but we'd really benefit from it and the church would benefit from giving us $60K and then the sword just because" stuff I expect to come along.
So this rare weapon is still available, for now, at a high price. Is it worth the price? It will be when you're chopping at a lich unable to stop your sword with its Shield or Iron Arm and hitting for swing+5/cutting. I don't expect anyone to see it that way, not until $60K is something people have laying around.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
DF Session 211, Brotherhood Complex 9 - Chop & Hannari's Excellent Adventure
Game Date: 6/29/25-7/7/25
Date: 6/29/25
Characters:
Chop, human cleric (362 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (360 points)
3 guards
2 laborers
Only Hannari and Chop were on hand, so they decided to make a go of a final exploration of the Brotherhood Complex. It was known to be deserted since their last raid trashed the place, but they were sure there was loot left.
Spoiler alert - there was.
I'll dispense with the usual narrative summary. Most of the session was just Chop and Hannari wandering around, forcing doors, occasionally blundering into evil runes, and exploring like crazy.
They:
- checked all of the guard and gnoll living areas and found nothing
- explored the torture chamber and found nothing
- found a weird purple stone behind a secret door - details below - in the area they'd caused to be covered with weird mold. They warded off the effects with Resist Cold but would later need Estoteric Medicine to clear their lungs out of the heat-sapping mold.
- cleared the junk room and sorted through the junk
- found some oversized ever-burning torches that couldn't be kept out, but light immediately underground and extinguish in the outside.
- found a weird room of billowing low sanctity smoke, and tried to explore it but gave up since they couldn't see anything and felt immense menace.
- found assorted weapons and left-behind gear
- scored some loot and a secret.
The huge oblong purple stone was a big find. Hannari came close to it and saw a vision of himself and Chop leaning over a chest. He motioned for help, and a figure came from behind and knifed the two of them in the neck . . . then nothing. Chop came close and a voice in his head told him to ask any question about the complex. He asked where the greatest treaure was. Contrary to popular belief, the greatest treasure wasn't the friends they made along the way. Instead, it was in the junk room. They went down and made a thorough search. In the false bottom of a big open crate they'd dismissed last time they looked was a broadsword - it turned out to be Arbiter, a fine meteoric holy sword (see DFRPG Magic Items.)
They also found the quarters of the two leader-types they'd killed in the past, and in a locked, trapped chest with 8 large rubies in it. And they found the lair of the wizards, who left loot behind when the last of them fled.
They also found a way out, that had been coveed with magically-created stone last time. They eventually decided to leave that way. It was worked stone, and many miles long. It took 3 nights of camping underground to follow it the whole length . . . right into the gate level of Felltower near the Brotherhood area. They found their way out, figured out how to get back out the seemingly one-way passage (Hannari guessed right on how), and then headed to Stericksburg.
They paid off their henchman and brought Arbiter to the church. The church wanted it back very badly, and offered its full value for its return . . . . 60,000. Chop doesn't use blades and Hannari uses money, so they said yes. $30K each.
Notes:
- Someone is going to insist they said they searched that crate. They did not. Too bad, because there was a Holy Warrior in the party then.
- MVP was Hannari for doing all of the exploring in the VTT. Chop's player claims to have no sense of direction.
- XP was 4 for loot, 1 for exploration.
- Yes, the complex was a side area. But it's been there and waiting and coming up in rumors since the earlest days of Felltower. Why? Because they're connected.
Next game . . . not sure. I'm off on a big trip soon, so maybe August?
Date: 6/29/25
Characters:
Chop, human cleric (362 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (360 points)
3 guards
2 laborers
Only Hannari and Chop were on hand, so they decided to make a go of a final exploration of the Brotherhood Complex. It was known to be deserted since their last raid trashed the place, but they were sure there was loot left.
Spoiler alert - there was.
I'll dispense with the usual narrative summary. Most of the session was just Chop and Hannari wandering around, forcing doors, occasionally blundering into evil runes, and exploring like crazy.
They:
- checked all of the guard and gnoll living areas and found nothing
- explored the torture chamber and found nothing
- found a weird purple stone behind a secret door - details below - in the area they'd caused to be covered with weird mold. They warded off the effects with Resist Cold but would later need Estoteric Medicine to clear their lungs out of the heat-sapping mold.
- cleared the junk room and sorted through the junk
- found some oversized ever-burning torches that couldn't be kept out, but light immediately underground and extinguish in the outside.
- found a weird room of billowing low sanctity smoke, and tried to explore it but gave up since they couldn't see anything and felt immense menace.
- found assorted weapons and left-behind gear
- scored some loot and a secret.
The huge oblong purple stone was a big find. Hannari came close to it and saw a vision of himself and Chop leaning over a chest. He motioned for help, and a figure came from behind and knifed the two of them in the neck . . . then nothing. Chop came close and a voice in his head told him to ask any question about the complex. He asked where the greatest treaure was. Contrary to popular belief, the greatest treasure wasn't the friends they made along the way. Instead, it was in the junk room. They went down and made a thorough search. In the false bottom of a big open crate they'd dismissed last time they looked was a broadsword - it turned out to be Arbiter, a fine meteoric holy sword (see DFRPG Magic Items.)
They also found the quarters of the two leader-types they'd killed in the past, and in a locked, trapped chest with 8 large rubies in it. And they found the lair of the wizards, who left loot behind when the last of them fled.
They also found a way out, that had been coveed with magically-created stone last time. They eventually decided to leave that way. It was worked stone, and many miles long. It took 3 nights of camping underground to follow it the whole length . . . right into the gate level of Felltower near the Brotherhood area. They found their way out, figured out how to get back out the seemingly one-way passage (Hannari guessed right on how), and then headed to Stericksburg.
They paid off their henchman and brought Arbiter to the church. The church wanted it back very badly, and offered its full value for its return . . . . 60,000. Chop doesn't use blades and Hannari uses money, so they said yes. $30K each.
Notes:
- Someone is going to insist they said they searched that crate. They did not. Too bad, because there was a Holy Warrior in the party then.
- MVP was Hannari for doing all of the exploring in the VTT. Chop's player claims to have no sense of direction.
- XP was 4 for loot, 1 for exploration.
- Yes, the complex was a side area. But it's been there and waiting and coming up in rumors since the earlest days of Felltower. Why? Because they're connected.
Next game . . . not sure. I'm off on a big trip soon, so maybe August?
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