​Games are on Thursday nights sometime after 6:30PM at World's Best Comics, 9714 Warwick Blvd Newport News, Virginia 23601.

We had a split meat-lover's pizza, with pepperoni removed from one half of it.

PART 1.

++++ START OF SESSION ++++

From the previous session we left off with a Troll making a critical hit on Jacko, That having been decided, we settled for my in-house critical hit that we call the "cheese" crit (because it is so cheesy). For those that haven't see my in-house cheese-crit table here it is, based on a second roll of a 20 sided die:

15 - max damage
16 - double damage
17 - double max damage
18 - triple damage die
19 - triple max damage
20 - character death

I adopted this from an early Dragon Mazazine (I think). Maybe it was an issue of White Dwarf? Not sure. Anyway it was written before munchkins padded their hit points and before the 20 hit point kicker from HackMaster. It was deadlier back then. I also never incorporated penetration rolls, which the "max" result should utilize, maybe I should.

Maybe I should also modify the table with a Quadruple and Pentuple progression?

So anyway the Trolls fought until they died and the Fire Giants were still throwing rocks from a distance. Player characters were moving to go face to face, err face to knee with the giants.

Then the Young Blue Dragon showed up, on his round he flew over the giants and landed between the party and the frontrunners who had decided to meet the giants. (There was a small argument about about flying in a dungeon with a dragon's wingspan. I countered this was a "cavern" entrance which was 80 feet wide, and it was a "young" dragon anyway. Not to mention it opens up to the Mushroom forest which was thousands of feet wide and hundreds high.

Anyway, just after the Blue Dragon landed, another Young Red Dragon appeared in the same tunnel.

Jacko, who could speak dragon, decided to negotiate.

A "Cease Fire" was called for.

It took a few rounds, but basically it boiled down to: One, two, three, four, what are we fightin' for? We didn't bother with the Pearly Gates because the Party was still on the Prime Material Plane.

The Dragons stated they were the "pets" of the Fire Giant tribe. However the Dragons think the giants are "their" pets, but don't tell the giants that. Then negotiations turned over to the Fire Giants. And why were these two mis-matched Dragons together? They were drinking buddies and were playing Axis & Allies Classic in their lair before they were interrupted by the Party.

It turned out the Giants were on their guard for invaders because they're currently under siege from a tribe of Salamaders (from the elemental plane of Fire). This area was one of their back doors that kept a heard of Minotaur Lizards for food. The lizards in turn, fed off the Mushroom forest just behind the Party.

"Apologies," replied Jacko, we just killed the herd out back. They're ready for the butcher.

It turned out not to be a problem, as the herd was bigger than the kill, so the herd can still multiply.

Regarding the Trolls, nobody burned them, so they would regenerate in time. No harm, no foul.

Jack agreed to a deal that the Party would "Help out" the Fire Giants against the Salamanders in exchange for directions and the location of any other "passers-by" (as he was still tracking the thief who stole their weapons.)

The Fire Giants agreed and would inform their superiors accordingly. They admitted they had not seen anyone else pass. But the Party was free to look down the passage. And by the way the main door on this level to the Fire Giant's realm was past a part of the Mushroom Forest the Party had not yet explored.

So the Party examined the passageway the Giant's came from and yes they found more tracks of the kind they had been following. It led to a waterfall that fell 400 feet down. (Two levels, for the record.)

The party went down the waterfall chamber and ended up at a lake. There were no tracks of the kind they were looking for. However there were Fire Giant tracks one led to a stinky chamber. Full of more Trolls, who are merely the giant's garbage keepers.

Following the Fire Giant tracks the other way the party went past the lake into other caverns and found the bottom door to the Fire Giant's realm. It of course it only opened from the inside, 8 inches thick. Still no tracks of the kind they were looking for.

Without busting the door, the Deimos decided to backtrack. Especially after I pointed out that the tunnel that led to the waterfall continued on the other side. (It was plainly obvious on the white board we use for a table where I drew the waterfall.) So Jacko left the party behind and climbed back up the waterfall pit to check if the tracks continued on the other side of the tunnel.

Note Jacko has become so powerful he can just spider climb at a speed of 190 per round.

The other side of the tunnel past the waterfall simply turned out to be the path to the Young Dragons' lair anyway and no, there weren't any humanoid tracks. So rather than interrupt the Dragons' game as the dice were being rolled for the umpteenth time to attack Moscow, Jacko went back down the waterfall to explore other venues.

Exploring the cavern where the waterfall landed in the lake further, Jacko found a tribe of Troglodytes living in otherwise unused caverns the Fire Giants were not using. Having his almost perfect ability for non-detection, he went past them and found another pit of an unknown depth.

Jacko climbed down this pit and found a 30 by 30 foot room with a 15 foot statue, a door to the North made of Iron, and a door to the South made of wood.

A cursory exam of the statue showed it was a representation of an Elven wizard, wearing flowing robes, slippers and a thin circlet. On the pedestal beneath there were six identical keyholes. Yes the statue detected as magical.

I called it a night.

Debrief, note Jack is separated from the Party. The Party thinks he is still looking for Thief tracks. Well he is, but is currently occupied by his investigation.

++++ OUT OF CHEESE ERROR ++++

BT







BBBB

PART 2.

++++ CHARACTER ROSTER ++++

CHARACTERS
Zamon, a fifth level Thug.
Grok the Dwarf, a third level WitchRanger (Battlemage subclass of Magic User).
Aerys, an Elvariel, a Fingersmith (Thief class).
Baronet Huang - a Master of the West Wind of the Stone Tiger Order, (Monk class).
Numrendir - a human Conjurist (a Conjuror, Magic User subclass)
Junkbot Jackson - a human Tracker/Friar (a Ranger 5th and Cleric 6th level).
Jacko, an Albino Dork Elf, a Multiclass (Infiltrator, Ranger and Battle Mage).


NPCs/Proteges:
Baronetess Honda - a Human Datai Samurai, Steward of Catan (formerly Temple of the Frog)
Gnomex, a Gnome Adept of Geardal Ironhand (Cleric class.)
Tanzen - a Fae-Born first level Exciter. (Fourth level Invoker, a Magic User subclass).
Fundisha - a half-Elf Swordsperson/Tout (Fighter and Infiltrator, a Thief subclass).

CAPTURED CHARACTERS (both PCs and NPCs)
Gerry Castagere, human Fingersmith, (Thief class) and ever loving devotee of Elefus, abandoned to the Blood Cult in the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire.

MISSING/OFFLINE/RETIRED CHARACTERS
Serena 2.0 - First Level Battle Mage Second (a Protege of Jacko) topside.
Count Elefus, a human Abbot of Heimdall (Cleric class). RETIRED
Felipe the Dwarf, a third level Sigil (Chosen One subclass of Cleric).
Sir Weasel, human Guild Soldier, Warlock, & Champion (Thief, Magic User, & Fighter classes) he stayed back in BlackMoor.
- and nine Pilgrim henchmen of various levels. (They wear hoodies.)
Slade Wilson - Dwarven Professional (a Bounty Hunter, Fighter subclass) Left behind at Catan.

BT







BBBB

++++ RECORD KEEPING ++++

PART 3.

This is also posted on three forums, and a blog.
http://blackmoor.mystara.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=76
http://www.furiouslyeclectic.com/forum/f...php?fid=13
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/forumdisp...ster-Tales
http://furiouslyeclectic.com/hackmoor/