An ongoing rivalry with a nearby Vampire Lord has finally proven too much for the party. The Vampire lord has been misdirecting undead hunters to the Weretigers doorsteps, unannounced. Enough is enough! The party ventures north, stakes in hand. It has been two months an no sign of them. Their apprentices now travel North in hopes to rescue them.
Scenario 1 - Zombie Outbreak
While enjoying a rack of ribs and inquiring with the local townsfolk, who happen to love their Vampire Liege, a zombie outbreak occurs! The Vampire Lord has sent his zombies after Greenbeard the Viking who escaped his manor, they are eating everyone in their path.
PCs begin in the inn and can bust outside or move to the inn's roof and pepper with ranged weapons. The dice scattered around town represent pockets of townsfolk that when eaten turn into zombies a turn later. All the grey unpainted minis are Zombies, all the colorful 40k Orks are Players. The cardboard mountains in the back are the spooky backdrop to the Vampires Palace.
PROs: I really enjoyed the new Zombie rules. They were tooled after a horror zombie movie where going off alone meant being torn to pieces.
CON: Zombies were slightly too powerful where a group of 6 of them ripped apart a 7th level character within 1.5 turns. (Greenbeard's apprentice Stubble) They had to be toned down quite a bit. Additionally, not enough opportunities were provided for players to rescue townsfolk.
Scenario 2 - Ghouls and Gargoyles (SKIPPED)
Frustrated the Players and now rescued Greenbeard escaped his clutches, the Vampire Lord sends off his rune covered ghouls to track the party. Once they find them their goal is to paralyze and drag them back alive, well most of them. Gargoyles provide eyes in the sky and will grab any paralyzed players.
We skipped this scenario to keep the game under 3 hours. As the party approached Octavius Castle his animated armor blocked any zombies they escaped from entering. Relived the party enters.
Scenario 3 - Skeleton fiesta!
Entering the manor and passing through the foyer the party opens the next door to the sounds of music and dancing skeletons! The dancing skeletons were minions in the last game but were quite cheerful here. The skeletons had them play games, and the players competed amongst themselves for prizes. Games: Skeleton bowling, Skeleton Xylophone contest, Skeleton Chicken (Pool sport).
Treasure: Thunderous bowling ball - Deals +2d6 Wind DMG in a burst when it
strikes
Treasure: Skeleton boomerang - Grapples target if it
hits them. Save Vs Grapple
Treasure: Haunting Music Box - Gives everyone a Save +5
Vs Charm
Treasure: Consolation prize - Potions of healing 1d6+1
After some merriment and heavy imbibing of spirits (pun intended) the skeletons make a party wave and dump the PCs into the nearest oubliette.
PRO: Parties favorite part of the adventure
CON: Not all games are very fun as series of dice rolls
Scenario 4 - Shut down all the trash compacts on the detention level!
Down in the dank sewer the party is accosted by some blind tentacles. If they stay still they may avoid the Otyugh. Greenbeard and Gravedigger Bob however burped and threw a tankard at it, thus prompting a battle.
TREASURE: Old Hunters Silver Cane +1, Silver Whip +3, Tri-Barrel Pistol, and Grim Lord's Scythe +2
PRO: The parties Aeromancer was extremely effective with his lightning spells
CON: Two handed weapons are great until you miss several times in a row. The Otyugh did not survive for long.
Scenario 5 - Hammertime (SKIPPED)
The party can stumble upon an armory and a diligent Hammersmith automaton at work. They can use their quick wits of diplomacy to deal with the Hammersmith and possibly even negotiate a weapon creation. Skipped due to time constraints.
Scenario 6 - Banquet
Escaping the dungeon the party enters into a courtyard where the Vampire Lord apologizes for all the trouble and explains he was just trying to get them to join his yearly banquet. "Oh those vampire hunters on your doorstep? That's just how we say hello in my country". He is accompanied by other members of the 'captured' party in tuxedos and top hats. The party agrees to an amazing banquet.
The banquet consists of salad,
sashimi, bone broth soup, grilled sausage, bread and butter, and a massive
sweet potato pie in the middle. The bold few who eat are rewarded with bonus dice in the upcoming encounter. The Vampire Lord reveals the true mastermind behind last year's one-shot. The unassuming Pumpkin Farmer!! He was but a mere underling pressed into service. He is willing to back them up if they simply kill them, but requires any non-Weretigers to become vampires as a sign of trust.
The party accepts missing out on Boss Battle and Ending #1
PRO: Whew, we are over by 30minutes on session length
CON: The Party missed out on a battle with a Vampire Lord and his Thralls, some flying swords, carnivorous mind controlling top hats and a smothering rug.
Scenario 7 - The Pumpkin Man Cometh
The party rides a giant flying manta-ray furnished by the Vampire Lord back to town and deal with the Pumpkin Farmer who plays dumb. Gravedigger Bob attacks him with a scythe decapitating him. Pumpkin farmer continues playing dumb from the ground. BUT WAIT - Sudden vibrations bring the house down and Great Pumpkin rises from the earth. The party must do battle with a Gargantuan Jack-O-Lantern who shoots a fiery Willowisp from his eyes each round.
PRO: FIrst test of a party of 7 characters against one massive HP sponge boss
PRO: A crit miss followed by a random luck roll caused the Grave Lord's Scythe to spawn a Grim Reaper who attacked the party
PRO: The Windmage had a chance to Suplex the Great Pumpkin
PRO: Elemental Magics did not seem excessive in this fight
CON: Some characters didn't feel as though they were having a strong enough contribution but we were also playing at lightspeed by this point since it was past 1AM on the East Coast and I was late from dinner over on this side of the world
All in all a great game. Looking forward to the next one.
LAST GAME'S BACKGROUND:
The party consisting of Greenbeard and his apprentice Stubble, Victor Von Haman and his apprentice Orphan Boy, Vivaldi the Earth Mage and Chopin the mini-Earth Mage, and Scruffy the Renegade Janitor were taking a trip to the highlands to relax after vanquishing a banshee menace. Stopping in town they received an invitation to a nearby manor from a rather nice family the village kept talking up. They also met a pumpkin farmer who said the only way to survive the night was to paint this symbol on your door. How unusual!
Long story short the family with the invitation was a bunch of Were-Tigers who invited them to dinner.... to be dinner. Instead the party successfully escaped the tiger trap mazed and even romanced a few of the beautiful were-tiger daughters. Forging a new alliance, they were told of a great evil that would rise up on the night of the blood moon.
The party headed into town only to find the population compulsively dancing towards townsquare with day-of-the-dead skeletons escorting everyone. A guillotine was going into overdrive in town square. The party met the Pumpkin reaper and our hero Earth Mage vanquished himself to take down the skeletal menace with him.
It has been 2 years since then and the party has grown comfortable in their Weretiger Villa. An ongoing rivalry with a Vampire Lord has finally proven too much for them. The Vampire lord has been misdirecting undead hunters to the Weretigers doorsteps, unannounced. The party has had enough of this tom foolery and left to finish things with the Vampire Lord once and for all.
It has been 1 month and the family has not heard from the party. Now it is time for the brave apprentices to journey North and rescue their noble lords.
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