|
|
|
PolyCon XXIII Pre-register for PolyCon XXIII for $25: (18 and over only Minors must use minor form) 
|
Tales from the Dice Bag - A New GM's Tale
by Garrett DeHoyos This story is from the first D&D game I DM'ed in my first campaign. There were few restrictions on what races the players could be, which led to an interesting group of adventurers: e.g. a Loxo ranger (2-trunked elephant man), a Dracotaur barbarian (You know how a centaur is a human/horse? Well, make it a lizardfolk/dragon), a Pixie rogue. The players had, at the request of the local villagers, been fighting through a forest infested by numerous plant monsters. It was their first adventure, and for three of the players, it was their first time playing D&D. So, they were a bit unprepared for situations that were less than ideal. One monster they fought could only be harmed by acid or bludgeoning weapons, damage forms which the players had very little. After the first few combats, the players started using some devious tactics. One of these tactics was for the mind flayer, who was riding the dracotaur, to hang numerous crossbows (all loaded, of course) on his mount. This allowed him to fire crossbows repeatedly, without having to re-load any until after the battle. My favorite of these tactics came from the party^Òs rogue, who was a Pixie. He flew above a monster, and used his polymorph self ability to turn into a gelatinous cube, and dropped. A gelatinous cube weighs 25 tons. My monster was completely crushed beyond all recognition. The most fun came when, right before the final encounter, the players found a rod of wonder. This is a magic rod that produces random effects. Of course the players didn't know this, so they tested it out, and the rod cast darkness. They assume it's a rod of darkness, and move on. They reach a clearing, which is quieter than the rest of the forest. The players assume they are going to be taken by surprise again, and they were certainly right. Before anyone can react, the root of all evil eats one of the adventurers. With a lot of support from the party, that player was able to escape the root^Òs stomach. As soon as he was clear, the rogue, whose sneak attacks were once again useless, decided to use the rod of wonder, which the players still perceived to be a rod of darkness. The rod shoots out a lightning bolt, striking the root. The players rejoice, and continue fighting. The next time the rogue's turn comes around, he uses the rod again, and blinds a few party members. The root, having no eyes, was unaffected, and the fight continued, in my favor. The root was taking quite a beating, and the ranger was able to penetrate its damage reduction. Meanwhile, the local constable, who the players convinced (threatened) to come with them, was cowering in a corner, blinded by the rod. The rogue turns the rod on the constable, and the constable^Òs skin turns blue. It didn^Òt give any tangible benefit to the adventurers, but it seemed to boost morale. The root, after its first spectacular round of combat, wasn^Òt doing as well as I had hoped. So, the root burrowed back into the ground, ready to come up underneath someone and have a midday snack. Of course, my plans to eat the ranger were stopped by the rod of wonder, which summoned an elephant, which crashed to the ground. The elephant was a summoned creature, so it was controlled by the rogue, who had it track the root. The root wasn^Òt too happy about this, so I decided that the root would eat the elephant. A few rounds passed in this time, in which the rod conjured a swarm of butterflies, blinding the rogue. While he was blind, he pointed the rod straight down, and summoned a second creature: a mouse. The mouse landed on the elephant, which promptly ran for his life from the furry little creature. The root, which was planning on bursting up and taking a large bite out of an elephant, instead ended up eating the mouse. However, with the root surfaced, the now-unblinded players continued beating on it. After a round of the root taking way too much damage, it burrowed once again. By this time, the root had only 2 hit points left, from its original 135. The root was going to just wait underground, maybe head over to the nearby village and eat a few people. But, once again, the rod of wonder foiled my plans. The rod turned the ground around the root ethereal, causing the root to fall, taking 5 points falling damage, killing it. By this time, I was laughing too hard to care that my boss monster died. It was a great battle, and all of us had a great time. The villagers were saved, and offered every material possession they owned to the players. The villagers did, however, wonder how the constable became blue. The players said the pixie did it, and one villager didn^Òt believe that the pixie had the power to do such a thing. So, the pixie, points the rod at that villager, hits the button^Å and the pixie becomes one-twelfth his size. The villagers all laugh at him, and he decides to use the rod again and a torrent of rain washed the pixie away. He eventually used the rod to fireball the offending villager, and the eventually used the rod to fireball the offending villager, and the party's spirits were high as they left.
| ||||||||
 |
Web Page Designed by Joe Parzanese |
