Mysterious Qada'ath [Cha'alt campaign, session 2]

 

There's so much to talk about regarding yesterday's game [two days ago, now, because it took me awhile to find all the art + editing the blog post] - session two of the Mysterious Qada'ath campaign set in the eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic world of Cha'alt.

5 players, so we had one of our recurring players return for this session, but that still leaves 1 player unavailable due to family commitments.

The incoming player had his choice of classes since all of the 4 core were spoken for.  He decided another warrior would come in handy, and the current droid warrior convinced him to also be a droid... so now the adventuring party looks like this:  two droid warriors (Talis and TX-1138), a demon thief (Nix), pixie-fairy sorcerer (Ha'agly Morningwood), and half-orc priest (Drogan).

An important detail is that TX-1138 was an old Federation droid who'd been reprogramed and broke away from his former masters, eager to start a new life on Cha'alt.

Next, I talked about a small rule modification.  When a lavender moon die of infernal destiny has been rolled, that player may choose to level-up early.  If they do, they get max hit-points instead of rolling their hit-dice.  

Since the pixie-fairy sorcerer, Ha'agly, had used one of his lavender moon dice at the end of last session, he got to jump to level 2 ahead of the others (who would all level up at the end of this session because I just do every other session advancement... no XP, no milestones).

Then, I had everyone roll for their downtime pursuits as per this random table.  Drogan wanted to figure out high-tech healing so he could apply that Federation salve to non-organic lifeforms, like the party's two droid warriors.  Nix wanted to find an alternative way into Qada'ath, other than traversing the orange labyrinth, Talis and Ha'agly wanted to keep tabs on the Federation.  Everyone succeeded.  I took a couple minutes to describe what they'd accomplished since last time we met.

Now, onto the actual game!

The players were in the section of outer settlements where they made Tyrian Purple.  They saw a noble, surrounded by his men and droids sit cross-legged, watching the city... as if he were meditating.  Meanwhile, a midnight-elf woman and her pale female concubine were seductively dancing in the streets.

It turns out that Mistress Midnight and her female friend had sex with the makers of Tyrian Purple, jumping the line when it came to getting what she wanted dyed that particular shade, rather than the noble, Lord Ada'alo.  

The noble invited the PCs to his hover-skiff to discuss business.  He explained his need - his brother would be at the Annunciation where a new King of A'agrybah shall be chosen.  His brother intends to nominate a Federation oligarch.  There's a saying on Cha'alt, "Where A'agrybah goes, so goes Cha'alt."  Lord Ada'alo requires a sash of nobility dyed with Tyrian Purple in order to replace his brother and make his royal nomination.

This is definitely a thread I want to come back to before long.  In fact, it would be hilarious if the whole campaign was geared towards exploring and interacting with the city of Qada'ath... and then the PCs never actually set foot inside it.  Lol.

A couple plans were suggested.  Either get rid of the midnight-elf who wanted her pallid concubine dyed Tyrian Purple, or loot the vault of a dead sorcerer named Tahqeez who was rumored to possess another sash of nobility, just the like the one Lord Ada'alo was trying to have made.

Ada'alo knows the whereabouts and password that will present the vault of Tahqeez, so he planned to take the PCs to the location the next night.  As it happens, this night the assassination droid Talis agreed to work the nightshift at the outer settlement's Quick Stop.  The manager needed someone to find out who was stealing the porn off his magazine rack, and he offered all the Thirst Mutilator 2-liters he and his friends could drink as payment/reward.

Talis and Nix hung out at the Quick Stop while the others went to look for a base of operations in the outer settlements.  They found an abandoned house that was home to a pimp and three of his whores.  Colin stimulated the SLEAZE Cha'alt X-Card, so it was decided that a particular John (bald out-of-town merchant resembling Die Hard 3 era Bruce Willis named France Bacon) was going to be driving by the house very soon, looking for female entertainment.

Eventually, TX-1138 barged in and started blasting.  After trading blows, the pimp ran out of the house.  Texas Instruments followed, trying to shoot him in the back.  He rolled a 1, and a stray shot hit a Federation soldier out on patrol.  The Federation guy shot back, disabling TX-1138.  

Since TX-1138 looked like a Federation droid (and the droid claimed his targeting computer was malfunctioning), they repaired him, fitted him with a restraining bolt, and released him back onto the street.  

Meanwhile, several annoying customers came into the Quick Stop buying random stuff and asking stupid questions.  One interesting fellow came out of nowhere and didn't have any idea where he was... even the planet Cha'alt didn't ring a bell.  His name was Surge Danger Montgomery... and he will appear again sometime soon.

A mantis-folk was skulking back by the magazine rack, so Talis kept a watchful eye on him.  Suddenly, 4 hoodlums jumped out of a black van wearing ski masks and held the convenience store up.  The same player stimulated the GRINDHOUSE EXPLOITATION Cha'alt X-Card, so I described how one of the robbers had a suitcase that opened when it hit the ground after Talis' head-shot.  Inside the suitcase were gold coins, a thermal detonator, and a wallet belonging to Dweezil Jackson with Bad Motherfucker embroidered onto the front.  

Why was one of the robbers carrying such a suitcase?  One of the players asked that, and I didn't have a great answer... but I'm working on something.  Honestly, of all the sessions where we've playtested the Cha'alt X-Cards, this one was the least fruitful, but that's ok.  Not every mechanic (any mechanic?) works beautifully 100% of the time.  Hey, I'll take 90% any day of the week!

Once everything had died down that night, I did a screen-wipe that got us to the hover-skiff of Lord Ada'alo at dusk the next evening.  He took the PCs to one of those stone markers with the eye in the triangle that the PCs had encountered the previous Cha'alt campaign.  

From there, the PCs took the appropriate number and direction of steps and spoke aloud the 3rd moon of Cha'alt.  There appeared the entrance to Tahqeez' vault.  The stone double-doors were etched with a curious seal.  Glyphs on the outer edge spelled out the following (which only the sorcerer could read)...

"The Old Ones, in their infinite wisdom, have blessed us with many wonders, but the greatest of these is zoth."

Eventually, they decided to try splashing some zoth on the seal and it opened.  Inside, the caves and tunnels were dimly lit by tiny crystals covering the walls, floor, and ceiling of this subterranean vault.

From there, the PCs fought a few skeletons, giant scorpions, Nix got some alone time with a demon girl bathing in a pool of black liquid (securing for himself the high-five bonus), and they encountered an almost identical seal, but instead of the final glyph being zoth, it was "vyzvra'akna" which means unutterable darkness, frequently translated as cosmic horror.  Wisely, they decided against activating this seal.

The PCs found a brain in a jar attached to a spider droid.  This was Gerald whose body had been burned away by the sorcerer whom he served.  Gerald explained that the dead sorcerer Tahqeez had become a lich.  In exchange for the promise to help him find a new body, Gerald told them the lich's weakness.  

Finally, the adventurers bypassed a trap and ignored some strange shadows before reaching the jeweled sarcophagus of Tahqeez the sorcerer.  They opened the lid and saw the dead sorcerer.  Nix tried to yank its Tyrian Purple death-shroud, but the lich held on and then swung his magical sword wreathed in black flame.

I really should have made that last room either a bit deadlier (with additional monsters and such) or prepared with gizmos to deactivate high-technology.  A few shots of laser (I think both warrior droids had a critical hit) and Drago using one of his lavender moon dice to really spectral-blast the shit out of Tahqeez, the lich didn't last more than 2 rounds.

Once vanquished, the PCs recovered the loot that was there and even found a hidden compartment that contained a scroll - it was an explanation of that other seal with an invoice paperclipped to it for 1,000 gold pieces that was never paid.  Colin joked that the lich probably intended to "outlive" the seal maker and so he didn't have to pay.

That other seal, the "cosmic horror" one would have triggered a TPK if they'd splashed zoth upon it, shadow tentacles erupting throughout the vault, tearing everything alive to bloody shreds.  So, good thing the PCs avoided it.

The PCs really searched all over the place for that sash of nobility dyed Tyrian Purple, but all there was in that hue was the lich's death-shroud.  So, they gave their patron, Lord Ada'alo that, and kept the rest for themselves (in addition to each earning 36 zuleks from Ada'alo himself.  He acquired them from some recent off-world adventure)...

• The lich's magical sword named Zorvra'an, which means black flame.  It does 2d6+1 damage (on a crit the sword does an additional 1d6 damage of obsidian fire that can only be put out by some sort of dispel magic or anti-magic field.
• A Ring of Power +1 that grants the wearer a +1 to all their rolls (assuming the character wants it).
• Elsewhere in the vault, the pixie-fairy scored a prismatic crystalline scepter (I've got a general idea about what it can do, but will save that for next game).  
• 7 Lich sarcophagus gems 
• The aforementioned 36 x 5 zuleks
• TX-1138 started using an ivory demon's horn javelin +1 that had skewered him during the skeleton warrior attack.  If it wounds someone who survives, that wound becomes a little demon.  Since TX-1138 is a droid, I thought it appropriate to turn his wound into a little mechanical demon - will have to feature that next session as it'll be fully grown by then.

The hover-skiff took the PCs back to their whore house headquarters and they made plans before trying to find their way into Qada'ath next session...

Drogan wanted to talk to the Gods about his new power ring, Nix wants to find out more about Tyrian Purple, Talis wants to establish/remodel their "whore base," Morningwood is going to sweet talk Dante (manager of the Quick Stop) so he spills the beans about getting into the city, and TX-1138 was hoping to do some diagnostics on his targeting computer (I should have asked him about that since I'm not sure what he meant... we had just wrapped everything else up and I got distracted by parting words, blowing out the ceremonial candle, scribbling the last of my notes for that session, etc.

Oh yeah, the pixie-fairy's player texted me after the game to say they'd forgotten about Gerald, but he wanted to go back and recover the brain in the jar.  They never ended up using the lich's weakness since they had enough raw (and enhanced) firepower.

Colin prefers non-dungeon adventures, and he'll get his wish soon.  The intrepid adventures (they're still working out a group name for themselves) should reach Qada'ath by the 2nd half of next session... probably.  From then on, it'll be a series of urban-crawl sandbox shenanigans and Shadowrun type scenarios.  But I'll still adhere to the three pillars of exploration, social interaction, and combat. 

Because of the impending Christmas holiday, the next session will actually be this Saturday, December 16th... and then we'll be back again on Saturday, December 30th.

Thanks for reading, hoss!

VS

p.s. I've got hardcover Cha'alt books for sale - details here!  And now's the time to get your weekend badge for VENGER CON III: Revenge of the OSR - check out the convention page!