FYI, this is the 998th blog post.
It's May, hoss. That means summer is just about here... and VENGER CON V: The Will To Power won't be far behind!
I've already submitted the 7 sessions I'm Game Mastering between Friday, July 17th and Sunday, July 19th. If you plan on GMing, as well, get your session into us by filling out the form on the convention landing page here.
Ok, we were short-tentacled with this session, the 7th in the 4th year of our face-to-face Cha'alt campaign. There was Strum the human sorcerer, Deacon Elijah Crane the human priest, and Tinker McStabby (the communist version) joined us, as well.
A portal opened, Ug and Neza'akul went in, and Tinker came out - determined not to be sent back to Hell.
Unlike most session reports, this one is going to be in broad-strokes. The Crimson Bastards (my default name for the PCs) were looking around the central room of the sorcerer's tower when a hologram of Vromka'ad explained that just on the off-chance that foul play was involved in his death, the murderer should be brought to the periwinkle room for destruction. In return, the sorcerer would bequeath them his 2nd most prized possession from beyond the grave - an ivory scepter.
Now, the PCs had options in front of them. They could have ignored the hologram and either leave the tower (since they already had Kaltha'alax the demon-slaying sword) or continue exploring without worrying about the periwinkle room - especially since there was no periwinkle orb present allowing them access. They also could have snatched some random humanoid, framing him for Vromka'ad's murder. It's possible that going to the periwinkle room (once they found the orb, that is) and explaining that La'ala, the confessed murderess, was already dead might have done the trick.
Being practical and hopeful and not in any kind of hurry, the adventurers decided to schlep back to the fuchsia flesh-pit for her body. Now, I've relayed what happened there in a brand-new, albeit extremely short, PDF, Ya'ada Ya'ada Ya'ada, that will come out soon. It's a game mechanic that I'd been thinking about for several days prior to this session, and retrieving La'ala's corpse (who revealed herself to be Taylor Swift just before her untimely demise) was the perfect opportunity. So, I won't go into detail here.
Back at the tower, the PCs laid her body down near the black gateway as they realized now was the time to explore 15+ rooms in this weird wizard's tower. And explore they did. They found useful rooms (such as the library), strange rooms (such as the yellow-ochre one that deactivated machines and contained a mysterious gateway to a dimension from whence no magic can escape), and mundane rooms - like ones containing NPCs who used to serve or amuse the sorcerer when he was alive.
It took a lot of looking, but eventually they managed to locate the periwinkle orb - and kill a guy who had the wand of disintegration. Just as exciting, the party's priest was able to convince a trio of homicidal maniacs recently back from a crusade to kill in the name of The Righteous Redeemer of the Lords of Light. Not only that, but he talked several people into both following his new religion and serving the PCs as the new Lords of the Tower.
Here's a list of NPCs who decided to stay-on after they went through all the rooms - including the chocolate-brown room with the Oompa-Loompas and Tinker's voluptuous blonde who has a taste for chocolate and depravity. BTW, the new treat the little orange-dwarves were working on is a chewable chocolate bubble-gum.
Soomdok, Vusela'age, Hasa'ana (demon whore maid), Vrooz (sky-elf sorcerer who agreed to mentor Strum), Somax, Issa, and Lyssa (both blonde women who are always DTF).
Oh, and with Ug missing, and Strum taking the disintegration wand, Crane took both Kaltha'alax and the ivory scepter. Oh yeah, the murderess corpse of La'ala was blasted to bits in the periwinkle room - Strum's player stimulated the gonzo Cha'alt X-Card to make it rain a ridiculous amount of Taylor Swift's flesh.
Crane continued to spare the hot demon maid, Ha'asana, but slew a couple of other demons, which thrilled Kaltha'alax to bits. Just finishing up at the tower, Crane heard a knock at the door - it was a probe droid with a message for him.
A holographic image of Prelate Task of the core worlds who confessed to Deacon Elijah Crane that a mysterious and powerful green orb was stolen from Cha'alt long ago, back during the great war against the planet. The stolen alien artifact was none other than the Loc-Na'ar... kept in the Federation Vatican for 80-some years, and about to be sold off by bureaucrats now that the Federation officially disbanded the one true church.
Prelate Task stole the Loc-Na'ar back from the Federation and sent it on an escape pod for Cha'alt, along with the droid currently talking to the priest. Task also warned of impending assassin droids coming their way.
The bus was no longer there, so they walked until... I pulled out a couple player suggestions from the Black Skull of Secrets. Hank Solo was driving cab, and already had a couple of old curmudgeon ride-shares in the back - the two Muppet guys who mock everyone.
Speeding to the escape pod, the PCs saw a small sand barge and a dozen skeevers surrounding the pod, looking at the black box which contained the Loc-Na'ar (worth $437 million credits today, and the combination to the black box was 437).
Strum, who also had a nifty magic staff looted from an NPC who looted it from the tower, could cast spells without it draining his lifeforce. So, he whipped-up a fireball that ended their existence. Only the black box remained. Tinker, who had unplugged a component underneath the sand barge and took out one of the remaining skeever guards, replugged it in once they were ready to head back to the tower, thanking Hank Solo for his cab.
Taking the sand barge back to their new tower (before I forget, Tinker mentioned something about mixing colored orbs to get new rooms, which is an idea I like), Bishop Crane (promoted via hologram transmission) decided to take another demon life. Now, Kaltha'alax was a +3 weapon... gaining +1 for every demon slain by the sword.
Before ending the session, Tinker pulled Strum aside, asking how much longer Crane would be able to resist succumbing to the dark side we all know is in there somewhere. Strum brushed it off, but you never know what's going to happen.
Next session is planned for 2 weeks from now. Thanks for reading (and commenting), hoss!
