The action heated up in our most recent session of Dungeons and Dragons, in which we raided a goblin village, confronted three barrow wights and suffered random attacks from a 6-foot lizard and two pairs of snakes.
Our raid of the goblin village was the high point for the night. A small band of them tried to ambush us as we crept up on the village, but Ash spotted them first and our mage’s sleep-inducing talents proved useful. We slayed the sleeping goblins and went on to the village, where we were outnumbered three to one . . . and yet, and yet . . . we prevailed!
We all seemed to roll really well, and we slaughtered those goblins with very little injury to ourselves. Such fun! Ash had a field day. It helps that goblins are her “favoured enemy” as a ranger (meaning she is particularly good at killing them).
Our search of the goblin village revealed some cool stuff — including the sacred bowl, an artifact from Ash’s village that she and Alix (the cleric) had been searching for (although not diligently enough, according to our DM – black mark against our role-playing skills!).
Next target was a nearby barrow (ancient burial mound), which our paladin was nigh-on obsessed with. We’d already come past it on the way to the village and he’d sensed great evil — which of course meant he wanted to eradicate it.
Upon our first direct encounter, where we attempted to open the door into the barrow, Intan (the paladin) was thumped with a magic ward in the guise of a lightning bolt, necessitating a retreat back to the village for him to recover.
Upon our second direct encounter with the barrow the next day, he and Cal (our mage) got the door open only to be surrounded by three barrow wights. Intan lost a level (disaster — he was just about to make level 3) but impressively slayed one of the wights. Alix then used her “turn undead” spell to GREAT effectiveness, meaning we could get the door closed and escape before anyone else lost a level.
That barrow totally gives Ash the willies and she’s refusing to go anywhere near those barrow wights.
The only chance Intan had to regain his level was some major restoration spell by a high level cleric — and the only one of these in proximity was the mysterious Ergosh, living on his island, a couple of days travel away. We decided to seek him out to see if we could buy the spell Intan needed with all the loot we’d gained from the goblin village.
So we headed through the wall barricading the valley and south towards Ergosh’s island. The restoration of Intan’s level was unfortunately unsuccessful, plus we had to battle two sets of snakes. In fact, Ash and Saffir (rogue) got surprised while on a hunting mission (I think I rolled a 1 for my spot check) and now they’ve both lost half their DEX. Argh! They both need some form of lesser restoration spell to recover it. Fortunately Alix should be able to perform these before we resume next session.
In game time, all this running about (which also included a search of the giant skeleton where we previously battled the spiders, and a river crossing) took seven days.
At the end of all this action, Ash made it to level 3 — which is very exciting. Now she has 10 more hit points AND the endurance feat, which means she can sleep in her armour. Oh happy day! No more night ambushes without her armour on. She’s also got massive skill points for her survival rolls, so her ranger skills should start to get really useful. Can’t wait for the next session!
Actually, next session, I daresay we’ll have to go raid that cursed barrow again… I hope there’s some decent treasure inside to make it worthwhile! I rather suspect Ash will refuse to enter, having just reached level3 and not wanting to suffer Intan’s fate.
Besides, Ash and Alix need to restore the sacred bowl to their village…
But then there’s the eye of Verrion to be found. This has really captured Ash’s imagination. She actually wants to keep exploring the chain of valleys in these mountains…
What would you do?
***
A quick note for readers who’ve been wanting more information on how the games works, and who missed the last D&D post. I encourage you to check out ‘D&D: Explaining the basics‘, because I explained all the game mechanics especially for you.
E V Gregory 
Sounds like everyone had a fun time 🙂 The undead were always my favorite enemies to use when I ran games, probably because they tend to be found in some of the most atmospheric places for adventuring.
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We did have fun — until 4am. Must say the undead freak me out because Ash can’t seem to hurt them. And my previous ranger character was taken out by a ghoul. Hopefully our paladin, mage and cleric can deal with them with their magical abilities.
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Ellen, You would be proud of me. I have moved into Zombie territory, reading Kevin J. Anderson, Death Warmed Over, with lots of undeads, etc. Hilarious book. I love the writing style in it. Ordered two more books in that series. Then on to another variety of fantasy.
BTW, I think moving up to sleeping without your armor on in a 5 star hotel bed would be a nice level award… Oh, but maybe not in this game. Have fun.
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Glad to hear you’re enjoying some SF, Janice! Haven’t read any zombie books myself (except for a part of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I detested).
You’re right – no five star accommodation in this game. Although occasionally we do get to sleep in an inn. All of us bunked in together – heh.
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What would I do? Why, I’d charge into that barrow with my sword raised! I’d slay me some wights. Think of the blight they leave on the land — even from beneath its soil, they are like a festering pustulence. A pestilence that needs to be scoured from existence. I’d summon all my courage, steel my heart and charge into that barrow, hoping my companions have the courage to stand by my side as I will stand by theirs in their hour of need. That’s what I’d do, and I’m sure any brave adventurer would do so too.
A level — what is a level against the greater glory that may be had, the knowledge that you have razed evil and cleansed the land? Any good ranger must know this, must feel it in their bones — the sickness that inhabits the earth! You are good, Ash, aren’t you?
And think of the rewards! Who know what sits in there, waiting for the cleansing bath of sunlight! Glory be to the almighty Phanator.
Intan
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It’s all right for you, oh mighty Intan, scion of Phanator, you have a magical weapon and other abilities besides. I am merely a humble ranger of the plains, who understands not the whims of the undead. I was taught to respect the resting places of the dead, not desecrate them. These wights are far beyond my ken and I have no defence against them, or weapons to harm them (I suspect). However, I will stand at your back and fight if necessary. I do have a couple of bennies up my sleeve…
Ash
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I say quickly restore the sacred bowl to the village first, then go exploring.*
*This advice should be taken with the utmost caution as it is coming from someone who has never played D&D, and despite your very thorough explanation of the rules still does not fully grasp the ins-and-outs of the game. 🙂
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Ha – well the main problem with returning the sacred bowl to the village is that it’s very far from where we are, and the route is convoluted. So we should probably finish up here first. Maybe…
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What would I do? Make another pitcher of margaritas, I guess. It’s all so complicated…
And I LOVED Pride & Prejudice & Zombies…but then I’ve never read Pride & Prejudice…
😉
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Yeah well, I’m in shock, but that would explain why you’d possibly like PP&Z, although I think it’d lose something too… That’s a discussion for a whole different time!
Margaritas? Complicated? Bah!
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