Touch of Madness: The Thrilling Conclusion!

After a day and a half of Otakon, a late-night party, an early brunch, and a fringe festival play - all in quick succession - I think it's safe to say I was exhausted when it came time to DM my final "Touch of Madness" session. So I want to start this post with an apology to my players: I'm sorry I was short with you all. It wasn't anything you did, and I wasn't mad. I was just. So. Tired. 

When I haven't gotten enough sleep, I can be a real bitch.
Just kidding - Maggie was dog-sitting that weekend. Meet Max the Dungeon Mutt!

And so you don't think I'm a terrible DM, note that I had just hand-waved them all up to level 11 - Paragon Tier. Dun dun dun! At this point, PCs have (theoretically) slugged their way through ten levels of combats and challenges. They've explored their world, defeating evil and protecting innocence, and have made a name for themselves. Now they're ready to graduate from small-time adventuring and tackle even bigger Big Bads. Part of that transition includes selecting a Paragon Path, which will shape how their character develops from now on.

This choice was easy for Mac and me - we have been discussing our paragon paths for yonks. I didn't realize I'd be throwing some of my other players into something of a conundrum. Here was a character that they'd only played a handful of times, and now they had to make this huge decision. In the end, I'm sure everyone (including me) picked the path with the biggest mechanical benefit. As much as I enjoy the RP in RPGs, I came to win.

I'm glad I did have them level up, however, because the final boss battle was HARD. Two out of the four adventurers died (I let them come back in with secondary characters) and I ended up having one of the monsters just lose interest and leave. They probably could have made it without these concessions and probably without TPK, but again - it was late, I was tired. In retrospect, it feel like the Touch of Madness campaign ended for us not with a bang, but with a whimper. Luckily, I can guarantee the DM is going to be more energetic for next session... because Mac will be taking over!

Touch of Madness Campaign, Con'td

On Sunday I met with a couple of my players for the next installment of Touch of Madness. We had some last-minute cancellations, but because of our dual-character system we were able to forge ahead with just two PCs. Spoilers ahoy!

An interesting facet of this particular module is that several of the "bad guys" - the Stormcrows - are actually victims of the "touch of madness" themselves, and therefore can be saved. So far, we have rescued three out of the four Stormcrows (if the PCs remember to go back and collect them on their way out, that is). As an aside, IMHO the two female NPCs seemed more salvageable than the male NPCs. Is this an indication of the "damsel in distress" mentality on my part? Or on the part of the writers of the story? Anyway, something to think about.

Either way, it is now incumbent upon me to write a story with 

all female monsters and a dude in distress.

In this session, the PCs advanced into the second level of the Forlorn Tower. They met two more of the Stormcrow mercenaries, and they confirmed that the Tear of Ioun is no longer there. However, since their primary goal is to protect the town of Wellspring from this tower's monsters, it makes sense to continue. I think we've got about one more session left, but I'm getting a bit nervous. With our spotty attendance, I'm not sure that all of my PCs are going to be at a high enough level to deal with the final battle. Will this be my first TPK???

Touch of Madness Campaign

For the second of my D&D groups, I am a lazy lazy DM that primarily runs modules. Currently I am running the Touch of Madness module, the first installment of the so-called Madness Trilogy (along with Depths of Madness and Brink of Madness). As you might suspect, it primarily involves monsters from the Far Realm, who specialize in being batshit insane and inspiring batshit insanity in others. SPOILERS BELOW.

Oh, and tentacles. Mustn't forget the tentacles.

Our group changes all the time (people join, people leave, schedules conflict, etc), so right now I am allowing more than one character per person. This allows us to play with as few as two players and one DM, but is not recommended for inexperienced players. But guests are always welcome, because I believe in recruiting people to my twisted lifestyle.

The last time we met, Kevin brought along his friend Andrew - he had played before, and just needed a refresher on a few things and the nuances of 4E. I created a character for Andrew in character builder - I decided to go the Essentials route, to save myself some time. Approximately five decisions later, I had a fully-functional 10th-level Dwarf Cleric, with only one easily-correctable error (they gave him expertise in a weapon he didn't have). Kevin is playing a Dragonborn Paladin, and Reuven dual-wielded his Dwarf Fighter and his brand-new Shifter Monk.

So far in the plot, our adventurers are seeking to protect the people of Wellspring from an uncertain threat - the story began when grells descended upon the town. They have been lead to the Forlorn Tower - formerly a temple to Ioun (D&D goddess of knowledge) and home of the Tear of Ioun, one of many sacred relics. In this session, the party was supposed to speak to a woman who had been sent after the Tear of Ioun and who knows more about it's whereabouts. However, when they came upon her party they immediately attacked - which, to my mind, was a valid decision. You're a grimlock hanging out in an evil tower, and the group just fought a whole bunch of you two sessions ago. Of course Han is going to shoot first!

On the left, a grell. On the right, a grimlock. 

Seriously, what the hell.

This left me in something of a quandary - I needed to let them get their hits in without sacrificing exposition. Also, we were down one PC, and this was a high-level encounter. If I had let them fight it out, the heroes may not have survived. I know that's OK with some DMs, but I think TPKs are boring and pointless. The story advances when the heroes advance - why would I want to stop that?

I compromised by giving hints that the grimlock's leader, who announces herself as Denva of the Stormcrows, was not quite right in the head (which was true). Our Paladin was the only one who was close enough to interact with her, which was probably not ideal - even though every player was involved in the battle in some way or another, only one got to do any Skill stuff. The small exception was that our Fighter got to use his Athletics to smash through a wall - and eventually made it!

When they had subdued most of the grimlocks and successfully navigated Denva's warped mind, they find out quite a bit. 

[Denva] reveals that a human named Cylus hired her and her companions to search for the Tear of Ioun. The relic transformed the Stormcrows (a group of merry mercenaries), but then mysterious shadow creatures stole it. Elomir, the Stormcrow leader, sent the grells to Wellspring. He won’t stop searching until the stone is recovered.

In other words, "Sorry - your relic is in another castle." Denva tells the adventurers where to find Elomir (at the top of the tower, duh!) and begs them to take her to Wellspring for treatment. They came up with the clever idea to enlist the help of the Half-orc natives of the nearby forest, the Harrowfolk, to help Denva reach the town. After a short rest, they plan to forge ahead - up the stairs!