Game #1: The Mist

[reefwood]

The Mist

The valley of Morrow is a large but sparsely populated swath of land that is dotted with smaller dips, and a wide lake that runs along its mountain border. If old stories can be believed, there was a more prosperous age long ago, but today the mines are devoid of riches, the water holds no fish, the trees are stunted, and the soil can barely produce crops.

The last Lord of Morrow passed without an heir several generations ago. No noble has since wished to claim to the barren valley. The wooden forts around its edge have rotted away, and the mountain keep has crumbled to pieces. The towns and villages diminished. Only a few hamlets remain. Locals say that no roads lead to Morrow. Even the royal coffers ceased sending tax collectors before anyone can remember.



[OOC: My computer is in the shop - probably for another week - but I wanted to post at least some info to get everyone started. Feel free to ask questions, and I'll answer the next time I'm at the library.


Character Creation

There are two options for character creation:

1st-level: 1 PC class level, roll 4d6/drop lowest (or use 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8), start with 500 gp and 500 XP

2nd-level: 2 NPC class levels, roll 3d6 (or use 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8), start with 1,170 gp and 2000 XP

For rolling up stats, choose one option. If you choose to roll and get terrible stats, you are stuck with them. But at least you can make a new character next time.

When spending starting wealth, "PCs should spend no more than 25% of their wealth on weapons, 25% on armor and protective devices, 25% on other magic items, 15% on disposable items like potions, scrolls, and wands, and 10% on ordinary gear and coins."

We may not actually keep track of XP, but there may be one or two 10-minute level-up breaks during the session depending on how much progress is made. The 1st-level characters will be level up during the first break, and the 2nd-level characters will level up during the second break, but again, there may be no level-up breaks, and if you die, you will probably not be able to level up...which brings me to my next point.

Each player needs to make two characters. One will be your starting character, and the other one will be a back-up for if/when your starting character is no longer able to play. You will only play one character at a time, and when you give up your starting character, you are stuck with the back-up. Back-up characters may or may not be in the background, but it will be easy enough to introduce them if the need arises. All the characters will know each other since they are all from the same tiny town, but how well they know each other is up to the players. Also, your two characters can start at different levels.

EDIT: Stick to the Core Rulebook for this game.


Story Info

All characters will come from the same halmet with a population of less than 100 people. Mostly humans and practically no magic, but you can be any race or class. It is rare for an outsider to happen up Morrow Valley. Most often it is someone lost or just passing through. Usually the only outsider who comes to stay is the occasional dwarf that comes to join an order of dwarven monks who reside in a stout stone tower on one of the islands in the lake. One might show up every several years decades, and the monks only leave the island once per season to trade.

Most of the abandoned towns were left so long ago that almost nothing remains of them. If the soil wasn't so sterile, they would be overgrown with grass by this point, except for an old gnome village along the lake, which was mostly underground but is mostly collapsed at this point. The wooden forts are also gone except for some metal implements and stone fireplaces. The stone keep can still be seen across the lake at the edge of the mountains on a clear day but has obviously fallen in on itself.

The valley is open to the north, east, and south. Mountains run along the western border. The lake runs along the mountains. A few towns were along the lake but the only hamlets left are closer to the middle of the dry valley.]

[reefwood]

More Story Info

Morrow Valley only holds 4 population centers: three hamlets and the dwarven monastery. Once per spring, summer, and autumn, there is a "Trading Day" where people from each location come together to trade goods. Each season it rotates between hamlets, so each hamlet hosts Trading Day once per year. Your hamlet (Applebottom) does a fair bit of farming. Hamlet B (Stonevale) produces stone and metal products. Hamlet C (Cottonwood) has fabric and wood products. The monks produce healing tinctures and salves.

This adventure will begin on an autumn Trader's Eve - the night before Trading Day - which takes place in Applebottom this season. It is a somewhat celebratory time to relax for a night after finishing the harvest, creating goods, other prepping, etc. There are usually a few get-togethers and some people who just go to bed early, but the biggest event takes place in the town square and the nearby tavern/inn - music, dancing, contests.

Applebottom is small enough for me to have a rough idea of most of the inhabitants. You can be a member of a family - big or small - or if you want to be somewhat of an outsider or loner or just not deal with a family, you can be from one of the other two hamlets (Stonevale or Cottonwood), or you could just be the last member of your family because the rest passed or moved away. It should be easy enough to weave PCs into this hamlet, and I will try to post some info about notable NPCs.

[reefwood]

The People of Applebottom

I've spent way too much time creating family trees for the people of this tiny hamlet, but it's been fun to see how different family connections are created. Also, I got to thinking about humans and elves and half-elves, and how a family name like Corrick may have started out as a human name, but there is now a line of Corrick half-elves too. Or vice versa for an elven name that now belongs to a half-elven family. Another thing that came to mind, well from what I can remember from genetics, is that if the human gene is dominant and the elf gene is recessive, that a pair of half-elves could have a mix of human and half-elven children, so you could even wind up with a line of humans who have an elven family name.

Anyway, here are some details on a smattering of the major and minor NPCs in Applebottom. The first line is what you would probably know from simply living in the same hamlet, and the rest is what you might know if you have a stronger connection to them or their family/friends.


Mayor Andar Berryvine (human, 92) is the oldest and shortest person in Applebottom. He is the son of a Berryvine father (human) and a Tu'el mother (half-elf), though, some say he must have halfling blood in him as well. He has outlived his wife Sharra Roswin (human) and human siblings and children, but his younger half-elven brother Jarrod Berryvine (90) and even younger half-elven half-brother Laes Lyntin (65) are still in good health. He does not hold an elected position. His title was appointed by the previous mayor, and Andar will select the next mayor soon.

Jarrod Berryvine (half-elf, 65) is the younger brother of Andar Berryvine and older half-brother of Laes Lyntin.

Sheriff Laes Lyntin (half-elf, 65) handles matters of the law. He is the half-brother of Mayor Andar Berryvine and Jarrod Berryvine by a Tu'el (half-elf) mother.


Deputy Garmin (human, 23)


Priest Brennen Styvin (human, 47) cares for the temple which holds altars for Erastil (farming), Sarenrae (healing), and Shelyn (love). Farmer Styvin is his nephew, and Shelyse is his adopted daughter.

Acolyte Shelyse Styvin (human, 29) assists Brennen in matters of the temple. She was left on the steps of the temple as a babe, and as an acolyte at the time, Brennen was charged with her care. He named her after Shelyn, but Shelyse is more a follower of Pharasma than any deities of the temple she serves.


Innkeeper Haldren Verner (human, 38) owns the Wet Whistle which serves as an inn, restaurant, bar, and has a little used stable as well.

Brewer Neeva Tu'el (half-elf, 45) is the daughter of Farmer Tu'el and brews the beer served at the Wet Whistle.

Server Halva (half-elf, 17) is the daughter of Haldren and Neeva. She serves food and drink to Wet Whistle customers.


Cook Wendal Sproot (human, 36) works as at the Wet Whistle.

Stable Boy Wesley Sproot (human, 14) is the son of Wendal and tends to the stable.


Farmer (Chickens) Pegg (human, 31) is married to Margaret Roole (human, 29).

Farmer (Fruits) Corrick (half-elf, 35) is married to Marie Roswin (human, 30) with a son (half-elf, 12) and daughter (human, 9).


Farmer (Goats) Orella Dunway (human, 25) and her son Orin Dunway (half-elf, 11) tend to the dozen goats that provide Applebottom with milk and cheese. Ella, as her friends call her, ran off with a band of elven bards when she was younger and returned a year later with Orin in her belly. During this time, all but her mother Deena Roswin (human, 46) were struck down by a fever.

Orin Dunway (half-elf, 11) is the son of Orella Dunway and his father is presumably an elven bard.


Farmer (Grains) Tu'el (half-elf, 70)

Farmer (Pig) Styvin (human, 44) provides Applebottom with bacon and sausage. His wife Aylse Berryvine (half-elf, 39) is the great-grandniece of Mayor Andar Berryvine.

Farmer (Veggies) Sproot (human, 39) is married to Jendra Pillin (human, 32).


Farmer (Mules) Samuel Drayton (human, 59) and his wife (human, 57) have been bedridden for many years. Their daughter Sheila (human, 28) tends to the mules while their son Sheldon (human, 24) tends to their shoes. The middle child Sherman (human, 26) has taken to wood carving and playing the lute.

Monks (dwarves, middle-aged to old) spend their lives in the stout stone tower on an island in Morrow Lake. A new member may not arrive for several decades and none have been known to leave for long. Only to trade with the people of the hamlets. They once owned a raft to take them from island to shore, but it is now held by the Captain.

Captain (elf, adult?) came to Morrow Valley many years ago. He is a charming fellow who loves to banter but reveals little of himself. Not even his name. Captain has spent time in Applebottom, Stonevale, and Cottonwood but spends just as much time wandering the valley and supposedly the mountains as well. He claims his title was earned by his first act in the valley - convincing the monks to trade ownership of their raft. What did he trade? Everything he owned.


Okay, library time is up.

[reefwood]

Post-Game

PCs
Lars Martinson (human War2 -> War2/Ftr1
Lena (human Clr1 -> Clr2)
Illusionist (gnome Wiz1)
Halva (half-elf ??2)

Notable NPCs
Walden Sproot (human) - Wet Whistle cook
Wesley Sproot (human) - Wet Whistle stableboy
Orella Dunway (human) - goat farmer
Orin Dunway (half-elf) - Orella's son
Ragmar (human) - stonemason from Stonevale


Behind the Screen
The idea for this game came from the movie The Mist. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I'll just talk about the game. The monsters (including some not encountered) came from the Bestiary with some tweaks to be more like the movie monsters, and a few NPCs were based on the movie characters.

Some elements were included to make the main storyline not be too obvious at first but contributed to it as well, and hopefully they also helped give some depth to the world as well. Trading Day never happened, but it helped bring the PCs and main NPCs together for when the mist arrived, and it gave a reason for Ragmar to show up. Plus, I enjoyed playing through the Trader's Eve celebrations. The knights of the Spiked Hills were mostly there for distraction but also provided the first clue that something was amiss - the riderless horses did belong to them. And I didn't go into it much, but the knights who survived did reach the king, and the royal army rolled in to deal with the mist monsters you didn't encounter.

The main storyline revolved around the monks. They belonged to a lawful neutral order that protected a sealed barrier between this world and a terrible evil world full of monsters. Their neutrality kept them from destroying the barrier, but they had also grown weaker and less numerous over the centuries.

The intense storm at night was an effect of an attempt to breech the sealed barrier from the other side. The breech was successful, and the monks had an epic battle with the invaders. The monks won, but the barrier was broken, and they no longer had the ability or knowledge to create a new one, so they essentially hit the "self-destruct" button. The glowing crystal absorbed life force (hp) to fuel the sparking light that filled the etching. When the crystal was full (500 hp), the etching became fully lit and the sparks cut through the stone to collapse the wall and let the lake water flood into the tower and down into and through the barrier. The lake water was laced with minerals and magic that destroyed the barrier. However, not enough monks survived the battle to fill the crystal.

The monks were part of a once powerful order, but as they declined in number and power, so did their ability to keep the barrier secret and safe. Efforts by the monks over the centuries are what led to Morrow Valley growing barren and being essenitally abandoned by the kingdom. This was done to protect the barrier.

The goblin was a dwarven monk in his first life. He was one of the key protectors, and every time he died, he was reincarnated to live among the people - or at least keep an eye on them - and deal with any threats of discovery. However, there were no longer any monks left with the power to reincarnate, and the work at keeping threats away seemed more or less complete, so the goblin had long settled on this being his last life, and he lived a simple hidden life in the valley. When the mist appeared, he knew what had happened. He got word to the first person he found (Orin) and hurried to the stone tower to deal with threats and fill the crystal. Everyone was dead by the time he arrived, and even his life force was not enough to fill the crystal, which is why he called for people to come to the light.

The Captain rafted to the stone tower in the early morning to pick up the monks. No one answered his knock, so he opened the door and released the mist that had filled the tower (although, monsters from the inside would have opened it up eventually too). He was attacked by the acid spiders and attempted to escape on the raft, but two acid spiders got on board before he could get away. They cocooned him and filled him with eggs, but he was still alive.

There wasn't one specific straight and narrow path for this adventure. It could have played out and ended different ways. The main/expected way was to get to the stone tower and finish filling the life force crystal. Deciding to go to the stone tower was actually what I thought might be harder to figure out. I could have had Lena - with her good Perception rolls - notice that the lightning was centered around the lake or that the mist was coming off it in the early morning (especially since she lived outside/above the hamlet valley - because if she lived in town, she would not have had sight of it). Or once you got to the lake, the Captain could have told you that the mist and monsters came out of the stone tower. However, you needed to give him some first aid to get him coherent enough to answer questions, which probably meant killing the spiders, though, this was not a requirement. Someone could have talked to him while someone else fought/distracted the spiders. Anyway, you got the clue by finding Orin, so maybe I should have just cut out the Captain part, but the raft with the Captain was better than the unfinished raft in his workshop.

I didn't expect the life force crystal part to be so hard to figure out, but I did expect at least one of the PCs to die in the process. I figured the hard part would be deciding what order to try filling the crystal, and it would have been harder to fill if the poisonous flies had done more Con damage. It totally helped that you had a Cleric for healing hit points, but there were a few healing potions left by the monks (they drank some after the epic battle to fill up before sacrificing themselves), so if you survived the poisonous flies, acid spiders, and other monsters, you had a chance to regain hit points no matter what. This is also why I wanted players to have a spare PC - in case your first PC died on the way to the tower. The monsters weren't hard to kill but could dole out some major damage. They were deadly.

The hit point total needed to fill the crystal was based off the number of players (5 hp per PC) and their amount of class levels (5 hp per level). Therefore, it didn't matter too much if you arrived with a party of 1st or 3rd level characters. Higher level characters might have had more tools to face the challenges, but they also could have had less hit points proportionally to fill the crystal. For example, a Ftr1 would automatically receive 10 hp at 1st-level and only added 10 hp (5 PC +5 for 1 level) to the amount need by the crystal, whereas a War3 might roll up a total of just 15 hp and also have a lower Con score yet added 20 hp (5 PC +15 for 3 levels) to the amount needed by the crystal. Three Ftr1 would require a total of 30 hp to fill the crystal, and a Ftr1 with 15 hp and 16 Con could do this and survive if stabilized or healed right away. Whereas, three War3 would require 60 hp which would be a lot harder for one War3 to do, let alone survive. Also, this would have probably been harder for Wizards to survive than raging Barbarians, but even if everyone died filling the crystal (which was super unlikely unless everyone's first PC was gone and second PC had lots of Con drained), the barrier probably would have been destroyed - which was the ultimate goal.

There were a few ways to figure out how the crystal worked. The most direct would have been to reach the tower before the goblin sacrificed himself. The next way was to decipher the runes by knowing Dwarven, making a Linguistics check, casting Comprehend Languages or Read Magic, or using some other translation ability. The last clue was the scene at the crystal where I tried to show that these monks sacrificed themselves and that the crystal was working against the fog.


Well, that was a lot of info, so I'll leave it there for now, but if you have any questions or want to know about other stuff that could have happened, I'm happy to share. This is one nice thing about one-shots. I can reveal everything. Or at least as much as I want