Warhammer Quest: The Sylvan Epic
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Oversoul
The Tentacled One
This concludes Part 3 of The Sylvan Epic: Traversing the Pine Crags. Now we begin Part 4: Haunted Boughs
You've prepared yourselves as you could at the encampment. You reconvene. Kelgar has been wandering the encampment, preaching the word of Sigmar. Dorgath has been visiting various dwarven merchants. Carrow arrives from the temple, and appears to have restocked his supply of arrows. Tomas has been studying with a consortium of mages from the Moonspring Glades and some human hedge wizards. Revaethan has recently returned from a spiritual hunting event, and bears elaborate ritual markings. Ty disappeared for a while, but he made it back just in time. No one is quite sure where Throg has been, and at first, no one recognizes him. Throg's appearance has completely changed! Instead of shrouding his mutant appearance behind a cowl, he looks, well, ordinary. He could be any generic human warrior, somehow.
As you reconvene, Runelord Yaggrin arrives...
"I don't have much time. For us, the real battle is coming, and soon. The main forces from Bretonnia and from the Grove of Eternity have yet to arrive. But your task may be even more important. So let's get moving. Stay close to me."
Runelord Yaggrin manipulates some strange, intricate objects covered in tiny dwarven runes. A flickering dome emerges directly above his head and surrounds the air nearby, bathing the party in a glowing light. He proceeds to march into the woods, deliberately keeping a pace that Jekaena can match with her cane.
"As I said, I cannot be gone long. So I'm counting on you to see this through. Protect Jekaena. Kill your enemies. Save the forest. Etcetera. I won't be able to get you all the way to the Heart. No orcs and goblins around here, but there are other creatures that will stand in your way. As I said, stay close. It's important."
He continues to fiddle with his strange apparatus as he walks. His path seems circuitous, but he proceeds with confidence...
Revaethan: Uh, Lord Yaggrin.
Yaggrin: Yes?
Revaethan: We're in the Wildwood now.
Yaggrin: Yes, I know. It's the only way I can get you to the Heart of Welhallas. Through the Wildwood.
Revaethan: How are we not being attacked?
Yaggrin: Oh, I'm sure you will be soon, enough. But not by the denizens of the Wildwood. And not by the orcs, either. I'll get you near the Heart, but you have enemies who are already there.
Revaethan: Coril.
Yaggrin: More, I think. I sense the hand of the Witch King in this...
The path becomes even more circuitous. At one point, Runelord Yaggrin takes you in what appears to be a figure-8 around two isolated trees. Just when you're sure that you're not getting anywhere, he stops.
"And here we part ways. Those boughs will take you up a steep slope all the way into the canopy. From there you have a path leading straight to the Heart. Wide enough for you to move in ranks of four if you desire. No tricks. No twists and turns. No surprises, save for whatever obstacles the minions of the Witch King have left for you. I must get back. My people need me. We'll talk more later."
Notes
-There is no need for a light source during Haunted Boughs. It is midmorning and you are outdoors. The forest isn't that dark.
-Throg's Wound-Stealing Axe of Mighty Striking may use its special ability once during the course of Haunted Boughs
-Throg's Chalice of Night can be used three times during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Throg's Mark of Chaos can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Throg gets one free cast of the Fist of Iron spell (choose a target monster and roll a D6. If the monster distance between the caster and the monster is less than the result of the roll, the monster takes 1D6+1 damage).
-Dorgath can make double attacks with his great axe one time during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can add an extra 2D6 damage to one attack during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath's Lucky Talisman can make one attack automatically hit during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath's Axe of Slaying can be used for one entire turn during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can use his Endure skill to ignore all Wounds from a single blow once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can use his Norscan Grease Escape skill evade a single blow that would otherwise hit him during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Invisibility Ring once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Horn of Shielding once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Cloak of Concealment once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow's temple blessing can deflect one attack at any point and can only be used once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Kelgar's Magic Warhammer can add an extra D6 of damage to one hit in the entirety of the remainder of the Sylvan Epic.
-Ty's Lifestealer Talisman can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Ty's Duck and Dodge skill can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Ty's Whirlwind skill can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can add 1D6 extra damage to an attack made with his Chaos Demon Sword once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Tomas can use his Skull Staff to enhance one spell during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can use his Bone Blade once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can use his Giant Strength ability once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Basically, your skills and items that recharge between adventures will recharge after Haunted Boughs and you'll get access to them again, whether you used them or not, once you move to the next "deep" of this "dungeon." Any temporary enhancements, such as ones obtained in temples, are good for the rest of The Sylvan Epic. The ones that you got in Middenheim were good through Traversing the Pine Crags, and they've now expired. Ones obtained the Wydrioth Encampment won't expire until the conclusion of The Sylvan Epic.
You've prepared yourselves as you could at the encampment. You reconvene. Kelgar has been wandering the encampment, preaching the word of Sigmar. Dorgath has been visiting various dwarven merchants. Carrow arrives from the temple, and appears to have restocked his supply of arrows. Tomas has been studying with a consortium of mages from the Moonspring Glades and some human hedge wizards. Revaethan has recently returned from a spiritual hunting event, and bears elaborate ritual markings. Ty disappeared for a while, but he made it back just in time. No one is quite sure where Throg has been, and at first, no one recognizes him. Throg's appearance has completely changed! Instead of shrouding his mutant appearance behind a cowl, he looks, well, ordinary. He could be any generic human warrior, somehow.
As you reconvene, Runelord Yaggrin arrives...
"I don't have much time. For us, the real battle is coming, and soon. The main forces from Bretonnia and from the Grove of Eternity have yet to arrive. But your task may be even more important. So let's get moving. Stay close to me."
Runelord Yaggrin manipulates some strange, intricate objects covered in tiny dwarven runes. A flickering dome emerges directly above his head and surrounds the air nearby, bathing the party in a glowing light. He proceeds to march into the woods, deliberately keeping a pace that Jekaena can match with her cane.
"As I said, I cannot be gone long. So I'm counting on you to see this through. Protect Jekaena. Kill your enemies. Save the forest. Etcetera. I won't be able to get you all the way to the Heart. No orcs and goblins around here, but there are other creatures that will stand in your way. As I said, stay close. It's important."
He continues to fiddle with his strange apparatus as he walks. His path seems circuitous, but he proceeds with confidence...
Revaethan: Uh, Lord Yaggrin.
Yaggrin: Yes?
Revaethan: We're in the Wildwood now.
Yaggrin: Yes, I know. It's the only way I can get you to the Heart of Welhallas. Through the Wildwood.
Revaethan: How are we not being attacked?
Yaggrin: Oh, I'm sure you will be soon, enough. But not by the denizens of the Wildwood. And not by the orcs, either. I'll get you near the Heart, but you have enemies who are already there.
Revaethan: Coril.
Yaggrin: More, I think. I sense the hand of the Witch King in this...
The path becomes even more circuitous. At one point, Runelord Yaggrin takes you in what appears to be a figure-8 around two isolated trees. Just when you're sure that you're not getting anywhere, he stops.
"And here we part ways. Those boughs will take you up a steep slope all the way into the canopy. From there you have a path leading straight to the Heart. Wide enough for you to move in ranks of four if you desire. No tricks. No twists and turns. No surprises, save for whatever obstacles the minions of the Witch King have left for you. I must get back. My people need me. We'll talk more later."
Notes
-There is no need for a light source during Haunted Boughs. It is midmorning and you are outdoors. The forest isn't that dark.
-Throg's Wound-Stealing Axe of Mighty Striking may use its special ability once during the course of Haunted Boughs
-Throg's Chalice of Night can be used three times during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Throg's Mark of Chaos can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Throg gets one free cast of the Fist of Iron spell (choose a target monster and roll a D6. If the monster distance between the caster and the monster is less than the result of the roll, the monster takes 1D6+1 damage).
-Dorgath can make double attacks with his great axe one time during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can add an extra 2D6 damage to one attack during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath's Lucky Talisman can make one attack automatically hit during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath's Axe of Slaying can be used for one entire turn during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can use his Endure skill to ignore all Wounds from a single blow once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Dorgath can use his Norscan Grease Escape skill evade a single blow that would otherwise hit him during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Invisibility Ring once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Horn of Shielding once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow can use his Cloak of Concealment once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Carrow's temple blessing can deflect one attack at any point and can only be used once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Kelgar's Magic Warhammer can add an extra D6 of damage to one hit in the entirety of the remainder of the Sylvan Epic.
-Ty's Lifestealer Talisman can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Ty's Duck and Dodge skill can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Ty's Whirlwind skill can be used once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can add 1D6 extra damage to an attack made with his Chaos Demon Sword once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Tomas can use his Skull Staff to enhance one spell during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can use his Bone Blade once during the course of Haunted Boughs.
-Tomas can use his Giant Strength ability once in the entirety of the remainder of The Sylvan Epic.
-Basically, your skills and items that recharge between adventures will recharge after Haunted Boughs and you'll get access to them again, whether you used them or not, once you move to the next "deep" of this "dungeon." Any temporary enhancements, such as ones obtained in temples, are good for the rest of The Sylvan Epic. The ones that you got in Middenheim were good through Traversing the Pine Crags, and they've now expired. Ones obtained the Wydrioth Encampment won't expire until the conclusion of The Sylvan Epic.
Questions:
What is "a turn"? An entire combat?
For these two, do I need to state beforehand that I'm using them (without knowing whether I'll actually be hit or not) or after (which seems kinda OP, but who knows with this game
)
Back to the game:
"Should we go four abreast or keep our two person column marching order?"
What is "a turn"? An entire combat?
For these two, do I need to state beforehand that I'm using them (without knowing whether I'll actually be hit or not) or after (which seems kinda OP, but who knows with this game
)Back to the game:
"Should we go four abreast or keep our two person column marching order?"
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
One round of combat. Not the whole combat.
For these two, do I need to state beforehand that I'm using them (without knowing whether I'll actually be hit or not) or after (which seems kinda OP, but who knows with this game
I tend to automatically use them if a character is in dire straits, just to streamline things and try to get combat flowing. My assumption is that if your character is badly hurt and you have an ability that could save him from being reduced to 0 Wounds, you'd use it. I think at one point in one of these adventures I even used Throg's Mark of Chaos to re-roll a monster attack that was going to hit Dorgath when he was really badly hurt. I forget. But you're free to use them at other times to if you want to.
So.... I can use it once per combat no matter how many combats there are during the course of Haunted Boughs? I'm just trying to clarify since before you were stating "one time" and "one attack" which seemed clear, but then you threw in this "one entire turn" phrase.
Okay, sounds good with the other two abilities.
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Hm, I'll try to clarify it better...
It's pretty common in Warhammer Quest for an item, character skill, or other optional effect to work "once per adventure." Also prevalent, although a bit less common, is for some boost or bonus to last "for one adventure." The default adventure, like if this weren't a campaign but was just a dungeon generated using the game's dungeon deck, is something like 10 rooms. But the Roleplay Book also allows for one dungeon with multiple "deeps" that are themselves about the size of a typical dungeon, and even provides a detailed example with "Death Below Karak Azgal" (which I used in our campaign). The book is a kinda open-ended about how "once per adventure" or "for one adventure" function in the case of dungeons that chain multiple "deeps" together. One interpretation might be that everything refreshes between each deep. This would be good for your "once per adventure" items and skills, but it would drastically weaken effects that last "for one adventure" or "can be used any time during the next adventure" because they'd go away after just the first, and presumably easiest, deep. You wouldn't have much incentive to make an offering to the gods at a temple if it could only give you +1 Strength for the first deep of your next adventure, leaving you with nothing to show for it later on in the dungeon. A second interpretation would be that all of the items and skills only refresh once the entire dungeon is completed. That would make the "for one adventure" stuff good, but it would weaken the "once per adventure" stuff. You'd probably try to reserve all of your items and skill for the last deep of the dungeon, assuming I told you which deep was the last one (in Karak Azgal, I did not tell you). So I'm going with a "best of both worlds" approach. The stuff that can be used once (or more than once, in the case of Throg's Chalice of Night) all refreshes with each deep. If you're facing a tough monster and want some help, you could activate your stuff to help you out of a pickle, and it'd all recharge again for the next deep. Meanwhile, the stuff that lasts for a dungeon and then expires or that can be used one time within a dungeon doesn't go away between deeps, it sticks around. So the temporary boosts Carrow got from praying at the temple or that Tomas got from wizard school stuff, those won't expire before you even get to the magic tree. They'll last for the whole rest of the "dungeon." I planned this one out to be much bigger than Death Below Karak Azgal, with the deeps so far being...
-Middenheim Intermission
-Cleansing the Temple
-Traversing the Pine Crags
-Haunted Boughs
OK, that's a dirty lie. I didn't plan out Middenheim Intermission. It just sort of happened impromptu. Anyway, because it was so big and because I figured the characters were going to need to level-up at some point, I set the cutoff for stuff that lasts "for one adventure" to end with Traversing the Pine Crags. Consider the previous "adventures" to be Volume I of The Sylvan Epic. Volume II starts here.
Anyway, if an item that can be used once per adventure is a weapon, usually that means its ability is good for one single attack within the course of an adventure (or deep). The Axe of Slaying isn't like those other weapons because it can be used for an entire turn, rather than for just a single attack. i.e. Dorgath's Great Axe has a Death Rune from the Dwarven Guildmasters, so it can have 2D6 added to an attack once per adventure. Dorgath has an Attacks characteristic of 2, so he normally gets to swing his axe twice per turn. Only one of those attacks would get 2D6 damage added to it, then that ability would be "on cooldown" for the rest of the adventure. If he used his Death Rune on his first attack, then the second attack within the same turn wouldn't get the boost, and neither would any other attacks for the rest of the adventure. It'd be on cooldown. Done until the next "deep." The distinction with the Axe of Slaying is that its ability functions for a whole turn, no matter how many attacks are made with it during that turn. Let's say Kelgar blesses Dorgath with Vanquish, giving him +1 Attack. And let's say Dorgath also uses Flash Powder, giving him +1 Attack. This would mean Dorgath could activate the Axe of Slaying and use it to make four attacks, each of which would hit for a D6 worth of D6 damage. That wouldn't apply to future turns within the same combat. And it wouldn't apply to future combats within the same adventure. It would only apply to attacks made with the axe within that turn.
turgy22
Nothing Special
I'm a little disappointed that you revealed my Ring of Illusion to the group. It would have been funnier (to me, anyway) if some stranger joined the party and Throg mysteriously disappeared and then the stranger tried to steal everyone else's gold and then suddenly Throg came back.
Does Throg's Ring of Illusion cover up his Atrophy or do they combine so he looks like an old man?
Also, I didn't realize he usually hid behind a cowl. Why is that not in my inventory?
Does Throg's Ring of Illusion cover up his Atrophy or do they combine so he looks like an old man?
Also, I didn't realize he usually hid behind a cowl. Why is that not in my inventory?
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
The Ring of Illusion covers it up. It's an illusion. The effects of that Atrophy attribute are real (and could hypothetically lower your characteristics, but you rolled the "it's just cosmetic and doesn't affect his profile" option when you picked up the attribute).
Good question. I have decided that's an oversight on my part. The little manual for the Chaos Warrior refers to the Chaos Warrior potentially needing to hide mutant parts of his body with a cowl, gloves, etc. Throg had been wearing a regular helm and I guess I assumed that he had a cowl at some point. Then he started wearing a huge, blindingly shiny horned skull on his head*, so his appearance was bound to draw attention, but in a different way than a cowl or signs of mutations would. The Ring of Illusion technically makes all of that obsolete. It pretty explicitly indicates that. But you're right. You should have a cowl. I'm adding a cowl to your inventory. It's not worth anything and it isn't magical, but you have it. You always had it.
*It occurs to me that I never mentioned this to you and that no one else would know one way or another, but the story behind your helm is that you earned a Death Helm and some other artefact (I think it was a Blade of Wound Stealing) from the drinking contest with the daemon in Middenheim. While blackout drunk, you took all of the money you looted from the sleeping patrons in the alehouse and offered it to the Chaos gods. At one point, they gave you a Glittering Shield. At another point, you succeeded in merging the Death Helm with the Glittering Shield, turning it into a single helm with the properties of both items. That's one of the things that can happen if you roll enough dice.
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
I had some car trouble and didn't get back to this. Was picking up my mom from the airport and my car battery gave out while I was in the middle of heavy traffic at the airport arrival lanes late at night, so that was fun. Anyway...
So far we've got as a marching order that Carrow will be on the back right with two other people to his left, Dorgath will be somewhere in the front with two other people, and Jekaena will be in the middle with one other person. Tomas and Revaethan don't have players right now to speak up for them, so just someone assign them wherever. Actually, someone just assign the others wherever too. If they want to change their position, we'll do that.
So far we've got as a marching order that Carrow will be on the back right with two other people to his left, Dorgath will be somewhere in the front with two other people, and Jekaena will be in the middle with one other person. Tomas and Revaethan don't have players right now to speak up for them, so just someone assign them wherever. Actually, someone just assign the others wherever too. If they want to change their position, we'll do that.
Oversoul
The Tentacled One
I think you're thinking of the wrong game?
How about
Throg Dorgath Ty
Tomas Jekanena
Revaethan? Kelgar* Carrow
I lost track of who's with us
That'll be fine...