ftp.ee.pdx.edu

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ ftp.ee.pdx.edu / 2014.02.ftp.ee.pdx.edu.tar / ftp.ee.pdx.edu / pub / frp / stories / adventurers / story040 < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-01-19 | 22KB | 518 lines

***** * The 8 player characters contained in these writings are copyright * 1992 by Thomas Miller...copying and distribution of these stories * is permissible only under the condition that no part of them will * be used or sold for profit. In that case, I hope you enjoy them. ***** -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PARTY: Alindyar, 7th level drow elf mage (N) Belphanior, 5th/5rd/6th level high elf fighter/mage/thief (CN) Ged, 6th/6th level grey elf priest/mage of Boccob (NG) Halbarad, 7th level human ranger (NG) Mongo Thunderhead, 7th level dwarf fighter (CG) Peldor, 8th level human thief (N) Peyote, 6th/7th level half-elf fighter/druid of Obad-Hai (N) Rob, 7th level human priest of Trithereon (LG) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 6/18/570 C.Y. (Common Year) Time: shortly after nightfall Place: an unmapped hill fort in the western edge of the Pomarj -------------------------------------------------------------------- XL. Breaking In The party was trying to get into a fortress carved from a rugged hill/mountain at night, when... Belphanior: Incoming! With that warning, the elf leaped to one side as a forked bolt of lightning rocketed toward the group... Mongo: Holy shit! _KRAK-OW!!!_ Alindyar: Eep. (not really in the forefront of the party, he is only slightly shocked, though knocked to the ground by the force of the blast) Belphanior: (manages to dodge the brunt of the blow due to his speed, but is still blasted) Yagh! You'll die for that! Mongo: (slow as always, he is caught full force by the bolt) ARGH! Peldor: (escapes serious harm) Whoa... Peyote: (caught by most of the blast) Electrifying! Rob: (escapes serious harm) Ow! meanwhile, in the midst of the stinking cloud... Halbarad: <cough> Ged: <retch> meanwhile, back outside the cloud... sorceror: (just in the gateway exposed by the lowered drawbridge) Ha ha! All of you shall die! (begins casting another spell); he is about a hundred feet from the main party, while Halbarad and Ged and their gas cloud are about thirty feet from him) Peldor: (goes invisible) I'll see if I can sneak up on that guy and put him out of our misery. (leaves) Peyote: Hey, good idea, man. (slips on his ring and also turns invisible, but stays nearby) The invisible part, I mean. Alindyar: (starts casting a spell) Belphanior: (starts casting a spell too) Better stay back for now. Another lightning bolt like that will get me for good. Rob: (casting a spiritual hammer) Maybe I can hit him. Peyote: That's one major evil dude, there. (draws his sword) sorceror: Too late, fools! (launches magic missiles at the party) Alindyar: Ugh. (hit by one missile, spell ruined) Damn him. Belphanior: Agh! (hit by another missile, spell ruined) Fuck! Rob: Ouch! (hit by a third missile, spel ruined) Darnit! Peyote: Smart evil dude, too. Mongo: Ignore ME, will you?!?! (throws his hammer at the mage, hitting him and knocking him over) Hah! Peyote: Hey, good shot. Mongo: Thanks. That'll teach him! Belphanior: (draws his sword) Cover me, I'm going in. (starts moving toward the gate) We'd better take that bridge before somebody pulls it back up. Mongo: (catches his returning hammer) Hey, be careful. sorceror: (gets up) You'll DIE for that, dwarf! (starts casting another spell) Alindyar: We really need to silence that man. Mongo: I agree. (throws his hammer again, hitting the man in the doorway and knocking him back down) Good enough? Peyote: He's not standing up again... Alindyar: Would you? Peyote: Good point. Rob: I think he's out for good over there... Mongo: Let's go find out. (catches his hammer as it comes back) They quickly advanced on the fortress entrance. As they passed the (slowly dissipating) stinking cloud, there was a cry from the sorceror's area. A number of ogres were in that vicinity, and the drawbridge was being raised. Belphanior: There's at least a dozen ogres there. I wonder where Peldor is? Alindyar: (to the ogres) Halt! Mongo: They're not listening, drow...(throws his hammer at one of the ogres, hitting it) Hah! ogre: Argh! Peyote: If they get that drawbridge up, we're through... Alindyar: 'Twill not happen...(casts a fireball at the gate) ogres: Huh? AAA! WHOOOOOSH!! The massive ball of flame exploded beyond the gate, torching all of the ogres and the mage's body as well. Rock and rubble flew everywhere...the force of the explosion blew away the gas cloud that was making Halbarad and Ged sick, and they stumbled around, gagging. Peyote: Hoo boy! You've done it now! Belphanior: I sure hope that Peldor hadn't gotten inside of there yet... Rob: But he was invisible! We'll never find the body! Mongo: Won't matter much, with the heat that the fireball made. No body left to find... Peldor: (materializes) I am here. Any fool could have seen what was going to happen to those ogres. Mongo: Yeah, you're right. Alindyar: (regarding the ruined entrance) Well, I suppose that is one mage whose spellbooks shall not be recovered... Ged: (coughing) Huk. What in Boccob's name is going ON here?!? Belphanior: Nothing much. We just torched the whole entryway. Halbarad: Wonderful. Ged: Well, I suppose we'd better make the most of it. Mongo: Right on! (charges for the smoking, jagged entrance) Peyote: At least this fortress won't be on fire. It's made of stone, unlike the last one we fireballed. Belphanior: Enough talk. Let's go! They made their way to the shattered doorway. Various bits and pieces of ogres were lying about. There was a blackened hallway beyond, and the entire back wall (with a throne/chair at the end on a raised platform) had been blown over, revealing a larger chamber behind. THE FIRST FEW ROOMS OF THE FORTRESS: BEFORE AFTER N ______ W+E ______ __| |__ S __| |__ __| |__ __| |__ __| |__ __| |__ __| |__ __| |__ | | | Radius of Soot | / / / | / |__ __| |__ v __| |__ __| |__ ...... __| |__ __| |__ ..: . :.. __| |__ __| |__ , <{" __| |______| |,;>"^~| <- Rubble | \/ | <---- Throne & Back Wall | , ^ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o o | | | |_oooo_| |_ _| |o.|o <-- Ogres | | oooo ^---- Drawbridge doorway -------------^ Such was the extent of the damage wrought by Alindyar's fireball spell. As there were doors to the left and right, the group chose to check these out first. They picked the left doorway, and went through it only to be met by a charging group of seven yelling and angry ogres. next time: Into the dungeons... ANONYMOUS FTP SITE: tybalt.caltech.edu (in pub/adnd/fluff/adventurers) *********************************************************************** NOTES: When something like a lightning bolt hits the party, you can watch their reactions to determine whether they made their saves or not. That's all I really use those reactionary statements for - to rationalize how an individual could escape certain death by a bolt of lightning... I didn't intend for the party to blow away the ogres and the whole two big rooms behind them, though. I have been having problems posting, since the :r FILENAME utility isn't working right. I got part 39 posted two days late by replying to my post saying I couldn't post the whole story; the reply allowed me to include the file and thus all was well. We'll see what happens today, with this posting. Sorry that this and the last posting have been so short. At least this one has something more...see below. *********************************************************************** Here are the results of the "Most Favorite/Least Favorite" poll that I conducted between episodes 38 and 40. This document will appear within part 40, but I am putting it on tybalt by itself as well. >- CHARACTER + VOTES - VOTES Alindyar 5.5 0.0 Belphanior 4.0 1.0 Ged 2.0 3.0 Halbarad 0.0 7.0 Mongo 6.5 1.0 Peldor 7.5 3.0 Peyote 1.5 5.0 Rob 2.0 8.0 Undecided 0.0 1.0 TOTALS 29.0 29.0 (a double check...) * Honorable Mention : Krug got one positive vote, but he's not a candidate anymore... >- At first I insisted on only whole number votes but eventually gave in to half-votes. There are two ways to rank the results; simply for the hell of it, I have done both below. These votes only reflect what I have received up to now, Sunday 5/17/92. >- METHOD#1 - SIMPLE MAJORITIES Best Character Worst Character -------------- --------------- #1 : Peldor #1 : Rob #2 : Mongo #2 : Halbarad #3 : Alindyar #3 : Peyote >- METHOD#2 - GOOD VOTES AS A % OF TOTAL VOTES RECEIVED Alindyar 5.5/5.5 = 100 % Mongo 6.5/7.5 = 87 Belphanior 4.0/5.0 = 80 Peldor 7.5/10.5 = 71 Ged 2.0/5.0 = 40 Peyote 1.5/6.5 = 23 Rob 2.0/10.0 = 20 Halbarad 0.0/7.0 = 0 >- DEFINITE RESULTS: * People had the most to say about Peldor * Peldor was the most popular character, followed by Mongo * Those who commented on Alindyar had only good things to say about him * Halbarad was by far and away the least popular character * Alindyar was the only one to get NO negative votes * Halbarad was the only one to get no positive votes * Using method #2 above, I think that Alindyar had the most favorable response, all things considered * WINNER: Peldor LOSER: Rob >- READERS' COMMENTS ABOUT THE INDIVIDUALS (basically verbatim): ALINDYAR: Plays neutral well; reserved yet decisive; interesting attitude toward the group and life; must be more to him than we have seen so far; laid-back; unknown details of his life must be interesting; says "'Tis" too much; intelligent; non-munchkin BELPHANIOR: Interesting; seemed to kill a lot for a neutral-aligned character; immoral; mean streak; corrupted; cynical; completely lacking in morals; in the middle of all action; mover & shaker in the group; quirky; nasty; more than a little loony; "he's the one who will get the whole party into some bad trouble someday"; versatile GED: Well-played multi-class character; gutsy; keeps trying to do the right thing; whiner, and suspicious; gets neat spells; nasty to others sometimes; unoffical leader of the group; the best balancing force of good in the group; all around useful HALBARAD: Too goody-goody; not enough profile or personality; silent and competent; enigmatic; gets overshadowed by Ged; not ranger-ish enough; too low-key; too vague; uninteresting; not fleshed out enough; good solid character considering what we've seen of him MONGO: Loves his hammer; good battle and dinner attitudes; dedicated to the group; dominant; good approach to dealing with enemies; well-defined; most type-cast; enthusiastic; tank; great to take to a party; inspires confidence; "He is to the party what Terry Pendleton is to the Braves" PELDOR: Good; hands-down sneakiest one; looks after himself; annoying; keeps the game lively though some may not like it; arrogant; boasting; personable; good eye; cocky; backstabbing; self- serving; contrasts the others; has a personality all his own; active; well-meaning but covers his own hide; unethical; interesting; "he is what he is, but he takes so much joy in it that you can't help but be swept along"; flamboyant; hilarious; undeserving of sympathy but a good role-player; cool; cocky; smart; well-defined; most classic thief ever; great guy! PEYOTE: Consistent; one-dimensional; slang is bad; anachronistic; uninteresting and undruidic; nice speech patterns; affable; exotic; likeable; "he irritates me"; just hacks away; cares but not too spectacular ROB: Has an interesting habit of blending into the nearest wall; pseudo-NPC/potted plant; has his moments; innocent; ignorant; dedicated to the group; not as incompetent as he acts; dumb; never does or says much; humorous, in an unwitting way; dorky; befuddled; clumsy; deserves and needs sympathy; least interesting; hard to tell apart from Ged (!?); unassertive; magical; inquiring; nice guy who is so naive that you have to like him; good for a joke; "likeable in a way that Dirty Harry, Arnold, etc could never hope to be" >- So, what DOES it all mean? I got a lot of good comments during this survey. A lot of readers actually like all of the characters. Several expressed interest in seeing all eight characters' histories, not just the winner and the loser. Okay, okay. You win :) I'll do them all. Yes, all eight adventurers will be profiled soon. I think I will devote an entire posting to the profiles, to get them all together in a single place at a single time. You must be warned, though; these will be in prose, not narrative format, but I never thought my prose was THAT bad... This survey taught me a lot about the way I have been portraying the characters. I thank you all. My comments on the actual, individual players appear now, below - I am making these to try and explain some of the character-to- player relationships. Perhaps the information below will help put things in perspective. >- A DM's COMMENTS ON THE PLAYERS: Alindyar: Okay, his player was an oddball. He often consumed an entire jug of wine during the course of a six-hour night of play. He really did play the character quietly - silent, effective, and with a love for illusionary magic. He also took pains not to do anything strongly evil or good, rather he was just a sideline observer who contributed his fair share to the party. This player was much older than any of the rest of us, and had a lot of good advice for us all. He graduated in late 1989 after being at Tech for over six years. He is currently working for an architecture firm in San Francisco, California. Belphanior: A good friend of mine, that player. He was fairly calm in real life - I think that he used the character to act out things he would never really do. Smart guy, too - he had two character sheets, one with all the thief stats deleted so that he could leave that sheet visible to throw suspicions of his true thiefly nature out the window. Like Alindyar, this player pretty much played his character the way I have shown in the postings. Good role-player. He graduated in 1991 with a CS degree, and works in Atlanta. Ged: A very good friend of mine, still in school here. He set out from the start to play Ged as an arrogant, suspicious, and quick-to-snap-at-others sort of character. I know for sure that he was (is) extremely pleased with the way he stuck to that idea. Ged intentionally became the party asshole - and loved every minute of it. Some readers have figured out that his attitude was meant to be that way, which is good. He was one of the better role-players in the group, too. He will graduate in 1993 with an EE degree, and perhaps go on to pursue graduate school, perhaps become a professional sand volleyball player. Halbarad: This fellow was strange. He was a die-hard gamer, no doubt about it. He gamed fully twice as much as he went to classes or studied. The guy just did not care about his schoolwork. Anyway, at first, he played Halbarad the ranger fairly well, assuming a leadership position of sorts. He seemed to be watching out for the party, to make sure that they didn't do Evil things. After a point, though, he never seemed to have much to say or do. Maybe he realized that he should have graduated by then, I'm not sure. I have to admit, I have actually made the character appear _better_ than he really was; yet, he still lost in votes. I try to base his behavior on those first few adventures, when he was the most interesting. He actually did graduate, in 1990, with pitiful grades in Physics. I have no idea what he is doing these days, except that he has no job and lives somewhere in Atlanta. Mongo: Another of my better friends. He was a little withdrawn but played Mongo the dwarf with great fiery flair. I think that he never missed a gaming session. I have represented the character almost exactly the way he played it, I think, and I am glad to see that I can portray one of the best ones so well. The player got married in 1991, and graduated in March 1992. He is working in the Atlanta area. Peldor: With Ged's player, this fellow was my best friend here. The three of us constantly go out to eat, to movies, sporting events, etc. together - even once to Florida for spring break. This player acts just like his character in real life, except that he's 90% honest and doesn't steal things. I have never seen him get angry. Ever. The job he did of role-playing Peldor the thief was the best I have ever seen (and there were other very good ones in this party). Everything you see in my postings is something that he really did or said in the games. I wish that you could all meet this person. He will graduate at the end of 1992 with an AE degree, and I wish him the best of luck after that. He will be the best man at my wedding, of that I am sure. Peyote: This person was older than all of us except Alindyar's player. He originally arrived at Tech in fall of 1983, the same time as Alindyar's player by the way. Within a year and a half, he had decided that it was not for him, and went into the Navy. He returned to Atlanta in 1988 to finish a degree in Sociology at Ga. State. The player was usually mellow, sometimes prone to fits of anger though. He was also quite a major gamer, like Halbarad's player. Often, though, he would complain to me that he wasn't getting enough chances in my campaign to do druidic things. He was right, too. The general uselessness of this character is not feigned in the least. He did have a lax attitude, though, and often drank large quantities of beer during a game. Peldor did this too, but the difference was that he got better as the beer cans piled up; Peyote got worse. I think that he based (bases) his life around the 1960's ideas and ideals rather than the modern ones. The player graduated from Ga. State in 1990 and now works in the Atlanta area. Together with Halbarad's player and Rob's player, he is trying to invent a good frp computer game. Rob: Ah, Rob. Let me start by saying that there was never a stranger person. The player was at LEAST as bad as his character. He actually did walk into walls. He would stay up all night playing computer games or rpgs and then go into a test the next day and ace it, without even studying. He had a strange, computer-like mind - he once wrote a version of Tetris, from scratch, overnight. He would take 23-hour quarters (that's about 9 classes, usually) and make all A's. The next quarter, he would do the same thing, but make all F's. The guy took a bath about once every three days. He owned an old Mustang that barely ran, and used to take it on long trips and have to stop on the interstate to fix some new problem. He could sprint sub-6 minute miles at times, yet never exercised. Truly one of a kind. The player missed a lot of games. This is why he seems to be so quiet - often I, or someone else, would have to play his character. The truly stupid things were always done by the player, though, like the acid-drinking and the attempt to plug the flamethrower. Many of the other players urged me to get rid of him, but I held out hope for the player and the character. He was the first to leave the party; you will have to wait a while for the details of that part, though. He also had a bad memory, always forgetting every single thing of importance. He often forgot to repay his loans for school - he owes various parties a total of over $30,000 still. Oh, by the way, no, he never read Navero. The player never did get his degree from Tech either. He had to take some test to let one of his AP credits count, and he forgot to go to the test, and didn't get his degree petition signed in time. He just went right to work. I doubt that he ever cleared this matter up, and since Ga. Tech kills off one's credits if one is in school for nine years, the guy has until 1998 or so to take that test. I bet he forgets and thus wastes all the money and time he spent here. Oh, yes - he's married and has a baby daughter. Funny how these things work out... >- I hope that you have enjoyed this lengthy addendum to the normal posting #40. The character histories will appear as soon as I have time to flesh them out from the notes and facts that we made during the campaign years.