#Hexplore Week 7: The Breaking Point

 It is hard to not feel like a failure at a time like this...

            With that less than mysterious title, its clear to see that the time has come to take a break. Anyone having followed the blog posts up to this point will know that this project's biggest flaw has always been the burden it has been on my personal time.

            I know, I know, the goal from here should have been to find ways to lessen this time-load, but unfortunately I don't think that's truly possible. To try and simplify the process would mean that I would have to cut off some major component of the process. Do I stop describing and recording the areas we enter and explore? Do I stop logging the party efforts? Do I stop doing a 1:1 time? No matter what I choose, I lose. 

What to do now?

            I plan on discontinuing this project, at least until further notice. It truly pains me to say this, considering how much I have done thus far. But, in the end, I want to dedicate time to the project that got me here in the first place: both of my podcasts, and my OSE game with my pals. Additionally, I need to focus on my personal life, taking time to just relax after work and not spend hours on this procedural project daily. 

The previous week...

            To end this post on a sweet note, I will admit that the last week has truly been a doozy for the party. They journeyed deeper into the Catacombs of Gunzur, looking for the leader of the Disciples of Silver. They not only found +3 platemail, but also found a white dragon and slew it. The party retrieved 100,000+ coins, and plenty of treasure beyond that. They were able to bring this all home with wagons of well paid bandits they'd befriended in Kanthton. They returned and found the ghoul-ified leader of the Disciples of Silver and gave to them a large sum of the coinage they'd retrieved as well as gift a large sum to the clan leader of Kanthton. 

Someday I hope to return to this project in some capacity, but its hard to say that I hadn't learned a lot about my prefered playstyle, and hard to say I didn't have some of the most memorable TTRPG experiences in this project. Thank you to everyone who kept up with this project, and good luck to everyone else who is still working on this project.  

#Hexplore24 Week 6: An Alliance is Formed

 Timing...

            Unfortunately, I had another tough week with planning and being sick, so I had to cram a lot of my hexploring into one or two days. Luckily for me, I didn't have too many large locations to crack out, so it was not too bad all in all.

An Alliance...

            The time has finally come that the parties would connect, and agree to a mutual goal of accomplishing good within the world. I had the gray party seek them out in the dwarvish castle of Lightway, as they were known to be friends of the dwarves and likely stop by their sometime soon. Upon meeting, I ruled that the portent of BEFRIEND HOPE would apply to a situation like this. 

            This is a huge update since now the party were a group of 12, along with mounts and tamed creatures. That's one big group, but not unheard of. I certainly plan on having this large group tackle some larger goals, such as some deeper dungeon crawls, evil castles, or encampments of would-be invaders.

Some Highlights...

1.   The parties aligning definitely feels like a major improvement for the play to follow. 
2.   The orange party discovered a couple demihuman settlements, Grinhold of the gnomes and Bayley of the Halflings, which certainly adds to the interesting flavor of the region overall.
3.   The gray party had a run in with lizardmen near the village of Hazelhedge, which may be the push for the lizardmen of Castle Chepstow to try and attack the village. 
4.   The orange party encountered the clan focused village of Val-Carm, which was home to a group of experienced bards known as the Singer's Circle. These bards are mysterious, though they'd recently begun to ask for help as their members were suffering from some sort of illness. This is certainly an interesting organic quest, and I hope the party check it out someday, as long as it isn't too late. 

Day 6 of The Candle (37/366)

 

Notes: The weather is very cold (20’F) with overcast skies.

The gray party manage to gather food for 3 people as they travel along the western way, heading south to Hazelhedge. The party manage through the hills and mountains without being harmed or lost.

The orange party continue to explore the road in the east, ending their travel in the village of Val-Carm, where they discover the Singer’s Circle, hearing of the strange sickness plaguing their leaders. The party stay within the mead hall of Val-Carm for 5 gp total.

Day 7 of The Candle (38/366)

Notes: The weather is cold (32’F) and windy.

The gray party plan to head to Hazelhedge, though they run into a band of lizardmen near castle Chepstow. The party manage to kill them off after Offlan entangles them in the forest and they slay the rest. The party then return to Hazelhedge and reserve a room at the Bronzebell Inn for 50sp, gathering 1850xp.

The orange party begin their trek to the east following the road from Val-Carm. The party discover food for the party along the way. The party encounter a pair of wandering dervishes along the road, who immediately notice Merand being religious. The party easily kill them and continue on their way.

Day 8 of The Candle (39/366)

 Notes: The weather is extra cold (21’F) and windy.

The gray party remain within the Bronzebell tavern, 50sp, and purchase ammunition and rations. They also hire on a new character, Teili the Elf, gifting him much of the equipment that Klodis once wore.

The orange party are not able to forage for any food as they journey east. The party run into a group of hill giants, spotting them from afar and take no chances as they flee without issue on horseback. They continue along their way north, discovering the gnomish village of Grinhold.

Day 9 of The Candle (40/366)

 Notes: The weather is cold (31’F).

The gray party head out to the east, headed to meet with another group of adventurers they’d heard of who often stay within the dwarvish walls of Castle Lightway. They stop along the way at the village of Odjoust and take a rest at the Broken Tower (50sp), and stocking up on rations (20gp).

The orange party run into no encounters along the road near Grinhold, instead finding rations for 4 people. Along the road they discover a series of abandoned burrows. They continued along their road until they encountered the Tower of Omorn, where they met with the wizard himself. They were welcomed into the tower, and the wizard Omorn granted them a place to stay for the night.

Day 10 of The Candle (41/366)

Notes: The weather is a very cold (17’F) and there is a terrible blizzard.

The gray party remain within the village of Odjoust, paying 50sp.

The orange party also remain within the Tower of Omorn, befriending the wizard. 

Day 11 of The Candle (42/366)

Notes: The weather is cold (33’F) and rainy.

The gray party take their leave of Odjoust and continue onward to Castle Lightway. The party get lost when departing the road and heading east, luckily avoiding conflict with the gargoyles of Bluemoss Manor. The party manage to find their way to Castle Lightway, and request information on the Orange Party. Luckily for the gray party, Castellan Keensong is impressed by their presence and trusts them immediately, offering them place to stay in the tavern while they all eagerly await the return of the Orange party to the castle (50sp).

The orange party take their leave from the Tower of Omorn. The party get lost when trying to travel south to Castle Lightway, discovering the halfling hamlet of Bayley. The halflings were welcoming to the party though they did not stay long. They travel further south along the rivers to Castle Lightway, finally reaching their destination.

Day 12 of The Candle (43/366)

Notes: The weather is cold (27’F) with overcast skies.

The orange and gray party finally meet within the walls of Castle Lightway. The gray party introduce themselves as allies of the empire, which does not impress the orange party, being unaligned themselves. The gray party explain that they too have explored much of the region, and have done their best to defeat the various evils of the land, having encountered many camps of monsters and castles filled with invaders and wannabe conquerors. Recognizing that they share mutual goals and have discovered much treasure in the land, the two agree that traveling as one host would make for the most effective efforts within the wilderness. The party stay within the castle for (10gp)

#Hexplore Week 5 - Resting, Snow Storms, and a Pair of Pissed Wyverns

 A Birthday...

            My birthday was over this past weekend, and I naturally had a bit of a full plate during the week leading up to that point. The main reason I bring this up is that this jumble of plans and obligations is a great example of the sorts of things that might hinder progress on this project. That's not to say that the project is more important than celebrating a birthday or more important than going to work or anything silly like that, but I mean more so that these are the sorts of things that would slow down the progress on this project. Due to this shift in speed, I had to get resourceful and creative with how I completed the daily entries.

Rest...

            The parties did quite a lot of traveling in the last week, all things considered, but in the end both parties had great opportunities to kick back and spend time in the tavern. Sure, one may say I took advantage of this loophole to play, but this feels truly West Marches to rest in a safe spot and spend that hard earned loot. Not to mention, the parties were both wounded or without spells on a few days of this week and enjoyed the healing that came along with it. To put it simply, this may be my default mode of phoning in a session or daily entry. 

Snowstorms...

            Interestingly enough, the snow storms I encountered during this week of play did quite a number on the parties with their ability to travel and get around. As per my rest section, the orange party was able to take advantage of being within the Cherry Blossom Inn and Tavern in Kanthton and get some rest by the fireside, and dodge all the trials of snowy travel. The gray party was not so lucky: during one day of travel the party did not successfully navigate their intended path one single time, instead cruising in circles and running into some trouble along the way. 

Wyverns...

            In a sense, I was happy to see a bigger threat come across the gray party's path. They were decently levelled, well enough equipped, and I assumed they would be able to handle a bit of a challenge. Wyverns are not to be trifled with, especially in old school games. This isn't some "you take poison damage and its a big owie", this is save or die mfer. Well, needless to say, Klodis the cleric did not save, and sure did die. The party otherwise remained unscathed and thanks to some choice bow shots and two handed sword slashes, the party killed one wyvern and sent the other fleeing away, blinded by a light spell. I was definitely not happy to have had my highest level cleric die this way, but he will not be forgotten. 

Highlight Reel...

• The wyvern fight felt like my first big battle of the campaign and it was a nailbiter to say the least.
• The gray party stumbled upon an ancient temple to an enigmatic god of war, one with an unknown appearance. Its temple bears scrolls of his space god heroism, with stories of battle and conquest within. Those who worship are traveling barbarians and wildmen who seek blessings of bravery and wisdom from this odd god. Felt very pulp to me
• The orange party tamed a dire wolf with a 12 on a reaction check and a casting of animal friendship.
• The orange party managed to yet again discover a hidden trail in the east which allowed them to uncover the village of Kanthton (16,47), which is run by a network of thieves and fences and their leader who operates mysteriously within a catacomb nearby. The orange party discover this catacomb purely by chance and somehow persuade the thieves within to not only allow them to enter and explore, but also be tasked with finding out what had happened to their leader deep down in the dungeon. 
• The orange party found a suit of +3 platemail as a random draw in a treasure pile, and this feels like some loot I will be carrying around until the end of #Hexplore24
• The gray party druid managed to save the party from an unknown and certain doom when they ran into a band of jackalwere and their jackals. If the druid's entangle failed to grasp the jackalwere they would have certainly been torn to shreds, unable to harm them without magic weapons. 
• The orange party's bard managed to solve a sphinx's riddle as they wished to cross a bridge outside of Kanthton using her lore abilities. 

DAY: 30/366 of The Raven (I)

The weather is cold (29’F) and foggy.

The gray party forage for food and find a days worth of food and water. The party are ambushed in the forest by a gang of 7 trolls. They barely escape alive, taking heavy wounds. Klodis heals Bert and Offlan with a cure spell. The party are able to pay a toll to enter Castle Tickhill, 30gp, and pay for food and shelter among the barracks, 10gp.

The orange party leave Odjoust and head east to Castle Vere, discovering a small cottage within a crater to the east of Castle Vere, inhabited by Dire Wolves. The party have good interactions with the wolves, and Butten manages to befriend one of the wolves using bardic magic.

DAY: 31/366 of The Raven (I)

The weather is cold (26’F) with overcast skies.

The gray party leave Castle Tickhill, heading to Idarsby without issue. The party stay at Harrigg’s Tavern, recovering from their run in with the trolls (50sp). The party recovered 630xp total.

The orange party travel a road they found in the mountains, traveling far among the plains, until finding the village of Kanthton, which they take refuge in at the Cherry Blossom Tavern (50sp).

DAY: 32/366, 1 of The Candle (II)

The weather is cold (25’F) with overcast skies.

The gray party decided to stay at Harrigg’s Tavern in Idarsby for another night, spending 50sp to do so.

The orange party discover the Catacombs of Gunzur and venture in. The party encounter a group of brigands guarding the entrance, and fight them. They flee and run into a net, the party then interrogate them as to what else is here, but the brigand who has survived refuses to answer. The party execute them and carry on. They survive an acid trap, unlock a few doors, and pluck some valuable rubies from a statue. The party run into a larger group of brigands and NPCs who luckily befriend the party, asking them to investigate their leader, Tanlel, who has been unresponsive deeper within the dungeon. The party go downstairs and find a great pile of treasure locked away behind a portcullis, with a spray to attract more random encounters. They recover lots of coins, gems, and even a suit of +3 plate mail. They are attacked by a pair of lone Necrophidius, which both surprise them and hypnotize party members. The party return to Kanthton with 5160 total xp.

Merand reaches level 2, +1 HP, +1 str, gains 1 level spell.

Grayfern reaches level 4, +8 HP, +1 int.

DAY: 33/366, 2 of The Candle (II)

The weather is cold (26’F) and windy.

The gray party decided to stay at Harrigg’s Tavern in Idarsby for another night, spending 50sp to do so.

The orange party remain within Kanthton at the Cherry Blossom for 50sp, buying a chest for 10 gp and keeping it stowed away within their chambers.

DAY: 34/366, 3 of The Candle (II)

The weather is cold (20’F) and windy.

The gray journey out, northwest, finding food for 4 people. They encounter the lakeside temple of Eusha, but luckily find no trouble while they round the lake. 

The orange party travel along the roadway, running into a sphinx at the catacombs. Butten is able to befriend the beast, then using her lore ability, she is able to solve its riddle with ease, thus earning its respect. The party continue along their path until they reach a mountainous dungeon, the Dungeon of Firewatch. The party then return home to Kanthton and rent their rooms for 50sp.

DAY: 35/366, 4 of The Candle (II)

The weather is cold (25’F) and snowy.

The gray party continue their journey. They get terribly lost within the snowstorm and find little of value among the snow and plains.

The orange party remain within the Cherry Blossom, paying 50sp to stay where they are.

DAY: 36/366, 5 of The Candle (II)

The weather is warmer than normal (36’F) and windy.

The gray party encounter a pair of roving wyverns. The party managed to kill one of the two, blinding the other, and it fled after poisoning and killing Klodis. They continue their journey south, traveling the hills to Odjoust.

The orange party decide to stay within the Cherry Blossom one additional day, 50sp.