Rise of the Runelords – At the Half-Way Point

With the completion of our last Pathfinder session we have now closed out Chapter Three of Pathfinder’s Rise of the Runelords adventure path. There are a total of six chapters, with each chapter having 5-8 modules, so we are essentially at the halfway point. The reviews are in and everybody is really enjoying it. The adventure is extremely well-written, gives the DM the flexibility to mix and match and to make adjustments along the way, and best of all it really keeps the players guessing as to what is coming next. Not all encounters require fighting, and not all fighting requires killing, all in all a good mix that challenges all involved.

Upon Meeting a Giant (10/04/2013)

After having braved the mysteries of the mysterious Whitewillow in the midst of the Shimmerglens the heroes learned that their search for Lamatar Bayden would have to be continued on the top of Hook Mountain. Myriana, the cruelly savaged and beautiful nymph ghost, had begged the party to continue their search for her true love, and with Jakardros and Shalelu back with the party the heroes had ventured up into the steep mountains. There they had found the ancestral home of the Kreeg clan - a truly huge cave guarded by two large Kreeg ogres. The party had quickly bested the two ogre guards in a brief but brutal battle, and had just ventured further into the cave.

Into the Gloaming (09/13/2013)

During our last game session the heroes had discovered the secrets of Skull’s Crossing, the ancient dam that dated back to the Thassilonian Empire and to Runelord Karzoug himself. With the flooding problem at least temporarily abated, the party had reported back to Mayor Maelin Shreed in Turtleback Ferry with their findings, collected their 4000 GP reward, and from that vantage point struck off to the south and west to an area known as Whitewillow. The plan was to follow-up on the party’s promise to Jakardros Sovark and the remaining Black Arrows that they would look for their missing commander, Lamatar Bayden.

Skull’s Crossing (08/30/2013)

After having cleaned the remainder of the ogres out of Fort Rannick Jakardros Sovark and the remaining Black Arrows, including Shalelu Andosana, had decided to rebuild the Black Arrows and Fort Rannick. They would do the best they could to hold the fort until spring, when which hopefully supplies and workers could be provided to help rebuild the fort. Jakardros asked the party to deliver the news back to Turtleback Ferry first though – perhaps Mayor Maelin Shreed could arrange for some volunteers to help re-staff the Black Arrows in the short term, and the mayor could also contact Magnimar to get the assistance the Black Arrows would require to rebuild the fort.

Saturday Game Day (08/24/2013)

I spent Saturday afternoon running Pathfinder demo's at Draxtar Games in Batavia IL. The store opened a few months ago and they have been busy running a lot of Magic: The Gathering and other games, but are looking to expand their offerings, especially in the area of RPG's. I volunteered to run some Pathfinder and things went really well. I was able run to three sessions over the course of the afternoon and everyone appeared to have a good time. The store was pretty filled all day with other game demo's being provided as well, a good day all around.

Fort Rannick, Part Two (07/26/2013)

The party had made a huge dent in the ogre forces last time. They had snuck into the fort through the secret passage behind the waterfall, taken out the ogres on the wall and in the courtyard, and in a bit of serendipity found a group of ogres residing in the barracks that the party was able to burn to the ground and eliminate all who resided inside. But no Black Arrows had been found alive yet, plus there were likely plenty of ogres remaining, including Jaagrath Kreeg and his two sons (Silas and Hookmaw) inside the keep at Fort Rannick, plus who knew what other horrors were yet to be found.

New Game Store in Batavia IL - Draxtar Games

I didn't see it initially, but since I drove past the shop twice a day everyday it was only a matter of time before it actually caught my eye. The electric sign that proclaimed "Games" was the giveaway, so on the way home from work today I stopped in to visit Draxtar Games. As is obvious from the picture at their Facebook page they have a good size space and they seem to keep it filled on game nights. They are running game tables for all types of games, including DnD Encounters on Wednesday nights. They maintain a good size set of gaming material as well, including Pathfinder, DnD, and other books, games, and miniatures.

They aren't running any Pathfinder games at the moment, but they are scheduling a Games Day for a Saturday in late August and want to run some "Introduction to Pathfinder" sessions. I could do that ... checking my schedule ... honestly if I was to do this we could just use the adventure that came with the Pathfinder Beginner Box. That is what our Friday night crew used to learn the basics of Pathfinder, so we'll see if this can be lined up.

Some Notes on Pathfinder Prestige Classes

Our Friday Night Pathfinder gaming group started playing the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path this past fall and things are going great. Everyone is having a good time, and while I am not the greatest DM in the world, the ROTRL modules are very well written, with plenty of options, and the players never know what is going to happen next. All in all, a big thumbs up.

Fort Rannick, Part One (06/28/2013)

After a long layoff the Friday Night crew was able to meet for a second consecutive week. It’s not like we are on an actual schedule, but we hadn’t gotten together for almost a month and half until Friday a week ago and everyone was eager to see what was going to happen next. That, plus the upcoming weekend is the one right after the Fourth of July holiday, so things weren’t looking good for getting together then.

Meet The Graul's (06/21/2013)

Our humble Friday Night game group hadn’t met since mid-May due to a series of schedule conflicts, some planned and some unplanned, but all were back together tonight and were ready for some fun. To help keep things fresh in the interim the DM had sent a page’s worth of teaser notes and these have been incorporated into the post below.