This past weekend we got together for the second game in our Frostgrave campaign. Four wizards managed to show up. Additional write-ups can be found here
Tower of the Archmage and here
One More Gaming Project
The druid Knabe climbed up on the remains of a nearby building to survey the ruins. Off to his right, he could make out the shadowy figures of Kodak's warband (an Illusionist) moving near the dock area. To his front, he could see what appeared to be the warband of a Necromancer making their preparations. After a few seconds, he felt a tingling sensation that told him a chronomancer (probably The Doctor) had to be nearby even though he couldn't actually spot him in the ruins.
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| The warbands in their starting locations |
His warband was prepped and ready to root out the treasures and secrets of the frozen city. Before entering the ruins, Knabe had successfully cast Animal Companion and attracted the services of a Snow Leopard. He also successfully brewed up a potion of Teleportation which went to the treasure hunter Gruber. Knabe then promptly failed his Raise Zombie attempt. Vogel failed both his spell attempts - that boy still has a lot to learn.
Since his last foray, Knabe had established a base of operations in the old inn called the Hungry Shark. This allowed him to increase the size of his warband by hiring the services of a ranger named Kiefer.
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| Knabe's warband as it enters the frosty ruins |
Knabe spots an item of treasure and immediately casts Telekinesis moving it closer to his warband. Fritz puts a crossbow bolt into one of the Necro's thieves but the thief is still able to pick up a treasure item and move out of line of sight. Kiefer spots one of Kodak's thug trying to reach another treasure and skewers him with an arrow. Bogen follows up with a bolt that takes him out of action. Bogen then kept overwatch on that treasure chest preventing Kodak's band from taking it.
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| Bogen eyeballs his kill |
Vogel gets into telekinesis battle with the Necromancer and they move a treasure chest back and forward several times -- until a cowardly crossbowman puts a bolt into him and takes him down near death. Vogel then ducks to safety behind a bridge.
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| A telekinesis battle takes place |
Fritz avenged Vogel by taking out the offending crossbowman with a single, well placed bolt.
The snow leopard (Note: freshly painted for this game) races into combat with the necro warhound. It was a short fight that saw the snow leopard gasping out its last moments in the snow.
Fear the Bear!! Bobo lumbered out from behind cover and engaged the necro's zombie. It was quick - he threw the zombie's legs one way, and its head another.
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| Bear carnage in front of the ice rat |
The necro knight charged the bear while the warhound charged Knabe's treasure hunter, Faenger. Faenger parried the warhound's attack and then followed through with a fatal blow putting the warhound out of the fight. Bobo managed to get the upper hand over the knight and inflicted several wounds. In a later round of combat, Bobo easily defeated the knight just before a minor demon appeared and attacked him. Bobo fights off the demon and forces the foul creature backward. The demon is later killed by the necro's warband.
Meanwhile, in another part of the ruins, Diebin (a thief) and Gruber spot a thief running away with a bag of loot. Diebin engages him first and inflicts a couple wounds. Gruber moves in and with Diebin's support, manages to take him out and recover the treasure.
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| Vogel thought he was hiding..... |
Crouching behind the bridge, safe from the necro's crossbowmen, Vogel is attacked from behind by an ice spider who crawled under the bridge. Like I said earlier, the boy has a lot to learn, as the spider easily bests him in combat. The venom knocked him out but he survives; although the venomous bite forces the amputation of several fingers from his left hand.
Fritz puts a bolt into the spider pinning him to the ground. Gauner, a halfing thief, races out of cover to grab a treasure chest. He later heads for safety, his movement covered by Fritz. Faenger managed to grab the loot dropped by Vogel.
Knabe hears two zombies scrabbling up the side of the ruined building he was using for cover. He attempts to cast fog to confuse them but fails, forcing him to climb down and out of their reach.
The necro and his apprentice are last seen scampering away as fast as they can move.
Bogen fires a parting shot at Kodak's warband but is unsuccessful. Although he does witness one of Kodak's hirelings being killed by the chronomancer's warband - dropping a bag of loot. Sadly, it too far away to try and recover (and went unclaimed).
As the weather starts to run bad, Knabe and his merry band pick up Vogel and head for the safety and comfort of the inn. Another good foray into the frozen ruins is over.....for now.
In the end, three treasure tokens were left on the table. In the multi-player games, our group has decided that any treasure tokens not phyically picked up at game's end are lost.
Aftermath:
Knabe and Vogel only managed to successfully cast 5 spells (50 xp) out of 10 attempts, even with most of them only needing an 8 or 10. He completely forgot to use his Fate Stone or his Orb of Power. The warband recovered three treasure items (150 xp). This gave Knabe enough points to advance two levels
The loot haul consisted of 190 gold, two scrolls (Planar Tear and Circle of Protection), one grimoire containing Enchant Armor, and a nicely crafted pair of Boots of Speed.
Vogel recovered enough to make the next trip out, but without the affore mentioned lost fingers. The snow leopard didn't make it but Knabe can attempt to summon another one for the next adventure.
This is the second trip into the ruins where Vogel has been incapacitated. Knabe put a lot of training into physical fitness and managed to increase his health by one point (which means Vogel also gained an increase - hopefully it will help).
Additional study was put into improving the casting ability of the spell Telekinesis, reducing it from a 10 to a 9. This has been a very useful spell for accessing treasure, as well as denying it to rival warbands.
Knabe decided to keep the Circle of Protection scroll after seeing two demons show up in the ruins. The Planar Tear scroll was sold for 100 gold.
With such an outstanding performance, Knabe decided to promote Fritz from Crossbowman to Marksman (release crossbowman, hire marksman (-100 gold), keep the same name).
While he was studying and training, Knabe sent a few members out to scrounge up a Cauldron to assist with brewing potions (-250 gold). Not sure it was the best purchase to make, only time will reveal its usefulness. With only 160 gold remaining, the warband will need to make another trip into the ruins soon.
More pictures next time....
