Champions of Krynn - The Next Groggy Adventure Thing

[Sir Slash]

I cast the Curse of the Too Tight Tie on that Q Smith guy. Followed by lifting my leg on his slacks.

[BanzaiCat]

2. Solace See What's Going On, Here


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The Inn of the Last Home was built high up in the arms of a mighty vallenwood tree, as were all other buildings in Solace. The citizens of the town had decided to take to the trees during the chaos and terror of the Cataclysm.



Thusly, it became known as "the tree town," but despite this simplistic label, it was one of the few truly breathtaking things of beauty left in the ruins of the War's aftermath.

(From DragonLance Lexicon: )
When Solace was first founded following the Cataclysm, it was only a few short years before a powerful man known as Krale the Strong, decided to build an inn. In these early times of the Age of Despair, desperate marauders would come through the village, prompting the residents of Solace to build their homes in the trees. Krale built the base of the inn from one giant stone, which he raised into a great vallenwood tree through a winch system. Thus suspended and secured forty feet above the ground, he built the rest of the inn into the tree and around his base with the staircase running around the tree. As one would enter the inn they would see a large bean-shaped common room with the only stonework being the fireplace. The floor and ceiling was supported by the vallenwood's smaller limbs. There was only one other exit to the building, and it was a hole in the kitchen that a rope dangled from.



(...uhh..."brave" band? "GRIM" journey? (Gulp)..."last vestiges of...of...evil?")

Yes. What did you think we were coming here for? To admire the architecture?

Well, no, I...uh...I just thought the expedition would be more in an academic vein.

Guess what, mage? You got the bonus package.



Finally. My tongue tastes like the insides of a Baaz whore's backside.

Such colorful euphamisms to express a craving for ale, good sir!

My tongue feels like that, but your face looks like that. Was your mother scared by a wardog or something?

My mother said...said I was beautiful! (*sniff*)



'THROTTLE,' EH? SOUNDS EXTREEEEEEEME!!

It's 'Throtl.'

HUH? WHY?

'S named by a buncha Hobbos, innit?

HOBBOS? WHAT'S THAT? CAN YOU SHOOT IT? CAN YOU LOOT IT?

Oooohhhhh yeah, mate. Oh, yeah.

SWEEEEEET





Duuude. I thought we were...like, traveling with him?

Best not to ask too many questions at this time.



Journal Entry 51:

'The worst monsters our scouts have reported anywhere in the area are hobgoblins. Draconians and evil dragons have long since abandoned this area to our forces. Still, be a little wary on your way to Throtl. Also, be sure to report back here immediately, if anything unusual or dangerous occurs. This outpost depends on information brought back by patrols such as yours. Good luck and may Paladine watch over you."

He's suddenly not a jerk anymore?!?

Plot exposition, mate. Stick with us, 'ere.





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After making changes to the party's order, we visited the Armory where I found we had the princely sum of 58 steel pieces. I think this amount is randomized; I had started the game earlier with the other versions of mirth and Sir Slash, and it had given us 68 steel pieces.



Luckily, the Knight starts with Plate Mail, a Shield, and a Long Sword. Our main tank is well-equipped right from the get-go.



The so-called Armory, though, has precisely squat to choose from. I have to settle on Ring Mail and Long Swords for mirth and MetalDog, Ring Mail and a Mace for Sir Slash, Leather Armor and a Hoopak for our resident Kender, and about 60 Darts for our Mage before I run out of money.

I don't think I've ever run out of money trying to equip a party at the beginning of a game, before. This certainly will be interesting.

Next is the business of memorizing spells. Both our mage spellcasters are well-endowed with Intelligence, so I equip both with two Sleep and two Magic Missile spells.



As for Sir Slash, his goddess gives him three bonus 1st-level spells, as you can see here:



Once we've slept and memorized everything, I go and visit the Commandant, Sir Karl, again...just to be sure we're not missing anything.



Before we leave, I decide to hit up the Bar.

HELLS YEAH!!

(sigh)





Tavern Tale 40:
"Don't drink the beer. The bartender washes his feet in it."

:o

Well, that's a great way to get this scouting mission off to the races.

[Sir Slash]

Lets see. An Inn with a fireplace built inside a tree. What could go wrong there huh? Any one want to bet there's trouble in Throtl?

[airboy]

What is a "Hoopak?"  Is it a razor edged hula-hoop?

[BanzaiCat]

3. Throtl, Schmotl


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Once we are stocked, spelled, and more or less ready to head out...

S-s-s-s-speak for y-yourself-f...

...where MOST of us are ready to head out, we leave the outpost on our way to Throtl.



The journey is short, which is good, as there's less chance of random encounters. However, we cannot see the Hobgoblin city of Throtl thanks to it being surrounded by a series of low rises.



And before we even get near the city itself, we come upon an act of genocide.

Pretty much a magnet for Good-aligned characters.

Duuude...why the hate, man?

SSSSSTAND BACK, MORTALLSSS

"Mortal?" Duude, you're a mortal, you know?

YOUR KIND TURNED MY BROTHER INTO BOOTSSSSS

YOUR SKIN IS GOLD. I AM A RANGER. I HAVE +4 TO BOOTSMITHING.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOO?

I'M ALLLLL OUT OF DRACO LEATHER!

Yeah, there's no getting out of this one.



This battle begins with us about 20 or so spaces away from the Draconians. I'm not going to charge them, not with 1st-level characters! That's a Kobold move if there ever was one.



There's only four Baaz. But, Baaz are a major pain in the hiney.

From the Adventurer's Journal:

BAAZ: Made from brass dragon eggs, they are the most common of the draconians. When killed, Baaz will turn to stone and then crumble into a pile of rubble. The weapon used to slay a Baaz will sometimes be trapped in its crumbling stone corpse and pulled from a character's hand. If a weapon is lost it is automatically retrieved after the combat is completed unless the party fled.

That little ability to turn to stone upon death and wrench away one's weapon can really mess up a starting party. I remember having problems with these little bastards when I played this so many years ago.

I just order everyone to spread out and set them to 'Guard' so they'll get a free attack when the Baaz enter an adjacent space.



It doesn't take them long to cover the space between us. Despite our party's self-confidence, the Baaz here are a tough first encounter.

(Note to self, and the readers: it's damn hard to get a screenshot at just the right moment in combat, apparently. It was a lot easier in Pool of Radiance. I'm going to have to look at the game's Speed settings and the screen capture software's settings, too - it's not very quick on the draw.)



As usual, my non-melee-expert party members harvest a terrible toll among the enemy, while my actual fighters miss a lot.

I'm pretty certain a few of the Baaz 'stole' our weapons after we killed them, though I had honestly forgotten about this little ability of theirs until after the fact, so I wasn't looking for it.



That experience, though.



We're...rich.

This 'ere gobshite ain't gonna cut it, guv'nah...

TITHE TITHE TITHE TITHE

They beat the crap out of some of us. Sir Slash got the brunt of it.



Ah, victory.

Sweet victory!

Our party's first win. Though we are a bit banged up, we live and have a few more coins than when we left the outpost. Any win you can walk away from, with a slightly heavier purse, is a good win.

We stand there, smiling in great satisfaction, expecting a parade and cheering from the adoring survivors of the slaughter...



...Well, the wails and lamentations of those we rescued are...good enough, I guess?

We look around, poking at the stone dead Baaz, trying to comfort the survivors, when suddenly one of the Dracos jumps up suddenly. It looks like an Aurak, which can use magic and is a LOT more dangerous than a Baaz.

Wait...what? You slaughtered my brother Baaz? We were merely spreading the Good Word!

You...you were SLAUGHTERING innocent people, you freak of nature!

ALL are accepted in Garyx's loving embrace! Have YOU accepted Garyx as your personal hit dice savior?

Before we can do anything about this guy...



Great. One win, one tie, I guess?

Still standing there disbelieving we were just accosted and laughed at by some cut-rate dragon, the survivors approach us.



"Do you help?"

I mean, is there a clearer dick move path than to reply, NO?

Of course we help. Most of us are Chaotic Good, so it's the right thing to do.



You're welcome. It's not like we had to trudge across the Plane of Fire. It was about three steps from the outpost.

Besides, we needed to heal up and re-memorize spells. MetalDog and BBMike each cast several Magic Missiles in that battle, and if we're going back to Throtl, I'd prefer everyone to be at full strength first.



So the Knight will always give away 10% of his money to the church whenever he enters a civilized area. I think it's *his* money and not the *party's*, but I could be mistaken.



We rest up, heal, and re-memorize spells.

We're going to go report to Sir Karl before we head back out; I assume news of the massacre has reached him already but it makes sense that we stop by to see if anything triggers, of course.

[BanzaiCat]

What is a "Hoopak?"  Is it a razor edged hula-hoop?

Hoopaks are combo melee/ranged weapons that are unique and only usable by Kender. They're not very powerful but they're versatile. I think they become more useful as the Kender wielding it levels up.

[JasonPratt]

Lets see. An Inn with a fireplace built inside a tree. What could go wrong there huh?

Technically the fireplace (and the chimney) was stone, as was the floor, but yeah, always seemed a bit daring to me.

As it happens, the Inn was whomped out of the tree at some point in... book 1? Can't recall exactly. So it isn't in the tree anymore. The game art correctly shows it on the ground. I didn't read much past the main six books (although there are a number of series and short stories and novels set after the main two trilogies), but I don't recall it being put back in a tree soon after the end of the main story. (It couldn't be put back in THAT tree anyway: the game-art also correctly shows the tree thrown down behind the Inn.)

[JasonPratt]

What is a "Hoopak?"  Is it a razor edged hula-hoop?

Hoopaks are combo melee/ranged weapons that are unique and only usable by Kender. They're not very powerful but they're versatile. I think they become more useful as the Kender wielding it levels up.

I recall them being a little more powerful than the sling often used by mages in AD&D, but of course the nice thing is that you don't have to take time to switch them out with a melee weapon: they act like a quarterstaff immediately.

Come to think of it, a hoopak would go great with a kender mage. Can't recall if kender can be mages, though.

[Sir Slash]

Great start BC. That's a smack in the Dark Queen's face. No... not Hillary. The OTHER Dark Queen.

[mirth]

I'm gonna look good in my new Draco skin boots.

[BanzaiCat]

4. Dungeons and Draconians


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Okay, okay, I get it. Sir Karl and the Commandant are NOT the same person. Though, it sure as hell seemed like that to me, the way the narrative started off.

It's just as well, as will be made more clear here momentarily (especially if I confused anyone).

We leave the Inn for the Commandant's office, just to check in before heading back to Throtl. As mentioned, it's important to ensure that we're visiting him, not just for role-playing reasons but also for triggering any additional events.



Sir Karl just killed a shape-shifting Draconian.

Wonderful. So apparently, they can do that.

I was afraid of this.

Oh, really?!? Really. Were you, Sir Karl? Were you planning on telling US anytime soon?

Uncool, bro.

I was merely suspicious, Sir Banzai-Cat. I did not have enough evidence to go on. Until a few moments ago.

WHAT GAVE IT AWAY, SLICK?!?

The Commandant seemed perplexed about something. I pressed. He evaded. So, I resorted to the ultimate commensuration weapon that we Knights have available to us.

(Gasp) Whoa. Now, wait a minute...not that!

That's right. First, I said, "I do not wish to dragon this on and take up too much of your time, Commandant..."

Heh.

He got a strange look in his eye, so I continued with, "What has clawed its way into your breast to perplex you, sir?" With his silence, which I interpreted as tacit approval, I continued...

Hrrm.

I said, "Allow me to tell you a tail of fangtastic proportions. Perhaps it will tip the scales of your perplexion in your favor..."

Heh. Nice.

Y-you're a monster.

That did it. He lunged at me, I ran him through as you saw when you walked in. Puns are indeed the best weapons of a Knight.

After that little brou-ha-ha, we reported what we found with the caravan earlier, how the Draconians were massacring innocents and seemed to be in the area in force, and well-organized.



(Considering his face is already gray...hmm.)



Fair enough.

We set out, then, for Throtl, to not just investigate the ruins but also find a wayward soldier.

Makes PERFECT sense that he'd send the six of us out to this den of evil in a desperate attempt to find Caramon and bring him back. Because apparently one Caramon > this party.

Sigh. Fine.

But, first things first.



Priorities, you know.



Tavern Tale 19:
"Draconians have been seen near Throtl. Things are heating up."

Gee, thanks ever so much for THAT news flash. Ass.



We go ahead and enter, because, you know, gotta advance that plot.



Hahahahahaha. Threats from hobgoblins. That's about as dangerous as a Duckbunny.

(Yes, that's really a thing, though it's 3.5, technically.)

What do you think our answer was?

:)



Whoa. That's a lotta monsters, especially for a bunch of 1st-level chumps.



But not too many to put to sleep!







With that, the gleeful slaughter of helpless opponents begins!





Welp.

THAT didn't take long.





Whoa, 146 whole experience points.

That's...actually a lot for gutting a bunch of still targets.



What's sad is, these Hobbos are better equipped than my meager party. There's better armor in here than some of my warriors have, so I grab a few armors and Broad Swords. The Long Sword in this game does 1d8 damage, but the Broad Sword does 2d4. That's 1-8 versus 2-8. At 1st level, I'll take that extra potential HP of damage, especially how these damnable Gold Box games just love to reduce enemies to 1 HP but still be a very dangerous opponent.

I also grab every piece of armor I can carry, over and beyond what I want to equip, so I can sell 'em back at the Outpost. Since we're basically broke, we're going to need those steel pieces, and looting the dead is a cornerstone philosophy of ANY D&D game, to be honest.



You can practically hear the tumbleweeds now, here at the entrance. It's like a Hillary Clinton presidential win party around here! Har-har-har

Instead of delving in more deeply, I'm going to return to the Outpost so we can re-memorize those spent spells, but more importantly, to sell that armor.

[mirth]

I also hates hobgoblinses.

[Sir Slash]

Better get a mop and some rags too. That place looks like my bedroom when I was 12.

[BanzaiCat]

5. If I Could Save Time In A Throtl


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First, we return to the Outpost in order to re-memorize spells, as well as sell the trove of armor that we just looted from the Hobbos that were guarding the entrance to their metropolitan paradise.



Cha-ching.



The Knight character (my alter-ego's alter ego, I guess) is carrying ELEVEN suits of armor.



Well, no...there ARE encumbrance rules in Krynn; the more you carry, the less you're able to move. So carrying 11 sets of armor might slow this Knight guy down, but he has the strength to do it, and it was but a short jaunt to the Outpost, so why not?



Mirth the Crazy Dwarf, meanwhile, is carrying most of the Broad Swords we looted from the monsters at the gate.

This is where I found that a Broad Sword (in this game, anyway) does 2-8 damage, as opposed to the Long Sword doing 1-8. I re-equipped some of the characters appropriately.



After tithing and selling everything we boosted, we now have 215 steel pieces...a very large boost to what we had when we last left the Outpost (namely, zero steel pieces).



Next, we head over to the Commandant's office to see if Sir Karl has anything. He's not in, but there are missions posted, just as they were in Pool of Radiance.



Well...'mission,' singular.



Suitably rested and magic'd and lighter in encumbrance, we head out for Throtl.

An interesting note to point out - we can actually visit the other towns at this point, but none of the events/encounters there will fire off. At least, not until we proceed as the game deems appropriate through the linear adventure it has planned out for us.



We arrive with no interruptions, and step into the fixer-upper that is Throtl.



It doesn't take long for the locals to find us and roll out the welcome mat.

BROS WELCOME TO THE ANSA ANSA MU KEGGER!!

Uh...thanks?

PARTY?

PARTY, BRAHS! UH...WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BROS TAKING CASH AT THE DOOR, BRAHS?

Plague.

...PUH-LAYYYYGUE?

Awwwllll sudden-like. Lucky we's just steppin' up now.

WAIT, THAT ONE'S GOT A SWORD IN HIM!

...he fell on it.



It's just a small patrol of Hobgoblins pretending to be frat boys. I'm surprised the Hobbos lowered themselves like that.



It doesn't take long to clear them out.



Better slow down with the Monty Hall experience rewards, game...we don't want to level up TOO soon, now!

Then again, they WERE Fratgoblins...they're worth less than Hobbos. (I think they were in Unearthed Arcana or something.)



Of course, they don't have jack for stuff worth stealing. I'm not really in a mood to load up on armor again and hoof it back to the Outpost to sell them all, so we're going to ignore this "treasure" right now.

Of course, there's bound to be a certain number of random encounters within an area, and if we vacate the area, those random encounters will respawn. I could look up how many there are but I doubt there's more than five or six of them.

With the partiers dead, we continue exploring their home uninvited.



We find evidence that this certainly was some kind of institution for higher learning for Hobgoblins. Stands to reason those that joined a frat rotted their brains on Hobgoblin Beer.



Huh. I didn't know that was a thing, to be honest. It might be delicious, what do I know? (Hint: I'm an idiot, so, nothing.)

We continue our explorations, trying to find that Caramon or Caramel or whatever he/she/it is.

[BanzaiCat]

6. Playing Spin The Throtl


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Continuing our large-ish scale home invasion, we continuously come across welcoming committees that just happen to be wandering about.



Yeah, like I'm going to leave.

"Sorry guys, not this time."

Them: "Awww, rats."





The rats aren't that big a deal, but they are difficult to hit for my front-line fighters because...well, 'because,' the game says, I guess.



One of the more frustrating aspects of this game is, even if you have characters with maxed-out stats (from either re-rolling a million times or 'modifying' them before the game begins), their THAC0s might be pretty decent but I'll be damned if pure fighters can't hit the broad side of a barn, except rarely.



Usually, it's miss-miss-miss for every one hit. Usually.



Before long, the rats are out of the way and the zombies join in on the fun. Sir Slash, our Cleric, is fairly effective at Turning Undead. I'd guess at this point that this character manages to Turn them half the time, while the other half is presumably the undead laughing hysterically at his feeble attempts.



As you can see, continued explorations of this maze-like collection of dilapidated domiciles reveals things I'd rather not find, like these coffins. That means vampires. I can't imagine there are vampires around here, not with 1st-level characters. This is probably just a scare tactic, like BEWARE OF DOG signs.

I hope.



More rats!



With bonus giant centipedes!

We cut these guys down pretty quick. I panicked for a brief moment, thinking the centipedes were poisonous, but they didn't land any blows on us in order to find out. Whew.

After turning a few more corners and passing a few more rotting archways, we enter a room that smells like a teenage boy's; rot and odd odors abound. We see a bunch of humanoids in the room - some are swaying awkwardly, surrounding some bald guy in robes that's trying to open a chest.

treatsss...treatssss...

Hmpf...mmmmpf...damn this chest, it won't open...Yes, yes, I'll get your treats for you, just wait...

What manner of FOUL EEEEV-ELLL is this?!?

What? Intruders! Interlopers!

treatsss...?

Not now...wait...uh, YES! Treats! Go fetch!





Clerics are Bad News^TM in these games, mainly because of their Hold Person and Charm spells, and they're not afraid to use them.



Fortunately, this isn't one of those times where Sir Slash's call upon his goddess's powers goes unheeded.

Pretty soon, Mr. Evil Cleric is all by himself.



And pretty soon, Mr. Evil Cleric is converted to XPs.



A rather significant amount, too!



Plus steel pieces!

I guess this is what the Cleric was after.



Not to mention some magical stuff!

I can't ID any of it until we get back to the Outpost, but again, I'm not willing to leave at this point to let the random encounters refresh.



And besides, this location is a safe spot, presumably from both monsters and from mean name-calling.

We can rest here and re-memorize spells and such, but there's still a lot more of this area to explore. If we end up getting gutted on the opposite side, it'll be a long trek to get back to this place to rest.