CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN: CATACOMBS OF DOOM!

Personal Note:
Sometimes, life can throw you a few curve balls you don't expect.  I hoped to have more time these last two weeks to keep up with this blog, but school has disagreed and slammed me with work.  I'm still able to post on the weekends for the moment, though.  I suppose that's better than nothing.  Even still, due to my time restrictions, this entry is shorter than the others.  I hope that won't continue to happen...


The party, after having fought their way through a hidden temple in the ruins of Throtl, has found themselves in the dank and crumbling catacombs below the city.  Hot on the trail of Baaz Draconians who have fled with bronze dragon eggs, the party knew they would need to put some speed into their pursuit while trying to remain cautious.  Not an easy task.

In fact, the party is ambushed almost immediately...

This is not the way you want to start things off.

Curses fly as swords swing into action.  Certainly the rest of the evil forces down in the catacombs would be swarming over the party in moments.  The party had to dispatch these warriors as quickly as possible.

As it turns out, the party was able to do just that.  One by one, the evil warriors fell to their weapons until only one remained.  The last one threw up his arms in surrender and the party interrogated him.

The interrogation revealed nothing, save that others would try to slow the party down and keep them from reaching the Baaz Draconians carrying the dragon eggs.  Lord Benjamin upheld his beliefs as a Solamnic Knight and prevented any harm from coming to the warrior, but insisted that he be tied up so that he could not warn his comrades.

The party left him behind and slipped further into the catacombs.  They knew that others would be after them shortly.  There was no more time for stealth and no more need to be too cautious.  The Baaz Draconians had to be located before they could escape.

It didn't take long for an evil cleric to show up.  He brought skeletons and trained giant rats with him.  He laughed in defiance as he ordered them to attack.

Rats and Skeltons!  Oh my!

Wil Dhargon wondered aloud how the cleric managed to train giant rats to do his bidding, but all he heard in response was more laughter from the cleric.  Unfortunately for the cleric, though, his laughter would be short lived as the party ripped through his allies and left him standing alone.

The cleric spit out a curse of vile hatred and charged.  The party, left with no other option, killed him before he could do any damage.  The battle was over.

On his body, they found a half destroyed letter.  It looked as though the cleric had attempted to burn it recently, but didn't finish the job for some reason.  It read:

"We have contacted the minotaurs.  They will help us.  I must go to Gargath.  It is rumored that there is a dragonlance stored there.  We must secure the keep and find the treasure room that is hidden there.  The map of the keep shows those places where we believe the secret door may be located.  Give the map to your officers and..."

At that point, the letter ended, having been burned away.  Someone in these catacombs had a map of where the author of the letter was heading next, and the party needed to find it.

A nearby noise caught the party's attention.  Lord Benjamin shouted a warning and bashed down a nearby door, fearing an ambush...

Found you!

Instead of an ambush, the party found Baaz Draconians trying to quietly sneak out of the area with the remains of some of the dragon eggs.  The party fell on them quickly and ended their miserable lives with swift blows and spells.

The eggs carried by these draconians weren't the eggs the party sought, as these had already been corrupted.  Still, the party reckoned that maybe this group of Baaz Draconians might have split from the original group.  Perhaps the real dragon eggs weren't too far away.

Kavina Do'Arden suggested that the party continue their pursuit.  The longer they waited, the further the dragon eggs got from being rescued.  The rest of the party agreed this was wise and continued onward.

Myrtani?

Not far from where the Baaz Draconians had been, the party surprised a group of warriors arguing in the hallway.  They mentioned Gargath...the same location that had been in the cleric's burned letter, and someone named Myrtani.  Was that who was leading these forces?

The warriors caught wind of the party eavesdropping on them and rushed to attack.  Tamera Beldon lamented that no one ever seemed to want to be diplomatic and that all things seemed to end in bloodshed.  But, given no choice, she lofted her heavy flail and joined the rest of the party in defense.

The warriors quickly found their backs against the wall as the party pressed them, and went down quickly, swinging wildly and shouting in anger.  The last one gurgled a curse with his dying breath and fell at Lord Benjamin's feet.

With some searching, the party found a map of Gargath on one of the warriors.  So, this was the place where this Myrtani fellow was going?  Janessa Waylan took the map for safe keeping, even though Wil Dhargon wanted to add it to his collection.  Janessa promised the kender that he could have the map after the party was done using it.  That seemed to satisfy him.

NEXT: The party continues the pursuit of the draconians... 
 

CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN: THE TEMPLE OF THE EVIL GODDESS

When we last left our party, they had rescued Caramon Majere deep in the ruined city of Throtl.  Caramon asked them to find a temple that was hidden within the ruins.  He had seen a foul cleric who possessed a key that would unlock a magical door into the temple.

After Caramon left, the party took a much needed rest to collect their thoughts.  The whole situation was weighing pretty heavily on them.  Here they were, in a place that was supposed to be empty, surrounded by evil enemies who were thought to be wiped out.  It had made for a pretty dizzying adventure so far, and somehow, they knew it was going to get worse.

Once they had rested, they headed out to find the cleric who possessed the key.  As luck would have it, they didn't need to wait long.  While searching the ruins near where they located Caramon, they happened upon a cleric who was commanding some undead.

I bet that "something" is the key the party is looking for.

The party didn't feel that negotiating with an evil cleric was going to get them anywhere.  It's not as though they expected he would give up the key freely.  So, they readied their weapons and went in for the attack.

The party cleric, Tamera, made short work of the undead, proving that her faith was stronger than whatever evil fused the undead together.  After that, dealing with the cleric was swift and brutal, and Kavina gave the final death blow as the vile cleric spewed at her in hatred.

On his body, the party located a strange looking key.  It was carved with intricate symbols and felt warm to the touch.  They were convinced that this must be the key that Caramon told them about.

As it so happened, the kender in the party, Wil, happened to have a map of old Throtl before it became a ruin.  At this point, the party members knew better than to ask how he acquired such things and just went with it.  According to his map, there was one section of Throtl that the party had not yet explored.  In fact, they hadn't even seen a way to enter that section.

It seemed as good a guess as any, so the party headed off in that direction.  What would they find there?  The general feeling was that whatever they found there, it wouldn't be anything good.

Their musings were cut short as a group of clerics and hobgoblins suddenly came out of nowhere and ambushed them.  It seemed too obvious now that the party was getting to close to what they sought, and it was making the opposition nervous.

An evil force tries to stop the party.

The battle wasn't an easy one.  Wil was hit by a Hold Person spell cast by one of the evil clerics, and found himself unable to move.  The rest of the party moved into position to protect him and worked in unison to wipe out their enemies.  Superior tactics won the day, and the party was victorious.

It became obvious why the attack occurred.  Just a few steps from where the party was ambushed, the strange key began to glow.  In return, a section of ruined wall also began to glow and a wall appeared.  Caramon had been right...the temple was hidden by magic!

Found it!

Despite some scratches and bruises, the party pressed on and entered the temple.  An aura of dread surrounded them as they stepped through the door.  The place felt oppressive and the stench of evil weighed heavily upon the party.  Whatever was going on here, it needed to be stopped.

The place wasn't without guards, though.  As the party moved into the temple, a squad of undead appeared from the shadows.  Lead by a ghoul and a cleric, the undead surprised the party and caught them completely off guard.

Tamera shouted a warning about the ghoul, but her warning came too late.  The creature was fast and hit two party members with a paralyzing touch.  The other undead wounded them and took them down.  There were shouts of alarm as the party realized that they had lost two members of their party!

Man down!  Man down!

Even though the situation was somewhat dicey, the party managed to pull through.  Luckily, neither member of the party that went down had died from their wounds.  Some quick bandaging and a couple of cure spells got them back to their feet...somewhat dazed, but no worse for wear.

Somewhat reluctantly, the party pressed on.

As they got deeper into the temple, they began to hear a lot of chanting.  Following the sounds of chanting, they came across a large ritual in progress.  Baaz Draconians and evils Priests stood around an altar to the dark goddess, Takhisis.  On the altar were bronze dragon eggs...something that Caramon had mentioned earlier.  The Draconians were using the priests to corrupt the eggs to make more of their kind!

"We have to stop them!" someone in the party said...just a little too loudly.

One of the priests heard this and snapped his head in the direction of the party.  Unfortunately for him, his concentration on the ritual was broken.  The eggs exploded!  Shrapnel from thick dragon eggs flew everywhere, killing some of the priests!

Oops!  They've spotted the party!

One of the priests who survived the blast spotted the party.  He called for the Baaz Draconians to attack.  The clerics picked up weapons and joined them.

Within seconds, a bloody battled began.  The party threw Sleep spells at the priests in the hopes of putting them to sleep before they could cast spells.  It was over quickly.  Obviously, the Priests and the Draconians had been shaken by the event and hadn't been fully prepared for an attack.

But, despite the party's victory, the Draconians hadn't entirely lost the day.  While the battle was going on, a few of them had taken the remaining dragon eggs and slipped away.  The party knew they had to catch them before they got away!

Without wasting a moment, the party lept over the balcony railing and rushed after the fleeing Draconians.  In the hopes of slowing the party down, some of the Baaz Draconians fell back and engaged the party in battle while the others escaped.

Follow those eggs!

Catching their second wind, the party dealt with the Draconians in quick fashion.  Still, the Draconians had succeeded in slowing them down a little bit.  Time was running out.

Moving as fast as their legs could carry them, the party pressed on.  Eventually, they spotted a stairway ahead, leading into some old catacombs.  Baaz Draconians were there, heading down the stairs.  Before the party could reach them, however, they were intercepted by a priest controlling undead minions.

More undead?  Oh boy!

But, as another priest in the Ruins of Throtl discovered earlier, Tamera's ability to turn the undead was formidable.  Calling upon the power of the goddess Mishakal, she blasted the skeletons and zombies and reduced them to decaying flesh and rotting bone while the priests stood dumbfounded.

The last of the zombies falls to Tamera's awesome turning ability.

The priest was easily dispatched.  This time, the party had not wasted much time.  They could still hear the Baaz Draconians escaping down the stairs.

They headed down the stairs after them, into the forgotten catacombs of Throtl...

Screams and cries...

The Baaz Draconians were here somewhere...and the party would locate them...


NEXT TIME:  The party explores the catacombs of Throtl.  Will they catch the Baaz Draconians?  Will they retrieve the dragon eggs?  Or will evil win the day?  Be sure to check back and see...

QUICK UPDATE

Just a quick update for those who might be following this blog.  I do intend to continue my adventuring in Champions of Krynn soon.  This week's school work has been hectic beyond belief (did not expect this to be a really tough week).  My classes are challenging already, but the amount of work they threw at me seems overwhelming at the moment.  I'm trying work myself out of that hole so that I can get back to the fun.

I expect I can post another update around Friday or Saturday if everything goes well.  Stay tuned.

CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN: BEYOND THE GATES OF THROTL

When we last left our party, they had just discovered that the commandant at the outpost was really a draconian in disguise and that things were much worse off than they had believed.  Sir Karl Gaardsen asked them to travel north to the ruined city of Throtl to find Caramon Majere and return him to the outpost.

The party didn't waste a second.  Within a few minutes of being told, they raced out of the outpost and headed north to the ruins of Throtl.  As they entered through the main gates, however, they discovered a force of Hobgoblins awaiting them.

How about if you leave first?

The Hobgoblins seemed quite anxious to get the party to leave.  It smelled a lot like they were up to no good here, and they didn't want the party to find out about it.  So, given no other choice, the party stood their ground and battled the Hobgoblins.

Wil has a way of irritating the opposition.

Behind the rows of Hobgoblins, a couple of human soldiers were also thrown into the mix.  Something was definitely fishy in Throtl.  The sooner the party figured out what it was, the better.  While the fight wasn't easy, it definitely became a lot easier once the mages in the party started to throw around a few well placed "sleep" spells.

After the Hobgoblins and warriors at the gates had been dealt with, the party headed into the ruins.  The place was a complete shambles.  There was nothing left of the civilization that once thrived there, just a lot of mossy stone and tons of hungry rats.

Not knowing which way to go, the party decided to head east.  They hadn't gone too far when they heard a noise up ahead and readied their weapons.  Instead of angry Hobgoblins, though, they encountered a clearly distraught man who was babbling and carrying on as though he had lost his mind.

Where is Caramon?  That's a good question.

He shouted at them about Caramon and said something about some traps.  Then, he got really weird and started to talk about some treasure he knew about deep in the ruins and offered to split it with the party if they helped him find it.  Before anyone could answer though, he started screaming and ran into the ruins, never to be seen again.

The party tried to follow him, but somehow he eluded them completely.

But their pursuit did not amount to nothing.  While trying to figure out where the crazy man went, they stumbled across a few Baaz Draconians talking to Hobgoblins and some more the human warriors.  The draconians said something about a temple and some dragon eggs.  The party tried to hear more about it, but the draconians must have heard them.

The enemies prepare to attack.

The draconians turned and assaulted the party.  Irritated by the presence of draconians, the party quickly dealt with the threat and searched for some clue of what they were talking about.  Unfortunately, there was nothing to find.  What kind of temple were they talking about?  Are the dragon eggs there?

As the party continued to search the ruins, they found indications of battle.  It looked as though Caramon had led his group through the area.  Someone had dropped a shield with the symbol of the Solamnic Knights on it.  There was blood on the ground.  Clearly, Caramon had found trouble in Throtl.

The party decided to search the area around where the battle occurred.  Maybe Caramon was still nearby.  Unfortunately, what they found was not something friendly.

Oh goody!  Undead minions!

An evil cleric, dragging some skeletons in tow, was cleaning out a chest.  He was not happy that the party happened upon him and sent his skeletons into battle.  The party knew they would have to deal with the cleric pretty quickly, as spellcasting foes can be quite dangerous.  Luckily, the party prevailed with minor scrapes and bruises and collected what was in the chest.

There was a heap of steel pieces (the currency of Krynn) and two scrolls with the "Neutralize Poison" spell inscribed on them.  Tamera, the party's main cleric, took those for safe keeping...hoping that they wouldn't be useful anytime soon.

After completely searching the area around where the battle occurred, the party realized that Caramon must no longer be in the area and headed off in another direction.  Unfortunately, their searching brought them into the midst of a few Hobgoblins and a Hobgoblin leader.

What do you mean, "More of them?"

The Hobgoblin leader's words betrayed that the party wasn't the only intruders he had recently seen.  Given the choice to talk to him, the party thought perhaps they could convince him to tell them where Caramon was located.  So, they raised their hands peacefully in the hopes of opening a dialogue.  Instead, the Hobgoblin leader laughed at them and decided to outright attack them.

The party had no choice but to defend itself against such foul creatures.  It would be the last time they would attempt to speak to them.  It was clear that the Hobgoblins had completely thrown themselves into the plot with the draconians now.  They would pay the ultimate price.

After the battle was over, the party headed off into the west area of the ruins.  Unfortunately, a trap of some kind had been laid, and several members of the party were hit by arrows.  The trap appeared to be recently set.  Did someone know they were coming?

Before they could think much about it, a human soldier came out of nowhere and wanted to speak to the party.  The party decided to hear him out.  Here's what he had to say:

"I was with the party of knights and others under Caramon that came in here to explore.  We haven't really found anything.  Caramon's already left to report.  I guess you must have missed him."

"Oh, one thing we did find out was that there is a treasure left over from the previous occupants of Throtl.  We got word of it from a Hobgoblin who was sneaking in to claim it.  Before he died, he told us that it was located in the south-central area of the city.  Tell you what, if you help me find this treasure, I'll split it with you.  All right?"

Something about the guy just didn't seem right.  Besides, the party had better things to do than go off in search of treasure right now.  Evil was afoot, and the sooner the party found Caramon and got him back to Sir Karl, the better.

The party refused the soldier's offer.  Instead of taking it like a man, though, he shouted out for some Hobgoblins and attacked the party, thereby justifying the party's feeling that there was something off about this fellow.

The party wiped out the Hobgoblins as quickly as they could.  The soldier turned out to be a little tougher than some of his other friends, though.  Still, he was no match for the party's determination.

Once he was dealt with, the party took a minute to collect their thoughts.  The enemy seemed to always be one step ahead of them.  In fact, the enemy knew just what to tell them.  Had the search for Caramon not been paramount, they might have easily fallen into the trap that the soldier had attempted to lay.

Eventually, the party continued on their way.  They had a feeling that the soldier had been lying and that Caramon was still within Throtl somewhere.  He had to be.  

A noise caught their attention...

A kender?

The party had stumbled across a kender who was busy setting traps.  He introduced himself as Kildirf and claimed to know Caramon and that he was attempting to find him.  He thought Caramon was somewhere south of where they currently were.

He said he had been setting traps to keep the Hobgoblins off his trail and he hoped that the party hadn't stumbled into any of them.  There were a few grumbles from the back of the party where Janessa was still hurting over an arrow wound, but the party pretty much let it slide.

Kildirf offered to join the party and help them locate Caramon.  He said he had another friend as well, a Solamnic Knight, who as also searching for Caramon.

As luck would have it, his friend appeared not a moment later.  He claimed to be Larcent Strangbourn, a Solamnic Knight who had come with Caramon, but had become separated from him in the ruins of Throtl.

Apparently all Solamnic Knights like big mustaches.

Unlike the soldier who tried to trick the party, these two seemed to legitimately be concerned for Caramon.  Not to mention that Strangbourn was dressed in the full plate armor of a Solamnic Knight, which lent a lot of credibility to his story.  If he was lying, he was convincing.

With new friends in tow, the party continued their search for Caramon.  As they walked, Strangbourn mentioned something odd about Sir Karl.  He said:

"Listen, Sir Karl is the most honorable of men.  I would follow him anywhere.  But there is something very dark and strange going on around him.  He seems obsessed with a young girl named Maya.  The fact that he's about 40 years older than she is isn't really the problem, if they'd just settle down and declare themselves."

"Maya is extremely valuable to us.  She has sources of information that are astounding, especially for one so young."

After that, he said no more about it.  But, he seemed troubled by the whole thing.

Unfortunately, his troubles would need to wait.  As the party rounded a corner, they were ambushed by combined forces of the enemy.  They had been waiting for the party!

Evil forces!  Oh no!

A long battle ensued.  With the help of Kildirf and Strangbourn, though, the party managed to defeat the horde of Baaz Draconians, Hobgoblins, soldiers, mages and clerics that had waited to ambush them.  Why were they so eager to stop the party?  Were they getting close to something?

The party quickly had their answer.  Through a locked door near where they were ambushed, they found Caramon Majere, hanging in chains.  He had been taken prisoner by the enemy.

Finally!

The party quickly released him from his chains.  He said that he had been taken to a temple somewhere in Throtl and had seen draconians and dragon eggs.  He also said that an evil priest somewhere in Throtl had a magical key that would make the secret doors to the temple appear.

He asked if the party would go in search of the key while he went back to check in with Sir Karl.  

Suddenly, there was a lot of clamor outside the door!  A loud whooshing noise followed by what sounded like tinkling glass echoed into the chamber, followed by the tormented screaming of Hobgoblins as they shrieked in fear.

Then...only silence...until a female voice called out...

She's not a Hobgoblin.

A woman rushed into the room.  Caramon and Strangbourn seem to recognize her.  She introduces herself as Maya.  

So, this is the woman that Strangbourn had mentioned earlier?  She speaks to Caramon:

"I've been sent by Sir Karl to get you back to the outpost.  There are rumors that large forces of Draconians, Hobgoblins, Minotaurs and others are gathering.  We need you to direct scouting and raiding operations.  I see now that things are worse than we thought.  Throtl was supposed to be abandoned."

Caramon tells her that he has seen Brass Dragon Eggs in the possession of the draconians.  Maya gasps at this news.

He urges the party once again to find the key and locate the temple.  The party, being good at heart, agrees to continue the fight. 

Then, Caramon leaves, taking Maya, Strangbourn and Kildirf with him. 

The party waits for them to leave, and then heads back out into the ruins.  As they do, they notice that there is an odd amount of ice on the walls and that a few Hobgoblins have been frozen to death.

Next time:  The party searches for the temple in Throtl!

CHAMPIONS OF KRYNN: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

The title screen.

It's been a long time since I've journeyed to the land of Krynn.  My mainstay of Dungeons and Dragons is the Forgotten Realms.  I have nothing against Krynn.  It's a well thought out world, and I would go so far as to say that the original trilogy and the second trilogy of novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are good enough that they should be lauded alongside the likes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Some will find that to be some kind of heresy in their minds, but those were the books I grew up loving. If you've never read those books, you should take the time to do so.

Now, on to the party.  The names are the same as in Pool of Radiance.  This is done on purpose.  I have an attachment to these characters, and using them over and over again allows me to know at a glance what class or classes they have training in.  It used to be that I used a new party every time, and it was hard to remember who was the cleric and who was the mage.  This just makes things simple and easy for me.

Krynn is a different world than Faerun, so there are some adjustments to race and class.  If you've never experienced these games before, you might be surprised to find out how different things are.

The roster of heroes who will guide us through the adventure.

Lord Benjamin - Solamnic Knight of the Crown - Human - Male - Lawful Good
Kavina Do'Arden - Ranger - Human - Female - Neutral Good
Thaddeus Durin - Cleric of Mishakal/Fighter/White Robe Mage - Half-Elf - Chaotic Good
Wil Dhargon - Fighter/Thief - Kender  - Male - Neutral Good
Tamera Beldon - Cleric of Mishakal - Human - Female - Lawful Good
Janessa Waylan - Red Robe Mage - Human - True Neutral


First, let's talk about the different choices of race and class.  If you've only ever played the Forgotten Realms Gold-Box games, you probably know the standard choices (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Elf, Gnome, Halfling).  The Krynn games, however, have a completely different set of races, including:

• Hill Dwarf
• Mountain Dwarf
• Silvanesti Elf
• Qualinesti Elf
• Half-Elf
• Kender
• Human

Of the races presented above, the most interesting one is the Kender.  They're like halflings, only a lot more fun.  Kender have a love for adventure, are natural thieves and can taunt their enemies (as you'll see later).  They also have a specialized weapon that only they can use, called a Hoopak, that can be used as both a melee and a ranged weapon.

As for classes, you have the following options, which are also slightly different than the Forgotten Realms fare:

• Cleric
• Ranger
• Knight
• Fighter
• Thief
• Mage

Clerics can pick from different gods of the Krynn mythos (only those of good or neutral alignments, since PCs are not allowed to be evil).  Which god they pick will determine what special abilities they get.  There's a whole list of them (Paladine, Majere, Kiri-Jolith, Mishakal, Sirrion, Reorx, and Shinare).  I'm not going to discuss what powers each one gives, but I will mention that my clerics are followers of Mishakal.  She awards my clerics with three bonus spells (Charm Person, Remove Curse and Bless).  Additionally, my clerics gain an additional +1 die on their healing rolls, making them really good healers.  Those bonus spells really help starting out in the game.  For example, my Cleric/Fighter/Mage has a ton of things to choose from before the adventure even begins (see picture below).

Thaddeus is ready to get the party started.

Part of that is because he is a follower of Mishakal.  Part of it is because he is a White Robe Mage, and the White Moon was full when he memorized his spells, giving him bonus spells.  If you notice the three circles at the top of the screen, they represent the three moons of Krynn, each colored White, Red and Black (though SSI went with dark blue since their background was already black).  As the moons change phase, so does a magic-user's spell allowance.  When their moon is full, they gain 2 bonus spells of any level.  When it is a half moon, they receive one bonus spell.  A new moon grants them no bonus spells.

Obviously, camping at the right time is essential if you want bonus spells.  So, it becomes part of the strategy of the game.

Now that we've covered the mechanics of the game, let's get the adventure started...


THE STORY BEGINS:
The story begins a few years after a major war on Krynn, called the War of the Lance, during which an evil goddess (called Takhisis) sent her draconians to conquer the lands of Krynn.  Her forces were eventually defeated by a group of heroes with the aid of dragons.  The draconians, who are the evil offspring of mutated dragon eggs, were driven away and killed.

Outposts have been set up in various places within Krynn by the Solamnic Knights, who are sworn to protect the lands from evil.  It is at one of these outposts that something is amiss.  The commandant of the outpost near the ruined city of Throtl has been acting strangely, and a Solamnic Knight named Sir Karl Gaardsen is sent to investigate.

The party meets him in Solace at The Inn of the Last Home and offers to accompany him to the outpost in the hopes of finding adventure.  When they arrive at the outpost, Sir Karl goes to discuss matters with the commandant, but issues the party orders to scout the area near Throtl.

Sir Karl Gaardsen.

According to Sir Karl, the area has long since been cleared of most evil creatures.  Dragons and draconians hadn't been seen in the area for quite some time, so the party would probably not have any issues.  Still, he warned that they should head to the inn to memorize spells and probably buy some adventuring equipment.

This being a good idea, the party checked into the local outpost inn and rested for the day.

Are Inns usually outside?

Once they had rested and outfitted themselves, the party headed out the gate of the outpost, leaving Sir Karl to deal with the politics of the place.  With no idea what they'd find, the party headed north toward the ruined city of Throtl to scout, fully confident in the knowledge that the area has been properly patrolled by the knights in the outpost.  If the commandant has been keeping up on his job, then--

Son of a bitch!

Not far from the outpost, the party encounters a caravan being attacked by Baaz Draconians(there are several different types of draconians, depending on which type of dragon egg was used to create them). These creatures that were no longer supposed to be in this area, and were rumored to be completely wiped out.  Almost immediately, the party knows something strange is definitely going on around this outpost.  The draconians rushed to attack, but Wil Dhargon acted first.

That Baaz Draconian looks angry.

Kender have the ability to taunt their opponents by shouting insults.  This will anger an opponent who fails a saving throw, forcing them to rush toward the target and ignore all others, gaining a negative modifier to their armor class and making them easier to hit.  The Baaz were whipped into a blind frenzy over what he said (I can only imagine that he insulted their heritage) and rushed straight at him.

When it comes to tactical combat, rushing straight at an opponent and passing others is not a smart move.  It allows your enemies to get extra attacks on you.  But, these draconians didn't seem to care.

However, the Baaz Draconians aren't without some special tricks of their own.  Upon death, their bodies turn to stone.  If you use a melee weapon against them, there is a chance that your weapon will get stuck in their bodies.  While you can retrieve it after combat, you essentially will not have a weapon in hand (unless you ready another one) for the rest of the battle.  This really hurts later when it happens to your favorite magical weapon.

The party had little trouble wiping out this small band of draconians.  But, somehow, one of them managed to survive.

Where the heck was he hiding?

A lone surviving draconian, who also appears different than the others (which means he is a different kind of draconian...in this case an Aurak Draconian) managed to grab a book and then pull a quick disappearing act before the party could respond.  What was in the book?  Why were these draconians even interested in this caravan in the first place?

Before the party can even consider these questions, the survivors from the caravan ask them for an escort back to the outpost. Being mostly good aligned, the party agrees, and returns to the outpost to tell Sir Karl of what has happened.

But, when they enter the commandant's office to give their report, they walk in on a fierce battle.

Sir Karl is handy with a sword, apparently.

The party arrives just in time to see Sir Karl kill the commandant.  As the commandant dies, he changes shape to a Sivak Draconian.  These foul draconians have the ability to shape change into whatever they want...so that means that a draconian has been in charge of the outpost for quite some time.  The original commandant was probably killed.

It is then revealed that the commandant had been slowly replacing the Solamnic Knights in the outpost with his own men, all of whom are suspect and possibly draconians themselves.  Sir Karl feels he cannot trust anyone within the outpost, and asks the party to work with him in rooting out the evil.

He mentions that Caramon Majere led a group of men into the ruins of Throtl, and that our first mission should be to go and find him and return him to the outpost.


I will say this for Champions of Krynn, it sure does pack a lot of story into a small space.  The Krynn series was always heavy on the story...and that's a good thing.

Next time, the party heads into the ruins of Throtl...

GOLD BOX GAMES: A QUICK NOTE

As I prepare to embark upon my adventure in the land of Krynn, I just wanted to point out that the versions of the Gold-Box games that I'm playing are not in any way pirated.  Here's a picture showing that I own all the Instruction/Journal Manuals and at least two of the original boxes.

SSI released the Gold-Box games on a single CD back in the early 1990s.  I bought it. I didn't put it in the picture above only because I didn't think about it. Since many of my previously purchased disk copies would no longer load by the early 1990s (floppy disk technology was terrible), I thought it was a good purchase.  Inside the box was an offer to buy all the manuals. They came on the CD in text format, which was awful...but this was before the days of PDF files.  I bought them all and I've kept them in good shape.

The Gold-Box series of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games are still my favorite CRPGs.  I've had other games I've loved (Wasteland, Fallout, etc), but none will ever touch the magic of these.  I just wanted to show you how much they meant to me by letting you know that I still own everything original required to play them, even the stupid code wheels.

POOL OF RADIANCE: ON HOLD

Since my last posting, I've been pretty busy.  I've tried to play Pool of Radiance a few times, but I'm honestly not feeling the game at all.  I think it's because I just beat the game a few months ago (like back in October), and the thought of trudging through familiar territory again so soon fills me with serious dread.

I think what I'd rather do is play the Krynn series instead, starting with Champions of Krynn, working through Death Knights of Krynn, and then heading into Dark Queen of Krynn.  I want to do that because blogs about Pool of Radiance have been done to death anyway, but I rarely see blogs about those games.

Also, the only Gold-Box game I have never solved is Dark Queen of Krynn.  My version had a bug in it that made it impossible to win, so I only ever got about halfway through the game on my initial play through.  Additionally, I have never tried to make the run with the same party (since I always played the games when they were released, and years passed between them...so I always lost my disks that had my save games in the meantime...not really an issue with hard drives).

So, if any of you are out there reading this blog, I hope you'll stick around as I shift gears.  The blog is still in its baby steps age, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to approach things.  I'll be glad to hear any suggestions.