Trollopulous Adjusted Session 116 (Machodor #67): Cockatrice Hunt!

    

"This is our forest!"-- Zyrrith Wildthorn

Introduction

Following last week’s triumphs, many of Machodor’s heroes were occupied with training to advance their levels. Sheamus seized the opportunity to pursue his audacious plan to breed “chicken jockey” troops. He persuaded a motley band of adventurers, including several henchmen of the players off training, to join him on a quest to secure a cockatrice feather and troll blood for a sage’s alchemical experiments, leading them south to the Tuarhievel Forest.

Timekeeping

This session began on May 29th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until June 3rd. Downtime for these characters begins the next day.

Player Characters Present

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) 

with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) 

with henchman Anri (M4) and Cedric (C1)

Dusty (Level 4 Druid, henchman of Karshe)

Roger  (Level 2 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, henchman of Sever the Wrathful)

Downtime

An ancient map indicating the location of the two forests

Sheamus, driven by his vision Castle Irish fielding chicken jockey troops, consulted a sage in Minas Mandalf who revealed that cockatrice feathers and troll blood were essential for breeding experiments. Tavern-hopping across the city, Sheamus then learned that cockatrices inhabit sylvan forests and were currently migrating between Tuarhievel and Sielwode, approximately 120 miles south of Minas Mandalf. Yes, this session occurs outside of the Bandit Mountains!

Session Report

Day 1: Planning and travel to Tuarhievel (May 29, 2025)

Having planned out his expedition, Sheamus realised that the best location to try was the forest of Tuarhievel (the X on the left of the map). This made sense as it was the summer nesting for Cockatrice. Most of the party clambered aboard the Rocket Cycle, while Roger had his Pegasus. The weather was good and they made the vicinity of the forest by lunch time. The forest beckoned and so in they went full of confidence, but the day ended without any discovery. However, that night did not quite pass so uneventfully. Roger was on duty in the last watch when he heard the sound of heavy feet moving through the undergrowth. He had just enough time to wake up Sheamus before a guttural growl revealed the presence of two horrible creatures charging at them.

Combat #1: 2 Trolls

Rounds: 3

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Sheamus was still groggy and chose to start stringing his bow, but before he could do so the creatures were upon him. Their claws racked him viciously but somehow he avoid their  even more terrible jaws.

Gurt, being a civilised paladin, has a tent that he camps in with his henchmen (even if the fact that one is actually a henchwoman is a source of amusement to the others). The holy warrior sprang into action in his pyjamas, relying on his dual wielding ability to protect himself. Dusty cast Entangle, it was in the hope of getting the trolls before they reached melee combat range, but instead got them as they reached melee range, with the results that Anri and Cedric were also stuck fast. Roger and Sheamus, with McScales leaping into action from the other side of the rocket cycle, whittled down the hit points of the trolls, and then Gurt arrived to get them some more. Next round the party won initiative, and this was needed with Sheamus on his last legs. The party combined to down both trolls.

A few heals later and Sheamus was collecting Troll blood by the gallon in purpose build flasks, then they burned the creatures to a crisp (somehow not attracting anything else, they were still practically at the forests edge so that probably explains it). The party were please with achieving one of their goals so quickly.

Days 2–3: Tracking the trolls (May 30–31, 2025)

Roger found he could track the trolls, so they set off in the hopes of finding a lair, the Rocket Cycle was kept on hover mode to be quiet as possible. The forest became thicker as they moved deeper in, slowing their advance. The could now cover only about 5 miles a day and nothing of note happened before nightfall. Next morning they continued on the Troll trail until they encountered some crows (I was tempted to reference the womenz division here but managed to avoid the distraction).

Encounter #1: 12 Crows

Rounds: 4

Result: Parleyed for information.

Highlights: Dusty managed to get off a Speak with Animals spell as half of them flew off (don't we all love DMing when that spell is used?) and the crows were able to indicate with their beaks where they had seen some Cockatrice the day before. This was to the east, but the troll trail led south. The players decided to keep on south after the hoped for Troll lair.

Day 4: The Barkburr grove (June 1, 2025)

A day or so later they came upon an open clearing. Immediately they had a bad feeling about the two troll shaped trees in the center of it; they looked very lifelike, but were clearly not alive. Other trees nearby had strange clumps on them.  

Encounter #2: Barkburrs 

Rounds: N/A

Result: Avoided.

Highlights: Suddenly, Dusty recognised (with only an 8% chance to do so) that this was the grove of Barkburrs (see MM2 p14, the whole page!). The party  were just 10 feet out of range of the things as he explained the danger of the creatures launching themselves at unwary adventurers. Fortunately, with this warning the party did not trigger an attack.

It was clear though that tracking the trolls further was out of the question, so they abandoned their lair hunting and returned to where they had marked their conversation with the crows. Once there they continued in the direction indicated by the crows finding nothing, until nightfall, and wondered if the crows had been messing with them. That night, while Sheamus was on watch, their little camp was suddenly surround by the elves who gave the forest its name.

Day 5: Surrounded by bastard elves! (June 2, 2025)

Encounter #3: 20 Tuarhievel Grugach Elves

Rounds: n/a

Result: Parleyed for information.

Highlights: Sheamus managed to get Anri to translate for him and also offered a Potion of Heroism to the leader of the elves, one Zyrrith Wildthorn, who was mounted on a giant stag. The elf passed on a clue to a cockatrice sighting and granted them three days to follow up before he would once again demand tribute if he ran into them again.

Though impressed with the party's goals, he scoffed at their following the troll tracks looking for the monsters' lair, "We don't allow their kind to lair in our forest, they must have been passing through."

At one point Gurt, being a good Paladin, was going to going into evangelisation mode with these elves. I can only assume someone messaged him in the back channels, because he stopped before I could confirm what he had said. I then immediately forgot about it, but later I remembered I was going to get right into my Appendix N to answer, "We will not worship your White Christ!" Maybe next time.

They parted on relatively good terms with elves and followed the directions they had received from them. These led south into the thickest part of forest, which was now canopied to such an extent that it would not be possible to fly out without having to cut their way through to the sky. They would need to return to a more lightly forested area first. Heedless, they plunged on until they reckoned they had gone as far as the elves had suggested, then camped.

Day 6: Cockatrice Hunt (June 3, 2025)

Night passed and then they resumed their searching. Soon they found a petrified rabbit, and from there found tracks again heading south. I decided to determine from the results of Roger's tracking rolls just how fresh the tracks were, his next roll came up 01: they were near! Dusty fired off a spell that none of us had seen used before: Locate Animals. Would this work on Cockatrices? Well each of the different Druid Animal spells has a slightly different take on valid targets, the DMG didn't add any light, so I decided it did work. Of course, the range is quite short on the spell and, as Dusty's player kept having to remind me - he had no Greater Mistletoe -- so it was even worse for him. On the second round of his second casting of Locate Animals, he finally pinged on something up on a crag of rock deep within the canopy.

They set about an ambush with spells Snare and Trip. Then Sheamus used a charge on the Hawkman Bracelet for Invisibility 10' Radius, which covered the Rocket Cycle and everyone on it. Roger stepped off and stood with his Pegasus and began a hooting yell that he hoped would attract the Cockatrice (and nothing else). What could I do? Of course I checked to see if this drew another encounter, and it did. At the same time as Roger heard the screech of approaching bird life from the rocky cliff ahead, 4 stags wandered up to see what was making the noise. They didn't know what to make of the ranger; it was not their lucky day.

Combat #2: 5 Cockatrice

Rounds: 6

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Two Cockatrice were attracted to the Roger's calls, they flew out from the cliff ahead of the invisible Rocket Cycle and went in his direction. Unfortunately for the party this meant they sailed right over the traps they had laid and right over their heads towards the targets they could see. Unfortunately for the stag's they looked like just as good targets as Roger and his Pegasus, one was turned to stone immediately while the other made its save. Dusty cast Hold Animal but, realising at the last moment (DM adjudication) that this spell wouldn't effect the cockatrice he targeted the stags instead (should I downgrade him for that? hmmm), one was held. Roger, who had chosen to flee on his Pegasus, made it away free and clear, he turned to provide archery support from a safe distance. 

Next round Gurt dramatically leapt off the back of the Rocket Cycle and joined the fray. Three more cockatrice burst out of their lair in the cliff face and were ready to join in, but Dusty threw Entangle up at the trees (remember the thick canopy) and I ruled that it was just as effective as if they had been on the ground. Two were stuck, but a third made its save and came down to get Gurt from behind. The Paladin's saving throw was good and he struck about him with his sword and knife. Sheamus and the others joined the fray and put down the three cockatrices (with Gurt passing another petrification save) while there was still three rounds left on the Entangle. Not taking any chances, the characters pulled out their ranged weapons and proceeded to annihilate the two remaining monsters before the spell expired.

They raided the lair (loot below) and were ready to pull out; but again, with the canopy, that was not going to happen immediately. Instead they retraced there trail back to an area less dense with trees. They manged to take off just as a big group of Trolls (we those elves lying or what?)  noticed them, but they were too far away to prevent their departure.

DM Resources

This hex map from Mr Wargaming was very handy to use live in session to keep track of the party's movements. I used it as a 30 mile hex of forest containing 6 mile smaller hexes. As events occurred I noted them down in the numbered boxes. Very handy and now a permanent resource if the players return to the area in the future.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 102 Miles

Combats: 2

Combat rounds: 9

Treasure & Items

8 gems  500, 100, 1000, 1000, 50, 100, 50, 5000 total: 7800gp

3 jewellery 12000, 11000, 4000: 27,000gp

Cloak of Elvenkind (Tuarhievel Grugach elves) 1000xp

2 Cockatrice eggs (Sarumin offers 100gp each for them)

Identify Costs 450gp

Monsters

2 Trolls 1626xp

5 Cockatrice 2225xp

39,651 XP & 34,350  GP  Assignment

Sheamus (E) 7,209  XP & 6,245 GP

 and McScales(E) 3,605 XP & 2,123 GP

Dusty (E) 7,209  XP & 6,245 GP

Gurt (E) 7,209  XP & 6,245 GP

 and Anri 3,605 XP & 2,123 GP

 and Cedric 3,605 XP & 2,123 GP

Roger (E)  7,209  XP & 6,245 GP

Graveyard

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 115 (Machodor #66): Cashing in at the Steading

    

 

The big score

Introduction

This week I decided the giants weren't going to sit back and take it any more, and so put them into a more active defence posture, it didn't work out so well for them.

Timekeeping

This session began on May 22nd, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until May 25th. Downtime for these characters begins the next day.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) 

with henchmen Paul (P1) and Poindexter (M3)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) 

with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5) and Rhoikos (M2)

Deadeye Donny (Level 4 Monk of Machodor)

Marty O'Tool (Level 2 Irish Cleric from Brovenloft, wielder of the Mace of St Patrick)

Downtime

In the aftermath of last session the wolves that Sever had persuaded to betray the giants had charged off in pursuit of escaping orcs. By the time Sever caught up with them again at the waterfall that was their de facto lair, there were only 9 of the 14 left. A Speak with Animals spell provided this explanation, "Bad-whip-giant find us in forest, he kill one. Three obey and follow him, the rest follow me back to you. You better than giant."

The remaining wolves and the Ranger's henchmen kept the steading under watch, there were no further attempts by orcs, or anything else, to escape. But mid week there was a change of tactics by the giants. Four groups of five giants emerged, each carrying rocks and weapons, and formed a diamond-shaped perimeter. They appeared quite particular about their formation, positioned 200 yards apart, ready for ranged combat, able to cover each other to counter aerial or ground assaults. They worked in shifts, sometimes only three groups came out, sometimes four. It was clear they had a morning shift and an afternoon shift, and at other times retired to eat in the steading.

Session Report

The players marched out of the ice castle and brought their dwarf unit and ballista with them, along with the human footman of Sever's Captain Falcon and some heavy riders under Giuseppe. Over a two day period they methodically made their way to the vicinity of the forest to the north east of the steading, then created a solid defensive position at the forest's edge from which to strike the giants; building it up between shifts so as to not be observed. There were a couple of fun random encounters of gargoyles and poison snakes, but the players were able to negate any threat they posed.

Closer observation showed that each squad was led by a Stone Giant, with a fully grown Hill Giant supported by three hill giant teenagers. These latter were excitedly throwing rocks to each other and occasionally at the stone giant when he wasn't looking. The stone giant always managed to catch them and thrown them back to the amusement of all. Suddenly the party was feeling conflicted about what they planned to do to these guys. In one group the hill giant held a whip and had three dire wolves and this certainly steeled Sever's resolve to kill them.

Combat #1: 4 Giants' Squads

Rounds: 5 with 2 surprise segments for Sever

Result: Party Victory, one enemy squad escaped.

Highlights: Sever and Rabbit took on one group and got surprise. Giuseppe led the conventional assault and his choice to bring his heavy riders with him spread the damage from incoming rocks significantly.  Donny reached the 4th round of a combat and had no-one to hit with his extra attack (being a 4th level monk). Marty O'Tool used Bless on the troops and then hunkered down for the duration of the fight. This combined with Prayer was a big force multiplier.

A stone giant and some teenagers were the only survivors of the battle and they fled into the steading. The party moved inside the palisade and prepared to go in after them. After clearing the first boulder trap at the entrance, Sever had his henchman Thomas cast Find Traps, which is really one of the most OP spells a cleric gets—when used right. With it and the fact that they had mapped this first area, they would be able to get to the stairs with little trouble. A teenager hill giant with a spear had other ideas.

 

Combat #2: One hold out Hill Giant Teenager

Rounds: 2 (both tied initiative) 

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Deftly avoiding the rock trap, Giuseppe and Sever cornered the defender in room 9. The brave hill giant youngster gave his all so the others had time to get away.

The party's upper level route

The party kept on and passed the secret doorway—the secret door, dismantled last session, remained where they had left it it leaning against a wall; its handle with the poison dart trap glowed at them as they passed. Down the stairs and to the left, it was clear that this underground structure had been created by someone other than hill giants. The stone work was fancy and the ceilings were buttressed every ten feet. There was a rock trap there at the base of the stairs that Sever set off deliberately, which he was pleased about until he proceeded to set off a trap in the next section of floor (by deliberately crushing it with a rock) that activated a double ballista concealed at the other end of the corridor. Giuseppe's shield vs missiles came in handy there, and it would not be the only time today. 

The corridor went north, then west and spilled out into a very large room. As they entered the room, they spied a gleam at the western end; it looked like a spilled coffer of gems and jewellery. They congratulated themselves on not investigating this "obvious trap", and moved south to examine a heavy set of bars blocking the way out of room 29. These bars promptly opened and let out some hangry manticores. To make matters worse, portcullises fell down in their wake to block both exits to the room.

          Combat #3: 4 Crazed Manticores

Rounds: 4 

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: This was a crazy fight in more ways that one. The creatures remained airborne and launched a volley of tail spikes (24 in all) at the party, it was a free for all and many found the armour and shield of Giuseppe—and were deflected.

As it was clear the monsters were going to press the ranged attacks from the air, Donny fished out a Potion of Flying for Sever to use to go up after them. Next round the crazed creatures targeted all their 24 spikes at one player; Donny. When his number came up I felt a little bad, but it was clearly the best tactic to concentrate fire, and with this roll I abducted that they chose an obviously unarmoured foe. However, though the Monk may have been unarmoured, he was far from defenceless; his special monk deflection ability came into play. Out of 24 shots 15 would have hit, and of these he blocked 8. The remaining 7d6 damage left him with 7 hit points to spare!

The party's lower level route

Sever flew up the engage the monsters; and his henchman Thomas cast Command on one of them, commanding it to 'Sleep'. It failed its save and fell to the ground, causing 3d6 falling damage, but also waking it back up. Next round the ground based players hammered away at this one and the thing once more chose to hit Donny, and got him with a bite. Sever struck one so forcefully it was unable to keep flying and so it also fell in a heap, shook itself off and looked for payback.

Now it was time for round 4, and what a round it would be. Having been cruelly prevented from having his first extra melee attack during the giant fight, Donny was not about to miss out this time. He hit, and hit well, really well. I grabbed the PHB and checked my combat wheel to be sure; yes, he had stunned the manticore (probably saving his own life in the process). He then proceeded to roll 02 for the chance to kill! I couldn't believe it, he needed 4% or less, the monk had straight up killed the thing (given the human head this seemed reasonable to me). Not yet done, with his extra attack the monk finished off the other fallen Manticore, while Sever got the last one (note that various arrows and Magic Missiles has been pouring in from henchman all along).  What a fight.

With the last gasp of the Find Traps spell the PCs spotted room 31 beyond room 30, and it contained 7 chests; two of these glowed for a second and then the spell expired. Rabbit and Donny's Find & Remove Traps skills were on fire today and they managed to avoid some nasty tricks including a second trap inside the first one. The loot in the chests was merely adequate, was this the real treasure room? With hit points and spell resources running low, the players decided to pull out and regroup with what loot they had. Sever impulsively tested the one potion in the treasure pile, and discovered it was a potion of Poison (he made his save, but that could have been a very expensive failure! As you'll see below in the treasure section). 

On the way out Giuseppe remembered to try and dismantle the double ballista and take it with them. As this was right in front of the secret door to the real treasure room (33), I allowed Rabbit a chance to discover it, and with a result of a 2 he found it. The pit trap beyond the secret door gave Sever another brush with death, but fortunately he set it off without anyone else stumbling into it, and managed to survive. There was much loot to be had in the room beyond, so much that they need a veritable bucket brigade of troops to get it all out. Nothing was game to stop them doing so.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 36 Miles

Combats: 3

Combat rounds: 11 

Treasure & Items

13,000cp 

27,300sp 

7,140ep 

27 Copper Ingots worth 360gp

11 Ivory Tusks 11,000gp

980 cheap gems 980gp

Potion of Poison (smashed by Sever) 0XP

23,840gp

4,139pp 

Lots of Gems worth 18,600gp

Jewellery worth 8,500gp

Cask with items of some kind inside (to be investigated in downtime)

6 Magic Arrows 300xp

Magic Spear/Lance +2 2000xp 

Two magic swords with magic sheaths 3300xp

Identify Costs 2700gp

Monsters

3 Stone Giants 7,430xp

4 Hill Giants 7,100xp

9 Hill Giant Teenagers 7,290xp

4 Manticores 3,572xp

120,335 XP &  89,343 GP  Assignment

Sever (E+) 20,056 XP & 14,441 GP

 and Rabbit (E) 10,028 XP & 7,220 GP

 and Thomas (E) 10,028 XP & 7,220 GP

 and Poindexter  (E) 10,028 XP & 7,220 GP

Giuseppe (E) 20,056 XP & 14,441 GP

  and Steelvein (E) 10,028 XP & 7,220 GP

D Donny (E+) 20,056 XP & 14,441 GP

Marty O'Stool (E) 20,056 XP & 14,441 GP

Those of you with keen eyes will have noticed the E+ rating, I just made it up based on some even-better-than-elite performances, I figure they can be used to cancel out a previous S rating. I'm using them just on a trial basis for now.

Graveyard

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 114 (Machodor #65): Rocked at the Hill Giant Steading

    

"What can you do?"   "Well, I'm good with rocks"

Timekeeping

This session began on May 15th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring for 2 days until May 16th. Downtime for these characters begins the next day.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) 

with henchmen Paul (P1) & Poindexter (M3)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) 

with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5) and Rhoikos (M2)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) 

with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) 

with henchmen Solaire (PF3) and Anri (M4) and Cedric (C1)

Downtime

During the week Sever kept up his surveillance on the steading, now with help from the pack of Dire Wolves he had previously talked into abandoning the giants. Having been led by Sever to a nearby waterfall and pool (and former giant fishing hole) which they liked a lot, these creatures were now helping the ranger keep the steading under watch. During the week there were one or two attempts to escape by lowly orcs; but, curiously, no giants were spotted.

Session Report

The giants had in fact been busy, under what leadership the party did not know, but someone had given them advice on how to defend their home with the forces that were still remaining to them. Their strategy was one of traps and ambush.

session map

Knowing the sound of the Rocket Cycle, they kept watch from inside the steading; once they heard it coming they sprang their trap: starting by letting out 20 or so Orc slaves who were too overjoyed to see that they would never reach freedom. From their aerial vantage point the party could only see the orcs making their way south at a trot, so they closed in for the kill.

But 3 Stone Giants were hiding near the gate, ready to throw deadly rocks at the orcs--or anyone else in view. Gurt was the only one to sense the danger, he rode up towards the gate with his henchmen, putting himself--and them--in the firing line. 

Combat #1: Stone Giants

Rounds: 2

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Stone giants have a massive range they can throw rocks, 30", nowhere in front of them was safe. Once the stones started flying the party laid off the orcs and went after the bigger enemies, however the dire wolves did not heed Sever's call and kept on after the orcs into the nearby forest. Two out of three heavy rocks clattered into Solaire.

One Stone giant fled into an out building, while the others took the brunt of a charge from Giuseppe and the others, but not before landing another rock in a fatal blow to Solaire, the unlucky former paladin and Gurt's henchman. The giants soon paid for this with their lives, but the mood was sombre as Sever tracked the runner into the out buildings (23).

A search found a secret door in a barracks fireplace (24). There was a shaft leading down, disappearing out of sight into what sounded like watery depths below. The players saw this as an elaborate ruse to lead them into danger (it was).

Instead they choose to move into the main building. Here, based on Gary's clever guidance, there were traps galore! First a rock trap pelted the players as they entered. Interestingly, elsewhere in this series Gary gives such traps the same chance to hit and same damage as the monster that set them. Since in this case it was Stone Giants, I based the damage on them.  After the first trap the party suddenly decided to work out who was equipping the +3 Shield obtained last session. Having decided this, they then advanced, but only made it about 20 feet when six spears thrusted out at them from murder holes hidden on either side of the corridor between rooms (8) and (9).

Combat #2a: 6 Bugbears (room 8)

Rounds: 4

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: A scythe trap on the door leading into the bugbear's room caused havoc in the ranks. Sever used his great strength to break the spears thrusting out at him. Once inside the room the players were surprised to find more enemies than just the three with the spears, but the result was never in doubt.

Also inside this room they found that peep holes had been drilled through the walls. They gave the observers a good vantage to both the former wolf pen and the front approach to the steading. 

Without waiting for the others Sever went around through a small dining room (10), survived another rockfall trap, and then burst in on the spear wielders in the arms room next door (9). Instead of bugbears he was facing six ogres.

Combat #2b: 6 Ogres (room 9)

Rounds: 2

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: One of the ogres had just found the 5 Javelins of Lightning that were in this room. He gave Sever a nasty surprise that nearly killed his henchman Thomas. But when the rest of the party joined in the ogres soon went the way of the bugbears.

Wounds were tended and some loot gathered, then they went over the dining room with a fine tooth comb. Rabbit's presence enabled them to easily find a door to the west, concealed behind a hanging manticore hide, but he also found a trap in the door's handle. Saddened, and impatient, after the death of his comrade, and with all hope of Solaire's redemption gone, Gurt rashly tried the handle himself. A poisoned needle shot out, he failed his save and was Dead! Fortunately, he had more comrades who would ensure he had another chance back in Minas Mandalf, perhaps. Confident this was the case the rest of the party searched the landing beyond the dining room and found a jackpot; a map to the steading, along with a note written in hill giant (on a parchment of human skin no less). With these items secured they returned to the Ice Castle without further incident.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 36 Miles

Combats: 2

Rooms explored: 7

Combat rounds: 8

Treasure & Items

4000sp

6300gp

8 Gems 100*7, 600*1

Ogre Jewellery 3432gp

4 Javelin's of Lightning 1000xp

Giant Otter Fur worth 2000gp

Monsters

20 Orcs 300 xp

2 Stone Giants 5000 xp

6 Bugbears 1290 xp

6 Ogres 1140 xp

21,962 XP &  13,232 GP  Assignment

Sever (E) 3,878 XP & 2036 GP

 and Rabbit (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

 and Thomas (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

Giuseppe (E) 3,878 XP & 2036 GP

  and Steelvein (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

  and Symeon (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

Shaemus (E) 3,878 XP & 2036 GP

  and McScales (E) 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

Gurt (N/A) 0 XP & 0 GP

  and Anri (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

  and Cedric (E) 1,689 XP & 1018  GP

  and Solaire (N/A) 0 XP & 0 GP

Graveyard

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)

Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Downtime between Machodor sessions #63 and #64: The Dive of Sever the Wrathful

(Background in the Session #64 report) I had a bit of fun with this downtime action based on Sever's player's orders, running the encounter normally and then putting the results into Grok.

(Sever himself is out of frame)

In the frost-kissed morning of the Bandit Mountains’ southeastern reaches, where rugged peaks rise like sentinels and the air gleamed with the pale light of dawn, Sever the Wrathful, a Ranger of renown, stood resolute. Near the looming shadow of the Hill Giant fort, a crude bastion of stone and cruelty, the wind carried a biting chill, yet Sever’s heart blazed with the fire of justice. Beside him, Thomas, steadfast and true, offered words of courage, his voice a clarion in the crisp morn. Above, Rabbit, keen-eyed and swift, wheeled through the sky, his bow a song of death poised to sing. Mustang, Sever’s noble Pegasus, stamped the air, his wings aglow with the first rays of sunlight, while the Pegasi of Thomas and Rabbit soared nearby, their grace a silent vow of victory. In Sever’s hand was Were’shbane, the intelligent blade, its voice rich and resonant, proclaiming, “Aye, lad, these brutes’ll taste our steel this morn!”

Below, five Hill Giants, brutish tyrants of these mountains, strode toward their home, their laughter a grating blasphemy against the dawn’s quiet. Their hides were thick, their clubs like fallen oaks, yet they knew not the doom that descended. With a nod to Thomas and a glance to Rabbit, Sever leapt from Mustang’s back, his heart a drum of war. The Wings of Flying, ancient and enchanted, unfurled at his command, and he plunged through the crystalline air, a falcon stooping upon its prey. Were’shbane growled, “Strike true, Sever! Let their blood paint the ground!”

The giants, dulled by gluttony, saw him not. The wind sang in Sever’s ears, and for two fleeting moments, the world held its breath. In the first, Sever struck, Were’shbane biting deep into the first giant’s neck. The force of his dive, doubled by the fury of his charge, cleaved through flesh and bone, and the brute fell, lifeless, a mountain toppled. “Hah! One down, lad!” Were’shbane roared. Sever’s second stroke, swift as lightning, tore into another, rending its hide and drawing a bellow of pain that echoed off the fort’s walls. Blood stained the snow, and the remaining giants’ eyes widened in terror, for they beheld him now—a wrathful storm clad in mortal form, with a blade that spoke of their doom.

Above, Rabbit’s bow sang its deadly hymn from his Pegasus’ back. Twelve arrows flew, swift as thought, and eight found their mark, piercing the giants’ flesh like thorns of retribution. The brutes staggered, their strength sapped, their resolve crumbling. In the second moment of surprise, Sever finished the wounded giant, its lifeless form crashing to the earth, a monument to his might.

The battle proper began, and the giants rallied, their clubs swinging with desperate force. Yet Sever was the master of this dance. Were’shbane, guided by the strength of his wielder's thews and the ranger’s art, hummed with power, its double edge honed by enchantments. Initiative was Sever’s, though the rhythm of his twin strikes needed no such edge. A third giant fell, its skull cloven by Sever’s unyielding wrath. Rabbit’s arrows wove a tapestry of pain, softening the fourth for Sever’s killing blow. Together, they brought the brute low, its body a ruin upon the frost.

The fifth giant, alone now, swung wildly, its club a futile gesture against Sever’s aerial grace. Two dire wolves, snarling minions of the giants, leapt skyward, their jaws snapping at Sever, but they found only air. Sever was untouchable, a storm beyond their reach.

Nearby, a group of orcs, wretched prisoners of the giants, seized their chance and fled into the woods. The dire wolves, driven by instinct, gave chase, their howls fading into the morning’s light.

One final round, one final foe. Initiative was Sever’s once more, and with Thomas’ steadfast gaze from his Pegasus and Rabbit’s arrows as his heralds, Sever descended upon the last Hill Giant. Were’shbane roared, “Finish it, Sever! Send this lout to his maker!” The giant fell, its life extinguished, its tyranny ended. The southeastern slopes were silent once more, save for the soft beat of Mustang’s wings as he rejoined Sever, and the distant cries of the freed orcs, now scattered to the winds.

Sever the Wrathful stood amidst the carnage, his breath steaming in the cold, Were’shbane dripping with the blood of the vanquished. The Hill Giant fort loomed nearby, yet no alarm stirred its walls, no cry of vengeance broke the stillness. The giants’ crude wealth lay strewn about: belts of rough hide, sacks of pilfered coin, perhaps treasures wrested from the mountain’s depths. Sever might pause to claim their spoils, searching their fallen forms for what riches they bore. Or he might depart, Mustang’s wings ready to bear him hence, to pursue the freed orcs or seek new perils. Perchance another path called, some deed yet unseen in this land of frost and shadow. The choice was Sever’s, and the Bandit Mountains waited upon his will. What deeds would he wrought next in this land of frost and fire?

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 113 (Machodor #64): Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Frojef

  

 

Timekeeping

This session began on May 8th, 2025, with the player characters adventuring until May 9th. Downtime for these characters begins the next day.

Player Characters Present

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Paul (P1) & Poindexter (M3)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5) and Rhoikos (M2)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)

Bumblebore  (Level 5 Magic User of Machodor, wielder of the Wand of Paralysation) and Firedrake Familiar O'Malfoy

Downtime

Last session the party was forced to return to the Ice Castle after a battle with Orcs and so were unable to reach the Hill Giant fort that had been their original Target. Meanwhile, Sever and his henchman continued to pursue the remaining fleeing orcs into the morning. He caught up with the trail of a group that had been in some sort of altercation with, by all indications, giants. Ranger tracking confirmed that some of the orcs were killed and the others left with some giants in the direction of the hill giant fort. He decided to forgo tracked and raced towards the steading, and managed to catch 5 hill giants herding the orcs with the help of some Dire Wolves. He then threw caution to the wind and launched at the giants with his Wings of Flying. What followed was brutal. 

Session Report

Though the day was coming to an end as they approached the steading, the party were cautious, letting Sever land in the dire wolf area (22) while Invisible so he could cast Speak with Animals. He managed to persuade the creatures to leave with him, and he brought them to a spot safely away from the future action. Although this greatly improved their chances of infiltrating the steading without detection, it did take a bit of time to pull off and the skies were darkening as they prepared their next move.

Finally they were ready to go in. Or at least they though they were. Although I'd given them the dimensions of the place and ample to time to map the outside in detail, they appeared to have underestimated the size of the place and how many giants they would find inside. Oh well, they would soon learn. They focused on the watch tower on the west of the steading. The plan was for Sever to attack the guard up there while the party landed in the Rocket Cycle, covered in Invisibility 10' Radius, right at the front door. However as they passed over the place it was clear that now two hill giants were alert in the tower and three more were moving about in the dire wolf pen.

Combat #1: Sever vs 2 Hill Giants

Rounds: 2 surprise segments

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Sever swooping in like batman and taking out both giants in segments.

The Rocket Cycle group landed and then decided not to go in the front door, wary of traps and not being sure of what was waiting for them. I was dumbfounded as they instead they lifted off and passed right back over the top of the steading to come into the open area (22), where the wolves used to be, and where they now knew were alert hill giant sentries. This left Sever hanging inside, with no idea what they were doing. I kept my meddling thoughts to myself and it turned out there was indeed method to the madness.

Combat #2: Giuseppe vs 3 Hill Giants

Rounds: 2

Result: Party Victory

Highlights: Giuseppe quaffed his potion of Hill Giant control (a very fortunate find in the Orc loot from last session!) and snagged one of them under his control. The rest of the gang dropped out of the Invisible 10' Radius Rocket Cycle and quickly defeated the other two.

 The charmed giant was heading into the out buildings (23) when Giuseepe stopped him and got him to understand that they wanted to see the boss. Slowly the big dummy considered the paladin's words, and then led them into the main steading and right into the Great Hall (11). He then proceeded to charge right up to the high table where Chief Frojef* looked up in surprise at his ally. The party now had the great fortune of 2 segments of surprise. Instead of charging in right then, the party wisely used their surprise segments to set themselves up to defend the entrance, though it was a bit of a stretch at 20' wide. Then it was Bumblebore's big chance to shine; he did not disappoint.

KABOOM!

I consulted the spell description for the area of effect and compared that to the size of the room. Although famously too big for some dungeon locations, the great hall had plenty of room for a Fireball to expand into, and the spot Bumblebore had targeted caused all the occupants to be effected. Rather than let this go to his head, the magic user saw the resulting tide of giants coming his way and went Invisible.

 

Combat #3: Everyone vs All the Hill Giants

Rounds: 5 + 2 Surprise Segments 

Result: Party Victory (Close!)

Highlights: For the first time in a Machodor session a magic user got to cast Fireball. All the giants, as indicated in the module, were in this room; minus 5 that had been killed by Sever in downtime, so they needed that AOE goodness which brought down most of the giants hit points by approximately 50%. This happened after party's archers fired in the second segment and most of their arrows had the name of Mrs Frojef on them, she was dead before the fight really started.

Meanwhile, Server had killed two sleeping giants at the bottom of the watch tower and had worked his way to the door right outside the south entrance to the great hall (11). Once he had heard the start of the fight I allowed him to burst through with his henchman right behind him. 

There was a collective tightening of belts as the remaining fifteen or so giants charged the main group of the party. We had a brief discussion about how many should be able to attack each party member and then the discord dice bot had a workout. Back at the high table, a Cloud Giant and two of three stone giants kept out of the fray, while one stone giant had joined the attack on the party and went after Giuseppe. Chief Frojef, his sub-chief, and his cave bear killed the charmed hill giant and then rallied some surviving ogres to intercept Sever.  The next rounds were a slug fest with giants and PC hit points dropping in rapid and in approximate unity. Bumblebore had O'Malfoy strafe the giants which helped significantly. The poor rocket cycle, used as an impromptu fortification, was nearly destroyed; but somehow the front ranks, with Giuseppe and Sheamus, prevailed. Sever eventually took down Chief Frojef--and was looking around for more--when he saw that the remaining enemies, the cloud and two stone giants, had grabbed furniture to use as a shield and were backing out of the room, heading west. Although very keen to pursue, the party's resources were tapped out; they gathered up the loot that was to hand (quite a bit!) and withdrew to the Ice Castle.

* Dorrinal pointed out to me later how it was canonical the Chief Nosnra was in Steadford, something I didn't know but fitted well my my naming of this tribal chief.

DM Notes

Obviously, this session was dependent on the module "G1, Steading of the Hill Giant Chief". Even though it is only 12 pages, there's still a lot going on here and I found it easy to work with it. The main thing that jumped out at me was the centrality of the on-going feast, everything else on revolves around it; but the moment a serious challenge to the giants arises, that goes right out the window, and Gary says, "If time permits, the giants will organize traps, ambushes, and last ditch defences against continuing forays into their stronghold. You must work up such cases and plans according to existing circumstances, but assuming clever advice to the giants." These two compact sentences transform the location into a very dynamic one, and it has been enjoyable to do exactly as he says here over the ensuing weeks.

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 36 Miles

Combats: 4

Combat rounds: 8

Treasure & Items

Ruby studded bear collar 1,000gp, 
Grunt Hill Giant jewellery: some fireball damaged, value reduced by 50%, some burned by O'Malfoy's gross breath weapon, further 25% reduction to 9,318gp and some undamaged 10,350 gp

Leader Giant jewellery: 43,100gp

Ogre jewellery: (fireball damaged 50%) 1,150gp

Loot from Chief Frojef's hall: mostly worthless nick-nacks and books on obscure subjects (in giant-ish). 

Magical Shield +3 800xp

gem worth 2000gp

Total value: 66,918gp & 67718xp

Monsters

23 Hill Giants 43,672 XP

Chief Frojef 3,160 XP

1 Stone Giant  2,402 XP

4 Ogres 865 XP 

1 Cavebear 819 XP

118,636 XP & 66,918 GP  Assignment

Sever (E) 16,948 XP & 9560 GP

 and Poindexter (E) 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

 and Paul (E) 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

Giuseppe (E) 16,948 XP & 9560 GP

  and Bishoy 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

  and Tawadros 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

  and Rhoikos (E)  8,474 XP & 4780  GP

Shaemus (E) 16,948 XP & 9560 GP

  and McScales (E) 8,474 XP & 4780  GP

Bumblebore (E) 16,948 XP & 9560 GP

Graveyard

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39

Macho Mandalf's Accelerated Maturation

Rationale: The use of the 3rd level spell Haste to bring creatures to maturation sooner was resulting deaths after System Shock failures. This spell is designed to make the use of Haste for this purpose obsolete.

Macho Mandalf's Accelerated Maturation (Alteration)

Level: 4 

Components: V, S, M

Range: Touch 

Casting Time: 1 turn

Duration: Permanent 

Saving Throw: Negates

Area of Effect: One creature

Explanation/Description: When this spell is cast a flex of arcane might surges through the target, hastening the natural flow of time within its form to bring forth maturity ahead of schedule. This spell ages a single creature by 5 years instantly, advancing its physical and mental development to match—be it a young warrior bulking into peak strength or a fledgling beast growing to full ferocity. Unlike the reckless haste of lesser spells, this enchantment tempers the shock of rapid aging, granting the target a +4 bonus to his Constitution for the System Shock roll to withstand the strain.

The caster intones a deep, resonant chant, flexing both hands in a gesture of raw power, while crushing a pinch of diamond dust (worth 100 gp) mixed with a drop of the caster’s own sweat—symbolizing life’s vigour and time’s passage. If the target fails his saving throw vs. spell, the aging takes hold, maturing muscles, sharpening instincts, and deepening wisdom as appropriate to the creature’s kind. A fledgling dragon might gain a size category, a squire could harden into a seasoned fighter, or a sapling beast might sprout to its prime.

However, time’s touch is not without cost. If the System Shock roll (per PHB, p. 12) fails, the creature becomes unconscious, though death is not an automatic fate as with lesser magics, it will occur within 24 hours if the recipient does not receive a Heal spell. Willing subjects may forgo the saving throw, embracing the transformation, but the System Shock roll remains. Creatures already at or beyond their natural maturity gain no benefit, and undead, constructs, or beings immune to aging are unaffected.

Material Component: Diamond dust (100 gp) and a drop of the caster’s sweat, consumed in the casting.

Notes:

• Consult the DM for specific effects on growth, strength, or abilities based on the creature’s type and age categories (e.g., DMG, p. 13, for character aging; MM, for monster maturation).

So, what did all this cost?

Dungeon Masters Guide Page 115, Spell Research                                       Accelerated Maturation

Although a great library of arcana exists in the Minas Mandalf Keep, for this spell the University Library was used for reference. 

Duration of research: 4 Week base (minimum 5)

Chance of Success: 10 base +20 (Int) +17 (level) - 8 (spell level *2) = 39%

Note that according to the above formula, adjusting the chance of success upwards is VERY expensive. A domain would need to be at least an order of magnitude more wealthy to consider such spending.

However, when you consider the conditions under which spell research is possible, the cost in time may well be a bigger loss; if you have the money then finishing the spell research ASAP could indeed be worth it.

Results

Base cost 800 gp per week.

Weekly variable of 400 to 1600gp for additional materials. 

Duration of research: 4 Week base (with a minimum of 5)

Macho Mandalf was successful on week 1, and the total expenditure ended up at 4,400 gp. Let's hope this results in a saving compared to using Haste.

 

Trollopulous Adjusted Session 112 (Machodor #63): Let's check on the Ice Pyramid

  

"That's just ice falling from the Pegasus' hooves, right?"

Timekeeping

This session took place on 01/05/2025, and the PCs adventured for 3 days.

Player Characters Present

Slippery Pete (Level 9 Thief, wearer of the Hat of Disguise and wielder of the Black Dagger)

Sever the Wrathful (Level 8 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchmen Thomas (C4) & Rabbit (FMT 2/2/3)

Giuseppe (Level 7 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of the Dragonslayer and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy and Tawadros (F5) and Rhoikos (M2)

Sheamus (Level 7 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade) with henchman McScales (Lizardman F4)

Gurt the Green (Level 6 Paladin of Machodor, wielder of the Liberator+3, bearer of the Fabled Ice Jewel of Frigia, rider of Artax) with henchman Solaire (F3) and Anri (M4) and Cedric (C1)

Downtime

There are two kinds of really good downtime actions: those that might set the seeds for future adventure, and those that shave off time that would otherwise be used up in session. During the couple of weeks since session #62 the players were off doing various things of the first kind, including an exploration off the map by Giuseppe. What was there? It just so happened the I had been reading G1 and decided this was perfect for the place for a hill giant steading. Now I know module usage is a bit of a no no, but after reading it I thought to myself, "Self, what is the worst that can happen? They might just ignore it". And when the session started the players set off to somewhere they had never been before as a group. That's just a normal Thursday for a BROSR DM.

Session Report

Sever's henchmen had been keeping tabs on the Ice Pyramid, an enigmatic structure presumed to be associated with the Master of Winter in some way; but, so far, little explored by the players and then only in down time. As it happened, recent scouting just missed certain events there, so there was little news to go off. It was time to go there and see for themselves. Sat in the Ice Castle, there was much discussion among the players as to the precise route to take, and whether to bring their troops along with them. I consulted my "avalanche risk table" and waited for them to come to a conclusion. In the end they decided to send some guys off to Guarda (I forget why now) and only take Sever's Pegasus scouts and those who could fit on the Rocket Cycle. The exception here was Giuseppe, who split the difference by riding Bonecrusher—with his magic horse shoes—which would allow him to easily scale mountains.

Giuseppe chose the pass marked with X

After a few hours’ flight from the Ice Castle, Sheamus, Sever, and their companions arrived at the Ice Pyramid. Unlike their last aerial scouting by Sever's henchmen, who had found the structure had sealed shut but was otherwise dormant, now its icy walls radiated arcane power and malevolence. They landed nearby and, after probing the glowing runes with to no avail, Sheamus touched one of the swirling sigils on the Pyramid’s face, only to be stunned for his troubles. As Sheamus stood unresponsive, someone suggested using the Erase spell on a rune, but Sever's henchman, who knew the spell, remained at Fort Wrath. Undaunted, Sever resolved to retrieve him, a mere few hours’ flight on Mustang.

Meanwhile Giuseppe's approach was interrupted. Bad luck, or Yeti?

Click to see how he escaped disaster!

Sever returned from Fort Wrath with Rabbit, who cast Erase on a glowing rune, but alas, the sigil was unaffected by the spell, its magic unyielding. Giuseppe now arrived astride Bonecrusher, accompanied by a new ally, Bjorn the Were-bear, who bore a grim tale. Last year (way back in session 51), Bjorn had witnessed the Master of Winter’s brutal raid on Gimmelwald, powerless to halt the slaughter. Ever since, he had prowled the Bandit Mountains, seeking vengeance. A month prior, under the full moon’s light, he had tracked the Master himself, borne aloft on a dragon at the head of his frost-wreathed troops. Though unable to strike, Bjorn had observed a strange ritual at the Ice Pyramid, its runes flaring as a Yeti leader chanted, the Master’s troops vanishing in an icy flash while the Master departed, bearing the a torque he had certainly not worn before. Captivated by this lore drop, the party pondered its import, though its value to them remained uncertain.

Bjorn

Having spent hours probing the Ice Pyramid’s secrets to little avail, the party deemed their investigation complete and turned to Giuseppe’s tale of hill giants he had spied during recent travels, resolving to confront them for what they hoped would be a swift victory with tangible rewards.

Having returned to the Ice Castle by dusk, the party rallied Giuseppe’s Swords! unit—seventy heavy footmen—their other troops scattered across the Bandit Mountains and thus unavailable. The next morning they set forth on a two-day march toward the hill giant fort, while Sever and his Pegasus Corps would scout the stronghold from the skies. After a day’s vigilance, their aerial watch revealed some fifteen giants lumbering forth to patrol, hunt, or guard the rugged crags, alongside six dire wolves stalking the shadows.

Sever rejoined Giuseppe’s Swords unit and reported while they were establishing camp for the night in a rugged valley. Nightfall descended and most of the players threw themselves down to sleep, perhaps dreaming of hill giants and treasure.

At the dead of night, a sentry’s cry rang out from the camp’s edge, "ORCS!"

Combat #1: Ambushed by 180 Orcs

Rounds: 4 (party win, party win, enemy routs, party pursues)

Result: Costly Party Victory

Highlights: The orcs, having stealthily encircled Giuseppe’s Swords unit, surged from all sides, their war cries shattering the silence. Somehow the party prevailed in a deadly mass combat.

There are a few ways to handle a combat of this kind, but for me I tend to immediately slip into the scaling mode and mass combat as I have shown in previous session reports; however beginning the fight camped for the night added some challenges since I usually only do that with the party alone. This prompted me to treat it as a standard night encounter in determining who was ready to respond to the attack immediately and apply similar methods to the troops.

Of the fourteen in the party—Sheamus, Giuseppe, Sever, Slippery Pete, Gurt, and nine henchmen, including two pure casters—I excluded the casters from watch duties. So, for each three-hour watch period over the twelve-hour night, three characters stood guard. By rolling three times I determined that, during the ambush, Giuseppe, his henchman Tawadros, and Sever were on duty, positioned at opposite ends of the camp. I assigned ten footmen from the Swords! unit to guard duty, while the rest, unarmoured, scrambled to respond grabbing shields and spears at Giuseppe's urging.

In hindsight, I should have asked the party about their camp's disposition, as their lack of input led to misunderstandings about positioning. Generating terrain features for the valley would have helped with verisimilitude. Anyway, working with what I had, I ruled that the orcs, undetected until their assault, had closed to melee range, granting them an initial advantage without formal surprise. This limited the party’s ability to charge, though I ultimately allowed it, reasoning that Giuseppe, Tawadros, and Sever were not right on the front line maintained by the troops. I even allowed mounts to be used where it seemed appropriate.

The Battle of Orcs Drift

All this turned a potentially long battle into something well under 30 minutes. Sever with his extra attack in the first round, plus charging, was the first to do damage; with his lance he totalled 52 on his first hit. Now in a standard 1:1 scale battle that's one very dead orc, but in mass scale at 1:10, the effect is like a "Cleave", and can apply to more than one orc. The damage is adjusted for scale, 5.2, and applied to the average hit points for a 10 orc "square", 4.5, so one square of 10 was gone, with 0.7 hp left over and recorded as "wounds" for the unit. Giuseppe now added his damage as well, the Swords! unit had their go, then the Orcs rolled their remaining attackers. With most of their targets only protected by a shield, the orcs caused 6 casualties out of 7 squares of Giuseppe's unit, effectively eliminating the whole bunch. This was a major setback; but, if the party could somehow hold the field, many men could still be saved. Sever switched to his two handed sword after his charge, did more damage and wiped out another unit of 10 orcs, while Giuseppe did damage with his second attack.

While this was going on the remainder of the party were waking up and deciding what to do, most choosing to grab a weapon and fight, but Sheamus, always concerned for his armour, set about getting dressed by McScales (and missed the whole battle doing so, earning himself an S rating).

Next round, with Sever having cleared a way straight through the enemy front ranks, he reached the leader put him down. The morale of these orcs failed immediately afterwards and the remainder fled. Still in mass combat mode, Sever gave chase with some others, while the healers and paladins worked on the fallen. I applied the same scaling to their healing, i.e. total it and divide by 10 then apply the the unit the result saved men who would otherwise have died. In the aftermath, the orcs had left behind a nice collection of wagons for the party to claim as their own. These came in handy to load up the many wounded and drag themselves back to the Ice Castle. The Giants would have to wait. I wondered if they players would get side tracked away and not return for a year (Spoiler: they did not).

Session Statistics: 

Wilderness travel: 36 Miles

Combats: 1

Combat rounds: 4

Treasure & Items

682ep,5000cp,3000sp

12 gems:50,10,10,50,1000,10,500,500,500,500,500,100:3730gp

3 potions: Hill Giant Control, Invisibility, and Diminution: 1050xp

total value: 4,246 GP, 5296 XP

Monsters

100 Orcs 1500 XP

6,796 XP & 4,246 GP Assignment

Slippery Pete (E) 715 XP & 447 GP

Sever (E) 715 XP & 447 GP

 and Poindexter (E) 358 XP &  223 GP

 and Thomas (E) 358 XP &  223 GP

Giuseppe (E) 715 XP & 447 GP

  and Bishoy 358 XP &  223 GP

  and Tawadros 358 XP &  223 GP

  and Rhoikos (E)  358 XP &  223 GP

Shaemus (E) 715 XP & 447 GP

  and McScales (E) 358 XP &  223 GP

Gurt the Green (E) 358 XP &  223 GP

  and Solaire (E)  358 XP &  223 GP

  and Anri (E)   358 XP &  223 GP

  and Cedric (E) 358 XP &  223 GP

Graveyard

Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106

Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87

Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session  #86

Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3),  killed by a hydra bite in session  #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81

Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4),  killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81

Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD

Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72

Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67

Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43

Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe in the head in session #39

Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2)  Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39

Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39