Diablo 3 - Back from Sanctuary

Once again it certainly has been some time since I last had the chance to bring you any updates from the life of the geek.  As some of you might have noticed, the updates suddenly stopped popping in around the 15^th of May and have been in hibernation ever since. So yes, I’ve been caught in Sanctuary for the last month.

We’re doing quite well there at the time being. I originally rolled up a Witch Doctor as this was my beloved child pretty much from the very first intro-video Blizzard made. As we slowly  progressed, some friends and I, I didn’t approve much for his play style, especially that the use of minions was disapproved the further I got into the game. My poor zombie dogs were obliterated and I kept to my towering zombie-hulk despite of what everyone said. Eventually, after spending a certain amount of gold on him, I decided to reroll a barbarian. Some people would laugh at me for this, pointing out their low viability on later difficulties if you weren’t ready to sacrifice millions of gold on the gear. But I’m a gear-whore, this didn’t discourage me.

At this time of writing we’re part of the 1.9% of players who’ve progressed into Inferno mode and as you’ve likely heard things really beef it up in there. Inferno was intended to be hard, borderline masochism. When we entered Hell we got our asses handed to us initially because we didn’t care much for gear. But we quickly upgraded an caught on the pace. The same story more or less repeats itself now, albeit in a MUCH slower pace.

We’re teaming two barbarians and two wizards. A lot of people are pointing out the unhealthy scaling going on in inferno, discouraging you from actually bringing friends in there. There is a certain element of truth to this statement. I don’t have any specific numbers, but gathered we’re talking something around +110% health and +15% damage per extra player entering the game, to each mob. That’s some numbers. Do feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

At the time of writing we’re holding up with four players, actually quite smoothly. Both me and my friend play tanking barbarians and I’ve recently hit the 40k hp marker with about 700+ in all resistances and 6000+ armor. With my String of Ears and around 700 life steal I do manage to keep myself floating through most elites and even the butcher has a hard time killing me. Still, I can’t help the feeling that we’re somehow caught in limbo between act 1 (which we seem to soon overgear) and 2 (which simply smashes us whenever an elite shows up…). I’m about to soon try out soloing some act 2, but I’m pretty certain my stats still aren’t good enough for it.

We’re having a great time running act 1 together and hanging out (which is frankly what Diablo should be all about; smashing monsters with your friends!). I do wonder, however, whenever this will become tedious or even worse, force us to play separate games in order to stand a chance? Plenty of people on the WoW-forums (which, I admit, is far from the best place to gather constructive criticism) point out the problem once they hit act 2-3 and would rather play alone. If this is indeed the case, I truly do see a problem here. I rarely whine about difficulties and we could always have a go at Hell again, of course. But we’ve enjoyed the challenge of act 1 which feels just about right for us. But I never think I’ve seen a game punish people for playing together?

 Of course this COULD be a way to say that everyone has to pull his weight; after all – free loaders are never encouraged, and just having one of them with +110% health to all mobs is serious business. In this regard there are several factors, such as not everyone having the time or gear or luck to have gear, or the fact that melee-classes (monk+barbarians) really need a LOT more preparation before going into Inferno than, say, wizards and demon hunters. I don’t know the answer here; I’ve felt it and for sure I’m not the one killing much in Inferno when we four-player it. I get in the way, I can take a severe beating from many mobs and allow our wizards to blast them to pieces and in solo games I truck along nicely, rarely dying. But in four player-games, I don’t kill much at all. Alternatively is getting a great 2-hander, which sacrifices much needed defense usually needed for melee contact.

The servers have been a nightmare. I’m not going into the rights or wrongs or whatever of this, just say that it pisses me off. I have great sympathy for those not able to play the game or had to wait days before they could get on. I really do, and it perplexes me that a game as Blizzard, with so many years of MMO/online experience, can drop the ball so severely. Still, I do believe I’m one of the lucky ones in this regard.

I will, however, rate Diablo 3 a full 8/10 experience as it has kept me captivated for soon three weeks and no other game has been granted time ever since. My minor issues with it are certainly there, including the co-op scaling issue. Lots of people have hated on the loot-system and I will agree it seems flawed at the moment. Blue items and particularly yellow-rare items can easily equal or surpass unique’s (which are now known as ‘Legendaries’). Diablo 2 fans likely remember the best in slot unique items that were the dream of every class, the end all-be all drops. Of course these had internal variations as the stats were randomly determined, but you were pretty sure that if you were a summon-mancer, Arm of King Leoric was usually never a bad deal. 

This feeling of uniqueness is severely diminished in Diablo 3 and I’m sad to see it, even though I DO understand the point they’re trying to make. It’s a step away from the WoW-notion that best in slot items shouldn’t exist and just because you have a legendary it isn’t the best you can get. The thing is, some (if not, quite a lot) of said legendaries, are downright terrible. Whereas some, such as weapons, can have good stat bonuses, the average damage on the weapon is simply too low compared to, say, a blue inferno item with LOTS of extra damage. And at this time in the game, said weapon can be picked up from the auction house for a modest sum of gold. Several of the ‘interesting’ affixes from Diablo 2 such as the ‘can not be frozen’ or the casting of unusual spells or abilities outside your class-domain, well; they’re gone. It’s all RNG now. Some people will love this, some won’t.

The problem as I see it, is that there will ALWAYS be best in slot; things most players desire. Blizzard has made sure that these have become much harder to get, especially since so much is randomly generated now, and therefore the time invested getting them is dramatically increased. If you ever get it at all. Of course you always have the auction house, which does indeed seem to be the central crux of the game as such. When I leveled my barbarian and approached the later stages of Hell, I have to bluntly admit I spent millions on the auction house preparing for Inferno. Even then, I’ve likely spent 3 millions in addition to get the gear needed. Some of it even from Act 3 and 4 from Inferno. Alternatively, you would be stuck on Hell grinding for a whole long time. At the time of writing, the Gold AH is the sole supplier, with real money AH entering sometime this summer. The prices on the good stuff and the few great legendaries are downright through the roof, up to 25 million gold for a single item. Only time will tell whether the advent of cold cash-shopping will bring this market to a crash, or even turn it into a barren wasteland.

There is no doubt that Blizzard has intended for the AH to be an important part of the game, especially in regards to Inferno. Perhaps too big a part of the game, one could wonder. As there is no doubt in my mind that Inferno will eventually get nerfed in difficulty, we might see the RMAH have golden days for quite some time. Grinding 25 million gold in game takes time and the people that seem to make a smashing turnover at the AH are those flipping items or being able to sell drops from the later Inferno acts. For me there has been little use in selling all but a very few items dropped from Hell and Inferno act 1, meaning you’d do yourself a favor to learn to play the AH or simply hog your gold and wait for prizes to crash.

The gold-selling sites are likely seeing a good era as well, offering gold in million-packs for hundreds of dollars. At this time in the game, the reasonable solution seems to involve a deep breath and patience for times to grow more reasonable. In the end, it all depends on your patience and whether you support the purchase of items, ofc.

I’m not really a huge fan of the story, I’ll have to admit. There were some really good ideas initially and while it did catch up during the first act and managed to add in some more in the second, it felt like all the air left the balloon in the third and fourth act. Also, the cinematics are all well and good, but they are certainly not the epic narrative masterpieces we saw of Marius and his journey from Diablo 2. In a sense, this seems like a waste in a Blizzard game. Also, the villains fall quite flat, ranging from stereotypical to boring to downright comical and pathetic, such as a purple fairy in a dress, looking like she belongs in a Disney Movie instead.

The levels are far from as mazy as we grew used to in the previous two games. Sometimes they are almost one long line doing some twists and turns and at other times they can feel a bit longer. You get to enjoy much of the scenery, of course, which is downright beautiful, but you can’t help muttering “It’s only a model…” at times. Some of them CAN take time, but we’re a long way from Kurast Sewer.

But all in all I’ve come to forgive Diablo 3 for its faults as it’s a good and solid game, deepdown. It’s a tried formula that works and doesn’t really try to be anything else. We, as fans, have to realize that it isn’t Diablo 2, for good and ill, and from there on decide whether we can live with that or not. In a recent article Blizzard stated that they would look into the legendary-issue and some of the Inferno difficulty. This sounds promising in my ears. We can hope for an expansion later on, which will bring back and perhaps reintroduce some of the elements the hardcore Diablo 2-fans yearn for (yours truly included) such a rune-words and bigger/more detailed levels.

If you’re on the fence regarding this game, there will be a trial-edition from what I’ve understood. It’s definitely worth to give it a go and see whether you like it. I have no doubt that Diablo 3 will hold a healthy amount of affection from my side in the times to come!

Now; drop that friggin Stormshield!

Day 12 – A usual day in your life/online time

We're swiftly heading towards the end of the 20-day blogging challenge on this day, the 12th, in which we'll discuss a typical day in my life/online time.

In this regard it's interesting to notice how the challenge slightly deviates from the original WoW-centered theme and instead take on a more general aspect. This is just as well, I might add, as at the current type of writing I'm not active in World of Warcraft but instead look forward to the hellish horizon of Diablo 3.

I do, however, find it more than fair to include examples from both fronts, so this is what you'll get.

So let's start out with the most relevant section, my life as it is.

I work at a hospital, around the middle of Denmark, and have some traveltime in between, so I usually get up around 6 in the morning in order to check in around 8. I like my silent free time during the morning, in which I have the chance to wake up, eat and read comics. Yes, I have an obsessive need to read comics during breakfast, especially Donald Duck, otherwise the day will quickly turn very sour.

Upon arriving at the hospital, my nerd-genes immediately set in and I usually buy a soda early on (yes, I hear the puritans out there screaming. You can run along now. Nothing new to see here). It's quite important it's cold, otherwise I have hell of a time waking up. For the same reason I rarely schedule patients before 9, as I can be a really slow waker, some days.

I specifically work in a clinic for anxiety-treatment and exactly how my day is structured varies greatly, as some are really hard and others barely involve anything but meetings. My general responsibility lies within individual treatment (with cognitive behavioral therapy), group treatment and participating in the planning of upcoming initiatives. It's a solid work in which I have a great influence on my processes and schedule. Needless to say, it also pays in more ways than cold, hard cash.

It's not unusual that I'm home around nine hours later, a time which I am fond of calling ”real life”. I usually get some kind of supper, albeit I'm not the type that eat much, before heading on with whatever project I have currently on my desk. It usually falls within the Warhammer, Pathfinder og PC-gaming category; it truly depends on what's popular. At this time of writing I'm in the process of painting my Vampire Counts-army, so tonight will likely consist of Corpse Cart painting.

Of course there is also the blogging. I find some time to do this in my breaks at work; other times it really needs to be done from home, especially due to time restrains and technical aspects of, say, videos.

I'm notoriously bad at getting to bed as well. Hardly a huge surprise for my kind of people, but it bears repeating. In this regard I mean; seriously, notoriously bad. We're not talking the casual 15 minutes here and there, herp derp. No; I mean hours. Literally hours. It's not that uncommon that I go to bed three or four hours before getting up for work again. It is therefore with good reason that, should you ever have the chance to meet me, you'll notice how tired I look most of the time. That's just things working as intended. I count on this to go on till the day I drop. As I'm anyway going to sleep the majority of my life away as I get older, I intend to push myself to the limit when I have the energy.

And on the following day it all goes on.

There are of course the special days, which are still typical in the sense they are recurring on a weekly basis, or so. Wednesdays are always Pathfinder nights, in which we work hard to complete Carrion Crown at the moment. It's not a massive session, but we usually do manage to play for just about five'ish hours a week, which is fine by me. I've heard other groups are struggling to play five hours a month.

Then once a month, usually there is Warhammer gatherings.

On a typical day off, I generally just start from ”real life” and do that all day. I feel best concentrating getting one thing done rather than distributing my energy across several projects. Also, I catch up on the missing sleep, sometimes meaning I sleep 11-12 hours in a row. Life is great.

Regarding the online-life, I never really had much structure whenever I logged on to WoW, although I do remember often grinding on one time at the time. Such as getting my motorbike or the Insane in the Membrane achievement. I usually felt that I truly needed a grand purpose for logging on, otherwise I just derped around in the capital cities doing nothing. Perhaps this is also one of the reasons for my prolonged absence. I remember when being in a guild, I'd often log in some hours in advance to farm soul shards (remember, when they were items that went into your inventory?) and mats for the raid. Usually I ended up grinding way more than needed since I knew some people would inevitabely forget. I do get altruistic at times, I suppose.

I've never been good at daily quests at all. I wish it was so, but even at the start of Cata, in which I forced them upon myself, I broke down (almost) sobbing in the end by the mere thought of another Deepholme sweep.

This day it's pretty much the grown-up routine whenever I log on to the net. The facebook, e-mail, twitter and the few communities I participate in. I have a tendency to keep them all open at the same time, which is a massive time-consumer, and yet I'm a sucker for prying on other people. They will just have to deal with the fact.

Carrion Crown: Wake of the Watcher pt. 5 (video)

So I'm proud to present the conclusion of chapter 4 of the Pathfinder Carrion Crown-series, and also the first audio-review of the adventure as given below. With the usual slights and errors here and there, I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I hope it will be of use to someone out there!

Day 11 - Your worst habits and flaws

Moving on with the programme we enter the 11th day of this blogging-challenge, which carries the headline ”Bad habits and flaws”. I admit I had some reservation about this one, not out of fear of revelations but due to unawareness. Ask just about anyone I know and they'll certainlt agree on some of my flaws, whereas others (mysef included) will likely present an entirely different picture.

So for this very reason, what you get is my person opinion about things that make me a lesser person. It won't necesarily be pretty, and far from all are related to WoW.

1) Unforgiving

 One thing pretty much everyone agrees upon is my uncanny talent for carrying a grudge. I don't deny it. In fact, you can pretty much point out any name in my social circle and I will be able to name at least one incidence in which I felt wronged by them. Sometimes this is nothing more than verbal ammo gathering dust in the far recesses of the mind, for the day we're going to have a gunfight of blame. At other times I make absolutely sure to mention it as often as possible, often through sarcasm, just in order to piss people off. I take downright childish delight in this.

In continuation of this I am also very prone to anger turned inwards. I'm pretty sure I could pack a punch or take it out physically, but it's too primitive in my book. Instead it tends to become a fuel-source for psychic terror, ridicoule and patronizing, which will likely run amok if I don't catch myself in time. This has a tendency (hardly surprising) to tick off a lot of people around me and at its peak it was quite isolating for me.

I'd remember everything, you have to understand. If I invited you to an arrangement, I'd remember if you left early. If you threw shit at me or my girlfriend, I'd remember it for later. If you smashed me up in a board game turn 1, for no apparent reason, I'd remember in years to come.

Contrary to most belief, this doesn't spring from an evil mechanism or a desire to hurt other people per se. I've always had a brillian mind with a knack for remembering even the strangest of things. It's ironic to say that I have great trouble memorizing bigger and more important aspects of life, such as birthdays, appointments and whether I've done some quite crucial tasks, such as filling out my taxes and so on.

In these modern days it waxes and wanes, mostly being on the good side. But it's certain that people around me might be forgiven but they're never forgotten.

2) Passionate

Is passion a flaw? Well, if you're like me and combine it with the attentionspan of a kitten with ADHD then yeah. One thing is alternating between various interests, but once you start putting serious effort into it at the same time you stand against a serious risk of burning out.

I have a lot of hobbies, it would be fair to say the majority of my waking time (which is a lot) is spent on these. Then start dividing these into sub-domains and there you go. If you still aren't convinced, just imagine how it's like having a couple of free hours one night and chosing between playing warhammer (of which I have four armies, three currently unpainted with about 100 minis in all waiting, also still condering the fifth and starting out 40K), playing computer games (of which I have 15+ games laying in wait to be finished, including titles as Legend of Grimrock, LA Noire, Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect 1+2+3, Amnesia, the Sam&Max series, the new Monkey Island series and of course we have Diablo 3 on the horizon). WoW is a whole chapter in itself (with a mage, warlock, rogue, paladin and druid already on max level and five alts on their way, and my tendency to often go 'YEAH this shall be my new main!!' every now and then) battling The Old Republic in which I really want to try out both the Sith Inquisitor story, the Bounty Hunter Story and also the Smuggler. Oh, and the Jedi. Yeah. On the other hand I could also keep on building my terrainpieces for wargames, of which I have plenty of material laying around just waiting to get started. Or put some of my already existing armies on magnetic bases. I also need to read up on the Carrion Crown-campaign for next session, perhaps even create some of those sidequests I love so much. In addition, I've also taken a huge interest in reading fiction, and started the Dark Elf books, and there are five Discworld books that really need finishing soon, so that might be viable as well.

And did I mention I'm also in the process of writing a book? Yes?

And we're just getting into it by now. Then suddenly it's no mystery why I some times spend up to half an hour staring blankly into the air whenever I have free time to do whatever I want. It often boggles me all down, almost stuns me, with so many options and so little time. It stresses the hell out of me and I wish I could limit my spectrum of interests just by one little bit.

3) Obsessed

 They say it's a psychologist-trait, but fact is; I'm much more inclined to find you interesting for conversation or friendship if 'you're not slightly right'. Certainly you don't have to mad in order to know me (but it helps-ha-ha-ha) but I thrive with quirky people. Experienced people. Those who have seen Life and its bleaker sides and have some stories to tell.

I'd like to click with the average man/woman, really. We'd sit around in the weekend from 18 to 22, talk about our jobs, how much we earn and what car we're going to buy next. And what our children are now doing for a living and how much money they are earning. You know, the things people talk about. Being able to participate with something else than 'Oh yeah, I saw the new Empire models at the store,yesterday. Seriously, those War-griphons look so BAD ASS, don'tcha think?'. Or; 'The other night, my party was THAT close to a TPK when the cleric did the most amazing stunt!'.

”I wonder what other people are doing when I'm having sex? Do they stare blankly into the wall, thinking about how their life feels empty and devoid of adventure and fantasy?”

It's never going to happen. They bore me and I bore them, it's for the common best, trust me.

I've often mused that I'll likely end up dying alone, surrounded by nothing but my Warhammer-Armies. In that case it will be a grand sight to behold. I hope they will play 'Imperial March' at my funeral.

Carrion Crown: Wake of the Watcher pt. 4

(This session consisted of Edgar the human cleric, Colin the halfling paladin, Vincent the human sorcerer, Mutt the human barbarian and Galfur the dwarven inquisitor. All were 9th level and advanced to level 10 at the end).

As the heroes were now burdened with the harsh responisibility of child care they had to make sure someone would care for the abandoned infant. As they returnd to the ever silen Illmarsh they went to knock on Horace Croon's door, carefully avoiding any suspiscious gazes from the nearby houses. Edgar took a quick look through the inventor's window and witnessed a magnificent invention hanging for a massive hook in the middle of the lab. From what he could tell, it was the professor's submersible research craft, only significantly bigger. Apparently, it was hoistered in chains and hooks and a long rubber-tube protruded from its top and travelled to a pile of rubber in the far corner. The professor was eagerly hammering away on the device, only interrupted by the heroes' knocking. He nervously opened up and gladly recognised the familiar faces, letting them in instantly. 

He presented them to his newest and bigger invention, the Submersible 2.0. As he had taken Galfur's advice and deviced a large-scale model, he was quite sure that this magnificent wonder posessed the strength to journey to even the deepest parts of the ocean-floor. It even came with an airlock and several small supplies. Now, all he needed was someone brave enough to partake in its maiden-voyage.

As the heroes knew they'd be going to the base of the tern rocks in the near future, in their search of the sunken Skum-ruins, they agreed after minor hesitation. The condition, however, was that the professor would look over the child and take it into his care. He obliged to this eagerly and asked them about her name. Colin decided for 'Jane'. (Partly because Horace Croon DOES look like the lovechild between Einstein and the father from Disney's ”Tarzan”)

AMIRITE??

They decided not to set out this veyr night, but instead wait till the following evening, giving the professor time to prepare. Instead, they had unsettled business in the old Undiomedes-mansion.

 KANEDA, HELP MEEEE....

The heroes scoured the outer premises and rooms on the first floor and found little but some interesting hints. In the old storeroom they discovered clear signs of struggle, apparently someone had been grappled and dragged away from here. In the corner was an old saddle-bag containing a now empty box that likely used to house a small item. Also, a message was attached instructing the bearer to exchange the item for 'Raven's Head' with a G.L. 

Through some knowledge, Galfur was able to identify the Raven's Head as an ancient artifact-mace that had, supposedly, been lost in the history of Ustalav. The mace was said to house great power against the undead and in the hands of a holy warrior could unleash a terrible holy wrath. It seemed like the mace wasn't so lost, after all.

On another room they also found the horse of the dark rider, carrying the brand of the Thrusmoor stables and now quite starved. After feeding it, they decided to head upstairs and find whether the highpriest of Dagon was still present.

They reached the top of the stairs and opened a door leading into a small lounge, though most of the chairs and comfortable facilities had rotted away through the trials of time. An old portrait of a mighty ship in a storm adorned the eastern wall as well as a rack of beautiful pibes.

Not much got to happen, however, before the southern door went up and the maniac highpriest burst in, madness tearing in his eyes and the sinister bulges swelling from his head. Something slithered beyond. ”YOU! GET OUT! You will NOT survive!” he yelled and cast a blade barrier, splitting the party in two with only Mutt on the southern side. 

The barbarian plunged his halberd into the priest, who in return unleashed a cone of cold against the party for a massive blast of hit points. Vincent dimension doored him, Galfur and Edgar to Mutt's side while Colin remained behind to fire arrows through the wall. Edgar channeled healing and Galfur charged the priest, who quickly noticed the approaching danger of a smiting full attacking paladin. He immediately threw in an obscuring mist to improve his odds, and the party kept Edgar and Vincent at range, while Colin moved close enough to take his shots with 50% miss chance. Even with 20% Mutt and Galfur got in some good rolls against the cornered priest (who was JUST about to use his Harm ... ah well...) and with a gory sound his head exploded in a sinister mass of bloody tentacles. The canker shambled towards them in wild agony, tentacles flailing and grappling and the sight was too much for Mutt for felt a serious decline in his sanity. The canker's tentacles sucked out the charismatic life force of the two melee-fighters and as they finally, after some rounds, were about to land the killing blow, it exploded with another shower; this time of slugspawns. 

In the mist everyone panicked and looked around; both Mutt, Galfur and Edgar noticed them, but sadly the cleric didn't save and a slug hurled itself into his mouth. The same counted for Colin, who was immediately blasted by a wave of cold damage from Vincent. Edgar took to self-surgery and through brutal measure cut open his entire right chin and pulled out the disgusting parasite.

Then silence settled.

(This isn't an overly bad battle, I do think I played it wrong somehow. Again, it's a solo encounter with little room for maneuvre. Ideally, the priest should get the fog cloud up quickly and then maybe trap himself in the far southern corner, leaving only a 5-foot wide way between the wall the the blades, forcing the heroes to split up into one long row. My players simply dealt way too much damage before he could get off his dangerous single-target spells, but I'll easily imagine him to be quite dangerous if played better than I did.
Well, we all have off-days.)

Bible Black

The heroes began searching the remaining rooms on the floor and while they initially seemed empty, in an old library they were greeted by two ghostly people with high hats, coats and small briefcases. As Mutt addressed them, they asked “Are you the lord of this manor?”
“Yes!” Edgar said.
“Then die!”

Thus a pair of specters set upon them.
(With 4 easily drained levels per round, this is your GM chance to down a hero in very few turns. I love specters. Remember their unnatural aura ability, if anyone in the party is a zoo-keeper)

The following room seemed to be a work-chamber of sorts although it had very little of value. Galfur opened a desk drawer an immediately a pollen-explosion of yellow mold flew into his face. Coughing like a maniac, the dwarf shrugged it off rather easily though and the encounter was pretty much trivial.

The progression led them into an old bedchamber which had been deserted for ages, an old wheelchair remaining next to the bed, and a set of stairs leading to the attic. A sinister, dark spot decorated the sheets on the bed, which Edgar later identified as blood. Also, an old, crude scribbling from a dagger could be seen in the woodworks. It said “The Pact ends here, Father!”

Slowly ascending up to the attic, they were surrounded by thick darkness, barely penetrated by their lanterns. Everything up here seemed to have been laid to waste and decay, old cloth, wood and metal bits spread along dust, filth and earth. But noticeable was a beautiful, black leathery book with writhing letters on its front. They stared at it for some time, Edgar could even swear it was calling his name in silent whisper. Colin eagerly tried channeling holy energy into it and setting it on fire but nothing seemed to work. Instead, Vincent took the utmost consequence and picked it up, reading it.

Dark thoughts and teachings flourished through his head. Words from beyond the stars were about to implode his mind as he eagerly shifted through the pages in rapid speed, browsing just about every detail he could find in magic, maniac approach. As he finally looked up, small starry dots flickered in his eyes. He felt his sanity dwindle away, and besides from an enlightened mind, he now felt the calling of several strange beings beyond. Of course he explained his party that he would ‘keep it for later destruction’ and hastily packed it down into his sack.

(The original book doesn’t work like this entirely, but close. It confers a solid +4 knowledge check bonus and supplies its owner with some spells. Even though it’s a spellbook for a sorcerer, it let it pass. It’s the Book of Abstruse Geomnetries and is out of this world, after all. Besides it enables him to call forth beings from beyond the veil, which I invented my own system for, a bit inspired by Warhammer. It allows the caster to fuel as much energy into the process as he so wishes, in an attempt to call forth a being from beyond. The greater the amount, the more powerful. Of course this also represents an even bigger threat to the caster, and on a certain roll the spell will backfire with very dire consequences not only for the caster but likely also his party. I’ll post the book’s power in full later. One of the possible miscast-results is the summoning of the creature that was supposed to be in the attic in the original adventure. But I had enough of encounters at this stage, knowing there were plenty of more to come.)

The heroes decided to head back home to Illmarsh and rest at Horace Croon’s before the next day’s trials. They had two resting cycles and enough time to recuperate from their ability damage and other ailments, while also preparing for the journey to come. They found the small boat Isinglass (which remarkably sounds like a really bad Eragon book. Implying there is in fact an exception to such a thing…) was to carry them and the submersible out into the open sea and drop them at the tern rocks.

The journey went fine on the following night, and the heroes brought plenty of food along with them in the descent. Horace promised he would stand vigilant at the pump and make sure the stream of air would be uninterrupted. As they were lowered, they couldn’t help notice the sudden absence of the former mad prisoner on the rocks. Instead there was only a bloody spot and a set of manacles holding the sore remnants of hands.

Edgar took the steering down and they noticed how everything got really dark outside the windows, and the few fish drowned out in the bleak abyss waiting below. There was a cramped silence in the cabin only interrupted by the groaning metal as it came under more and more pressure from the outside. It was anyone’s guess how deep they were, but it truly emphasized that never would they be able to reach such depths without the aid of the old professor.

On their journey, Mutt suddenly could swear he saw something on the outside. Movement in the darkness. Like part of the darkness was slithering away from them.

A huge part of the darkness.

(And an encounter I’m saving for their way up)

Slowly light greeted them, however. On the floor of the ocean rested a great dome of dully shining gray metal. Seams ran up the dome’s sides to its apex, sprinkled with glowing lights, whose dim blue radiance gave the entire scene an otherworldly appearance.

The heroes noticed an eerie membrane-like entrance to the north in the complex, but also discovered an alternative hidden entrance to the south, suiting their stealthily approach much better. They parked the submersible close to the inside and quickly noticed the airlock as they ascended from the water in what seemed to be a partially flooded cavern. An old path moved to the west from here and everything was eerily silent, except for a strange low humming. They exited the submersible and carefully moved into the old complex.

Shubbulupfhtagnaiaiai…. Ah, fuck this shit…

(To all my beloved hardcore readers – This was one of the times in which I had way too little time to prepare for the adventure to come, and therefore I’ve likely made some mistakes. I know I have and will point them out. If you find anymore it’s likely not me screwing with the rules, but in fact not being aware of them. This is not my usual standard of practice, but it happens.)

On the next side was a big grotto, nicely constructed, with several smaller compartments to the south and another blue door to the north and west.
A strange creature greeted them and wobbled closer from the far end. For quite some time it just stood there, doing nothing. They did nothing to it in return. It would’ve been a great staring contest, had it only carried eyes.

Then suddenly they heard its words in their minds.

“How do crustaceans propagate with barns?”
“Why are three ears better than seven?”
“What is the orbital declension of the Lilac Star when the sea snails cry beryllium tears?”

When the heroes looked sheepish it frowned and walked a bit back and forward for a bit. When they addressed it again, it attacked with a wild scream.
On the first round of combat, the cerebric fungus oracle (yeah…) used its Star-Shriek, attempting to nauseate the party. Everyone saved (DC 15 fort save is a joke against this party) Mutt chopped it for a bit and Vincent threw it into a conjured acid pit. The creature howled and sneered as acid burned through it and began climbing the distance. Edgar cast Spike Stone on the walls of the pit and suddenly the oracle was looking at one hell of a climb. To that end, Mutt and Galfur were both waiting with reach weapons for when it got up and I decided to call it a GG. (It could’ve gone up, I think. But the damage it would inflict would be moderate at best and I have very little patience for pointless waste of time like that.)

The doors to the south were empty prison cells (Lol no, in fact they contain Migos, but I just interpreted the map thinking they looked surprisingly prisonish. Not much to say here –  This truly wasn’t my night.) and to the north they saw into the dark, sinister cave strewn with bones. The faint smell of wet fur in here was obvious. The heroes decided to bail and come back later.

 Instead they headed west, into in intersection and went south towards the humming. In a big room they found a huge statue of green and black stone depicting a nightmarish creature that was neither fish nor eel nor octopus but still had features of all three. Hundreds of inlaid shelves decorated the walls and to the south a beautiful mace rested on a stone pillar.

They heard a loud grumble from a giant, fat skum in the middle of the cavern. Along with him was his two loyal bodyguards. He loudly croaked for them to attack, and retreated to cast an augmented Summon Monster 5. 

Vincent blasted the two skums to pieces and Colin’s arrows inflicted enough damage to the cleric in order to disrupt his spell. With an angry sneer he turned around and in the following round bestowed curse on the sorcerer, for 50% chance to do nothing per turn. He laughed in his death throes.

As they cleaned it up, the heroes took a closer look on the mace and to their pleasure realized that this was nothing else but the legendary Raven’s Head. The +3 undead bane heavy mace went to Edgar.

I’m a gigantic brain!

In an adjacent room the heroes found the source of the humming. A faint blue light illuminated it on and off repeatedly, and revealed the several rows of brains in jars. They were arranged by date and all carried a contraption that apparently allowed for communication. The newest one, apparently belonging to a human, was tested as they turned it on.
They heard the faint voice of a familiar person in their minds. To their horrors it was the mayor. He told them everything was fine now. That they would see too, once ‘he’ arrived. His journey was nearly complete by now and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.
Once he entered this world, he would make them all understand that which had eluded their simple minds.
“What is it we don’t understand?” Edgar boldly asked.
“Well,” the brain said “why don’t I show you?”

A series of hellish visions flickered through their mind (Think Even Horizon. I’d post the segment here, but with respect to readers with no passion for gore, it’d be better if you look it up yourself.) leaving the heroes screaming in terror as they saw madness and terror engulf their world. (I think this makes sanity loss more reasonable than the mere watching of talking brains. I mean, I’ve watched talking brains before. They’re hilarious!)

Luckily for the heroes, they shrugged off their predicament and in a rampage Mutt smashed up the entire room in blind rage. They decided to push on, moving towards their destiny in the southern room.

They passed through dark corridors and heard a strange bubbling, whispering sound not far ahead (buff time). 

As they entered the metal dome they noticed all manner of incomprehensible equipment, including a pair of bloodstained metal operating tables surrounded by racks of instruments for vivisection. The chamber was illuminated by a purple glow and right in the middle a naked human was strapped on to the operating table, several tubes with vicious luquid apparently keeping him alive. His head was on the edge of bursting from apparent movement inside, and as he noticed the heroes he muffled out a loud “HELFFF MWEEE!!!”

Around it, four strange plant-like creatures hissed and turned their attention to the heroes. Another test of their sanity as they lay eyes on the fearsome creatures from beyond known as the Mi-Go.

The battle wasn’t particularly challenging for a fully buffed up party, and the Mi-Go fell like flies. It was when the last one bit the dust that the poor guy in the middle, the dark rider they’d been searching for, set in a scream and underwent a hideous mutation into a towering abomination known as the Dark Young of Shub Niggurath.  The party once again had to cling to their sanity by this transformation, but everyone was saved by the good roll, including Mutt who became very happy for he rerollable will save granted by his rage power.

The dark one roared and animated the odd plants in the chamber with an entanglement spell. With its freedom of movement it galloped closer to the party and Edgar immediately blessed Galfur with another freedom of movement sending him into the fray with Mutt. The martial fighters surrounded it while the rest of the party split up and the beast, realizing it couldn’t do much to Galfur (as it’s fearsome attack depends on it to grapple) moved on to Mutt. Vincent made it through every round of his curse but made sure to blast the thing with just about every element on its immunity-list (fire, lightning, acid, poison).  Galfur was also hitting it with his blunt mace, which pleased the Dark Young and the DR 15/Slashing.

On the other hand, Mutt’s slashing damage was impressive to say the least, especially with an ongoing haste. As was Colin’s who immediately smote evil on the Dark Young and rapidly tore away its hit points with his arrows. Around four rounds later, it was all over and the heroes emerged victorious.

Picking up the pieces

They had a brief pause and searched the place for some treasures. Including some plot relevant items.

They found a familiar face; the seasage effigy; now known as the Face of Dagon. The small green item that was stolen from Lepidstadt University by the Beast in ‘Trial of the Beast’. Apparently the cultist had taken it here.

Also, an old letter showed up. It read:

And so the heroes stopped their victorious session, still needing to find their way back to the surface and apparently set out for their next destination. The capital city of Caliphas, which thus begins our next chapter “Ashes at dawn”.

Stay tuned.

(Instead of writing a huge review of this adventure, I plan on updating it eventually in commentary video, which makes it quite easier. Check in for this later, as I will begin with Haunting of Harrowstone.)