Mikeydanuke
Mongoose
Since I have just started GM'ing an Infernum Campaign (Two actually, #1 on Thursday, #2 on Sunday) I thought I would post how things went, in case anyone else is running an Infernum Campaign or thinking of doing so. I invite comments and suggestions.
The setting takes place on Toil, the 4th circle of Hell. It is an area in disarray and chaos, truely a time of Upheaval. In this time and places the great houses are attempting to deal with the Free Cities' heresy, and recover from earlier wars that exhausted the houses. The 4th circle is recognized as the outermost "Boundary" between hell, and Civilized Hell. Minor Demon Warlords are attempting to set up their own little fief's, the Free Cities are vying for power, Bandits roam, the Great Houses are attempting to re-establish their control, and even Mortal raiders flirt back and forth.
The Thursday Group, CAmpaign 1, consisted of 4 young men I have known and gamed with a number of years (my youngest son included.) They are all in their early 20's. I was not really privy to their decision which house to go with, but they all opted for House Sturrach.
The Sunday Campaign group opted for house Astyanath (except for one Zethu'ist.) Two of this group were older gamers (my age or so), and two of their son's (~18-20). I was privy to the discussion as to what house to go with, and it was not a quick decision, and did involve some discussion.
To open the campaign and to familarize everyone with my game-master style, I designed a simple mission ("Destroy a Bloodfont Derrick on the border of our territory that belongs to the so called Lord Drica") that the party was ordered to go and do by their superior.
Both parties demonstarted what I thought was good roll playing skills. Party one bribed a goverment clerk for information about the strength of the Drica forces. Party 2 had a Deceiver in their group that got lucky and managed to gather the information on his own. Party 2 did invest in some oil, and flint and steel before setting out. Party 1 didn't.
Party 1 consisted of a Hulk, Fiend, Staker, and a Beast. Party 2 consisted of a Hulk, Fiend, Deceiver, and Artificer. Party 1's Hulk had made some really dynamite rolls and was a very good tank. I also allowed some varying die rolls, to determine experince at the start of things, and thus each party had at least one level demon in the group, with the others being level 2.
Upon arriving at the derrick facility, party 1 saw their was a watchtower, and so adopted the finist Sturrach tradition of charging straight at the enemy. This allowed the defenders to maximize their numbers (6) but did not really matter as the attacking hulk slaughtered 3 of them outright. However the defender's fiend flew off ("And did anyone really wonder where he might have gone?") and their artificer escaped down a hole. For the record, the attacking hulk was down to about 2 nit points out of 31, when the fight was over.
Now party 1 made their BIG mistake. They decided to keep the derrick and facility, and send back to their superior for re-inforcement. So, their party's Fiend flew off to get re-inforcements, while the rest stayed.
Remember the defender's fiend that got away? Guess where he went too. Guess who got back to the facility with re-inforcements first? Guess who would have died under the attack of 20 Fiends, the vanguard of the relief force sent by "lord" Drica.
Well, after a lot of sniveling and groveling on the part of the 1st party, when I told them to roll up new characters, I relented, it was, after all, the "introductory scenario", and my purpose wasn't to kill everyone (just yet--evil laugh) so I incorporated into the story line that one of the damned souls the party had captured, in exchange for a promise of freedom, had warned the party of the proximity of Lord Drica's forces, and they had fled in time. The party dragged the Damned soul along anyway, after all, what does a promise to a Damned Soul count for? They eventually presented it and another captured DS to their superior, to soften their failure to destroy the Blood Font Derrick. The mission was judged Not a Success, and the party has incurred some displeasure with the Power's that be.
The second party, The Astyanath and Zethu group, used a different approach. Their deceiver (in disguise) strode in and demanded to talk to the Demon in charge, then informed him that Lord Drica had ordered the facility to be abandoned. (the Defending demons were not very bright, they failed to penetrate the disguise and they believed the deceiver. So the Defenders sent their fiend off to Lord Drica to request help dismantling the derrick, and dispersed to start doing so. Then the 2nd party attacked.
The battle was short, none of the attackers were killed, (one or two were dented a little) but two of the defenders managed to escape. After a few tries the derrick was set on fire. Mission accomplished.
Then the 2nd party made what I thought was their BIG mistake. Having captured 11 Damned Souls, they decided to take them back to their home fortress. Plus they loaded up two Labour Spawn with as much junk they could find in the facility.
Meanwhile, back in Lord Drica's castle, a fiend has just reported in "M'Lord, we will need help dismantling the facility at Grimy Point."
"And why do you need help dismantling the facility at Grimy Point?" Lord Drica sweetly inquires.
"Because you ordered it Sirrah..."
So, after the reporting fiend has been reduced to ashes by Hellfire, Lord Drica sends a force out to find out whats going on, that can catch the SLOWLY moving 2nd Party, hold them in place until the main army arrives, and dispatch them.
Or such would have happened, but once again I intervened to explain what was happening, and the new improved story went that the party released the Damned Souls, and the pursuing fiends got distracted chasing them down, thereby allowing the party to escape.
So ended the first two days in Hell (for both parties).
Toodles all
Mikeydanuke
P.S. My son (group 1) complained later about some things he didn't like in the game/campaign, but then called me up 3 times the next day to ask questions about specific issues. The second group (the Rules-lawyers group I call them) had no complaints, but a lot of questions, mostly dealing with rules interpetations. They also dropped hints about playing more often, so I think I was a success as being a GM. Dare I say it? One Hell of a GM????
The setting takes place on Toil, the 4th circle of Hell. It is an area in disarray and chaos, truely a time of Upheaval. In this time and places the great houses are attempting to deal with the Free Cities' heresy, and recover from earlier wars that exhausted the houses. The 4th circle is recognized as the outermost "Boundary" between hell, and Civilized Hell. Minor Demon Warlords are attempting to set up their own little fief's, the Free Cities are vying for power, Bandits roam, the Great Houses are attempting to re-establish their control, and even Mortal raiders flirt back and forth.
The Thursday Group, CAmpaign 1, consisted of 4 young men I have known and gamed with a number of years (my youngest son included.) They are all in their early 20's. I was not really privy to their decision which house to go with, but they all opted for House Sturrach.
The Sunday Campaign group opted for house Astyanath (except for one Zethu'ist.) Two of this group were older gamers (my age or so), and two of their son's (~18-20). I was privy to the discussion as to what house to go with, and it was not a quick decision, and did involve some discussion.
To open the campaign and to familarize everyone with my game-master style, I designed a simple mission ("Destroy a Bloodfont Derrick on the border of our territory that belongs to the so called Lord Drica") that the party was ordered to go and do by their superior.
Both parties demonstarted what I thought was good roll playing skills. Party one bribed a goverment clerk for information about the strength of the Drica forces. Party 2 had a Deceiver in their group that got lucky and managed to gather the information on his own. Party 2 did invest in some oil, and flint and steel before setting out. Party 1 didn't.
Party 1 consisted of a Hulk, Fiend, Staker, and a Beast. Party 2 consisted of a Hulk, Fiend, Deceiver, and Artificer. Party 1's Hulk had made some really dynamite rolls and was a very good tank. I also allowed some varying die rolls, to determine experince at the start of things, and thus each party had at least one level demon in the group, with the others being level 2.
Upon arriving at the derrick facility, party 1 saw their was a watchtower, and so adopted the finist Sturrach tradition of charging straight at the enemy. This allowed the defenders to maximize their numbers (6) but did not really matter as the attacking hulk slaughtered 3 of them outright. However the defender's fiend flew off ("And did anyone really wonder where he might have gone?") and their artificer escaped down a hole. For the record, the attacking hulk was down to about 2 nit points out of 31, when the fight was over.
Now party 1 made their BIG mistake. They decided to keep the derrick and facility, and send back to their superior for re-inforcement. So, their party's Fiend flew off to get re-inforcements, while the rest stayed.
Remember the defender's fiend that got away? Guess where he went too. Guess who got back to the facility with re-inforcements first? Guess who would have died under the attack of 20 Fiends, the vanguard of the relief force sent by "lord" Drica.
Well, after a lot of sniveling and groveling on the part of the 1st party, when I told them to roll up new characters, I relented, it was, after all, the "introductory scenario", and my purpose wasn't to kill everyone (just yet--evil laugh) so I incorporated into the story line that one of the damned souls the party had captured, in exchange for a promise of freedom, had warned the party of the proximity of Lord Drica's forces, and they had fled in time. The party dragged the Damned soul along anyway, after all, what does a promise to a Damned Soul count for? They eventually presented it and another captured DS to their superior, to soften their failure to destroy the Blood Font Derrick. The mission was judged Not a Success, and the party has incurred some displeasure with the Power's that be.
The second party, The Astyanath and Zethu group, used a different approach. Their deceiver (in disguise) strode in and demanded to talk to the Demon in charge, then informed him that Lord Drica had ordered the facility to be abandoned. (the Defending demons were not very bright, they failed to penetrate the disguise and they believed the deceiver. So the Defenders sent their fiend off to Lord Drica to request help dismantling the derrick, and dispersed to start doing so. Then the 2nd party attacked.
The battle was short, none of the attackers were killed, (one or two were dented a little) but two of the defenders managed to escape. After a few tries the derrick was set on fire. Mission accomplished.
Then the 2nd party made what I thought was their BIG mistake. Having captured 11 Damned Souls, they decided to take them back to their home fortress. Plus they loaded up two Labour Spawn with as much junk they could find in the facility.
Meanwhile, back in Lord Drica's castle, a fiend has just reported in "M'Lord, we will need help dismantling the facility at Grimy Point."
"And why do you need help dismantling the facility at Grimy Point?" Lord Drica sweetly inquires.
"Because you ordered it Sirrah..."
So, after the reporting fiend has been reduced to ashes by Hellfire, Lord Drica sends a force out to find out whats going on, that can catch the SLOWLY moving 2nd Party, hold them in place until the main army arrives, and dispatch them.
Or such would have happened, but once again I intervened to explain what was happening, and the new improved story went that the party released the Damned Souls, and the pursuing fiends got distracted chasing them down, thereby allowing the party to escape.
So ended the first two days in Hell (for both parties).
Toodles all
Mikeydanuke
P.S. My son (group 1) complained later about some things he didn't like in the game/campaign, but then called me up 3 times the next day to ask questions about specific issues. The second group (the Rules-lawyers group I call them) had no complaints, but a lot of questions, mostly dealing with rules interpetations. They also dropped hints about playing more often, so I think I was a success as being a GM. Dare I say it? One Hell of a GM????