[Completed/DM Notes] The Strange Visitor

[Linwelin]

For those who weren't the players, I decided to post the notes instead of the summary because of a couple reasons.

One, this is NOT how the session happened, because players are unpredictable, spontaneous monsters that trample upon DM dreams. Jokes aside, only like half the dialogue actually happened, and I thought it'd be worth a laugh for the players to see what they missed.

Two, to show exactly how much I "winged it". Sure, the notes are organized, but they certainly don't read like a book. And I had no solid encounter stats, just descriptions :D

Anyways, enjoy, and comment away. Especially the players. Tell them what REALLY happened :P

There will be a follow-up forum mission to this, where anyone can join in, so keep your eyes peeled! The more, the merrier (and more difficult)!

A Strange Visitor

The morning was a bright and cheery one. The guild was full of lively chatter, the smell of baked goods and eggs wafted from the kitchen, and there was no sense of peril nor any sort of disturbance. For about 5 minutes. One of the guards from town walked into the hall, looking upset and was that...annoyed?

?Hate to bother you guys so early in the day, but we've a troublemaker near the front gate. Some traveling hack of a wizard looking for some help with experiments. Damned stubborn, too. Turned the brave soul that accepted blue, and now no one wants to deal with him.? The guard let out a sigh.

?But noooo, he won't have that. The guy says he's desperate, and after we tried to throw him out of town for disturbing the peace, he set up a wall of force or somethin' and now no one can get within 10 feet of him. Says he won't move until someone agrees to help him. But no one in their right mind would. Who knows what'd happen.?

At this point the expression on the guard's face was plainly one of begging, ?Would a few of you deal with this prankster of a wizard, whether by force or doing what he wants? I figure there's a few of you guys who can safely deal with a guy like this.?

Introductions and stuff happens

Guard leads group to the wizard.

The town seems mostly normal on the way to the gate, but you soon realize your error. Not by sight, but sound. The roaring clamor of a mob of townsfolk, a mixture of booing and heckling, resounded through the streets, and upon turning the corner you could see the large, upset gathering of people. It was so large you couldn't even make out what they were yelling at, though you knew it must be the wizard.

Let them respond if they wish.

?Alright, alright, everyone aside! Guild members are here to clear this up!? Though his voice definitely penetrated the racket the crowd made, it took a long while for people to register it and move out of the way.

When they did, it became apparent that you were not dealing with any ordinary individual. He was sitting down, with one leg pulled in, the other pushed out in front of him; he had his arms crossed over his one upright knee, a finger tapping on his forearm. The first notable feature was his large, wide brimmed, leather hat which seemed well worn, and had been patched a couple times at least. The second was the ungodly oversized backpack beside him, which you could see was stuffed to the fullest with trinkets, materials and random items. The oddities didn't stop there, however, as you took a look at the man's garb. His scarf and cloak were rugged and frayed, but the clothing under those was vibrant with various shades of greens, yellows and blues. The man himself was older, but fit; you'd guess he was around his fifties, with the gray showing in his long, unkempt black hair. His eyes shone a light shade of blue, but instead of an icy feeling, it was as though you were looking to the sky. Though that may've been due to the mischievous glint in them. His skin had a slight wrinkle to it, not to the point of sagging, and a fair tan.


At some point along your observation of this man, you all had thought, ?No wonder they called him a hack.?

As you approached, the man stood, then gave a smirk, ?So? Are these people going to help me with my tests, guard? If not, would you like to throttle me again? Well...? he grinned as he knocked against his force wall, ?Good luck with that.?

The guard grimaced and stiffened. You could tell he deeply hated this fellow, though with provocation like that you couldn't really blame him.

The wizard laughed, ?Honestly, such closed-minded folk here! You just turn ONE person blue, and suddenly they're at your throat, threatening exile or prison!? As follow up, he mutters semi-silently to himself, ?I TOLD them it'd wear off in a few hours...?

?Anyways, good day, newcomers! The name's Magnus Hermansen. I deal in exotic magic goods and materials, as well as any homemade product I deem worthy of sharing with the general populace. Wherein lies my trouble. I need to be sure my homemade materials actually do what they're supposed to. But alas, I've no apprentice nor other subjects of any kind on which to test them.? Magnus sighed dejectedly.

?The rest were scared off when my salve to remove skin blemishes ended up turning the woman blue as a side effect.? He rolled his eyes, ?By the gods, it still did its job. But seemingly a TINY pigment change is the end of the world here.?

?Anyways, you look like reasonable, adventurous people. Would you be willing to help me out with a few of my prototype goods? I'll make it worth your while with some sort of already-tested good of your choice. I've got QUITE the selection, as I'm sure you've noticed.? He pats the 3-foot bag beside him.

Tests:
- Tablet of Dreams
First is this pellet here, it take your subconscious' most deeply rooted emotional symbol and makes it reality. It SHOULD bring about the object of your greatest desire as far as happiness. All you need to do is put it in your mouth, bite it in half, and spit it on the ground. I know, not classy, but bear with me. Also, note it won't bring about anything like ?raising the dead? of the like. Just material desire.

50% chance of being an object of pure happiness for them, or a creature/object of pure fear. If between 40-60, a bit of both appears. Fears, due to subconscious tampering, become monsterous.

Golas ? meat/rotted meat golem
Gandin ? ponies (plushie that was torn apart by jealous friend as a child)/toothpick construct
Calista ?  Shiny things (small pile of gems/art/gold worth 100g)/Giant spiders/birds/cats (being eaten)

If joy, no bad effects, and they gain the item. Fear means they're shaken, and take another stack every time their feared creature attacks them. Golems/constructs have construct qualities, and weaknesses based on their element. See large animated object: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/animatedObject.htm
For Calista fear (Choose based on how many fails): http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/monstrousSpider.htm

- Ring of Abundant Energy
This ring should allow the wearer to run faster, lift more, jump higher, and only feel hungry half as often. I meant it as a messenger or travel aide. Who would like to wear it?

Wearer goes under the effects of enlarge person (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/enlargePerson.htm) and Confusion http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Confusion

Must either do half health in damage, or wearer must successfully roll to move normally and remove the ring.

- Cloak of Invisibility
Now this is more of a standard item, but I used my own incantation and components. Ones that are MUCH easier to come by. So if this works, it'll be quite the break-through! Please, whoever first wishes to try, here.

First time wearing it: Upon closing the cloak over yourself, it suddenly goes transparent, but only on the inside. The wearer can see through the cloak, but cannot see any people. Almost like they're...invisible. Oh.

From the outside, you see the wearer walking around, semi-hunched over in a brown cloak. Nothing has changed.

?Oh, it's inside out. Put it on the other way!?

Second time: Inside, nothing happens. Outside they disappear. Sort of. You see the wearer's skeleton wandering around, nothing else.

?Nope, not what I want. Great for haunted houses though. Ok, thanks for your help, you can remove it.?

Upon taking it off: This time, you seriously disappear. And the cloak drops to the ground.

From the wearer's point of view: Your scenery has completely changed. I mean completely. You're not even on the ground any longer. Looking below you, it's at least 60ft before you hit the ground. And you ARE falling. You can see the crowd all gathered around the cloak you dropped.

DC 20 Tumble or Jump to convert 1d6 of damage to non-lethal
Other characters can do a DC 15 Reflex to attempt to catch the character, converting another 1d6, but taking 2d6 themselves

Total damage without reduction: 6d6

Hand out random, mostly cosmetic items of each character's desire. (Wizard will refuse until it's a feasible item).

On the way out, he is either shaken down by the guards, dropping a vial into the gutter, which breaks. Sooner after, he flies away.

[Linwelin]

Alright, I think I figured out the exp rewards:

First, if I'm remembering right, I gave you guys 300exp each for the mission (I THINK, correct me if I'm wrong, I had you write it down)

Character Development: Golas, +200. We learned the strong man does, in fact, have a weakness. And can vomit. A lot.

Resourcefulness: Jin, Callista, +100. Callista is the only one that managed to hit the wizard while inside his walls, I figured that was worth something. Jin, for making the best as a merchant with the worst materials. As a side note, I REALLY feel bad for Golas in this regard.

Best surprise RP moment: Callista, +100, Your whimsical experiment allowed for an older mother to feel young once again. Literally. Also, correcting your wrongs by at least returning the man's keepsake ring free-of-charge. Not COMPLETELY atoned after looting his home beforehand, but it's something!

Overall Roleplay: Callista, Gandin, +100. The thieving duo struck again, never missing a beat on voicing what they wanted. Truly chaotic.

The Guinea Pigs: Zultar, Gandin, Golas, +50. Golas was the only one that actually had to deal with his fear. Zultar and Gandin for the loss of control of their characters. Gandin especially, as you killed a civilian during that last moment. Were this another type of table top, I'd force a character flaw for fear of mind control effects, but I don't honestly know how Gandin felt about that, and that's more your choice.

[Ella]

rofl We made you add so much extra to that. I believe we will be going through the recording and somehow finding a way to share the recording on here so people can listen to it instead of having just a summary.

Callista's favorite moment: When she got a clone of herself from having Brat of Fire trying the pill.

For the exp, I have written down that you said 900exp. Not sure if that was each or divided, but I'm assuming that was supposed to be divided?

XD From your bonus exp, it looks like Callista made the biggest impression. lol

[Linwelin]

900 actually sounds right, considering you did some level-equivalent combat, and some average skill checks. So yea, 300 was my bad, didn't think that through :P

This is why I wanted it written down XD Whoops.

Also, yes, as far as doing stuff creatively, you won.

[Ella]

Wait, so the 900exp was to each person?

[Linwelin]

Yes, unless you guys think that's a bit too much, maybe 700. That's usually a normal experience reward at level 4; 300 per level-equivalent encounter.

[Ella]

XD Wooo~ Cool. I was asking to make sure cause Jo was surprised you gave us so much.

[Linwelin]

Lol well, I'm a generous DM, I guess. No one likes sitting at the same level for too long, so I'd rather be over rewarding than under. But I think that's a correct amount.

[Ella]

Here is the first session for anyone interested in listening! I'm still trying to get it to upload to the other site I found, since SoundCloud only gives you a certain amount of space for free members and I think this recording is using up most of that allowance. If I can't get the other site to work, I will have to delete this audio file in order to upload the next one, so please download it if you can.

https://soundcloud.com/fantasyworldcreations/strange-visitor-session-1