Against the Giants: campaign using ACKS

Poor Corvin! It's funny that he's both the most injured and scarred, and the highest level.

 

Yeah, that amused me too :slight_smile: Especially as he is now 2 levels above poor Zarkov, who is still level one :slight_smile:

Latest report: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/06/against-the-giants-session-fourteen/

First go at using the Tampering with the soul table. Great fun. The dwarf vaultguard is now an alcoholic.

That's awesome! To be fair, I'd be an alcoholic, too, if I'd gone through what your PCs are going through. We often joke that "cure light wounds" must have a serotonin effect that helps prevent the post-traumatic stress disorder that the PCs would otherwise all be enduring.

In general, I think watching the slow physical and mental transformation of the adventurers as they take wounds is one of my favorite parts of an ACKS campaign. It's a lot more subtle than "you lose a level" or "-1 CON" but the randomness and permanence of the "Tampering" table ends up being really scary.

In the campaign I just completed, the group early on was too non-chalant about the effects of death, and by level 3 the characters were so f**ked up that several of them committed suicide in despair. (The players re-rolled). The new adventurers were more circumspect.

 

 

 

Didn't someone just post rules for alcohol too?!

Have they? I’ll have to take a look.

Just started another game with my other group, but the first session killed them all off! They too used to new school ways of playing. Starting again next time.

Play report from Monday night’s game: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/06/against-the-giants-session-fifteen/

Tested my alcoholic house-rules, which were ok, but the dwarf found a way around it, and could well avoid too many side effects; we’ll see how it goes next week.

New session report: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/07/against-the-giants-session-sixteen/

And another: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/07/against-the-giants-session-seventeen/

Two PCs are now level 3 (Corvin the thief, Halmary the cleric), the rest are now all level 2.

Exciting stuff! I love gameplay at that level range. Not so fragile as level 1, not quite epic enough to be true heroes, but certainly tough and ready for action.

Latest report: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/07/against-the-giants-session-eighteen/

This session saw our first use of carousing rules :slight_smile:

Great fun! "“Drink of this to find peace” and when Idni recklessly drinks from him, a sense of peace and calm envelopes him." Ahhh, PCs. Delightful.

Can you reveal what Nightbane is? 

Nightbane is a magic sword, just does double-damage against giants, and sheds light in a 30’ radius but only in darkness.

Last Monday’s session: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/07/against-the-giants-session-nineteen/

Wherein the party play ambushing goblins.

More: http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/atgiants/adventure-log

Latest update from my blog (same as the one from the post above):
http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/08/against-the-giants-session-twenty-one/

Also, here is a link to the pie-chart one of the players put together from their ‘Kill List’:
http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/08/against-the-giants-pie-chart-of-kills/

I don’t know about the rest of you, but my players are very competitive, and keep ‘kill stealing’ to leap ahead; all in a good natured way.

Great stuff!

Your pie-chart of "kills" is hilarious. My 3.5 group was the same way, but in ACKS their encounters are usually so deadly that the players cheer when ANYBODY gets a kill. It's a classic case of the need to work together or die...

 

My lot are quite good at killing, so long as it’s low level critters. Last night another character killed three in a row thanks to some cleaving, which Ungrid did last week; albeit against lowly goblins. It was a harder fight last night though, chopping down some exploding head goblins that sprayed confusion gas and had Ungrid attacking Idni for a round, almost downing him.

And here is last night’s session notes: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/08/against-the-giants-session-twenty-two/

Poor Corvin got struck down by a trap, but thanks to some healing and magic, he survived and is only suffering from shock.

Latest report: http://www.theskyfullofdust.co.uk/2012/08/against-the-giants-session-twenty-three/

Poor Corvin keeps going down, but good rolls and good healing have so far prevented his death.