Purge of the Sin-Eaters: Victory of the First Trial

A dark cloud of something wicked is converging upon your position quickly.

The tide of the battle tips in your favor!

Atop the small bronze tower, the ogres-turned-werebeasts tear each other to shreds, unable to stop the beast's call within them. Sornë is indeed victorious. The ogres of the final iron tower, seeing their demise written in the stars, begin to attempt escape just as a lightning bolt strikes it. The siege weaponry and the ogres themselves are charred beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, Vulture's clever poisoning tactic pays off, as both Haargarth and himself fight ever on, blades and war cries savaging the beast...

... just as Haargarth then grabs the Oak Wand of Illusion and climbs the statue of the Marilith! The treasure placed in one of the statue's six hands...

And you are correct. The final two statues state this, then proceed to grab the Iron-Chi-Medusa in their stony deathgrip hands, letting the Oak Wand of Illusion fall to the swamp below. Vulture frees himself before the statues' indiscriminate hands can rip him apart as well!

The statues begin to sink into the swamp, but before their mouths vanish beneath the muck, they cry out, "LET NOT YOUR GREED BE YOUR DOWNFALL! BOW TO THE POWER OF THE ONE!"

Then a quiet silence... followed by a distant chorus of shrieks for off in the distance. The instant this power scream hits your ears, the tentacled horror expediently retreats into the muck!

"Heresy, or Loyalty?"

Leaving you and the Fiery Immolith Demons. As the demons being teleporting out quickly (is that panic in their eyes?), the last one looks at you and smiles, stating a strange question, "Heresy, or Loyalty?" And he's gone.

A dark cloud of something wicked is converging upon your position quickly. You hear the beating of wings and the clicking of claws, the gnashing of teeth. Just then, the spectral bridge between you and the true tower solidifies to black crystal... the open portcullis entryway awaits...

What are you doing heroes? Grabbing any more magic items? Proceeding back to the strange chamber Haargarth found? Proceeding into the tower. Standing to fight whatever is coming? CHOOSE!

Note: I did rolls, but in light of lack of time, I'm forsaking posting the tech stuff in lieu of keeping this going!

Purge of the Sin-Eaters: Of Altars and Medusa-Chimeras

[Haargarth]
Haargarth descends the rusty ladder, and after about thirty feet of descent, finds himself at the entrance of a small chamber. Off to the right, the wall is carved in a bas-relief two angels who recoil in horror at something between them, but that space between is nothing but blank wall.

At the far end is a small raised dais and altar upon which rests a single lit candle (which burns stronger than it should be), and a wooden bowl. A blood-red stained-glass window looms behind the altar.

Resting within the bowl is sixteen copper coins.

Meanwhile, in the battle above... and PSST.. It's a Chimera... NOT Manticore, there is no Manticore. Look to the right... CHIMERA!

[Azul Khadon]
To Azul's question of, "O Sentinels! Is our key to this riddle composed of Solid Wood?"... the remaining statues respond together, "YES."

When Azul taunts the Great Worm Tentacle, it does indeed hit the Chimera! And just when you think the Chimera is done for, it gets FAR WORSE. The next lightning bolt crashes down, slamming into the statue of the Medusa.

Instead of a Medusa joining the battle, the Chimera morphs... each head now is a Medusa head! The Medusa-Chimera's wounds close as if it was never touched! 

Tech: Roll 9.

[Vulture]
Vulture's rapier/sling tactic only proves to provoke one of the tentacles, that grabs Vulture violently. Vulture drops his rapier under the intense pressure of the grab, and is slowly being dragged back into the muck of the moat... Vulture, what are you doing!

Tech: Roll 6. No damage taken, but in a tight spot indeed. Vulture earns 1 XP and currently has 1 XP.

Considering the transformation of the creature above, I should probably pause here for a moment. If I haven't gotten to you yet (Melliandre and Sornë), you can redo your move from the previous post and post it fresh in this one.

HOWEVER... If you wish to avert your gaze while attacking the Medusa-Chimera, you automatically accept a -1 to your attack roll. Or you can just attack without averting your eyes - which means you must first Defy Danger with Constitution as a Medusa head attempts to turn you to stone!

If you do want to roll, I'd like you to roll the dice on the Petrify attack. Use Invisible Castle to make that roll, and consult the list below.

Medusa's Petrification Attack
10+, you are not affected by the Medusa's gaze this time
7-9, you are Slowed (similar to Shaky, -1 to DEX)
6-, you are Petrified (KO).

You earned and used a question this post... so you have 3 unused questions to ask.

Good Luck, Crusaders! My next post will be after Turkey break. If you could limit yourself to just one post between now and then, that would be great. :)

Purge of the Sin Eaters: Of Acidic Toxic Swamps and Towering Death

Graphics powered by Quake. Suggested listening: cryochamber:cthulhu:bandcamp. 

You awaken,
Soaking wet, 
Chilled to your core,
Flat on your back.

Above you, the dark maelstrom clouds swirl angrily in the night sky, unleashing a torrent of rain. Lightning bolts pierce like they waged war high above. The swampy ground beneath desires to swallow you whole, and each breath you take of the poisonous acidic air fills your lungs with agony.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt rips from the heavens to strike a nearby tortured tree. With hissing pain, it burns with an intensity despite the storm, and gives light to your surroundings.

Your are outside a massive circular tower of iron and brimstone whose heights defy your sight. A 50' wide moat separates you from this tower, fed by the sludge of the swamp. The moat guards a single rusted portcullis entryway that leads the way within... the portcullis is mostly raised, but the corridor beyond is hidden in darkness.

A spectral bridge spans the moat like a sheet of glass from the portcullis to your feet. The bridge itself a prison of swirling condemned souls that push and claw at their soulcage.

In the other direction, three smaller squat 30' tall towers stand - one of bronze, one of iron, one of copper. A wooden door set into the base of each. Shadowy figures move about above them, but you cannot make them out. To the sides, six titanic statues of legendary monstrous creatures tower above you. Each reaches out with an outstretched hand, palm upward as if to accept something from you. 
 

Medusa    Marilith    Dragon    Lich    Chimera    Iron Golem 

You try to recall the moments before you arrived here, and perhaps if you had a few minutes you could... but right now there's too much demanding your attention. How you got here and who you are exactly will have to wait, for a battle is about to begin.

The six statues demand in unison, their voices unemotional: 

"THIS IS THE FIRST OF THREE TRIALS. DETERMINE THE TRUE TREASURE BURIED AMONG THE FALSE. PLACE IT IN OUR OUTSTRETCHED HAND! FOR EVERY BRAVERY YOU DISPLAY IN THE BATTLE, YOU MAY ASK US ONE POLAR QUESTION THAT WE ARE BOUND TO ANSWER TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY. NOW, CHOOSE WHICH OF US IS YOUR DESTRUCTOR!!!"

Beckoned by the statues, a multitude of objects rise upward out of the swamp, just enough for you to make out the glitter and shine of treasure. Must easily be a hundred objects here, scattered throughout the area.

CHOOSE.

OOC: Welcome crusaders to the first chapter of Purge of the Sin-Eaters! 

Posting Rate: I expect a minimum of 2-3 posts per week. There's no adventure time-limit, but should I find posting lacking I will apply brutal moves against you until you're dead (or picking up the pace), so it's in your best interest to keep things lively. 

The beauty of Dungeon World is that you can go whenever you want! There's no initiative to keep track of who goes when, so just jump in when it feels right to do so. However, I realize that Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so do not worry about next week so much. Ditto at Christmas time/New Years.

I am a generous god. I will reward bonus XP to those who post regularly, and you can level up mid-game!

Feel free to post your reactions and introductions, and choose your first destructor among the list of statues. Maybe I'll go by popular vote... maybe I'll just take the first one posted...

One final thing - your creativity as players is what makes this game shine. Feel free to introduce new threats and environmental problems. I will incorporate this, and you earn XP!

Addendum, Treasure List:

Purge of the Sin-Eaters: Player Handout

Once upon a time in a godless realm, demons roamed freely upon the lands, waging war upon one another under the open sky. A trio of oracles called the Dominion foretold this, as well as the end of the war which would result in mutual destruction of the demons by their own.To ensure the continuation of the remaining goodly races, the Dominion chose candidates of each and brought them to a place where they would be safe. This place would be called Covenant, a place where they could repopulate and await the coming of the new world.

Covenant, the perfect society: Covenant is a benevolent, peaceful utopia. People treat each other with politeness and selflessness, and nary does a dark thought ever cross their minds. Everything is GOOD, even tragedies and accidents are looked at in the most positive light. The cup isn’t half-full… it’s overflowing. The lives of the people consist of endless toil and labor. However, they do this freely and happily, without want or fear.

The PURGE: After a time, the Covenant’s perfection begins to degrade. Selfishness begins, and people desire. Whenever it is needed, the Dominion invokes the grand PURGE ritual, drawing forth the vilest urges and desires of society like venom from a wound. These sinful desires are then injected into the hearts and minds of a group of courageous crusaders known as the sin-eaters.

You are a sin-eater: Even in your earliest memories, you have been told you are a reincarnation of a great sin-eater – a hero destined to drive demons back into the netherworld, the source of all evil. Your incarnation lineage goes back thousands of years. As a sin-eater, your sole task is to train for the day ahead when you will bear the sin of the world back to the Oblivion Gate. It is a one-way quest, as you sacrifice yourself. Your selfless act, as it has done time again over the many centuries, will exorcise the evil for a time.

Reincarnation: In return for this magnificent deed, you are rewarded with reincarnation in the next generation to begin the yet cycle again.

Crusader Creation
Create a Dungeon World crusader, 1st level. Grab three 3x5 index cards and answer each question (one question per card): 

• NAME: What is the name of the demon that now inhabits you?
• POWER: What special power does the demon possess? 
• DESIRE: What wickedly dark desire or vile impulse drives the demon? (For a good list of flaws, check out darkworldrpg.com)

Gather up the cards and randomly redistribute so that each player has a name, power and desire card. Each player then reads their cards to the group aloud.

Using Desire/Power cards: During the game, you may tap into your POWER card to gain its ability. The DM will assign you a roll to make, from 2d6+nothing to 2d6+2. You may not regain use of that ability until you give into the DESIRE card in a tangible way that affects the story/encounter.

Defy Danger 2014!

Last weekend, I attended the first Defy Danger mini-con in Bloomington, IN! It was a blast and the best gaming I've been involved with in years. I'm hoping to attend next year, if not sooner! The players, most of them local to Bloomington... were all awesome. They welcomed us out-of-towners at their gaming table, and to food and a place to crash. There's nothing like D&D (and fantasy RPGs) to really bring people together!

Gauntlet of the Fallen Godkings

On Friday night, I ran a first playtest of the 13th Age adventure I'm writing, which I've hinted at over the past year. It was a very good playtest. The players got into the puzzles and combats and the pacing was overall what I was hoping for. I have some rewriting and iterations to go through, but I'm excited to get this done.

Fortress of the Ur-Mage

This game was a second (or third) playtest of an upcoming adventure by @drdavyjones. I won't spill any details except to say it was extremely fun AND my first experience with Dungeon World.

I love Dungeon World. It's fast, fluid and definitely appeals to players who want to focus on the story/action more than the dice rolls. I'm strongly considering writing GotFG for Dungeon World as well as 13th Age.

Dungeon Kru$herz

This game was run by @svdpress and was an incredibly fun take on the Quake/Doom-meets-D&D style of gameplay, using slimmed down D&D 4E rules. Heavy metal quake soundtracks were playing in the background while we rushed from chamber to chamber slicing up monsters, gaining treasure and facing insurmountable odds. If a fellow player rolled a D20, we could all yell BRUTALITY!!! to give multipliers to the damage roll. Conversely, if she rolled a natural 1, we could yell HUMILIATION!!! to give her fury points to empower future rolls. The DM pulled out all the stops with over-the-top awesome monsters, traps and situations.

Sendo Gardens

I had to leave before this game was play-tested, which I understand was a classic Fourthcore adventure (D&D 4E). I heard the players had a great time, and wished I could have stayed longer!