Richard Cloventree

Richard Cloventree is a traveling tale-teller who appears in various times and places across Novalia. His appearances are unpredictable and often defy explanation. Years pass between sightings, and then witnesses will swear to his presence on opposite sides of Novalia on the same day. Histories mention him generations ago, yet he appears no older.

If questioned about his mysterious appearances, he will only respond that psychotronic powers allow him to travel the vasty deep at will.

Rick loves nothing more than telling tales. If a party is not obviously chaotic, he will always be amiable toward them and spin some tale. His tales take place in myriad different worlds, but all of these are told with the same ring of authenticity as his tales of Novalia. In all of these tales, he appears as an omniscient observer who takes no direct part in the story.

Even if you can't be the ultimate DM, you can still add him to your game!

Get the full pdf here, including 5 classic magic items from Rick "Not a Killer DM" Stump, now converted to ACKS II by yours truly.

Dark Age of Eracost Session 8

 

Party

• Baron Fingol Innes, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 3

• Tavenna, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 2

• Kilosz, Fighter 1

• Baron Gregoire, Paladin 2

• Saporobir Caan, Explorer 2

• Æredan, Navgarine Warrior 1

From my perspective, playing as Baron Fingol Innes.

Recap

August 6, 427

Previously, we had halted near a broken down stone wall, where we had slain a small party of kobolds.

Now the party moved up to the wall and found an overgrown compound beyond. A stone keep dominated the grounds, with two ruined outbuildings and some plant growth that appeared to be infected with the evil of Gadaszin. That is, it was part flesh, much like the creature disguised as a sheep we had slain earlier.

The outbuildings were a dirt mound with a wooden door, and a crumbling stone foundation. Although everything was badly overgrown, there were clear trails between these structures.

“Do Pythagoras”

We moved into the crumbled foundation first, and dispatched a small group of goblins apparently keeping watch, then turned to the mound. Inside we could hear boisterous feasting and beastman language, so we threw military oil inside and held the door against them. This plan worked well and the 24 kobolds inside were nearly all killed. We dispatched the remaining few without trouble. The kobolds had a decent bit of treasure including an old, apparently enchanted, bronze navgarine sword.

Finally we approached the keep doors. A scouting attempt was noticed by the orcs inside, and they came boiling out, straight into an earth’s excrescence that caught nine of them. There were enough to make it a fight, and Æredan went down.

As the orcs were mopped up, Tavenna applied horsetail and Æredan recovered. He awoke with voices ringing in his ears, saying “they must not find the staff!” We don’t know what staff this referred to but I’m guessing it’s related to this incursion of evil fleshy plants. A follow-up cure light injury from Fingol got Æredan back in fighting shape.

Looting the orcs, we came up with another enchanted Navgarine sword. Quite a haul for our frontliners.

At this point I had to leave, but there was a bit of further action after I left the session. Apparently some rooms in the keep were checked, and more kobolds killed with caltrops and fire. 

Fingol’s Squad

Reserve xp: 125

Fingol Keeper 3 4271 / 7280

Tavenna Keeper 2 1864 / 3640

Kilosz Fighter 1 1769 / 2000

New Published Product: The Garden of Flesh and Blood

This week I'm finally publishing the ttrpg project I've been working on for the past four months or so - a new wilderness adventure site for ACKS II. Unlike my previous project which was a small 2-page dungeon, this one is 15 pages of content, complete with maps, art, six different sub-locations, new monsters, NPCs and unique magic items.

While progress on the project was slow because I'm a father of three with a baby and a full time job, I'm really happy with how it came together. My wife, Brooke, did some great original art that really brought it to life, and I was able to really delve into the customization tools in ACKS II to build out new monsters and magic items that are balanced and ready for sandbox play.

The adventure site is called The Garden of Flesh and Blood, and it's a dark, faerie-themed location with horrible monsters, tragic backstory, high danger and great rewards for the successful adventurer. Check it out on Drivethru RPG and support me if you're interested!

Dark Age of Eracost Session 7

 Party

• Baron Fingol Innes, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 3

• Tavenna, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 2

• Kilosz, Fighter 1

• Baron Gregoire, Paladin 2

• Baron Shevayron, Tratkean Fighter 2

• Saporobir Caan, Explorer 2

• Æredan, Navgarine Warrior 1

Recap

July 28, 427

The party spent a week in Rantal. Yet more war dogs and spiked barding were purchased, Tavenna learned her new spell (a lightning bolt spell that’s custom to this setting) and Saporobir hired a 1st level explorer named Bartosz, along with some mercenary horse archers. A new PC met us here, replacing Draeo - Æredan the Navgarine Warrior.

August 4

Party travelled north to Amtolosz along the road, meeting no trouble.

August 5

We set out north to investigate reports of kidnappings and dragonmen attacks. Farmers and traders met along the road indicated that the dragonmen attacks were further east, but they were very concerned about local disappearances.

Our hunting dogs alerted us to a strange smell along the road and we found a herd of sheep. One sheep acted strangely and stared at Shevayron. When he tried to zap it with a lightning cantrip, it transformed into a twisted plant creature. The creature was immediately torn to shreds by our war dogs.

We inspected the creature, found it was intentionally growing in the shape of a sheep to blend in. Tavenna, our historian, revealed that these monsters had been seen in part wars with Gadaszin, but had never taken stealthy forms like this. Ravenna, also being our animal expert, inspected every sheep but found no more monsters. We collected some ichor, and set our hunting dogs on the trail of the plant creature, which led us east into the forest.

Later in the day, Greg spotted something shiny in the grass… a diamond ring. He decided to try it on. Fingol cast protection from power on him in case of a curse, but it wasn’t enough. Greg was cursed and his strength halved!

Near the end of the day we came across some old Navgarine ruins. This had been a city of carefully grown trees, now overgrown and ruined. Æredan found some inscriptions, which allowed Tavenna to identify the ruins as the ancient city of Blessed River. We camped here after spending an inordinate amount of time convincing the noble paladin Gregoire not to intentionally get killed in the forest at night or try to start a forest fire.

August 6

We explored some paths through the dense forest ruins. We came across small groups of goblins and kobolds, and both were dispatched without much danger.

The goblin group was camped around a broken statue plinth. Our Navgarines read the inscription, which named an ancient Keeper famously slain by dragons.

After slaying the kobolds we approached a stone structure, which we guessed to be the keep of the ancient Navgarine city.

Dark Age of Eracost Session 6

 Party

• Fingol Innes, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 3

• Tavenna, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 1

• Kilosz, Fighter 1

• Greg, Paladin 2

• Shevayron, Tratkean Fighter 2

• Saporobir Caan, Explorer 2

Recap

From my perspective playing Fingol the Navgarine Keeper.

May 24, 427

After some deliberation, the Earl of Amtolosz confirmed our rights to the fort, and named those party members who agreed to be raised to the rank of baron. We would rule the wilderness barony as an oligarchy. We decided to name the fort Vigilant Keep.

Then followed a massive amount of downtime activity tracking. We took a full 60 days of downtime, primarily so Fingol could study 6 (!) new spells. If you’re wondering how he had so many open slots, Keepers of the Stars get expanded repertoire at level 3 along with access to level 2 spells, Fingol has INT 17 and hadn’t filled his extra slot from hitting 2nd level.

While Fingol powered up with spells (aka natural power techniques in this setting), other party members trained proficiencies, and Saporobir partied the entire time, spending well over 1500 gp and becoming a local legend.

July 24

Finally, the party was ready for adventure. We set out to track down the two treasure maps that we’d looted from Tarvon’s brigands. The first map led us to a cave, east of Vigilant Keep. Inside we discovered a prisoner had been kept by the brigands. We found out that this man (a navgarine) was an apprentice alchemist, and the brigands had forced him to work on some kind of cursed potion, involving tiger eye, willow bark, blessed thistle and holy water.

July 26

Having allowed Simul, the prisoner, to rest a day at Vigilant Keep, we took him back to his hometown, a small Nomoine village. There he was reunited with his family, and refused Fingol’s offer of work as a henchman.

July 27

Searched for the treasure from the second map, and it was simply a buried chest with some silver and gems.

July 28

Returned to Rantal to sell some scrolls and resupply. The sale of magic items got Tavenna to 2nd level.

The general plan from here was to investigate the disappearances north of Amtolosz caused by dragonmen.

Fingol’s Squad

Reserve xp: 125

Fingol Keeper 3 4169 / 7280

Tavenna         Keeper 2 1813 / 3640

Kilosz Fighter 1 1718 / 2000

Dark Age of Eracost Session 5

From my perspective, playing Fingol the Navgarine Keeper.

Party:

• Fingol Innes, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 1

• Tavenna, 0-level apprentice keeper

• Kilosz, 0-level launderer

• Greg, Paladin 1

• Ambrogino, Venturer 1

• Szeidran, 0-level guard

• Shevayron, Tratkean Fighter 1

• Saporobir Caan, Explorer 1

May 21, 427

With the brigands locked in their keep, we formed up at the bailey gate and brought forward our ballista.

A stranger (new PC replacing Jaret) calling himself Saporobir came upon our rearguard and met with some suspicion, but assured us of his hate for Tarvon. He snuck around to the back of the keep alone.

We fired our ballista and punched a hole through the keep door, then advanced. At about 90 ft. out, Ambrogino and Shevayron shouted to the remaining brigands. Our demands were simple. Everyone except Tarvon was to lay down arms, and they would be allowed to walk away.

To the remnants of a force which had lost more than three quarters of its strength, up against an enemy whose numbers and strength was still unknown, this offer was too good to refuse. Weapons were thrown from windows, and out of the gate came the bulk of the remaining men:

• 27 brigand archers

• 2 navgarine practitioners (mages)

• 4 priests

Each man was searched and questioned, then allowed to flee. They told us that Tarvon was hiding on the upper level. After the others had gone, Shevayron questioned the priests. We learned that this brigand group was native to Waterwatch (a nation to the south which is known mostly for piracy). Tarvon had lost his village in a war with Rantal, and turned to brigandry. Our party was not impressed by these excuses, and Shevayron was particularly incensed at Keudan priests going along with a group that indiscriminately slaughtered innocents. Going back on his word, he ordered the priests tied up to be delivered to the Earl of Amtolosz.

Unbeknownst to the main force, Saporobir was scaling the back of the keep with a grappling hook. He made it to the top and found a locked trapdoor. On this he knocked and said, “Tarvon! I’m here to save you, hurry up!” The door opened, and inside was Tarvon with his three captains, his wife and two other women. Saporobir offered the brigands an escape with his rope, and they agreed, apparently in desperation. They sent Saporobir down first, followed by Tarvon himself. Saporobir slid quickly to the bottom, smashed his lantern and started shooting arrows at the brigand leader, who was injured before scrambling back up.

Still unaware of this, our party stormed the keep with Greg and Shevayron in the lead, and the bulk of the spearmen behind. On the ground floor we found some enslaved villagers who we released. We caught Tarvon’s men on the roof and held the trapdoor with spears. After taking a few volleys of arrows, they finally surrendered.

Shevayron interrogated the men, but we learned little. Then we put Tarvon and his captains to the sword.

May 24th

After two days rest in our shiny new (ok somewhat shoddy and partly burned down) fort, the captured warhorses were again fit for travel.

We left behind the Szeidran, our most loyal henchman (now a 1st level fighter) to command the spearmen and archers and hold the fort. We returned to Amtolosz in triumph, bearing the head of Tarvon.

On the way in, we met a wounded soldier who told of dragonman raiders north of town.

We met the Earl, collected a tidy 1000 gp reward, and presented our case. We asked to be given title to the land around the fort we’d captured, to keep the area secure from further dangers. This was left to be decided next session.

Gains:

Most of the party reached level 2 and henchmen level 1. Fingol and Ambrogino reached level 3 due to lower level caps (they were capped at 1 xp below 3 after taking the keep, then pushed over by the reward).

The party got a big influx of gold by selling the warhorses and spoils of the brigands, and we got a decent haul of other loot including a +1 sword, 7 magic scrolls, 6 potions, a treasure map and an alchemy lab in the keep.

Dark Age of Eracost Session 4

 From my perspective, playing Fingol the Navgarine Keeper.

Party:

• Fingol Innes, Navgarine Keeper of the Stars 1

• Tavenna, 0-level apprentice keeper

• Greg, Paladin 1 (in absentia, played by me)

• Jaret, Navgarine Urchin 1

• Ceana, 0-level seamstress

• Efaila, 0-level tavern keeper

• Ambrogino, Venturer 1 (in absentia, played by me and Jaret)

• Szeidran, 0-level guard

• Draeo, Assassin 1

• Shevayron, Tratkean Fighter 1

May 5, 427

Yesterday, the party had arrived back in Amtolosz after raiding Tarvon’s brigand patrols. On the morning of the 5th, there was a disturbance in the streets, as a wounded man arrived in town, reporting that Tarvon had raided a hamlet in the Baronies, slaughtering everyone and sending the lone survivor with a message that the “coward” who had killed his men should show himself. Of course we had no idea who he referred to, since we were all very based and courageous lads who had slaughtered his men.

So after briefly considering a reckless outing to try to intercept his raiding party, we proceeded with our previous plans and force-marched south to the small city of Rantal.

May 6

Here the party took two weeks to prepare for the attack on Tarvon.

Notable hiring:

• Fingol hired a new 0-level henchman, Kirosz, a muscular launderer with an intense desire to “wring the brigands’ necks”

• Ambrogino hired an artillerist and a driver for his cart-mounted ballista

• Greg/the party hired a small force of mercenaries:

• 10 light infantry

• 14 heavy spearmen

• 6 bowmen

Notable purchases:

• 2 war dogs with spiked leather barding (1 for Shevayron, 1 for Fingol)

• 14 bags of caltrops (!!)

Tavenna was assigned to study healing for two weeks with the local physicker, Shevayron worked on learning riding and some others did odd jobs for a bit of coin.

May 21

We scouted the brigand patrol paths, then approached Tarvon’s fort after nightfall. The fort was a strong stone keep, with a bailey surrounded by a 10' wooden palisade.

A rough sketch of our force deployment:

Advance

• Draeo and Jaret

Center

• 14 Heavy spearmen + Greg in a single rank

• 6 bowmen + Kilosz in second rank

Right flank

• 5 light infantry with javelins

• Fingol, Tavenna, 3 armored war dogs and 2 hunting dogs

Left flank

• 5 light infantry with javelins

• Shevayron, 2 armored war dogs

Rear

• The ballista cart with Ambrogino, Szeidran, Efaila, Ceana and the unnamed cart driver and artillerist

The main force held back far out of hearing distance without torches while the advance force sneaked up to the palisade. They made it up to a dark section of the wall undetected, then slid along to the gate and began spreading caltrops. Still not hearing any disturbance, they went north and lit a section of the palisades on fire with naphtha, then circled all the way around to the south.

When the watchmen finally spotted the fire, they raised the alarm and sent five men out to fight the fire. Those five men ran across the caltrops and were horribly incapacitated. Seeing the fire lit, our main force advanced.

While the general confusion reigned, Draeo and Jaret slipped over the palisade on the south wall. They tried to light the stable on fire to stop the brigand cavalry from mounting up, but it didn’t stop them.

At this point we realized there were 31 medium cavalry with lamellar and barded warhorses. Previous intel had said there were 20 cavalry, and we had assumed they were light cavalry. We had prepared two layers of anti-cavalry defenses - first the caltrops, then the heavy spearmen. 14 against 31 didn’t look too good, but then…

The cavalry charged out the gates directly through 15 ft. of caltrops, and they were absolutely devastated. On the same round, we hit them with a bolt from our medium ballista and a volley of arrows. At the end of the round there were only 8 or 9 left standing, and their morale broke. The next round they attempted to retreat, but none made it back inside.

With the heart of Tarvon’s forces torn out, we advanced, exchanging fire with his archers until they retreated. To add insult to injury, Draeo had set even more caltrops on the grassy field between the gate and the keep, which took out even more archers. Unfortunately, the retreating archers caught on to the fact that someone was infiltrating, and they quickly searched the tents and outbuildings. Draeo and Jaret were both caught and slain by the enraged brigands.

Our main force advanced into the bailey, and the brigands sealed themselves into the keep.