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1 year ago ::
Apr 23, 2012 - 2:48PM
#11
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Date Joined:
Jan 20, 2004
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Great Topic ! ! !
Hard to choose just one.
During a long running - D & D 3E - Eberron campaign . . .
The group corner a wickedly evil vampire / wizard who had killed 2 party members 3 sessions prior.
I could feel the anger / hate for him. They wanted him dead.
The villian has a dangerous ogre bodyguard and a few other small minions . . .
Battle starts and the party makes short work of the minions.
The vampire and the ogre begin eating up hit points. Rapidly!
The party wizard is shouting " we need to flee! " then goes to -2 hit points from the ogre.
Then the cleric goes below 0 hit points as the vampire hits him with a critical!
Only the ranger and bard are left standing . . .
No hope for excape, it's all or nothing now!
Both characters attack and bring the ogre down in a flurry of sword blows . . .
The vampire / wizard blasts the ranger with a fireball taking him below 0 hit points!
Bard and the vampire villian are all that's left. Both torn and bloody.
Everyone is holding their breath . . .
( Even my wife, who is not playing! )
They rush each other, vampire attacks first and scores a hit.
Seems grim. The bard has only a few hit points left.
The vampire rolls lowest damage that he can. Bard is alive with 3 hit points.
Bard counter attacks. Scores a hit, doing enough damage to kill him and strike off his evil head ! ! !
The house erupts in screams / shouts of victory ! ! !
( Loud enought that the people living beside me asked about our wild party the next day. )
Good times!
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1 year ago ::
Apr 24, 2012 - 11:30AM
#12
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One of my best memories was playing an evil manipulative gnome thief/illusionist in one of my friend’s Ravenloft campaigns. The gnome was a private investigator for hire. But instead of doing his job, the rotten bastard would use charms and illusions to create false evidence and turn over innocents in exchange for a reward. After a single session, I managed to ruin the whole adventure and get two PCs killed. I retired the character after that session; we all agreed it was very fun for a first session but not good on the long run.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 24, 2012 - 9:27PM
#13
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Date Joined:
Nov 27, 2006
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I would like to say that my favorite memory is of; 1) how I started playing these games, or 2) absorbing all that AD&D had to offer me once I'd cut my teeth on Basic & then Expert way back when. or 3) something awesome from a GenCon But it's not. No, it's seeing the excitment in a group of kids (ages 10-14) as they learned to play D&D last Fri. at the FLGS. It started with one kid. He'd been knocked out of the FNM game & was bored and asking us Warhammer players questions about WH and other games on the shelves. He then asked if any of us had ever played Dungeons & Dragons. Turns out he has the boxed set (Essentials we believe) at home & hasn't been able to dechiper it.  So he asks us if he brought it in if we could teach him how to play. Our reply was that we could teach him how right now. And so we ran 80s Red Box rules - from memory - with but 1 set of dice & a simplified character sheet (6 stats, their bonuses, AC, HP, weapons/armour, name/class/race). We just DM'd it off the cuff by playing off of whatever came out of the kids mouth - no matter how odd. (one round he was trying to befriend a tiger - that he'd suggested he'd meet - the next he was trying to either ride it or skin it. ? :/) He had a blast. Part way through him being mauled by a tiger, his little brother & their friend asked what we were playing. And if they could join in. So a few minutes later two more simple characters joined the game. Just in time to drive off the tiger & rescue the 1st player. Then they went into a ruined building for one of the most creatively entertaining kill-the-goblins missions I've seen for quite awhile. Now 3 kids are having a blast. Wich attracted 2 more. Unfortunately it was too late for them to make characters (shop was closing in 10 minutes) so they had to settle for providing odd commentary as the other 3 finished up. And now there's 3-5 brand new gamers eager to see what else lies within the ruined city.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 25, 2012 - 7:52AM
#14
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Date Joined:
Aug 12, 2006
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A conversation between my drow cleric of Ra (an unusual combination but there was a long backstory behind that) and his dying god, who used all of his power to slow down the takeover of the universe by the Illithids (it was the Illithiad adventure series) and gave the last sparkle of his light to my cleric who had to carry on the flame...
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1 year ago ::
Apr 25, 2012 - 7:54PM
#15
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Date Joined:
Mar 21, 2011
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In a homebrew AD&D game, I played a paladin named Rahaad. Rather than list the details, I'll let him speak from beyond the grave. (This occurred in 1997)
We had been shipwrecked for four days. A night-risen storm had run us afoul of a reef; the coral had smashed our ship's hull, and the sea had washed us ashore as a gale tormented the small, sandy island.
I was in the company of a preening soldier, a sobbing priestess, and a crazy wizard. As we had no way to escape the elements, we huddled around a Palm tree and avoided commiseration through talk and plans. By the time morning's light arrived, the preening soldier had declared himself as our leader, the sobbing priestess had decided that her god--not the wondrous deity I worshipped--had abandoned her, and the crazy wizard wanted to build a tower or fort on this forgotten piece of land.
Our next few days passed with increasing irritation. Tribal goblins inhabited the Palm grove at the island's center, and they were pleased to see us. As I discovered through my omniscient benefactor, the fiends had resorted to cannibalism, but we were fresh morsels washed upon their sandy plate. I tried to share this news, but the insane wizard wanted to subvert their minds and force them into slavery. I spoke against this course of action and threatened to subdue him; at that point, he wandered away from the group. We endured random raids and meager attacks from the goblins, but I continually reminded my remaining companions that we were outnumbered by a wide margin. The priestess sulked and stared at the sea while the preening soldier sat in the sand and drank from his liquor-filled flask.
On the fourth day, the preening soldier, resplendant in his scale armor, noticed a passing merchant ship. His pitiful demeanor gave way to waving arms, whooping calls, and boisterous jumping, and he decided to run toward the ship. The priestess, who no longer sobbed, followed him into the sea. And our inscrutable wizard came bounding from the Palm grove; his robes were adorned with green leaves, and he wore a maddened smile. He thought he led an army of followers, but the tribal goblins were merely chasing their fleeing meal.
I saw our predicament, and I briefly turned to my divine Lord for counsel. 'Charity,' He said. So, I ran opposite the wizard, drew my god-blessed long sword, and provided the interdiction necessary for my companions' escape to safety. Sure, they were unique people that did not understand the higher callings of life, but I could not risk their deaths through my inaction. I died that day, but my companions lived to find more adventure in their wayward journeys. Even in death, I do not bemoan my decision, but I was saddened when my former friends did not return to gather my equipment or my gobin-tooth scarred bones.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 25, 2012 - 8:45PM
#16
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Date Joined:
Aug 21, 2003
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I mostly DM, so mentioning moments from games I have run would seem a bit presumptuous, especially the moments I engineered. However, I would like to share one of my proudest moments as a DM, and ironically, it came after the game session, as well all walked back to the dorms.
Scenario: The Alliance of surface races (against an invading drow army, a war which had been ongoing for 17 years by campaign start) had a plan to win a major victory as druids joined the Alliance. The players were sent to an ancient ruin to retrieve an artifact-level censer of controlling air elementals which was rumored to summon and control Chan (good elemental prince of Air). In the ruin, they were surprised to have found that a cabal of devil-summoners had moved in. One of the wizards had a journal in which the players discovered that the main part of the cabal had already been moved on, and left the rest behind as a token force. Said wizard resented being 'sacrificed'. When the players returned with the censer (a session or two later), they witnessed it being used in battle...but it instead summoned Yan-C-Bin (evil elemental prince of Air), who took control of all the other elementals on the battlefield (every druid had summoned the most powerful Air elemental he could), and DECIMATED Alliance forces. This is where we ended the session.
Now, on the way back, my players were discussing the session, and one of my players recalled the diabolist's journal. He said "that guy's journal, he said he resented being 'sacrificed'...That means...they knew we were coming!" I smiled and urged him to continue his thought train. They realized that the censer had been a trap all along. They then recalled that the Daerethon Family (long thought of as allies to the elves) were the ones who had 'discovered' the location of the censer and suggested its use to the Alliance. Up until now, they had ignored (or believed the excuses for) several other suspicious claims regarding this family (finding a dagger with their crest in the possesion of an orc king, finding a member of this family-who was a blackguard-working with the diabolists).
This was a proud moment for me as a DM because it meant that my players had put together the clues to the mystery and uncovered the truth of a major plot antagonist just from in-game clues, and using only in-character information. They felt REAL betrayal. The significance of this was that the world I had crafted was real enough for my players that they could think this deeply in-character. This was the moment that I marked for myself real SUCCESS as a DM.
My favorite moment as a player would be hard to say, but one of them was funny, and it was The Left-Handed Zombie.
In a combat against several zombies (3e), my character became embroiled in melee with several of them. One of the zombies missed on round one. And it also missed on round two. At this point, I was ignoring it in favor of other targets. On round three, it critically missed, and the DM decided that it's arm rotted off completely at that point. On round four, attacking with its other arm, it critically hit me. On round five, it critically hit me again. My response after that was "wtf? is this zombie left-handed?" Laughs all around.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 26, 2012 - 2:53PM
#17
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Date Joined:
Jan 30, 2012
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There have been some great posts so far, too many to mention! I've enjoyed every post in this thread. One recent one reminds me of my current situation: I would like to say that my favorite memory is of;
1) how I started playing these games,
or
2) absorbing all that AD&D had to offer me once I'd cut my teeth on Basic & then Expert way back when.
or
3) something awesome from a GenCon
But it's not.
No, it's seeing the excitment in a group of kids (ages 10-14) as they learned to play D&D last Fri. at the FLGS.
That's awesome! My 5 and 10 year old are just now learning to play with me. To the 5 year old, it's just a game currently. However, I can see the same awe and wonder my 10 year old has that I had for the game at his age. He's reads a Monster Manual before he goes to bed, much like I did at his age. Its awesome to see him develop a love for the game at an early age, in very similar ways that I did. I've only ran two short sessions with them currently, but I'm planning an epic adventure this weekend and I have no doubts that it will be the most fulfilling game I've ever had.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 27, 2012 - 2:24AM
#18
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Date Joined:
Aug 12, 2006
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My favorite moment as a player would be hard to say, but one of them was funny, and it was The Left-Handed Zombie.
In a combat against several zombies (3e), my character became embroiled in melee with several of them. One of the zombies missed on round one. And it also missed on round two. At this point, I was ignoring it in favor of other targets. On round three, it critically missed, and the DM decided that it's arm rotted off completely at that point. On round four, attacking with its other arm, it critically hit me. On round five, it critically hit me again. My response after that was "wtf? is this zombie left-handed?" Laughs all around.
This reminded me another great moment. My high level fighter looked for many years for a legendary trainer, a drow weaponmaster. When he finally found him the weaponmaster was dead, but his spirit was possessing his longsword and was able to move it in the air like a Dancing blade and also able to communicate telepathically. Thus when my character reached the burial place of the weaponmaster and started to cry because he was dead, the blade rose in the air and a voice told my fighter that, if he wanted to train, the master was ready.
Thus my fighter and the dancing blade started to fight and it seemed to me that we were more or less on the same level. Then the voice said: "You're good, my dear. But I was fighting with my off-hand". Then the sword moved horizontally as somebody was switching it from its right-hand to the left one, and proceeded to beat the hell out of me.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 27, 2012 - 7:43AM
#19
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Reminds me of 'the princess bride'.
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1 year ago ::
May 09, 2012 - 12:06AM
#20
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Date Joined:
Apr 22, 2001
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Great topic!
Its a toss up for me. It was probobly my first GMing experiance in 1st edition using the basic box set. I was barely old enough to read, I recall my brother having to explain the rules to us. We though dragons where cool so for my first GM created fight the players where tasked with killing a dragon in a cave. They all died, every one of us where hooked from that point forward and we never looked back.
My second was probobly when I got my complete set of 2nd edition books, reading them for the first time. I was blown away by it and to this day its the book I read whenever I get sick or feel down. Just holding it my hand cheers me up and reminds me of everything that I loved about my youth.
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