Frostgrave Campaign Game 1: First Expedition Into the City

   This blog will be a journal of the Frostgrave campaign I am playing at my local game store, Critical Hit Games, with my Chronomancer warband.    We played our first game this past Sunday, with four players taking part on a 4'x4' table.

A view of the table.

           In the photo above, my party entered in the lower left corner.  Across from me was a Necromancer, beside me was an Enchanter, and diagonally across from me was a Summoner

Col. Greyrain the Chronomancer, Sgt. LeClerc, the Templar Austex, and the Thief Okita, enter the city through a graveyard.

      My Chronomancer, the Elf known as Colonel Albadon Greyrain, entered the outskirts of the city for the first time with his trusted party of soldiers that had been recruited from across the eons.  He divided his forces into two groups as he entered the city.  With him he took the Templar, Brother Austex; the "Crossbowman" (armed with Musket) Sergeant LeClerc; and the Thief, Okita.  He put under the command of his able apprentice, Guenevere Kirov: the Man-at-Arms, Centurion Vortus; and the Thugs, Lindfor and Caloban.   His War Hound, Rex, was left to own choice of actions.
    Greyrain moved his group through a graveyard on the edge of the city, and almost immediately came across some treasure laying there by an empty coffin. He paused toconisder for a moment where the occupant may have gone.  He then signaled to his Apprentice to send one of the Thugs over to pick it up.  To his right, atop a tall ruin, the Chronomancer spotted another pile of treasure, and pointed it out to his Thief, Okita.  Meanwhile his Apprentice, Guenevere, had spotted some treasure by a statue on a plateau in front of her.  There were a couple more treasure nearby, but almost immediately they began floating away from Greyrain and his party; there was obviously wizards with Telekinetic abilities nearby.

A view of the whole party entering the city.

      Greyrain cast his Leap spell on the thief, and Okita immediately bounded to the top of the nearby ruin where the treasure was.  The Chronomancer then took up a position at the base of the same ruin, along with Sgt. LeClerc. Brother Austex began to move towards the nearby Enchanter's position to see what targets of opportunity he could find.  Sighting was difficult from where the wizard and his musketman stood; the ruins were dense in this part of the city. As he angled to get a clear line of sight on any of the other parties he knew were nearby, he spotted the Necromancer's Apprentice turn the corner of a building across the way.  He had with him a device that he had obtained on a trip to the distance future that shot a beam of pure energy, like a bolt of pure lightning; (his apprentice had one too), and though he did not fully understand its workings he thought he would try it out now on this inviting target.  He manipulated it's buttons and sure enough,a beam of whitish-blue light shot from it, and struck the Necromancer's Apprentice who fell immediately lifeless to the ground (Successfully cast Elemental Bolt).
    Meanwhile, Guenevere used Leap herself to move one of the Thugs up onto the Plateau, and the Man-at-Arms, Vortus, climbed up after him on his own.  The Apprentice then tried to Leap herself onto the plateau, but didn't quite make it to the top; she scrabbled to make it over the ledge, injuring herself a little in the process (took a 3 point hit to her health to boost the spell).
   Rex, the War Hound moved to the rear area of the Enchanter's position, only to be met by a Thug and the Enchanter's own War Hound.  Then, as if out of nowhere, a large Snow Troll lurched into view right were Rex was preparing to defend himself. (A successful Wandering Creature roll.)  It must have distracted the poor dog, as the Enchanter's Thug dispatched him with one blow.  The enemy's Thug and War Hound didn't have time to celebrate though, as almost immediately they were charged by the Snow Troll who made quick work of both.  The Snow Troll proceeded to tear his way through most of the Enchanter's party, and was still seen moving through the city looking for heads to bash at game's end.

The Snow Troll appears and starts pummeling his way through the Enchanter's party.

     On top of the plateau another battle was shaping up, as the Necromancer sent troops up to contest the two treasures in that area.  Caloban the Thug claimed the closest, just as an arrow from the Necromancer's archer whizzed by, and the Necro's Treasure Hunter moved forward.  Vortus knew what he had to do, and he ran forward and imposed himself between the enemy and Caloban, buying him time to escape.  The Necromancer's Treasure Hunter charged forward and engaged the Man-at-Arms.  Almost immediately Vortus was struck, and after two turns of combat he was felled by the Necro's man.   But he had done his job, and had bought Caloban the time he needed to escape with the treasure.
     The Necromancer, herself, now climbed atop the plateau, and Guenevere moved to engage her.  But before she could, the Necromancer cast Reveal Death upon her,and she froze where she was for long minutes as she was overwhelmed by visions of her own death.  Luckily, before the Necromancer could take advantage of the situation, an Imp appeared out of thin air on the plateau (Summmon Imp cast by the Summoner), and immediately the small demon charged at the Necromancer.  Guen, still emotionally shook-up by the Necormancer's visions, we relieved at this bit of good luck; but then, out of nowhere, an arrow hit her squarely (from the Summoner's Ranger), and she dropped to the snow, lifeless.
     By this time Okita was down from the ruin with her treasure, and the Thug, Lindfor, was dragging the one out of the Graveyard where the party had entered. Greyrain spotted the Summoner's Apprentice come into view. Once again he tried his light-beam device from the future but he was unable to make it work on this occasion (Failed attempt to cast Elemental Bolt). He still hadn't quite figured out how it worked.  Sgt. LeClerc, standing beside the wizard, said, "Ne vous inquiétez pas, le Colonel! I can hit that".  And he sighted his musket at the Summoner's Apprentice and pulled the trigger.  The musket fired with a bang, that echoed off the nearby ruins, and in the distance the pair could see the Apprentice drop to the snow.

Attack on the Summoner's Apprentice: Sgt. LeClerc (Bottom left of photo), and Col. Greyrain (towards center right of photo) both take aim at the Summoner's Apprentice (near top center of photo)

       Greyrain, ever aware of time, noticed the shadow's lengthening amongst the ruins, and knew it was about time to head out of the city if they were to make it bak to safety before nightfall.  About this time, the last remnants of the Enchanter's badly mauled warband left the city too, and the game ended.
   A they headed out of the city, the Chronomancer spotted an unusual building a short way off the main road.  It had various rods and coiled bits of metal sicking from what remained of its roof, and various rusted and decayed bits of machinery stood in the dirt around building's front yard. "Some sort of abandoned Wizard's Laboratory", Greyrain mused. "Let us go check this out, it will be a good place to shelter for the night.  Perhaps we can fix it up and use it as a base to operate out of".
   Later that evening, the Wizard took stock of his party's condition.  Vortus had been badly wounded during his brave defense on the plateau, and would likely be out of action for a while.  Also, Rex had been badly wounded in his fight with the Enchanter's troops.  Perhaps the poor dog wasn't cut out for the dangers in the city.  Greyrain considered that he might do better finding a new home for the injured dog.  Luckily, both Guenevere and the Templar had injuries that only proved minor, so they would be well enough again in just a couple days.
       The Wizard and his Apprentice, her arm and shoulder bandaged and bound up in a sling, sat and studied the treasure the group had retrieved from the city.   There was 260 gold coins, which greatly pleased Greyrain.  They also found an Orb of Power (8) which Greyrain took for his own use. With a smile, he handed a potion of healing they had found to Guenevere.  She bowed her head, embarrassed at her failing, but took the potion anyway and thanked the wizard. They also had found an old bottle labeled "Explosive Cocktail".  Greyrain thought the Templar might make good use of such a power potion, since he would most likely find himself up close with the opposing warbands. There was also a Grimoire containing the spell of Invisibility.  The Chronomancer felt he didn't have time to learn that now, so it was locked away in an old vault they had found in the Laboratory to study later.
    The Chronomancer then thought how best to put some of his new found wealth to use.  He might spend some to improve Sgt. LeClerc's rifle.  He had certainly proved his value by taking out the Summoner's Apprentice.  (Pay 100gc for Marksman to replace Crossbow), and he thought that a Ranger (100gc) might help the party, and could take the place of the War Hound, Rex, on the group's roster.
  Colonel Albadon Greyrain stayed-up late that night sifting through the notes and relics scattered about the old Laboratory.  The rest of the party was already deep asleep throughout the building around him.  Guen had told him what happened on the plateau, and he knew sadly that she would probably be haunted by nightmares for a few weeks now after the Reveal Death spell that the Necromancer had placed on her.  Be he had assured her that they would past.  He picked up an old book and blew a layer of dust off the cover, thinking about the day and this new home they had found. There would certainly be a lot of interesting things he could learn here, he thought to himself.  He sat in an old chair and sipped at some wine that came from a bottle he had found in an old desk in the Laboratory's workshop.  Not as good as the French wine he had had while with Napoleon, he decided; but it would do.  He found his thoughts already turning to his next foray into the ruins of Frostgrave, as sleep slowly overtook him.