Frostgrave Campaign Game 7: Demons Be Gone!

     This past Sunday we were back at the local game store, Critical Hit, to play the seventh game in the store's Frostgrave campaign.  There were six of us playing, and we played on a 4'x6' table.   We did a scenario this time designed by one of the players.  In this scenario there were three portals on the table through which demons were passing each turn. At the end of every turn one of the players rolled a d20 for each portal, and depending on the result: an Imp, Minor Demon or Major Demon came through the portal that turn. Players got 10 Experience Points for killing a Minor Demon, and 20 EP for killing a Major Demon.  Also, when a Major Demon was killed it dropped a treasure token.      Becuase the Major Demons were going to be dropping treasure tokens, we began the game by placing just 2 regular treasure tokens per player.  We then chose starting locations based on player's level; letting the lowest level wizard choose first, and then working up to the highest level.  I was at level 11 going into this game which put me choosing next to last.  This resulted with me starting between an Enchanter to my left and a Necromancer to my right.

A view of the table.  I was set up in the middle along the closest edge.

           It was a good outing for me with my wizard, the Elven Chronomancer Colonel Albadon Greyrain, and his Apprentice, Guenevere Kirov, casting 11 spells between them.  The highlight being my Apprentice taking out the Enchanter with one shot from an Elemental Bolt spell. The warband was also able to recover 3 treasures.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) my warband was never able to get near any of the portals, nor any of the demons, so I did not get any treasure or Experience that way.

My starting position.  My Wizard, Man-at-Arms, Marksman, and Ranger are on the left; Apprentice, Knight, another Marksman, and a Treasure Hunter are on the right. In the center are the Templar and another Man-at-Arms.

      My Apprentice struggled with her spell casting a bit, and ended up sacrificing a lot of health to "push" some spells.  She also ended up raking a few points of damage from failed spells.  She ended up down to 1 Health Point, and was just 2 inches from getting off the table when she was hit by a long shot (exactly 24"!) from one of the Enchanter's archers, which put her out of the game.  Luckily after the game she made a full recovery.  Also brought down during the game were my Templar, Brother Austex, and the newly minted Man-at-Arms, Lindfor.   The Templar ultimately survived the battle, the Man-at-Arms was killed.

At the end of Turn 1, the Wizard has used Leap to get the MAA up to the roof of the tower to recover the treasure there, while he, the Ranger, and the Marksman move off to the left.  The Apprentice, Knight, and Treasure Hunter move right, after the Apprentice fails to Leap the Treasure Hunter up onto the ruin on the right (and takes 2 damage from a spectacular fail at that),  and are joined by the Templar.  The other Man-at-Arms and the other Marksman move up the center.

      I did pretty well with treasure rolls, getting 100 Gold Coins, Grimoires of Bone Dart and Fast Act, and a Staff of Casting Elemental Bolt.   My total for experience, including the 20 EP I get for my Laboratory base, was 280.  This was enough, along with experience left from last game, to give me three levels.  I used those levels to add 1 to my Health Points, reduce casting on Elemental Bolt, and learn my new Fast Act Grimoire.

After the Enchanter (standing behind the wall in the graveyard) shoots a Bone Dart at my Knight (and misses), my wizard retaliates with an Elemental Bolt, but misses, as does the Marksman, Sgt LeClerc.

While the Knight fights off an Imp, my Apprentice turns cooly and fires an Elemental Bolt at the Enchanter as well.  And while she has to sacrifice a Health Point to push the casting, she rolls a 17  for the attack, killing the Enchanter in one shot.

With the Enchanter put out of action, my Templar, Ranger, and Man at Arms pile into the graveyard to try and get the treasure there.  They are opposed by two of the Enchanter's soldiers, and make the mistake of piling up on one, hoping to kill him in one swift attack, but don't; allowing the other enemy soldier to grab the treasure and make his way out of the graveyard.  Eventually, with the enemy soldier slowed by the treasure, they are able to over take him and recover the treasure for themselves, but at the loss of  both the Man-at-Arms, and the Templar.

Meanwhile, over on the right a wandering Snow Troll, has approached my Apprentice and Knight. As the Knight bravely throws herself in the troll's path, my Apprentice, who has already hit the troll once with an Elemental Bolt,  is able to take cover behind a wall from where she fires another Elemental Bolt, rolling a 16 attack and frying the troll to a crisp.  Out of view, my Treasure Hunter is up in the ruin above them, fighting ing one of the Necromancer's Thieves for the treasure there.

End of game shot.  After successfully stealing the graveyard treasure from the Enchanter's men, and recovering the one from the tower, and the ruin on the right, my group ends up with 3 treasures. My Apprentice, Templar, and one of the Man-at-Arms have fallen during the game, but luckily the Apprentice and Templar make a full recovery.

Frostgrave Campaign Game 6: Jingle All the Way!

  This past Sunday we were back at the local game store, Critical Hit, to play the sixth game in the store's Frostgrave campaign.  Unfortunately, I missed last month's Game 5. There were six of us playing, including a new player, and we played on  a 4'x6' table.  We didn't do any scenario this time, so order of treasure placement and choosing set up location were done by drawing numbered chips.  Unfortunately, I got last entry spot choice so I ended up not only in a center spot on one of the sides, but also directly in front of one of the store's support columns. :(

The players discuss the game before things get underway. 

     I don't have a lot of time to write a full-blown narrative account this month, due to holiday,  family, and work commitments; so I am just going to post the pictures I took along with some explanatory captions.    My wizard, the Elven Chronomancer, Colonel Albadon Greyrain, and his warband, did very well this outing; recovering 4 treasures, and not losing a single member of their ranks during combat.  Greyrain and his Apprentice, the Human, Guenevere Kirov, managed to successfully cast 8 spells during the game.    Between those successes, Greyrain killing an enemy Warhound himself, and the knowledge he picked up from reading notes in his Laboratory; the old wizard gained 340 Experience Points.  

Greyrain and his warband enter near an old tower.  For his first spell, the wizard casts "Leap on the Thug, Lindfor, to speedily get him up into the tower to recover a treasure up on its top platform.

Coming under fire from the Enchanter's warband on their left, Greyrain casts a wall of Fog to protect his party as they advance and attempt to recover the treasure which lies by the white statue seen in the distance 

 

A swirling melee develops around the statue as Greyrain's new Knight, Lady Regina, wades into combat.  The Chronomancer's Marksman, Sgt LeClerc takes care of one of the opponents with his musket.

A view of the table during the game. My troops are right by the large support column seen on the left.

The Enchanter sends his warhound forward to attack the Apprentice, Guenevere, doing damage to her.  Greyrain is forced to step in himself, and take care of the dog with a mighty blow from his staff. 

Just when lady Regina thinks the treasure is hers, one of the Necromancer's soldiers approaches to contest it.  Already weary from battle, the Knight is happy to see the Templar, Brother Austex, and the Ranger, Sareese Riverbend approach to aid her, as Duke Morrison provides covering fire with his .45 caliber sidearm.  

Badly injured from her fight with the warhound, and a couple failed spells, Guenevere tries to Leap Sgt LeClerc onto the top of another tower, (seen in the upper right) to recover a treasure there, but rolls a 1, and lowers herself to just 1 Health Point.  With discretion being the better part of valor, she limps off the table and heads back to the Lab to recover.  On the next turn, Greyrain himself Leaps Lindfor up there to get the prize.

After the game, the warband poses with their treasures.  In all the games of Frostgrave I've played, this is one of just a handful that have ended with not a single one of my warband being reduced to 0 Health Points during the game! 

Frostgrave Campaign Game 4: The Haunted Huts

 On Sunday we were back at the local game store, Critical Hit, to have the fourth game in the store's Frostgrave campaign.  Unfortunately, I missed last month's Game 3. There were five of us playing, including two new players, and we played on  a 4'x6' table.  We decided to play the Haunted Houses scenario from the core rulebook.  We placed a treasure in each of the huts, and then each player placed two additional treasures.  Then, since there were 6 huts, and only five of us, we had a friend in the game store write down a random number between 1 and 6, and that hut's treasure would be a dummy, not to be revealed s fake until game's end.

A view of the table before the game.

    My Chronomancer, the elf, Colonel Albadon Greyrain, and his human Apprentice, Guenevere Kirov, entered on the corner of the table at the upper right in the photo above.  Across from me was the Necromancer, and to my left was a new Enchanter.  Diagonally across from me was the Summoner. Also present was a  Witch, who was on the far side of the Enchanter from my position.
     Greyrain was aware of three treasures in the immediate area that he had a good chance of getting: one a few inches away form his starting position on the second level of a nearby ruin, one on top of a ruined amphitheater on his right, and one in a small ruin to his left.
   The Chronomancer divided his force in to two groups: with himself he took the Templar, Brother Austex; the Marksman, Sergeant LeClerc (armed with a musket); and the Thug, Lindfor.   Under Guenevere's command were the Man-at-Arms, Centurion Vortus; the Thief, Okita; and the new Crossbowman, Duke Morrison (who had a pistol rather than a crossbow).  The Man-at-Arms, Caloban, and the Ranger, Sareese Riverbend, were left under their own command.
     Upon reaching their jump-off position, Greyrain immediately Cast Leap on Lindfor, sending him flying up to the second floor a nearby ruin, where he landed next to a treasure chest.  The Wizard then moved off to the left with Brother Austex, and directed Sgt LeClerc to move forward and take up position at a window on the ground floor of the ruin where Lindfor had jumped.
     Meanwhile, Guenevere moved off to the right with the others in her group, heading towards the ruined amphitheater.  She scaled the raised platform of some sort of derelict portal to check out the surrounding ruins, and noticed the Necromancer's Treasure Hunter in the distance, moving across a rubble filled street. She quickly pulled the futuristic weapon she carried from it's holster, and raising it, pushed a series of buttons on its surface.  A beam of white light, like lightning, shot from the device's cylindrical end, and  hit the Treasure Hunter squarely in the chest.  (Cast Elemental Bolt) He stumbled for a moment, but she saw he wasn't dead. She cursed under her breath.  He had to be badly hurt, she thought.

Turn 3: Lindfor makes off with his treasure (right center side of photo), as Sareese enters the small ruin (near the upper left center). Meanwhile, Col Greyrain casts Combat Awareness on Brother Austex (lower left center). Sgt. LeClerc stands at a window in the main ruin watching for targets (near the center).

    Caloban followed after the Apprentice's group, while Sareese, the Elf Ranger, moved off to the left to get the treasure located in the small ruin. She could see Greyrain heading that way too.  The wizard stopped for a moment and waved his staff in a circular motion as he spoke a series of rhythmic words.  A wall of fog appeared over on the left, (Cast Fog) blocking the view of a group of the Enchanter's soldiers who are also advancing towards the small ruin.  No sense risking any unnecessary spells or missile fire, the old Wizard thought.
   Over by the amphitheater Okita rushed forward to get the treasure, only to see it fly away under the power of the Necromancer's Telekinesis spell. She followed it, only to see it drop at the feet of the Treasure Hunter that Guen had wounded earlier.  Seeing the man was hurt, she raced forward and leaped over some rumble into combat with the man.  Her confidence in her ability to defeat the wounded soldier betrayed her though. As she sliced at him with sword, he blocked wth more force than she expected, and before she could parry with her dagger, he had struck back hitting her squarely.  As he pulled back his blade, she collapsed down upon the jagged ruins.
   Back on the other side of the warband, Greyrain could tell that the group of the Enchanter's soldiers he saw earlier were also heading for the small ruin where Sareese now headed.  He ran over to the nearby Templar and cast Combat Awareness on him so he could help the Ranger.   Sareese reached the ruin and practically leaped over the wall.  She stood next to the treasure as the Enchanter's men, with the Enchanter's Apprentice alongside them, entered from the far ruined doorway.  In a minute she was overwhelmed and quickly cut down.  Brother Austex rushed forward, but could see he was too late.  He carried an Explosive Cocktail clipped to his belt, and he paused a moment to hurl it into the ruin.  It was apparently a dud, as it went off with a loud bang, but very little damage was done to the Enchanter's men in the ruin. The brave Templar was undaunted, and like the Ranger before him, he too leaped over the ruin's low wall.  Unfortunately, despite his Combat Awareness, and powerful armor, he was no match for the 4 enemies grouped against him, and he too fell immediately.

Behind the ruins of the amphitheater, Centurion Vortus is attacked by the Necromancer's skeleton archer, as Caloban takes on the Necromancer's dog. Duke Morrison takes up  position of cover to offer fire support. 

     Things back with the Apprentice's group had hit a standstill.  The Necromancer sent his Archer and dog forward to slow up the group's progress, and Centurion Vortus and Caloban were tied up battling them.  The Necromancer launched a Bone Dart at Duke Morrison which just sliced along the Marksman's cheek as he ducked behind the nearby ruins of the Amphitheater.   However, he immediately swung back into position as he leveled his .45 pistol, and drawing a bead on the Necromancer he fired, striking the wizard on his right side.
   The wounded Necromancer, regained himself enough to cast Reveal Death on Duke, incapacitating the Marksman for a turn.  As Duke stood their transfixed with horrible visions, the Necromancer's skeleton got the upper hand on the Centurion , and laid him low with his dagger.

Colonel Greyrain (center left), and his Apprentice Guenevere (bottom center right) rush forward along with the remaining members of the warband to try and stop whatever treasure they can from leaving the table.  

     Things were getting desperate now, and Greyrain called over to Guenevere, his Apprentice, and motioned forward with his staff as he ran towards the Necromancer's side of the table.  He could see too many of the opposing wizard's men already dragging treasure off towards their home base. Knowing he had only secured one treasure himself so far,  the Chronomancer knew he needed to do something about it.
   Guen leaped down from her perch atop the derelict portal, and ran forward as well.  She paused though as the Necromancer himself came into view; and hardly stopping at all, she raised her futuristic weapon and pressed it's buttons.  A beam of light shot forth, hitting the Necromancer squarely, and he dropped to the snowy ground. (Cast Elemental Bolt)
     Greyrain took up position by a small ruined hut, and looked around.  He was shocked to see the Summoner's Apprentice across the way. She looked pale and worn out, and he suspected she had weakened herself  during the day's events.  Seeing a good opportunity,  he whipped out his futuristic weapon, and aiming it at the Apprentice, pressed the buttons.  Nothing happened.  Frustrated, he put both hands on the weapon and squeezed.  Whatever he did wasn't good, as a shock ran up both arms as the weapon fired.  His hands went numb; and worse, the Apprentice dodged the beam.  (Cast Elemental Bolt and sacrificed 6 Health to empower it, but the enemy Apprentice beet the Shoot roll.) He ducked back as the Apprentice shot a Bone Dart at him, and then had to duck again, as an arrow from the Summoner's Ranger went whizzing by his pointed ear.

Greyrain takes aim at the Summoner's Apprentice standing by the far tower.

     As Greyrain was dueling the Summoner's Apprentice,  Duke and Caloban were making their way forward, along with Guenevere, as best they could.  They spotted one of the Necromancer's men dragging a heavy treasure chest away, and Duke drew his pistol as Caloban raced forward to fight the man.  Duke fired, killing him, and the Man-at-Arms came forward and grabbed the treasure away.
   Colonel Albadon Greyrain poked his head out once more and aimed at the Apprentice.  He fired, and this time everything worked just fine.  The beam of light shot out of the weapon and struck the Apprentice, who was knocked backwards by the impact and lay motionless on the broken paving stones.  He ducked back, before any retaliatory spell or missile fire came his way.  It was only then that the old Elf noticed that the shadows were growing long amongst the ruins, and he relized that it was perhaps time to head out of the city.

Those who survived  the game with their two treasures.

     Back at the old Laboratory, the Colonel took stock of the day's expedition.   It had been a hard bloody fight for sure.  He and his Apprentice sat at an old workbench and related their respective tales from the day.  Both were saddened when neither Okita or Centurion Vortus returned that night. Greyrain poured himself a glass of French wine, and said a toast in their honor.  
   He was disappointed that they had only managed to recover just two treasures; a chest with 200 gold coins in it, and another that had 30 gold coins and three scrolls: Destructive Sphere, Bones of the Earth, and Create Grimoire. (2 Treasures = 100 Experience Points) It had, however, been a fairly good outing from a spell casting viewpoint, with he and Guenevere casting 9 spells between them. (90 Experience Points) And, having taken down an opposing spellcaster, even if it was just an Apprentice, was a nice coup for the old Wizard as well.  (80 Experience Points)
But still, there was certainly room for improvement, Greyrain thought to himself; and he began to already start mulling over the plans for his next expedition into the city.  

Game notes:   This was a notable game for me, as I have never before lost so many figures to single strike attack rolls of 20.  Okita, Brother Austex, and Sareese Riverbend,  all fell to a single dice roll.  And Duke Morrison almost did, but a +2 light-cover modifier just managed to saved his life.

Frostgrave Campaign Game 2: The Mausoleum

      On Sunday we were back at the local game store, Critical Hit, to have the second game in the store's Frostgrave campaign.  There were four of us playing on  a 4'x6' table.  We decided to play the Mausoleum scenario from the core rulebook, but instead of only one Mausoleum, since there were four of us, we included two.
   For one of the Mausoleums we used a half-sunk and rotting ship hull I had built (which would disgorge skeletal pirates!), and for the other we used a small church building.  We set up the treasure and the starting skeletons as per the rulebook

An overview of the table. Col. Greyrain and party entered from a zone a foot along on the nearest corner.

    My Chronomancer, the elf, Colonel Greyrain, and his human Apprentice, Guenevere Kirov, entered on the side of the table containing the small church Mausoleum.  Across from me was the Summoner, and to my left was the Enchanter.  Diagonally across from me was the Necromancer.
     Greyrain was aware of four treasures in the immediate area that he had a good chance of getting: One a few inches away form his starting position in  the corner of a ruin, one on top of a nearby tower, and two that were on the closest corners of the Mausoleum.  As per the scenario, the Mausoleum treasures were worth 50 extra gold coins, and 20 extra experience points if you could get them off the table by game's end.
   The Chronomancer divided his force in to two groups: with himself  he took the Templar Brother Austex; the Thief, Okita; and the new Ranger in the group, Sareese Riverbend.  Under Guenevere's command were the Marksman, Sergeant LeClerc; the Man-at-Arms, Centurion Vortus; and the Thug, Lindfor. The Thug, Caloban, was left under his own command.
     Greyrain knew things around the Mausoleum were going to get dangerous, so he immediately cast Combat Awareness on the Templar, Brother Austex, who stood next to him; to give him an extra edge in the coming fight. He directed the new Ranger, Sareese, to go get the treasure off the nearby tower, and he had Brother Austex and the the Thief, Okita, move with him towards the Mausoleum.
    Meanwhile, his Apprentice, Kirov, moved forward and directed the Man-at-Arms, Centurion Vortus, and the Thug, Lindfor, to go get the treasure from the nearby ruin; and she had the Marksman, Sgt. LeClerc, take up a position to offer covering fire. She then noticed the flaming red hair of the Summoner,  who stood atop a distant wall surveying the ruins around him; and she took the opportunity to pull out her strange device from the future that shot a ray of light like a bolt of lightning, and aiming it at the Summoner, pushed the button on it (Cast Elemental Bolt). She let out a little yelp as the device shocked her, and her arm went numb (+4 health sacrifice to boost the spell); but the beam of light went true and struck the Summoner who clutched his chest and jumped down from his vantage point.  She could see she hadn't killed him, but he was certainly badly hurt.

As Brother Austex battles a skeleton, the Chronomancer cast a wall of Fog to block Okita's advance from enemy eyes.

      As Okita ran towards the Mausoleum, Greyrain covered her advance by casting a wall of fog on the side of the old building. Brother Austex had to deal with a wandering skeleton that advanced towards him; but was able to quickly reduce the menace to a pile of smashed bones.
   Nearby, as Lindfor and the Centurion approached the treasure, they were taken aback as an Imp appeared directly upon it (Imp cast by the Summoner).  They charged in to fight it, but the little demon was able to knock out Lindfor almost immediately.  Guenevere cast Slow on the Summoner's Templar as he rounded a corner of the Mausoleum, but the strong faith and will of the Templar was able to resist it. The Apprentice then moved to a position of cover to drink the Potion of Healing she was carrying.
     Meanwhile, Sgt LeClerc had taken up a position by a nearby wall, and as he scanned the distant ruins he saw the Summoner's head bob into view.  He raised his musket and squeezed the trigger, and there was loud report from the musket.  In the distance the Marksman could see the enemy wizard lurch backwards and tumble out of view.

The battle with the Imp:  Lindfor and the Centurion charge in, as Guenevere prepares to drink her healing potion in the background.

      Back near the Mausoleum, a skeleton had come around the side through the wall of fog, and seeing Okita, charged towards the thief. Greyrain knew this might be trouble, so he quickly cast Leap on the Templar to get him over to help quickly.  The Templar was able to intercept the undead threat, and make short work of it.
   Over where the imp still guarded the treasure token,  the Centurion found himself haivng to battle the little demon all alone.  Kirov saw his predicament, and being one to never refuse a good scrape, ran over  the rubbled wall and into contact with the Imp in order to give Vortus some support.  Between the two of them they were able to kill the Imp, and the Centurion grabbed the treasure.
    Meanwhile the Ranger, Sareese, had reached top of the tower almost the same time as the Enchanter's Thug did.  She shot at him point blank but he was able to duck away and she missed.  She quickly notched another arrow and shot again, and this time she hit.  The Thug staggered back, wounded.  He recovered quickly though, and as he charged back towards the Ranger, she drew her sword and was able to slice him down as he came at her.   She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to grab the treasure.  She almost took a moment to take in the impressive view from atop the tower, but an arrow and Bone Dart came whizzing by her head and snapped her back to the job at hand.

Atop the tower, the Elf Ranger, Sareese Riverbend, puts the Enchanter's Thug out of action, and prepares to recover the treasure located there.

    Back near the Mausoleum, Greyrain had used his device from the future to fry one of the Summoner's Thugs who had emerged through the fog (Cast Elemental Bolt).   Okita recovered one of the Mausoleum treasures and Caloban had moved forward and picked up the other.  Guen tried to Leap the Caloban away with the treasure as one of the Summoner's Thugs approached but she failed.  The Templar ran to help the Thug, as the Summoner's Treasure Hunter moved to help this party's Thug.  A swirling melee developed, and the combatants were soon joined by a skeleton that emerged from the Mausoleum. Guen was able to Decay the enemy Thug's sword, but not before he had put Caloban out of the fight.  Brother Austex was able to dispatch the enemy Treasure hunter, but in turn was given a mighty blow by the Skeleton which reduced him to only 3 Health.  Weakened, he turned to the enemy Thug and was still able to knock him out of the fight, and then staggered around to face the skeleton, and killed it. Grimacing with pain inside his helmet, he reached over and picked up the treasure.

The battle by the Mausoleum:  Caloban and the Summoner's Treasure Hunter have both been put out of the fight, as Brother Austex tries to deal with both the Enemy Thug and a rogue skeleton. Nearby, Okita attempts to carry away her treasure as the Summoner's Templar appears through the fog, and another skeleton emerges from the Mausoleum.  Luckily the skeleton spotted the Summoner's Templar, and kept him occupied for a short time.

    Meanwhile, the Chronomancer had used Leap to move Okita to a position further form danger, and then turned,  and as the thief dragged the treasure away, he placed another wall of Fog to block anyone from trying to shoot an arrow or Bone Dart at her.   Kirov moved to where she could see the Ranger atop the tower and used Leap to get her down more quickly.
     Greyrain knew the day was coming to an end.  Vortus, Okita, and Sareese had all gotten their treasures away, and were making their way back to to the base camp.  He could see the poor Templar was till dragging his treasure slowly away. He was making slow progress, but the wizard was sure the Templar would make it back safely.  The Chronomancer took one more glance back at the ruined city, and then he too started the trip back to his Laboratory base.

Greyrain Leaps the thief to a  position of safety, then casts a wall of Fog behind her.  In the foreground, Sgt LeClerc keep a watchful eye open for any trouble, while over on the right, the Templar prepares to dispatch the skeleton and then recover the treasure sitting there.

     Back at the base, Col. Greyrain took stock of the day's events.  The Thug, Lindfor made a full recovery after his tangle with the Imp, but Caloban was seriously wounded.  The Chronomancer  was pretty sure though that the news that he was being promoted to  a Man-at-Arms (-80 GC) would get the Thug back on his feet in no time.   Otherwise the party had been very lucky this outing; with no one else's wounds so serious that they were put out of the action.
   Treasure-wise  it had been a very successful trip as well, with four treasures recovered; including two that were from the Mausoleum (though the one the Templar was dragging was not exited from the table within the game time, so did not count for the bonus Mausoleum GC and Exp.)  Greyrain was pleased with both his and his Apprentice's performance, as between the two of them they had cast 10 spells (100 exp.), and the Chronomancer had personally killed one of the Summoner's Thugs with his Elemental Bolt (40 ep).  The treasures themselves offered a great deal of knowledge to the Elf wizard (100 exp. + 20 exp. for special treasure), and Greyrain's time studying the old notes in his Laboratory base camp had imparted even more knowledge to the wizard (20 exp.)   (280 total exp.)
     That night, as the party sat and looked through the old chest they hauled back from the frozen city, they counted up 310 gold coins!  Also there was an Amulet of Resistance, which Greyrain gave to his Apprentice; and a Magic Staff (+1 Fight) that the Elf wizard kept for himself.  There were also three scrolls: Fleet Feet, Bone Dart, and best of all, Destructive Sphere.   Greyrain blew the dust of an old Grimoire, and opened to see it was a spell of Control Animal.  "That might come in handy", he thought to himself; "I'll need to study this right away".
   The band was up late that night recounting tales of their adventures that day.  Greyrain sat in a corner contentedly, paging through the Grimoire and thinking about his plans for the future.  He thought promoting Okita to a full-fledged Treasure Hunter might be in order, though he would need to order her some specialized equipment for that (-80 GC).  And perhaps the  party needed a little more firepower...  He had been missing the 1800's, (and was running low on French wine), so perhaps he could do a little recruiting (Hire "Crossbow", -50 GC) while he was there...

A Trio of New Frostgrave Treasure Markers

     I completed a quick trio of treasure markers this weekend.  The first is a book-shaped metal bead glued to a section of N-scale brick wall.  The second is a spare zombie arm clutching a treasure chest, and the third is a painting I made from a little wood d6 holder, and a picture cut from a Reaper brochure, glued on top of a pile of course sand.  All are mounted on fender washers.

     Here they are all painted up:

     I'm really pleased with how these quick and easy tokens turned out.

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.