Ultimate Showdown

Memorial of Monsters
  1. Mutant Monster Madness - June 13, 2006
    • Characters Present Bull Lee, Evendur Windstrider, Gilgamesh, Hagrid Strongarms, Malcer, Seagretor
    • Enemies Defeated Kaiju Girallon (CR 22; kaiju advanced girallon)
    • Setup The party finds itself on Monster Island, inhabited by hordes of kaiju! The party is to fight kaiju, one after the other, until all the kaiju are defeated or the party is slain.

  2. Operation: Bullsh@t - July 20, 2006
    • Characters Present Bull Lee, Evendur Windstrider, Hagrid Strongarms, Malark "the Damned" Swordwhisper, Malcer, Melkor Vorn, Seagretor
    • Enemies Defeated 2 Favored Butchers of Baphomet (CR 20; advanced ghour demon), 1 Ghour Demon (CR 15; advanced ghour demon), 5 Goblin Tail-Gunners (CR 15; goblin Ftr16/Archer16), 3 Manotaur Pankrationists (CR 20; manotaur Warder15/Wrestler15), 2 Minoclops Barbarians (CR 20; minoclops Bbn11/Ftr11), 3 Minotrolls (CR 15; advanced minotroll), 5 Ogre Bullies (CR 15; half-minotaur ogre Bbn12/Scout12)
    • Setup The mighty Demon Lord, Baphomet, has fielded his armies against the forces of Aglarond. Baphomet's normally disorganized troop proved especially skilled at coordinating attacks on the field of battle. The reason, the Banner of Valor. This demonic flag allows Baphomet to direct his troops telepathically from the Abyss, making his normally ignorant soldiers highly organized and effective.
      The Simbul, Witch-Queen of Aglarond, cast a powerful spell to strip the Banner from Baphomet's control. Unfortunately, the spell went awry. The Banner transported several miles from Baphomet's frontlines and became partially incorporeal. The Banner cannot be touched or manipulated in any way except by followers of Baphomet, to whom it is as solid as normal.
      The Simbul needs time to launch a final strike against Baphomet's army. Unfortunately, Baphomet has learned the location of his Banner. It is up to the party to stand guard around the Banner, which they can neither touch nor manipulate in any way, and prevent the Demon Lord's soldiers from claiming it. If they can hold out long enough, the Simbul's forces should route the vanguard of Baphomet's army and send them screaming back down into the Abyss.
      Operation: Bullsh@t is a "capture the flag" variant. The Banner of Valor flies inside a ruined building not far from the frontlines. The party must defend it. Baphomet's forces can pick up the Banner as a move action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity, if the Banner is within reach. If slain, the creature drops the Banner in its central square. Operation: Bullsh@t is successful if the party can prevent the forces of Baphomet from claiming the Banner and taking it off of the gaming table for the entire game session. If the entire party is slain or the Banner is removed, Operation: Bullsh@t is a failure.
      The forces of Baphomet are engaged in a war, and thus the entire force cannot sweep down upon the Banner. Groups, or waves, of Baphomet soldiers will enter the playing field every 5th round. Each wave increases in difficulty; however, the party should make every effort to eliminate each wave before another arrives. Failure to do so can quickly result in more foes than the party can handle.
      The party is allowed to keep all of the spoils of war, as well as a reward determined upon the number of waves defeated.

  3. Ring of Fire - August 24, 2006
    • Characters Present Bull Lee, Evendur Windstrider, Hagrid Strongarms, Malark "the Damned" Swordwhisper, Malcer, Melkor Vorn, Seagretor
    • Enemies Defeated 2 Heinous Flame Snakes (CR 21; advanced greater flame snake), 1 Paragon Thoqqua (CR 19; advanced paragon thoqqua), 1 Truly Horrid Flaming Umber Hulk (CR 20; advanced evolved fire element monster of legend truly horrid umber hulk), 2 Red Half-Dragon Ogres (CR 21; half-red dragon ogre Barbarian16/Rogue16), 2 Efreeti Flame Callers (CR 21; efreeti genie Fighter13/Cleric13)
    • Setup The party finds itself in a subterranean cavern shaped like a circle. A flow of magma cuts the maneuverable terrain into a "C" shape. Every round, a random number of random fire monsters appear in a random quadrant of the board. The party fights until the entire party is dead or they survive 10 rounds.

  4. Croc Hunter - September 21, 2006
    • Characters Present Bull Lee, Darvin, Ilikan Ogolakanu, Hagrid Strongarms, Malark "the Damned" Swordwhisper, Melkor Vorn, Seagretor
    • Enemies Defeated 2 Dark Naga Death Casters (CR 22; advanced dark naga Rogue9/Sorcerer9), 2 Gargantuan Black Crocodiles (CR 13; advanced wingless half-black dragon giant crocodile), 1 Gatorman Witch Doctor (CR 21; reptilian human Cleric20/Fighter20), 2 Gatorman Wrestlers (CR 21; reptilian orc Fighter20/Wrestler20)
    • Setup On September 4, 2006, Steve "the Crocodile Hunter" Irwin died in a stingray attack. Mr. Irwin was a hero of mine, and this is our tribute game.
      Crikey! The party finds itself in a life-or-death struggle against "Croc Hunter"-themed enemies, from gatormen to nagas to half-dragon crocodiles. A random contingent of creatures begin on the board, and each round, a random number of random creatures appear in a random location. Game play continues until time runs out or the entire party is killed.
      This is our first game using HeroscapeTM hex tiles exclusively instead of one-inch grid Tact-TilesTM.

  5. Incarceration - November 2, 2006
    • Characters Present Bull Lee, Ignatious Swiftfoot, Ilikan Ogolakanu, Malark "the Damned" Swordwhisper, Melkor Vorn, Seagretor, Zimack
    • Enemy Descriptions

    • Setup During their travels, the intrepid adventurers encountered a pack of gator- and snake-like monsters, including dark naga death casters. One of these caught the party arcanist, Seagretor, in a prismatic spray sending him hurtling into the Tarterian Depths of Carceri. Trapped within, he desperately sought a means of escape.
      Soon after his entrapment, his allies arrived in Carceri in an effort to rescue him from the prison plane. Much to their chagrin, they discovered they could not leave! Days turned to months and blended even into years. Over time, the rigors of life in Carceri and the temptations of its native petitioners broke the bonds of the group, and they scattered. However, fate has conspired to bring them together again, as enemies.
      A portal leading from Carceri has been discovered, and several powerful factions seek to claim it. All out war has erupted. The party members have each fallen in with a faction and battle along side their new allies. Now, in the waning days of the war, three of the factions have taken the field, including all the members of the lost party. Divided into three sides, it is former comrade against former comrade in a desperate attempt to win free of this dread realm.

      Factions

      Each party member has taken up with one of three factions of power in this neck of Carceri. Faction members are violently disposed toward other factions and will not hesitate to slaughter one another.

      Bloody Axes
      The Bloody Axes are descendants of giants, ogres and other horrible creatures. They live to shed blood for the sheer pleasure of the carnage. They are not the most formidable spellcasters, but combined with their physical attributes, every Bloody Axe is a difficult opponent.
      Death's Head Gang
      The Death's Head Gang is a foul collection of undead monstrosities driven by a hatred for the living. Their forces combine subtle magical grace and ranged precision with the ravenous brutality of flesh-eating cadavers. With their immunity to critical hits, massive damage and sneak attack, the armies of the Death's Head Gang are truly formidable.
      Orange County Chompers
      The members of the Orange County Chompers faction are monsters in the truest sense. They have no concept of human morality and gleefully rampage over anything in their path. The OCC soldiers are by far the largest on the field, but they lack the magical items their enemies tout about. The ability to fly helps even this drawback out.

      Rules

      • Each player is randomly assigned a faction he has associated with. Players may not change allegiances except through a SAYD Card (see below).
      • Players on opposing factions may make allegiances of opportunity to fell a given foe but will fall into fighting one another once the foe is vanquished.
      • NPCs will almost always favor a PC target over an NPC.

      Teams

      For this encounter, each faction fields their forces in groups of four soldiers. Depending on the number of players present, a faction may include one, two or three PCs. At the beginning of the game, each team is presented with a description of their allies in the faction. Each faction includes one Melee, one Ranged, one Arcane, and one Divine combatant. When play begins, the PCs on each team choose which allies take the field with them, with the following guideline.

      • No more than two of the same combatant can be utilized. Both may be used at once (if there are two or less PCs on the team), but if either dies, a third can not be utilized.

      Death

      When a creature dies, it is removed from the board and play. If the dead creature is a PC, on the next round, he respawns with full hit points, cleared spell effects and conditions and reset spell lists in his team spawn location. Items and charges used are still expended. The PC also draws a SAYD Card (see below) when he respawns.

      If an NPC dies, it is removed and may not return. On the next round, the players on that team choose a replacement NPC to spawn. Again, no more than two of any given creature can be used (for example, if the Bloody Axes start the game with two Melee combatants on the field and one is slain, they cannot choose a third Melee combatant to join them, they must choose one of the other creatures on their list). Spawning NPCs do not draw SAYD Cards.
      A respawning PC or spawning NPC rolls a new initiative the round it appears in play.
      Any PC who is dead and has not respawned when the game ends is charged one "life" from his lives remaining pool.

      SAYD Cards

      SAYD stands for "Sorry About Your Death". When a PC respawns, he draws one card from the SAYD Card deck. Each card is unique and has some effect which may be beneficial or baleful and may or may not be optional! Once the card is drawn and read, its effects are put into play, and the card is re-shuffled into the deck.

      Scoring

      The point of this war is the control of an exit portal from Carceri. To determine a winner, each team scores points as the night progresses, as follows.

      • A PC kills an enemy PC or enemy NPC = 6 points
      • An NPC kills an enemy PC or enemy NPC = 3 points
      • An entire team (all four members) dies in the same round = -10 points
      • A PC kills a pariah PC = 12 points
      • An NPC kills a pariah PC = 6 points
      • An enemy PC or NPC occupies one or more of your team's respawn hexes = -1 point per round per incident
      • Taking more than 2 minutes to decide upon and initiate an action = -3 points

      Reward

      Members of the winning team receive the following.

      • Bonus Epic Toughness feat
      • Bragging Rights
      • A "One Guard" GEM token