Wanderers in the Deep Time Session 1

 

Friendly  - Mutant Magic-User 1
Ithaca  - Human Cleric 1
Nine Times Carried Away - Trilobite Fighter 1
High Quality Organs  - Mutant Magic-User 1
Kaldeth, The Big Roller  - Trilobite Fighter 1
0x424F42  - Robot Fighter 1
Tawadrosa Shao Rou (红烧 تواضروسا) - Mutant Fighter1
Thorned Rose  - Mutant as Class 1

- The party found themselves in the middle of a party in the Evergreen Skylands. Introductions were made and bonds forged, or just a bunch of strangers traveling with each other for profit. (+50 xp)
- The group encounters a Rat Creature who runs entirely on drugs and follows them around. High Quality Organs lets the Rat Creature pet his head and the creature starts following them around. (+50 xp)
- The group encounters a Robot Drug Store run by a little r2d2-esque robot. Unfortunately, before purchases can be made, a pair of robed individuals grab r2d2 and take them to the pyramid at the center of the party. The party loots the robot drug shop and gain 7 premium oil (+50 xp)
- The party encounters some bounty hunters while traveling to the pyramid. They're in a foul mood, and try to pick on High Quality Organs, but are driven off by two trilobite knights breathing down their necks.  (+50 xp)
- They follow the priests to the pyramid, and it is revealed that yep, there is a SACRIFICE going on at this festival. Unfortunately the party is very under prepared for dealing with an entire region's worth of cultists and r2d2 seems resigned to their fate, so sadly r2d2 is murdered in cold blood by the gm (+100 xp as an apology)
- The party hunts for rumors and gets some good ones! (+50 xp)

•  They learn about "Highfell, the Drifting Dungeon" from traveling partygoer Glamdalf who shows up to give exposition and recommend magic beans or getting a ride from Jet Guy
• They learn about the Swarming Jungle, and it's wonderful gem mines, and the rumored ruins in the center
• The party learns about a war going on to the south, between machine and the dead. No chance of it ending anytime soon.
  

- High Quality Organs recruits the still following rat creature "Little-spit" with Robot Drugs, losing -1 premium oil and gaining a lifelong friend, until it overdoses on Robot Oil, at least. (+50 xp)

Loot Gained: 6 "Premium Oil" sold for 200 coins each = 1200 coin total (150 coin each)

Event Bonus XP: 400 xp
DISCOVERY BONUS: Festival of Bacchus Pyramid: 200 XP

Total XP: 1800 (225 xp each)

 

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This went better than I feared it would! It was a bit of an experiment. My default is to start the players in the dungeon, but I've also discovered you should highlight the gameplay you want to see in the first session, and I don't want this campaign to just be a Dungeon Crawler- I want it to be about exploration, travel, and meeting weird people (with a good bit of dungeon crawling too, sure). So the glorified tavern start actually was solid. The party even got some loot!

I felt very bad setting up the R2D2-esque robot up to be sacrificed. It was meant to add a little bit of pressure to the party's dealings in this region, but i set up a funny npc then immediately rolled a dice that suggested they'd be the one to be chosen for slaughter. A bit depressing for session 1, in hindsight!!!

On a whim I brought back a gag NPC from previous games that were set in Marlinko over in the Hills Cantons, and I did not realize how beloved the NPC was until multiple players started cheering at Glamdalf's return. I'm touched, y'all.

Overall the strongest thing I can say about this first session is that the party ended up with a very good idea what the next step is, the last thing a sandbox needs is lack of direction from the get go, and that was something I was very worried about here. Next session should involve exploring the Swarming Jungle to try and find the gem mines.