Nuts & Bolts #19 - Cinco con Queso - Session 1 - The Recap!

So Quattro con Carnage may be over but the experiment continues; enter Cinco con Queso! Two weeks of sessions run by me using Green Ronin's Dragon AGE (with some modification). I came up with the idea about two sessions in to run and AGE based segment to this experiment. In hindsight I think it would have best fit right after BFRPG, or DCC, rather than tacked onto the back end. AGE has a much more stripped down feel aside from the Stunt mechanic which really makes it shine (at least when the dice work). Still it was an opportunity to demo AGE for some folks who I know had been interested, and a chance to let +James Walls play for a couple of weeks.

Given how the prior session had ended with Drogos dead, and reborn as a new god I knew that I'd be seeing two new characters, one from Andreas, and one from Jim (who declined my offer to play Lomman in my stead). I ultimately decided to have this first session pick up immediately after the last and engineered some ideas on how to exit Lomman and introduce the two new Dwarves....

I'm no expert at recaps like Jim is, so this'll be brief (I hope).

Dramatis Personae con Queso

Umbrin, played by Jeremy (warrior)
A guard-for-hire from Tannryth once in the employee of a wealthy Archon

Rydian Ornitiar, played by Andy (mage)
An Aarenian relic-hunter who longs to recover a lost family artifact

Jorin Everlast, played by Craig (rogue)
A pilfering initiate to the Embrace who just "made bones"

Kaezoh, played by Jim (warrior)
A dwarf, brother to Callidan, and new disciple of Drogos

Callidan, played by Andreas (mage as cleric)
Kaezoh's brother, gifted with a vision of the dwarven god Drogos' birth

The Dawn of a New AGE

Lommán heals the party before explaining that he needs to do some soul searching on his own about his continued worship of Ogmios in light of recent events. He gives a fragment of Drogos' armor to Umbrin and then tells his friends thats they should head northeast.

Heeding their his advice Umbrin, Jorin, and Rydian head northeast through the forest. That evening they come across two dwarves, brothers, who were on a pilgrimage to find the birthplace of the new Dwarven God Drogos; apparently Callidan had had a vision weeks before about the recent creation of a new deity, and brought his brother Kaezoh along.

Callidan recognized the fragment of Drogos' armor as a holy relic and soon conversation turned to their quest. The two dwarves learned that their guests knew the location of the shrine of Drogos and convinced the group to show them the way in the morning.

Dawn seemed to come strangely early but the group made no note of it until partway on their walk to Drogos' statue they realized that the glow had not been the sun but a massive fire. After some discussion they decided to delay their quest and investigate the fire.

Coming to the edge of the forest the group found that the fire had been the burning of a farm. Before they could investigate further a pack of hellhounds came out of the grain and ambushed the group. The six beasts stood little chance against the group and soon their numbers were reduced by four and two others had fled in terror.

Regrouping they found that some of the bodies had signs of being attacked by some kind of clawed creature, but something other than the hellhounds they had dispatched. Kaezoh suddenly dashed into the nearby barn, one of the few buildings still standing and soon came out with a wounded woman. The ministrations of Callidan and Umbrin succeeded in bringing the woman around.

She explained that she was part of a hunting party, and they they had found a ruin in the forest. One of the group had fallen under the influence of some demonic power and destroyed the being's prison. Freed it possessed the hunter, making him its vessel before setting to corrupt the other hunters. Esshara was able to flee in the confusion with a piece of the demon's prison, a broken link of silver chain as big as a hand.

Unsure what to do next the group laid the wounded huntress in a wheelbarrow and brought her to the nearby village. There they broke up a heated argument between the townsfolk and two tribesmen from Esshara's tribe; Haran and Kelsa. Kelsa thanked the group for saving Esshara, while Haran explained that their camp had been attacked by demonic creatures; they had fled and may have been the only survivors. The demon creatures had also attacked the village before the group's arrival but the disorganized attack had been repulsed; for now.

Notable (read: amusing to me) Quotes:

Marc: Describe your mood in one word
Jim: Handsome
(I'm not sure if handsome is a mood, but Rydian seemed to understand)

Andy: I have some friends over there.
Jeremy: Let's not be too hasty
(Apparently 8 sessions of adventuring does not a friendship forge)

You coulda called me Nachos instead ... Nachos and Kaezoh (Andreas was thinking about a name change before even introducing himself)

Do you also stand outside during thunderstorms with a sword over your head? (Apparently Jeremy wasn't enthusiastic about running toward a fire)

Jeremy - It was a twelve foot tall naked dwarf...
Jim - What was it made of ?
Jeremy - Dwarf? (A mason he is not)

I don't know, our moral compass left. (Jeremy lamenting the loss of Lomman)

I feel like an Umbrin (after failing a spell Andreas decides that failure has a new name)

*sound of an eagle* (somebody having fun with Hangouts Sound FX)

So I stunted .... why the fuck now?! (after several rounds of stunt free combat Jim wasn't as happy about his perception stunt)

Oh, good, a towfer, we just lost a dwarf and a cleric .... (Jeremy observes that one of the new party members fills two vacant roles)

Listen, it was on fire in my head. (Jim was making things more dramatic than they really were)

Might they have been dark and or spawning? (Andy was thinking that this was a Dragon Age adventure or something)

I'm only good at becoming Columbo for some reason (Jim, commenting about Kaezoh, the detective warrior)