jokomaisu

Updated Pages Overview New Compendium posts: Journey Rules Arrival Table Updated Compendium posts: Notoriety

Greetings, Knaves! I wish you all a Happy Holidays as I wrap up this year's work on the campaign! I've been working on more content since the Playtest ended. Some of it even made it onto the Forum along with some updates. Some things to look forward to soon: details on boons, the unveiling of the Brancalonia map, and two new sections of the Compendium - one will be a sort of encyclopedia/glossary about Brancalonia and the other will be a hex key for the map - both of which will be expanded upon during the campaign. Don't forget the following important dates: Sunday, February 4, 2024 - Deadline to submit an approved Knave. Please do not wait until this date to submit your Knave for the first time, unless you are 100% confident they will be approved. Sunday, February 18, 2024 - The campaign starts. Please let me know your questions and comments in the section below! That's all for now 👋 Until next year... For the bounty!

Arrival Table 1. (or less) Weary to Their Bones The journey has taken a heavy toll on the spirits of the band. The paths they have followed have shown them little that is good and have left them feeling tired and without hope. The memories of any good fortune they may have experienced along the way now seem distant and intangible. Each member of the company must make a Wisdom saving throw, (DC 12 + Peril Rating of the Journey) to avoid receiving 2 points of strife. If their path has led them through a place touched by Evil (10 on the Events table), the DC increases by an additional 2 points. 2. Empty Bellies Regardless of whether the band has enjoyed fine food throughout the journey, or has subsisted on cold, hard trail rations, their supplies dwindle rapidly during the final leg of their journey and they arrive at their destination feeling the pangs of hunger gnawing relentlessly at them. This hunger will be a distraction to them and everyone in the band gains a level of fatigue and all Supply is destroyed. 3. Arrival in Poor Spirits They are beset by foul moods and short tempers that they must work hard to throw off. Each has disadvantage on all ability checks of social interaction until they succeed on one of these rolls. This penalty will apply to Notoriety checks to Make Demands. If there is a single upside to this dark mood, they are so spoiling for a fight that each member of the band receives advantage on their Initiative rolls until they take a short rest. 4. An Uncertain Arrival The band's arrival is poorly timed or it may be that they are unsure if they have even arrived at the correct destination. They may arrive at a settlement late in the night after the gates have been barred, they may need to work hard to convince a watchman to allow them to enter, or they may have been certain that the bandit encampment that they were planning to scout before attacking it was still several miles away, only to find themselves almost in its midst. The mechanics for this result will vary greatly, depending on the nature of the destination. A short but desperate fight may be played out as the band struggles to overcome enemy guards before an alarm is raised. A Wisdom (Survival) check from the Guide to successfully navigate to the correct destination may be needed, with a failed roll resulting in all members of the band receiving a level of fatigue, as they are faced with additional long miles to reach their true destination. 5. A Long But Worthy Journey As the band nears the end of their journey they feel every mile they have walked in the aches and pains that beset their bodies. But the aches are good ones, the legacy of a path well walked to a worthy goal. As they arrive, their fatigue seems to slip away like mist on a summer morning, leaving them feeling refreshed and invigorated. As a result, each member of the band may immediately remove a level of fatigue. 6. Grimly Determined The many miles that the company has traveled have filled them with a sense of clear purpose regarding their goals, difficult though the path ahead may be. As a result, the Guide will receive a +1 bonus to their next Embarkation roll. 7. Tall Tales and Great Deeds The band arrives with the tales of their journey on their lips, their spirits high and their thoughts filled with fine memories. This joyous mood is contagious to all but the most dour of folk they may encounter. Accordingly, each member of the band has advantage on all ability checks of social interaction. This bonus will apply to Notoriety checks to Make Demands. The bonus will remain until they fail at one of these rolls. 8. (or more) Inspired and filled with Hope The Journey has served to reaffirm the band's dedication to their struggles and their bonds with each other. Together they have weathered hardships, faced dangers, and persevered and their faith in themselves and each other seems unshakeable. As a result, each member of the band may remove 2 points of strife and gain Inspiration.

Journey Rules A Band will often roam across the countryside and beyond during their jobs. But traveling is not simply a means of getting to a destination, nor something to be undertaken lightly. A great part of the life of a knave is spent on the road. Often, what distinguishes a knave from a common villager is the skills they possess to help them survive while on a journey. Knaves make various ability checks along the way, to deal with the various perils that may occur, as well as to determine how the rigors of travel may have affected them when they face their next challenge. Once a Band decides to undertake a significant journey from one place to another, the journey rules outlined here will be used. It may decide that a journey is either short enough, or familiar enough, that the journey rules need not be used, and they can happily be ignored to serve the pace of the game. The journey rules break down a journey into three distinct stages, each one influencing the one that follows it in some way. The first stage represents the Band embarking on the journey: plans are made, supplies gathered, maps studied and routes agreed upon. The Band decides between them who will undertake which roles on the road. But there is more to this stage than simply preparations. It also represents the Band's ability to stay to the course, to keep their spirits high, and may take into account the fickle nature of weather. In broad strokes, it gives a feeling of the overall tone of the journey from its outset. The second stage represents events arising, and the tasks carried out by members of the Band during the main part of the journey. Depending on the length of the journey, the Band will make one or more rolls that represent the challenges or opportunities that they find placed in their way. These rolls will determine both the nature and the magnitude of the encounters they will face and may require several of the Band to work together to overcome any challenges. The third stage of the journey is representative of the Band's arrival at its destination. The result of this final roll will determine whether the Band arrives in high spirits, full of tales of bold deeds, beautiful sunsets, and delicious meals cooked over open fires, or if they trudge the final miles, footsore and dispirited, backs bent under the weight of packs, silently brooding upon empty bellies, wrong turns, and poor choices. Journey Rules Summary Players assign their Knaves a role and plan a route. The Peril Rating of the journey is determined in secret. The Embarkation roll is made and the results are applied. Determine the number of Journey Events. A Journey Event roll is made and the event is played through, noting down the result for reference. Repeat Journey Event rolls until the number of Journey Events has been reached. The Arrival roll is made and results are applied. Step One: Embarkation When the Knaves have decided on a destination, they need to choose the best route to get there. Using the map of Brancalonia, they indicate the general route that they intend to follow. This determines the Peril Rating of the journey. The difficulty and danger of the journey are based on its length, the area and terrain traversed, and the season in which the journey is taking place (journeys in the cold months of the year are more strenuous than those in the warm ones). Brancalonia can be a perilous place, so the shortest route may not always be the safest. The Band must choose wisely what paths to follow. Players assign their Knaves a role for the journey, roughly summarising what they will be doing for the length of the trip. An experienced band differs from a novice group of knaves in the capability of its members to collaborate effectively. When traveling, the knaves usually divide up some of the duties according to ability. Roles of the Band The roles divided between the Band are as follows: Guide - In charge of all decisions concerning route, rest, and supplies. Guides rely on Wisdom and Survival proficiency. Explorer - In charge of setting up camp and opening new trails. Explorers rely on Stealth and Investigation. Provider - In charge of finding food in the wild. Providers rely on success with Survival checks. Look-out - In charge of keeping watch. Look-outs rely on their abilities in Perception. Except for the Band's Guide, more than one Knave may be assigned the same role (in other words, there may be more than one Knave acting as Look-outs), but normally no Knave may assume more than one role at the same time (posing as the Band's Provider AND Explorer, for example). If there’s more than one Knave assigned to a task then nominate a lead Explorer, Provider, or Look-out. That Knave is the one who makes the test and gains advantage from the assistance of the other Knaves performing the Help action on that task. If a role goes unfilled, any relevant tests for that task that come up are taken at a disadvantage. Determining the Peril Rating of a Journey Whichever type of terrain forms the majority of hexes through which the proposed route passes through determines the overall terrain type: Easy Terrain: 1 Mild/familiar terrain, extensively mapped with well-traveled roads and/or frequent settlements. Moderate Terrain: 2 Areas that the Band may have some knowledge of or that they may have traveled through once or twice. Broken terrain, scattered paths, and trails. Hard terrain: 3 Unfamiliar areas, deep forest, trackless wilderness. Severe Terrain: 4 High mountains and treacherous swamps. Daunting Terrain: 5 Areas tainted by Evil. The Mistide. Increase the level of terrain by one when traveling in winter conditions to a maximum of 5. The Peril Rating of the journey will not be revealed to the players and the outcome of the Embarkation roll will be a secret, instead paraphrased to them to give some hints of what may lie ahead of them on their Journey. Once the route is decided upon, and the Peril Rating of the journey has been determined, an Embarkation roll is made using a single d12. This roll is modified as follows: the Guide’s Survival proficiency bonus plus half their Wisdom bonus, minus the Peril Rating of the journey. The result of the roll is used on the Embarkation table. Beasts and Boats When traveling, Knaves may ease their toil by bringing beasts to carry their burdens or may journey on boats when along a river, lake, or sea. If the Band travels aboard boats or is equipped with beasts for the greater part of their journey, ignore the first level of exhaustion incurred while on the Journey. Knaves looking for such assistance must be able to afford the expense. Note that many places in Brancalonia exist where beasts are unwilling to venture. Reluctant beasts can be coaxed over a mountain pass with a Wisdom (Animal Handling) test against a DC 15 in Summer and Autumn, DC 20 in Spring, and DC 25 in Winter. Step 2: Journey Events During the journey, members of the Band may be called upon to use their wit and talents to ensure that the journey does not fall to ruin. There are times when a single member of the Band may have to overcome a challenge alone whereas at other times several Knaves may need to work together to be successful. On a short journey, the Band will typically be faced with 1-2 events, on a medium journey, 2-3 and on a long journey 3-5. The number of events is influenced by the Peril Rating of the journey, with more dangerous journeys leading to a higher number of challenges. Determining the Number of Challenges The number of challenges to be faced is determined as follows: Short Journey (1-10 hexes on the Brancalonia Map): 1d2 number of challenges. Medium Journey (11-30 hexes on the Brancalonia Map): 1d2+1 number of challenges. Long Journey (31+ hexes on the Brancalonia Map): 1d3+2 number of challenges. Note that Long Journeys are extremely hazardous and likely to put Knaves in extreme danger. A wiser Band will break their journey into shorter, more manageable legs, with short rests at Havens in between. Journeys through predominantly Easy terrain result in a -1 modifier to this roll, to a minimum of 1. Journeys through predominantly Hard or Severe terrain result in a +1 modifier to this roll. Journeys through predominantly Daunting Terrain result in a +2 modifier to this roll. This roll is made in secret so the players will not know the number of challenges they will face. The Journey Events table gives a range of possible events. The lower numbers represent minor events whilst the higher numbers indicate some important or momentous occurrence. In all cases, the DC of checks made during a journey is determined by adding the Peril Rating of the journey to a base of 12. Therefore, on a journey with a Peril Rating of 3 (unfamiliar areas, deep forest, and so on) the DC of all checks would be (12+3) 15. To determine what happens in each event of the journey, a single d12 is rolled. The result may be modified by the Embarkation roll, or previous events on this or prior journeys. The result of a roll is used on the Journey Events table. Step Three: The Arrival As the Band completes its journey they make a roll to determine their overall mood and demeanour. Dependent upon the exhortations of the Guide, the difficulty of the terrain they have traveled, and the company’s successes or failures upon the road, they may be in high spirits or despondent; full of vigor or footsore and weary. They may have fine tales to tell, or they may be gritting their teeth and silently scowling at any folk with whom they must interact. This roll is additionally modified depending on the difficulty of the majority of the terrain that the company crossed, as follows: Easy Terrain: +1 to the Arrival roll Moderate Terrain: No modifier to the Arrival roll Hard or Severe Terrain: -1 to the Arrival roll Daunting Terrain: -2 to the Arrival roll To determine the outcome, a single d8 is rolled. Apply any modifiers from the Embarkation roll and the terrain of the journey, and then compare the result with the Arrival table. Tracking Time Usually, knowing the exact duration of a journey is not very important. The Band travels for days or weeks, and pays little heed to the exact date or how many days precisely the journey took. However, there may come situations where knowing the exact count of days is important – say, the Band is trying to reach a fortress before enemies besiege it in seven days. In such cases, the first step is to work out the effective length of the journey. Each hex on the Brancalonia Map is 10 miles across, but a mile of thick forest takes longer to cross than a mile of open ground. The Travel Time table below gives multipliers for the various terrain types. Travel Time Difficulty The traversed terrain is mostly... Modifier Very Easy good road* x0.5 Easy open terrain, well-trodden track or path, plains, meadows, on a boat along a navigable river x1 Moderate pathless wilderness, hills, sparse woods, bogs x1.5 Hard marshes, wastes, fells, woods with good tracks** x2 Severe dense woods, very rough ground, any road or path in Plutonia** x3 Daunting densest wood, desert, blighted or ruined land, mountain passes x5 *Traveling across a distance on a good road gives a modifier of x0.5, halving the time needed to cover the entire route, regardless of the terrain. **A Band cannot advance through woods or dense woods riding horses. The traveling Knaves must dismount and proceed by leading their horses on foot. Divide the outcome of the Travel Time by the Travel Speed of the Band, rounding all fractions to the nearest whole number. The result is equal to the expected length of the journey in days. The table below shows the distance covered in miles by a Band in an average day of travel. Travel Speed Band traveling... Miles per Day on foot 20 riding horses 40 using boats on a river 20 downstream, 5-10 against the current

Greetings, Knaves! I'm going to start where this all began back in January. Please help me decide which campaign to GM on Baldr I created this post because I had two goals for this year: Learn to use Baldr GM a campaign (one out of eight selected via poll) On February 12, the poll closed and Brancalonia had nearly a third of the votes making it the winner. And on February 18, I opened the Game Forum for those who voted for the campaign to join. Since that time, as I have slowly fleshed out the Game Forum, I feel confident with using Baldr now. However, I must admit that I will not reach my second goal. It's not as bad as it sounds. I just will not be reaching that goal this year. That's because the official start of the campaign will begin on the anniversary of the Game Forum opening. On Sunday, February 18, 2024, I will be dropping the first post of the campaign. You probably have some questions, so I'm going to try to cover as many as I think would be asked. What does that mean about the Playtest? The Playtest is over. Although I did not get to test the combat rules (we never even got to the combat 🙈), I really learned a lot about using Owlbear Rodeo. I also learned a lot about how it's going to take time for everyone to feel more comfortable using it, so that has given me ideas about how to best design and run combats. Who is invited to play? @SMARTAgentKC and @Shocker have been here since the beginning and they already have approved Knaves, so they are in. @guitarist still needs to submit an approved Knave. @Wizard of the Coat and @Morphling are invited to join and will need to submit an approved Knave. @Mizukami has been on standby since February and has not been active online since March. However, if they return and submit an approved Knave in time, then they will be joining as well. When is the deadline to submit an approved Knave? The deadline is February 4, 2024 - two weeks before the campaign starts. You mentioned something about Boons for participating in the Playtest. What's happening with those? More details about Boons will be provided before the campaign starts. Boons are not character-defining powers so you don't need to know what they provide when creating your Knave. Boons are useful for any type of Knave. Are you going to resume the weekly campaign progress updates? No. I think a comfortable rate for me at this point is to provide monthly updates about changes to the Game Forum. Will the Adventuring and Combat sections of the Compendium be completed by the start of the campaign? No, because I'm okay with leaving most of these sections as a work in progress that can be fine-tuned once the campaign starts. For some of the information that will go in these two sections, I think I need to be playing the campaign to find what is going to work best for us. As much as I'd like for the Compendium to feel more complete, I have to be honest with myself and you all that I don't think I will ever feel like it is complete. I've recently accepted that because I don't want that to be the reason why the campaign is continually delayed from starting. The Compendium is in a great place right now and there is no reason why we should not be playing even though some portions have not been completed. So then why are we not starting the campaign sooner? It's the holiday season, I'm still recovering from whatever I caught, I have a good chance of getting a promotion in the next few weeks, and we only have two accepted Knaves so far (Ren Gunther and Giacomo). For those reasons, I think it would be best to hold off on the campaign starting until Sunday, February 18, 2024. What are your posting expectations once the campaign starts? 2-3 posts per week if your Knave is actively involved in the situation at hand (such as a conversation between just your Knave and an NPC), 1-2 posts per week for combat and all other situations. I do not expect you to provide lengthy content for every post. Just as long as you maintain the Themes presented in the Game Expectations. The greatest of these Themes is "Light-Hearted Tone" because my aim is that this campaign has a good deal of comical moments throughout. That doesn't mean that you can not play a serious Knave. Please understand then that your Knave's role will be more of the "straight man" to provide a contrast to the comedic things that are happening around them. In that sense, a serious Knave can be an invaluable part of this kind of campaign. I think I missed all those important dates - what were they again? Sunday, February 4, 2024 - Deadline to submit an approved Knave. Please do not wait until this date to submit your Knave for the first time, unless you are 100% confident that they will be approved. Sunday, February 18, 2024 - The campaign starts. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments in the section below! That's all for now 👋 Until next time... For the bounty!

I swear I have not forgotten about you all! How could I? After taking care of my sick family members, I am now sick 🤧 I think about this campaign every day and I'm committed to updating you all on what is coming next ASAP! I'm so sorry for the delay 🙏

Full disclosure: I have not caught up on posts and private messages yet. However, a huge announcement is coming soon 😁

I know, right 😅 I've got a sick wife and kids, so my hands are full! I promise that I will try to find some time to get back here.

Sorry for the extended wait! I'm a bit swamped at home, but I will catch up here by tomorrow evening.

No problem 👌

Enzio warned the others as a free action and then can make a move and an action. I see that you have created the path for Enzio. Using both a move and an action to move stealthily at half-speed, I will move Enzio's position once everyone else has taken their turn. I wanted Enzio to "go first" because he needed to decide if/how to alert the others, that way we know who is alerted because those not alerted only get an action. But now everyone is alerted and gets both a move and an action 👍

Encounter 0-0: The Incident at Warminster Keep Mission Investigate what happened to the Mithral Hope, an adventuring group known for hunting bandits and small demon cults who sought to bring the Grayhaunt Order to justice at Warminster Keep over a week ago and never returned. - Shocker - SMARTAgentKC - Merbak - Morphing - Wizard of the Coat Combat Rules Block Initiative Creatures working together can take their turn in any order before any opposing creature or the end of the round. Escalating Combat Rounds All attack rolls receive a positive modifier equal to the round of combat. All saving throws receive a negative modifier equal to the round of combat. Surprise rounds do not include this modifier (they are treated as round 0). Basic Combat Maneuvers The can be used in this encounter. Minions A minion is a weak foe. However, minions still make threatening foes. Killing a minion still requires penetrating their defenses, and characters can’t just shrug off damage from minion attacks. Every minion has the Minion trait, which affects the creature in the following ways: If the minion takes any damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw, their hit points are reduced to 0. If the minion takes damage from another effect, they die if the damage equals or exceeds their hit point maximum; otherwise, they take no damage. Overkill Attacks Powerful weapon attacks can kill more than one minion in a single maneuver called an overkill attack. When a weapon attack’s damage does exceed the target minion’s hit point maximum, the attack becomes an overkill attack and the damage dealt beyond the minion’s hit point maximum becomes overkill damage. Overkill damage can be applied to a second minion who has the same stat block as the target and is in overkill range (see below). Damage against the second minion is counted as if you made a weapon attack against them; since it only takes 1 point of weapon damage to reduce a minion to 0 hit points, any amount of overkill damage immediately knocks them out. But wait, it gets better—if the initial attack’s overkill damage exceeds the second minion’s hit point maximum, the leftover overkill damage can roll over to a third minion, and so on! In other words, for each time the overkill damage exceeds the new target’s hit point maximum, the attacker can choose an additional minion to reduce to 0 hit points. For example, when a weapon attack deals 18 damage to a minion with a hit point maximum of 5, the overkill damage is 13. If there are three additional minions of the same stat block in overkill range, they can all three be immediately reduced to 0 hit points, since the overkill damage exceeded the target’s hit point maximum more than twice over. Overkill attacks can’t be made as part of an opportunity attack. Overkill Range Minions must be within a certain range to qualify for an overkill attack, determined by whether the attack is a melee or ranged attack. Melee Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a melee weapon attack, other minions within reach of the attack are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the weapon attack’s reach. Ranged Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a ranged weapon attack, other minions in a line originating from the creature in the direction of the target, to a distance equal to the weapon’s short range, are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the line or beyond the weapon’s short range. Environment Details Moat*: 5 feet from the surface to the top of the bank, ????? feet deep Outer Keep Walls**: 15 feet high exterior, 10 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Inner Keep Walls**: 20 feet high exterior, 15 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Rubble: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner Boulders***: 5 feet high, outlined in dashed white line Foliage: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner, can be used to hide, outlined in a dashed green line Tree Cover: from 10 feet to 20 feet up, provides three-quarters cover for opponents under and above, outlined in dashed orange line Bones: not to scale (small and medium creature remains), NOT difficult terrain, and there to show that they are scattered in the general area Fungal Growth: difficult terrain, yellow section outlined in dashed yellow line *Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb onto the bank, or DC 15 if the bank is difficult terrain **Athletics (STR) DC 20 to climb, or DC 15 from a section that has rubble at the base ***Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb Grayhaunt Order Rightfully reviled for their desecrations, the Grayhaunt Order’s necromancers and gruesome creations seek power over the living by defiling the natural order of death. If left to perfect their insidious rituals and gather corpses, they will certainly amass a scourge of undeath and seize the world in an unliving grip. Background The Grayhaunt Order serves no ambitions save their own. Each member was shunned for their unique blasphemies, but they otherwise escaped their crimes’ consequences. Though the Grayhaunt Order’s allies are few, they animate those they lack into a horde of undead minions. Goals Though each necromancer in the Grayhaunt Order has a unique dark dream, together they are committed to conquest through undeath. Condemned for their forbidden pursuits, the order also harbors festering grudges against those who vilified them. All who obstruct the Grayhaunt Order’s aspirations will suffer a thousandfold in the glorious dead world to come. Though these necromancers seek to animate an army, they’re unsatisfied with the husks of mere commoners. The Grayhaunt Order unearths the graves of great heroes and reanimates their bones, flesh, or spirits. With the power of legends at their command, the Grayhaunt Order will topple kingdoms and strike fear into the hearts of their sworn enemies. Methods The Grayhaunt Order roams the world, learning folklore to track down the graves of renowned heroes. They camp near graveyards and burial grounds. Under the cover of night, they are remorseless graverobbers, picking burial plots clean. They have no respect for local traditions or beliefs, using corpses as fodder to reach their true prize. If discovered, the Grayhaunt Order shows no mercy to opposition. Meddlers just provide additional corpses and all the better if those come from adventurers with dreams of glory and bleeding hearts. Members Lethari Sangre Treasured as a wizard prodigy in her youth, Lethari flourished under the protection and opportunities afforded her. As the half-elf grew into an insatiable arcane scholar, mentors assumed her academic interest in necromancy was mere morbid curiosity, but her fascination soon became experimentation with the forbidden. Lethari dreamed of cheating death and ruling forever - a privilege she believed the universe owed her brilliance - and her devoted bodyguard Haldrun only encouraged her ambitions. Lethari's teachers finally saw the evil in her and forbade any further dalliances with necromancy. But the young mage had already tasted power, and she killed her ignorant teachers and took their spellbooks. Determined to become a lich, Lethari founded the Grayhaunt Order, gathering other necromancers to work toward her grand vision. While she is skilled in all aspects of necromancy, Lethari specializes in the incorporeal: subjugating spirits, binding souls, and empowering her magic with such essences. Haldrun Yandris Haldrun trained for battle from his youth. After proving his dedication to the art of war, the human was assigned as bodyguard to the brilliant young mage Lethari. When she showed Haldrun kindness and trust, he repaid it in kind, sharing his darkest secret with her. Haldrun supported his charge's macabre passions from the start - in part due to his devotion to her, but also driven by the euphoria he feels when a life slips away under his hand. The warrior enjoys killing in Lethari's name, knowing his corpses help build the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan Palance A human apostate cleric, Jovan, serves a being called Nerull who claims to be a trapped and forgotten god of death. Nerull promised Jovan unimaginable power in exchange for freedom. To free his lord, Jovan defiled the bones of entombed saints for a profane ritual, only to be caught before he could complete the spell. His imminent execution was interrupted by Lethari and Haldrun, who cut their way through the guards and executioner to recruit Jovan into the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan's cold and callous demeanor belies a fervent faith in Nerull. He excels in magics that manipulate bones, and he uses corporeal undead to defend and bolster his allies. Myrel A peculiar tiefling with a distracted air, Myrel's body is crisscrossed with yellow veins of a beautiful parasitic fungus. She has developed a symbiotic relationship with her fungus, which she adores and has named Golden Creep. Myrel dreams of cultivating a garden to cover the entire world—a dream that quickly put her at odds with the people of her home village, for this fungus grows best in the dying bodies of humanoids … and if those bodies are later reanimated, it continues to thrive in their undead husks. After Myrel was caught slaughtering neighbors to serve as zombified hosts for her blossoms, the villagers captured the necromancer, planning to burn her and her creations. The Grayhaunt Order intervened by killing the villagers, saving Myrel, and bringing her into their fold. She specializes in cultivating Golden Creep in the cavities of undead and spreading it across the field of battle, hindering and enervating her foes. GM Enzio Boots of Elvenkind: steps make no sound, advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to move silently. Potion of Climbing: climbing speed equal to your walking speed, advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, will last for the entire encounter. Hadrian Shield of Faith: +2 AC, will last for the entire encounter unless concentration is broken or the spell is dropped. Iata Potion of Climbing: climbing speed equal to your walking speed, advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, will last for the entire encounter. All Treat your next turn as a round of combat, but it does not count as a round of combat. This means that your movement is now limited by your speed. You can take your turn in any order. Everyone has been alerted by Enzio and gets both a move and an action. Don't forget that you can use an action to Dash. Fungal Growth has been added to the Environment Details above.

Those who move anywhere within view of the Fungal Growth see that it is a large patch of normal-sized mushrooms that creates difficult terrain.

Private Stuff

I just used Private Text for the first time in my last post. Let me know if you can see it. There is important information there for Enzio.

Encounter 0-0: The Incident at Warminster Keep Mission Investigate what happened to the Mithral Hope, an adventuring group known for hunting bandits and small demon cults who sought to bring the Grayhaunt Order to justice at Warminster Keep over a week ago and never returned. - Shocker - SMARTAgentKC - Merbak - Morphing - Wizard of the Coat Combat Rules Block Initiative Creatures working together can take their turn in any order before any opposing creature or the end of the round. Escalating Combat Rounds All attack rolls receive a positive modifier equal to the round of combat. All saving throws receive a negative modifier equal to the round of combat. Surprise rounds do not include this modifier (they are treated as round 0). Basic Combat Maneuvers The can be used in this encounter. Minions A minion is a weak foe. However, minions still make threatening foes. Killing a minion still requires penetrating their defenses, and characters can’t just shrug off damage from minion attacks. Every minion has the Minion trait, which affects the creature in the following ways: If the minion takes any damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw, their hit points are reduced to 0. If the minion takes damage from another effect, they die if the damage equals or exceeds their hit point maximum; otherwise, they take no damage. Overkill Attacks Powerful weapon attacks can kill more than one minion in a single maneuver called an overkill attack. When a weapon attack’s damage does exceed the target minion’s hit point maximum, the attack becomes an overkill attack and the damage dealt beyond the minion’s hit point maximum becomes overkill damage. Overkill damage can be applied to a second minion who has the same stat block as the target and is in overkill range (see below). Damage against the second minion is counted as if you made a weapon attack against them; since it only takes 1 point of weapon damage to reduce a minion to 0 hit points, any amount of overkill damage immediately knocks them out. But wait, it gets better—if the initial attack’s overkill damage exceeds the second minion’s hit point maximum, the leftover overkill damage can roll over to a third minion, and so on! In other words, for each time the overkill damage exceeds the new target’s hit point maximum, the attacker can choose an additional minion to reduce to 0 hit points. For example, when a weapon attack deals 18 damage to a minion with a hit point maximum of 5, the overkill damage is 13. If there are three additional minions of the same stat block in overkill range, they can all three be immediately reduced to 0 hit points, since the overkill damage exceeded the target’s hit point maximum more than twice over. Overkill attacks can’t be made as part of an opportunity attack. Overkill Range Minions must be within a certain range to qualify for an overkill attack, determined by whether the attack is a melee or ranged attack. Melee Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a melee weapon attack, other minions within reach of the attack are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the weapon attack’s reach. Ranged Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a ranged weapon attack, other minions in a line originating from the creature in the direction of the target, to a distance equal to the weapon’s short range, are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the line or beyond the weapon’s short range. Environment Details Moat*: 5 feet from the surface to the top of the bank, ????? feet deep Outer Keep Walls**: 15 feet high exterior, 10 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Inner Keep Walls**: 20 feet high exterior, 15 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Rubble: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner Boulders***: 5 feet high, outlined in dashed white line Foliage: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner, can be used to hide, outlined in a dashed green line Tree Cover: from 10 feet to 20 feet up, provides three-quarters cover for opponents under and above, outlined in dashed orange line Bones: not to scale (small and medium creature remains), NOT difficult terrain, and there to show that they are scattered in the general area Fungal Growth: difficult terrain, yellow section outlined in dashed yellow line *Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb onto the bank, or DC 15 if the bank is difficult terrain **Athletics (STR) DC 20 to climb, or DC 15 from a section that has rubble at the base ***Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb Grayhaunt Order Rightfully reviled for their desecrations, the Grayhaunt Order’s necromancers and gruesome creations seek power over the living by defiling the natural order of death. If left to perfect their insidious rituals and gather corpses, they will certainly amass a scourge of undeath and seize the world in an unliving grip. Background The Grayhaunt Order serves no ambitions save their own. Each member was shunned for their unique blasphemies, but they otherwise escaped their crimes’ consequences. Though the Grayhaunt Order’s allies are few, they animate those they lack into a horde of undead minions. Goals Though each necromancer in the Grayhaunt Order has a unique dark dream, together they are committed to conquest through undeath. Condemned for their forbidden pursuits, the order also harbors festering grudges against those who vilified them. All who obstruct the Grayhaunt Order’s aspirations will suffer a thousandfold in the glorious dead world to come. Though these necromancers seek to animate an army, they’re unsatisfied with the husks of mere commoners. The Grayhaunt Order unearths the graves of great heroes and reanimates their bones, flesh, or spirits. With the power of legends at their command, the Grayhaunt Order will topple kingdoms and strike fear into the hearts of their sworn enemies. Methods The Grayhaunt Order roams the world, learning folklore to track down the graves of renowned heroes. They camp near graveyards and burial grounds. Under the cover of night, they are remorseless graverobbers, picking burial plots clean. They have no respect for local traditions or beliefs, using corpses as fodder to reach their true prize. If discovered, the Grayhaunt Order shows no mercy to opposition. Meddlers just provide additional corpses and all the better if those come from adventurers with dreams of glory and bleeding hearts. Members Lethari Sangre Treasured as a wizard prodigy in her youth, Lethari flourished under the protection and opportunities afforded her. As the half-elf grew into an insatiable arcane scholar, mentors assumed her academic interest in necromancy was mere morbid curiosity, but her fascination soon became experimentation with the forbidden. Lethari dreamed of cheating death and ruling forever - a privilege she believed the universe owed her brilliance - and her devoted bodyguard Haldrun only encouraged her ambitions. Lethari's teachers finally saw the evil in her and forbade any further dalliances with necromancy. But the young mage had already tasted power, and she killed her ignorant teachers and took their spellbooks. Determined to become a lich, Lethari founded the Grayhaunt Order, gathering other necromancers to work toward her grand vision. While she is skilled in all aspects of necromancy, Lethari specializes in the incorporeal: subjugating spirits, binding souls, and empowering her magic with such essences. Haldrun Yandris Haldrun trained for battle from his youth. After proving his dedication to the art of war, the human was assigned as bodyguard to the brilliant young mage Lethari. When she showed Haldrun kindness and trust, he repaid it in kind, sharing his darkest secret with her. Haldrun supported his charge's macabre passions from the start - in part due to his devotion to her, but also driven by the euphoria he feels when a life slips away under his hand. The warrior enjoys killing in Lethari's name, knowing his corpses help build the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan Palance A human apostate cleric, Jovan, serves a being called Nerull who claims to be a trapped and forgotten god of death. Nerull promised Jovan unimaginable power in exchange for freedom. To free his lord, Jovan defiled the bones of entombed saints for a profane ritual, only to be caught before he could complete the spell. His imminent execution was interrupted by Lethari and Haldrun, who cut their way through the guards and executioner to recruit Jovan into the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan's cold and callous demeanor belies a fervent faith in Nerull. He excels in magics that manipulate bones, and he uses corporeal undead to defend and bolster his allies. Myrel A peculiar tiefling with a distracted air, Myrel's body is crisscrossed with yellow veins of a beautiful parasitic fungus. She has developed a symbiotic relationship with her fungus, which she adores and has named Golden Creep. Myrel dreams of cultivating a garden to cover the entire world—a dream that quickly put her at odds with the people of her home village, for this fungus grows best in the dying bodies of humanoids … and if those bodies are later reanimated, it continues to thrive in their undead husks. After Myrel was caught slaughtering neighbors to serve as zombified hosts for her blossoms, the villagers captured the necromancer, planning to burn her and her creations. The Grayhaunt Order intervened by killing the villagers, saving Myrel, and bringing her into their fold. She specializes in cultivating Golden Creep in the cavities of undead and spreading it across the field of battle, hindering and enervating her foes. As the group made their way toward what remained of the south entrance of the keep's courtyard, all seemed to be still and nothing out of the ordinary was heard. GM Enzio Boots of Elvenkind: steps make no sound, advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to move silently. Potion of Climbing: climbing speed equal to your walking speed, advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, will last for the entire encounter. Hadrian Shield of Faith: +2 AC, will last for the entire encounter unless concentration is broken or the spell is dropped. Iata Potion of Climbing: climbing speed equal to your walking speed, advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, will last for the entire encounter. All For your next turn, treat it as a round of combat, but it does not count as a round of combat. This means that your movement is now limited by your speed. We have not rolled for initiative, but everyone must wait for Enzio to take his turn first, then everyone else can go in any order. Only Enzio is alerted and gets both a move and an action. Everyone else is not alerted, so they only get an action, unless they are alerted by Enzio, in which case they get both a move and an action. Don't forget that you can use an action to Dash. From his starting location, Enzio can alert any of his companions as a free action by speaking at a normal volume from his location. He can whisper instead to alert only Jezelle and Dalrom. He can use an action to wave at Hadrian to alert him. He is unable to see Iata.

I forgot to mention the south bridge! The hole in it looks years old. No restrictions to cross it while not in combat.

I apologize for the late update! I added this to the Environment Details: Tree Cover: from 10 feet to 20 feet up, provides three-quarters cover for opponents under and above, outlined in dashed orange line I am trying this out, but it might be tricky. I may need to put a guide at the side of the map to help us determine when cover is applicable. The inner keep walls are 20 feet up and level with the top of this cover. However, the further one is from the tree, the more likely they may be able to see underneath the cover and vice versa. I really want to thank you all for participating! I realize now that I was using the fog of war feature in a way that is making more work for me than it needed to be when it comes to revealing more of the map. Additionally, I see how important it is to have a map completely prepped before starting the encounter, rather than trying to add things to it along the way. These two points are what is slowing me down - aside from normal real-life things. I'm learning valuable lessons about how to effectively use Owlbear Rodeo 💪

Encounter 0-0: The Incident at Warminster Keep Mission Investigate what happened to the Mithral Hope, an adventuring group known for hunting bandits and small demon cults who sought to bring the Grayhaunt Order to justice at Warminster Keep over a week ago and never returned. - Shocker - SMARTAgentKC - Merbak - Morphing - Wizard of the Coat Combat Rules Block Initiative Creatures working together can take their turn in any order before any opposing creature or the end of the round. Escalating Combat Rounds All attack rolls receive a positive modifier equal to the round of combat. All saving throws receive a negative modifier equal to the round of combat. Surprise rounds do not include this modifier (they are treated as round 0). Basic Combat Maneuvers The can be used in this encounter. Minions A minion is a weak foe. However, minions still make threatening foes. Killing a minion still requires penetrating their defenses, and characters can’t just shrug off damage from minion attacks. Every minion has the Minion trait, which affects the creature in the following ways: If the minion takes any damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw, their hit points are reduced to 0. If the minion takes damage from another effect, they die if the damage equals or exceeds their hit point maximum; otherwise, they take no damage. Overkill Attacks Powerful weapon attacks can kill more than one minion in a single maneuver called an overkill attack. When a weapon attack’s damage does exceed the target minion’s hit point maximum, the attack becomes an overkill attack and the damage dealt beyond the minion’s hit point maximum becomes overkill damage. Overkill damage can be applied to a second minion who has the same stat block as the target and is in overkill range (see below). Damage against the second minion is counted as if you made a weapon attack against them; since it only takes 1 point of weapon damage to reduce a minion to 0 hit points, any amount of overkill damage immediately knocks them out. But wait, it gets better—if the initial attack’s overkill damage exceeds the second minion’s hit point maximum, the leftover overkill damage can roll over to a third minion, and so on! In other words, for each time the overkill damage exceeds the new target’s hit point maximum, the attacker can choose an additional minion to reduce to 0 hit points. For example, when a weapon attack deals 18 damage to a minion with a hit point maximum of 5, the overkill damage is 13. If there are three additional minions of the same stat block in overkill range, they can all three be immediately reduced to 0 hit points, since the overkill damage exceeded the target’s hit point maximum more than twice over. Overkill attacks can’t be made as part of an opportunity attack. Overkill Range Minions must be within a certain range to qualify for an overkill attack, determined by whether the attack is a melee or ranged attack. Melee Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a melee weapon attack, other minions within reach of the attack are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the weapon attack’s reach. Ranged Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a ranged weapon attack, other minions in a line originating from the creature in the direction of the target, to a distance equal to the weapon’s short range, are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the line or beyond the weapon’s short range. Environment Details Moat*: 5 feet from the surface to the top of the bank, ????? feet deep Outer Keep Walls**: 15 feet high exterior, 10 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Inner Keep Walls**: 20 feet high exterior, 15 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Rubble: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner Boulders***: 5 feet high, outlined in dashed white line Foliage: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner, can be used to hide, outlined in a dashed green line Tree Cover: from 10 feet to 20 feet up, provides three-quarters cover for opponents under and above, outlined in dashed orange line Bones: not to scale (small and medium creature remains), NOT difficult terrain, and there to show that they are scattered in the general area *Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb onto the bank, or DC 15 if the bank is difficult terrain **Athletics (STR) DC 20 to climb, or DC 15 from a section that has rubble at the base ***Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb Grayhaunt Order Rightfully reviled for their desecrations, the Grayhaunt Order’s necromancers and gruesome creations seek power over the living by defiling the natural order of death. If left to perfect their insidious rituals and gather corpses, they will certainly amass a scourge of undeath and seize the world in an unliving grip. Background The Grayhaunt Order serves no ambitions save their own. Each member was shunned for their unique blasphemies, but they otherwise escaped their crimes’ consequences. Though the Grayhaunt Order’s allies are few, they animate those they lack into a horde of undead minions. Goals Though each necromancer in the Grayhaunt Order has a unique dark dream, together they are committed to conquest through undeath. Condemned for their forbidden pursuits, the order also harbors festering grudges against those who vilified them. All who obstruct the Grayhaunt Order’s aspirations will suffer a thousandfold in the glorious dead world to come. Though these necromancers seek to animate an army, they’re unsatisfied with the husks of mere commoners. The Grayhaunt Order unearths the graves of great heroes and reanimates their bones, flesh, or spirits. With the power of legends at their command, the Grayhaunt Order will topple kingdoms and strike fear into the hearts of their sworn enemies. Methods The Grayhaunt Order roams the world, learning folklore to track down the graves of renowned heroes. They camp near graveyards and burial grounds. Under the cover of night, they are remorseless graverobbers, picking burial plots clean. They have no respect for local traditions or beliefs, using corpses as fodder to reach their true prize. If discovered, the Grayhaunt Order shows no mercy to opposition. Meddlers just provide additional corpses and all the better if those come from adventurers with dreams of glory and bleeding hearts. Members Lethari Sangre Treasured as a wizard prodigy in her youth, Lethari flourished under the protection and opportunities afforded her. As the half-elf grew into an insatiable arcane scholar, mentors assumed her academic interest in necromancy was mere morbid curiosity, but her fascination soon became experimentation with the forbidden. Lethari dreamed of cheating death and ruling forever - a privilege she believed the universe owed her brilliance - and her devoted bodyguard Haldrun only encouraged her ambitions. Lethari's teachers finally saw the evil in her and forbade any further dalliances with necromancy. But the young mage had already tasted power, and she killed her ignorant teachers and took their spellbooks. Determined to become a lich, Lethari founded the Grayhaunt Order, gathering other necromancers to work toward her grand vision. While she is skilled in all aspects of necromancy, Lethari specializes in the incorporeal: subjugating spirits, binding souls, and empowering her magic with such essences. Haldrun Yandris Haldrun trained for battle from his youth. After proving his dedication to the art of war, the human was assigned as bodyguard to the brilliant young mage Lethari. When she showed Haldrun kindness and trust, he repaid it in kind, sharing his darkest secret with her. Haldrun supported his charge's macabre passions from the start - in part due to his devotion to her, but also driven by the euphoria he feels when a life slips away under his hand. The warrior enjoys killing in Lethari's name, knowing his corpses help build the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan Palance A human apostate cleric, Jovan, serves a being called Nerull who claims to be a trapped and forgotten god of death. Nerull promised Jovan unimaginable power in exchange for freedom. To free his lord, Jovan defiled the bones of entombed saints for a profane ritual, only to be caught before he could complete the spell. His imminent execution was interrupted by Lethari and Haldrun, who cut their way through the guards and executioner to recruit Jovan into the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan's cold and callous demeanor belies a fervent faith in Nerull. He excels in magics that manipulate bones, and he uses corporeal undead to defend and bolster his allies. Myrel A peculiar tiefling with a distracted air, Myrel's body is crisscrossed with yellow veins of a beautiful parasitic fungus. She has developed a symbiotic relationship with her fungus, which she adores and has named Golden Creep. Myrel dreams of cultivating a garden to cover the entire world—a dream that quickly put her at odds with the people of her home village, for this fungus grows best in the dying bodies of humanoids … and if those bodies are later reanimated, it continues to thrive in their undead husks. After Myrel was caught slaughtering neighbors to serve as zombified hosts for her blossoms, the villagers captured the necromancer, planning to burn her and her creations. The Grayhaunt Order intervened by killing the villagers, saving Myrel, and bringing her into their fold. She specializes in cultivating Golden Creep in the cavities of undead and spreading it across the field of battle, hindering and enervating her foes. "Unfortunately, I do not," Jezelle whispered in response, a hint of nervousness in her voice. The amount of blood found at the last camp of the Mithral Hope had shaken her. She had been able to put the image out of her mind during their last stretch to the keep, but seeing the bones scattered upon the grounds of the keep brought it back. She hoped that they were not too late. The others cautiously made their way toward the south bridge. Hadrian was the first to reach it and both he and Iata were the first to look into the inner bailey. Even with a clear view to the outer bailey on the north side of the keep, there was no sign of the Grayhaunt Order. GM Enzio Boots of Elvenkind: steps make no sound, advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to move silently. Potion of Climbing: climbing speed equal to your walking speed, advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks to climb, will last for the entire encounter. Hadrian: Shield of Faith: +2 AC, will last for the entire encounter unless concentration is broken or the spell is dropped. All Nobody saw or heard anything. Everyone is free to move again like before.

I will try to have an update by tomorrow night. Hopefully tonight!

Not yet, although this kind of information would be something that starts when the campaign does and grows over time. The vast majority of clerics in Brancalonia would tell you that there is only one true god, the Ternal Father. The religion known as the Creed also includes praying to Saints, Martyrs, and Angels (both of which are numerous in name and purpose). The rest of the beings (real or fake) that are worshipped are considered old gods and are even more numerous than the Saints, Martyrs, and Angels of the Creed. This means that anything is possible when it comes to beliefs and faith outside the Creed (and within as well to some degree because their are factions).

Encounter 0-0: The Incident at Warminster Keep Mission Investigate what happened to the Mithral Hope, an adventuring group known for hunting bandits and small demon cults who sought to bring the Grayhaunt Order to justice at Warminster Keep over a week ago and never returned. - Shocker - SMARTAgentKC - Merbak - Morphing - Wizard of the Coat Combat Rules Block Initiative Creatures working together can take their turn in any order before any opposing creature or the end of the round. Escalating Combat Rounds All attack rolls receive a positive modifier equal to the round of combat. All saving throws receive a negative modifier equal to the round of combat. Surprise rounds do not include this modifier (they are treated as round 0). Basic Combat Maneuvers The can be used in this encounter. Minions A minion is a weak foe. However, minions still make threatening foes. Killing a minion still requires penetrating their defenses, and characters can’t just shrug off damage from minion attacks. Every minion has the Minion trait, which affects the creature in the following ways: If the minion takes any damage from an attack or as the result of a failed saving throw, their hit points are reduced to 0. If the minion takes damage from another effect, they die if the damage equals or exceeds their hit point maximum; otherwise, they take no damage. Overkill Attacks Powerful weapon attacks can kill more than one minion in a single maneuver called an overkill attack. When a weapon attack’s damage does exceed the target minion’s hit point maximum, the attack becomes an overkill attack and the damage dealt beyond the minion’s hit point maximum becomes overkill damage. Overkill damage can be applied to a second minion who has the same stat block as the target and is in overkill range (see below). Damage against the second minion is counted as if you made a weapon attack against them; since it only takes 1 point of weapon damage to reduce a minion to 0 hit points, any amount of overkill damage immediately knocks them out. But wait, it gets better—if the initial attack’s overkill damage exceeds the second minion’s hit point maximum, the leftover overkill damage can roll over to a third minion, and so on! In other words, for each time the overkill damage exceeds the new target’s hit point maximum, the attacker can choose an additional minion to reduce to 0 hit points. For example, when a weapon attack deals 18 damage to a minion with a hit point maximum of 5, the overkill damage is 13. If there are three additional minions of the same stat block in overkill range, they can all three be immediately reduced to 0 hit points, since the overkill damage exceeded the target’s hit point maximum more than twice over. Overkill attacks can’t be made as part of an opportunity attack. Overkill Range Minions must be within a certain range to qualify for an overkill attack, determined by whether the attack is a melee or ranged attack. Melee Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a melee weapon attack, other minions within reach of the attack are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the weapon attack’s reach. Ranged Overkill Attacks. When a creature hits a minion with a ranged weapon attack, other minions in a line originating from the creature in the direction of the target, to a distance equal to the weapon’s short range, are in overkill range and can be chosen as additional targets for an overkill attack. The overkill attack can’t target minions outside the line or beyond the weapon’s short range. Environment Details Moat*: 5 feet from the surface to the top of the bank, ????? feet deep Outer Keep Walls**: 15 feet high exterior, 10 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Inner Keep Walls**: 20 feet high exterior, 15 feet high interior, three-quarters cover from the exterior wall, outlined in dashed white line Rubble: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner Foliage: difficult terrain, indicated with a white triangle in the upper right corner, can be used to hide, outlined in a dashed green line Boulders***: 5 feet high, outlined in dashed white line Bones: not to scale (small and medium creature remains), not difficult terrain, and are there to visually show that they are scattered in that general area *Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb onto the bank, or DC 15 if the bank is difficult terrain **Athletics (STR) DC 20 to climb, or DC 15 from a section that has rubble at the base ***Athletics (STR) DC 10 to climb Grayhaunt Order Rightfully reviled for their desecrations, the Grayhaunt Order’s necromancers and gruesome creations seek power over the living by defiling the natural order of death. If left to perfect their insidious rituals and gather corpses, they will certainly amass a scourge of undeath and seize the world in an unliving grip. Background The Grayhaunt Order serves no ambitions save their own. Each member was shunned for their unique blasphemies, but they otherwise escaped their crimes’ consequences. Though the Grayhaunt Order’s allies are few, they animate those they lack into a horde of undead minions. Goals Though each necromancer in the Grayhaunt Order has a unique dark dream, together they are committed to conquest through undeath. Condemned for their forbidden pursuits, the order also harbors festering grudges against those who vilified them. All who obstruct the Grayhaunt Order’s aspirations will suffer a thousandfold in the glorious dead world to come. Though these necromancers seek to animate an army, they’re unsatisfied with the husks of mere commoners. The Grayhaunt Order unearths the graves of great heroes and reanimates their bones, flesh, or spirits. With the power of legends at their command, the Grayhaunt Order will topple kingdoms and strike fear into the hearts of their sworn enemies. Methods The Grayhaunt Order roams the world, learning folklore to track down the graves of renowned heroes. They camp near graveyards and burial grounds. Under the cover of night, they are remorseless graverobbers, picking burial plots clean. They have no respect for local traditions or beliefs, using corpses as fodder to reach their true prize. If discovered, the Grayhaunt Order shows no mercy to opposition. Meddlers just provide additional corpses and all the better if those come from adventurers with dreams of glory and bleeding hearts. Members Lethari Sangre Treasured as a wizard prodigy in her youth, Lethari flourished under the protection and opportunities afforded her. As the half-elf grew into an insatiable arcane scholar, mentors assumed her academic interest in necromancy was mere morbid curiosity, but her fascination soon became experimentation with the forbidden. Lethari dreamed of cheating death and ruling forever - a privilege she believed the universe owed her brilliance - and her devoted bodyguard Haldrun only encouraged her ambitions. Lethari's teachers finally saw the evil in her and forbade any further dalliances with necromancy. But the young mage had already tasted power, and she killed her ignorant teachers and took their spellbooks. Determined to become a lich, Lethari founded the Grayhaunt Order, gathering other necromancers to work toward her grand vision. While she is skilled in all aspects of necromancy, Lethari specializes in the incorporeal: subjugating spirits, binding souls, and empowering her magic with such essences. Haldrun Yandris Haldrun trained for battle from his youth. After proving his dedication to the art of war, the human was assigned as bodyguard to the brilliant young mage Lethari. When she showed Haldrun kindness and trust, he repaid it in kind, sharing his darkest secret with her. Haldrun supported his charge's macabre passions from the start - in part due to his devotion to her, but also driven by the euphoria he feels when a life slips away under his hand. The warrior enjoys killing in Lethari's name, knowing his corpses help build the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan Palance A human apostate cleric, Jovan, serves a being called Nerull who claims to be a trapped and forgotten god of death. Nerull promised Jovan unimaginable power in exchange for freedom. To free his lord, Jovan defiled the bones of entombed saints for a profane ritual, only to be caught before he could complete the spell. His imminent execution was interrupted by Lethari and Haldrun, who cut their way through the guards and executioner to recruit Jovan into the Grayhaunt Order. Jovan's cold and callous demeanor belies a fervent faith in Nerull. He excels in magics that manipulate bones, and he uses corporeal undead to defend and bolster his allies. Myrel A peculiar tiefling with a distracted air, Myrel's body is crisscrossed with yellow veins of a beautiful parasitic fungus. She has developed a symbiotic relationship with her fungus, which she adores and has named Golden Creep. Myrel dreams of cultivating a garden to cover the entire world—a dream that quickly put her at odds with the people of her home village, for this fungus grows best in the dying bodies of humanoids … and if those bodies are later reanimated, it continues to thrive in their undead husks. After Myrel was caught slaughtering neighbors to serve as zombified hosts for her blossoms, the villagers captured the necromancer, planning to burn her and her creations. The Grayhaunt Order intervened by killing the villagers, saving Myrel, and bringing her into their fold. She specializes in cultivating Golden Creep in the cavities of undead and spreading it across the field of battle, hindering and enervating her foes. As the martial duo, Iata and Hadrian, moved toward the south bridge, and the spell slingers, Dalrom and Jezelle, followed at a distance, the group's wildcard, Enzio, swam his way through the algae-covered moat and was the first to step foot into Warminster Keep. Now able to see what was left of the abandoned fortification up close, the sight was more that of a massive mausoleum that a tarrasque had trampled. Countless skeletal remains littered the ground, filling the grassy space between the thick stone walls, piles of rubble, and sparse shrubbery. Although the moat water was tepid, Enzio was suddenly overcome with an unnatural chill that started at his feet and slowly made its way up his spine. Something about this place was not right. Not right at all. GM Enzio: The effects of the potion of climbing will last for the entire encounter. The chill he feels is just atmospheric and not a game effect. Hadrian: The shield of faith spell will last for the entire encounter unless concentration is broken or you choose to drop the spell. All: Nobody saw or heard anything. Everyone is free to move again like before.

It totally makes sense! When I read your post about Enzio, I had to stop and think, did we start the real campaign? Perhaps this encounter will turn out to be a dream after a long night of drinking at Tutti's Tav 🤷‍♂️