Session 4 and Breaking off the DM Rust

This post is a week late.  I decided to take a break from the blog for a week.  Just a break.  Some things going on in the blogosphere pissed me off a bit so I gave it a rest.  Played some Rage on the 360.  Very cool game.  And now back to my regularly scheduled program.

My group finished its four session last Monday Night (I'll do one of last night later) and like always we had a good time, but I think it was the first time that I didn't feel like I was struggling.  I haven't DMed in many years and I can feel the rust.  The good thing is I developed a campaign land I really like, a hex crawl, sandbox with a "it's us against the world" feel.  I definitely have the players.  The three I have make a diverse and interesting group.

The session before I had the adventure planned out.  I didn't have time to get the maps done which would have definitely helped.  I made due with generic maps and the drawing feature on FG2.  The basic set up was the village the players were going to save was already captured by the hobgoblins.  There would be an encounter outside the village with a group of axe beaks.  The hobgoblins trained the axe beaks to act like guard dogs.  Then BAM!  The players are hit with a sleep spell.  It works both ways and there is no save either way.

When the players awaken, they are separated and shackled.  The hobgoblins kept them alive to participate in their blood games.  Grim was thrown in with a group of women.  The hobgoblins didn't think much of the tiny halfling.  I won't go into the details of the fights.  The main setup was the leader disguised himself as one of the party members, Dickson, an NPC.  Boog ended up killing Dickson by mistake.

In the end all the hobgoblins lept into the pit arena falling to their knees and chanting.  The blood from the kills revealed an ancient symbol of the God of the Dead.  The hobgoblins poured oil into the pits where they kept the prisoners and burned them alive.  The players saved as many as they could.  Boog still furious about killing his friend grabbed the oil kegs and broke them into the arena pit and set the praying hobgoblins aflame.

Battered, burned and horrified, the players journeyed back to the fort with 26 survivors out of 130 members of the village.