Having gotten the UAShell in place I am finally going to play my first module. I have played Heirs to Skull Crag version 1.0, but I consider that to be the Last Gold Box, albeit a shorter one. I have been playing AD&D since 1978 and have played all the Gold Boxes, some as early as two years ago. I intend to rest and arm as soon as possible. I will also take what characters are rolled and not reload a game except to continue a game where I left off the night before. I will start with a party of 1 Cleric, 1 Mage, 1 Rogue, 1 Paladin, 1 Ranger and 1 Fighter. I am choosing the Realm because it has so many modules and already has a thread. Hopefully my cautious play will allow me to survive where others have died.
I will start with GameR7 The Raven's Return after wandering the Introduction to the Realm and resting there.
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1st Party
I start with Abel the Tough, Basa the Demure, Chelcy of Chaun, Destry Tauntly, Eafel Starg and Filari Contoni. All have exceptional stats except the mage who rolled a 14 intelligence. Party formation Paladin, Cleric and Fighter front, Thief, Mage and Ranger rear. Having heard tales of adventurers who forget to memorize spells and go off to dungeons with plowshares for weapons and longjohns for armor, we immediately went to the local stores to buy the cheapest equipment we could find and then went home for a nap. Well rested we head toward Daufin.
At the crossroads a rabid bat attacks the party, but we are victorious. Unfortunately we lose track of direction and find ourselves attacked by six wolves outside of Saltmarsh. Wondering if our parents will ever find our bodies we are pleasantly surprised to find Eafel putting three wolves to sleep. Two more are easily finished off before the sixth flees for its life. We jerked and cooked the meat for sup, then turn around and reach Daufin without any more trouble. We rest before going to the temple.
At the great feast the Priest is poisoned and someone claiming to be The Raven flees out the west. We follow to Saltmarsh, then race north to Raven's Bluff thinking the secret hideout must be there. It isn't. So we backtrack to the crossroads and go to Kleine. The hideout is in the woods to the north somewhere. A crossbow hits us from the dark. We chase two taunters only to fall into a pit. We go back to town to rest and find Elise willing to join us.
We are more careful from now on and start marking trees so we can map where we are going. We reach a barrow after avoiding several more traps and stomping a few angry vipers. The door says 'Don't Enter' so we don't. Downstairs we are ambushed by three assassins who seriously injure Chelcy. But she is ready with cures. We find a nice golden ring on a skeleton in a cell. A brick falls on Elise and we foolishly try to rest in the lair. Four more assassins attack us. Filari goes down, but Elise stops the bleeding and the assassins are defeated. Chelcy cures Filari and regales him with the tale of what happened while he was unconscious, using the corpses as a prop so Abel could learn vital killing tips. We go back to town and rest.
Back at the hideout we run across some rats and make short work of them. Then we find a green room with something moving inside. Having heard tales of dungeon dwellers bringing in green slime to protect their lairs we decline to explore. We explore up to a fallen roof and disturb more rats. Abel falls to their bites but is saved by Elise. We go back to town to rest for our last foray into the lair.
We now try the room marked 'Don't Enter". The trap is too complicated for us, but we hope the painting is inside. Our thief valiantly tries to open it anyway. The tar that hits him is solid, and the feathers disintegrate when blown, but he is still a mess. Having nowhere else to go we try the green room, but race through it, gnashing teeth jumping at us just as the door slams shut. No doors will open except that to the south. We hear voices beyond the door.
All rested up we go to fight Raven, only to find a mage named Natasha, her henchman Smirgle, one assassin and four thieves. Seven on seven seems fair, so we rush forward to get in the first blows. We cast sleep onto the mage, who resists, but Smirgle and two others succumb. It looks like we have a good chance to win until the confusion spell hits four party members. We still had a chance if only Elise would cast her sleep spell on the remaining three thieves, but she has forgotten she is a mage and is shooting arrows from afar.
None-the-less our cleric and thief cut through the sleeping to get to the mage. Unfortunately an awake thief takes down Destry whom Elise bandages from afar. Chelcy realizes he can't defeat the mage alone and finishes off the last sleeper, while Elise kills the thief that injured Destry. Natasha casts hold person on Chelcy and two others but only Chelcy resists. A thief takes down Chelcy instead of the paralyzed Abel but Elise bandages her. Abel and Filari go down next while Natasha aborts her now useless Stinking Cloud spell. My conscientious companion precedes to bandage my compatriots one by one despite coming under increasing arrow fire. Basa falls. Elise is still bandaging her when she goes down to the outrageous slings and arrows of defeat.
2nd Party
With their friends missing, Gladus Gladius, Hannibal Hector, Igor Gant, Janus Jacoby, Kleib Konar, and Laurin Linny decide to go looking for them. They find nothing but a room with green water that they refuse to cross. While resting they are attacked by assassins. Igor thinks they should keep pretending to rest until they wear out the assassins. 56 attacks later, everyone decides to get further training. They decide to cross the green water, defeating Natasha without problem. But while chasing the Raven, Gladus and Igor are bitten by a spider and go into comas. Wolves attack and attack and attack until only Hannibal and Laurin are left standing. But an inn is finally found. Molly Maguire and Nexus Danner join the party while Gladus and Igor are left with clerics.
The new party finds a witch's hut, clears out a kobold cave, finds ruins in the mist, and finds an ogre cave. Nexus is killed with a blow to the head and replaced by Otis Ready. The Raven is found dead and a minotaur defeated. A mage is found and fog giants defeated. The party then fights the Wolfen and win, ready to return home. The Wolfen comes back and attacks again, but a fireball cast by a friendly mage clears out most of the enemy. The Wolfen is defeated again, and we get on a ship of the dead.
The Ravens Return - Bugs
Natasha far too dangerous for 1st level characters (9th level with 4th level spells).
Text for chest says nead instead of need.
The kitchen has both doors mention rats in the NE corner even after you kill them.
In the large dining room a skeleton is supposed to be lying on the ground by a cabinet. There is no mention of the skeleton when you reach the cabinet, look or not.
The southwest cell also has a skeleton in it which never is mentioned when you enter the cell, look or not.
The soldier comes out 'expantantly' instead of 'expectantly' and 'polotics' instead f 'politics' at Titus town hall.
Witch says 'appratus' instead 'apparatus' and 'labled' instead of 'labeled'.
Goblins random says 'veangance' instead of 'vengeance'.
Ogre chance to kill females and children on no gets message that you killed them instead of on yes.
Near end using wand by saying Chessex the 'enire shaft" should be 'entire shaft'.
