Month: August 2026

[Part 1: Tricks and Traps]

Aug. 23, 2026 session

This session follows the Wysis bridge operation and the dissolution of Karina’s bandit threat. It begins with a long training, spell, gear, and downtime phase, then advances the campaign by about five months to January 20, 2198, when Superstar! turns back toward Cromwell’s northwestern frontier problem: hill giants, trolls, ogres, gnolls/noblink-like lesser humanoids, and whatever intelligence is coordinating them.

Psionics, training, and Star’s ninth-level questions

The session opens with rules and advancement discussion, especially around Star’s psionics.

Star is now approaching or entering 9th level, and the group discusses whether he can take another psionic discipline. Star already has several minor disciplines — Empathy, Dream Sight, Levitation, and Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions among them — and there is a hard cap of five minor and two greater disciplines.

One option considered is Sense Talent, a minor psionic discipline that can detect whether someone is actively psionic or latent. It is slow, but useful: active psionic individuals may notice the scan, while latent individuals may only feel a generic mind-probing sensation. The discussion frames this as potentially useful for Star’s long-term interest in finding people with psionic potential, rather than as an immediate combat power.

Lewis retires into ranger training

The party resolves Lewis’s departure from active adventuring.

Lewis is leaving to found or join a ranger training school near the southern edge of Barleyton, toward the Adri Forest and the mountains — a wilderness-heavy location suited to training scouts and rangers. Because that work is not compatible with metallic armor, he gives back his plate mail +1 of mobility and shifts into non-metallic ranger-suitable gear, such as the sharp-skin suit.

Lewis keeps some personal gear:

• His excellent sword.
• A Ring of Protection +1.
• A magical bandage.
• A sip of invisibility potion.

The rest of his permanent party gear, including the Bag of Holding and special helmets, goes back into party distribution. Later, Lewis rolls hit points and ends up leaving with a very respectable total, tied with Molly at 49 hit points.

Lewis, Zippo, and possibly Neil the dumb cloud giant are also expected to visit the Fane before settling fully into their new Barleyton-area roles.

Training timetable and downtime roles

The party determines that Star’s training is the limiting clock. Training, travel to the Fane, and return travel take roughly four months. That gives the rest of the party a significant downtime block.

Several major downtime paths are set:

• Star trains to 9th level; the cost is recorded as about 12,000 gp.
• Rosby double-levels in both classes, becoming a much stronger cleric/mage type; his training costs about 2,780 gp.
• Ethan double-levels to 4th-level fighter, training mostly with Rangorn and others; because standard military training facilities are available, his training is relatively cheap, about 1,530 gp.
• Rangorn spends much of the downtime helping train Ethan.
• Maple goes to Barleyton to check on the harvest, advise on next year’s crops, look in on the transplanted former bandits, and confirm the anti-drug-crop fungus is still doing its job.
• Portia continues steward training.
• Chiaro spends time in Melbonia, both for magical research and city opportunities.
• Herman escorts Chiaro by hippogriff and uses the Melbonia trip to learn specialized aerial/trapeze-style archery techniques.

The party is also conscious of Phaulkonian High Holy Days. Travel and downtime are planned so Star and relevant followers are not stranded in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rosby becomes much more capable

Rosby gets a large spell upgrade during training.

He gains Shatter as his free second-level spell. Then, using party spellbooks, captured books, government requisition, and purchased spell access, he successfully picks up a remarkably useful suite of low-level mage spells:

• Armor
• Invisibility
• Levitate
• Web
• Stinking Cloud
• Zane’s Deodorant
• Maximize, as a magic theory / spell-modifier option

The group discusses other possible spells such as Mirror Image, Detect Invisibility, Vocalize, Feather Fall, Knock, and Strength. Feather Fall is especially tempting because Rosby is a hippogriff rider, but the roll fails by a narrow margin. The party notes that it may still be worth acquiring later.

Rosby also receives a Protection from Lightning scroll read on himself, giving him an 84-point lightning absorption capacity. This is a major safety upgrade for a low-level but heavily equipped rider.

Ethan grows into a real front-liner

Ethan’s double-leveling is very successful.

He rolls extremely well for hit points, helped by his 18/68 Constitution, and jumps to 44 hit points, making him one of the sturdier people in the party — behind only Rangorn, Star, and Molly at that point.

Ethan takes Longsword and Shield as a weapon proficiency, strengthening his role as a durable front-line fighter. He banks his non-weapon proficiency for later rather than rushing into a choice. Cooking is jokingly discussed, but the consensus is that he can wait and pick something meaningful later.

This matters because Superstar! has often been missile-heavy and not especially built for sustained front-line slugging. Ethan is becoming one of the people who can help change that.

Chiaro joins the Academy of Special Effects

Chiaro explores spell research in Melbonia, whose illusionist culture is centered on high-end theatrical special effects. Melbonia’s Academy of Special Effects is a major illusionist institution with an excellent library and a working community of stage illusionists who develop very specialized spells for performance.

Chiaro considers three custom spells:

1. A Shadow Clone spell.
2. An illusionist “body replacement” / stone-skin-like defensive spell.
3. A Change Creature style spell, like Change Self but cast on another creature.

The body-replacement spell is judged too far from normal illusionist spell logic at Chiaro’s current level; it is closer to an attempt to clone Stoneskin as an illusionist spell. The Shadow Clone idea is difficult but plausible, especially if it functions more like a shadowy duplicate tied to Chiaro’s own hit points rather than a full independent remote-sensing body.

Chiaro buys membership in the Academy of Special Effects for 35,000 gp, partly because repeated spell research would make the membership worthwhile. He then researches the Shadow Clone spell. The research goes exceptionally well: he succeeds around week eight and spends only about 2,100 gp in weekly research costs because the membership greatly reduces access fees.

After that, Chiaro tries to find Phantom Steed in Melbonia, using Wraithform as trade leverage. The search is comically unlucky: repeated social/search rolls go badly, and when he finally gets a chance to copy it, the learning roll fails. The party notes that he may be better off later buying a scroll outright or researching a version himself.

Chiaro leaves Melbonia with the custom Shadow Clone spell, but not Phantom Steed.

Herman learns aerial circus tricks

While in Melbonia, Herman looks into the best proficiency for firing bows while hanging from ropes or doing acrobatic hippogriff-adjacent tricks.

The answer is a specialized form of trapeze / gymnastics training, paired with archery skill. Melbonia has exactly the kind of theatrical/circus infrastructure needed for this. Herman pays about 600 gp for training with a school associated with the Jingling Mordo Circus, though the circus itself is traveling elsewhere.

There is joking about Herman running away to join the circus with his hippogriff, but for now the practical result is that he gets training useful for aerial trick-shot situations.

Magic Lad receives a mysterious letter

After the downtime and return, Magic Lad shows Chiaro a strange letter he received.

The letter says, essentially, “We are watching with interest.” It bears a huge symbol of an eyeball and a beautiful seal of Mandred — the eight-pointed star representing all schools of magic. The eyeball symbol is not recognized as the Elder Elemental Eye and feels more like a mage-secret-society mark than a religion.

There is a return address, absurdly enough: a local mage drinking club down the street. The thread is not pursued deeply this session, but it is clearly a hook.

Cromwell’s compensation for the dwarven items

Cromwell explains that the dwarven items recovered from Wysis and the bridge operation are politically sensitive. The leadership may need to hold them, or eventually return some of them to Shabrundian dwarven authority, rather than simply let Superstar! keep them.

The party is not especially eager to return valuable magic to the evil dwarves they actually dealt with. Cromwell’s view is more institutional: the items are traditional dwarven cultural property, and higher leadership will decide whether they go to these dwarves, other Shurundian dwarves, or remain locked up.

In compensation, Cromwell offers to bank the value of the recovered items against useful gear for the party.

The dwarf goods are valued at about 48,500 gp. The party spends part of that credit on:

• A Belt of Flotation for about 3,500 gp.
• Two Potions of Growth, partly because of how effective giant-sized Rangorn was on the bridge.
• Two Feathers of Feather Fall suitable for hippogriffs, so wounded mounts can drift down rather than crash.
• A Helm of Contemplation, a chaotic-aligned helm that reduces spell disruption chance when the wearer is hit.

After these purchases, roughly 29,000 gp of Cromwellian credit remains.

The party asks about Dust of Non-Detection, but Cromwell does not have any available.

Redistribution of special items

The party reshuffles several items after Lewis’s retirement and the Cromwell exchange.

Important outcomes:

• Star takes the chaotic Helm of Contemplation, valuing its 20% spell-disruption protection.
• Star’s former Circlet / Headband of Radiance is passed along to Maple.
• The Chameleon Helmet goes to Ethan by default, though it can be swapped to Rangorn for scouting. It provides active ultravision, wide-angle vision, surprise reduction, and limited camouflage.
• Rangorn keeps his Helm of Anticipation, since it helps with his front-line/sensory role.
• Extra Healing is placed into the party’s more accessible potion storage (Maple’s pouch).
• Rangorn’s old tracking dogs are effectively retired to safe duty around the church or Barleyton rather than remaining active adventuring assets.

The party also discusses possible future items for Maple, including expensive druidic vestments, but does not immediately spend the remaining credit on them.

The clock advances to January 20, 2198

After all the training, travel, research, item allocation, and Barleyton follow-up, the campaign clock advances to January 20, 2198.

At this point the adventuring party is notably high-level. Rangorn, Star, Molly, and Chiaro are all 9th level. Ethan and Rosby are rising rapidly. Allison is close to “graduating” or moving on. Portia continues steward work.

Superstar! is now big, rich, complicated, and politically entangled.

Cromwell proposes the next frontier problem

The party checks in with Cromwell about the situation near Ashop, Nonna, and the frontier line.

Cromwell says that with Karina’s bandits gone, one possible strategic move is to push toward Nonna from the north. However, over the winter there has been movement of hill giants, trolls, and ogres from the north. Cromwell is worried that this movement is coordinated and may be meant to block any advance.

The creatures do not appear to be the well-armed hill giants previously equipped by the Slave Lords; they are poorly armed and armored, suggesting they came down from the mountains rather than being outfitted directly by the dwarves or slavers. Still, the coordination is suspicious.

The party decides to investigate and, if possible, eliminate the threat.

Moving to Ashop and scouting

The party stages at Ashop, a marginal but inhabited frontier settlement. Ashop is not a popular place to live, because it has been hard to secure, but it makes a useful staging point.

The plan is to scout forward using:

• Bird friends.
• Hippogriff riders.
• Rangorn’s stealth and wilderness skills.
• The Chameleon Helmet as needed.
• Active and passive ultravision.
• Dispel Exhaustion bursts for rapid rider movement.
• Remove Fear as one of Star’s standard prepared tools.

The idea is to leapfrog from farm to farm or use abandoned farms as staging points while scouting outward.

During scouting, the party finds a site that appears to be a monster/bandit base. After some watching, they see about twelve lesser humanoids, transcribed unclearly but apparently gnolls / “no-blink” types, come out with hatchets and gather firewood. No animals or trolls are seen outside during the observation window. That suggests the place may not have heavy exterior patrols, though the real occupants could still be inside.

Preparing the assault

The party decides to attack the base.

They prepare with:

• Invisibility on non-spellcasters.
• Strength effects.
• Five Deep Strikes from Wanda.
• Bless and Prayer.
• Fine Traps / Find Traps support.
• Cricket Song / sound control.
• Slow Poison on Molly.
• Protection from Evil 10-foot radius available.
• The usual missile and melee layering.

The horses are left at a farm rather than brought close, since taking them all the way in would slow the operation and increase detection risk.

The plan is to hit fast and exploit short-duration buffs. Rangorn leads, using strength to force the entry rather than spend time on subtle methods.

Entry into the complex

The party reaches the door under silence and Cricket Song. Rangorn forces it open.

Herman’s trap detection immediately matters: there is a trip wire just inside the entrance. The group spots it in time and steps over it rather than blundering into the first trap.

Inside is a hall with several doors. More traps appear quickly: wash tubs or objects balanced in rafters, pits or snares, trip wires, and other improvised “Home Alone” style defenses. This base is not elegant, but it is heavily trapped.

The party presses forward rather than spending too much time clearing every hallway.

First ogre fight

The first real room contains four ogres on guard.

Both sides are surprised, but the party reacts with extreme violence. Rangorn, Ethan, Herman, Wanda, and others pour damage into the ogres before they can escape and raise an effective alarm.

Key moments:

• Rangorn and Ethan engage at the front.
• Ethan’s new front-line role immediately matters.
• Deep Strike and strong weapon bonuses turn hits into brutal damage.
• One ogre is blasted so badly it effectively turns to ash.
• Wanda’s Magic Missile finishes another before it can get a door open.
• The last ogre tries to flee but is cut down before it can escape.

The ogres had been shouting, so the alarm may still be partly raised, but the immediate guard room is cleared very quickly.

Trapped doors and false routes

After the ogres die, the party discovers that many exits are trapped.

One door has both a magical glyph and a mechanical trap involving a bucket full of knives. Molly, supported by Slow Poison and magical help, successfully removes the magical trap and neutralizes the danger.

Another door opens into a room with a dozen of the lesser humanoids running around in panic. The party decides not to spend time on them and closes the door. Something loud happens on the other side afterward, but the group leaves that mess for later.

A staircase downward turns out to be unsuitable for giants: the steps are unstable and clatter underfoot, suggesting it is not the giants’ real path. The party turns back rather than wasting time in a cellar route that cannot be the main movement path for large creatures.

The burning sheet trap and the hidden “young giant”

In another room, the party triggers a more elaborate trap.

A huge cloth drops from the rafters, tangling some of the front ranks. Then a large quantity of flaming oil pours down onto it. Thanks to good saves, Star’s Ring of Free Action, elemental resistance from Star’s shield, and general party durability, the trap does much less damage than it might have.

Only minor damage is taken, around three points to Rangorn.

The party spots the trap-setter: a slightly young-looking giant vanishes through gaps or rafters high above. The ceilings are about 22 feet high, with complicated rafters and gaps that would be hard for most characters to navigate, though Molly or Audrienne might manage.

The party begins to suspect the “young giant” may not really be a young giant. A Sleep spell does nothing to him, which seems odd if he is merely a young giant or low-HD creature. By the end of the session, players speculate he may be something stranger, possibly a large kobold, an ogre-mage variant, or some thiefy polymorphed creature.

The empty room and more door traps

The party follows onward into a room that is almost suspiciously empty. As they approach doors, lanterns drop and explode into fire. The party realizes that each door seems rigged with a flaming-oil lantern trap.

Rather than walk into each one, they shoot or deliberately trigger the lanterns from a distance, clearing them one by one. Fires burn briefly but do not create a long-term obstacle.

Molly then begins disarming doors. One door is a spring-loaded fake door that smacks her and launches her partway across the room, though she takes only minor damage. Behind it is just wall.

Another apparent pit trap is actually a set of four large bear traps buried under sand. Molly finds and triggers them safely.

A further room appears to be a barracks for about twenty gnolls or similar creatures, though it is empty when the party enters.

Searching for the real route

The party realizes that the obvious doors and traps may not be the real route through the complex. The “young giant” seems to move through rafters or hidden passages rather than through the trapped doors.

The group debates whether someone should climb into the rafters and chase him, but instead continues opening and testing doors, trying to find the actual path into the deeper complex.

Rangorn receives a Strength spell, giving him very high strength, and he helps force doors when locks or stuck mechanisms slow the party down.

Eventually, after false doors and traps, Molly finds a real door with a floor trap in front of it. The trap is a spring-loaded floor section, which the party triggers safely from a distance. The door is stubborn, but repeated effort gets it open.

This finally reveals a long corridor with a turn — the first sign of a real path deeper into the complex.

The metal plates and magic “air-eating” bricks

As the party advances into the long corridor, a trap springs.

A metal plate drops behind them, covering the way back. Another metal plate drops ahead, blocking the right-hand turn. Looking up, they see a small metal hatch close in the rafters.

Then they hear hissing and see two magic bricks / cinder-block-sized devices begin absorbing or destroying the air. Star recognizes from past experience that these are dangerous magical air-suppression devices.

Attempts to physically damage one of them only speed the effect by exposing more surface area. The party shifts to Dispel Magic.

Dispel Magic attempts partly fail because the devices are high-level effects, but Allison succeeds. The two bricks stop operating before the party is trapped or suffocated.

Rangorn and others immediately look for ways to force open or lift the metal plates, using strength, crowbars, and brute force. Maple uses Warp Wood to warp the frame holding the metal plate that slid down to our rear. But as the party tries to back out, the hidden “young giant” strikes again!

The hidden attacker’s fireball sling

From above, the “young giant” fires a slingshot or similar weapon and launches a small fireball into the party.

Ethan takes about 19 damage. The rest of the party largely manages to scamper away or avoid serious harm. The attacker laughs and vanishes backward into the rafters or hidden passage again.

At this point the party is still inside the complex, with traps partly cleared, spells still running, Molly under Slow Poison, some Aid and Find Traps duration remaining, and Ethan being healed.

The proposed next move is dramatic: put Fly on Rangorn and send him after the elusive rafters attacker with giant-slaying fury.

End state

By the end of the session:

• Star reaches 9th level and trains.
• Rosby double-levels and gains major new spell capacity.
• Ethan double-levels into a much sturdier front-line fighter.
• Lewis retires from active adventuring and prepares to found a ranger training school.
• Maple spends downtime supporting Barleyton’s recovery and agricultural transition.
• Chiaro joins Melbonia’s Academy of Special Effects and successfully researches Shadow Clone.
• Chiaro fails to acquire Phantom Steed despite a long and expensive search.
• Herman learns trapeze / aerial trick-shot training in Melbonia.
• Magic Lad receives a mysterious “We are watching with interest” letter marked with an eyeball and Mandred’s symbol.
• Cromwell values the dwarven goods at 48,500 gp and compensates the party through credit and useful items rather than simply handing over the politically sensitive dwarf gear.
• The party acquires a Belt of Flotation, Potions of Growth, hippogriff Feather Fall feathers, and a chaotic Helm of Contemplation.
• The campaign clock advances to January 20, 2198.
• Cromwell points the party toward suspiciously coordinated hill giant / troll / ogre movements near Ashop and Nona.
• The party scouts a monster base, stages an assault, kills four ogres, avoids or neutralizes many traps, and begins penetrating the complex.
• A strange “young giant” or giant-like trickster repeatedly attacks from rafters/hidden spaces, using traps and a small fireball attack.
• The session ends mid-operation, with the party considering a flying Rangorn pursuit through the rafters.

Strategically, this session shifts Superstar! out of the aftermath of the Wysis/Karina victory and into the next phase of the northwestern Cromwell campaign. The party has become higher-level, and better equipped, but the new enemy is not just a group of simple hill giants. The base is trap-heavy, layered, and strange, and the hidden fireball-slinging “young giant” suggests there is a smarter organizer or infiltrator behind the ogres, gnolls, giants, and trolls.