Talking? We haven't tried that before

Session Nine of the Late Lurkers

This was the session where we got all the stuff for our first fetch quest, the components we need to cure the druid of lycanthrope. It was also the first session with a new player who promises to completely change the party dynamics. But in a good way :)

The two big scenes in the session were a straight up fight with an ogre zombie in an old battle field (where we got the jawbone of a horse slain in battle needed for the cure) and an encounter with a cult of some kind of elder god.

The first was fun because we really had to get tactical against a monster who could potentially drop party members in a hit. For the second week in a row :D

However, the significant event was out encounter with the cultists. And not just because it hinted at Lovecraftian horrors (and as a Call of Cthulhu lover, I like that)

Ulric, the new guy and the warlock who might turn out to be evil, has a much higher charisma than almost anyone else in the party. We do have an occasionally played bard but he's a skald whose motto is literally 'I advocate violence' 

(To be fair, not only has the DM not implemented alignments, I am really not prepared to describe any of the characters as good. Loyal to the jarl is as good as it's going to get. Ulric is just a different flavor than the rest of us)

He managed to talk our way OUT of that fight (as opposed to our dwarf cleric who does the opposite) Since we were outnumbered, that may have been a good thing. Particularly since the DM said that afterwards. And we didn't even desecrate their sacrificed member in the name of looting afterwards.

Yes, we've reached the point where we are really asking ourselves what is our moral compass. And since we are in a fantasy ninth century Norse culture, that might not be all that altruistic or nice. But keep in mind, this is fun. 

When we started the campaign via Roll20, we focused on the mechanical side of the game. We were learning how to use the interface and, with sessions being two to three hours long, that really meant that combat was the centerpiece. And I was cool with that being what would we get.

Instead, characters are developing. And I wonder if we will be pushing more towards more and more of a sandbox environment with the players setting the goals.