Tales of Quelmar

Tales of Quelmar are one-session games that fill in blanks and tell interesting stories that do not need long drawn out campaigns. They often times revolve around one interesting idea or event and introduce a plethora of previously unexplored characters and faces. Tales may be about the most important day ever or about the most mundane tavern brawl. No matter what happens in them, one thing is for certain, these stories will go down in Quelmar's history.

Lost in the Underdark

Offline. The very first one off involved the rescue of Paelias Galanodel from the Underdark by a group of misfits including Amra and Sir Davidos, who teamed up with another banished soul named 11 and a Dr. Frank N Stein. It took place in the year 796 PR, loosely following the events of the Towson Tabletop finale. At the end, they were able to send an SOS back up to Quelmar through Paelias:

"We're from Quelmar. We're holed up at the DoomVault. Some of us were dragged down to the underdark by a demonic presence. I'm from AID. Back where I was from, AID was summoning demonic creatures in their search for the origin of the soul. I was the result of some of those experiments. I'm a warforged. A machine with a soul. They experimented on me to try to figure out where my soul came from."

Year: 699, later an undetermined year in the Underdark

Location: The Underdark

Players: Matt D, Ben P, Lianna B, Glen H

Short Synopsis: People ripped into the underdark discover that Demons who try to pull people from Quelmar (or people who try to go to the abyss) get stuck in the Underdark, which is a buffer layer. They save a wizard who was REALLY stuck.

Offline, Maryland, DM James

Demetrides and Memetrides

Year: 699

Location: Galik, Galik, Amusa

Players: Matt D, Zach M

Short Synopsis: A disgruntled doctor and an identity thief cross paths and pull off a warehouse heist.

Offline, Maryland, DM James

Just Another Unimportant Day

Offline. This session took place in the town of Hamleton on the east side of Amusa, and involved a time traveller named Kolgrim who was convinced that a baby born on that day needed to be killed.

Year: 675

Location: Hamleton, Lugg, Amusa

Players: Tim H, Matt I, Zach B, Will M

Short Synopsis: What happens when some adventurers help give birth to a child...only for a man from the future to arrive, attempt to kill it, and claim that child will be the end of the world? Hilarity ensues.

Offline, DC, DM James

The Tomb of Horrors

Offline, DC, DM James

Year: Prehistory

Location: The Tomb of Horrors

Players: Glen H, Lianna B, Matt I, Griffin D, Alex W

Short Synopsis: A highly ranked and well-proven group of heroes decided once and for all to tackle Acererak’s tomb...death, destruction, and great loss paved the way to their forfeit. Who will be next to tackle the tomb?

Dungeons and Dinos!?!?!??!

Offline, DC, DM Linus

Year: ~1100

Location: Isle Trademark

Players: James R, Dean W, Thomas G, Logan L, Lucas S

Short Synopsis: All hell breaks loose as the Clonomancy rituals used to bring this theme park to life backfire in the face of the tourists and scientists stranded on the island with their dinosaur captives.

The Faerie Forests of Isonhound

Offline, DC, DM James

Year: 795

Location: Faerie Forests of Isonhound

Players: Dean W, Logan L, Allie P, Brad B

Short Synopsis: Newly freed Dryads go on what’s supposed to be an easy trip to town for supplies...are horrified to learn that houses are made of wood. Luckily at the end of the day they made out with plenty of GoldSilverCopper. Doraleous Ex Machina.

Ale's Day

Offline, DC, DM James

Year: ~800

Location: Burnale Clan Mountains, Osugbo

Players: Dean W, Linus O, Allie P

Short Synopsis: Three unlikely dwarven allies help one fellow brother in arms recruit the heart of the loveliest maiden with the biggest beard...by killing zombies and goblins! I’LL DRINK TO THAT!

If Day

Year: ~800

Location: Ymbtrymman, Amusa

Players: Steve B, Skylar H, Zach B, Allie P, Tim H, Bridget L

Short Synopsis: For 900 years Ymbtrymman prepared themselves for any oncoming dragon onslaught, despite Dragons having long been extinct. After commercializing and facetiously treating it like a holiday, their actual dragon slaying abilities finally come into question...

Offline, DC, DM James

The Atheist

Year: 800

Location: Bywater, Osugbo (Halfling community)

Players: Glen H, Lianna B, Thomas G, Tim H, Rachael H, Allie P

Short Synopsis: Greedy gods fight to the death over converting the realm’s most stubborn hobbit. It all ends in death as their utmost divine destruction winds up not converting but rather confirming the halfling’s nihilistic beliefs. On his deathbed, it ultimately was the goddess of death, the Raven Queen, who left the most impact.

Offline, DC, DM James

Terror at Erkrom Asylum

Year: Unknown

Location: Ostrom, Scurflink, Pteris

Players: James R, Rose H, Rachael H, Sam O’F, Thomas G

Short Synopsis: When a small boy is kidnapped in the dangerous and seedy streets of Ostrom, investigative reports reveal he’s been taken to the Erkrom Asylum, a long abandoned house for the criminally insane so secure it’s on its own island. As the cops take charge of the search, they find not just the boy, but more about their own fears and passions.

Offline, DC, DM T

Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

Year: 821

Location: The Traveler’s Stop on Inn, Diimgard, Osugbo

Players: Rachael H, Dean W, Dan B, Ben P, Lianna B, Jesse M

Short Synopsis: A group of story tellers meet up in a tavern to exchange stories and legends, while simultaneously trying to tell THEIR version of the famous legend: “The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief”. Hilarity ensues as conflicting stories lead to sudden plot twists and surprise endings.

Legend Synopsis: After the kingdoms have banded together to stop the onslaught of the giant’s alliance, the realm’s best heroes learn to work together and infiltrate the Hill Giant’s farmstead in a rather “Ocean’s Eleven” inspired conquest.

Introduction of the "Plot Point"

Offline, DC, DM James

The Last Crusader of Kragnux

Year: 821

Location: Manquel, Bigaji-Ho, Osugbo

Players: Rachael H, Allie P, Dan B, Steph H, Lianna B, Glen H, Tim H

Short Synopsis: The Alleen family, fleeing from a dark past, come across a drunken warlock and his beet-nik friend as they wind up caught in the middle of a court battle against the very last of the Kragnux Draconic Crusaders. After a dragon attacks the town, the players find themselves all in suspicious positions, leaving everyone to flee town before noon. Meanwhile, the last of the crusaders dies as he lived, slaying the dragon and possibly saving the town.

Offline, DC, DM James

The Forge of Fury

Year: 821

Location: The Traveler’s Stop on Inn, Diimgard, Osugbo

Players: Dean W, Lianna B, Griffin D

Short Synopsis: A group of storytellers meet up in a tavern to exchange stories and legends, while simultaneously trying to tell THEIR version of the famous legend: “Forge of Fury”. Hilarity ensues as conflicting stories lead to sudden plot twists and surprise endings. Legend Synopsis: It’s said that long ago, a group of noble adventurers made their way into Khundrukar, the forbidden dwarven Vault, in search of extraordinary blades forged by Durgeddin the Black. To get the blades, the adventurers must fight through an entire Orc colony...one by one.

Offline, DC, DM James "Plot Point" adventure.

The Dardin Games!

Year: 692

Location: Dardin, Oppidan, Pteris

Players: Dean W, Rose H, Dan B, Kelly H, Kayvon K

Short Synopsis: Tasterface the Fighter, Napoleon the Barbarian, Turbine the Artificer, and Silence the Monk go up against veteran of the games (and crowd favorite) Narrowinch as they toss dwarves, snipe targets, toss more dwarves, and ultimately go head to head in the ultimate DANGER DOME in a quest for the title of Dardin Games Champion! (Spoiler alert: Silence the Monk Vanara takes the crown!)

Offline, DC, DM James

Characters in Search of a Player

Year: 499

Location: The Lair of an ArchDruid, probably Isonhound.

Players: Dean W, Lianna B, Dan B, Steph H, Ben P, Rose H, Matt I

Short Synopsis: After falling into a vat of memory moss during battle, the ArchDruid’s daughter and the adventurers combating her find themselves completely unaware of the devastating fight that they were just in. The group learns to trust each other as they rediscover who they are. With memories wiped and facial-blindness in full force, they work together to get back into the Archdruid’s lair...until the Archdruid’s daughter rediscovers her purpose and once again they are at each other’s throats.

Offline, DC, DM James

Something Stirs the Fog

Offline, Maryland, DM James

Return to the Tomb

Offline, DC, DM James

...Have Happened (The Abyss)

The destruction of Demogorgon in The Abyss.

Offline, Maryland, DM James.

Secret of the Woven!

Offline, DC, DM Dean

Stuckey's Begins

A session that was almost entirely composed of Tavern Games.

Offline, Maryland, DM James.

A Little More Action, Please

Offline, Maryland, DM Lianna

The Little People of Lugg

Offline, Maryland, DM James

The Dreamwalker's Blade

Offline, Maryland, DM James

A group of heroes must unite and fight the Dreamwalker's evil brother in a Dreamscape, which they learn to control with their minds to give them whatever powers they wanted!

Corduth's Kobolds

Offline, Maryland, DM James

Mages and Monodrones

Online, DM Matt

The Key of Turk

Offline, PA, DM James

A False Sense of Security

Offline, PA, DM James

Magic at the Windy Wall

Offline, PA, DM James

Defenders of Isle Meregrund

Offline, PA, DM James

To Croon the Coronet

Characters

Wanda, Croach, Solem, Luther

XP Total	XP Each
1248	312

Big Things That Happened:

• Luther, Solem, Wanda, Croach introduced at level 3
• Wanda discovered Yro sitting in a thrift store.
• Yro asks the team to help return him to Rou-De-Lour, a small artists circle in the city where his former owner Radonis Calfenris lived.
• Radonis, it seems, died mysteriously, and the four adventurers begin a quest to find out whodunnit. In the process, Yro kills one of the suspects and sets the villa on fire.
• Realizing the dangers of Yro, the group agrees to abandon him at the burning villa, in the posession of a dwarf known as Thriskarn.

Other Things That Happened:

• Croach turned into a Boar and back into an Aarakocra

Offline, PA, DM James

A Little Pandemonium

Online. DM James.

Arcadia's Gift

Online. DM James.

The Modrons of Mechanus

Online. DM James.

I Thought Angels Were Supposed to Be Nice (Mt. Celestia)

Online. DM James.

The Minds of Madness (Limbo)

Online. DM James.

Gehenna's Great Drop

Online. DM James.

The Battlefields of Acheron

Introducing "Stun's Out, Guns Out"

Online. DM James.

To Skin a Sæhrímnir (Ysgard)

Online. DM James.

Arborea's Glades

Online. DM James.

I'm a WHAT? (The Beastlands)

Online. DM James.

The Tomb Goes Online

Online. DM James.

By Hades' Flame

Online. DM James.

Glittergold's Gates (Bytopia)

Online. DM James.

The Library in Carceri

Online. DM James.

The Many Floors of Pelor (Elysium)

Online. DM James.

The Familiar Way Out

Online. DM James.

The Wild Sheep Chase

After a night of being ambushed by Snake Charmer bandits, four adventurers arrived in Bayberry, East Levinkan. A sheep with a scroll of modified Speak with Animals in its mouth bounded up to them in The Flannel Flagon. The sheep claimed to be Finethir Shinebright, a powerful transmuter true polymorphed into a sheep by his apprentice using Finethir's wand. After dispatching a half-orc, a bear, some wolves, and Finethir himself temporarily, the adventurers tentatively set off to retrieve the wand from the apprentice. Chaos ensued: the purported apprentice transformed a bed into a dragon, Kelluruk turned into a potted plant, and Finethir died when the monk Bar attempted to use the modified wand to turn him back into a high elf. The adventurers looted the deceased transmuters' lab, and watched the treehouse burn.

Offline, PA, DM Kevin, half-orc wild magic sorcerer Kelluruk, dwarven drunken monk Bar Bar Doreenks, imp Theo(philus) and his miner warlock Dexter Gygas, gnomish druid G.G.G.G.G.

Fight at the Museum

Five people were hired to be night guards at the Zobeck Art Gallery for the duration of a travelling exhibition: Ancient Art: Alive! However, the owner had an ulterior motive: to turn them into statues with a magic pedestal. The heroes were drugged, removed of their weapons, and bound. They managed to escape with tyrannosaurus teeth, looting the Arms and Armor hall and fighting through a handful of animated statues. In a climactic battle against a statue of a tyrannosaurus rex, Nick Rivers brought the mummified corpse of Paelias Amenruta into the moonlight. Revived by a blessing from his god Sehanine Moonbow, Paelias summoned his manticore Koronet and rushed into battle. Before he could get a swing in, though, the night watch finished the dinosaur on their own. They then did what night watches do best: loot the very gems they were hired to guard and drink the night away at The Lion's Paw. During the celebrations, old Dorothea snuck away to deliver the necromantic pedestal to her fiendish patron and make another deal.

Offline, PA, DM Kevin, bard Nick Rivers, halfling barbarian Jo, rogue Moyra Gray, wizard Veras Langford, and warlock Dorothea Doubtice. 8 Kythorn, 1250 PR. The first in the one-shot collection Realmtrotter's Guide to Zobeck.

Your Days are Numbered

Offline, PA, DM Connor. Tabaxi bard Tabitha, bremish human ranger Nalapoq (Pock), human sorcerer Wes, centaur shaman Eala, human rogue Jade, halfling monk Thad. 1st Century PR.

Pudding Faire

Online, PA players (COVID-19), DM Kevin, Love Paladin Amedie, halfling barbarian Jo, wizard Veras Langford, warlock Dorothea Doubtice, imp Theo(philus) and his miner warlock Dexter Gygas . Kythorn, 1250 PR.

Bodacious Pants Heist Deluxe

Brand Aware Marketing Strategists accept a mission from Mert to go steal pants from an octopus. Gained a total of 8 Bonding Points. Were paid not in money but in pants and pairs of Doc Martens.

Online, DM James, Team called Brand Aware Marketing Strategists (or BAMS). Level 1 (Boss's Son) Dragonborn Ranger Walter HasPants, other characters at level 3: Ka'Rul Baskin the Half-Orc barbarian, Tommmi Salami the Rogue Halfling thief, and Lead Tsunami the Tiefling Bard of Valor.

Microbrewing Up Trouble

The Furries accept a mission from Gottik Waxbeard to save his precious microbrewery the Battlefield Brewery. They make Colinth Amber there, which combines Elvish Hops with Dwarvish Yeast. However, the yeast went crazy and now attacks things, so adventure awaits! Eventually the team recovers a sample of the yeast while slaying the rest, allowing Colinth Amber to continue production down the line...but it might be a while as the brewery was destroyed in the epic battle that ensued.

Online, DM James, Team called The Furries. Level 4 Human Rogue Pirate named "First Mate Pete" (Taylor), Halfling Fighter named Ooric (Jeff), Human Wizard named "RumbleRoar" (Kelsey), Kobold Paladin named Koco (Rachael), Ursin Bard named "Beary Potter" (Brendan), and Goliath Barbarian named Beetle (Tyler).

The Lockblocker

A group of mercenaries for hire work against each other to try to con an old adventurer out of his money. After several very lucky close calls, the team formulates one final plan. Unfortunately, a wild case of Murder-Hoboism overtakes some of the team members, leading to two of them being arrested, one of them dead, and two having made off with money or victory. The team earned 6.5 Bonding Points.

Online, DM James, No Team, individual level 4 adventurers working together (and against each other). Susan (high elf), MaCAWley CAWkin (kenku), Magic Michael (high elf), Gluteus Minimus (halfling), and Zenon Zyquil (half-elf)

The Keep on the Borderlands (Monster Edition)

A group of guards and locals residing in Kreendale Keep tell a story about a group of monsters who were captured and subsequently escaped. However, the storytelling get progressively more and more drunk as they tell the story, resulting in an absolutely undecipherable mess of details and illogical story beats that ultimate ends with 100 modrons being summoned from the skies to tear the keep to the ground.

Online, DM James, Plot Point Adventure, Bulgogi the Kobold Monk (Thomas), Orsin Delves the Minotaur Barbarian (Steve), Vivian Tains the Bugbear Sorcerer (Zach B), Leer the Gnoll Rogue (Jeff B), Garkgreel the Lizardfolk Druid (Dan), and Oka the Goblin Cleric (Jesse)

Seawell Revisited

50 Years after the original Lighthouse incident, a copycat pirate stops ships from arriving at the port of Seawell by putting out the lighthouse. However, this time there are 3 unlikely heroes that will find the Pirate and stop his evil ways. Along the way, Orphans are encountered, unrequited love appears---and a very special night happens for two strange men in the hostel.

Online, DM James, Crankle the Rogue Gnome Criinal (Randy), Freyja the Druid Tiefling Folk Hero (Christy), Raven Stash the Elf Fighter Soldier Military Veteran (Thomas)

Bad Things in Small Packages

Members of the Keeper of the Teeth in Pteris scout out a nearby Dwarven fortress to discover the recipe for "Dragonscale Disease" which their team plans to use in the upcoming Siege of Rwendia. Along they way, the discover dwarven indoor plumbing, and take no mercy on the dwarves as lives are taken left and right....and then resurrected to serve the necromancer Squee.

Online, DM James, Rhix the Liardfolk Rogue (Kelsey), Stubbs the Lizardfolk Cleric (Bridget), Squee the Necromancer Kobold (Griffin), Tyrator the Barbarian Dragonborn (Jeff), Rugmoth the Lizardfolk Bard (Thomas).

Runes of Chronepsis

The heroic team known only as "The Midnight Cats" track down the Odium heart belonging to Afanasi the undying wizard. After using an alter of Chronepsis to grant them visions of the future, they overcome the odds and avoid all danger in a beautiful beeline to the goal....though not without sacrificing one of their own to get the answers they need. RIP Dorthna.

Online, DM James, Players-With-Modules Experiment, Level 5. Flewyn the Dwarf Paladin (Linus), Dorthna the Dwarf Barbarian (Allie), Evelyn the Gnome Cleric (Laura), Aloysius the Halfling Sorcerer (Jason), Dolasar the Dragonborn Fighter (Jeff)

A Long Night at Ravendean

The "AV CLUB" (Always very constantly looking under beds) investigates a Nightshade that has symbiotically attached itself to a young boy.

Online, GM Craig, Monster of the Week, August the Meddling Kid (Nell), Ero the Expert (James), Jerrod the Flake (Matt I), Kyra the Spell-Slinger (Ali)

The Tomb of Horrors 2020

Online, Livestreamed at Twitch, GM James

A Kiston Wedding One-Shot

Online, DM Kelsey

Tomb of Menet-Ka

Online, DM Kevin

Coffee Shop in the Alpha Complex

Online, DM-less game, but lead by GM Rose

On The Precipice Of History

The three elven Capella Brothers (Asaug, Durmundri, and Hygewald) amass an army of undead mutant False World Breaker abominations to invade the city of Inergos. The six chosen Champions of Inergos come to the city's defense, aided by a gift of Divine Spark energy from the Inergosian Council. They manage to repel the abominations and defeat the Brothers in their demiplane lair. However, the true mastermind of the invasion, Vecna, steals their Divine Spark energy to complete his true objective: the creation of the ten Mutated Chimeras. The Chimeras escape, destroy Inergos, and the era of the Chimera Containment Wars begins.

Online, DM Jonathan, D&D 5e, Level 20, 80BR. Cadmi Wiseshot the Goliath monk (Ali), Darya Storm the Triton paladin (Rose), Garvan Eastburn the Human rogue (John), Holly Willowsteel the Rock Gnome wizard (Alyssa), Rathys Silverglade the High Elf cleric (Connor), Zenthor Sahrel the Dragonborn sorcerer (Jeff). Adapted from James Introcaso's "Invasion from the Planet of Tarrasques."

A Silent Song

A team of four adventurers was hired by the town of Elluz to investigate a haunted monastery. The party fought through various undead and puzzled through some magically locked doors before attacking, then freeing, an imprisoned Wailing Spirit who turned out to be the original prophet Elluz. Before their death, the monks trapped her spirit and passed off her seeing powers as their own to facilitate a profitable fortune-telling scheme. As thanks for freeing her, Elluz provided a glimpse into each adventurer's future: Shortsword, a life blessed with good fortune fueled by her perseverance; Amir, a descent into darkness but a pathway out if he could escape his pact; Momilani, visions of a trying time when she would need to rely on her friends as they relied on her; and Creel, a promise of modest but real renown -- and a warning to stay away from guns.

Online, DM Connor, D&D 5e, Level 3. Amir the Tiefling Warlock (Jeff), Creel Stusher the Firbolg Monk (James), Momilani the Goliath Cleric (Erin), Shortsword the Halfling Bard (Kelly).1028 PR. Adapted from Aaron Potter's "A Stolen Song".

The House

GM Jonathan, Spiritual Successor to Secondary Characters, Rotating Table of Characters.

Stranger Dread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DhpwAwIenc&t=4682s

Game System: Dread, year 60 CR, GM Alyssa, Livestreamed on Twitch

Quelmar Gameapalooza

A series of one-shot spooky adventures run across a plethora of gaming systems, some simple, some more involved. Hosted by Cecilia and Alyssa in MD.

Exorschism!: Nell, Steven, Jeff, Betsy, Alex, GM CECILIA

Four Sherlocks & a Vampire: Jeff, Alexandra, Alex, Alyssa GM ROSE

Magical Cleanup Service: Nell, Ali, Rose, Alexandra GM ALYSSA

I Suppose You’re All Wondering Why I’ve Invited You Here: Ali, Steven, Rose, Betsy, Alyssa GM NELL

Dread: GM NELL Ali, Brendan, Jeff, Alyssa

The Darkest House: GM JONATHAN Steven, Miguel, Connor, Cecilia

Alice is Missing: GM STEVEN Nell, Ali, Alyssa, Cecilia

The Tomb of Horrors 2021

DM James, Players Nell, Jonathan, Rachael, Connor, and Alyssa

5 more brave souls enter the ultimate dungeon crawling challenge, only to get stuck for well over an hour at a door with 3 slots in it. "DAGGER. DAGGER. Pocket Knife."

However, despite not reaching much further than 2020, the team took impeccable notes and decided that their legacy will be just how well documented and guided they will leave the next group, who may possibly finally finish the Tomb once and for all.

BE GAY DO CRIME

Is theft really wrong when you're taking items that are already stolen artifacts being hoarded by the rich and powerful? Our incredibly hot sword-wielding lesbians seem to think it's fine, and frankly I'm inclined to agree with pretty much anything they say. The LaCroixs however may think differently...

Online, GM Craig, Thirsty Sword Lesbians.

Fury the Hot Bloody Orc (Nell), Dottie the Timid Halfling Nature Witch (Erin), Cecily the Spooky Half Elven Witch (Jonathan), Endora the Devoted Knockout (Jeff)

The Purging of Segedwyn

The adventure had six encounters. The players start the adventure in the village of Wytham. There they meet Tolven, who is a member of the Segedwyn resistance.   Tolven tells the players that the king of Segedwyn is a bad man and that Tolven wants them to go to Segedwyn and kill the king. The players are given the Sword of Segedwyn.  The Sword of Segedwyn is a magic item that was made by an evil wizard.  The wizard used it hundreds of years ago to defeat the king.

Offline, PA, GM James, Players Chris H, Connor H, Jeff B, and a State College local game store patron

Cephalopponents

The REAL Squid Game. A group of humanoids from the surface prove their worth to their Illithid captors to see if they can keep their bodies and minds intact, or if they would rather be ceremorphized into Mind Flaying kin.

Offline, Pa, GM James, Players: Kat, Rylan, Raina, Abby, and technically Nin

I Cast Major Eatherly

The stories of The Wagon have reached 7 desperate parties. As they make their way to the Frost Spine, they stumble upon a little more than they bargained for. The Wagon holds more than just items, food, and stories---it holds the last remnant of one very important legend.

Offline, PA. GM James. Players: Doug Cockle, Mike, Laura, Racahel, Jeff, Gail, Rich