Session 4: Little Timmy

Clidiot left collection of the award to the group and returned to clean up his grandfather's house. The rest of the group started the next day at the tavern, where Artemis returned and rejoined the group. After briefly scheming at the hotel on how to handle Xavier, the third-party stranger who'd also showed an interest in Peter's unholy brew, the group decided to ditch their meeting with him and headed out back into the forest to test the potion's effects. They fed it to one rat, which died and was promptly eaten by Mojo. A second attempt, this time with the potion being given to two rats, resulted in the rat carcasses merging into a conservation-of-mass-violating zombie rat-bat. A clever punt by Nesbit gave the group time to prepare for combat, and the bat charged them. The evasive, undead creature harassed the group and bit Artemis, but was ultimately killed by a timely bite from Mojo.

Seeing the potion's unnatural power, Nesbit and Grayscream combined their knowledge of deception and alchemy to create an extremely dilute, convincing forgery of the potion (it still contained a small amount of the original, so as to retain its magical aura to those who could detect it). The group returned to the tavern to find a furious Xavier, who was not pleased at having been shafted. Despite Xavier's initial anger, Gavroche was able to calm him down and recruit his assistance in dealing with Peter. At this point, the group split, with Nesbit taking the full-strength original potion back to their room at the tavern, where it was hidden in a bear trap and protected by Nesbit.

The rest of the group headed to Peter's house, where they were introduced to "Timmy", a gigantic abomination seemingly created from several of Peter's failed experiments. Peter gave the group their payment but insisted they stay to see the effects of the potion, which Peter believed would "cure" Timmy - whatever that means. The fake potion, of course, had no effect, enraging Timmy. Peter revealed himself to be slightly more competent than believed, calmly ordering Timmy's shackles opened and beginning to cast a spell. Timmy immediately attacked, launching the group into full blown combat. Xavier, who the group had talked into delivering the potion to the guards, was nearest to Timmy and Peter and bore the full brunt of their assault. Between Peter's Magic Missiles and Timmy's crushing blows, Xavier was killed early in the battle. Things initially looked bleak, with Peter having packed his house with hired human guards and controlled zombies, but Grayscream managed to rebuke most of the zombie creatures, with the exception of Timmy. With the enemy's numbers greatly reduced, Timmy became their primary target. After being weakened by a few good shots from Grayscream's longbow, a well-placed strike from Liet finished off Timmy. With Timmy down, the group made short work of the guards and the mystical-but-frail Peter. At that point, the rebuked zombies were just cleanup, leaving the group in Peter's house with their spoils.

Experience

 * 50 exp/char for rat-bat
 * 6 zombies at CR(1/2) = 3 CR1 monsters, 2 CR1 Guards, 1 CR1 wizard (Peter), 1 CR3 monster (Timmy) = 540 exp/char
 * Total for session 4 = 590 exp/char