MortalPlague
Adventurer
A buddy of mine hadn't had the chance to play through Blingdenstone yet, despite being a huge fan of the svirfneblin (deep gnomes) since 3rd edition. At last, our schedules lined up, so we roped together a few people and tried out the latest playtest package!
None of the group had much experience with 5th, but they had all played D&D before. They picked things up fairly quickly. Character creation was pretty easy, and didn't take too long.
The Cast
Barin Stiffhammer - Hill Dwarf Barbarian
His excellent name is courtesy of ENWorld's very own Dwarf Name Generator. He wound up wearing scale mail, and he alternated between using a maul in two hands, or a hand axe and a shield when defence was called for. He took the Soldier background, and went with the Disarm feat.
Brother Eli - Human Monk of the Path of Four Storms
Played by the svirfneblin fan, the monk was both dextrous and wise, making him a difficult target to hit. He was initially going to use his fists almost the whole time, but as the party came up against lots of small targets, he began to use his quarterstaff double-weapon to get more attacks. He took the Commoner background, and selected the Herbalist feat.
EDIT - It's been pointed out (correctly) that the monk could've dual-wielded his fists. Not sure why we didn't figure that one out, but he'll be happy about it next session.
Ultus Bluffrunner - Wood Elf Fighter
Using a longbow, he decided to take Ricochet and Nimble Dodge. Both proved very useful. Wearing light armor, he and the monk were the only stealthy members of the party. He had the Guide background, and he chose the Weapon Mastery feat.
Reginald Sharp - Human Cavalier Paladin
With absolutely perfect hair, Reginald was a paladin with charisma. He wore medium armor and carried a shield, and in his hand was a bastard sword. The intention was to use it two-handed when damage was more important, but there never arose an occasion when he could spare the defence of the shield. He took the Spy background (bit of a carouser this one), and had the Shield Interpose feat.
Back to Blingdenstone
I'm pretty familiar with the adventure from all the times running it, so I brushed up on it quickly then jumped right in. We played through Briddick bringing the party through the Underdark, and had a couple of random encounters to get them all used to their characters.
First, they spotted the gray ooze before it got the drop on them, and since everyone had ranged weapons, they destroyed the ooze with little trouble.
Secondly, they stumbled upon a band of gnolls that had been slaughtered. One of the corpses was twitching, something that should not be happening an hour after death. Ultus got close to have a look, and eight giant centipedes burst forth from the corpse! The scene was unnerving, and it really showed the horror of the Underdark. The beasties themselves were little threat, but Ultus did get stuck in melee, where he was forced to use his rapier and shield rather than his bow.
A short while after, they arrived in Blingdenstone. As Briddick deftly navigated the maze, he filled them in on the current state of things. Once inside, he recommended they report to Kargien, then left to make his own reports. The PCs chatted with several NPCs, met (and mistrusted) Kargien, and wound up resting up at the Singing Stones.
One of the best things about the Reclaiming Blingdenstone adventure is the sandboxy nature of the game. I've run the adventure four times now, and each time, the players have discussed which quests they want to tackle first. The adventure does a great job of presenting a varied and interesting threat, and different players will consider different things to be more or less important. But the adventure never forces you to go down a path, it lets the players choose their own list of things to tackle.
The PCs decided that the Wormwrithings and the kobolds were the first order of business, and they rested up with the idea to set out in the morning.
I was using the Blingdenstone Enhanced (http://kootenaygamer.blogspot.ca/2012/08/blingdenstone-enhanced.html) events for this playthrough, so for the morning, I rolled the 'Tucker's Commandos' event. It was absolutely perfect.
Seven kobolds and a dragonshield kobold led an attack on the Singing Stones, catching the PCs just as they were about to head out. A quick and one-sided battle ensued. Only the paladin took any damage, and that was from one sling stone. The barbarian, notably, killed three kobolds with his javelins, even with disadvantage on two of three throws.
With clear evidence of the kobold threat, they marched into the Wormwrithings with the aid of Miglin Crackedquartz. I played Miglin a little different this time; he was all for exploring the Wormwrithings in detail, and took great pains to wheedle and beg the adventurers to keep looking for gems. The PCs wanted to collapse the tunnel right away, but he convinced them to look around for an hour.
I rolled for an encounter every ten minutes, rather than once per hour, so they had six rolls for encounters. They found some crystals first (and I just gave them the maximum three, since I'd accidentally told them Gurmadden required ten). They then found some citrines, and mined four of those. Then they found an iron vein, which was relatively worthless (for the amount of time it would take to mine). Then they hit a kobold ambush.
Now this was one vicious encounter. I put a few too many kobolds into this, perhaps, but it was fun to threaten the party with their first big battle. Two of the PCs were surprised, which didn't help either. First, a kobold alchemist hit them all with a fire bomb, dealing fire damage to the whole party. Then an ogre emerged, prodded by two kobolds with spears towards the party. And this wasn't a blind ogre either, it was a fully-functional ogre. On top of that, another 11 kobolds with slings were lurking in the wings, ready to pounce.
The kobolds' mob tactics really carried they day. The slingers didn't miss at first, and I rolled a few high results on the sling stones. Even though Eli and Ultus could reliably take down four kobolds in a turn, things were brutal. Reginald the Paladin went down in a flurry of sling fire before he had a chance to act, and then the ogre lumbered in close. Barin the Barbarian fed a potion to the paladin, then I let him fly into a rage (seemed appropriate, considering he was about to face down an ogre). The kobolds nearly took a bunch of people down, but the paladin saved Barin with a timely shield interpose. Then the paladin healed everyone with a lay on hands! Being able to divvy up the healing meant he could give the lion's share to Barin, but give a little bit to each of the others and himself.
Barin stood toe to toe with the ogre, with the paladin interposing his shield every turn. The rage meant that Barin Stiffhammer only took half damage from the brute's attacks, but even so, a solid hit could have taken him down. The interpose turned a hit into a miss once (though the ogre's glancing blow hit for 2 damage after halving it), then it turned a glancing blow into a full miss another time. Combined with lay on hands, and the paladin really shone through the whole encounter, despite being a magnet for sling bullets (he went down three separate times, only to be fed a potion each time). Eli and Ultus each went down once during the battle, only to be healed too. So it was one hell of a fight, but the PCs survived. Reginald killed the ogre, Ultus shot the alchemist as he tried to flee, and the day was won.
They decided it would be a poor idea to linger in the tunnels, so they headed back. They found the page from Everall's journal on the way out, then collapsed the tunnel behind them.
Resting up, they decided to tackle the House Center next, and to find the crown. Also, their XP would boost them to second level. With renewed capabilities, the PCs awoke to a commotion, as a tavern brawl had erupted at the Singing Stones (one of the random events from Blingdenstone Enhanced). It was dramatically perfect, to really highlight the fact that the svirfneblin were fraying, underscoring the fact that the PCs had only collected four singing stones total. Not enough to help Gurmadden bring the music back to life.
Sorting out the brawl, the PCs carried the injured svirfneblin to the infirmary, where they left them in the care of Jalless. Then they went seeking the House Center. I'm using the improved House Center found here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2aB_PxvuLxrcGtxLVBJVjdGMmc/edit?pli=1.
After a quick reconnoiter, they killed the fire beetles in the courtyard. During their recon, however, Ultus caught sight of Talabrina Duskryn and her bodyguards watching from the distance. Being spotted, the drow retreated into the tunnels; the only information revealed was that the figure was likely female, and she had two bodyguards. But it was certainly enough to spook the party.
Nevertheless, the adventurers marched into the House Center and defeated the skeletons in the south guard tower. That done, they turned their attentions on the keep proper. But alas, that will have to wait. For it was late, the players were tired, so we called it.
Observations:
None of the group had much experience with 5th, but they had all played D&D before. They picked things up fairly quickly. Character creation was pretty easy, and didn't take too long.
The Cast
Barin Stiffhammer - Hill Dwarf Barbarian
His excellent name is courtesy of ENWorld's very own Dwarf Name Generator. He wound up wearing scale mail, and he alternated between using a maul in two hands, or a hand axe and a shield when defence was called for. He took the Soldier background, and went with the Disarm feat.
Brother Eli - Human Monk of the Path of Four Storms
Played by the svirfneblin fan, the monk was both dextrous and wise, making him a difficult target to hit. He was initially going to use his fists almost the whole time, but as the party came up against lots of small targets, he began to use his quarterstaff double-weapon to get more attacks. He took the Commoner background, and selected the Herbalist feat.
EDIT - It's been pointed out (correctly) that the monk could've dual-wielded his fists. Not sure why we didn't figure that one out, but he'll be happy about it next session.
Ultus Bluffrunner - Wood Elf Fighter
Using a longbow, he decided to take Ricochet and Nimble Dodge. Both proved very useful. Wearing light armor, he and the monk were the only stealthy members of the party. He had the Guide background, and he chose the Weapon Mastery feat.
Reginald Sharp - Human Cavalier Paladin
With absolutely perfect hair, Reginald was a paladin with charisma. He wore medium armor and carried a shield, and in his hand was a bastard sword. The intention was to use it two-handed when damage was more important, but there never arose an occasion when he could spare the defence of the shield. He took the Spy background (bit of a carouser this one), and had the Shield Interpose feat.
Back to Blingdenstone
I'm pretty familiar with the adventure from all the times running it, so I brushed up on it quickly then jumped right in. We played through Briddick bringing the party through the Underdark, and had a couple of random encounters to get them all used to their characters.
First, they spotted the gray ooze before it got the drop on them, and since everyone had ranged weapons, they destroyed the ooze with little trouble.
Secondly, they stumbled upon a band of gnolls that had been slaughtered. One of the corpses was twitching, something that should not be happening an hour after death. Ultus got close to have a look, and eight giant centipedes burst forth from the corpse! The scene was unnerving, and it really showed the horror of the Underdark. The beasties themselves were little threat, but Ultus did get stuck in melee, where he was forced to use his rapier and shield rather than his bow.
A short while after, they arrived in Blingdenstone. As Briddick deftly navigated the maze, he filled them in on the current state of things. Once inside, he recommended they report to Kargien, then left to make his own reports. The PCs chatted with several NPCs, met (and mistrusted) Kargien, and wound up resting up at the Singing Stones.
One of the best things about the Reclaiming Blingdenstone adventure is the sandboxy nature of the game. I've run the adventure four times now, and each time, the players have discussed which quests they want to tackle first. The adventure does a great job of presenting a varied and interesting threat, and different players will consider different things to be more or less important. But the adventure never forces you to go down a path, it lets the players choose their own list of things to tackle.
The PCs decided that the Wormwrithings and the kobolds were the first order of business, and they rested up with the idea to set out in the morning.
I was using the Blingdenstone Enhanced (http://kootenaygamer.blogspot.ca/2012/08/blingdenstone-enhanced.html) events for this playthrough, so for the morning, I rolled the 'Tucker's Commandos' event. It was absolutely perfect.
Seven kobolds and a dragonshield kobold led an attack on the Singing Stones, catching the PCs just as they were about to head out. A quick and one-sided battle ensued. Only the paladin took any damage, and that was from one sling stone. The barbarian, notably, killed three kobolds with his javelins, even with disadvantage on two of three throws.
With clear evidence of the kobold threat, they marched into the Wormwrithings with the aid of Miglin Crackedquartz. I played Miglin a little different this time; he was all for exploring the Wormwrithings in detail, and took great pains to wheedle and beg the adventurers to keep looking for gems. The PCs wanted to collapse the tunnel right away, but he convinced them to look around for an hour.
I rolled for an encounter every ten minutes, rather than once per hour, so they had six rolls for encounters. They found some crystals first (and I just gave them the maximum three, since I'd accidentally told them Gurmadden required ten). They then found some citrines, and mined four of those. Then they found an iron vein, which was relatively worthless (for the amount of time it would take to mine). Then they hit a kobold ambush.
Now this was one vicious encounter. I put a few too many kobolds into this, perhaps, but it was fun to threaten the party with their first big battle. Two of the PCs were surprised, which didn't help either. First, a kobold alchemist hit them all with a fire bomb, dealing fire damage to the whole party. Then an ogre emerged, prodded by two kobolds with spears towards the party. And this wasn't a blind ogre either, it was a fully-functional ogre. On top of that, another 11 kobolds with slings were lurking in the wings, ready to pounce.
The kobolds' mob tactics really carried they day. The slingers didn't miss at first, and I rolled a few high results on the sling stones. Even though Eli and Ultus could reliably take down four kobolds in a turn, things were brutal. Reginald the Paladin went down in a flurry of sling fire before he had a chance to act, and then the ogre lumbered in close. Barin the Barbarian fed a potion to the paladin, then I let him fly into a rage (seemed appropriate, considering he was about to face down an ogre). The kobolds nearly took a bunch of people down, but the paladin saved Barin with a timely shield interpose. Then the paladin healed everyone with a lay on hands! Being able to divvy up the healing meant he could give the lion's share to Barin, but give a little bit to each of the others and himself.
Barin stood toe to toe with the ogre, with the paladin interposing his shield every turn. The rage meant that Barin Stiffhammer only took half damage from the brute's attacks, but even so, a solid hit could have taken him down. The interpose turned a hit into a miss once (though the ogre's glancing blow hit for 2 damage after halving it), then it turned a glancing blow into a full miss another time. Combined with lay on hands, and the paladin really shone through the whole encounter, despite being a magnet for sling bullets (he went down three separate times, only to be fed a potion each time). Eli and Ultus each went down once during the battle, only to be healed too. So it was one hell of a fight, but the PCs survived. Reginald killed the ogre, Ultus shot the alchemist as he tried to flee, and the day was won.
They decided it would be a poor idea to linger in the tunnels, so they headed back. They found the page from Everall's journal on the way out, then collapsed the tunnel behind them.
Resting up, they decided to tackle the House Center next, and to find the crown. Also, their XP would boost them to second level. With renewed capabilities, the PCs awoke to a commotion, as a tavern brawl had erupted at the Singing Stones (one of the random events from Blingdenstone Enhanced). It was dramatically perfect, to really highlight the fact that the svirfneblin were fraying, underscoring the fact that the PCs had only collected four singing stones total. Not enough to help Gurmadden bring the music back to life.
Sorting out the brawl, the PCs carried the injured svirfneblin to the infirmary, where they left them in the care of Jalless. Then they went seeking the House Center. I'm using the improved House Center found here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2aB_PxvuLxrcGtxLVBJVjdGMmc/edit?pli=1.
After a quick reconnoiter, they killed the fire beetles in the courtyard. During their recon, however, Ultus caught sight of Talabrina Duskryn and her bodyguards watching from the distance. Being spotted, the drow retreated into the tunnels; the only information revealed was that the figure was likely female, and she had two bodyguards. But it was certainly enough to spook the party.
Nevertheless, the adventurers marched into the House Center and defeated the skeletons in the south guard tower. That done, they turned their attentions on the keep proper. But alas, that will have to wait. For it was late, the players were tired, so we called it.
Observations:
- This was the first time I'd seen the paladin in play, and I really liked it. He was a very capable combatant, able to hold his own in a fight. But he was also perfectly suited for aiding his allies. He had a great deal of buff powers, combined with the shield interpose, and that's even without using any of his spells. Full marks to WotC for making a paladin that filled the role very well.
- Not sure if it was due to their new-ness to 5th Edition or not, but only the monk really grasped how to use a skill die. He's played more 3rd and 4th edition than all the rest combined, so that might have had something to do with it. I really like the theory behind the skill die, but it seems to confuse new players.
- Likewise, the elf's player never grasped the idea that he had advantage on spot and listen checks. We had to keep reminding him. Also, being underground granted the dwarf the same bonus, which was similarly forgotten.
- As always, the speed of combat surprised me very pleasantly. Even the kobold ambush played quickly at the table, and that was filled with agonizing decisions. Players didn't have any qualms giving up an action to feed a potion to a downed comerade, or to heal the group with lay on hands.
- There was a moment when the barbarian was raging and facing down the ogre when we realized he would lose his rage if he stopped to drink a healing potion. I really loved the way that worked. It really fits the rage idea very well.
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