D&D 5E Princes of the Apocalypse campaign recaps

Isn't it funny how Windharrow, a minor NPC at best as written, has ended up being such a big part of so many people's campaigns.

My group is starting to get to the end of the campaign.

They still haven't finished clearing the Fane of the Eye, but they know how to get down to the Fire and Earth nodes. They are in possession of Windvane and Drown. They decided to go down and deal with the Fire Node first, which I wasn't completely expecting. The battle with Halinaxus, the fire elemental, and finally the Fire Prophet was pretty brutal, but the party persevered. I feel like they are going to do the Water node last, which is fine, because I think that what's guarding the portal will be a fitting final boss.

The characters are level 9. I think I will level them up to 10 when they close another portal. After this campaign is over (if they prevail) I will be giving the players the option to modify their characters or create new ones. Not sure if that means they will stay level 10 or go back down to level 5. It depends on what the group decides. I know one player is looking to play a Tabaxi monk. Another I think will be switching his high elf bladesinger to an arcane archer. And my sorcerer/warlock player's character is kind of playing as a revenant. His character died in a past adventure and his backstory is that his parents were servants of Orcus and managed to "save" him if he too became bound to the demon lord. His character has therefore been working against the cults and the Elemental Eye because Orcus doesn't want another rival. If the player succeeds, Orcus will reward him with his old life back as an eldritch knight noble.

Rabbitbait said:

Isn't it funny how Windharrow, a minor NPC at best as written, has ended up being such a big part of so many people's campaigns.

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True, that did kind of happen. If I recall, the text says he would betray Aerisi, so maybe a lot of people liked that idea and ran with it.

Session #60 - Yartar Faction War

https://app.box.com/s/d1sy0xpxxfi7tdn22l9dblui65leri24


Now, THIS was a fun session, my detailed plans worked out well and set up a lot of potential options in the next few games.

Session #61 - Lair of the Krakenspawn

https://app.box.com/s/blkwtvgg7ey6sz9kq9bktdjgh24r470c


Edit - Come April 2017 will be Year 2 of our Princes of the Apocalypse campaign.

My group managed to close another portal. This session was interesting because the paladin is attuned to Drown and has clearly gotten a little attached to it. So he's been fighting hard to close the water portal last. But the rest of the party kept pushing. The party seemed very out of their element in the water node. They were very nervous about the waterfalls and the sent the aarakocra ranger ahead to scout ahead. But with the foggy low ceilings and stalactites, he didn't fare too well and ended up being washed all the way to the water portal. The rest of the party killed the hydra and walked right into the clutches of the aboleth. It was a great battle. Two characters were knocked unconscious and the paladin got charmed. The warlock snapped him out of it with an acid splash. Once the aboleth was dead, the paladin refused to give up Drown, so they used hold person on him and closed the portal against his will. The group was two more portals to close, including the one still guarded by Marlos.

Kyvin said:

My group managed to close another portal. This session was interesting because the paladin is attuned to Drown and has clearly gotten a little attached to it. So he's been fighting hard to close the water portal last. But the rest of the party kept pushing. The party seemed very out of their element in the water node. They were very nervous about the waterfalls and the sent the aarakocra ranger ahead to scout ahead. But with the foggy low ceilings and stalactites, he didn't fare too well and ended up being washed all the way to the water portal. The rest of the party killed the hydra and walked right into the clutches of the aboleth. It was a great battle. Two characters were knocked unconscious and the paladin got charmed. The warlock snapped him out of it with an acid splash. Once the aboleth was dead, the paladin refused to give up Drown, so they used hold person on him and closed the portal against his will. The group was two more portals to close, including the one still guarded by Marlos.

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What level was your party in the water node? We liked it at first, but it got old, the
fights seemed to get repetitive.

The party was level 9, and they managed to skip most of the encounters. The first prophet they took out was Gar so the water cult has been without leadership for a while. Originally the party made a bargain with the hag Thaluna Maah and then broke the deal so she was after them with the dragon turtle. Any remaining water cult members in the node I just made thralls of the aboleth.

I feel like two more sessions and we'll be finished with the campaign, and then I plan on rolling into Storm King's Thunder. It meshes nicely because part of the story was rescuing the delegate with the Magic seeds for the new grove at Goldenfields, and one of the major hook locations in SKT is Goldenfields.

Kyvin said:

The party was level 9, and they managed to skip most of the encounters. The first prophet they took out was Gar so the water cult has been without leadership for a while. Originally the party made a bargain with the hag Thaluna Maah and then broke the deal so she was after them with the dragon turtle. Any remaining water cult members in the node I just made thralls of the aboleth.

I feel like two more sessions and we'll be finished with the campaign, and then I plan on rolling into Storm King's Thunder. It meshes nicely because part of the story was rescuing the delegate with the Magic seeds for the new grove at Goldenfields, and one of the major hook locations in SKT is Goldenfields.

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I am always amazed at how everyone's campaigns turn out so drastically different. Anyway, we played last night, I'm working on the recap. It's still Session 3 in Yartar in an expanded side quest, and it will easily lead into session 4 in Yartar. I'm loving it though, the fight with the krakenspawn boss was terrifying, the PCs flat out ran away and are NOT going back, lol

Session #62 - Demise of the Cointoss Tavern & Gabriel (The Hound) of Tempus

https://app.box.com/s/fm3edknnykmtmxcaxr8lhhk0y2qu8d1f