D&D 5E Test of High Level 5E: Design 4 or 5 lvl 13 PCs for 6 to 8 encounter adventuring day

Jubali says, "Well, Myrken has thrown us together. I don't know any one but Dom very well. Given we don't have much time, let us get to business. I hope the three you are capable. Let us discuss abilities. I am learned in the songs of power taught to the few blessed enough to have the force of personality to coax power from music. And I have a bit of fey blood. Pacts with pixies some might call it, but more likely a fey lord. I can do bit of this and bit of that as all bards can. Dom here is a priest of Vergadain that specializes in the profitable art of healing. He's kept me and others alive on many a venture. He's hard as rock."

"Given the armor and weapons as well as the proper etiquette displayed by Bedrock, I'm assuming you are some kind of knight. And confused Edward some type of wizard? And what you Halfling, what are your skills? I see a bow. Are you good with it? If we are facing a dragon, you will have to be."

"I've fought a few dragons while adventuring. Never a dracolich. But it's a dead dragon come to life. It's our goal to put it back in that position as quickly as possible so we can get on with our real business: the recover of Blackrazor. We should waste no time pursuing anything else. In fact, if possible we should evade the dragon and move to the tomb. We must also be prepared for the possibility that it watches the teleportation circle closely. If we can evade the dracolich, we can leave it for a later time when the world is not in such peril."

_______________

OOC: Given we have a time limit and we're going into a tomb or lair, it may be good to evade the dracolich and get to the tomb, lair, or whatever. Our goal should be to bypass as much as possible, kill what we have to, and locate Blackrazor. Cleaning out the remainder of the dungeon to recover treasure is something we can do later. We'll only have time to utilize disposable magic as taking the time to attune to any new magic items is prohibited by the time limit. Save the use of the Contact Other Plane spell, we may need that to determine the direction to Blackrazor if Myrken has no clue.

We can also attempt negotiation with intelligent creatures given the stakes. If we can convince them the destruction of the world is imminent unless we succeed, they may let us pass.

Edward closes his tome with a flourish. The ritual is complete. He speaks to Jubali in her mind, and the others receive his thoughts too.

"Yes, madam, I am indeed some kind of wizard. I know the odd spell or two, as, I guess, do you. This gentleman is Bedrock Trelawny, a paladin and a mighty fine one in my opinion. I owe him much. If you are ever in mortal peril, staying close to him is a good idea. I know I shall be. Now, would everyone care to try out your new facility to mind-speak? One at a time, perhaps? I have included our friend Myrkyn in the circle, so that we can continue to converse with him, and perhaps continue to seek his advice as we begin our adventure far from here."

Bedrock adds a thought, that the others receive:

"Edward knows more than the odd spell, I can assure you. Could any of us have set up this wonderful way of mind-speaking? He has. Now, you will notice that when you receive our thoughts, we seem as different people. Each should now think something simple, just by way of a greeting, so that we all recognize each other's tone. Then perhaps Myrkyn can suggest a means of travel and we can get started without delay. Discussion can wait. The critical thing, now, is to get moving."

---

OOC: Yes, agree we should avoid the dracolich if we can.

If it comes down to a choice, do we think it is more important to defeat the Atropal or to recover Blackrazor (assuming that the Atropal has escaped and they are no longer one and the same thing)? If I'm understanding the info right, it seems to me that recovering Blackrazor won't actually prevent the end of the world so we should take out Atropal first and then go on a leisurely looting spree.

Celtavian said:

Flamestrike

Did you give the cleric magic items? If you did, I'll look for them. I did him later, so not sure you had tossed him a few yet.

Click to expand...

+1 armor (your choice) and a mace of disruption. 2 healing potions and gauntlets of ogre power (he's desperately looking for the hammer and belt!).

Jubali asks, "Well, Myrken, it seems we are incapable of reaching the Mountain in time. If you wish us to fulfill this task, it seems you should ensure we arrive...and by the way, what is an atropal? I have not heard of that creature."

Click to expand...

'You dont know the teleport spell? Do you guys walk everywhere or something (he grumbles under his breath)? OK - I can provide you with an item that my agents use to get around the kingdom when on missions for myself and the king. Its called a teleportation focus. You simply program in the co-ordinates to a teleportation circle known to you, and channel magical energy of the fifth circle into the crystal matrix, and it converts that energy into the teleport spell and sends you to those co-ordinates'

(He presents Edward with a crystal the size of a clenched fist, and a list of co-ordinates for a teleportation circle - one in this tavern, and one in the hills near White Plume Mountain. By holding the crystal and expending a spell slot of at least 5th level, the crystal allows the weilder to cast teleport - but only to the teleportation circle programmed. It takes 1 minute to program a new set of co-ordinates into the stone).

'With relation to atropals, they take many forms. They're basically stillborn gods. Undead creatures of darkness and shadow. They are capable of firing blasts of necrotic energy, flight and can be very hard to see, and even harder to kill. Big too. They average around 15-20' tall. Very dangerous creatures indeed.'

OOC: I've been employing Insight to determine if Myrken is lying to us to press us into action to recover the items with the threat of world destruction or if he is genuine. Jubali and the cleric would like to ensure they are not being manipulated. Now as a player, I'm fairly certain this is legitimate. I wouldn't be doing due diligence if I didn't watch for subterfuge by the king to motivate some adventurers into deadly peril on his behalf.

Cleric usually watches why Jubali speaks. +10 insight.
Jubali keeps an eye on him herself: +5 insight

Click to expand...

He's genuinely worried, but the Cleric does get the impression he's not telling you everything.

BoldItalic said:

Edward asks Myrkyn: "Is there perhaps a teleportation circle in the king's palace somewhere, that we could use to reach the one in the dracolich lair?

Click to expand...

See above.

BoldItalic said:

Bedrock has History skill but not Arcana.

Bedrock: I remember reading somewhere that a dracolich called Dragotha was forced into inactivity by a wizard called Keraptis using something called the Crown of Mortality. I'm guessing it's the same Keraptis and the same Dragotha. But I've never been quite sure what a dracolich actually is - the book didn't say.

Click to expand...

You also recall that Dragotha was apparently slain recently (this time for good) by adventurers who were working against the demigod Kyuss, in order to stop the coming of an 'Age of Worms'. Dragotha was Kyuss's herald. His lair should be empty... unless the dracolich has managed to reform somehow...

Celtavian said:

Jubali says, "Well, Myrken has thrown us together. I don't know any one but Dom very well. Given we don't have much time, let us get to business. I hope the three you are capable. Let us discuss abilities. I am learned in the songs of power taught to the few blessed enough to have the force of personality to coax power from music. And I have a bit of fey blood. Pacts with pixies some might call it, but more likely a fey lord. I can do bit of this and bit of that as all bards can. Dom here is a priest of Vergadain that specializes in the profitable art of healing. He's kept me and others alive on many a venture. He's hard as rock."

"Given the armor and weapons as well as the proper etiquette displayed by Bedrock, I'm assuming you are some kind of knight. And confused Edward some type of wizard? And what you Halfling, what are your skills? I see a bow. Are you good with it? If we are facing a dragon, you will have to be."

"I've fought a few dragons while adventuring. Never a dracolich. But it's a dead dragon come to life. It's our goal to put it back in that position as quickly as possible so we can get on with our real business: the recover of Blackrazor. We should waste no time pursuing anything else. In fact, if possible we should evade the dragon and move to the tomb. We must also be prepared for the possibility that it watches the teleportation circle closely. If we can evade the dracolich, we can leave it for a later time when the world is not in such peril."

Click to expand...

'My agents tell me the Dracolich is long dead, slain by adventurers a few years ago. My agents have used the co-ordinates for the teleportation circle in the lair since, and found it uninhabited by the wyrm'

'And this is not so much a mission to recover Blackrazor... more of a mission to slay it.'

'It seems either Keraptis or the adventurers we hired to recover the sword... did something to it. Either intentionally or otherwise, there seems to have been some kind of.. event. Im not sure what exactly, but the rift in space-time that is the physical form of blackrazor seems to have... been ripped open. A votex of sorts now exists where White Plume mountain once sat.. the great mountain has been almost utterly destroyed. We initially thought the mountain erupted... if only we were so lucky'

'Im sure your party has access to divination magicks of its own so you should hopefully be able to get to the bottom of what exactly happened.'

Flamestrike said:

+1 armor (your choice) and a mace of disruption. 2 healing potions and gauntlets of ogre power (he's desperately looking for the hammer and belt!).

Click to expand...

That was kind of you. Should help with melee. I made one small spell change to reflect his melee focus. I changed control water for spiritual guardians.

'You dont know the teleport spell? Do you guys walk everywhere or something (he grumbles under his breath)? OK - I can provide you with an item that my agents use to get around the kingdom when on missions for myself and the king. Its called a teleportation focus. You simply program in the co-ordinates to a teleportation circle known to you, and channel magical energy of the fifth circle into the crystal matrix, and it converts that energy into the teleport spell and sends you to those co-ordinates'

Click to expand...

"Not my specialty. These are not my usual associates. Let us hope they are capable."

'With relation to atropals, they take many forms. They're basically stillborn gods. Undead creatures of darkness and shadow. They are capable of firing blasts of necrotic energy, flight and can be very hard to see, and even harder to kill. Big too. They average around 15-20' tall. Very dangerous creatures indeed.'

Click to expand...

"Stillborn gods? That is something new. Sounds as though they are a bit like dragons themselves. Anything else we should know, Myrken?" She arches an eyebrow, "For the sake of your conscience? It would be best to reveal all that might help us. What of the king? Is he still present in the kingdom? It wasn't some accident that awakened the atropal was it? I certainly hope we aren't sacrificial lambs while you complete some ritual to halt this process. I'm certain a servant of the king wouldn't send a lady and her companions to her death without full knowledge of the danger. Would he?"


OOC Has Jubali heard anything of Atropals and possible weaknesses using Jack of All Trades for a knowledge check? It's only +2. She'll ask Dom to use his knowledge religion and assist him if possible.

Celtavian said:

"Stillborn gods? That is something new. Sounds as though they are a bit like dragons themselves. Anything else we should know, Myrken?" She arches an eyebrow, "For the sake of your conscience? It would be best to reveal all that might help us. What of the king? Is he still present in the kingdom? It wasn't some accident that awakened the atropal was it? I certainly hope we aren't sacrificial lambs while you complete some ritual to halt this process. I'm certain a servant of the king wouldn't send a lady and her companions to her death without full knowledge of the danger. Would he?"

Click to expand...

(Assuming this would be accompanied with a Persuasion check at a whopping +12)

'The King is safe I assure you. Thats my job after all. As for the accident, I don't know what it was, but my suspicion is some kind of dimensional rift. You know what happens when you place a dimensional space into another one? Tears can happen. Nasty buisiness.'

He pauses.

'And I assure you, I wouldnt hire you for the job, if I didnt think you capable. That said, it is fair to say that I'm a tad... reluctant to place all my eggs in the one basket, and there is always the chance that your party could fail. The consequences would be... catastrophic. I wont be sitting around for the next (he furrows his brow) 4 hours and 45 minutes twiddling my thumbs thats for sure. On that topic, I have a meeting to attend... so if your party is ready..?'

Flamestrike said:

(Assuming this would be accompanied with a Persuasion check at a whopping +12)

'The King is safe I assure you. Thats my job after all. As for the accident, I don't know what it was, but my suspicion is some kind of dimensional rift. You know what happens when you place a dimensional space into another one? Tears can happen. Nasty buisiness.'

He pauses.

'And I assure you, I wouldnt hire you for the job, if I didnt think you capable. That said, it is fair to say that I'm a tad... reluctant to place all my eggs in the one basket, and there is always the chance that your party could fail. The consequences would be... catastrophic. I wont be sitting around for the next (he furrows his brow) 4 hours and 45 minutes twiddling my thumbs thats for sure. On that topic, I have a meeting to attend... so if your party is ready..?'

Click to expand...

She looks around.

OOC I'm ready when the rest are.

"My skills well I make a mean honeyed Mead. Well I'm a halfling I'm very sneaky and good with my fingers locks,traps,pockets that sort of thing. I know a few minor magical tricks, nothing as spectacular as this roaring telemetric thingy. As for the Sandra*nods at his xbow* I disdain violence in all its forms as a result I have become incredibly adept at ending confrontation before I need to get my hands dirty, I once shot a woodpigeon as it flew round a corner. As for avoiding dragtha yes sounds like a plan. Maybe we should avoid everything else for that matter"

Ooc yep I vote we try and skip what we can given the local I will assume not alot, I'm assuming tight corridors low ceilings hopefully some creative illusions shall help. I'm almost certain by myrkyns tone he knows full well that dragtha has reformed why else would he mention it. If we do get stuck in a fight they are quick in terms of time so lets try and avoid as much damage as we can I imagine we get 1short rest I can't see a 2nd, with that said plan spells accordingly.

Celtavian said:

She looks around.

OOC I'm ready when the rest are.

Click to expand...

Once we get the thumbs up from the Bold italic and Azurewraith we can rock on.

If anyone wants to cast anything before teleporting (or use any other class features etc) now is the time to speak up. Also, what are we all holding in our hands?

The Sprite is sitting on your shoulder I take it?

Azurewraith said:

If we do get stuck in a fight they are quick in terms of time so lets try and avoid as much damage as we can I imagine we get 1short rest I can't see a 2nd, with that said plan spells accordingly.

Click to expand...

Behind the screen, you can assume 6-8 encounters and you have (now) 4 hours and 45 minutes of time to complete your quest. So at this stage, anywhere up to 4 short rests. Things may happen that reduce that time however. Myrkyn has already indicated that Dragothas lair is 'a few hours' away from White Plume Mountain (forshadowed that you may be limited to just 2 short rests unless you can speed up that travel time somehow). This is an intentional part of the adventure design and framing.

Within that paradigm, you're free to rest whenever.

From a narrativist and game perspective, time limits like this can create a fun overarching meta-challenge. There is also a sense of urgency that drives the story forward.