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We D&D- Tyranny of Dragons Part 2: The Rise of Tiamat #24b Strike Team 1 Part 2 A Ton of Undead.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8010711" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>We D&D.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #61 The Rise of Tiamat #20a Iskander at Last aka Hotlips FTW.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Brothers of the First Light.</strong></p><p><strong>Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong>Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong>Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong>&</strong></p><p><strong>Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong>Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Prisoner of the Red Wizards of Thay-</strong></p><p><strong>Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 12</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Secondary PCs.</strong></p><p><strong>Left at 8th Level- we’ll get them back if (and when) they’re needed later on.</strong></p><p><strong>Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 8</strong></p><p><strong>Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 8</strong></p><p></p><p>This is session #61 of our game, but only session #20a of The Rise of Tiamat scenario.</p><p></p><p>The Brothers of the First Light are beneath Xonthal’s Tower, and still looking to rescue Iskander (a Cult of the Dragon turncoat) who has the Blue Dragon Mask in his grasp.</p><p></p><p>The PCs however know that the Blue Dragon Mask here is another fake- although, Lux (Sandy) still believes that it could all turn out for the best in the end. In short, she thinks that I (your kindly DM) am double bluffing them, and that somehow the Blue Dragon Mask here is going to turn out to be the real thing.</p><p></p><p>Hope’s a funny thing.</p><p></p><p>SPOILER ALERT- the Blue Dragon Mask here is a fake.</p><p></p><p>Last we left them the Brothers of the First Light had just recovered Sgt Harald who had made his first spacewalk (actually space-fall, may be more accurate), this after the Dwarven Fighter was hit by passing meteors causing him to tumble off a very odd walkway. The walkway in question requires those taking the path to gambol/gamble through the heavens to get to the other side.</p><p></p><p>In recovering Sgt Harald, the Brothers have also discovered the presence of a secret chamber, a spell study- hidden behind one of the bookcases in the study-cum-library chamber they investigated previously. The new chamber is therefore thoroughly searched, more take-ables (mundane Wizardly items) are taken, but nothing of interest.</p><p></p><p>A further search for secret chambers reveals another hidden door behind a bookcase, the observation room is found, an empty chamber save for the ten foot crystal pane that floats in the air. The scrying portal (Lux quickly establishes) shows a fiery vista- Lummins speculates, that they’re viewing the Abyss, or else some other Hell.</p><p></p><p>There’s a control rod for the scrying sensor (think CCTV camera) which Lux tries (and fails) to manipulate, eventually Hotlips is deemed the best suited to play this game- but even she struggles to control the thing.</p><p></p><p>Frustrating, and yet none of the PCs are certain that anything they do here will help them traverse the problematic space-walkway.</p><p></p><p>Now, back to the argument about taking a short or else a long rest, or as Sgt Harald would have it- no rest at all, “let’s just get on.”</p><p></p><p>Remarkably Sgt Harald (Pete) wins the day, the Brothers will keep trying to figure a way across, at least for a while.</p><p></p><p>So, back to truncated corridor, the vast vista of space- with meteors flashing by, and in the distance- the other half of the corridor, and the end (the PCs think) to their problems here in Xonthal’s Tower.</p><p></p><p>Much more chatter follows, and then… Hotlips, without announcing it, just rushes across the void- and to the other side, easy.</p><p></p><p>Hotlips (Sandy) has an idea.</p><p></p><p>“I’ll just go and see what’s over here…”</p><p></p><p>And so, while her comrades dither, prevaricate, or else shout for the Rogue to “Come back you fool!”</p><p></p><p>Hotlips goes on, as stealthily as she can, the corridor ends in a crossroads (of sorts), a plain wooden door ahead, a passage east- with a light at the end of it, and the sound of singing (perhaps) coming from that direction. To the west however the bloody footprints go- Hotlips follows.</p><p></p><p>To another plain wooden door, and then after checking it for locks and traps, and anything else she can think of, the Rogue opens the portal and enters a very strange chamber.</p><p></p><p>Suspended by a lattice of taut chains are two fifteen-foot-tall hourglasses, their time spent, the sand pilled in the lower bulbs. The Halfling Rogue examines the mechanism for a while, there seems to be a way to turn the timer’s over- to start the flow of sand, and time (perhaps) again.</p><p></p><p>But does she want to try?</p><p></p><p>Hotlips remembers her quarry, and then follows the bloody footprints to the sprawled and very dead body of a very tall Dragon Cult Wizard- Iskander, she believes (and she’s right). Clutched in the fellow’s hand is the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask. Without thinking she grabs the artefact and then dashes back the way she came.</p><p></p><p>Ignoring all else.</p><p></p><p>All the way to the space-walkway, at which point she screams and shouts at her (still) waiting comrades and waves/flaps the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask above her head- “Iskander’s dead. I’ve got the Mask”, and with that she’s off again- racing across the void.</p><p></p><p>A shimmy as a trio of meteors come close, but then Hotlips is back to her friends, and grinning like a loon.</p><p></p><p>As is Sandy (who plays Hotlips).</p><p></p><p>And the other Players around the gaming table, who have been holding their breath- or else offering whispered suggestions- all of which have been shushed into silence by Sandy (Hotlips) and/or me, at last come alive again.</p><p></p><p>It gets raucous.</p><p></p><p>It’s early in the session but we have our hero- Hotlips, for the win.</p><p></p><p>Just to say the space walkway trap really (and I mean, really) fazed them, the spellcasters generally have attacking spells, cures and a few others for controlling monsters; they don’t tend to pick any ‘useful’ spells. Obviously, it doesn’t help that there’s no Wizard in the party.</p><p></p><p>It also didn’t help that the Players had (particularly between sessions) somehow built up the difficulty of traversing the strange space-walkway. Just for info it’s a DC10 Dexterity check to get across- but the Players watched three people step out onto the space-bridge, and two of them get knocked off, they thought it was a DC16, or DC18 check- they speculated about this for a good while.</p><p></p><p>Shame they didn’t all get across, there were some nice gewgaws to play with (for a DM) on the far side of the void, I was going to mess with the PCs, and time itself, if they had flipped the hourglasses over. Likewise, I was looking forward to getting the Efreeti, Taraz the Fair, into action- he would have promised the Brothers the Moon-on-a-Stick to escape his present confinement, that would have been fun too.</p><p></p><p>Ah, well- onwards…</p><p></p><p>But now the Brothers of the First Light have the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask, and they want some answers- they therefore head back to the study-cum-library chamber and settle in for a rest. Time for Lummins to fire-up his Commune spell and ask his Deva pal Halogen a few more questions.</p><p></p><p>So, rest and resolution.</p><p></p><p>Lummins has three yes/no questions, they are, with the answers-</p><p></p><p>Is this the real Blue Dragon Mask? NO. Well, that’s that then…</p><p></p><p>Is the real Blue Dragon Mask located somewhere in the Spine of the World mountains? YES.</p><p></p><p>Then after some more discussion with his colleagues-</p><p></p><p>Is it likely that we will have to battle Tiamat? YES.</p><p></p><p>So, that’s settled.</p><p></p><p>In truth the PCs/Players are left in a bit of a grump- nobody in their right mind believed Lux when she stated repeatedly that this could be the real thing- the genuine Blue Dragon Mask. Sandy (playing Lux) was of the belief that the fiendish DM was in fact (somehow) lying to the Brothers. She genuinely believed that there was a twist here…</p><p></p><p>The other Players were much less convinced, and yet they all still hoped.</p><p></p><p>So, the moods not great, but we get on- after a short rest in the study-cum-library, and a little extra time spent selecting some choice books to steal from the bookshelves, the PCs head on- or else, out.</p><p></p><p>Using trial and error the Brothers make further use of the Teleporter, first back into the Tower proper, then back to the arrival chamber, and then out- to the Teleporter in the clearing outside of Xonthal’s Tower, where the last remnants of the Dragon Cult are waiting for them.</p><p></p><p>That’s two Cult Mages and five more Fanatics, all with MAX HP and better still… with surprise.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]122802[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The first thing the Brothers know about the situation is when a Fireball erupts in their midst, a second later and an Ice Storm hits. Then the Fanatics rush in, and it gets nasty, and at this point Lummins is on approx. 30 HP (from full), while Watt and Lux are just about bloodied. Hotlips with Evasion manages to dodge almost all of the harm, while Sgt Harald just soaks up the Fire and Cold damage- he has a ton of hit points.</p><p></p><p>A Cult Fanatic stops Watt in his tracks with a Hold Person, three more Fanatics try the same trick on a variety of other PCs, alas (for me) they all make their saves.</p><p></p><p>Then, inevitably, the fight back starts- Lummins fires up his Blade Barrier- while ascending in flight, one of the Cult Mage’s attempts to Counterspell the Priest but fails- and so a swirling five-foot-thick wall of blades encircles the largest concentration of Cultists. Then with his Inspiration Point the Priest of Lathander casts a Lesser Restoration on Watt, and the Bard is no longer Paralyzed.</p><p></p><p>A Cult Fanatic comes charging through the Blade Barrier, and is shredded and bloodied in an instant, and yet the Fanatic doesn’t slow up it gets to Watt with an Inflict Wounds spell- or rather, nearly, at the last moment the Cultist slips on the ice surrounding the Brothers and ends up sprawled before the Bard (‘1’).</p><p></p><p>The Counterspelling Cult Mage finds himself momentarily bisected by Lummins’ Blade barrier, he escapes the terrifying blade-storm (at a price), and then applies Greater Invisibility to himself.</p><p></p><p>Watt launches a max-enhanced Fireball into a clutch of Cultists, they burn but mostly struggle on, seconds later the same three enemies are encompassed by Lux’s terrifying Hunger of Hadar- which is proving to be the go-to spell for these occasions.</p><p></p><p>Those within the inky sphere, needless to say, suffer considerably.</p><p></p><p>Sgt Harald steps over and with his battleaxe decapitates the Cult Fanatic sprawled before Watt.</p><p></p><p>There are now no other visible enemies to attack- two Fanatics and a Mage are flailing within Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, while two more Fanatics are trapped within the Blade Barrier (but they’ll be out in a second). The last enemy, a Cult Mage is, of course, manoeuvring and Invisible.</p><p></p><p>Moments later a heavily wounded Cult Fanatic escapes the Blade Barrier, rushes at Sgt Harald but fails to make an impression on the Fighter, or to land a hit. A second follows suit through the Barrier, it emerges bloodied and worse, and then also fails to connect with Watt.</p><p></p><p>A second or so later and a Cult Fanatic manages to stagger its way out of the Hunger of Hadar, and then get to Hotlips with an Inflict Wounds, and that hurt.</p><p></p><p>Lummins flies about a bit- there’s no-one left trapped in his Blade Barrier, and yet he lets the spell run, for good measure he unleashes his Radiance of the Dawn, two Fanatics are left mostly broken, while a third is killed outright.</p><p></p><p>Hotlips stabs another Fanatic dead, and then moves off and injures a second- the only enemy the PCs have in sight at the moment.</p><p></p><p>Watt spreads a little loving with a Mass Cure Wounds.</p><p></p><p>At which point the Cult Wizard with the Greater Invisibility spell gets himself position and unleashes his Cone of Cold, the freezing ray engulfs four of the five PCs (and, alas, a Cult Fanatic)- there is screaming around the table- particularly when I roll 49 Cold damage. Then, as it turns out, all of the PCs (except Watt) make their saves. Oh, but the Fanatic caught in the blast is turned into an elaborate ice sculpture- he’s dead.</p><p></p><p>Watt’s bloodied, Lux is close to it.</p><p></p><p>The Cult Mage, of course, doesn’t appear when he casts the spell- Greater Invisibility you see.</p><p></p><p>Alas there are now no enemies in sight- a Cult Mage and a Fanatic are still struggling within the Hunger of Hadar, while the second Mage is of course still scooting around with his Greater Invisibility cast.</p><p></p><p>Lux therefore takes to firing Eldritch Blasts into the area she thinks the (Greater) Invisible Mage is standing- she’s not even close.</p><p></p><p>More remarkably Sgt Harald kinda repeats the trick only with instant success.</p><p></p><p>Let me explain, we play mostly at the gaming table with a big ol’ Chessex Battlemat, with a bit of terrain drawn out on it (i.e. for this fight just the position of the Tower). The PCs recently engulfed by the Cone of Cold managed to tell which direction the spell came from. Lux used her turn to fire her Eldritch Blasts into three of the twenty something squares on the mat that could be home to the (Greater) Invisible Cult Mage- all were misses. So far, so good… then Sgt Harald (Pete) wanders into Cult Mage’s suspected firing arc. The Dwarf is swatting with his battleaxe, and the first square he selects to attack- is where the Mage is standing.</p><p></p><p>EXPLETIVE typical.</p><p></p><p>Of course, (with Disadvantage, remember) he hits… and then he hits again (and the Wizard fails his Concentration check the second time around), and there he is… so, Sgt Harald hits the Mage again.</p><p></p><p>Then with an Action Surge, he hits the Mage again, and the Dragon Cult bad guy is down to just less than 20 HP.</p><p></p><p>At which point the other Cult Mage, at last, comes to his senses and escapes Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, he too makes full use of his Greater Invisibility spell.</p><p></p><p>The PCs however are unaware of this event.</p><p></p><p>Just for info, there’s one Cult Fanatic still trapped within the Hunger of Hadar. To escape the spell (to remember the way out) I ruled way back when that any creature inside the inky black must make a DC10 Wisdom or Intelligence check to move towards the exit. Otherwise the inhabitant of the Hunger of Hadar would just stand statue (very low roll), or more likely wander in a random direction (and hopefully at some point find their way out). Anyway, the Cult Fanatic within the black has failed to find the way out four times in a row so far, he’s on 6 HP and still stuck in the hurty-bubble.</p><p></p><p>I thought when I set DC10 to escape that it would be easy for my bad guys to get out, I thought I had got one over Lux/Sandy by setting the DC so low. However, I have lost countless bad guys to Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, the spell has proven to be the bane of any (and every) encounter in which Lux uses it.</p><p></p><p>Lummins, still flying, at last cancels his Blade Barrier spell, and then surrounds himself with his Spirit Guardians, flying forward to make sure the visible Cult mage is within range.</p><p></p><p>Unbeknownst to the Priest both Cult Mages are actually now within the compass of his spell.</p><p></p><p>The jammy (lucky) bastard.</p><p></p><p>Then, however Hotlips gets to the visible Cult Wizard, and stabs the guy up real pretty like- he’s dead.</p><p></p><p>So, we’re back to no enemies in sight- one Fanatic still trapped in the Hunger of Hadar, and a (Greater) Invisible Cult Wizard who is actually in range of Lummis Spirit Guardians, but hasn’t been spotted (at all) by the PCs, they think this guy is still inside the Hunger of Hadar.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly the aforementioned Spirit Guardians start flashing and slashing with their radiant swords, a second later (after I roll a ‘1’ for the Cult Mage’s concentration check) guess who appears, and the PCs readied actions are manifold.</p><p></p><p>The last Cult Mage left standing is swiftly shot twice by Watt, and then Eldritch Blasted to pieces by Lux.</p><p></p><p>Back in the inky bubble the last Fanatic silently expires.</p><p></p><p>Encounter over.</p><p></p><p>That however is the first half of the session, the Pizza has arrived.</p><p></p><p>I only have time to tell the Brothers of the First Light that now the action is over they can see, and hear, the great (by which I mean HUGE) Blue Dragon that is laying waste to the village close to Xonthal’s Tower.</p><p></p><p>More of this in a bit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8010711, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]We D&D.[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #61 The Rise of Tiamat #20a Iskander at Last aka Hotlips FTW. Brothers of the First Light. Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 12 Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 12 Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 12 & Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 12 Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 12 Prisoner of the Red Wizards of Thay- Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 12 Secondary PCs. Left at 8th Level- we’ll get them back if (and when) they’re needed later on. Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 8 Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 8[/B] This is session #61 of our game, but only session #20a of The Rise of Tiamat scenario. The Brothers of the First Light are beneath Xonthal’s Tower, and still looking to rescue Iskander (a Cult of the Dragon turncoat) who has the Blue Dragon Mask in his grasp. The PCs however know that the Blue Dragon Mask here is another fake- although, Lux (Sandy) still believes that it could all turn out for the best in the end. In short, she thinks that I (your kindly DM) am double bluffing them, and that somehow the Blue Dragon Mask here is going to turn out to be the real thing. Hope’s a funny thing. SPOILER ALERT- the Blue Dragon Mask here is a fake. Last we left them the Brothers of the First Light had just recovered Sgt Harald who had made his first spacewalk (actually space-fall, may be more accurate), this after the Dwarven Fighter was hit by passing meteors causing him to tumble off a very odd walkway. The walkway in question requires those taking the path to gambol/gamble through the heavens to get to the other side. In recovering Sgt Harald, the Brothers have also discovered the presence of a secret chamber, a spell study- hidden behind one of the bookcases in the study-cum-library chamber they investigated previously. The new chamber is therefore thoroughly searched, more take-ables (mundane Wizardly items) are taken, but nothing of interest. A further search for secret chambers reveals another hidden door behind a bookcase, the observation room is found, an empty chamber save for the ten foot crystal pane that floats in the air. The scrying portal (Lux quickly establishes) shows a fiery vista- Lummins speculates, that they’re viewing the Abyss, or else some other Hell. There’s a control rod for the scrying sensor (think CCTV camera) which Lux tries (and fails) to manipulate, eventually Hotlips is deemed the best suited to play this game- but even she struggles to control the thing. Frustrating, and yet none of the PCs are certain that anything they do here will help them traverse the problematic space-walkway. Now, back to the argument about taking a short or else a long rest, or as Sgt Harald would have it- no rest at all, “let’s just get on.” Remarkably Sgt Harald (Pete) wins the day, the Brothers will keep trying to figure a way across, at least for a while. So, back to truncated corridor, the vast vista of space- with meteors flashing by, and in the distance- the other half of the corridor, and the end (the PCs think) to their problems here in Xonthal’s Tower. Much more chatter follows, and then… Hotlips, without announcing it, just rushes across the void- and to the other side, easy. Hotlips (Sandy) has an idea. “I’ll just go and see what’s over here…” And so, while her comrades dither, prevaricate, or else shout for the Rogue to “Come back you fool!” Hotlips goes on, as stealthily as she can, the corridor ends in a crossroads (of sorts), a plain wooden door ahead, a passage east- with a light at the end of it, and the sound of singing (perhaps) coming from that direction. To the west however the bloody footprints go- Hotlips follows. To another plain wooden door, and then after checking it for locks and traps, and anything else she can think of, the Rogue opens the portal and enters a very strange chamber. Suspended by a lattice of taut chains are two fifteen-foot-tall hourglasses, their time spent, the sand pilled in the lower bulbs. The Halfling Rogue examines the mechanism for a while, there seems to be a way to turn the timer’s over- to start the flow of sand, and time (perhaps) again. But does she want to try? Hotlips remembers her quarry, and then follows the bloody footprints to the sprawled and very dead body of a very tall Dragon Cult Wizard- Iskander, she believes (and she’s right). Clutched in the fellow’s hand is the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask. Without thinking she grabs the artefact and then dashes back the way she came. Ignoring all else. All the way to the space-walkway, at which point she screams and shouts at her (still) waiting comrades and waves/flaps the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask above her head- “Iskander’s dead. I’ve got the Mask”, and with that she’s off again- racing across the void. A shimmy as a trio of meteors come close, but then Hotlips is back to her friends, and grinning like a loon. As is Sandy (who plays Hotlips). And the other Players around the gaming table, who have been holding their breath- or else offering whispered suggestions- all of which have been shushed into silence by Sandy (Hotlips) and/or me, at last come alive again. It gets raucous. It’s early in the session but we have our hero- Hotlips, for the win. Just to say the space walkway trap really (and I mean, really) fazed them, the spellcasters generally have attacking spells, cures and a few others for controlling monsters; they don’t tend to pick any ‘useful’ spells. Obviously, it doesn’t help that there’s no Wizard in the party. It also didn’t help that the Players had (particularly between sessions) somehow built up the difficulty of traversing the strange space-walkway. Just for info it’s a DC10 Dexterity check to get across- but the Players watched three people step out onto the space-bridge, and two of them get knocked off, they thought it was a DC16, or DC18 check- they speculated about this for a good while. Shame they didn’t all get across, there were some nice gewgaws to play with (for a DM) on the far side of the void, I was going to mess with the PCs, and time itself, if they had flipped the hourglasses over. Likewise, I was looking forward to getting the Efreeti, Taraz the Fair, into action- he would have promised the Brothers the Moon-on-a-Stick to escape his present confinement, that would have been fun too. Ah, well- onwards… But now the Brothers of the First Light have the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask, and they want some answers- they therefore head back to the study-cum-library chamber and settle in for a rest. Time for Lummins to fire-up his Commune spell and ask his Deva pal Halogen a few more questions. So, rest and resolution. Lummins has three yes/no questions, they are, with the answers- Is this the real Blue Dragon Mask? NO. Well, that’s that then… Is the real Blue Dragon Mask located somewhere in the Spine of the World mountains? YES. Then after some more discussion with his colleagues- Is it likely that we will have to battle Tiamat? YES. So, that’s settled. In truth the PCs/Players are left in a bit of a grump- nobody in their right mind believed Lux when she stated repeatedly that this could be the real thing- the genuine Blue Dragon Mask. Sandy (playing Lux) was of the belief that the fiendish DM was in fact (somehow) lying to the Brothers. She genuinely believed that there was a twist here… The other Players were much less convinced, and yet they all still hoped. So, the moods not great, but we get on- after a short rest in the study-cum-library, and a little extra time spent selecting some choice books to steal from the bookshelves, the PCs head on- or else, out. Using trial and error the Brothers make further use of the Teleporter, first back into the Tower proper, then back to the arrival chamber, and then out- to the Teleporter in the clearing outside of Xonthal’s Tower, where the last remnants of the Dragon Cult are waiting for them. That’s two Cult Mages and five more Fanatics, all with MAX HP and better still… with surprise. [ATTACH type="full"]122802[/ATTACH] The first thing the Brothers know about the situation is when a Fireball erupts in their midst, a second later and an Ice Storm hits. Then the Fanatics rush in, and it gets nasty, and at this point Lummins is on approx. 30 HP (from full), while Watt and Lux are just about bloodied. Hotlips with Evasion manages to dodge almost all of the harm, while Sgt Harald just soaks up the Fire and Cold damage- he has a ton of hit points. A Cult Fanatic stops Watt in his tracks with a Hold Person, three more Fanatics try the same trick on a variety of other PCs, alas (for me) they all make their saves. Then, inevitably, the fight back starts- Lummins fires up his Blade Barrier- while ascending in flight, one of the Cult Mage’s attempts to Counterspell the Priest but fails- and so a swirling five-foot-thick wall of blades encircles the largest concentration of Cultists. Then with his Inspiration Point the Priest of Lathander casts a Lesser Restoration on Watt, and the Bard is no longer Paralyzed. A Cult Fanatic comes charging through the Blade Barrier, and is shredded and bloodied in an instant, and yet the Fanatic doesn’t slow up it gets to Watt with an Inflict Wounds spell- or rather, nearly, at the last moment the Cultist slips on the ice surrounding the Brothers and ends up sprawled before the Bard (‘1’). The Counterspelling Cult Mage finds himself momentarily bisected by Lummins’ Blade barrier, he escapes the terrifying blade-storm (at a price), and then applies Greater Invisibility to himself. Watt launches a max-enhanced Fireball into a clutch of Cultists, they burn but mostly struggle on, seconds later the same three enemies are encompassed by Lux’s terrifying Hunger of Hadar- which is proving to be the go-to spell for these occasions. Those within the inky sphere, needless to say, suffer considerably. Sgt Harald steps over and with his battleaxe decapitates the Cult Fanatic sprawled before Watt. There are now no other visible enemies to attack- two Fanatics and a Mage are flailing within Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, while two more Fanatics are trapped within the Blade Barrier (but they’ll be out in a second). The last enemy, a Cult Mage is, of course, manoeuvring and Invisible. Moments later a heavily wounded Cult Fanatic escapes the Blade Barrier, rushes at Sgt Harald but fails to make an impression on the Fighter, or to land a hit. A second follows suit through the Barrier, it emerges bloodied and worse, and then also fails to connect with Watt. A second or so later and a Cult Fanatic manages to stagger its way out of the Hunger of Hadar, and then get to Hotlips with an Inflict Wounds, and that hurt. Lummins flies about a bit- there’s no-one left trapped in his Blade Barrier, and yet he lets the spell run, for good measure he unleashes his Radiance of the Dawn, two Fanatics are left mostly broken, while a third is killed outright. Hotlips stabs another Fanatic dead, and then moves off and injures a second- the only enemy the PCs have in sight at the moment. Watt spreads a little loving with a Mass Cure Wounds. At which point the Cult Wizard with the Greater Invisibility spell gets himself position and unleashes his Cone of Cold, the freezing ray engulfs four of the five PCs (and, alas, a Cult Fanatic)- there is screaming around the table- particularly when I roll 49 Cold damage. Then, as it turns out, all of the PCs (except Watt) make their saves. Oh, but the Fanatic caught in the blast is turned into an elaborate ice sculpture- he’s dead. Watt’s bloodied, Lux is close to it. The Cult Mage, of course, doesn’t appear when he casts the spell- Greater Invisibility you see. Alas there are now no enemies in sight- a Cult Mage and a Fanatic are still struggling within the Hunger of Hadar, while the second Mage is of course still scooting around with his Greater Invisibility cast. Lux therefore takes to firing Eldritch Blasts into the area she thinks the (Greater) Invisible Mage is standing- she’s not even close. More remarkably Sgt Harald kinda repeats the trick only with instant success. Let me explain, we play mostly at the gaming table with a big ol’ Chessex Battlemat, with a bit of terrain drawn out on it (i.e. for this fight just the position of the Tower). The PCs recently engulfed by the Cone of Cold managed to tell which direction the spell came from. Lux used her turn to fire her Eldritch Blasts into three of the twenty something squares on the mat that could be home to the (Greater) Invisible Cult Mage- all were misses. So far, so good… then Sgt Harald (Pete) wanders into Cult Mage’s suspected firing arc. The Dwarf is swatting with his battleaxe, and the first square he selects to attack- is where the Mage is standing. EXPLETIVE typical. Of course, (with Disadvantage, remember) he hits… and then he hits again (and the Wizard fails his Concentration check the second time around), and there he is… so, Sgt Harald hits the Mage again. Then with an Action Surge, he hits the Mage again, and the Dragon Cult bad guy is down to just less than 20 HP. At which point the other Cult Mage, at last, comes to his senses and escapes Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, he too makes full use of his Greater Invisibility spell. The PCs however are unaware of this event. Just for info, there’s one Cult Fanatic still trapped within the Hunger of Hadar. To escape the spell (to remember the way out) I ruled way back when that any creature inside the inky black must make a DC10 Wisdom or Intelligence check to move towards the exit. Otherwise the inhabitant of the Hunger of Hadar would just stand statue (very low roll), or more likely wander in a random direction (and hopefully at some point find their way out). Anyway, the Cult Fanatic within the black has failed to find the way out four times in a row so far, he’s on 6 HP and still stuck in the hurty-bubble. I thought when I set DC10 to escape that it would be easy for my bad guys to get out, I thought I had got one over Lux/Sandy by setting the DC so low. However, I have lost countless bad guys to Lux’s Hunger of Hadar spell, the spell has proven to be the bane of any (and every) encounter in which Lux uses it. Lummins, still flying, at last cancels his Blade Barrier spell, and then surrounds himself with his Spirit Guardians, flying forward to make sure the visible Cult mage is within range. Unbeknownst to the Priest both Cult Mages are actually now within the compass of his spell. The jammy (lucky) bastard. Then, however Hotlips gets to the visible Cult Wizard, and stabs the guy up real pretty like- he’s dead. So, we’re back to no enemies in sight- one Fanatic still trapped in the Hunger of Hadar, and a (Greater) Invisible Cult Wizard who is actually in range of Lummis Spirit Guardians, but hasn’t been spotted (at all) by the PCs, they think this guy is still inside the Hunger of Hadar. Suddenly the aforementioned Spirit Guardians start flashing and slashing with their radiant swords, a second later (after I roll a ‘1’ for the Cult Mage’s concentration check) guess who appears, and the PCs readied actions are manifold. The last Cult Mage left standing is swiftly shot twice by Watt, and then Eldritch Blasted to pieces by Lux. Back in the inky bubble the last Fanatic silently expires. Encounter over. That however is the first half of the session, the Pizza has arrived. I only have time to tell the Brothers of the First Light that now the action is over they can see, and hear, the great (by which I mean HUGE) Blue Dragon that is laying waste to the village close to Xonthal’s Tower. More of this in a bit. [/QUOTE]
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