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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: 8029282" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>We D&D.</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #63 The Fourth (and final) Council of Waterdeep.</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 13</strong></p><p><strong>Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 13</strong></p><p><strong>Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 13</strong></p><p><strong>Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 13</strong></p><p><strong>&</strong></p><p><strong>Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 13</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Secondary PCs.</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><strong>Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 13</strong></p><p></p><p>This is session #63 of our game, but only session #22 of The Rise of Tiamat scenario.</p><p></p><p>Just to say ahead of time, this wasn’t like our normal sessions, or rather it was for a short while- described below, but then the males of the species of our group (including me, of course) got excited and we decided to cut things short.</p><p></p><p>We also had Indian food, and not the usual Pizza- it was my choice.</p><p></p><p>It might have been my birthday.</p><p></p><p>So, lots of chatter this session, and the tangle that went nowhere in last session has been swiftly forgotten- at least by me, I’m not sure the Players even noticed. There’s also been a bit of chatter between sessions, a few e-mails back and forth- the other PCs/Players trying to get Sgt Bobby (Pete) to tell them what happened to him in Thay- he mostly avoids (initially by not replying to anyone for a while) the issue, eventually telling his colleagues he was “captured, tortured and interrogated”, the other Players are assured. Or, at least, they can’t be bothered to press the issue.</p><p></p><p>They’re all aware however that Pete (Sgt Bobby) is grinning a lot and muttering to himself more than usual.</p><p></p><p>Then on with it, and we’re back to Waterdeep, and the city is tense- the Dragon Cult attacks here are half-hearted, because the Brothers cleared out the main nest of Cultists in the City of Splendours some time back. However other cities, towns and settlements are suffering on the Sword Coast, with doomsaying Dragon Cultists in the streets, protected by mobs of latter-day adherents, while up above- every now and then great winged wyrms come calling, blasting buildings and people- causing fear and terror to hold sway.</p><p></p><p>All is chaos, or else if not all- then a sufficient portion of the populace are cowed and/or made to fear for their lives.</p><p></p><p>Meantime, back to our heroes…</p><p></p><p>The (fake) Blue Dragon Mask is passed on to the Harpers, and within the day it’s confirmed that the thing is yet another (although this time harmless) fake, and so at last we get into the final meeting of the Council of Waterdeep.</p><p></p><p>The usual folk are present, and with guards in the Council chamber from the off this time- the delegates however are fractious, the beginning of the session starts with a roll call of reports- Dragon Cult and Dragon attacks, the land is beset, although those locales and factions favoured by the support of the Chromatic Dragons have suffered much less, if at all.</p><p></p><p>As usual the Brothers (for which read Lux, and sometimes Watt) deliver their fantasy fiction version of a power-point presentation to let the delegates know what they’ve been up to since they last saw them, the following subjects are therefore discussed (some at length)-</p><p></p><p>!) The Brothers success in recovering the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask, alas the Cult traitor they were sent to rescue- Iskander, was already dead. Obviously, none of the Council members feel like celebrating this hollow victory- the Blue Dragon Mask, it has already been established, is yet another fake. But that however is only the tip of the iceberg in this discussion as it emerges that Xonthal’s Tower has since been acquired from the Brothers by Rian Nightshade (also present at the meeting). It gets angry-bad very quickly, particularly when a combination of Ontharr Frume (Order of the Gauntlet) and Taern Hornblade (Lords’ Alliance) let slip that Rian represents the interests of the Black Network- the Zhentarim.</p><p></p><p>This, of course, is news to all of the PCs/Players, except for Lux- who is a member of the aforementioned less than auspicious organisation. It gets to arguing, a little amongst the Council delegates, a lot (but briefly) amongst the Brothers of the First Light. The bickering circles for a while, but- let’s be honest here, Sgt Bobby and Hotlips aren’t bothered one way or the other, Lux is obviously all for it, Lummins rages a while- “The Zhent!” but goes nowhere with his tirade. While Watt- at first the most objectionable finally concludes that this can all get sorted out ‘after’ the Dragon Cultists are dealt with. So, in sum total- a brief spat, then back on with the Brother’s presentation.</p><p></p><p>2) Tales of the Brother’s away-day in Thay- dream interrogations (for the weak-willed, Lux’s words), the return of the gimp-suited and much abused Sgt Bobby, and finally the Red Wizard’s pledge to help in the finale against Rath Modar and his renegades. The delegates don’t know whether to laugh or to cry, this alliance has acquired some strange bedfellows, but needs must- it seems. Of course, throughout all the above the Brothers are staunchly supported by King Melandrach and Ambassador Brawnanvil, as well as their usual cheerleaders.</p><p></p><p>3) The DM then delivers two stirring sterling speeches, the first from Lord Isteval of Daggerford, and the finale, a bunch of fine-fine words (some of them I actually meant) from Lady Laeral Silverhand. Basically, the grinning DM says lots of nice things about the PCs, the decisions that they have had to make, and the limited time and the pressing situations in which they have had to make them. It’s a paeon to adventurers, and in particular the four fine folk that sit around our gaming table. At the end of which we get stuck into the Indian food, which has arrived a little early.</p><p></p><p>Happy birthday to me. Happy Birthday!</p><p></p><p>4) Then, after and during the repast, a bunch more chatter. It seems the Well of Dragons has been located, this after Lummins sent a Sending spell with the newly acquired information from Thay to his Harper contact- Leosin Erlanthar, while the Brothers were en route to Waterdeep. So, that’s that then- the war will be won at/in the Well of the Dragons, the last act (save for the wishing of luck and giving thanks) of the Council of Waterdeep is for its delegates to individually line up to deliver (and then barter a little) their pledges of support (and NPC-power) for the battle that is to come. You’ll see what I’m on about- keep reading.</p><p></p><p>Basically, it’s time for me to tot up the numbers on the Council of Waterdeep scorecard, and to tell the PCs (sorta) what they’ve won.</p><p></p><p>Just to say the Brothers were made (very) aware by the more friendly delegates that their selling Xonthal’s Tower to the Zhent did them no favours here. Lux braves the barbs out; Sandy however apologises profusely to her gaming companions, although- in truth, all of the PCs/Players thought that selling the tower was the right thing to do at the time.</p><p></p><p>So, the final scores-</p><p></p><p>The Harpers +11 (5/7/10)</p><p>The Order of the Gauntlet +9 (7/9/12)</p><p>The Emerald Enclave +6 (5/7/10)</p><p>& the various Lords’ Alliance delegates-</p><p>Lady Silverhand +12 (7/9/12)</p><p>Lord Neverember +10 (5/7/10)</p><p>Ambassador Brawnanvil +14 (7/9/12)</p><p>King Melandrach +14 (6/8/11)</p><p>Marshall Ravengard +11 (7/9/12)</p><p>Taern Hornblade +9 (6/8/11)</p><p>Sir Isteval +11 (6/8/11)</p><p></p><p>Just to remind you the numbers in parenthesis beside each faction show the scores the PCs need to achieve to gain 1 to 3 favours from each delegate. So, to gain three favours from the Harpers the Brothers would need to score 10 or more, they got 11.</p><p></p><p>Woo-hoo.</p><p></p><p>So this is how it works, and these are the choices the PCs have to make, I take the time (your glorious DM) to explain that they (the Brothers of the First Light) are going to war, and that they- in the form of all of their PCs (including their Secondary Characters) and a bunch more NPCs, and a swathe of other low-level NPC troops will be playing out the entire assault on the Well of Dragons. Or, at least, the caldera bit.</p><p></p><p>The Harpers help out by briefly presenting their findings, they’ve worked quickly and have a fair idea of the various entrances and openings that lead into the caldera of the inactive volcano, where they’re certain the summoning of Tiamat will take place.</p><p></p><p>So, the PCs need to equip their strike teams, of which there will be six- one for each of the entrances the Harpers have identified into the caldera, or at least the Harpers believe- one of the six entrances must lead to the finale. Surely.</p><p></p><p>We’ll get to a better explanation of these events (I promise) a little bit later on in this narrative, for now all the PCs need to know is that they have some favours to spend with the various factions in order to get the NPCs/troops they need to make their attack/s.</p><p></p><p>And so, much of the rest of this session is spent arguing about how they’re going to spend their various faction favours.</p><p></p><p>Each faction has available some or all of the following-</p><p></p><p>a) Faction specific troops (a bunch of low-level no-name NPCs),</p><p>b) A magical item (selected by a PC, and adjudicated upon by the DM),</p><p>c) Or, a high level (10th) NPC.</p><p></p><p>Just to make clear- one favour from a faction gains one item from the above list, two favours equal two choices, etc. Note the Brothers can select the same item multiple times- so, with three favours they can access two magical items and a bunch of faction specific troops, or any other combination (that adds up to three).</p><p></p><p>Furthermore we’re going to be playing all of these fights out on Fantasy Grounds, and over the coming weeks- each of the Players is responsible for one of the strike teams (that’s four in total), while the other two strike teams will be made up of the Brothers of the First Light who are going in the back door, and the Secondary Characters (and a few others) who are going in the front door. These last two strike teams will (mostly, as it turns out) be played around the gaming table.</p><p></p><p>So, faction favours, what do the PCs get for all of their hard-earned work-</p><p></p><p>The Harpers +11 (5/7/10) = 3 Favours, which are spent on a bunch of Scouts, two Harper Mages & the services for the final battle of their Harper contact, Leosin Erlanthar the (10th Level) Monk.</p><p></p><p>The Order of the Gauntlet +9 (7/9/12) = 2 Favours, which are spent on a clutch of War Priests, and the company of Ontharr Frume the (10th Level) Paladin, for the finale.</p><p></p><p>The Emerald Enclave +6 (5/7/10) = just 1 Favour from the nature-lovers, which comes in the form of a heavily muscled no-necked (10th Level) Barbarian, who Pete soon after names Barbaric Bertram. I worry about him. Although, Sandy wanted Barbara.</p><p></p><p>& the various Lords’ Alliance delegates-</p><p></p><p>Lady Silverhand +12 (7/9/12) = 3 Favours, which garners the Brothers a squad of Waterdeep City Guards, and two heroes of the City of Splendours- a pair of (10th Level) NPCs- a Fighter and a Sorcerer.</p><p></p><p>Lord Neverember +10 (5/7/10) = again (and oddly- I checked the maths) 3 Favours also from Neverember which are exchanged for the services of a ragtag bunch of mercenaries- a mixture of Spys, Thugs & Veterans.</p><p></p><p>Ambassador Brawnanvil +14 (7/9/12) = and again, another 3 Favours are gained, and exchanged for the services of Dwarven Clerics, and Veterans, and a (10th Level) Priest of Moradin to lead them.</p><p></p><p>King Melandrach +14 (6/8/11) = and once more, all 3 Favours are earned, the services of more Scouts are acquired, with an Eldritch Knight (10th Level) to command them. Oh, and the Treant (Russell) will also be coming to the party, this after Watt (Jackie) made a heartfelt plea.</p><p></p><p>Marshall Ravengard +11 (7/9/12) = 2 Favours, which are exchanged for the services of Flaming Fist Veterans and Thugs.</p><p></p><p>Taern Hornblade +9 (6/8/11) = 2 more Favours gained, this time swapped for the services of six Knights in Silver (from Silverymoon).</p><p></p><p>Sir Isteval +11 (6/8/11) = lastly, the Brothers’ long-time fan, and 3 more Favours (natch) to buy the services of a trio of Purple Dragon Knights, a pair of Cormyrean War Wizards, and a Purple Dragon Knight Commander (10th Level Paladin) to lead the company.</p><p></p><p>So, just to make clear the PCs/Players have access to a small army (as described above) and of course their PCs (including the Secondary Characters). The good guys are going to be divided into six strike teams, each of which will pick an entrance to the Well of Dragons, and then battle their way through to the caldera- for the finale.</p><p></p><p>Or get slaughtered in the attempt.</p><p></p><p>If you’re interested, then each strike team will consist of 8 PCs/NPCs (two ‘characters’ in-game for each Player). When a PC/NPC dies then a reinforcement will arrive (from the army outlined above) until all of the reinforcements are gone… by which I mean, obviously, dead.</p><p></p><p>The newly arrived replacement NPC will be rolled for, from a table I created for the occasion. Note, what the PCs didn’t know at the start was that the NPCs arrive in CR order- lowest first. I don’t think they were expecting this, but y’know- mess with them, I’ve told you this before.</p><p></p><p>More obviously, I’m going to be packing the Dragon Cultists (all MAX HP) into the Well of Dragons, so- there are going to be casualties, that I can promise- because this has already happened, I was there- never mind ‘I saw it’- ‘I did it’.</p><p></p><p>But we’ll get to that.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and the PCs are going to get some other ‘special guest star’ reinforcements, which they didn’t know about until… well, until they turned up in the fight.</p><p></p><p>But again, we’ll get to that.</p><p></p><p>So, and this is the really surprising thing about this session- that’s it, that’s all we got up to- we started late, the food arrived early, and then it took over an hour-and-a-half after the Council of Waterdeep presentations to figure out what NPCs the Players wanted to co-opt from the various factions.</p><p></p><p>They had lots of choices to make along the way, and plenty to ‘discuss’, for which read bicker about.</p><p></p><p>Just to make clear Rob (playing Lummins) and Pete (playing Pete) argued for nearly 20 minutes over the relative merits of an Emerald Enclave Ranger vs an Emerald Enclave Barbarian. Pete won (natch) he got his Barbarian, remember- he called him Bert.</p><p></p><p>Last bit, because I don’t have anything else to write here- the Brothers of the First Light say their fond farewells to the members of the Council of Waterdeep (and get a few extra Potions, very mostly of the Healing variety), then load up the Flying Lighthouse with their mini-army and set course for the Well of Dragons.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the session, and a little extra time- and the intervening two weeks (via e-mail) were spent fine tuning the Players choices and rolling up their new NPCs on Fantasy Grounds.</p><p></p><p>See you next time- for the finale (nearly), or at least the start of it.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe.</p><p></p><p>Cheers goonalan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8029282, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]We D&D.[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #63 The Fourth (and final) Council of Waterdeep. Brothers of the First Light. Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 13 Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 13 Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 13 Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 13 & Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 13 Secondary PCs. Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 8 Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 8 Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 13[/B] This is session #63 of our game, but only session #22 of The Rise of Tiamat scenario. Just to say ahead of time, this wasn’t like our normal sessions, or rather it was for a short while- described below, but then the males of the species of our group (including me, of course) got excited and we decided to cut things short. We also had Indian food, and not the usual Pizza- it was my choice. It might have been my birthday. So, lots of chatter this session, and the tangle that went nowhere in last session has been swiftly forgotten- at least by me, I’m not sure the Players even noticed. There’s also been a bit of chatter between sessions, a few e-mails back and forth- the other PCs/Players trying to get Sgt Bobby (Pete) to tell them what happened to him in Thay- he mostly avoids (initially by not replying to anyone for a while) the issue, eventually telling his colleagues he was “captured, tortured and interrogated”, the other Players are assured. Or, at least, they can’t be bothered to press the issue. They’re all aware however that Pete (Sgt Bobby) is grinning a lot and muttering to himself more than usual. Then on with it, and we’re back to Waterdeep, and the city is tense- the Dragon Cult attacks here are half-hearted, because the Brothers cleared out the main nest of Cultists in the City of Splendours some time back. However other cities, towns and settlements are suffering on the Sword Coast, with doomsaying Dragon Cultists in the streets, protected by mobs of latter-day adherents, while up above- every now and then great winged wyrms come calling, blasting buildings and people- causing fear and terror to hold sway. All is chaos, or else if not all- then a sufficient portion of the populace are cowed and/or made to fear for their lives. Meantime, back to our heroes… The (fake) Blue Dragon Mask is passed on to the Harpers, and within the day it’s confirmed that the thing is yet another (although this time harmless) fake, and so at last we get into the final meeting of the Council of Waterdeep. The usual folk are present, and with guards in the Council chamber from the off this time- the delegates however are fractious, the beginning of the session starts with a roll call of reports- Dragon Cult and Dragon attacks, the land is beset, although those locales and factions favoured by the support of the Chromatic Dragons have suffered much less, if at all. As usual the Brothers (for which read Lux, and sometimes Watt) deliver their fantasy fiction version of a power-point presentation to let the delegates know what they’ve been up to since they last saw them, the following subjects are therefore discussed (some at length)- !) The Brothers success in recovering the (fake) Blue Dragon Mask, alas the Cult traitor they were sent to rescue- Iskander, was already dead. Obviously, none of the Council members feel like celebrating this hollow victory- the Blue Dragon Mask, it has already been established, is yet another fake. But that however is only the tip of the iceberg in this discussion as it emerges that Xonthal’s Tower has since been acquired from the Brothers by Rian Nightshade (also present at the meeting). It gets angry-bad very quickly, particularly when a combination of Ontharr Frume (Order of the Gauntlet) and Taern Hornblade (Lords’ Alliance) let slip that Rian represents the interests of the Black Network- the Zhentarim. This, of course, is news to all of the PCs/Players, except for Lux- who is a member of the aforementioned less than auspicious organisation. It gets to arguing, a little amongst the Council delegates, a lot (but briefly) amongst the Brothers of the First Light. The bickering circles for a while, but- let’s be honest here, Sgt Bobby and Hotlips aren’t bothered one way or the other, Lux is obviously all for it, Lummins rages a while- “The Zhent!” but goes nowhere with his tirade. While Watt- at first the most objectionable finally concludes that this can all get sorted out ‘after’ the Dragon Cultists are dealt with. So, in sum total- a brief spat, then back on with the Brother’s presentation. 2) Tales of the Brother’s away-day in Thay- dream interrogations (for the weak-willed, Lux’s words), the return of the gimp-suited and much abused Sgt Bobby, and finally the Red Wizard’s pledge to help in the finale against Rath Modar and his renegades. The delegates don’t know whether to laugh or to cry, this alliance has acquired some strange bedfellows, but needs must- it seems. Of course, throughout all the above the Brothers are staunchly supported by King Melandrach and Ambassador Brawnanvil, as well as their usual cheerleaders. 3) The DM then delivers two stirring sterling speeches, the first from Lord Isteval of Daggerford, and the finale, a bunch of fine-fine words (some of them I actually meant) from Lady Laeral Silverhand. Basically, the grinning DM says lots of nice things about the PCs, the decisions that they have had to make, and the limited time and the pressing situations in which they have had to make them. It’s a paeon to adventurers, and in particular the four fine folk that sit around our gaming table. At the end of which we get stuck into the Indian food, which has arrived a little early. Happy birthday to me. Happy Birthday! 4) Then, after and during the repast, a bunch more chatter. It seems the Well of Dragons has been located, this after Lummins sent a Sending spell with the newly acquired information from Thay to his Harper contact- Leosin Erlanthar, while the Brothers were en route to Waterdeep. So, that’s that then- the war will be won at/in the Well of the Dragons, the last act (save for the wishing of luck and giving thanks) of the Council of Waterdeep is for its delegates to individually line up to deliver (and then barter a little) their pledges of support (and NPC-power) for the battle that is to come. You’ll see what I’m on about- keep reading. Basically, it’s time for me to tot up the numbers on the Council of Waterdeep scorecard, and to tell the PCs (sorta) what they’ve won. Just to say the Brothers were made (very) aware by the more friendly delegates that their selling Xonthal’s Tower to the Zhent did them no favours here. Lux braves the barbs out; Sandy however apologises profusely to her gaming companions, although- in truth, all of the PCs/Players thought that selling the tower was the right thing to do at the time. So, the final scores- The Harpers +11 (5/7/10) The Order of the Gauntlet +9 (7/9/12) The Emerald Enclave +6 (5/7/10) & the various Lords’ Alliance delegates- Lady Silverhand +12 (7/9/12) Lord Neverember +10 (5/7/10) Ambassador Brawnanvil +14 (7/9/12) King Melandrach +14 (6/8/11) Marshall Ravengard +11 (7/9/12) Taern Hornblade +9 (6/8/11) Sir Isteval +11 (6/8/11) Just to remind you the numbers in parenthesis beside each faction show the scores the PCs need to achieve to gain 1 to 3 favours from each delegate. So, to gain three favours from the Harpers the Brothers would need to score 10 or more, they got 11. Woo-hoo. So this is how it works, and these are the choices the PCs have to make, I take the time (your glorious DM) to explain that they (the Brothers of the First Light) are going to war, and that they- in the form of all of their PCs (including their Secondary Characters) and a bunch more NPCs, and a swathe of other low-level NPC troops will be playing out the entire assault on the Well of Dragons. Or, at least, the caldera bit. The Harpers help out by briefly presenting their findings, they’ve worked quickly and have a fair idea of the various entrances and openings that lead into the caldera of the inactive volcano, where they’re certain the summoning of Tiamat will take place. So, the PCs need to equip their strike teams, of which there will be six- one for each of the entrances the Harpers have identified into the caldera, or at least the Harpers believe- one of the six entrances must lead to the finale. Surely. We’ll get to a better explanation of these events (I promise) a little bit later on in this narrative, for now all the PCs need to know is that they have some favours to spend with the various factions in order to get the NPCs/troops they need to make their attack/s. And so, much of the rest of this session is spent arguing about how they’re going to spend their various faction favours. Each faction has available some or all of the following- a) Faction specific troops (a bunch of low-level no-name NPCs), b) A magical item (selected by a PC, and adjudicated upon by the DM), c) Or, a high level (10th) NPC. Just to make clear- one favour from a faction gains one item from the above list, two favours equal two choices, etc. Note the Brothers can select the same item multiple times- so, with three favours they can access two magical items and a bunch of faction specific troops, or any other combination (that adds up to three). Furthermore we’re going to be playing all of these fights out on Fantasy Grounds, and over the coming weeks- each of the Players is responsible for one of the strike teams (that’s four in total), while the other two strike teams will be made up of the Brothers of the First Light who are going in the back door, and the Secondary Characters (and a few others) who are going in the front door. These last two strike teams will (mostly, as it turns out) be played around the gaming table. So, faction favours, what do the PCs get for all of their hard-earned work- The Harpers +11 (5/7/10) = 3 Favours, which are spent on a bunch of Scouts, two Harper Mages & the services for the final battle of their Harper contact, Leosin Erlanthar the (10th Level) Monk. The Order of the Gauntlet +9 (7/9/12) = 2 Favours, which are spent on a clutch of War Priests, and the company of Ontharr Frume the (10th Level) Paladin, for the finale. The Emerald Enclave +6 (5/7/10) = just 1 Favour from the nature-lovers, which comes in the form of a heavily muscled no-necked (10th Level) Barbarian, who Pete soon after names Barbaric Bertram. I worry about him. Although, Sandy wanted Barbara. & the various Lords’ Alliance delegates- Lady Silverhand +12 (7/9/12) = 3 Favours, which garners the Brothers a squad of Waterdeep City Guards, and two heroes of the City of Splendours- a pair of (10th Level) NPCs- a Fighter and a Sorcerer. Lord Neverember +10 (5/7/10) = again (and oddly- I checked the maths) 3 Favours also from Neverember which are exchanged for the services of a ragtag bunch of mercenaries- a mixture of Spys, Thugs & Veterans. Ambassador Brawnanvil +14 (7/9/12) = and again, another 3 Favours are gained, and exchanged for the services of Dwarven Clerics, and Veterans, and a (10th Level) Priest of Moradin to lead them. King Melandrach +14 (6/8/11) = and once more, all 3 Favours are earned, the services of more Scouts are acquired, with an Eldritch Knight (10th Level) to command them. Oh, and the Treant (Russell) will also be coming to the party, this after Watt (Jackie) made a heartfelt plea. Marshall Ravengard +11 (7/9/12) = 2 Favours, which are exchanged for the services of Flaming Fist Veterans and Thugs. Taern Hornblade +9 (6/8/11) = 2 more Favours gained, this time swapped for the services of six Knights in Silver (from Silverymoon). Sir Isteval +11 (6/8/11) = lastly, the Brothers’ long-time fan, and 3 more Favours (natch) to buy the services of a trio of Purple Dragon Knights, a pair of Cormyrean War Wizards, and a Purple Dragon Knight Commander (10th Level Paladin) to lead the company. So, just to make clear the PCs/Players have access to a small army (as described above) and of course their PCs (including the Secondary Characters). The good guys are going to be divided into six strike teams, each of which will pick an entrance to the Well of Dragons, and then battle their way through to the caldera- for the finale. Or get slaughtered in the attempt. If you’re interested, then each strike team will consist of 8 PCs/NPCs (two ‘characters’ in-game for each Player). When a PC/NPC dies then a reinforcement will arrive (from the army outlined above) until all of the reinforcements are gone… by which I mean, obviously, dead. The newly arrived replacement NPC will be rolled for, from a table I created for the occasion. Note, what the PCs didn’t know at the start was that the NPCs arrive in CR order- lowest first. I don’t think they were expecting this, but y’know- mess with them, I’ve told you this before. More obviously, I’m going to be packing the Dragon Cultists (all MAX HP) into the Well of Dragons, so- there are going to be casualties, that I can promise- because this has already happened, I was there- never mind ‘I saw it’- ‘I did it’. But we’ll get to that. Oh, and the PCs are going to get some other ‘special guest star’ reinforcements, which they didn’t know about until… well, until they turned up in the fight. But again, we’ll get to that. So, and this is the really surprising thing about this session- that’s it, that’s all we got up to- we started late, the food arrived early, and then it took over an hour-and-a-half after the Council of Waterdeep presentations to figure out what NPCs the Players wanted to co-opt from the various factions. They had lots of choices to make along the way, and plenty to ‘discuss’, for which read bicker about. Just to make clear Rob (playing Lummins) and Pete (playing Pete) argued for nearly 20 minutes over the relative merits of an Emerald Enclave Ranger vs an Emerald Enclave Barbarian. Pete won (natch) he got his Barbarian, remember- he called him Bert. Last bit, because I don’t have anything else to write here- the Brothers of the First Light say their fond farewells to the members of the Council of Waterdeep (and get a few extra Potions, very mostly of the Healing variety), then load up the Flying Lighthouse with their mini-army and set course for the Well of Dragons. The rest of the session, and a little extra time- and the intervening two weeks (via e-mail) were spent fine tuning the Players choices and rolling up their new NPCs on Fantasy Grounds. See you next time- for the finale (nearly), or at least the start of it. Stay safe. Cheers goonalan [/QUOTE]
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