Session 1 (Monday 11 September 2023).
* Party encountered the remnants of the goblin ambush. First major change of the adventure:
the horses are ALIVE!!!!!
* The fighter spots the four goblins hiding in the bushes and calls out their positions to the party.
* Three goblins slain for minor wounds on the party's side. The remaining goblin flees.
* The tiefling leads the way along the goblin trail, enraged by their actions. He only has a +1 Perception, but he STILL notices both traps along the way. Success. (
The Snare Perception DC has changed from 10 to 15).
* They encounter the goblins "keeping a lookout" outside the goblin cave - no surprise either side. Win battle with minor wounds. 1 hp?
(A goblin boss has been added to the encounter).
* Inside the cave, they notice the wolves, and successfully tame them with food.
* To the west across the stream, they notice a corridor slanting upwards. The tiefling jumps over to investigate, and begins making her way up, only to be bitten and reduced to 0 hit points by a giant poisonous snake. The yuan ti revives her, and tries to make friends with the snake, but it saves and resists her blandishments. The party decide to keep moving up the stream.
(The giant poisonous snake is a new addition).
* The fighter spots the skulking goblin on the walkway above, and the tiefling shoots it dead with a critical hit
firebolt after winning initiative.
* No flood! (No alarm).
* The party come to the first bigger goblin fight, in the "dam" room. Three goblins and two wolves make for a tough battle, with the satyr being knocked unconscious and revived.
(Two wolves have been added to the battle).
* The party came to the big boss battle against the bugbear, two goblin guards, and a tough wolf. Bugbears are really tough. The fighter has 18 AC, and Heavy Armour Mastery, but still goes down in a single hit from the bugbear. The rest of the party's healing is used in this fight, which is only narrowly won.
(There is new text here indicating when Klarg runs from the fight - no-one else left - but he'll likely get stuck in the chimney!)
* The party came to the last room, where Sildar was held. The fighter went down (again) from a critical hit, but a few goblins are down and the goblin boss negotiates - and is pleased to find that Klarg is dead. The party get Sildar, and off they go to Phandalin.
(An additional goblin boss is in this area).
Notes and Comments:
Running this adventure using a VTT rather than with theatre of the mind makes it very clear how cramped and unfun to play in the goblin caves are. For a group of four characters, the additional foes make the goblin caves far, far too tough. With six characters, lots of characters can't participate in battles!
Both the divine sorcerer and tempest cleric had
thunderwave. Neither could get in a position to use it in any of the caves (save the last fight, and then they were out of spells!)
Funnily enough, I forgot about the fleeing goblin. Oh well - he was probably arguing with the goblins on guard as to whether he was a coward or not.
There is some nice new art. Sildar has art! So does Klarg!
Interaction of the Session:
Yuan-Ti player: "So, if I see live humanoids as food..."
DM: "Yes..."
Yuan-Ti player: "Can I cast purify food and drink on my fellow PCs to remove poison?"
DM: "..."
More next week, if I remember.
Longer Blog Post: Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, session 1 - Merric's Musings
Cheers,
Merric