D&D General How Was Your Last Session?

[Richards]

In the second short adventure this afternoon, the PCs:

• Were brought to a barracks and locked in overnight under guard of two necropolitan fighters
• Decided to "play by the rules" and not try to sneak out and go exploring on their own; had the elf sorcerer's pseudodragon familiar and his jade cooshee figurine of wondrous power stand guard duty while they slept
• Went with Pendlebrook the next morning to a cave opening that led down to a multilevel set of tunnels in the Forbidden Lands
• On the first level, saw a vampire nest with six coffins
• On the second level, saw a necropolitan lab where they were experimenting with a soul receptacle that would serve them much in the same way as a lich's phylactery (but they still had a lot of work to do to perfect it)
• On the third level, saw a long hallway with far-apart doors sporadically throughout - lich labs, each an immense suite of rooms, allowing for centuries of magical research; Pendlebrook (wisely) opted not to interrupt any of them during the tour
• One the fourth level, were brought to the Temple of Akari, God of Death and Undeath, where they were met by a grumpy (and mistrusting) Mother Bones
• In the temple, saw a statue of Akari and a small gallery of smaller statues depicting famous undead and scenes from drow history (most of the undead are drow)
• Examined closely an odd statue of a human with arms raised in triumph, flanked by an orc and an elf, with dead gnomes scattered at his feet; the statue was entitled "Birth of the Deathborn" - and Pendlebrook explained that humans had been created by the drow liches as a magical merging of orc and elf (which is why they can mate with either, whereas orcs and elves cannot interbreed), and they breathe out a magical virus that is lethal to gnomes (the gnomes had been violently opposed to undead, and this was the liches' way to deal with the problem)
• Were shown a locked door in the back of the temple (Mother Bones has the only key) leading to the Conclave of Skulls, the leadership of the Forbidden Lands, and warned that any living beings passing through the door would be instantly slain - only undead can pass
• Were then taken to a classroom by Pendlebrook, where he passed out questionnaires each PC had to fill out explaining their views on the undead, what type of undead they'd like to become, why, and what role they saw themselves performing for the Forbidden Lands

I actually printed out five copies of a two-page questionnaire and had each player fill it out (as their respective PC), which - as it turned out - infuriated my 18-year-old nephew Harry, who did not at all appreciate having to do "homework" as part of a D&D session. (I think he'd have been okay if I had just asked him the questions - he didn't like having to write out his PC's answers.) But the end results are these:

Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf cleric: vampire​

Thurloe Pulver, human fighter/wizard/spellsword/eldritch knight: death knight​

Wakuren, half-orc cleric/paladin: mummy​

Xandro Silverstrings, human bard/rogue: necropolitan​

Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer: necropolitan​

Running both of these short adventures only took us about three hours, after which time everyone upgraded their PCs to 20th level. That leaves only five more adventures in this campaign!

Johnathan

 

[Reynard]

I just ran 4 sessions of 17th level 5E 2024 D&D where the PCs fought epic monsters (avatars of gods) and it was GLORIOUS.

 

[Older Beholder]

I played with a friend overseas on Sunday, it was the first group I've played in where everyone else is live and I'm the only one zooming in. The DM is a childhood friend of mine, and is running a game using BECMI (or maybe a modern system based on it, I'm not 100% sure)

It was heaps of fun, I'm really looking forward to the next session.

 

[Nebulous]

I am happy to say that we got to see a red dragon fight an aboleth IN SPACE.

 

[Richards]

Well, you can check that off your bucket list!

Johnathan

 

[humble minion]

PCs met Lord Soth.

He and his retinue arrived at soon-to-be-attacked Kalaman in the guise of regular knights, then at the ceremony to honour their arrival, Soth revealed himself and killed the governor with a power word (for the ‘crime’ of usurping his authority by assuming the role of Lord Regnant of Nightlund in order to command the defence) while everyone stood by stupefied by the banshee song. He then thoroughly terrified the unwilling Knight Squire PC by complimenting her and granting her a token of favour. Then disappeared into the night leaving confusion and terror behind them.

The dragonarmy attacks tomorrow.

 

[AK_Ambrian]

Did some DMing for a party of four 6th level characters. It was a face-to-face session at a local game store. The party consisted of a dwarf fighter, a tiefling bard, a halfling rogue and a halfling cleric.

We are still using the 2014 5E rules (except for Exhaustion, we use the 2024 rules for that).

It was a homebrew adventure set in the Forgotten Realms.

They explored an old elven ruin on the High Moor, infested with skeletons, wights and wraiths. They are usually pretty confident in battle but the life drain attacks of some of the undead gave them cause for concern. They even discussed turning back at one point to rest and heal but their hunger for treasure got the better of them. In the underground section of the ruin they discovered a long-forgotten shrine to Shevarash (a lesser-known elven god of revenge) and some relics such as a gem-studded chalice and old coins from a fallen elven empire.

They then headed downriver by paying for passage on a boat but were attacked from above by Perytons. This was their first time encountering Perytons (and my first time using these monsters in an adventure) so it was a lot of fun. According to Monster Manual lore, Perytons cast human shadows which don't match their appearance so that really confused the players, they thought they might be shapeshifters or spellcasters using illusions to change their appearance.

They stayed the night at an inn in a small village along the river and asked the bartender and townsfolk about anything of interest in the surrounding wilderness.

Finally they ventured into some fey woods where they were stalked by Displacer Beasts and found an enchanted spring and the corpse of a less-fortunate previous adventurer. I had also prepared an Elder Darkling hideout in some nearby abandoned mines but we were running out of time so it didn't get used.

Overall it was a good session, lasted about five hours. Next time they said they want to head into a larger town near the end of the river so I need to start getting ready for that. I like urban adventures but I find they require a LOT more prep work (stores, multiple inns & taverns, prominent NPCs, temples, quest possibilities etc).

 

[Older Beholder]

Played another session of Wild Beyond the Witchlight, in which we’ve converted our characters over to the new rules.

It was a shorter session as we started late. In the end we finished on a cliffhanger where we’re about to fight the first Hag. I’m a sucker for a good pre-boss fight cliffhanger. Next session we’ll really get a feel for the new 5E24 rules, at least in regards to combat (so far we’ve mostly just been roleplaying since updating, given that’s the focus of the adventure)

 

[Draegn]

There is no honor among thieves. They split the party and stab each other in the back. Joyful chaos goddess is happy like kittens in catnip.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

Almost 40 sessions into my 13th Age campaign. Eyes of the Stone Thief expanded to cover all 10 levels. Five player characters on the cusp of 5th level.

I've not been posting regular updates, but we are playing on the regular.

Since I last posted, a lot has happened. The characters:

• Were swallowed for the second time by the Stone Thief. The campaign is finally starting to come to life, as they're connecting with NPCs inside the living dungeon and advancing through the plot. They're also nearing the midpoint of the campaign, and the progress feels good.
• Made an alliance with the ruler of Jawgate (Captain Scraps) to destroy the ruler of Deep Keep (The Survivor...who cannot be killed).
• Learned that they are being hunted by The High Executioner of the Crusader, who wields a powerful weapon that kills with a touch.
• Naturally, the players are trying to find a way to bring the Survivor and the High Executioner together...
• Entered Dungeontown and discovered the Prevost is the descendant of Grommar, the dwarven weaponsmith who concocted the magical formula for a weapon that can destroy the Stone Thief.
• Saved the life of the Crone who's presence makes the continued presence of Dungeontown possible. Rumors say she is the Priestess of an earlier age.
• Recovered the petrified body of Prisoner 13, found the formula that can un-petrify her, and learned the truth of the conflict between the Prince of Shadows and the Cult of the Stone Thief.
• Traveled to Shadow Grove, reconnected with the elven Chaos Mage's old mentor, and destroyed the green dragon that menaced the Grove.
• Found the Ossuary and made an alliance with the Queen of Skulls. She wants to return to her rightful place as consort of the Lich King. To do that, his current consort, the Lady of Blood, must die.
• The Queen gave the Occultist a magic staff that once belonged to the First Master of the Cult of the Stone Thief, and said his destiny was to become the Last Master of the Cult.

Next session...the characters return to Dungeontown just in time for an epic assault by the massed forces of the Cult.