D&D General How Was Your Last Session?

Nebulous said:

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

Click to expand...

Reynard said:

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.

Click to expand...

Tell me more, please.

THEMNGMNT said:

Tell me more, please.

Click to expand...

See this thread: D&D (2024) - A Different Way To Run High Level Monsters

The last session ended with the party’s boat stuck on some rocks and damaged as they tried to portage around a small waterfall. This is the summary provided by Zoom AI tools.

Quick recap​

The Revenants of Saltmarsh's river journey was interrupted when their boat became damaged at a waterfall. After moving the boat to safety, they were caught in a sudden flood that caused further damage. The group split into two teams: one to repair the boat and set up camp, while Yaakov, Grandinar, and Lamech scouted ahead. The scouts discovered a transformed stone island at a river confluence, featuring deep-sea basalt steps and suspicious grey water, indicating a sahuagin lair. They observed sahuagin emerging from the island and retreated carefully. They heard construction sounds from the confluence area behind them. Back at camp, the boat was repaired as best possible, and the group established night watches, which ended with an alert of an impending attack.

Summaries​

Boat Rescue and Damage Assessment​

The group discussed portaging the damaged boat around a low waterfall after it became stuck in rocks during their river journey. Yaakov proposed a plan for lifting the boat using ropes and team members' strength. After the group check, with Lamech's help using an emboldening bond, they successfully moved the boat onto dry land without damaging it further, though only now could a true assessment of the damage be made.

Boat Repair and Hiding Plan​

The group discussed the condition of their boat and decided to repair it before hiding it nearby and continuing on foot. An 18 inch high waterfall was no problem for them, but they have to portage on the way back, an issue should they be pursued.

They agreed to split up, with some members helping with repairs while others search for a suitable hiding spot. Yaakov and Xpyali volunteered to look for a place to hide the boat, finding a stand of willows about 400 feet away that might serve with some work.

Rumble Warning​

A distant rumble like thunder from upriver followed by flocks of fleeing birds and anxious animals put a pause to the work. The river flow seemed to slow for a moment and then began to rise and increase in strength. Yaakov and Xpyali investigated the cause of a rumbling sound, which they initially thought could be an earthquake or a rockslide, by hiking a few dozen yards upriver to some high ground. They discovered that the river's water level was rising rapidly, pushing dangerous debris filled headwaters in their direction. The group then fled from the river as a massive wave approached, with everyone but Grandinar making successful strength saving throws due to their advance warning and only taking minimal damage from flying debris as they threw themselves to safety. Grandinar and the boat were washed 300 feet further down the river, but the dwarf, while battered, was able to get to safety through the turbulent water using his helm of underwater action.

Boat Damage & Splitting Party​

Temo assessed that the boat could be repaired enough to float but was unlikely to make it all the way back upstream. There was a better chance of making it back downriver to the lizardfolk, though no guarantee. The group hid the boat under the willow trees. The water level was already receding.

It was decided that Yaakov, Grandinar, and Lamech would go ahead to scout out the old lizardfolk lair for sign of sahuagin, while Temo, Murtaugh, Xpyali, and Dodi stayed behind to repair the boat and establish a base camp. They also had to gather together all the gear that had been cast out of the boat in the flood. The group also discussed the behavior of the sahuagin, noting that attacks typically occur during early morning or late night, and considered this information for their travel plans s it was currently just after midday.

A Confluence of Events​

The three adventurers discussed their strategy for navigating a swampy area and upon reaching a difficult area full of quicksand and sinkholes, Yaakov beseeched Josiah to send him a war elephant. The three of them were now able to move quickly through some areas of difficult terrain, but moved further inland to decrease the chances of being spotted from the river but keeping it in sight.

As they approach the confluence of the two rivers, they notice the extensive damage caused by the flood, which has cleared an area of brush and trees. The group discussed the physical changes to a river confluence area, noting that a previously 40-foot tall rock island that the Dunwater Lizardfolk had once used as a lair, had become a lower, 10-20 foot structure with steps leading up. Yaakov and the others scouted the area from a distance, using higher vantage points to observe the swirling water and discolored areas in the confluence.

Yaakov approached the river bank to get a better view of the stone island, with Lamech and Grandinar providing cover. The paladin crawled towards the riverbank, camouflaged by local foliage and mud, and moving from stumps to piles of debris across the open area as to not be spotted. He finally made it to the edge where he could make out more details of the island and surrounding waters: there were swirling patches of the foul grey water all throughout the confluence and now floating down the Dunwater River, the steps up the island were made of slabs of stone obviously brought from elsewhere (later Grandinar would identify them as deep sea basalt that had been submerged for centuries), the steps lead to a crevasse that was choked with vegetation.

After waiting a nearly three hours and seeing no sign of anyone or anything on the island, the three adventurers decided to go back to their companions, and figured they had enough evidence of this being the sahuagin lair: the strange floodwater, the deepsea stones, and the gathering grey water. As they left however, they saw a line of sahuagin and their leaders emerge from the crevasse at the top of the stairs and move towards the opposite bank of the river.
Yaakov proposed moving away from the scene, opposite to their original direction, to avoid drawing attention. The group agreed to start moving, prioritizing stealth and distance from the island.

Swamp Navigation and Night Watch​

The elephant still made quiet a bit of noise through a swampy area, despite Yaakov focusing on having it avoid trees and other noisy brush to prevent detection. They had been slowly making their way back to camp aboard the elephant for about an hour when they began to hear the sound of work behind them in the direction of the confluence. They heard axes, shovels, grunting and the like.

Upon returning to camp, they found the boat repaired as best as it could under these conditions and decided to rest without starting a fire.

Night Watch and Game Planning​

The group discussed watch assignments for the night, with Yaakov and Xpyali taking the first watch. Temo took second watch on his own, waking Lamech and Dodi for third watch. Grandinar and Murtaugh then found themselves being frantically woken up for their watch to report of being under attack!

​

In today's "Dreams of Erthe" session, the PCs:

• Learned a drow wizard who had been commissioned to create a variant immovable rod for the Forbidden Lands had been slain and his items stolen, and the lich assigned as the PCs' mentor/guide had been assigned to track down the stolen rod
• Also learned (as an aside) that the stolen goods were now in Hell, and they were going there immediately
• Plane shifted to Hell, in an antechamber, and were brought in to the throne of a pit fiend lord
• Had the lich tell what had happened, and got permission for the lich and the PCs to question the underling pit fiend the dead wizard had summoned right before being slain (the lich was sure to point out an underling pit fiend amassing magic items without his Lord's knowledge could be making a play for his throne....)
• Were given a gemstone from the pit fiend lord's bracelet, showing they were under his protection, and which would teleport them to the pit fiend they wished to interview, who was currently assigned watch duty at one of the Burning Rivers
• Teleported to the Burning River, where 2 bearded devils and 2 barbed devils were kicking damned souls back into the lava when they tried to climb up onto the islets of rock, and saw the pit fiend and 4 erinyes devils on the other side of the Burning River
• Got the full story from the pit fiend: he'd been summoned to the Mortal World by a drow wizard who'd planned on using a planar binding spell to control the pit fiend, who escaped by mentally controlling the wizard's apprentice and getting her to step onto the summoning circle, allowing the pit fiend to escape and slay them both, ransacking the keep afterwards and taking the loot with him back to Hell
• Gaped in horror when the human spellsword PC offered to trade the stolen immovable rod for the lich's life, knowing devils hate undead who "escape" their Hellish fates - an act which caused the lich to turn the spellsword into a stone statue with a flesh to stone spell
• Attacked the pit fiend since he didn't seem willing to hand the immovable rod over
• Had the dwarf cleric return the spellsword to flesh with a vial of stone salve, and then chew him out for his general stupidity
• Took out the bearded devils with chain lightning spells, slaying one and causing the other to teleport away with 1 hp
• Got hit repeatedly by fireballs cast by the pit fiend, while the erinyes shot flaming arrows at the PCs
• Took out the barbed devils the hard way, with hand-to-hand combat which caused the PCs a fair bit of damage from the devils' numerous spines
• Had the elf sorcerer use polymorph any object on his pseudodragon familiar, turning him into a Large gold dragon, who slew an erinyes
• Took out another erinyes with a blade barrier spell
• Watched as the half-orc cleric/paladin took a meteor swarm while air walking over the Burning River, and despite all four meteors striking him, walked away with only 11 hp of damage (due to stoneskin and a ring of fire protection) - that really put the fear into the pit fiend!
• Finally slew the pit fiend when the dwarf cleric (who'd spent most of the adventure getting attacked by an ambush from an invisible hellcat and then eventually killing it with her warhammer) cast an implosion spell at the pit fiend, overcoming his spell resistance, and having him fail his save
• Gathered up the stolen loot from the slain wizard and returned to the Forbidden Lands (with the spellsword having a black mark on his record due to the attempt to trade in the lich for the rod, which the lich did not appreciate in the least)

In the spellsword's defense, he figured the lich would just remanifest by his phylactery once slain, but he hadn't thought it out very well beyond that: the lich was their only means to return to the Material Plane, so his death would have left them stranded in Hell...and even if they did manage to escape back to the Material Plane, they'd have a hard time explaining to the undead of the Forbidden Lands why they came back without their lich guide....

Four more adventures left in this campaign! The next time we play (scheduled for 31 May), the adventure will take place in the Dreamlands, their last time there before they have to become undead themselves....

Johnathan

Continuing the theme of spelljammers vs. cosmic unpleasantness, the heroes came across this thing last time:

In today's "Dreams of Erthe" game session, the PCs:

• Gathered together in the Dreamlands and were told by their moogle guides they needed to go into the Nightmare Lands to capture a hypnalis viper, so it could bite the dream-form of Princess Caroline Devlin, a dreamwalker prodigy the Council of Dragons had decided should be the new Queen of Dreams
• Encountered a nightmare beast in the Nightmare Lands (not unexpectedly) and slew it after it ambushed them
• Tracked down and captured a hypnalis viper as requested (the half-orc used Lucid Dreaming to turn himself into a mummy and paralyzed it long enough to toss it into their extradimensional lamp)
• Brought it back to Princess Caroline and oversaw it biting her, which put her physical self into a stasislike dream coma (and allowed her consciousness to remain full-time in the Dreamlands, overseeing everyone's dreams)
• Started to celebrate with a cake the moogles brought over, only for it to suddenly erupt into swarms of Tiny clown spiders (the one thing of which Princess Caroline is practically frightened to death)
• Fought off the clown spider swarms (all 20 of them!) before six Large clown spiders crashed the party
• Slew them, but not before a Colossal clown spider appeared, and after defeating it learned all of these attacks had been the brainchild of a red dragon who felt the next Queen of Dreams should not be a seven-year-old human girl (she popped out of the Colossal clown spider skin like shedding a costume)
• "Slew" the red dragon (this is in the Dreamlands, so nothing happened to the real red dragon other than it was awakened from its sleep, but the Council of Dragons promised to deal with her in the Mortal World)
• Watched as seven-year-old Princess Caroline "aged" her body to look more like her deceased mother, so she'd look more like a Queen of Dreams (although she refused that title, fearing the old one had ruined it, and opted instead to become the "Princess of Dreams")
• Learned that she could infuse their real-life weapons in the Mortal World (through the dreamstones the PCs had attached to them) with power from the Dreamlands, enhancing their abilities (the weapons - including the half-orc's shield - are now all +5, and the jade cooshee can now become a dire cooshee as well as a normal-sized one) - in her words, "I may only be seven years old, but I can still do stuff.")

And now next adventure, the 5 PCs will have to become undead so they can learn of the planet-ending catastrophe they're there in the Forbidden Lands to stop. I've already redone their PCs sheets to update them as the undead beings they've chosen to become.

Johnathan

And then, it was over.

Today was the finale of a Dragon Age: Origins campaign that began in January 2024 (averaging 3-4 sessions per month). It didn't feel like 1.5 years had passed since we began, but in an epic battle, the archdemon is dead, a PC made the ultimate sacrifice to keep it that way, and the DM now has a few weeks, thanks to RL vacations, to work on an epilogue where we can attend the funeral, give speeches, chat with old friends, and see where all our decisions took not only ourselves, but those around us.

It's always bittersweet when you see an amazing campaign come to a close. You hate to say goodbye to the world and binders full of notes and NPCs, but a good epilogue gives closure and a measure of satisfaction that the presence of the players changed things in the world around them (not always for good, but that's all part of the process!)

In tonight's "Ghourmand Vale" session (our first since January!), the PCs:

• Arrived at the new potion shop of the evil gnome wizard we killed last session (and then reincarnated into a halfling because we were technically in the wrong), and agreed to deliver the potions ordered by El Brujo, the eldritch giant who had sent his grisgol to pick them up last adventure
• Were met in the new shop by Blorkane, an NPC wizard we've dealt with in the past (usually getting him out of scrapes of his own doing), who warned us El Brujo liked to steal items, so he volunteered to hold on to anything of ours we didn't actually need for the day-long trek to El Brujo's meeting place (where we'd be met by one of his construct creations); we turned him down and he left
• Went in the back with the gnome, who packed up the potions we were to transport in a small chest, only to have Blorkane rush in and demand to know if we'd seen him lately, because that wasn't him
• Got the full story: he'd been offered a butt-ton of money to allow someone to impersonate him for a week while he lounged around in a well-furnished room, but he eventually decided to escape and found out he'd been on the Ethereal Plane
• Heard Blorkane admit the impersonator would now try to kill him, didn't want to take him along on the trip for his own protection, and decided to have him cast rope trick twice a day (he's a 14th-level wizard) and stay in the extradimensional space until we returned for him
• Heard something crashing through the stone floor in the front room and prepared for combat
• Watched as a truly horrid umber hulk burrowed up through the stone floor in the back room, who got shot in the eye with a readied arrow from the elf archer and a readied chain lightning spell from my human sorcerer
• Had the half-elf paladin charge the truly horrid umber hulk for some decent damage, and then had the halfling rogue (under a greater invisibility spell effect) sneak attack him from behind from the wall she'd been spider climbing on
• Watched as two more (normal-sized) umber hulks burrowed up through the stone floor
• Had the elf druid send a sunbeam spell through all three umber hulks, blinding all three
• Killed the truly horrid umber hulk when the sorcerer cast a maximized chain lightning spell through his metamagic rod, dealing pretty good damage to the other two as well
• Killed the normal umber hulks, only to have the phony Blorkane (who'd snuck into the room invisibly) pop into view as he tried casting a spell on the gnome wizard (which failed; she made her save against the charm person spell)
• Had the halfling run along the wall, leap at the fake Blorkane, and deal him massive sneak attack damage
• Had the elf druid "bunnify" the fake Blorkane with a baleful polymorph spell
• Killed the bunny with another maximized chain lightning spell, at which point the fake Blorkane reverted to his natural form: that of an ethereal doppelganger
• Watched as a neogi popped out of one of the umber hulk tunnels, demanding that the real Blorkane be turned over to him as penalty for breaking the contract Blorkane signed with the ethereal doppleganger
• Determined the neogi was evil (per the paladin's detect evil sense), and slew it with an arrow from the elf archer

So next adventure we'll actually get around to delivering the potions to the eldritch giant El Brujo. But Blorkane's not coming with us, because he's an idiot. (After hiding him in the rope trick spell's extradimensional space - from which he could not be detected even by scrying - he popped his head out to say "Good job, fellows!" after we killed the umber hulks, when the invisible ethereal doppelganger trying to track him down to kill him was right there in the room with us. Dumbass!)

We leveled up to 17th at the end of this adventure, probably our last advancement since there are only two more adventures left in this campaign.

Johnathan