Mentioned in the previous session - it's a revenant for whom EVERY character is its chosen foe.
D&D 5E A playthrough of The Shattered Obelisk (spoilers)
Session 16, Monday February 12, 2024.
The party began the session at the great crossroads at the heart of Gibbet Crossing, after killing the lone alpha grick that was there. Listening carefully, they heard rustling sounds to the west. My party is very much of the mind that you shouldn't leave monsters to creep up on them, so they investigated, and thus discovered all the regular gricks that would have come to aid the alpha grick if it had lived long enough to summon them.
It's a well-described chamber, with slimy mucus glinting in various pockets. I appreciate that. I'm not so sure the players did.
The gricks were outmatched, and perished swiftly (3 rounds), especially after Simeon decided to roll back-to-back critical hits.
The Other Entrance
The far side of this chamber, once a mine, held a door that led into a north-south corridor. I'm not entirely sure the geometry of this outpost makes sense. Generally, you don't enclose a mine in corridors. Especially when it isn't a vertical mine.
The players headed north, towards the other entrance - the one to the surface. This group of rooms was also the duergar workshop where once upon a time, they crafted metal cages that they sold to other races of the Underdark. A lot of it was now empty, with only remnants of the lives that were lived here.
The party discovered another form of remnant in the workshop, however: More feral ashenwights (which I kept calling ashenwrights), ghostly spectres still hammering on imaginary bars of metal. They did not appreciate being disturbed, and moved to attack. Simeon and Killin took the lead, with Killin engaging the first group and Simeon moving to stop the last ashenwights from getting to the casters.
The encounter didn't take long: 3 rounds (17 minutes).
They examined a folding cage - Syzoth, as an artificer, was fascinated by its construction. In another chamber, they discovered a lantern of revealing and an illustrated book about ropers. Killin remarked that it would have been useful earlier. One nice thing is that the book can be discovered before the roper attack: this dungeon has multiple entrances and loops.
Opening the southern door brought them back to the main crossroads.
Chains and Chuuls
Going back to the north-south passageway in the west, the party now headed south and came to a prison still holding its jailer - a chain devil. The devil was chatty, attempting to lure the party into a false sense of security, but the party were having none of it. Especially after they noticed all the cages with spikes pointing inwards in the room.
The combat was short - the chain devil did try to capture the party and throw them into the cages, but the party objected strenuously. With force. Two rounds later, it was all over. (12 minutes).
The party now came to the flooded section of the complex, where they had to wade through up to two feet of murky water. For once, no short characters (halflings or gnomes) were in the party, so it wasn't too much of a burden.
More of a burden were the room of chuuls the party found. Vel'rali made the combat a lot easier with a pair of fireball spells. (3 rounds, 13 minutes).
Throughout this part of the dungeon, they were finding clues to its old purpose as a set of negotiating chambers and quarters for several races of the underdark: duergar, svirfneblin, and drow. I very much appreciate these touches.
Also of note: this adventure has some information that is given out not based on a roll, but on whether a character is proficient in a skill. This is great!
Lapsed Servant of Lolth
Heading south, they ascended from the water into a chamber where a lone yochlol lived, having been summoned and then forgotten about. It rather liked the solitude, doing its rituals with no interference. It did not appreciate the party's entrance, and attacked them.
A mistake. It was swiftly cornered and dispatched.
Syzoth didn't like that both a demon and a devil were in the same dungeon and hadn't dealt with each other. This does make sense within the ecology of the dungeon, though I guess both don't need food?
Exploring the various drow rooms, they found various notes, including a word in Terran that they couldn't understand. They wondered if they could pronounce it anyway, but I pointed out how there are several languages that use the Roman alphabet that have completely different sounds. Being familiar with the alphabet doesn't really allow you to pronounce words correctly. Especially if they're magical.
Eastwards!
The party had now explored most of the north, south, and west of Gibbet Crossing. What lay east?
Well, north east was the tunnel they entered from, and the xorn and earth elemental investigating what Syzoth believed was a Daern's Instant Fortress. But southeast? More flooded corridors, and a room where a few grimlocks were accompanied by two basilisks.
The grimlocks were not appreciative of the party's intrusion, and combat swiftly followed, although movement was slowed by the water. Simeon used his action surge, understanding that leaving basilisks alive was a poor idea. Jake critted one with a bow shot, and Vel'rali threw in a shatter spell for good measure - something the blind grimlocks did not enjoy!
It was over quickly: two rounds (10 minutes).
At this point, the party had reached the final part of the dungeon - and the chapter - but we were out of time. I'm enjoying this dungeon a lot more than the crypt. Good environmental touches, and an interesting set of creatures to fight or negotiate with. I'd expected to finish it this session, but I guess we'll finish Chapter 6 and move on to Chapter 7 next time.
The party began the session at the great crossroads at the heart of Gibbet Crossing, after killing the lone alpha grick that was there. Listening carefully, they heard rustling sounds to the west. My party is very much of the mind that you shouldn't leave monsters to creep up on them, so they investigated, and thus discovered all the regular gricks that would have come to aid the alpha grick if it had lived long enough to summon them.
It's a well-described chamber, with slimy mucus glinting in various pockets. I appreciate that. I'm not so sure the players did.
The gricks were outmatched, and perished swiftly (3 rounds), especially after Simeon decided to roll back-to-back critical hits.
The Other Entrance
The far side of this chamber, once a mine, held a door that led into a north-south corridor. I'm not entirely sure the geometry of this outpost makes sense. Generally, you don't enclose a mine in corridors. Especially when it isn't a vertical mine.
The players headed north, towards the other entrance - the one to the surface. This group of rooms was also the duergar workshop where once upon a time, they crafted metal cages that they sold to other races of the Underdark. A lot of it was now empty, with only remnants of the lives that were lived here.
The party discovered another form of remnant in the workshop, however: More feral ashenwights (which I kept calling ashenwrights), ghostly spectres still hammering on imaginary bars of metal. They did not appreciate being disturbed, and moved to attack. Simeon and Killin took the lead, with Killin engaging the first group and Simeon moving to stop the last ashenwights from getting to the casters.
The encounter didn't take long: 3 rounds (17 minutes).
They examined a folding cage - Syzoth, as an artificer, was fascinated by its construction. In another chamber, they discovered a lantern of revealing and an illustrated book about ropers. Killin remarked that it would have been useful earlier. One nice thing is that the book can be discovered before the roper attack: this dungeon has multiple entrances and loops.
Opening the southern door brought them back to the main crossroads.
Chains and Chuuls
Going back to the north-south passageway in the west, the party now headed south and came to a prison still holding its jailer - a chain devil. The devil was chatty, attempting to lure the party into a false sense of security, but the party were having none of it. Especially after they noticed all the cages with spikes pointing inwards in the room.
The combat was short - the chain devil did try to capture the party and throw them into the cages, but the party objected strenuously. With force. Two rounds later, it was all over. (12 minutes).
The party now came to the flooded section of the complex, where they had to wade through up to two feet of murky water. For once, no short characters (halflings or gnomes) were in the party, so it wasn't too much of a burden.
More of a burden were the room of chuuls the party found. Vel'rali made the combat a lot easier with a pair of fireball spells. (3 rounds, 13 minutes).
Throughout this part of the dungeon, they were finding clues to its old purpose as a set of negotiating chambers and quarters for several races of the underdark: duergar, svirfneblin, and drow. I very much appreciate these touches.
Also of note: this adventure has some information that is given out not based on a roll, but on whether a character is proficient in a skill. This is great!
Lapsed Servant of Lolth
Heading south, they ascended from the water into a chamber where a lone yochlol lived, having been summoned and then forgotten about. It rather liked the solitude, doing its rituals with no interference. It did not appreciate the party's entrance, and attacked them.
A mistake. It was swiftly cornered and dispatched.
Syzoth didn't like that both a demon and a devil were in the same dungeon and hadn't dealt with each other. This does make sense within the ecology of the dungeon, though I guess both don't need food?
Exploring the various drow rooms, they found various notes, including a word in Terran that they couldn't understand. They wondered if they could pronounce it anyway, but I pointed out how there are several languages that use the Roman alphabet that have completely different sounds. Being familiar with the alphabet doesn't really allow you to pronounce words correctly. Especially if they're magical.
Eastwards!
The party had now explored most of the north, south, and west of Gibbet Crossing. What lay east?
Well, north east was the tunnel they entered from, and the xorn and earth elemental investigating what Syzoth believed was a Daern's Instant Fortress. But southeast? More flooded corridors, and a room where a few grimlocks were accompanied by two basilisks.
The grimlocks were not appreciative of the party's intrusion, and combat swiftly followed, although movement was slowed by the water. Simeon used his action surge, understanding that leaving basilisks alive was a poor idea. Jake critted one with a bow shot, and Vel'rali threw in a shatter spell for good measure - something the blind grimlocks did not enjoy!
It was over quickly: two rounds (10 minutes).
At this point, the party had reached the final part of the dungeon - and the chapter - but we were out of time. I'm enjoying this dungeon a lot more than the crypt. Good environmental touches, and an interesting set of creatures to fight or negotiate with. I'd expected to finish it this session, but I guess we'll finish Chapter 6 and move on to Chapter 7 next time.
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I've got most of these posts now collected and revised on my site (https://merricb.com/adventure-reports-advice/the-shattered-obelisk/)
Almost up to date! I'm running Session 17 tonight.
Cheers,
Merric
Almost up to date! I'm running Session 17 tonight.
Cheers,
Merric
Rabbitbait
Adventurer
Last night the group decided to do some of the side quests while Gundren gathers supplies to go to the lost mine. They went to Wyvern Tor and cleared it well after a long battle. In the cave they found an unlabelled map of Thundertree with an x showing on the tower. I had not fed them that side quest so this was added in. Now they know they have a treasure map but don't know where it is for - a bit of research to be done.
Then off to old owl well. They were not interested in talking with a necromancer so it was trouble all the way. The zombies kept getting up again and the necromancer cast improved invisibility and was running around throwing fireballs about. They managed to find him by the druid taking on beast form and smelling him out. A faeri fire from the wizard in the approximate spot got him and they were able to dispatch him after that.
The druid has taken to casting Spike Growth a lot. It is an amazingly effective spell.
Then off to old owl well. They were not interested in talking with a necromancer so it was trouble all the way. The zombies kept getting up again and the necromancer cast improved invisibility and was running around throwing fireballs about. They managed to find him by the druid taking on beast form and smelling him out. A faeri fire from the wizard in the approximate spot got him and they were able to dispatch him after that.
The druid has taken to casting Spike Growth a lot. It is an amazingly effective spell.
Spike Growth is one of those spells I have trouble adjudicating - but it is very effective!
Protection from Evil and Good is turning out to be very useful!
Cheers,
Merric
Session 17 - Monday, February 19, 2023.
We completed Chapter 6 in this session of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, which was run on Monday, February 19, 2023.
The current characters in the campaign are:
When we left off our previous session, the characters had just defeated a group of grimlocks in a flooded chamber and were proceeding northwards after a pair of them who had fled the encounter.
We now came to one of the most baffling encounters of the adventure.
Those drow were long dead. Now the guard room was inhabited by a mind flayer and his grimlock servants. The servants were able to detect the party moving along but… they had no missile weapons.
As a result, the mind flayer could (partially) attack the party, but more of the party could attack back. Sure, there might be a penalty for ranged attack rolls through the arrowslits, but they could do it. More to the point, spells like shatter and fireball could be cast at the mind flayer and grimlocks with no penalty.
I managed to get the mind flayer to dominate Syzoth, as Simeon and Killin fought their way up the corridor. But it wasn’t all that long before the party broke the concentration of the mind flayer and defeated the grimlocks.
Poor Mind Flayer. It dominated Syzoth, the least effective member of the group as an artificer – when looking as his offensive options (as an 8th level artificer), its best option was casting shatter. Syzoth helps the party greatly through his temporary-hit-point granting eldritch cannon, but he doesn’t have a lot of active options.
The important feature of the room was the charcoal drawing the mind flayer had made on the southern wall, depicting the goals of the mind flayers: to reassemble the Shattered Obelisk and use it to transform the people of Phandalin into mind flayers! An operation that calculations on the wall showed would be less than 100% successful, but this wasn’t a concern to the mind flayers.
The characters had learned what was going on! Now all they had to do was stop the mind flayers.
Then Syzoth was struck by inspiration: He’d take the paper to the xorn and earth elementals they’d met and get them to say the word aloud!
This worked! I was wondering if they’d have to return to Phanadlin to do research, but Syzoth mimed out what he wanted, and soon the word was stated, the elementals took possession of the tower, and the party made their way into the vault.
There, sitting undisturbed, was the treasure of the drow. And the final obelisk fragment. It was quite a substantial treasure hoard as well, making the second that the party had found recently. All were pleased. They carted the fragment back to Phandalin, where they put it in storage with the other two. Somewhere. We didn’t worry about the details too much.
Harbin begged the players to subdue the trio. They thought would be easy, but the three fought with unnatural strength. (One of the players commented that they though the trio would have commoner stat blocks. They didn’t).
I reminded my players that ranged attacks had the potential to kill them, and also that shocking grasp and other melee spells could be used to subdue. The party managed not to kill anyone, and the townsfolk took the three into custody.
During their discussions with the townsmaster and Gwyn, they realised that all three of those affected had close connections with one of the obelisk shards. (Ander’s doesn’t work that well, in my opinion – having access to the store’s well should affect more people). But there had been four shards in Phandalin! They went to the Sleeping Giant, where the fourth shard had once been placed in the bar top.
There they found Wheel of Fortune, the tiefling bartender, looking greatly changed – the process to turn him into a mind flayer certainly underway. He was able to tell the group that goblins and humans had been seen sneaking into the tavern’s cellar and descending through a sinkhole that had opened up into the Underdark. Well, the party had to follow, didn’t they?
(I note that there’s nothing in the descriptive text that says the humans were prisoners, but some of the ancillary text implies they were. I’d much prefer that it was “a group of goblins escorted humans into the cellar and downwards” or something similar, rather than implying that the humans went willingly).
The first encounter they had was with a group of three hook horrors. I found a nice battlemap, and let the party have fun.
After that, they reached the first of the keyed areas – a small side-complex where some of the goblins and human prisoners had been waylaid by grell. The goblins were dead, the humans still alive – but potentially dinner.
The party managed to navigate a chasm (poorly – lots of failed Strength checks) and reach the three villagers. They learnt that they were prisoners abducted by the goblins, and then the grell had come as they lagged behind the bulk of the convoy. The route that didn’t go through the chasm led through the grell lair, and with one having a poor leg, the chasm was no escape.
So, the adventurers slew the grell, and escorted the prisoners out.
More of the depths beckon – but that will have to wait for the next session. I’ll likely reduce the number of random encounters on the way, though.
We completed Chapter 6 in this session of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, which was run on Monday, February 19, 2023.
The current characters in the campaign are:
- Syzoth, yuan-ti artificer (artillerist)
- Killin, earth genasi paladin (oath of the ancients)
- Vel’rari, tiefling sorcerer (divine soul)
- Simeon, human fighter (champion)
- Jake, human rogue (assassin henchman)
When we left off our previous session, the characters had just defeated a group of grimlocks in a flooded chamber and were proceeding northwards after a pair of them who had fled the encounter.
We now came to one of the most baffling encounters of the adventure.
Arrowslits, no Arrows
The corridor leading north went to a drow vault. To protect the vault, the drow had constructed a guardroom on one side of the corridor with arrowslits allowing the drow guards to attack any potential intruders moving towards the vault.Those drow were long dead. Now the guard room was inhabited by a mind flayer and his grimlock servants. The servants were able to detect the party moving along but… they had no missile weapons.
As a result, the mind flayer could (partially) attack the party, but more of the party could attack back. Sure, there might be a penalty for ranged attack rolls through the arrowslits, but they could do it. More to the point, spells like shatter and fireball could be cast at the mind flayer and grimlocks with no penalty.
I managed to get the mind flayer to dominate Syzoth, as Simeon and Killin fought their way up the corridor. But it wasn’t all that long before the party broke the concentration of the mind flayer and defeated the grimlocks.
Poor Mind Flayer. It dominated Syzoth, the least effective member of the group as an artificer – when looking as his offensive options (as an 8th level artificer), its best option was casting shatter. Syzoth helps the party greatly through his temporary-hit-point granting eldritch cannon, but he doesn’t have a lot of active options.
The Dreadful Truth
Once they’d defeated the mind flayer, they could examine the guard room that he’d made into a base – including hauling in a stone throne. At least, I hope the mind flayer brought in the throne. It seems an odd furnishing for a guard room, unless one of the guards was seriously high rank and wanted to remind the other drow guards of their rank!The important feature of the room was the charcoal drawing the mind flayer had made on the southern wall, depicting the goals of the mind flayers: to reassemble the Shattered Obelisk and use it to transform the people of Phandalin into mind flayers! An operation that calculations on the wall showed would be less than 100% successful, but this wasn’t a concern to the mind flayers.
The characters had learned what was going on! Now all they had to do was stop the mind flayers.
The Final Shard
The last thing they needed to do was recover the third shard of the Shattered Obelisk. The path to the vault was blocked by the mudslick tower the group had discovered in session 14. They had also discovered a piece of paper last session with the tower’s command word – but no-one knew Terran or Primordial, so they couldn’t pronounce it.Then Syzoth was struck by inspiration: He’d take the paper to the xorn and earth elementals they’d met and get them to say the word aloud!
This worked! I was wondering if they’d have to return to Phanadlin to do research, but Syzoth mimed out what he wanted, and soon the word was stated, the elementals took possession of the tower, and the party made their way into the vault.
There, sitting undisturbed, was the treasure of the drow. And the final obelisk fragment. It was quite a substantial treasure hoard as well, making the second that the party had found recently. All were pleased. They carted the fragment back to Phandalin, where they put it in storage with the other two. Somewhere. We didn’t worry about the details too much.
Trouble in Phandalin
The party quickly learnt that gaining three of the seven shards of the obelisk had not stopped the mind flayer’s plans. When they arrived home, they discovered once more there was a crowd of villagers – and this time the crowd wasn’t berating the townmaster. Instead, they were watching Sister Garaele, Halia Thornton, and the young general store clerk, Ander, all fighting each other, a crazed look in their eyes.Harbin begged the players to subdue the trio. They thought would be easy, but the three fought with unnatural strength. (One of the players commented that they though the trio would have commoner stat blocks. They didn’t).
I reminded my players that ranged attacks had the potential to kill them, and also that shocking grasp and other melee spells could be used to subdue. The party managed not to kill anyone, and the townsfolk took the three into custody.
During their discussions with the townsmaster and Gwyn, they realised that all three of those affected had close connections with one of the obelisk shards. (Ander’s doesn’t work that well, in my opinion – having access to the store’s well should affect more people). But there had been four shards in Phandalin! They went to the Sleeping Giant, where the fourth shard had once been placed in the bar top.
There they found Wheel of Fortune, the tiefling bartender, looking greatly changed – the process to turn him into a mind flayer certainly underway. He was able to tell the group that goblins and humans had been seen sneaking into the tavern’s cellar and descending through a sinkhole that had opened up into the Underdark. Well, the party had to follow, didn’t they?
(I note that there’s nothing in the descriptive text that says the humans were prisoners, but some of the ancillary text implies they were. I’d much prefer that it was “a group of goblins escorted humans into the cellar and downwards” or something similar, rather than implying that the humans went willingly).
Into the Depths
After resting (and becoming level 9), the party went on the trail of the goblins, descending through a winding passage into the Underdark. This is a 12-mile long tunnel, and the adventure expects a random encounter check every hour the party spend traversing it – with the entire trip taking 14 hours. All well and good, but there’s a 45% chance of an encounter! That’s a lot of encounters. (After a long section with no encounter checks, suddenly the party are showered with random encounters!)The first encounter they had was with a group of three hook horrors. I found a nice battlemap, and let the party have fun.
After that, they reached the first of the keyed areas – a small side-complex where some of the goblins and human prisoners had been waylaid by grell. The goblins were dead, the humans still alive – but potentially dinner.
The party managed to navigate a chasm (poorly – lots of failed Strength checks) and reach the three villagers. They learnt that they were prisoners abducted by the goblins, and then the grell had come as they lagged behind the bulk of the convoy. The route that didn’t go through the chasm led through the grell lair, and with one having a poor leg, the chasm was no escape.
So, the adventurers slew the grell, and escorted the prisoners out.
More of the depths beckon – but that will have to wait for the next session. I’ll likely reduce the number of random encounters on the way, though.
From the adventure:
"The winding tunnel between Phandalin and Illithinoch is 12 miles long, curving in different directions as it descends 2 miles beneath the town. The tunnel has a gentle but continuous slope. The entire journey takes about 14 hours if the characters walk at normal speed."
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