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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 9825954" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 35Leana didn’t hesitate; she sprinted to Greghan’s side, knelt beside him, and channeled a healing spell into his battered body. For a moment she thought she she’d been too late, that the minotaur had killed him, but then his chest arced as he drew in a deep breath, his eyes flicking wide.“Where…” he managed to gasp out.“We need you, we’re in mortal danger,” Leana said as she took a step forward, toward the creature. Greghan looked up—and up, at the monstrous thing now fully visible as it loomed over them. Leana looked tiny in contrast to its sheer mass, and he felt a pang in his heart at her courage, foolish that it seemed to be.He realized what she was doing a moment later, as she clanged her mace against the floor, drawing the monster’s attention to her. That gave Ravani the chance he needed to get clear, slicing his sword across its leg as he disengaged and fell back. The magical blade cut through its thick hide, but the wound hardly bled; its muscles must be like coils of wire, Greghan thought. He pushed himself up, or tried to; his limbs felt like they belonged to someone else. The noise he made caught the creature’s attention, and it hefted its huge axe as its gaze shifted back to him, his size and sword marking him as the greatest threat.But before the minotaur could launch another assault, Folgar stepped in. The dwarf’s fingers moved in complex patterns, and he uttered words that like all of his arcane utterances seemed to vanish from Greghan’s mind as soon as he heard them. But the minotaur heard them, or at least seemed to be affected by whatever conjuration the wizard had completed; it jerked back and let out a roar that shook the cavern, followed by another that shook its entire body with its intensity. As the sounds continued, Greghan realized with horror that the thing was laughing; those terrible howls building until it collapsed upon the floor, its limbs shaking uncontrollably.Greghan did not hesitate further; he thrust himself upright and staggered forward. Somehow his sword had remained in his hand, and he used it without elegance or precision, just hacking down at the fallen minotaur with every last bit of strength he could muster. The blows carved into its body, but failed to penetrate to the vital organs underneath. Through his wild assault the creature continued to laugh, but as he stumbled back, his furor exhausted, those unnatural eyes fixed upon him, clearing as it shook off the effects of Folgar’s magic.“Don’t give it a chance to recover!” Leana said, stepping forward and placing her hands upon one of the creature’s legs. Greghan’s eyes widened as a broad gash suddenly appeared up from its ankle to its knee, the wound as deep as either of the cuts he had managed. The minotaur jerked back, but before it could react Ravani shot forward and stabbed it in the neck. This time the blade punched deep enough to unleash a spray of blood, and the minotaur roared in pain. But any hope that the wound would be enough to kill it were dispelled as the creature rolled and began pushing itself to its feet.The companions did not let up, following Leana’s stricture even as it surged upright. Folgar blasted it with a series of magic missiles, while Greghan swung his sword again, trying to cut its legs out from under it before it could stand. But the missiles barely seemed to faze it, and the warrior’s strike, delivered from muscles still recovering from his brush with death, did little more. Greghan held his ground as the minotaur finally regained his footing, and he shouted at it as it looked around, selecting its target. When it choose him he didn’t falter, only brought his sword up in defiance.The minotaur swung its huge weapon in a deadly arc. But it too was suffering; blood from its many wounds covered its body, the torrent from the deep puncture in its neck soaking its fur from shoulder to hip. Even so the impact of the axe sent Greghan flying back, knocking him against the wall hard enough to smash some of the ancient bricks. His sword was knocked from his hand, and the air from his lungs. But other than that, he remained unharmed, the Castellan’s magical gift having protected his life.Greghan’s friends took advantage of his sacrifice. Leana held up her holy symbol and conjured a necrotic pulse that pulsed through its head, which shook back and forth as if trying to clear it of the dark magic. It never even saw Ravani as the elf stepped up behind it and drove his sword up into its back. The slender blade didn’t seem like it could do that much damage against the sheer size of the creature, but as it slid past muscle and bone it nicked its heart; when the elf yanked the weapon free it came with a fresh deluge of blood that spattered in fat gobs upon the floor. The minotaur, belatedly realizing something was wrong, started to turn, but its motions became halting, uncoordinated. The axe fell from its grasp to thud heavily upon the blood-sodden dirt at its feet. It tried to roar again, but this time only managed a pathetic bleating sound that ended in a long, pained trill before the monster collapsed, first to its knees and then face-down into the ground.Game Notes:Tasha’s Hideous Laughter saved the day here. In addition to failing its initial save, the minotaur failed both saves with advantage following Greghan’s attacks (the minotaur has a decent Wis save, but it couldn’t roll more than a 10 on five d20 rolls). It finally succeeded on its next turn, but that cost it its turn, and it was left prone and thus vulnerable to the next series of attacks. With its regular attack doing 20 points of damage on average, the minotaur could have taken down any of them with a single hit, or killed them outright with a crit. The fact that this cave was suggested for 4 level 2 characters shows that Starter Set’s writers weren’t messing around when it came to setting the challenge for new players.</blockquote>

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