Describe your last RPG session in more than 5 words.

[Golden Bee]

Hello/Versailles!
Je suis le chasseur et tu es la proie.

In the world of pulp, there’s a direct correlation between the stakes and the level of competence. At least this week.

The session started with what was supposed to be a cakewalk. The group (secret MI-X agent Mary Willard, millionaire industrialist Rafe Lancaster, Appalachian honey "Cousin" Clara Tate, and Yugoslavia smuggler Ivan “Ivo” Kochev) were in a railcar diner in New Jersey. Some local tough guys, the Hot Rods, were threatening to beat up a former member. Mary read the situation: this was a distraction so one of the Rods could rip off the register.

That's when ‘planning’ went out the window. Rafe tried to use his money to intimidate the punks, but they made fun of him.

“You got a butler? Why don't you call him so he can pick your dumb ass up.”

Mary stood by the door and… stood by the door. Clara tried to be close to the register, but went over to help Rafe, who went back to his booth and sulked. Clara’s attempts to physically intimidate the crooks was interpreted as flirting. The robbery was only foiled because Ivo made a scene and everyone but Rafe was kicked out.
***
After that showing, the group was nervous about their next assignment: Versailles! The 2300-room mansion was being rented out for a historical dress-up weekend, and they had been hired as chaperones for the Honorable Association of Girl Socialites. (Except for Clara: she was the oldest member of the HAGS.)

The group split up into different roles: Ivo was a natural philosopher, Rafe represented the aristocracy, Clara joined the Scottish mercenary guard, and sneaky Mary Willard disguised herself as a valet. She had a clandestine mission: find who at the retreat was secretly royalty, and protect them to prevent an international incident.

The many, many teenage girls in attendance were vying to be crowned the Sun Queen. Rafe was torn between supporting his niece Anizah ( related to him, but very annoying) and the much more genteel HAG, Polina Orlova. How to pick?

The group faffed about, investigating rivals and trying to make the event profitable. Ivo refused to stop two German smugglers from looting the hall of paintings, figuring that the mansion was big enough for everyone. Clara caught wind of this however, and pressed him into service catching the crooks before she got blamed.

Meanwhile, Mary tried to solve the mystery of the Jester. Whoever it was had assigned themselves their own role, and was wearing a full disguise. The Jester used their anonymity order to mock participants and engage in intense frivolity. Mary, in order to suck up to some of the well-heeled rich teens, started putting up wanted posters for the prankster.

Rafe, who had brought some of his European employees to the party, was all about schmoozing. He was at a cigar party when he noticed someone trying to hide from him. It was Mr. Dudley, a former client. And more importantly, Regent of Arthur, teenage Prince of Borgovia!

Arthur had infiltrated the event as the Jester in order to impress his on-again and off-again girlfriend Devika. (Unfortunately, she wasn't even in attendance, but was instead in Paris modeling for fashionista Bea Bingen.) The group had to cause a distraction so he could change disguises and leave the festivities, before he was scandalously discovered or kidnapped!

Meanwhile, the mean girls picked on poor Anizah, putting rats in her bed. Since the adults were too busy to do anything about it, the HAGS planned to drop rats on their rivals during dinner! Ivo had to tell some fabulous lies to clear the area, while Rafe disabled the trap. Since there was an actual risk, the group worked together and succeeded. (Pollina, who had previously been proclaimed the Czarina of Russia in exile, had mixed feelings about being crowned Sun Queen. Clara reassured her pal that she was perfect for the role, being a ballerina and everything.)
***
Mary was recalled to England, and the group decided to have a relaxing and free retreat in Inverness. (It was comped after the group last’s visit, which involved aliens, a disappearance ray, and strange gray giants out of Scottish folklore.)

There, they had thorough relaxation, and ran into their old acquaintance: Rose-of-Sharon Thisby. She buried them in local gossip; the eccentric visitors of Lord Bracknell of Eilean Donan; the rumor that Irish gangsters were looting castles in the Highlands; that royal scientists were coming up any day now, to find Nessie with the power of sonar.

“You see, sonar is—”
“Miss Thisby, I own a military weapons company.”

After contacting their friend Thaza, the Irish gangster raised-by-apes, group weren’t able to verify the rumors.

“Usually the homeland branch doesn’t call New York announcing their upcoming crimes. But robbing the Highlands, that would be great stuff. Thanks for the idea!”

***
The next morning, a messenger pigeon arrived. Lord Bracknell had heard of their mighty deeds and wanted to discuss a security job related to gangsters. The group rambled over, and despite the incoming storm and poorly maintained roads, arrived before nightfall.

The castle itself was gorgeous but weatherworn. It was on a peninsula between three lochs, imposing and austere.

Inside, the well-informed lord peppered the group with questions and tried to play down his eccentric reputation. He expounded upon his worldview: that the Earth is a joy for the strong. Hadn’t all three guests proved their skill at dispatching the weak? After dinner, he plied them with 300-year-old Scotch …That's the last thing they remembered.

“Are we getting Most Dangerous Gamed?” asked Kath, the player. They were.

The mad lord chained them up in the dungeon. Assuming they didn't drown in the rapidly pooling deluge, they had three hours after fleeing his property before he would give chase. Next to the trio were the dead bodies of two O'Rourke gangsters.

“They were a wee bit lippy.”

As soon as he left, Ivo called on his smuggler instincts, using shims of old bone to free himself. The others wanted to flee immediately, but he had been mentally mapping the castle.

The group clambered over wet stones, avoiding the patrols and the hounds. They fed the poisoned scotch to the latter, retrieved their weapons, and headed towards the front door.

Rafe had a better idea though. The best way to flee the castle was by boat. Especially if they unchained all the other boats and dragged them into the currents to prevent pursuit.

Repairing the complaining motor, the trio headed north. Certainly the neighboring town would be under the influence of the madman, but Rafe had an ace up his sleeve. Or more accurately, a Breitling watch.

The drenched adventurers found a nearby pub. Bursting in, Clara pointed her rifle at anyone who dared to move. None dared. Rafe won over the crowd of scared Scots like it was an investor pitch. By the time he was through, his watch was traded for the only car in the village, and they had let him use the phone to call his European branch. Ivo snuck the group back to their inn. He then snuck away himself, because sitting in the dining room room was Majá Malgorźo, of the League of Nations Police Force!

Because of Lancaster's extreme wealth and connections, she planned to petition the Scottish government for an inquiry. The lord had lost the most dangerous game of all: politics.

Pulp in a nutshell. When the stakes were high, the group displayed nothing but skill.

 

[John Dallman]

AD&D 1.6e, Greensward, Avalon campaign:

New characters, heading for home.

The characters that the Monday night Avalon group have been playing since spring 2020 are now 15th-19th level, and the world just doesn't have sufficient challenges for them to be played all the time. So we have started playing a new set of low-level characters, in a different country.

The previous characters were from, and based in, Landcentre, which is a pretty free country. Greensward, where the new characters are from, is very feudal, with authority very top-down. It consists of twelve petty kingdoms, and frequently has civil wars. It is divided into three rigid social classes: nobility, peasantry, and the "talented" who work for the nobility keeping the peasantry under control. The nobility and talented are trained as adventurers, although to highly variable standards.

Religion is almost exclusively the Church of Mammon, whose doctrine in Greensward emphasises the importance of hierarchy and obedience to the nobility. At least some of the nobility worship Set, or the One Trewe Church of Evil, although they keep that secret.

Magicians operate in a style that seems to be unique to Greensward, where they enchant equipment for the nobility, but rarely cast spells. An important part of this style is the enchantment of standards for armies. These negate arcane magic (including enchantments) that isn't attuned to the standard, in a radius dependent on the power of the standard. When standards are opposed, the more powerful one suppresses the weaker. You'll appreciate that having a powerful standard is very important in the civil wars of Greensward.

Greensward is currently in a state of near-anarchy. It declared war on Landcentre, for reasons explained below, after which most of the senior nobility were killed by infiltrators from Landcentre's adventurer-based army elite. Many of the surviving nobility are now fighting for power. Landcentre was founded by people unwilling to live in Greensward any longer.

There's some previous history that also matters before we get to what the characters are doing. About forty years ago, the capital of one of the petty kingdoms, Petersport, was abruptly transformed into a city of undead by something that looked like the Crimson Bat from Glorantha, but almost certainly wasn't. Since the type of undead the people became was strictly according to their levels/hit dice, the nobility found themselves abruptly less powerful than others and were killed off. Nobody went there for decades, until a way was found to turn the people back to their living selves. This city, Petersport, found itself much more aligned with Landcentre than the rest of Greensward (because they'd killed their nobility). During a Greensward civil war it started conquering adjacent parts of Greensward and now controls about 10% of the country. Greensward started a war with Landcentre because Landcentre had been supporting Petersport in its conquest of adjacent areas of Greensward.

The new PCs were born into the talented class, all in the same forest village in Greensward, and were sent for their adventurer training to an area near Petersport, before that place was was conquered by Petersport. They have all adopted the idea of freedom, rather than feudalism, in somewhat varied ways and styles, but they're worried about their families. They don't have much news from home, but they know:

• The old lord of the village has died. He was pretty old, and a decent fellow by the standards of Greensward lords. He allowed his peasants some time to improve their standard of living.
• His eldest son is away on military service.
• The village seems to be being run by the new husband of the eldest daughter. That chap has a very poor reputation.
• Among our party is the youngest son, who is thoroughly unsuited for being a lord but may confuse the issue.

So the PCs have decided to head home and see what's going on. This may well turn into a rebellion against Greensward. They sneaked across the border and have been travelling through woodlands, which create a roundabout route but one where it's much easier to stay hidden. We had to cross one area of fields, but since two villages were fighting each other at the time there, nobody took any notice of them. The journey has taken five days so far, with 2-3 more to go.

 

[John Dallman]

GURPS 4e occult WWII campaign, neutral countries strand:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

July 1940. We are in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, on the never-ending quest to transport the Duke of Windsor, and his wife, to the Bahamas, of which he's been appointed governor to keep him out of the way. We came here to get US currency, since after we fly across the South Atlantic via Ascension Island, in our Empire-class flying boat, which is a bit short of range for the job, we will have to work our way north up the coast of South, then North America, and US dollars will be useful.

Liberia (and the USA) is neutral at this point of the war, so there are Spanish and German diplomatic representatives, who are very keen on getting rights to operate land-based aircraft. Since the current government is hilariously corrupt and spendthrift, they stand a chance of that. However, the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which operates a million-acre rubber plantation, is a bit more sensible, and co-operates with the Liberian central bank to keep the politicians under control.

The president, on learning that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were in town, called a diplomatic reception for everyone to meet them. The PCs' job there was to soak up the time of the German and Spanish representatives and keep them from talking to the Duke too much. The representatives from the American Colonization Society proved to be rather zealous Evangelical Christians, who somewhat upset the duchess, so they had to be occupied too.

We had left a PC on the moored flying boat and another in the Embassy to get radio reports from him. Fortunately, the boats full of unknown people did not set out from the harbour to the 'boat until the reception was finished. We could thus put the Duke & Duchess in the embassy, tell it to lock the doors, and take the embassy car to the waterfront. We acquired a boat, found it had no engine, and started rowing as best we could towards the aircraft.

Said boats carried on coming after Svend on the aircraft illuminated them with a spotlight, fired warning shots and then began shooting the paddlers. When shots were heard, the Embassy security man broke out some rifles and he and the Duke gave fire support, and made a few hits.

Both boats stopped moving after several (but not all) of the figures in them had been hit. Under GURPS, being shot with a WWII-era rifle will reliably take out that hit location, so this wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the inhuman heads of the people in those boats, and we ended the session there.

 

[Golden Bee]

Rafe’s Revenge Part 3: Where there’s a Vril
An ancient land of mystery, swarming with evil!

[/I]

There is precisely one Mexican in the Parkhotel Laurin, in the Italian city of Bozen. Wearing a dapper tuxedo, with very slick hair, he is the utter definition of poise... Until he sees someone he knows. Diego Ladrón lowers his mustache at the coat checker, Alexander Bauer, who coughs and asks Diego to meet in the men's bathroom. He does.

"Oh boy, I've never been in the men's room before!"

The Russian spy groans and fixes Devika's disguise.
***
After weeks of planning, Rafe Lancaster and his ZSS allies are ready to make their move. They’ve been hired by foe turned client, the enigmatic German spy known as Krystal Wolf. Wolf needs to rescue her Romani family, being held captive somewhere within the Hollow Earth. The Abwehr's most dangerous agent has informed the party that such a place can only be reached through invisible “Attenuated Gates” hidden throughout Europe. The ZSS’s best option: infiltrate a diplomatic gala held between Nazi financiers and representatives of Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and find a lead there. Krystal's disguised herself as the elderly Dr. Ruedi Zünd. This is perfectly fine... until the real Doctor Zünd appears.

Japanese detective Zelda Saeki interposes herself, making small talk with the Swiss National. The party's newest ally, Major Jonathan Striker, intercedes, perfectly spilling a Cabernet all over real Zünd. Two doctors enter the restroom; only Krystal exits.

Rafe, trying to ingratiate himself, makes a donation via fake check, and expert mercenary Calvin Davino follows the paper. The Filipino merc follows Otto Bruhn, and signals the group to follow as the man enters the garden.

All of the staff, led by Bauer, exit the party and lock the doors just as the ZSS leave. Nazi hater Krystal has decided to give all the fascist donors a door prize: mustard gas.

Otto, unaware, makes his way into the Dolomite mountains. Rafe signals for a cab, and Major Striker asks the man for help opening the trunk. When the fellow exits to oblige, everyone else jumps in and drives away. Rafe and Devi (now carefully removing her mustache and putting it in her purse) are excellent drivers, deftly chasing Bruhn through the switchback roads.

The group enters a mountain tunnel and sees a bizarre sight. There's a rectangular metal frame along a cavern wall, and three military lorries equipped with odd-looking metal devices. Rafe doesn't quite believe it, but the frame is a phase oscillator. With a tremendous amount of energy, the Reich has created a teleportal. Between Calvin, Striker and Zelda, it's no issue to overwhelm the troops, hitch a ride with the unsuspecting Bruhn, and cross the barrier... into the Hollow Earth!

...Which for a while just looks like caverns. The truck bed has no sightline to the cabin, so the group explores the crates and feasts on premium rations. (It's hard to go adventuring on canapes.)

When the adventurers emerge from the tunnel, it's not midnight like it was in Italy; it’s daytime! (Major Striker notes that the hollow Earth is like the British Empire: the Sun never sets.)

The truck's searched at the next checkpoint, but the two soldiers are no match for five trained warriors and Rafe. The group (at Devi's insistence) question Bruhn, and Calvin detects that this fellow is also a mercenary. Money is a language the group speaks well, so after handing over some gold cufflinks, the Bruhn gives a lay of the land.

The main area is a floating castle, supported by a Nazi base. To get the group past the main security force, they’ll need to split up. Half can get through the main gate in the truck, the others would need to climb over a steep hill and drop past the fence.

Devi and Zelda choose that route, along with Calvin, who in a moment of gallantry, forgets that he’s afraid of heights.

Devi’s an expert burglar and Striker is plenty stealthy, so the plan works… up until the hillside starts moving. Carnivorous plants attack, and nearly envelop the distracted Calvin before Devi sets him free.

“I have to save him, he’s my bodyguard!” she explains.

The detective is adept at close-range shooting, obliterating one of the two plants. Devi, her mental powers useless against flora, hides in a cave while Calvin cuts into a creature with his ginublade and rips it in half like a phone book!

The rest of the infiltration is uneventful, except for Maj. Striker using Calvin's nearly dissolved jacket to distract and disorient the nazi’s star-nosed mole-wolves.

The group discovers that the valley below them is piled with ancient skeletal remains. Hulking ceramic bones housed in corroded metal armor rise above the millions of human-sized bodies. It is a place of overwhelming death.

As the six make their way into the castle, they discover large flanged stone columns, connected via wire to metal clamps. Devi and Rafe, putting their heads together, realize that the castle itself is providing a magical energy! Putting science and his ego first, Rafe rushes off to the laboratory in the castle east. Devi, as his best friend, is obligated to follow and protect him, even though the mission objectives lie elsewhere.

The lab is past an archaeological dig, where the millionaire duo see another oddity. In the bowels of the fortress, Nazi scientists are excavating a mummified bio-mechanical giant! This is the “Todesriese”; the “Death Giant”. A platoon of soldiers and scientists work at a brisk pace, led by female scientist Heilwig Hess.
***
In the prison (euphemistically described as 'the dorms'), Krystal recoils when she sees her former tormentor, Standartenführer Hugo Fackenheim. The group is surprised to see the master spy display emotion. Using stealth to their advantage, the four start a gun battle with the prison guards. [Hugo is an absolute brute, filling up every stress track and consequence before succumbing to his wounds.] His taunting rattles Krystal, but Striker has the presence of mind to question the commander before Wolf puts the final bullet in. Her family rescued, they explained the reason they were captured: as Romani, the Thules see them as perfect hosts for the Todesriese.

Over in the lab, Devi finds a vial of blood labeled Lillian Lamb. Recognizing Rafe's girlfriend's name, she offers it to her mentor.

"It's the perfect gift and her birthday is just around the corner..."

Rafe makes a puzzled expression, then starts laughing.
***
Escaping with the prisoners proves to be severely complicated. The giant awakens enough to destroy the floor, sending the group crashing to the lowest level of the fortress. There, Calvin and the charming detective Saeki befriend a tribe of demigryphs, strange lion/eagle creatures that love climbing. After a brief encounter with a pterodactyl (which is distracted by Striker throwing his cigarette into its mouth), the group emerges topside. Krystal has them pinned down with the machine gun though! Was this all a Ratzi ruse?!

Luckily, no. She’s aiming at them because a gunner is aiming his LMG at Krystal's family!
Devi gets Brigadeführer Heilwig Hess distracted yammering, and Zelda shoots the LMG out of the gunner’s hands. Krystal turned her own gun on him, the bullets swarming like metal bees. Chaos erupts!

In the middle of this melee, Hess manages to assume control of the Goliath. Rafe and Devi grab a truck and distract the creature, while the rest of the group try and overwhelm a nearby gun emplacement. Unfortunately, there's only so long you can evade an enemy the size of the Chrysler Building, and it puts a foot through the truck's engine block.

As the creature grinds the truck into powder, Devi jumps on its leg! The gun emplacement is liberated by the ZSS (and wild demigryphs), but the giant is lumbering towards it...

Rafe, who thrice tried to kill Devika, risks his life tying truck winches together, creating a tripwire. As the Todesriese stomps towards the gun, it stumbles, allowing the millionaire orphan a chance to clamber up its back. The creature unties itself, clapping the vehicles together in a giant explosion. But this proved to be a massive mistake, as Devi got a chance to swing around its neck and into its mouth.

What she saw inside was horrifying. Hess was being consumed by the machine, her evil heart unable to maintain it. Devi bent one of the creature's teeth out, creating an opening for the gun emplacement. Zelda aimed...aimed... and FIRED, knocking the Todesriese's kopf off its the shoulders!

Below, a frantic, sooty Rafe rigged up a fireman-trampoline out of old parachutes. Devi landed safely, and crawled up to her feet.
Rafe couldn't stop laughing. She was wearing the mustache.
***
Krystal, her family freed and her debt repaid, offered the group something besides financial restitution. The woman of a thousand faces, who had led them to such peril, would never darken their doorsteps again.

"Before you go," Devi asked, "how many times have >you< been in the boys' bathroom?"
"Uncountable, but only seven of them were fun."

Devi/Diego shook their head. There were some things more confusing than the Hollow Earth.

 

[AnotherGuy]

SITUATION

Cult of the Dragon
The Cult of the Dragon is on the brink of summoning Tiamat (Rise of Tiamat Chapter 9)
The Wyrmspeakers, their Thay Wizards, their chromatic dragons and the rest of their forces as well as Blagothkus cloud fortress housing the Draakhorn are already by the Well of Dragons.
Many of the prisoners brought through from other worlds (Red Hand of Doom) via At'ar's fortress in the Azirrhat (this was destroyed by the PCs) have been sacrificed in creating souled diamond-dust which will be used in the ritual to summon Tiamat.

The Giants
King Hekaton has been saved but his daughter Serissa is trapped on the Wyrmskull Throne.
The party along with King Hekaton defeated the Doom of the Desert, Iymrith but failed to find the sceptre to free Serissa.
Nym and Mirran are gone - the eldest revealed her treasonous nature but escaped.
Meanwhile the recently resurrected Heartkiller (Heartkiller's Horn) is gathering forces in New Ostoria and giantkind is divided between following King Hekaton or Heartkiller as both have a claim to leadership, while many giants have decided to wait-and-see what unfolds.
Then there is Baron Rajiram who plays his own game for power, taking advantage of an absent Annam and a shattered Ordning.
Lastly, Jarl Storvald and his frost giants have commandeered the Ten Towns and the greater part of Icewind Dale, while a supernatural winter has taken hold of the region.

Elturel
Elturel is gone, sucked into Avernus.
One of the PCs along with a cohort of NPCs is on his way to Avernus to help save a friend who was in the city at the time of its disappearance and with the hope of saving the city itself (if even possible). i.e. Party is split!!!
He is needed back for the final assault on the Well of Dragons, but his timeous return is not certain.

The Underdark
Demons have breached the Prime.
The party is limited for time while the factions are stretched for resources between dealing with the Underdark and the inevitable assault on the Well of Dragons.
The PCs have decided to abandon the Underdark (for now).

Chult
A mysterious malaise has taken hold of that area, but no one is yet aware of its implications...

Council of Waterdeep
The Council of Waterdeep has begun sending its pledged forces to the rushed teleportation circles crafted near the Well of Dragons. These teleportation circles have been made in 3 months but using excessively large amounts of diamond dust and residuum from the disenchanting of masses of magical items sourced throughout the Sword Coast and The North.
The assault on the Well of Dragons is expected to be days away.

Thay
What role the Wizards of Thay have to play in all this is unknown.
The PCs inadvertently were responsible for the destruction of the Thayan Resurrection.
It is suspected Thay have one of the dragon masks.
Their dealings with Xonthal's Keep for souled dragon phylacteries was concerning.

The Seer and Zephyros
In conversation The Seer has also provided a clue "There appears to be an unseen hand at play" (breadcrumb for Vecna: Eve of Ruin)
But also a Doomed Realms setting.
Long story, but The Seer is in possession of an ever-changing map of the future which reveals threats and changes according to PC actions and in-actions. There are many unknowns, the disappearance of Elturel was foreseen on the map but they could not decipher how/why...
Along with the above clues there is also the cloud giant Zephyros whose divinations are revealed through a multitude of chess boards as he attempts to uncover who the player/pieces are and how best to utilise them. The chess boards and moves are all quite intricate and represent various fronts of the battlefields - some chessboards are empty, others are missing a king...etc some only reveal the truth of the divination once a winning combination is found [I use real life historical chess games].
Anyways both the Seer and Zephyros provide breadcrumbs and insight...

THE DELIBERATION
The players deliberated for 4 hours...

They believed the Underdark quest received from the archmage Vizeran DeVir demanded too much time.
Although finding a missing Drizzt Do'Urden and gaining him as an ally against Tiamat would help a lot.

The Seer suspected Baron Rajiram has having one of the Ruling Sceptres of Shanatar but it would take at least 8 days on the backs of whales to travel to the Nelanther Isles from Maelstrom and then having to negotiate with the pirate captains there who could hopefully direct them to Thunderbound, Rajiram's flying fortress. This would not be an easy feat now that he had obtain the artifact on the Mysterious Isle of Xxiphu

They could teleport back to the Theatre of Dreams, Iymrith's lair in the hopes of finding the Korolnor Sceptre, perhaps it is hidden in the ruins of Ascore or the lairs of her children...the stone vessels half sunk within the Anauroch Desert.

Perhaps they could entreat with Hartkiller to gain his help, although in the past such actions had led to failure. Or they could secretly assassinate him - but if found out that could cause more damage between the small folk and the giants regressing the situation back to the early stages of Storm Kings Thunder.

They could consult with the divinatory pool at the Tomb of Diderius to find one of the Shanatar sceptres but that would require time and they are concerned of the personal sacrifice required to use the pool.
Using the Harper Circle from Waterdeep to Loudwater they would then have to griffon their way to the Serpent Hills and deal with the Mummy who had previously killed one of their own.
(They couldn't teleport directly as only the PC dealing with Elturel had been to the tomb, the rest are a fresh batch of characters).

There was Xonthal's Keep with the open bargain to gain Zhentarim support for the assault on the Well of Dragons, but that was not practical. The party member friendly to that idea was lost with Elturel.

Council member and delegate for the Order of the Gauntlet, Onthar Frume, still hoped they would join the quest with their other party member to save the city of Elturel.

They could entreat with other towns and cities that had abandoned the Lords' Alliance after the collapse of the Silver Marches - with the express purpose to gain additional allies for the assault. They had already gained Mirabar as an ally.

They could pursue the location of Numenera artifact, which was supposedly a day's ride away from Waterdeep, which details the artificer PC had stolen from Elminster's study with the help of his ward. The idea being that this artifact, hopefully, could assist in the assault against the Well of Dragons.

...and so on and so on...much too many quests and ideas to list here...

Ultimately the PCs settled on buying their friend pursing the Elturel quest more time by actioning a stealth mission on the Well of Dragons...with the following hopeful goals...

• Capturing Skyreach Castle
• Destroying the Draakhorn, thus assisting the metallic dragons during the assault
• Slaying wizards of Thayan Resurrection that would be involved in the summoning ritual
• Slaying Severin, the ultimate goal
• Stealing additional dragon masks (they already managed to steal the blue one from Galvan and with downtime created a ritual that would make the Tiamat's blue head half as effective)
• Stealing any of the souled diamond dust necessary for the ritual,

Not all goals will be met obviously, but they are going to try their best before pulling out (teleportation spell)

THE RISKS
Arriving at the time of the ritual summoning without the support of the factions and their 1 party member (in Avernus) - ultimately undoing all the good they had done in the campaign for the last several years (in real time).

The way it was decided: They knew the ritual summing would be 90 days + 3d10 (randomised +2d10 and as a result of story awards +1d10 due to their actions)

It was calculated that they would be arriving at the Well of Dragons on day 97.
If I roll 93-97, they arrive without help during the time of Tiamat's summoning.
If I roll 98+, they can attempt to complete any of their goals and a date is set (unless they do succeed in delaying the summoning - i.e. gaining additional d10's to the result.

SIDE NOTE FOR THE TIME OF ARRIVAL
PCs can not arrive late, they can arrive early (by beating the number I roll) and on time.
If they arrive "after the date" they automatically arrive on time but my encounter budget for the final series of encounters is increased by a specific amount per day. The in-game reason being the Cult forces are more alert and greater in number (swell up) as they gather to welcome the Dragon Queen (expect a few githyanki as a gift from Vlaakith CLVII).
The players have been made aware of the changing math hence there is an incentive to not delay because it makes the task to defeat the Cult and Tiamat ever more impossible.

 

[Golden Bee]

Four hours of discussion? Oh no.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Four hours of discussion? Oh no.

Well to be fair there was

• eating and drinking involved,
• determining possible travel time via teleportation circles/spells, horseback, griffon and whales for the various quests,
• evaluating destinations which could serve dual purpose,
• weighing up personal quests verse party quests,
• determining personal items possible for sacrifice for the divination pool,
• determining what multi-quest the divination pool can assist with and figuring out the best questions,
• assessing risks and goals for each quest,
• addressing personal conflicts and motivations for the quests
• ..etc

I mean when the party is 16th level and there is 8-9 years worth of material, with the final chapter of a multi-adventure campaign around the corner, a hard time constraint directly affecting difficulty as well as a missing party member - it does leave a lot to consider...