D&D General How Was Your Last Session?

[jasper]

Not exactly my last session. But my dice roll won the game. I was playing a homebrew Call of the Netherdeep. To beat the boss monster, we either had to do damage or roll/role play a persuasion check. After chasing the evil flying dude on foot, he landed nearly dead or exhausted. I offered up my treasure map and asked them to go adventuring with me. They agreed and that ended the adventure except for the Epilogue.

 

[Richards]

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

• Tried to retrace their steps to return to the surface from the Underdark kobold warren they cleared out last adventure
• Ran into a quartet of kavalrachni (duergars riding steeders)
• Found out the kavalrachni were advance scouts for a duergar slaver army seeking the PCs for having slain their three escaped quaggoth slaves and the two steeder-mounted duergar who had been hunting them down
• Skedaddled the other way at top speed, even though that meant they were going into unexplored tunnels in the Underdark
• Ended up in a series of magma caverns called "The Temple of Burning Desire," with the duergar army camped outside to ensure the PCs didn't exit the way they came, after voicing their belief the denizens of the temple would probably kill them for the duergar army
• Fought four each of steam mephits, magma mephits, fire mephits, and lava children
• Fought two each of new undead: cinder ghouls and fire phantoms
• Also faced a salamander, a Large fire elemental, and a lava weird
• Made it to the statue of Infernia, Goddess of Love and Burning Desire, and released the wish-granting efreet bottled in an efreeti bottle who granted their wish to be teleported to the surface

And as a special surprise, not only did the college-age son of the other family we game with come play through the session with us (as he was home for the long weekend), but he brought his older brother along, who used to game with us in earlier campaigns years ago. We let him play the dwarf ranger guide they'd hired to lead them to the kobold temple and back, so that worked out pretty well. And he remembered how much fun we all have at our gaming sessions, so we may be seeing more of him in the future.

Johnathan

 

[THEMNGMNT]

37th session of Monte Cook's 3E Banewarrens campaign run with Shadow of the Demon Lord on Owlbear Rodeo.

Five player characters at Level 7:

• Dwarf Executioner/Berserker/Warrior. He seeks the Axehammer of the Lost Clan, rumored to be in the Banewarrens.
• Elf Librarian/Wizard/Magician. Outcast from elven lands, raised in Ptolus, keeper of a dark secret. His magical traditions are Arcana, Teleportation, Chaos, and Fey.
• Goblin Pyromancer/Oracle/Magician. Responsible for the destruction of his tribe. Specialized in the Fire and Forbidden magic traditions, with a dose of Divination.
• Changeling Dervish/Spellbinder/Rogue. Created by House Vladaam to replace a child they kidnapped and held in servitude. Naturally, she wants revenge. Two weapon fighter with the Battle tradition.
• Human Defender/Paladin/Priest. Cleric of Lothian, the primary god of Ptolus. His magical traditions are Life, Theurgy, and Battle. His wife was murdered by undead and now he seeks answers.

The characters are in the Inner Vaults of the Banewarrens. They were pursuing mysterious looters who had stolen the Axehammer from the tomb of the Lord of the Lost Clan. But in the last session a massive explosion had rocked the Inner Vaults. So which way to go? The goblin oracle decided to consult the gods using the spell Augur. They told him to check out the explosion. (Meanwhile, I as the DM told the players that I was not railroading them and they were free to do anything they wanted.)

Heading south, the characters moved through a secret passage that lead to an ancient torture chamber. Inside was empty except for a single captive -- a minotaur from the Pactlord expedition. The elf magician used a spell to charm the minotaur. It revealed the torture chamber was ruled by an undead called Vellacor, who had allied with the necromantic death cult (one of the factions the characters are fighting). The characters debated whether or not to kill the minotaur, but ultimately decided to free him and leave his fate to the gods.

Continuing on, they entered the area that had been devastated by the explosion. (As the encounter unfolded, the players were able to deduce that the explosion had been caused by a Pactlord futzing with a bane.) This area had once been multiple interconnected rooms and corridors, but was now a huge crater. A strange magical aurora filled the area. Investigating was the undead torturer Vellacor (I made him a boneclaw because I love those things), two human necromancers, and a few skeletons.

The characters got the jump on their foes. However, they soon learned that any magic cast within the aurora created a dimensional rift to Hell. Yeah. Hell. Within a single round three demons had slipped through the rifts -- each one bigger and stronger than the last. The players quickly rejiggered their tactics. Unfortunately, as a party they favor magic, so this hampered their efforts. Fortunately, the demons did not distinguish between the characters or their enemies. This was a surprisingly fun three way fight with magical terrain that really gave the encounter a distinct flavor.

We ended the session with the demons destroyed, most of the undead slain, and Vellacor about to hurl the wounded dwarf berserker into the crater...

Next session: Into the Pit!

 

[THEMNGMNT]

The first character death in our 38th session of Monte Cook's 3E Banewarrens campaign run with Shadow of the Demon Lord on Owlbear Rodeo.

Five player characters at Level 7:

• Dwarf Executioner/Berserker/Warrior. He seeks the Axehammer of the Lost Clan, rumored to be in the Banewarrens.
• Elf Librarian/Wizard/Magician. Outcast from elven lands, raised in Ptolus, keeper of a dark secret. His magical traditions are Arcana, Teleportation, Chaos, and Fey.
• Goblin Pyromancer/Oracle/Magician. Responsible for the destruction of his tribe. Specialized in the Fire and Forbidden magic traditions, with a dose of Divination.
• Changeling Dervish/Spellbinder/Rogue. Created by House Vladaam to replace a child they kidnapped and held in servitude. Naturally, she wants revenge. Two weapon fighter with the Battle tradition.
• Human Defender/Paladin/Priest. Cleric of Lothian, the primary god of Ptolus. His magical traditions are Life, Theurgy, and Battle. His wife was murdered by undead and now he seeks answers.

The characters are in the Inner Vaults of the Banewarrens, next to a deep crater caused by a massive explosion. This session resumed in the middle of a three way fight: the characters, a faction of intelligent undead, and demons summoned from the depths of Hell. The leader of the undead -- a boneclaw torturer called Vellacor -- knocked out the dwarf berserker. Yet the characters were on the cusp of victory...until the changeling spellbinder unthinkingly cast a spell -- thus summoning another demon due to the strange magical aurora emanating from the crater.

Each demon was bigger and more powerful than the last. And this being the fourth demon summoned, it was the size of an ogre. SotDL has a very fun, nasty table with unique features for each demon. Browsing the table, I gave the demon a weapon that dealt Corruption with each hit -- and also implanted a demon seed. On a failed saving throw, the seed would birth a small demon that exploded out of the victim's body.

The characters were hamstrung by their inability to cast spells. Despite that, they held their own against the demon -- thanks in large part to the human paladin. The demon taunted the paladin and targeted him every round. The paladin was hit three times -- gaining three points of Corruption -- and two demon seeds gestating within his body. The third hit felled the paladin. Then the first demon crawled out of his body, killing him instantly.

It was the first character death I've had in this notoriously lethal system. And it's the first time this player has lost a character in 5 years of playing together. The fact that it happened to his paladin at the hands of a demon in the most gruesomely Shadow-of-the-Demon-Lord-way possible made it epically memorable.

Meanwhile, the boneclaw killed the characters' minotaur ally and fled in the chaos. Simultaneously, the boggle ally tried to possess the body of the goblin oracle. The goblin made his save, then attacked and killed the boggle.

It was a grim session.

Lots of fun!

Next session: Life after death!

 

[THEMNGMNT]

42nd session of my Neverwinter campaign. Three 8th level characters: half-orc vengeance paladin, human genie warlock, drow evoker wizard. We're playing online and sessions are about 2 hours long. We've not played in nearly 2 months due to one player moving across the country, so much of the time was spent catching up.

Here's the situation: Characters are up against a guild of drow rogues commanded by a mind flayer. The guild is about to receive a shipment of magical weapons sent via griffon courier. The courier service is a legitimate business with no connection to the guild -- they're not exactly civilians, more like an armored car service, but not criminals. The characters are attempting to intercept the shipment. And the guild knows it.

For this heist I'm using the Feathergale Spire map from Princes of the Apocalypse.

The session was nonstop shenannigans. The paladin entered the spire posing as a potential client with a ridiculous set of demands -- to transport a load of goblin body parts to Phandalin on short notice. The warlock trailed him invisibly to infiltrate the tower. The wizard provided overwatch from a nearby rooftop.

The paladin's scenes were fun and funny. The warlock blew her stealth check and ended up being tracked by a baby displacer beast. And the wizard watched the drow arrive in illusory disguises. Then -- just as the griffon courier approached the spire with the delivery of magic weapons -- a green dragon swooped in.

Looks like someone else wants those weapons!

Next session: Dragon vs griffons vs giant bat...

 

[jasper]

Good and Bad. Good New player caught me out in some rules slip ups. And we had fun with the Vampirates.
Bad. But the two special needs players got on my nerves. The regular one kept on Interrupting Me with stupid trivia when I was trying to describe a scene. The other an occasional drop in even with Beyond wanted to cast 5th level spells because he was a 5th level wizard. Even the guy mentoring him was about to lose it. I think with the drop in dude, I going limit him to fighters.

 

[Older Beholder]

4th session of a new campaign

The session started with the party having to get across town during a gnoll raid. A few waves of combat and a bit of stealth to avoid more fighting filled in the first half of the session, I had a bit more planned but could feel the group were starting to get a bit bored and I had a pretty specific point I wanted to get to for the end of the session, so I dropped a couple of things.

Once across town the group met their employer for the first time, a glowing ball of red energy known only as 'The orb'. They were paid for the previous mission and offered another on the spot. For this new mission they were teleported to a city famous for wild magic where they were hired to help at a local bathhouse that had an issue with a Water Weird.

As they were teleporting back, a wild magic surge disrupted the spell and flings them across the multiverse. When they adjust to their new surroundings they find themselves with desert in every direction. A 'dark sun' blazing overhead.

---

This was the introduction to the campaign concept, I was meant to get there in 2 sessions, but in the end it took 4.
It was a bit of a balancing act to keep it a surprise without it feeling like a bait and switch. I think there was a bit of foreshadowing that it was going to be a plane-hopping type campaign in the second session when one of the players found a 'Well of many worlds'

The players all seemed pretty excited by the idea. I've got plenty of prep to do before the next session, but I'm having fun doing my own homebrew version of dark sun though.

 

[Richards]

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

• Backtracked to a nearby city so they could use a teleportation circle in a shrine to Delphyne, Goddess of Magic to return to the city of Baron's Haven (where spellcasting is forbidden without a license).
• Approached the elven gem-cutter Iriadorista (who had carved some dreamstones for them months earlier) with the three dreamstones they unearthed in an Underdark kobold warren, along with diagrams (performed by a lucid dreaming PC under direction by the Queen of Dreams herself) of how they were to be cut and engraved.
• Were asked by Iriadorista to hang out and help her deal with an unpleasant customer who had dropped off a "blood diamond" to have a specific rune engraved upon it; she'd told him it would be done by noon but when she went to work on it the previous night merely touching it gave her a feeling of creepiness and she'd decided not to perform the job after all - and now she'd love to have five PC adventurers on hand when she tells the scary-looking spellcaster she won't be performing the job after all.
• Agreed to hang about and apparently made the spellcaster decide he didn't like the odds against him and agree to take his services elsewhere.
• Tried following him but lost him in an alleyway.
• Found out the wizard's name and the location of his home, and sent one PC exploring using a ring of invisibility and a gaseous form spell; said PC was discovered by the wizard's homunculus familiar, who followed the gaseous PC even as he left the wizard's dwelling, only to attack the PC and escape when he fought back.
• Returned to the gem-cutter's shop the next day to find her missing: her bed made and not slept in, and the shop girl informing them the spellcaster returned right before closing time with a wooden box; after showing Iriadorista the contents of the box she grabbed up her tools and left the store with him.
• Found out Iriadorista's mother lived in the city, went to find her, and discovered she'd just had her right hand chopped off by the spellcaster the night before.
• Went to the wizard's home, bypassed his two flesh golems, fought his summoned bearded devil and yeth hound and the morhg he'd crafted.
• Discovered the gem-cutter chained to a table as she worked on creating a phylactery from the blood diamond, under the watchful "eye" of her mother's severed hand (wearing a ring through which the wizard could scry upon her using an amulet he wore) and the morhg.
• Killed the foes (including the wizard, who had a scroll of teleport ready for his use to escape, but got caught when he took the time to try to fetch the necromantic tome containing the lich transformation ritual - he ended up getting slain by an angry half-orc cleric/paladin repeatedly bashing his face into a stone wall after a successful grapple attempt while the wizard was under the effects of a hold person spell).
• Rescued Iriadorista, had the blood diamond purged of evil and sold to pay for the regeneration of her mother's severed hand.
• Picked up their carved-to-specifications dreamstones several days later.

Highlights included the string of natural 1's rolled by my son, whose PC was trying to sneak around invisibly and in gaseous form.

Johnathan

 

[Richards]

Last Wednesday's "Ghourmand Vale" was a weird one - we escorted two ladies to a finishing school, and while we were there a rival set off a massive curse that transformed the girls in school and all of the school's employees into random monsters which were hell-bent upon killing each other. We weren't affected, because by the terms of the curse only those whose names were listed in a book of employees and students were affected. However, as curses went, this one was particularly ineffective, for one main reason: while the intention was for everyobody in the school to kill each other off, our mere presence - more importantly, the presence of the Blood Mirror, a magic gem carried by our paladin, which automatically stabilizes anyone within 75 feet if they fall below 0 hp - meant that for the most part the transformed school residents were merely knocking each other unconscious, at which point they reverted back to their true forms. So our PCs merely went throughout the school, "killing" every monster we saw (but not by too much, dealing just enough damage to knock them into negative hit points without killing them outright with too much damage). And the monsters always ignored us if there was even one other transformed monster of a different type to attack, so it was pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel. The only damage any of us took was when the transformed hag was in a room with us after she'd already knocked out the transformed hell hounds - the hag attacked our paladin twice and did maybe a dozen hit points of damage over two attacks. Otherwise, we took out everyone and the only permanent deaths were the two doppelgangers who had infiltrated the school and set off the curse in the first place - our rogue slit their throats after we took them down just to make sure they didn't get the stabilizing effects of the Blood Mirror.

So all in all, it was pretty much a cakewalk of an adventure. Our DM had wanted to make a Hallowe'en-themed adventure but forgot to take the Blood Mirror's effects into account, and had he not made the curse specific enough that the transformed people attacked other transformed people at all costs, it might have required a bit more of an effort on our part.

Johnathan

 

[Richards]

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

• Dealt with a lamia disguised as a mounted human paladin, who tried Wisdom-draining the half-orc paladin/cleric so she could steal his ring of invisibility; instead, she fled for her life (outsmarted by my players' general level of paranoia about anyone they meet) - which lasted all of three rounds tops after she fled, because they hunted her down and killed her
• Took on a group of eight worker ants and eight soldier ants attacking a herd of ten cows and the four farmers trying to fight them off; it turned out the ants had been dominated into service by a quartet of formian taskmasters (all were eventually slain)
• Tracked the formians back to the mountains, where they encountered two stone columns with slits at the top; these were planar anchors (when the wind blew down from the mountain, it helped "lock in" the planar gate from the formian nest in their Outer Plane)
• Entered the formian nest until they realized it would be easier to make it back outside and take down the towers, which they promptly did, ensuring no more "locking in" to those coordinates (any future planar gates would now show up anywhere on the Material Plane, not necessarily on the planet Erthe at all); the formian leadership by that time had pretty much written off their Erthe beachhead in any case, as it had been proven the defenders there made raiding excursions too troublesome for the bother

Johnathan