James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
The bulk of two whole sessions later, we managed to scrape out a win.
We had entered a chamber with a locked iron door. Frescoes on the wall depicted warriors, and we saw two other iron doors. Braziers on the far wall were lit, emitting black smoke, and a skeletal figure perched on a stone throne.
Cautiously we entered, but of course, the skeleton was in fact, a Cleric Lich. The throne made them immune to our magic. And then, of course, the frescoes actually covered concealed alcoves in which were entombed warrior Wights that started busting out, four a turn, until we had 16 of them.
We should have ran away.
But instead, the Cleric wrestled the Lich off the throne and we stole a MacGuffin from her which could open a sealed sarcophagus elsewhere (the inscription on which promised us aid against the forces of darkness). We downed the Lich and I was reduced to chucking Fireballs to try and thin out the Wights.
Things were looking winnable, when the Lich got back up...along with several Wights! The smoke from the braziers forced a Con save at the start of each turn to avoid necrotic damage which lowered your maximum hit points, so I quickly ran to the door poked my head in only to cast spells.
I truly despise things that don't have the good grace to stay dead when I kill them.
Soon the Monk was down and the Ranger and Cleric's path to the exit was blocked. In desperation I gave the MacGuffin to my familiar and had it fly to the sarcophagus chamber, out of which was released a Spectre, who immediately summoned a horde of Shadows.
As the two forces of undead clashed, we retrieved the Monk (though then the Ranger went down). We were very low on useful spells when we realized that behind one of the doors was a necromantic power that kept reviving our foes.
The DM was mostly reduced to rolling attacks against his own NPC's while we beat up the lich (again) to steal another MacGuffin from her, a magic staff that we noticed had glowed brightly when she passed the door.
With staff in hand, the door opened easily, revealing some indescribable undead abomination, chained to a wall.
So now, running on fumes, we ran in to slaughter it, while we closed the door. To our delight, it was actually vulnerable to Radiant damage, which the Cleric and the Monk could inflict. After, we healed as best as we could, only to find the Lich and 6 Wights standing victorious, having defeated the Spectre and his Shadows.
Uh oh.
While they would stay dead now (we hoped), two Wights blocked the exit. The Cleric (armed with their last Spirit Guardians) and my Wizard ran for the door...but then the Ranger did something wholly unexpected, and charged the Lich!
The Monk joined the Ranger and even though we'd managed to kill the Wights blocking the exit, the Cleric turned to join the fray. And I was reduced to firing my +1 crossbow from the safety of the door.
We won, somehow. Everyone has their maximum hit points reduced, we're all fuming on hit points, and we have no choice but to rest here, in the den of evil. I cast Alarm and Tiny Hut (thank the Gods for Ritual casting!) and we'll find out if our rest is interrupted in two weeks!
The only good news was that the DM awarded us xp, allowing us to reach level 8. Forget 20 Int, I'm taking Resilient (Con)!
We had entered a chamber with a locked iron door. Frescoes on the wall depicted warriors, and we saw two other iron doors. Braziers on the far wall were lit, emitting black smoke, and a skeletal figure perched on a stone throne.
Cautiously we entered, but of course, the skeleton was in fact, a Cleric Lich. The throne made them immune to our magic. And then, of course, the frescoes actually covered concealed alcoves in which were entombed warrior Wights that started busting out, four a turn, until we had 16 of them.
We should have ran away.
But instead, the Cleric wrestled the Lich off the throne and we stole a MacGuffin from her which could open a sealed sarcophagus elsewhere (the inscription on which promised us aid against the forces of darkness). We downed the Lich and I was reduced to chucking Fireballs to try and thin out the Wights.
Things were looking winnable, when the Lich got back up...along with several Wights! The smoke from the braziers forced a Con save at the start of each turn to avoid necrotic damage which lowered your maximum hit points, so I quickly ran to the door poked my head in only to cast spells.
I truly despise things that don't have the good grace to stay dead when I kill them.
Soon the Monk was down and the Ranger and Cleric's path to the exit was blocked. In desperation I gave the MacGuffin to my familiar and had it fly to the sarcophagus chamber, out of which was released a Spectre, who immediately summoned a horde of Shadows.
As the two forces of undead clashed, we retrieved the Monk (though then the Ranger went down). We were very low on useful spells when we realized that behind one of the doors was a necromantic power that kept reviving our foes.
The DM was mostly reduced to rolling attacks against his own NPC's while we beat up the lich (again) to steal another MacGuffin from her, a magic staff that we noticed had glowed brightly when she passed the door.
With staff in hand, the door opened easily, revealing some indescribable undead abomination, chained to a wall.
So now, running on fumes, we ran in to slaughter it, while we closed the door. To our delight, it was actually vulnerable to Radiant damage, which the Cleric and the Monk could inflict. After, we healed as best as we could, only to find the Lich and 6 Wights standing victorious, having defeated the Spectre and his Shadows.
Uh oh.
While they would stay dead now (we hoped), two Wights blocked the exit. The Cleric (armed with their last Spirit Guardians) and my Wizard ran for the door...but then the Ranger did something wholly unexpected, and charged the Lich!
The Monk joined the Ranger and even though we'd managed to kill the Wights blocking the exit, the Cleric turned to join the fray. And I was reduced to firing my +1 crossbow from the safety of the door.
We won, somehow. Everyone has their maximum hit points reduced, we're all fuming on hit points, and we have no choice but to rest here, in the den of evil. I cast Alarm and Tiny Hut (thank the Gods for Ritual casting!) and we'll find out if our rest is interrupted in two weeks!
The only good news was that the DM awarded us xp, allowing us to reach level 8. Forget 20 Int, I'm taking Resilient (Con)!