D&D General How Was Your Last Session?
- Thread starter doctorbadwolf
- Start date
Wednesday our Ixalan game the heroes got very close to one of the most important dangerous zones: The Radiant Scar
They were sailing up a river on a stolen ship with two of their most trustworthy NPC’s, when a huge golem amalgam rose up from the river and attacked! It was a beefed up Runic Colossus from Bigby’s, and it was 100% too strong.
Still, it was tons of fun to make it clear that this thing stops folks from reaching the Radiant Scar, and how it almost destroyed the ship.
After this, the party met some of the River Heralds, merfolk native to Ixalan. One PC is now a merfolk themselves, so we had a really good RP scene. The heroes keep impressing NPC’s by being so goddamn heroic! They tell tales of the cool things they have done so far, and I love it. I love that the players understand how monumental the cool things they have done are.
It really gave some depth to the current mission, and the players know what the stakes are.
—-
We’ve moved over to the 2024 Roll20 character sheets, and they are not quite easy to use yet. They have become a lot more DDB-ish, losing out on the flexible old character sheet design. There are some little bugs that keep popping up, and I can’t help my players because I don’t use character sheets. It slows us down sometimes.
On the transition side, everyone is digging the revision giving their characters more power but mostly more flexibility.
Except for the Sorcerer 3/Paladin 7. His entire goal was to optimize the f* out of his attacks and bonus action quickened spells. Now that all smites take a bonus action, it messed with his build. He was ok with transitioning, but this session he forgot about the smite change, and when I reminded him, I broke him for a full 10 seconds before he continued. I think it is all good fun.
I am worried he might take his power for granted, so I gave him a cool reward from the NPC. The paladin can now cast tidal wave, AND alter the spell so he can ride the wave. He loved it.
He was also not enthused that probably most monsters in the Radiant Scar (known for being magically filled with deadly radiance) have resistance to radiant damage.
Anyway, next session is gonna be great! Exploration using a magic compass into a crazy environment with 3-headed tyrannosaurs, radiant zombies and hostile plant life! Only to reach the ruins of a golden city and be tested by a sphinx!
They were sailing up a river on a stolen ship with two of their most trustworthy NPC’s, when a huge golem amalgam rose up from the river and attacked! It was a beefed up Runic Colossus from Bigby’s, and it was 100% too strong.
Still, it was tons of fun to make it clear that this thing stops folks from reaching the Radiant Scar, and how it almost destroyed the ship.
After this, the party met some of the River Heralds, merfolk native to Ixalan. One PC is now a merfolk themselves, so we had a really good RP scene. The heroes keep impressing NPC’s by being so goddamn heroic! They tell tales of the cool things they have done so far, and I love it. I love that the players understand how monumental the cool things they have done are.
It really gave some depth to the current mission, and the players know what the stakes are.
—-
We’ve moved over to the 2024 Roll20 character sheets, and they are not quite easy to use yet. They have become a lot more DDB-ish, losing out on the flexible old character sheet design. There are some little bugs that keep popping up, and I can’t help my players because I don’t use character sheets. It slows us down sometimes.
On the transition side, everyone is digging the revision giving their characters more power but mostly more flexibility.
Except for the Sorcerer 3/Paladin 7. His entire goal was to optimize the f* out of his attacks and bonus action quickened spells. Now that all smites take a bonus action, it messed with his build. He was ok with transitioning, but this session he forgot about the smite change, and when I reminded him, I broke him for a full 10 seconds before he continued. I think it is all good fun.
I am worried he might take his power for granted, so I gave him a cool reward from the NPC. The paladin can now cast tidal wave, AND alter the spell so he can ride the wave. He loved it.
He was also not enthused that probably most monsters in the Radiant Scar (known for being magically filled with deadly radiance) have resistance to radiant damage.
Anyway, next session is gonna be great! Exploration using a magic compass into a crazy environment with 3-headed tyrannosaurs, radiant zombies and hostile plant life! Only to reach the ruins of a golden city and be tested by a sphinx!
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
The summer dry spell is going to end tomorrow with a remote game we've been playing since 2020. I finally got around to cleaning up the session summary, so I figured I'd share it here. It was a good session, but no combat.
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Upon arriving in Salt Marsh, they noticed significant changes, including the demolition of the building that one held the vampire lair, and new warship defenses. The group stopped at the inn to clean up before meeting with the Prefect and eventually heading to the Sea-Grove of Tethys, where the queen would be staying.
Lamech and Yaakov accompanied Eliander FIreborn as far as the guardhouse to learn more about recent events in town. He warned them about the Unbroken Chain's mercenary reputation. Yaakov tried to return the favor by voicing his suspicions about the prefect's butler, but Eliander was skeptical, suggesting this would be quite surprising given the Wavechaser family's long-standing service to the Solmors. Afterward, Lamech and Yaakov went on to check on the refugee camp.
Grandinar visits Untermeister Manistrad Copperlocks to brief her and invite her to the meeting at the Sea-Grove, while Temo checks on boat repairs and Xpyali, who had stayed behind.
Sea-Grove Meeting
Eventually, Queen O'Thok'ent of the Dunwater Lizardfolk and Prefect Anders Solmor, the former accompanied by her entourage, the latter by Bailiff Eliander Fireborn and the Unbroken Chain meet at the Sea-Grove along with the Revenants of Saltmarsh and Untermeister Copperlocks. The discovery of a Sahuagin lair located inland in the swamp is revealed. The Queen emphasized the need to plan an assault on the Sahuagin, suggesting that waiting for their attack could be risky. The Prefect agrees. Lamech proposed addressing the environmental issue of gray water, which he believed might be drawing the sahuagin, as a secondary goal. The group agreed to take a few days to prepare and wait for Oceaus's return with information from the sea elves. In the meantime, more intelligence needed to be gathered. The queen continued to push for the party to investigate the Drowned Forest, but the Prefect suggests that the Unbroken Chain look into that while the Revenants seek out aid from the elves in Silver Stand.
The meeting reconvenes at the Sea-Grove four days later when Oceaus returns from briefing his Prince. He brings a new companion, lore master Anemone Serain, sent by the prince to assist with information and attack planning. Oceaus reports that the sea elven prince is mustering forces for a future attack, though it may take at least a fortnight. Furthermore, the Merfolk want a strategy meeting before committing troops. Oceaus has been given authority to help plan an assault, and sea elven forces will be available in the future once a plan is made. Some sahuagin attacks on sea peoples have occurred recently.
The sphinx asked its riddle,
When shown the poetic invite Oceaus declared it a distraction that would threaten the alliance with different peoples wanting to claim the weapons.
The topic was put aside and the next immediate steps were decided upon. The Revenants of Saltmarsh would travel to Silver Stand with Oceaus to seek out the aid of the elves there, while the Unbroken Chain would be sent to the Drowned Forest to investigate the strange happenings there. In the meantime, Queen of O'Thok'ent would begin to draft a plan for assault on the sahuagin lair.
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Quick recap
The group traveled to Saltmarsh ahead of the lizardfolk queen and her entourage, observing significant changes upon arrival. They learned of recent attacks by sahuagin forces and met the Prefect and the bailiff, later arranging a meeting between them and the Lizardfolk queen. They also gathered intelligence and prepared for potential conflicts. While coordinating plans and meetings in the Sea-Grove of Tethys, a mechanical sphinx arrived, a herald of mysterious wizard. It challenged them to solve its riddle and when they did it gave them a mysterious poetic invitation that seemed to be a riddle in itself, suggesting the location of the legendary weapons Whelm, Wave, and Nightrazor. In the end it was decided the Revenants of Saltmarsh would explore Silver Stand seeking council of the elves there, while a new adventuring band in town hired by the prefect, The Unbroken Chain, investigated the bullywug and sahuagin activity in the Drowned Forest.---------------------------------------------------
Full Summary
Saltmarsh Arrival Strategy
The group discussed their plan to travel to Saltmarsh, deciding to get there ahead of the Queen's barge to prepare and notify the Prefect of her arrival. They agreed to be vague with the prefect regarding the details of the sahuagin lair and proximity of two dragons until the meeting with the Queen. As the party traveled to Saltmarsh, Yaakov also proposed avoiding sharing information with the prefect's butler, who is allegedly part of the Scarlet Brotherhood, and suggested potentially feeding the prefect false information to expose the butler's involvement.Upon arriving in Salt Marsh, they noticed significant changes, including the demolition of the building that one held the vampire lair, and new warship defenses. The group stopped at the inn to clean up before meeting with the Prefect and eventually heading to the Sea-Grove of Tethys, where the queen would be staying.
Sahuagin Attack on Isle of the Abbey and Dwarven Invasion
The party learned of recent events in town from Hanna Rist, innkeep at the Snapping Line and around town, including an attack by sahuagin forces on the Isle of the Abbey that resulted in the capsizing of a warship, damage to two others, and casualties among soldiers and sailors. The attack came from an unexpected inland direction, but the presence of deck wizard, Garo Imari, and the Unbroken Chain (an adventuring band hired by the Prefect, Anders Solmor, at the recommendation of his butler, Skerrin Wavechaser) helped prevent further damage. They also learned unease among Saltmarsh residence about rumors regarding the imminent arrival of dwarven troops. The party paid the innkeeper for an extended stay, before taking the the time to dump gear and clean up, and arranged to send a message to the Prefect about their return in the meantime. They then headed to the Prefect's mansion to report on their visit to the Lizardfolk queen.Meeting the Prefect
At the prefect's house, the party, the prefect and bailiff Fireborn discussed recent events. The party also met the prefect's new bodyguards, the Unbroken Chain. A meeting was planned to in the Sea-Grove since the place promised wards against scrying. The prefect also suggested the party visit Kelendek the Sharp. The supercilious wizard offered spell scrolls to aid in the defense of the town and the defeat of the sahuagin. The bailiff also explained that several war-priests dedicated to Nereus had recently arrived to pledge themselves to the effort. They could be found at the local temple. The group agreed to regroup at the grove to discuss their findings with the Lizard Folk Queen, after dealing with some things on their own.Lamech and Yaakov accompanied Eliander FIreborn as far as the guardhouse to learn more about recent events in town. He warned them about the Unbroken Chain's mercenary reputation. Yaakov tried to return the favor by voicing his suspicions about the prefect's butler, but Eliander was skeptical, suggesting this would be quite surprising given the Wavechaser family's long-standing service to the Solmors. Afterward, Lamech and Yaakov went on to check on the refugee camp.
Grandinar visits Untermeister Manistrad Copperlocks to brief her and invite her to the meeting at the Sea-Grove, while Temo checks on boat repairs and Xpyali, who had stayed behind.
Sea-Grove Meeting
Eventually, Queen O'Thok'ent of the Dunwater Lizardfolk and Prefect Anders Solmor, the former accompanied by her entourage, the latter by Bailiff Eliander Fireborn and the Unbroken Chain meet at the Sea-Grove along with the Revenants of Saltmarsh and Untermeister Copperlocks. The discovery of a Sahuagin lair located inland in the swamp is revealed. The Queen emphasized the need to plan an assault on the Sahuagin, suggesting that waiting for their attack could be risky. The Prefect agrees. Lamech proposed addressing the environmental issue of gray water, which he believed might be drawing the sahuagin, as a secondary goal. The group agreed to take a few days to prepare and wait for Oceaus's return with information from the sea elves. In the meantime, more intelligence needed to be gathered. The queen continued to push for the party to investigate the Drowned Forest, but the Prefect suggests that the Unbroken Chain look into that while the Revenants seek out aid from the elves in Silver Stand.
Another Sea-Grove Meeting
The meeting reconvenes at the Sea-Grove four days later when Oceaus returns from briefing his Prince. He brings a new companion, lore master Anemone Serain, sent by the prince to assist with information and attack planning. Oceaus reports that the sea elven prince is mustering forces for a future attack, though it may take at least a fortnight. Furthermore, the Merfolk want a strategy meeting before committing troops. Oceaus has been given authority to help plan an assault, and sea elven forces will be available in the future once a plan is made. Some sahuagin attacks on sea peoples have occurred recently.An Unexpected Visitor
While privately conferring with the prefect and the queen away from the ears of others, a clockwork sphinx arrives and offers them a choice of price they must pay for the information it brings. They can sacrifice a living thing they love one and a magic item, answer a riddle with the consequences for failure being death, or just fight it. They decided to try the riddle. The Queen offered to take the Prefect to safety, which the group agreed to.The sphinx asked its riddle,
The group discussed but quickly came to agree with Lamech's answer, "a joke." Upon speaking the correct answer, the sphinx's chest cranked open and from within came a rolled piece of parchment. THe creature then flew off. The parchment held a poem giving clues on finding the lair of the infamous mad wizard Jocose the Farceur, where three legendary weapons could be retrieved to help fight the sahuagin, if those who dared, braved his dungeon funhouse. The invitation was written onto a palimpsest and the image of a smoke-topped mountain on a map with other notes are barely visible on it.
When shown the poetic invite Oceaus declared it a distraction that would threaten the alliance with different peoples wanting to claim the weapons.
The topic was put aside and the next immediate steps were decided upon. The Revenants of Saltmarsh would travel to Silver Stand with Oceaus to seek out the aid of the elves there, while the Unbroken Chain would be sent to the Drowned Forest to investigate the strange happenings there. In the meantime, Queen of O'Thok'ent would begin to draft a plan for assault on the sahuagin lair.
In tonight's "Middle of Elsewhere" campaign, the PCs:
The dice were not our friends tonight; the players continuously rolled low (I think I only managed to roll double digits for initiative), while the DM rolled four threats, one of which became an actual crit. And I need to start remembering my PC, as an evil cleric, can spontaneously convert his spells into inflict spells; they'd do more damage than my quarterstaff can do, plus all I need to do is touch the foes. Food for thought for next week's game session.
Johnathan
- Returned to their home town of Elsewhere, where the human shadow druid bonded with his new dire fell fox animal companion and my fiendish human cleric puzzled over the workings of the broken device said to be able to track the movements of the plane-hopping town, and the celestial elf witch discussed events with her mentor, an elf druid/witch born on the Positive Energy Plane
- Returned to the field the next evening (Elsewhere just recently plonked down on a layer of Hell) to explore, and met up with a group of six fiendish goblins searching for the three missing hell hounds they were responsible for (and which we helped slay last adventure)
- Played dumb (fairly easy for our fiendish orc fighter) about the hell hounds, explained away why we were traveling with an "overling" (meaning a celestial; my cleric explained she was just a slave, which made sense to the goblins but irritated the witch - but allowed me to call her PC "slave" for the rest of this encounter and the next)
- Declined the goblins' offer to help them find the hell hounds or die, instead, we helped them die (but only after keeping two alive for interrogation; we learned their camp is about two days away and is one of several led by a barbed devil who rotates between the camps on a monthly cycle)
- Killed the two goblins after we got all we could out of them, and tossed their bodies behind some rocks, just as we heard the stomping of approaching boots, which belonged to a trio of hobgoblins (2 fighters and a warlock)
- Told them we hadn't seen "the little ones" they were sure we would have met up with, and then got into a fight with them after they decided to kill our fiendish orc for his weapons
- Took out the two fighters fairly easily, but had to work a bit against the warlock, who was of a higher level
- Stripped the warlock of his masterwork studded leather armor (which went to the shadow druid) and his unholy keen falchion (which went to the orc fighter), and continued on our way: allowing the dire fell fox to lead us to the cave where her (slain last adventure) master had been camping out awaiting Elsewhere's arrival, which was supposed to contain some sort of treasure they never did find
The dice were not our friends tonight; the players continuously rolled low (I think I only managed to roll double digits for initiative), while the DM rolled four threats, one of which became an actual crit. And I need to start remembering my PC, as an evil cleric, can spontaneously convert his spells into inflict spells; they'd do more damage than my quarterstaff can do, plus all I need to do is touch the foes. Food for thought for next week's game session.
Johnathan
50 sessions into my 13th Age campaign. Eyes of the Stone Thief expanded to cover all 10 levels. Five player characters who are 5th level with one incremental advance. I'm going to begin accelerating leveling as I'm hoping to wrap this campaign in about 6 months.
I've not been posting regular updates, but we are playing on the regular.
Since I last posted, the characters:
I've not been posting regular updates, but we are playing on the regular.
Since I last posted, the characters:
- Were rescued by a mysterious, Gollum-like figure. Unbeknownst to them, this is the First Master who founded the Cult of the Stone Thief ages ago.
- Descended the Maddening Stair to the depths of the Stone Thief.
- Fought and destroyed the giant spider and her brood who guarded the Stairs.
- Fled her collapsing castle that was webbed to the side of the Stair.
- Entered Marblehall and met with the Witch, who is the sister of the Rogue player character.
- Learned a great many secrets and clues about the campaign.
- Formed an alliance with the Witch.
- Planned for their assault on the Pit of Undigested Ages, where they can gather magical artifacts that will help them destroy the Cult.
In this afternoon's "Down to Erthe" campaign session, the PCs:
This was something like a modified "Challenge of Champions" adventure, only it ran continuously from challenge to challenge, more like an obstacle course, and each station took as long as it took - there was no artificial 15-minute time limit per station. Their final time was about 10 minutes behind the next-slowest team, but that didn't end up mattering, and (I think) everyone had fun.
Johnathan
- Entered an "Isle of Challenges Showdown" contest sponsored by the local Adventurers Guild at the instigation of the thieves guild two of the PCs are associated with - the thought being an adventurer is a nice cover story
- Went through a series of 10 challenges, some of them physical (archery, climbing up and down ropes) and some of them mental (figure out the puzzle lock that opens the door and allows you to continue on to the next challenge)
- Made it through all 10 challenges without anyone dying, but placed 11th out of the 11 teams that completed the course (5 teams dropped out partway throughout the challenges)
- Got membership into the Adventurers Guild anyway, as they're more interested in those who can finish than in how fast they can finish it in
This was something like a modified "Challenge of Champions" adventure, only it ran continuously from challenge to challenge, more like an obstacle course, and each station took as long as it took - there was no artificial 15-minute time limit per station. Their final time was about 10 minutes behind the next-slowest team, but that didn't end up mattering, and (I think) everyone had fun.
Johnathan
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