What level did you start at? I wonder if the characters had been one level higher if it wouldn't have been quite as brutal.
D&D General How Was Your Last Session?
We approached the king of an evil country looking for assistance in fighting off an upcoming drow invasion and imagine that: he turned down our request and instead tried executing the sorceress we're protecting (her grandfather's a powerful wizard in the next country on our list to hit up, so by keeping her safe we're very likely to gain his country's aid to our cause). We ended up having to jump into the pit they threw her in (after stabbing her: how rude!) to go rescue her, and then finagle a way out of Hell (where the pit connected to), after fighting off fiendish goatmen and the Hellsmith who had intended to use her blood to improve their hellsteel weapons and armor. We had a plan all set to go (everybody rush over to the sorcerer and the cleric of Fharlanghn can teleport us to safety - it's one of his Travel domain spells) and were halfway to implementing it when our cleric mentioned, "Oh, by the way, I can only teleport four of us." There are 5 PCs in our group, plus the sorcerer we're protecting, so our meticulous Plan A became a mad scramble Plan B that we were desperately trying to make up as we went along.
We had to abandon our horse and wagon, but we eventually got out of Nasty Evil Kingdom with everyone intact.
Johnathan
We had to abandon our horse and wagon, but we eventually got out of Nasty Evil Kingdom with everyone intact.
Johnathan
ccs
41st lv DM
Just mostly slow.
We added another player this session & they had to create a character, get caught up on campaign stuff, BS with some of us they hadn't seen for awhile, etc.
All that was really accomplished story wise:
The ex-paladin was finally baptized into the Cult of the Salmon in preparation of MC into Warlock (Celestial, Tome) the next time he lvs. by the Tiefling Warlock (also a Celestial Salmon cultist).
See, some time back he proved unworthy of being a Paladin, was stripped of that class, and has been serving as fighter. I'm a 1e DM running 5e. You can absolutely lose your special abilities in my game. This guy? A LG Paladin of Justice - who acted neither Good nor Lawfully, refused to help those in need, actually intentionally caused injustice, and finally?, when called to task for this? Renounced his deity. OK, well the god of Justice is not going to let his name be sullied & his blessings wasted/perverted. So a fighter you shall be....
Now this player insists upon using bits of FR lore about how the faithless will be interred into a cosmic wall upon death. So he's looking to find a replacement deity.
{Never mind that I, the DM, have TOLD him that this doesn't apply in my game..... Oh well, I guess his character can believe any wacky thing he wants.... Doesn't explain why the PLAYER refuses to believe me.}
A few weeks back the Warlock player asked me, in-character, if she could induct him into the service of her patron. My answer was "Yes, the Salmon will accept any willing follower." I left the details of this conversion ritual up to her.
She told him that it involved him getting drunk/stoned & then literally drowned to death in a river as he attempted to swim up-stream. If he makes his death saves he'd survive & be accepted by her patron. If he failed he'd simply be dead. If he died & was Revivified etc he'd be also be accepted. The patron granted her a single use of Revivify for this ritual.
He eventually failed three saves & died.
Here's where things became uncertain(interesting?). The character is an ass & has developed into an impediment to the party adventuring. And he's an impediment to me writing adventures for the group. This even after the player & I having discussed the increasing problem. Things would actually go better game-wise if this character died/retired/left the party. Or the party left him.
The other players know this.
So he's dead. And the warlock has a one minute window to Revivify him....
We set a one minute timer on my phone.
The ex-pally player is sitting there looking at her like "Well???"
The Warlock player seriously considered letting him die. And I think that was her original intent. But at the 53 second mark she hit stop & asked for an insight check to discern her patrons will. My reply was that "You asked your patron about accepting him. The patron agreed. He won't be of much use to your patron dead, but it's your call. That's why the patron granted you the Revivify spell."
She cast Revivify. Not sure that's ideal result for the game, but she made the call.
We added another player this session & they had to create a character, get caught up on campaign stuff, BS with some of us they hadn't seen for awhile, etc.
All that was really accomplished story wise:
The ex-paladin was finally baptized into the Cult of the Salmon in preparation of MC into Warlock (Celestial, Tome) the next time he lvs. by the Tiefling Warlock (also a Celestial Salmon cultist).
See, some time back he proved unworthy of being a Paladin, was stripped of that class, and has been serving as fighter. I'm a 1e DM running 5e. You can absolutely lose your special abilities in my game. This guy? A LG Paladin of Justice - who acted neither Good nor Lawfully, refused to help those in need, actually intentionally caused injustice, and finally?, when called to task for this? Renounced his deity. OK, well the god of Justice is not going to let his name be sullied & his blessings wasted/perverted. So a fighter you shall be....
Now this player insists upon using bits of FR lore about how the faithless will be interred into a cosmic wall upon death. So he's looking to find a replacement deity.
{Never mind that I, the DM, have TOLD him that this doesn't apply in my game..... Oh well, I guess his character can believe any wacky thing he wants.... Doesn't explain why the PLAYER refuses to believe me.}
A few weeks back the Warlock player asked me, in-character, if she could induct him into the service of her patron. My answer was "Yes, the Salmon will accept any willing follower." I left the details of this conversion ritual up to her.
She told him that it involved him getting drunk/stoned & then literally drowned to death in a river as he attempted to swim up-stream. If he makes his death saves he'd survive & be accepted by her patron. If he failed he'd simply be dead. If he died & was Revivified etc he'd be also be accepted. The patron granted her a single use of Revivify for this ritual.
He eventually failed three saves & died.
Here's where things became uncertain(interesting?). The character is an ass & has developed into an impediment to the party adventuring. And he's an impediment to me writing adventures for the group. This even after the player & I having discussed the increasing problem. Things would actually go better game-wise if this character died/retired/left the party. Or the party left him.
The other players know this.
So he's dead. And the warlock has a one minute window to Revivify him....
We set a one minute timer on my phone.
The ex-pally player is sitting there looking at her like "Well???"
The Warlock player seriously considered letting him die. And I think that was her original intent. But at the 53 second mark she hit stop & asked for an insight check to discern her patrons will. My reply was that "You asked your patron about accepting him. The patron agreed. He won't be of much use to your patron dead, but it's your call. That's why the patron granted you the Revivify spell."
She cast Revivify. Not sure that's ideal result for the game, but she made the call.
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Imaculata
Hero
Last sunday we continued our long running (several years now) pirate campaign. In the city of Petite-fort Lucia, the players attended a grand feast helt in their honor by the regent. This regent, father Jean-Michel, is also the head of a fanatical group of paladins. Some of the brutality of several of his members had left a bad impression, so he was eager to regain the confidence of the players. He did his very best to prove his good intentions, by offering the party all manner of help. They would get full access to his grand library, he would help them unravel the mysteries of a local saint, he would allow them to make use of a holy forge, and invited them to join his canoness regular in a baptism of new members. All of these activities left the party conveniently split, so that he could have them arrested. The only party member able to elude his trap was the druid, who was contacted by two familiar faces: one of which was Scurvy Scarlet, a pirate with whom the party had developed an adversarial relation as of late. The other was Ling Goda, the many faced leader of a thieves guild. Local developments had left their enemy in the same boat as them, prompting her to seek the help of the players. All of Scarlet's crew had been arrested and her ship had been put to a chain.
I felt a bit insecure as a DM whether I had perhaps sidelined and railroaded two of my players a bit too much in getting to this plot twist. It felt necessary to move the plot forward to a big climax, but it is a sandbox campaign, and I don't usually exercize this much control over the plot. I do however want to give my players the freedom to react however they please to this trap. I expect much chaos and action will result from this.
I felt a bit insecure as a DM whether I had perhaps sidelined and railroaded two of my players a bit too much in getting to this plot twist. It felt necessary to move the plot forward to a big climax, but it is a sandbox campaign, and I don't usually exercize this much control over the plot. I do however want to give my players the freedom to react however they please to this trap. I expect much chaos and action will result from this.
Finally finished up my 4 year 1-20 campaign last night. It was a somewhat short and quiet ending mostly because the dramatic moment happened at the end of the last session when we had to end early.
The players seemed happy, if a little wistful that it was finally over. While I’m relieved (because running high level encounters is a challenge) I’m also a bit sad.
But, while I may do a one shot or two with this group, I’m going to wait until the end of this pandemic before starting up another in person campaign. I started playing D&D to get some socializing away from the computer dammit!
It really is a great way to have fun like we used to, as kids.
The players seemed happy, if a little wistful that it was finally over. While I’m relieved (because running high level encounters is a challenge) I’m also a bit sad.
But, while I may do a one shot or two with this group, I’m going to wait until the end of this pandemic before starting up another in person campaign. I started playing D&D to get some socializing away from the computer dammit!
It really is a great way to have fun like we used to, as kids.
Nebulous
Legend
They started at 3rd. If they had started at 4th it would definitely have been easier.
A nailbiter climax to the Svardborg frost giant adventure from Storm King's Thunder. In my version, the giants are aided by the Zhentarim and have conquered Waterdeep. The players have stepped into the role of some supporting characters to raid Svardborg, which currently sits in Waterdeep's harbor. These characters are all agents of Force Grey under the command of the Blackstaff. Effectively, they're the resistance to the occupation.
In the last session, the frost giant jarl's white dragon tore to pieces the goliath barbarian PC. The gnome artificer PC took refuge inside a rope trick but was quickly encircled by waiting giants. And the other PCs fled into a tunnel deep within the iceberg for a short rest.
The giants discovered where the characters were hiding and sent in a pack of yetis to flush them out. Yetis are actually an awesome boss monster for low level characters. But the aasimar bard, acting as rearguard, swiftly wiped them out with erupting earth and wall of fire, which collapsed the tunnel behind him.
The other characters exited from the other end of the tunnel, which emerged into the wreckage of a giant ship at the center of Svardborg. Naturally, the giants knew the location of the tunnel exit. The jarl, Storvald, swooped in on his white dragon and alighted upon the ship's mast. Four more frost giants converged from across the ice. Battle ensued.
The warforged cleric had used the rest to cast summon planar ally. We fudged the result and agreed that the coolest thing that could appear would be a steel predator. They are savage! Or, as one of my players said after reviewing its stat block, "I wouldn't want to fight this guy." It was immune to all the attacks of the giants and was a total gamechanger for the outcome of the fight.
The first thing the steel predator did was use its roar to stun Storvald.
The white dragon breathed on the warforged cleric and the halfling wizard, knocking out the latter. Then it took wing to get some distance from the players.
The cleric got the wizard back on her feet. But she was dropped again by a rain of boulders from the frost giants. A giant closed for melee and chopped her in half with its axe.
The other giants surrounded the cleric with a flurry of blows from their greataxes and he soon fell.
The gnome artificer popped out of her rope trick, dodged several boulders from frost giants, and got the cleric back up with a healing spell.
The steel predator used dimension door to teleport to the dragon's back. The dragon knocked the steel predator prone with wing attack, sending the predator falling away from the dragon. But as it fell the steel predator cast plane shift, banishing the dragon to the mechanical plane of Mechanus. Forever.
Storvald plummeted from the sky and landed on the deck of the ship. One of the players was controlling Harshnag, the good frost giant. In my Realms, Harshnag and Storvald are estranged brothers. This was their showdown for control of the tribe.
Storvald dropped the bard, then turned and attacked Harshnag. However, the other characters focused their fire on Storvald. He was hit with eldritch blast, flame strike, and more. Harshnag landed the killing blow. When Storvald fell, the mantle of leadership passed to Harshnag, and the frost giants lowered their weapons and knelt before him.
In the last session, the frost giant jarl's white dragon tore to pieces the goliath barbarian PC. The gnome artificer PC took refuge inside a rope trick but was quickly encircled by waiting giants. And the other PCs fled into a tunnel deep within the iceberg for a short rest.
The giants discovered where the characters were hiding and sent in a pack of yetis to flush them out. Yetis are actually an awesome boss monster for low level characters. But the aasimar bard, acting as rearguard, swiftly wiped them out with erupting earth and wall of fire, which collapsed the tunnel behind him.
The other characters exited from the other end of the tunnel, which emerged into the wreckage of a giant ship at the center of Svardborg. Naturally, the giants knew the location of the tunnel exit. The jarl, Storvald, swooped in on his white dragon and alighted upon the ship's mast. Four more frost giants converged from across the ice. Battle ensued.
The warforged cleric had used the rest to cast summon planar ally. We fudged the result and agreed that the coolest thing that could appear would be a steel predator. They are savage! Or, as one of my players said after reviewing its stat block, "I wouldn't want to fight this guy." It was immune to all the attacks of the giants and was a total gamechanger for the outcome of the fight.
The first thing the steel predator did was use its roar to stun Storvald.
The white dragon breathed on the warforged cleric and the halfling wizard, knocking out the latter. Then it took wing to get some distance from the players.
The cleric got the wizard back on her feet. But she was dropped again by a rain of boulders from the frost giants. A giant closed for melee and chopped her in half with its axe.
The other giants surrounded the cleric with a flurry of blows from their greataxes and he soon fell.
The gnome artificer popped out of her rope trick, dodged several boulders from frost giants, and got the cleric back up with a healing spell.
The steel predator used dimension door to teleport to the dragon's back. The dragon knocked the steel predator prone with wing attack, sending the predator falling away from the dragon. But as it fell the steel predator cast plane shift, banishing the dragon to the mechanical plane of Mechanus. Forever.
Storvald plummeted from the sky and landed on the deck of the ship. One of the players was controlling Harshnag, the good frost giant. In my Realms, Harshnag and Storvald are estranged brothers. This was their showdown for control of the tribe.
Storvald dropped the bard, then turned and attacked Harshnag. However, the other characters focused their fire on Storvald. He was hit with eldritch blast, flame strike, and more. Harshnag landed the killing blow. When Storvald fell, the mantle of leadership passed to Harshnag, and the frost giants lowered their weapons and knelt before him.
Our last session was 4 hours of Labyrinth Lord over Roll20 last night. We called the adventure "Jihadi Assault on Bugbear Eurovision".
It involved rescuing a singing halfling from a bugbear festival using an improvised explosive device, ie the "nail bomb of justice". A beer keg filled with 4 sticks of dwarven dynamite (which we bought earlier to blow up an animated statue), 7 explosive magic glass globes (which we found in our 1st dungeon delve), and a bunch of nails (from our hometown). We even blessed the bomb, Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch style, but ended before we could use it.
Next session: "An Earth-shattering Kaboom, Hopefully".
It involved rescuing a singing halfling from a bugbear festival using an improvised explosive device, ie the "nail bomb of justice". A beer keg filled with 4 sticks of dwarven dynamite (which we bought earlier to blow up an animated statue), 7 explosive magic glass globes (which we found in our 1st dungeon delve), and a bunch of nails (from our hometown). We even blessed the bomb, Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch style, but ended before we could use it.
Next session: "An Earth-shattering Kaboom, Hopefully".
I started my new 3.5 campaign today: two weeks ago my players were all running 20th-level PCs in a modified Greyhawk setting; today they were all running 1st-level PCs in an entirely new campaign universe. We ran through two short adventures, the first one consisting of an individual dream for each PC, followed by a shared dream involving all five PCs, followed by an individual encounter for each PC as they traveled to meet up in the Waking World. (And I got to use a stuffed animal moogle - from Final Fantasy - as a prop in the game.)
Then, since all that took less than 2 hours, we jumped straight into the second short adventure I had planned, involving an assault on a scriptorium associated with a thieves guild, which ended up with the rescue of a young noblewoman, all through the accidental observation of a man with his throat slit falling through an intact (and solid) wall and the deciphering of a message he wrote in his own blood as he died. The players all got a thrill out of being so virtually helpless and so close to death again while running 1st-level PCs after so long playing high-level characters.
Johnathan
Then, since all that took less than 2 hours, we jumped straight into the second short adventure I had planned, involving an assault on a scriptorium associated with a thieves guild, which ended up with the rescue of a young noblewoman, all through the accidental observation of a man with his throat slit falling through an intact (and solid) wall and the deciphering of a message he wrote in his own blood as he died. The players all got a thrill out of being so virtually helpless and so close to death again while running 1st-level PCs after so long playing high-level characters.
Johnathan
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