D&D General How Was Your Last Session?

[Nebulous]

The PCs met van Richten, Monster Slayer! It was wholly unexpected on their part. They want him as an ally SOOO bad but when they learned about this curse they were disappointed. They call him a Phone-A-Friend ally now. All the pieces in Vallaki are drawing to a climax. The church is sanctified with the bones, so I might just have Strahd do a flyby attack and scare the people while the spawn wreak havoc.

OR...Strahd lands, and offers the PCs a personal invitation to the Castle. I don't think they would want to go the castle anyway, as it seems like an obvious trap.

 

[Blue]

My last session as a DM went well. DMing for four early teens - my kids and a niece and nephew. The previous session they were tracking down the rumors of a two-headed fire-breathing Black Hound terrorrizing the countryside to prevent a mob from running their tiefling friend Chant out of town under the superstition that his infernal blood called it. They found it - and another, and signs of more - killed the Death Dogs, but then Balasar, the Dragonborn Barbarian was infected with it's flesh rotting disease. At 2nd level and no paladin, they had no way to cure it themselves. They collapsed the cave complex it was in and left.

So this session they picked up on different hook from a few sessions back and went searching for the Witch of the Woods for a cure, as the (again, superstitious) villagers called her. But to my surprise they took a little girl with them, who is missing their grandmama. That was another hook (I throw lots at the party in semi-sandbox ways) and they had failed to follow up on the clues they found, but figured maybe this witch could help with that.

The Witch has a fearsome reputation among all the people that they talked to ... except that the womenfolk of the town kind of slyly said she was okay.

After a rather longer trip than they were expecting (bad rolls and they got lost), the came to the area. Leafless trees (it's early winter) with a parliament of crows watching them who flew away en masse. Nothing like pulling out horror tropes on neophyte roleplayers who haven't yet seen it all at the table. Lots of fun.

Anyway, they finally in the evening came across the pipe-smoking dwarven Witch of the Woods, who thoroughly has them convinced that they should only make deals with her in dire need. Which they had.

But really, that's because the (male) dragonborn was going first, and he did a great job playing his proud character who's the last (and therefore heir) of his tribe, and the Witch who doesn't want menfolk (specifically) traipsing through the woods to bother her for her help instead of helping themselves.

So he has pledged three tasks to her, with the flesh rotting disease cured after the first - help protect a young druid in the woods doing her vision quest from a band of intruders in the woods. (Marauding bandits, outgrowth of not following another hook from earlier sessions.)

On the other hand, helping the little girl was for one task - the same one. So basically just to help out the little girl while still seeming to charge a high price. The Witch doesn't like to be disturbed, but is good aligned.

So they are off following a group of crows (exactly one per party member) to find the young druidess-to-be on her vision quest and protect her from the marauders.

Lots of RP, a few challenges and no combat, but they had a great time and asked if I could run again this coming weekend. Even my combat-seeking nephew enjoyed himself, and the promise of marauders next week has him happy.

 

[pemerton]

I played a short session of Burning Wheel today. I wrote it up fully here. It was good.

My main character, a paladin-type called Thurgon, returned to his ancestral estate, Auxol. He knew that Auxol had fallen into the wrong hands, but he still got a shock when he saw how far his brother Rufus and mother Xanthippe had fallen. But a bit like Gandalf liberating Theoden, Thurgon was able to restore hope and health to his mother. His sidekick Aramina made an enemy of Rufus, calling him out as a contemptible coward, but her own cynicism was overcome when Thurgon called on the divine powers to restore heart to Xanthippe, and now she is going to join them in liberating Auxol.

 

[Richards]

Our last session this past Thursday will be our last session for awhile, as our two school-age players return to school this week and that opens up some COVID-19 concerns. But we got to go on our hiatus on a high note, as we were able to steal back the Tarrasque soul prison we'd been forced to fetch for our mortal enemy before she was able to figure out to use it to summon the Tarrasque to destroy the city we're pledged on defending, and in doing so inadvertently prevented a plot against the drow House to which our PCs are slaves by capturing the slavemaster who'd been in charge of us when we were first captured as slaves to the drow. So a big win before we put the campaign on hold.

Johnathan

 

[THEMNGMNT]

The current arc of my campaign ended in epic fashion. It's a modified version of Storm King's Thunder where the Zhentarim have been the power secretly manipulating the giants. Manshoon had seized Blackstaff Tower and the player characters assaulted it with the help of multiple NPC allies. (Spoiler: Most of the NPCs died.) The characters are 15th level.

This session was the final showdown with Manshoon. It started in Blackstaff Tower and then literally went to Hell and back. It featured a lot of big character moments and unexpected twists, so I guess the simplest way to tell this story is by recapping what happened with each character.

Elf arcane trickster rogue: In the previous session, he and several NPC allies destroyed the laboratory where thousands of Manshoon clones were kept in statis, thus clearing the way for the destruction of the true Manshoon. When the session started, he arrived in the teleportation circle at Blackstaff Tower. Soon, he was fighting waves of Zhentarim reinforcements, including a longstanding mini-boss. He landed the killing blow on the mini-boss.

Aasimar vengeance paladin: In the previous session, he had been teleported to the other side of Waterdeep. Manshoon was in possession of the Blackstaff itself, which he used to awaken the Walking Statues of Waterdeep. Those statues were now rampaging across the city, destroying everything in their path. Rather than fight the Statues, the paladin decided to return to Blackstaff Tower and confront Manshoon. He unfurled his radiant wings and flew across the rooftops to Blackstaff Tower. Once the tower was in sight, he used dimension door to teleport inside. There, he found his mentor, the high priest of Ilmater, dead. Alongside him was Vajra Safahr, the legitimate wielder of the Blackstaff, also dead. Both at the hands of Zhentarim agents. The paladin killed two of the Zhents, then used revivify to bring the high priest back to life.

Halfling lore bard: Actually, the halfling's soul is trapped in Hell. But none of the characters know that. Controlling the halfling's body is the soul of his deceased rival, a vainglorious bard pledged to the Archdevil Glasya. (More on Glasya later.) The halfling's ambitious brother is in league with the Zhentarim and now rules Waterdeep as their puppet Open Lord. Like the paladin, the halfling had been teleported across Waterdeep, into the path of a rampaging Walking Statue. Taking cover, the halfling used a teleport spell to travel to Waterdeep Palace. He entered his brother's private chambers. Charmed him. Had him sign over his powers to the halfling. And then shoved him off the balcony to his death. It was a big time Cersei Lannister play that shocked the other players. They still do not realize that the halfling is under the control of someone much more evil.

Tiefling shadow sorcerer: She is the daughter of Manshoon and Glasya. Glasya wants her to kill Manshoon. Manshoon wants her to kill him, too. But, once he's dead, his soul will transfer into the Blackstaff. From there, he can mentally control the sorcerer. By day, she will be the new master of Blackstaff Tower. By night, she will secretly rule the Zhentarim. But in truth the soul of Manshoon will be the power behind the throne. Together, they will rule the Realms as father and daughter! Well, the sorcerer had other plans. When her companions were forcibly teleported out of Blackstaff Tower by Manshoon, she was left alone with him and his last two surviving clones. Approaching Manshoon, she hit him with a plane shift spell. Together, they arrived at Glasya's palace in Hell. Mother and daughter now had father in their clutches. Cursing them both, Manshoon struck Glasya with the Blackstaff. Retributive strike! As the staff exploded, the sorcerer was sent hurtling across the multiverse. She awoke under gray skies, floating in the dark waters off the shore of an isle of black stone. On the isle was a single lonely tower. Intuitively, she knew she was in the Shadowfell. She entered the tower -- Manshoon's private sanctum. Following a trail of blood, she found a dying Manshoon on the floor of his arcane library. "What are you waiting for," he rasped. "Finish it!" And she did...with a firebolt to the face. Moments later, her half-brother Zorion appeared. An enforcer for the Red Wizards, he had loaned her a Staff of Power to combat Manshoon. In truth, he had used the Staff to track her movements...and she had led him straight to the vast power of Manshoon's arcane sanctum. His masters in the Red Wizards would be pleased. Too weak to fight Zorion, she fled. But not before stealing Manshoon's Staff of the Magi and Robes of the Archmagi. Using the power of a permanent magic item to fuel her sorcery, she plane shifted back to Waterdeep. At Blackstaff Tower, the surviving Zhentarim immediately recognized her authority. They knelt and pledged loyalty to the new leader of the Zhentarim!

Human beast master ranger: This player was a no-show. His character fought the Zhentarim offscreen, away from the action. When it was all over, the ranger walked into the scene and said, "So what did I miss?" Ha!

So much happened so quickly that my players literally burned through or made obsolete the next three adventures I had planned. Months of content down the drain! It was glorious. My players made some big, bold, unexpected choices.

We're taking two weeks off from this campaign so I can figure out what happens next. I think I'm going to throw a big party with all the key NPCs that celebrates the PC's victory and frames up several adventure options for them to choose from.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

Short session in my Dragon Heist/Deck of Many Things mashup campaign. Player characters are 3rd level. In the last session, they tangled with ettercaps and chitines in service to a drow house. The creatures had a map that pointed back to an abandoned clock tower in Waterdeep's North Ward. (I used the map of the Shadow Clock from the Skinsaw Murders adventure in Paizo's Rise of the Runelords campaign.) In the dead of night, the players entered through the ground floor. They fought a CR3 trapper concealed on the floor and the noise drew the attention of the tower's other inhabitants, who are now on alert. Next session they'll ascend the tower and do battle with a hive of chitines and their choldrith mistress.

 

[Nebulous]

FORGE of FURY. Final Session. Three PCs died to the dragon. One escaped with a small bag of treasure and lived to tell her tale.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

PCs are 4th level in my modified Dragon of Icespire Peak. They're nearing the climactic assault on Icespire itself, but before then they have to clear out the cult of the dwarven god of greed, Abbathor, that has been secretly thwarting them all along. The dwarven cultists have a hidden temple beneath the Miner's Exchange in Phandalin. The characters entered the Exchange and descended into the temple below. (I used the Temple of Asmodeus from Dragon Heist, which is a really tasty map for a tactical encounter.) Sneaking into one of the balconies over the main chamber, the characters got the drop on two cultist lookouts and dispatched them quickly. But there's another balcony on the opposite side, and the characters were unable to take out those cultists before they shouted a warning to their comrades. Next session, they take on all the temple's defenders.

 

[Blue]

My last session, over just a few minutes ago, was GREAT. Mostly because of what it means moving forward.

We're playing in a Greek themed game set in the city-state of Vesta. We're all members of Athena's Legions, though we were basically A-Teamed by Zeus, but after we escaped we have proven our innocence to the Legions and are working as deniable secret forces. (But we're still wanted criminals.)

Anyway, we're following a lead from an outside source (not the legion) that is brings us to the Bank/Crime Syndicate/Church of Apollo, where the Oracle of Apollo has been suborned long ago. Among the things we're trying to do is free a noble who is of the family that controls access to the Oracle that led a failed coup 20 years ago trying to realign it for the people. That she did with our commanding officer.

Various things happen and our infiltration mission ends up a lot ... messier than we wanted. But we've gotten to where she's kept and all that's there is a mirror that's trying to suck us into it. Through various means we first find a way to bring the trapped to the surface to converse, and then the command word to release them. We release the PC who got trapped inside, and then the Lady who attempted the coup. She had been in there for 20 years, had no idea how much time had passed.

Then, on a hunch, my Cleric calls out the name of our commanding officer who was the co-conspiritor on the coup.

The DM suddenly gets a far-away look, you can see the wheels spinning. 10 seconds, 15, 20. Then on his face a decision made: Yes, our commander also steps out, having been imprisoned the last 20 years.

BAM!

Everything just altered, plotwise. Suddenly our commander, 2nd in charage of all of Athena's Legions, has gone from trustworth leader of the secret forces to an impostor who has lived the life for twenty years.

We ended the session early, only took it to the point where we got him back to HQ. I don't blame the DM - I'd absolutely need time to work out this new direction and have it be satisfying. The intrigue of this is going to be sooooo great.

Can't wait for what comes next.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

PCs are 3rd level in my Dragon Heist/Deck of Many Things mashup. This session was one big set piece fight that was suitably cinematic. The PCs are going after a group of drow, one of many factions seeking a lost treasure vault somewhere in Waterdeep. They have backtracked part of the drow operation to an abandoned, 100 foot high clock tower in North Ward. In the previous session they entered the tower and overcame a giant spider and trapper on the ground floor.

This session they ascended the winding, rickety staircase and were soon fighting all the way to the top. A pair of chitines unmoored the bells at the top of the tower. The four bells crashed through the stairs, narrowly missing the PCs. The halfling rogue was left trapped and isolated, the staircase ripped away on either side. Two more chitines skittered down the wall and attacked the half-orc fighter and half-elf wizard. The rogue leapt the gap, grabbed hold of the ascending stairs, and dashed toward the top of the tower. The chitines that dropped the bells converged on him, aided by a giant spider. The rogue cut the spider's web, sending it tumbling down several floors, but finally landing on the stairs behind the wizard. Then the rogue hurled a lucky dagger up to the beams that once held the bells, breaking them loose and taking out another chitine. Meanwhile, on the stairs below, the fighter used his gloves of swimming and climbing to cross the gap created by the falling bells. Together, the fighter and wizard defeated the remaining chitines and the giant spider.

The rogue then scouted ahead to the two chambers that topped the tower. In the uppermost chamber he discovered the leader of this operation, a hideous choldrith. The rogue fled back to his companions, who unloaded everything they had on the choldrith. In turn, it used dark powers to summon the shadows of the bellringers who had died in the clock tower. The shadows attacked the fighter, draining his strength. But the rogue hit the choldrith with a devastating critical hit sneak attack, and the wizard finished it off with a firebolt to the face.

Next session they search the clock tower for clues to the drow's operation and decide which of them to pursue.