D&D General How Was Your Last Session?

[Guest 7034872]

Well, I learned something: pre-drawn combat sheets save a lot of time. And they don't need to look pretty; they need to convey all the truly essential information legibly and in a format where everything is easy to find. Keep it all on one sheet if at all possible.

 

[Blue]

Session #40 of my Masks of the Imperium D&D 5e campaign. The party the previous session just had a massive ambush they set up to take down a big bad, only to find out that one of their party was missing from the ambush.

They managed to deal with the evil Duke Warlock who had made a pact and was housing an Oinoloth inside him, started investigating the missing character (written out because the player wasn't able to attend three sessions), and were whisked via a magical line-of-sight mirror gateway to: The Moon.

For those not following around at home, the world is the body of a murdered god, and the moon is literally her decapitated skull. Both big enough and now old enough that they aren't quite noticeable as such.

This session was the last he was gone. They ended up on much more of a railroad then I normally run on a mission to rescue their friend, just so I can ensure that he shows up at the right point. They discovered a minor High Elven House, fled hundred of years ago during the "subtle civil war". And a strange Oracular figure they had been finding out about. They were welcomed, fed, and given enough time for a short rest, at which point their host announced that The Oracle said that if the bell chimed that he would have desperate need of his companions. That Notum (the missing High Elf Rogue PC) was trying to capture a being with literal memories of some of his nigh-destroyed House that might know where survivors are, something called a Flayer of Minds.

So, having just had an all out battle verse a BBEG where they expended many resources and consumables, and a short test, they set out. Unknown to the party, Notum had been told by The Oracle that he might be followed by the party, and he carefully marked every trap in a way they would find. Still, between loud noises trying to solve the entry puzzle and the Eladrin Bard who couldn't keep her hands off a bookcase that was marked trapped, they still triggered a skeletal defender of the lair and alerted the master of the house.

So the 8th level party is freaking out having to go against a rogue Mind Flayer, something they have never encountered but the players are quite familiar with from previous editions. What they don't realize is that their information is centuries out of date. They aren't going against a Mind Flayer. They are going against an Alhoon, a mind flayer lich.

Heh.

And his pet.

Double heh.

Do you know you can infect a Beholder with a Mindflayer tadpole. You get something called a Mindwitness.

Now, the short rest game back wildshape to the Moon Druid, so that he's low on spells isn't as huge a deal. And when fighting the BBEG, the bard had been leading the crowd at the arena in the exorcism charts to purge the Oinoloth from the Duke's body, so she still has most of her spells left. And while the paladin is out of spell slots for smites, he does have a Mace of Disruption which will do quite nicely against the undead Alhoon. The Twilight Cleric got her Channel Divinities back and is buffing everyone, and the missing character is full up. Still, I expect that there will be more than a little fear of death as each successive bit of "oh no" is revealed.

So we ended the session mid-battle, and when we start next session we will have the missing player who's rogue has been lining up the "perfect shot" - he'll go at the top of round with a guaranteed crit. Dramatic entrance, and something different then having to be saved which is how he had been introduced into the campaign.

After this battle they'll level up. And then - adventures on the Moon.

 

[Older Beholder]

Last night we started our 'final battle' for a campaign that's been running for over two years (started during the first lockdown)
It's based on Hoard of the Dragon Queen / Rise of Tiamat, (with stuff from a dozen or more other adventures thrown in along the way). We hadn't played for a few weeks as the DM needed extra time to prepare, (plus we've all been playing a lot of Elden Ring lately too).

What started with four players is now down to two, but we're running an NPC or two each as well for this last fight.
The two characters left are a 19th level Human fighter and my Fire Genasi (Arcana) Cleric.

I have no idea how close to the adventure our DM is sticking, but this final battle is with over 100 dragons, as well as Devils, Giants, cultists, red wizards, etc...

The player playing the fighter gave a rousing rev up speech before the battle. We only got through our planning and a couple of rounds as things kicked off. It was pretty epic, but there's a crazy amount of dice rolling. Hopefully we can finish it off next week.

 

[Blue]

A bit of a rant about last session. We're playing in Theros, each of a devote of a god. At 4th level the DM gave my character Ephixis, the artifact bow of my god -- who sometimes gives it out to a champion. It's a +3 weapon with various trick arrow. Okay, cool. Then the forge cleric just got Akmon, the artifact weapon of her god. Okay, he's probably going to give us each our god's artifact weapons. Makes sense - we're doing a job for the gods to save the world, and the gods let champions wield them.

It's also +3 ... and adds 3d10 fire damage. About the same bonus damage as sneak attack from a 9th level rogue. But this is a 5th level cleric, who is also a full caster, with better armor then me, and all that.

It feels like the DM has a cool concept with giving each of us an artifact, and I don't want to complain since I got one first. But the other weapons of the gods also give out big bonus damage.

As a rogue really my only contribution to combat is damage. And I'm feeling like I will be just outclassed by the bonuses these do.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

24th session of Monte Cook's 3E Banewarrens campaign run with Shadow of the Demon Lord on Owlbear Rodeo.

Five player characters at Level 5:

• Dwarf Fighter/Warrior. Heir to a lost kingdom. His trinket is half of a treasure map. However, after being kidnapped by mysterious forces, his consciousness has somehow transferred into a Clockwork Rogue/Artificer. The whereabouts of his body are unknown.
• Elf Wizard/Magician. Outcast from elven lands, raised in Ptolus, keeper of a dark secret. His magical traditions are Arcana, Teleportation, Chaos, and Fey.
• Goblin Oracle/Magician. Responsible for the destruction of his tribe. Specialized in the Fire and Forbidden magic traditions.
• Changeling 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 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.

This session was one big battle in an urban graveyard against a necromantic cult raising the dead. There was also a barrow wight from the Banewarrens, a creature which had originally appeared in the very first session. The wight hunted those who had taken objects from the Banewarrens. In this instance, the changeling rogue had a corrupted blade. The fight was tough at times but ultimately the necromancers did not hit hard enough to pose a big threat. Characters in SotDL are swingy so I'm having a hard time finding out how to challenge them.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

25th session of Monte Cook's 3E Banewarrens campaign run with Shadow of the Demon Lord on Owlbear Rodeo.

Five player characters at Level 5:

• Dwarf Fighter/Warrior. Heir to a lost kingdom. His trinket is half of a treasure map. However, after being kidnapped by mysterious forces, his consciousness has somehow transferred into a Clockwork Rogue/Artificer. The whereabouts of his body are unknown.
• Elf Wizard/Magician. Outcast from elven lands, raised in Ptolus, keeper of a dark secret. His magical traditions are Arcana, Teleportation, Chaos, and Fey.
• Goblin Oracle/Magician. Responsible for the destruction of his tribe. Specialized in the Fire and Forbidden magic traditions.
• Changeling 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 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.

Several sessions ago the dwarf fighter was kidnapped in the Banewarrens and taken into Ptolus. The other characters don't know who kidnapped him. Fortunately, his consciousness transferred into an automaton and so some version of him is still with the party. In this session, the characters focused their efforts on trying to locate and rescue him.

What they don't know is that the dwarf was kidnapped by the Pactlords of the Quaan and is held at the tower of Jevvica Norr, a half-elf wizard who the players mistakenly believe to be an ally.

They rested at an inn called the Ghostly Minstrel. In the morning a ransom note awaited them at the front desk. It told them to be on a particular bridge at midnight.

With a day to kill, the characters did some investigating. They went looking for the elf wizard's mentor as well as Jevvica Norr. The mentor was missing, not seen in days. Stymied, they had to discover where Jevvica's tower was located. They went to the tower to see if she could help them locate the mentor, who is a friend of hers. They don't know (or even suspect) that she's a villain. The tower door was locked. No one answered a knock. The elf wizard summoned a sprite and sent it into the tower. It did not return. Clearly, something is afoot at the tower.

The tower is located in Emerald Hill, a verdant neighborhood favored by elves. The dwarf has been getting flashes of sensory input that include freshly cut grass, so he has some vague clues as to where his body might be held captive. Yet no one put two and two together.

In fact, the characters turned and walked away -- only fifty feet from the captive dwarf.

Returning to the Ghostly Minstrel, the characters received a second note. This was from an ally at the Longfingers thieves guild inviting them to a midnight rendezvous at the Onyx Spider. The goblin oracle decided to attend, as he's interested in the guild.

Wait, are you saying the players decided to split the party just before the ransom? Yup.

At midnight, the characters approached the bridge, which spanned an epic river gorge. Three cloaked figures held a hooded captive. The characters were pretty certain the captive was not the dwarf -- and they were right. It was a set up. The hooded figures wanted the Bane Key in return for the "captive".

A massive manticore swooped and landed among the party. The figures threw off their hoods -- and vanished. These creatures are invisible. The manticore had four attacks per turn. It was a wrecker. But the characters took it out in three rounds.

Meanwhile, we cut back to the Onyx Spider. There, the goblin spotted a woman dressed like the hooded figures on the bridge. What's the connection?

Next session: Invisible stalkers!

 

[Richards]

In today's "Dreams of Erthe" campaign session the PCs awakened a lawful evil cleric from a dream in which he was playing chess with the personification of Death - and losing badly. Unfortunately, he and his wife (a lawful evil necromancer) had been hired by the local Duke to create undead dread warriors, and since only the cleric of the two was of a high-enough level to cast create undead spells, the necromancer wife had taken it upon herself to use planar ally scrolls to get some assistance from a white abishai, a black abishai, and a green abishai - all of which can cast the create undead spell - to keep their undead army conversion process on track and on time.

So, after the PCs rescued the cleric from his dreams they were going to leave quietly (they were even willing to ignore the 16 dread warriors already created, given the Duke is related to the King who rules over pretty much the whole continent), but the abishai had other plans. After all, they hadn't made any deals with the PCs, and one of the PCs was a suitable "volunteer" for undead conversion. What followed was a fight between the PCs and the abishais, with the evil cleric and necromancer as unwilling allies. When a well-placed magic circle against evil spell ruined the abishais' plans for mental domination of the PCs, they did the next best thing: they opened the sole door to the keep and let the 16 dread warriors in, with orders to kill the PCs.

The battle ended up being PCs + jade cooshee figurine of wondrous power + evil cleric + evil necromancer + summoned celestial bison vs. 3 abishais + 16 dread warriors + 5 summoned lemures, which was all one big battle half inside the keep and half outside in the walled-in courtyard. In the end, the PCs were successful, although the dread warriors are being kept busy pounding on the dead abishais to keep them from regenerating long enough for the evil cleric and necromancer to go round up some holy water (not surprisingly, they didn't have any on hand) which can slay them permanently. The PCs only killed three of the dread warriors, the rest having being turned to keep them out of the way but still "healthy" enough to serve as a reserve force for the Duke's armies. The PCs aren't really happy with this setup, but they don't want to make an enemy of the Duke.

And the evil cleric and the evil necromancer are having quite the marital spat along the lines of "What were you thinking?" vs. "What else was I supposed to do? The Duke was getting impatient and I couldn't wake you up!"

But this is the second time I included boneless as monsters for the PCs to fight and the second time they didn't get to use any of their abilities - heck, for this adventure I put in two boneless and the fighting never made it to the basement level where they perform guard duties. I'll have to stick them into another adventure at some point down the road.

Johnathan

 

[THEMNGMNT]

40th 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.

Previously, the characters had been trapped in a nightmare by a mind flayer. In this session they awoke from the nightmare to find themselves engulfed by a gibbering mouther. They fought their way free and destroyed the mouther. Now they needed to escape the lair.

As they explored, they found the mind flayer's minions unconscious. Apparently they were stunned by some sort of feedback psychic loop when the characters defeated the mind flayer in the dreamscape. Their enemies were helpless before them. They debated whether or not to murder them...but decided not to.

Most of the minions were rogue drow commanded by the wizard's sister. Finding her unconscious, they tied her up and took her captive. The wizard snagged her cloak of arachnida for himself. They also rescued a pair of prisoners.

Next session: Reward for a job well done...

 

[Richards]

In last night's "Ghourmand Vale" campaign session, we jumped ahead to day 8 of our 19-day journey from Greyhawk City to Ghourmand Vale, the first eight days having passed by relatively uneventfully. But upon waking up on day 9, we found out two of the wagons in our caravan train had had children abducted from them - a 7-year-old human and an "equivalent to a 7-year-old human" elf, apparently by kobolds, according to the tracks. The four PCs were sent to track down the kobolds and rescue the children if possible, while an elf NPC was sent riding to the nearest city to get help from their security forces to guard the caravan until our return.

We followed the tracks from just after dawn until nearly dusk, but they eventually led to a cave network, where we fought, in turn, two kobolds; four more kobolds in a larger cavern; three norkers; then found an abandoned kobold throne room which had a secret door leading down to a lower cavern that had a magical fountain and the two kidnapped children (who had been stashed in the throne room and found their way down to the lower cavern the kobolds apparently didn't even know about); and then two more kobolds guarding their eggs and newly-hatched kobold young. After clearing the whole place out of enemies (and finding indications that they had kept a pair of dire weasels as riding mounts, which weren't there), we determined it was too late to return back that day, so we camped out there overnight (the girls and the female halfling PC staying back down in the hidden fountain room while the other three took guard shifts upstairs). The next day we made it back to the caravan, only to find it had been attacked by a raiding party of kobolds (and their two dire weasel riding mounts) in our absence. The kids were reunited with their families, the grateful elves gave us each a weapon or piece of armor, and that night one dire weasel and three kobolds reanimated as zombies and attacked us. We fought them off and determined of all the corpses of those who had attacked the caravan the day before, those four had been the physically nearest to the brother and sister who had hired us in our first adventure to fetch a family crest from the tomb of their grandfather. They don't want to believe the crest is magical (although all indications are it's responsible for creating and attracting the undead), but we ended it there - next session, we'll take the matter to the caravan leader, a cleric of Saint Cuthbert who was badly wounded in the kobold attack (while we were off rescuing the kids).

My sorcerer PC (who still hasn't figured out he's a sorcerer), did get empathic contact from his grackle familiar, but he didn't recognize it as having been contact from a familiar; he thinks it's his dead servant warning him of danger, in the same way he's convinced his unconscious casting of the unseen servant spell is his old servant's ghostly spirit looking out for him. (I had the unseen servant - whom I call "Ogilvy" - carrying a lamp around to provide us light in the kobold caverns, and some time after we had cleared the place out the spell's duration ran out, causing the lamp to fall to the floor. My PC was actually relieved at this, assuming it was Ogilvy deciding he was no longer needed because there was no longer any danger about.) That's the kind of assumption you make when Wisdom was your dump stat....

Johnathan

 

[Reynard]

Look, playing 5E over Fantasy Grounds can already slow the game down some. So, please, PLEASE, learn what your character can do and pay attention during other folks' turns so when you come up you can do the thing and we can keep the pace and excitement up. PLEASE.

We spent 2 hours on one encounter last night with 5 PCs versus 2 chuuls, even with two of those PCs literally averaging 30 seconds per turn (we timed it). It was excruciating.