Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Was Your Last Session?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 8122630" data-attributes="member: 6809274"><p>107th session of my Storm King's Thunder/Tyranny of Dragons/Scales of War mashup. Player characters started the session at 17th level, then hit 18th level, and reached 19th level by the end. I only allow level ups during long rests, which is what created the strange pacing. This session advanced and nearly resolved multiple dangling plot threads as we near the climax of the campaign.</p><p></p><p>The PCs have been playing through an extended dreamlike flashback sequence where the elf arcane trickster rogue learned that he and his evil twin sister are actually two halves of Erevan Ilesere, the elven god of trickery. Long ago, Erevan was caught looting Tiamat's treasure hoard on Avernus, the first layer of Hell. As punishment, Tiamat's minions executed Erevan with a mythic sword -- the mythic sword that split the dragon god Io in half, resulting in the creation of Tiamat and Bahamut. But Erevan didn't die. Instead, he was metaphysically split in two, and his two halves took mortal form in Faerun, with no knowledge or memory of their true nature. Now the rogue knows who he is...and who's responsible for making him that way.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, the PCs now know Tiamat's ultimate aim -- to slay Bahamut with the mythic sword and assume his divine portfolio, raising herself over all dragons across the multiverse.</p><p></p><p>Emerging from the dream sequence, the PCs found themsleves in the Temple of Mischief, a sacred place to Erevan. But they were not alone. Waiting in ambush for them were their clones!</p><p></p><p>To back up a bit, the middle of this campaign featured Manshoon and the Zhentarim as primary antagonists. In my Realms, there is (well, was) a true Manshoon -- with a near-infinite number of clones that were psychically connected to him. The PCs finally defeated Manshoon and his clones...but they learned that he had cloned the PCs. Finally, those clones have appeared. Their goal: Slay the PCs in the Temple of Mischief and absorb their souls!</p><p></p><p>Mechanically, I designed the clones so that when the clones took damage, the PCs would take psychic damage equal to half that amount. I assumed it would result in a very difficult fight. It did not. The players won handily through intelligent use of plane shift, forcecage, etc. The paladin's clone, ranger's clone, and sorcerer's clone were all quickly dispatched. Intriguingly, the rogue's clone was sent to the Astral Plane via plane shift. That's now a dangling plot thread that may or may not get resolved.</p><p></p><p>But then something interesting happened with the halfling bard's clone. The "real" bard is actually not what he appears to be. His body has been possessed by the soul of an amoral half-elf bard who died in battle with the PCs long ago. The halfling bard's soul is trapped in Hell. The other PCs have figured out most of this but have been keeping it secret while they determine what to do about it. Due to the clone's psychic connection to the original, he could sense something was wrong with the "real" bard and he blurted that out to the PCs, forcing a confrontation between the party and the possessing soul.</p><p></p><p>Concurrently, the half-elf bard's soul has been plotting to use wish and true polymorph to transform the halfling's body into a half-elven body. Which would leave the halfling's soul without a body to return to. But now...there's a halfling clone body with no soul. Which is kind of a great fit for a halfling soul with no body. It's like they were made for each other.</p><p></p><p>None of this was planned by me, by the way. It just...happened.</p><p></p><p>The PCs spent the rest of the session arguing with the now-exposed amoral half-elven bard (and each other) about what to do next. The more they talked about it, the more they decided he was more useful as an ally than as an enemy. So I think they're going to work together to get the halfling's soul out of Hell and meld it with the clone body.</p><p></p><p>Lots of unexpected developments!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="THEMNGMNT, post: 8122630, member: 6809274"] 107th session of my Storm King's Thunder/Tyranny of Dragons/Scales of War mashup. Player characters started the session at 17th level, then hit 18th level, and reached 19th level by the end. I only allow level ups during long rests, which is what created the strange pacing. This session advanced and nearly resolved multiple dangling plot threads as we near the climax of the campaign. The PCs have been playing through an extended dreamlike flashback sequence where the elf arcane trickster rogue learned that he and his evil twin sister are actually two halves of Erevan Ilesere, the elven god of trickery. Long ago, Erevan was caught looting Tiamat's treasure hoard on Avernus, the first layer of Hell. As punishment, Tiamat's minions executed Erevan with a mythic sword -- the mythic sword that split the dragon god Io in half, resulting in the creation of Tiamat and Bahamut. But Erevan didn't die. Instead, he was metaphysically split in two, and his two halves took mortal form in Faerun, with no knowledge or memory of their true nature. Now the rogue knows who he is...and who's responsible for making him that way. Additionally, the PCs now know Tiamat's ultimate aim -- to slay Bahamut with the mythic sword and assume his divine portfolio, raising herself over all dragons across the multiverse. Emerging from the dream sequence, the PCs found themsleves in the Temple of Mischief, a sacred place to Erevan. But they were not alone. Waiting in ambush for them were their clones! To back up a bit, the middle of this campaign featured Manshoon and the Zhentarim as primary antagonists. In my Realms, there is (well, was) a true Manshoon -- with a near-infinite number of clones that were psychically connected to him. The PCs finally defeated Manshoon and his clones...but they learned that he had cloned the PCs. Finally, those clones have appeared. Their goal: Slay the PCs in the Temple of Mischief and absorb their souls! Mechanically, I designed the clones so that when the clones took damage, the PCs would take psychic damage equal to half that amount. I assumed it would result in a very difficult fight. It did not. The players won handily through intelligent use of plane shift, forcecage, etc. The paladin's clone, ranger's clone, and sorcerer's clone were all quickly dispatched. Intriguingly, the rogue's clone was sent to the Astral Plane via plane shift. That's now a dangling plot thread that may or may not get resolved. But then something interesting happened with the halfling bard's clone. The "real" bard is actually not what he appears to be. His body has been possessed by the soul of an amoral half-elf bard who died in battle with the PCs long ago. The halfling bard's soul is trapped in Hell. The other PCs have figured out most of this but have been keeping it secret while they determine what to do about it. Due to the clone's psychic connection to the original, he could sense something was wrong with the "real" bard and he blurted that out to the PCs, forcing a confrontation between the party and the possessing soul. Concurrently, the half-elf bard's soul has been plotting to use wish and true polymorph to transform the halfling's body into a half-elven body. Which would leave the halfling's soul without a body to return to. But now...there's a halfling clone body with no soul. Which is kind of a great fit for a halfling soul with no body. It's like they were made for each other. None of this was planned by me, by the way. It just...happened. The PCs spent the rest of the session arguing with the now-exposed amoral half-elven bard (and each other) about what to do next. The more they talked about it, the more they decided he was more useful as an ally than as an enemy. So I think they're going to work together to get the halfling's soul out of Hell and meld it with the clone body. Lots of unexpected developments! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How Was Your Last Session?
Top