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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hexmage-EN" data-source="post: 8319839" data-attributes="member: 79428">Spooky stuff (a general mix of dark, heavily fungus-infested forest, diseased animals, evil sprites taunting the PCs invisibly, and hallucinations caused by hidden meenlocks) caused the the party to get separated (one player could make it IRL).A kobold NPC was killed and partially eaten by a swarm of evil sprites (kinda sad about that; I liked him). The PCs, along with a halfling wererat and a forlarren, continued on to try and find the others. They fought redcaps, were joined by a mischievous mite named Thumbpulp, took out a swarm of webbirds with burning hands (the monk PC completely evaded the flames while the webbirds were incinerated), and peacefully passed through a group of myconids and spore servants busy composting corpses to grow gas spores.The group finally faced off against a cyclops, triceratops, and three redcaps to save captive umpleby children that the cyclops had tied to his belt to force their mother to work for him in prospecting for valuables. The party cleric managed to kill the cyclops and used a homebrew magic item called a Stonewall Shield (which basically creates a smaller wall of stone until the shield is removed from the wall) to protect the umbleby tykes from the murderous redcaps while the party monk and the forlarren NPC battled with another redcap atop the corpse of the triceratops, the halfling wererat NPC providing crossbow fire from a distance (after having snuck through brambles in rat form). The whole time the mite NPC teased a very old deep gnome miner by magically sabotaging his attempts to climb a rope out of the pit he had been working in.In retrospect it was a bit more railroady than I'd like (though they were mostly trying to follow behind the characters they'd been separated from), but I also had devised most of it that day in favor of pushing back what I had initially had planned to next session. I was particularly impressed by the cleric's decision to use the Stonewall Shield to protect the young umplebies, given that she hadn't used it for a while.EDIT: As an aside, I find meenlocks as written a little underwhelming and decided to give the hallucination-inducing telepathy indicated by their lore some more mechanical heft:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hidden meenlocks cause a character to experience unsettling hallucinations:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A companion is suddenly overtaken by parasitic fungi. The character must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be frightened of this companion, keeping away from them lest they too become parasitized.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An item begins to squirm and grow wriggling tendrils. The character must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and toss the item away.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A number of trees are suddenly recognized as the legs of some colossal vermin. The character must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be stunned and afraid to attract the creature’s attention.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The character is convinced that the wrongness of the place is seeping into them, slowly transforming them. They try to feel their lungs to see if the sensation of breathing is in the right place. The character must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and be overcome with a need to concentrate on what their body is supposed to be like to keep it from going wrong. Should their concentration be broken they are Incapacitated for a few minutes, imagining horrible forms they might take and certain they’ll horribly mutate at any moment.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The character sees the bioluminescent light and perceives floating, squirming, pulsating, organic “things” within it. The character must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or take 1d8 psychic damage and close their eyes tightly, effectively blinding themselves.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The character is certain an ally is some kind of malevolent imposter. The creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw, or take 1d8 psychic damage and make a melee weapon attack against the ally.</li> </ul></li> </ul>Recaps are amazing, though. The party learned to be wary of them. I also added two new powers: one taken from Baldur's Gate 3, and one adapted from the Spriggran Powrie in D&D 4E:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Action. Inspire Bloodlust (1/Rest). The redcap chooses an ally within 30 feet. For the next minute or until the redcap loses concentration the ally gains an additional wicked sickle attack.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bonus Action. Punt the Fallen. +6 to hit. 1d10+4 bludgeoning damage, and the target is pushed 10 feet.</li> </ul>The latter was used to kick the cleric (who had already been knocked prone by Ironbound Pursuit) into a pond.</blockquote>

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