jasper
Rotten DM
I think this was the 10th session in the book so call it 40+ hours.
DDAL Jasper runs Tomb of Annihilation. season 7
- Thread starter jasper
- Start date
CapnZapp
Legend
*phew*
For a second there, I thought you meant your latest session!
Nothing to see, carry on
jasper
Rotten DM
On Sunday I Dm Part 1 on Return of the Lizard King... man are my players uncaring. Since part 1 is for 1st level pcs, I had to add monsters to all the encounters. And due life I did not bring all my gear so it was also theatre of the mind. 7 players set up. IF you run the module for Al you will have change out the magic items and drop some of additional material. Combat was easier because most of the time I said the monsters were in melee range and did not worry about move 30 feet and swing.
It only took a bump 100 gp for them to toss Byre to the Queen. They were so quick to jump at the offer, I may drop Byre from the rest of the adventure.
I did enjoy messing with the druid's wildshape abilities. No you not a dire wolf your a beagle. No you not a spider but a juicy fly etc. Just some reskin on his shape while allowing the stats from what every critter he turned into.
One major change I did make. Since the adventure is milestone advancement. I just gave 300 xp for the first part.
It only took a bump 100 gp for them to toss Byre to the Queen. They were so quick to jump at the offer, I may drop Byre from the rest of the adventure.
I did enjoy messing with the druid's wildshape abilities. No you not a dire wolf your a beagle. No you not a spider but a juicy fly etc. Just some reskin on his shape while allowing the stats from what every critter he turned into.
One major change I did make. Since the adventure is milestone advancement. I just gave 300 xp for the first part.
jasper
Rotten DM
TOA Session 11
XP 800 Gp ZERO Renown 1. Downtime 10. 7 players average party level.
Pc deaths 8
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 232.
Day 12
They have entered the tomb on Day 12. They also did not mess with much at the front door. This maybe due be smart or having some players from other tables giving hints. The group check out the hallway of the gods. And everyone was taking notes. Before they messed with the middle entrance they discovered the other one. Since they thought the 3 *3 pattern was better than a circle pattern they choose that one.
I had puzzle cubes made up with the gawds on them. Boy was I sacred when one player grabbed all and laid out the correct pattern. But I called a rest break for myself, and they were still rearranging the pattern when I got back.
The shadow demon was a push over. They initially open Obo’laka’s tomb and slam the door when the wights move on them. The sewer grate and river were a great time waster. While the group getting the thief wet, the bard explored the grand staircase.
Obo’laka’s tomb was their first battle and they were getting in each other way by not advancing into the room. When Grrr the mage won the ring, I explained the rules. One unless a spell had been previous casted before possession attempt no spells could be cast to aid the pc. Two, the group at the end of the night would give a group up check or down check on how the player roleplayed the possession. At the end of the adventure if the up checks are more than the down checks, the pc keeps the item. Third. The Roll must be in my new dice tray. Four the items instant attune on possession.
The group was very confused on how they want to explore the dungeon. The magnet room was fun for me. And they back tracked but did not decide to go down to the second level. The last room they check out was Moa’s Tomb. It was fun when Grr was being eaten by the skull when combat kicked off with the little kid. I think the skull did more damage to pcs. But when the skull opened again the sharpshooter shove the immoveable rod in to keep it open.
Session ended with the wizard claiming the staff of python and being possessed. The player contacted me today with the rules mistake as wizards can not attune the staff. But the Gawd Moa cares not the dmg rules. But will transfer to someone who can attune it at a later date.
Pictures are the Montgomery River Region Adventure league Facebook page. Or you can ask and I will try to upload them here.
XP 800 Gp ZERO Renown 1. Downtime 10. 7 players average party level.
Pc deaths 8
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 232.
Day 12
They have entered the tomb on Day 12. They also did not mess with much at the front door. This maybe due be smart or having some players from other tables giving hints. The group check out the hallway of the gods. And everyone was taking notes. Before they messed with the middle entrance they discovered the other one. Since they thought the 3 *3 pattern was better than a circle pattern they choose that one.
I had puzzle cubes made up with the gawds on them. Boy was I sacred when one player grabbed all and laid out the correct pattern. But I called a rest break for myself, and they were still rearranging the pattern when I got back.
The shadow demon was a push over. They initially open Obo’laka’s tomb and slam the door when the wights move on them. The sewer grate and river were a great time waster. While the group getting the thief wet, the bard explored the grand staircase.
Obo’laka’s tomb was their first battle and they were getting in each other way by not advancing into the room. When Grrr the mage won the ring, I explained the rules. One unless a spell had been previous casted before possession attempt no spells could be cast to aid the pc. Two, the group at the end of the night would give a group up check or down check on how the player roleplayed the possession. At the end of the adventure if the up checks are more than the down checks, the pc keeps the item. Third. The Roll must be in my new dice tray. Four the items instant attune on possession.
The group was very confused on how they want to explore the dungeon. The magnet room was fun for me. And they back tracked but did not decide to go down to the second level. The last room they check out was Moa’s Tomb. It was fun when Grr was being eaten by the skull when combat kicked off with the little kid. I think the skull did more damage to pcs. But when the skull opened again the sharpshooter shove the immoveable rod in to keep it open.
Session ended with the wizard claiming the staff of python and being possessed. The player contacted me today with the rules mistake as wizards can not attune the staff. But the Gawd Moa cares not the dmg rules. But will transfer to someone who can attune it at a later date.
Pictures are the Montgomery River Region Adventure league Facebook page. Or you can ask and I will try to upload them here.
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jasper
Rotten DM
I do session 12 later I need my notes. But Part 2 and 3 of Return of the lizard King were interests and a bother.
Part 2 I ran without much changes or even bumping up the encounters. The group was over level and most of the dice broke even. The ambush/ Yuan-ti patrol with the 12 guards went long. They made use of traps and ball bearings to get a little bit of the upper hand. I did split the party. One group was running back up the trail to rescue Lungan. The monk was just swinging at air in the center of the ambush and the other half was chasing the villain up the trail because he had the tko ranger in his coils. This could have been a PC kill because the party would not surrender. But I ruled I had to reestablish the constrict attack and I kept missing.
Part 3 could be better in multiple ways. I was under prepared and Spoiler Sam at the next table. The module suggests you set a two hour limit but throw that stuff away. The group landed at the docks and scouted well. During the barracks I had a healing monk cast remove disease which I allowed to work. They got some information from him. The group freaked out on the mutant buzzards. And played very smart at Pasha's Lodge. One guy was tying the zonked out people's shoes together while the monk explored the upstairs. He tick off the berserker both fled the house. And it was horrible as they chopped up the berserker and the lizard brutes.
After questioning the lodge people and getting good rolls (and with Spoiler Sam dropping hints from the table over), the monk used the potion of animal friendship to search the smithy. THIS is where I lost it. As I am reading the information on Whisper, Spoiler Sam starts to give the same information to his table. Loud enough for my table to hear. And his table was not even playing the module. I have asked this asshat not to do spoilers or at least turn now the volume. I lost it. He threaten me and it took some time me to calm down. After that I tried to get back on track. But could not. The group did blow up Asric's Workshop but I did not do death from double damage. I then just shut down the game as I was not tracking. I gave them full xp and treasure for the mod. Later at home I updated the facebook page with the additional information they gathered.
It is bad. When I playing D&D not to drink to have players make me want to drink.
Part 2 I ran without much changes or even bumping up the encounters. The group was over level and most of the dice broke even. The ambush/ Yuan-ti patrol with the 12 guards went long. They made use of traps and ball bearings to get a little bit of the upper hand. I did split the party. One group was running back up the trail to rescue Lungan. The monk was just swinging at air in the center of the ambush and the other half was chasing the villain up the trail because he had the tko ranger in his coils. This could have been a PC kill because the party would not surrender. But I ruled I had to reestablish the constrict attack and I kept missing.
Part 3 could be better in multiple ways. I was under prepared and Spoiler Sam at the next table. The module suggests you set a two hour limit but throw that stuff away. The group landed at the docks and scouted well. During the barracks I had a healing monk cast remove disease which I allowed to work. They got some information from him. The group freaked out on the mutant buzzards. And played very smart at Pasha's Lodge. One guy was tying the zonked out people's shoes together while the monk explored the upstairs. He tick off the berserker both fled the house. And it was horrible as they chopped up the berserker and the lizard brutes.
After questioning the lodge people and getting good rolls (and with Spoiler Sam dropping hints from the table over), the monk used the potion of animal friendship to search the smithy. THIS is where I lost it. As I am reading the information on Whisper, Spoiler Sam starts to give the same information to his table. Loud enough for my table to hear. And his table was not even playing the module. I have asked this asshat not to do spoilers or at least turn now the volume. I lost it. He threaten me and it took some time me to calm down. After that I tried to get back on track. But could not. The group did blow up Asric's Workshop but I did not do death from double damage. I then just shut down the game as I was not tracking. I gave them full xp and treasure for the mod. Later at home I updated the facebook page with the additional information they gathered.
It is bad. When I playing D&D not to drink to have players make me want to drink.
jasper
Rotten DM
TOA Session 12
XP 700 Gp 90 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 6 players average party level once things settled down.
Pc deaths 9
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 252 grand total.
Day 12 afternoon.
Ok, my shop had 4 tables running, a photo shoot for the local TV station, a small welcome home for a gamer returning from overseas, and the regular magic card tourney. It was loud, players were changing minds which table they wanted, and I had some new to the story players so I was having to explain things over and over.
After a short rest the group found Wongo’s tomb. Now the book thinks the players are going to climb in the chests but my players did not want to bite. So I allowed them to push the button and turn the turn while standing next to the chest. I did downgrade some of the damage and DCs because at the time the group was below level.
They descend to level two and were freaked out by the swarm of bats. I DID MISS the shaft leading to the floor below. OOPS. Highlighting that now. The gravity ring was fun and I thought for a moment they would fall for but no such luck.
They did whine about wine room. I did bump the encounter by 1 wine critter. And I had another lesson. READ THE MONSTER MANUAL DESCRIPTION. They freaked about the disadvantage. I forgot how I let them stop the trap after the monster encounter.
They out right murdered the zombies in front of Papazotl’s tomb so I had to go with STR of 33 check, which took most of the group since I had a lot 10 or below strengths. Three people got greedy in Papa tomb. And this is where theatre of mind, and minis clashed. Three people wanted the amulet and started opposed grab checks. This triggers the fight. But some of the players had not moved their minis. I just said move your mini and roll initiative. I did change the fight a little bit moving the end of the +10 spear damage. I ruled the statues had to be destroyed I think I kept the AC and HP of shield. Now you notice the PC deaths are up one. Verkal “who shall not bow” kept mouthing off to the shield. And he forgot to drink potions. And I hit with the last attack with a Nat 20. I called the combat and game at that time because I didn’t think they could get another encounter in.
XP 700 Gp 90 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 6 players average party level once things settled down.
Pc deaths 9
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 252 grand total.
Day 12 afternoon.
Ok, my shop had 4 tables running, a photo shoot for the local TV station, a small welcome home for a gamer returning from overseas, and the regular magic card tourney. It was loud, players were changing minds which table they wanted, and I had some new to the story players so I was having to explain things over and over.
After a short rest the group found Wongo’s tomb. Now the book thinks the players are going to climb in the chests but my players did not want to bite. So I allowed them to push the button and turn the turn while standing next to the chest. I did downgrade some of the damage and DCs because at the time the group was below level.
They descend to level two and were freaked out by the swarm of bats. I DID MISS the shaft leading to the floor below. OOPS. Highlighting that now. The gravity ring was fun and I thought for a moment they would fall for but no such luck.
They did whine about wine room. I did bump the encounter by 1 wine critter. And I had another lesson. READ THE MONSTER MANUAL DESCRIPTION. They freaked about the disadvantage. I forgot how I let them stop the trap after the monster encounter.
They out right murdered the zombies in front of Papazotl’s tomb so I had to go with STR of 33 check, which took most of the group since I had a lot 10 or below strengths. Three people got greedy in Papa tomb. And this is where theatre of mind, and minis clashed. Three people wanted the amulet and started opposed grab checks. This triggers the fight. But some of the players had not moved their minis. I just said move your mini and roll initiative. I did change the fight a little bit moving the end of the +10 spear damage. I ruled the statues had to be destroyed I think I kept the AC and HP of shield. Now you notice the PC deaths are up one. Verkal “who shall not bow” kept mouthing off to the shield. And he forgot to drink potions. And I hit with the last attack with a Nat 20. I called the combat and game at that time because I didn’t think they could get another encounter in.
jasper
Rotten DM
TOA Session 13
XP 4,825 Gp 311 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 5 players average party.
Pc deaths 10
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 267 grand totals.
Day 11 Morning.
Some players have rotated in and out. The group started in Papazotl’s tomb and decide to open the secret door off the balcony. They were amused when looking into a reflecting pool when they saw through the eyes of a janitor opening the secret door they did not explore off the tomb and cleaning up after them. Yes, the TOMB has room service.
The interview with Withers did not go well. Well for Withers it didn’t he last a round and a half. They broke into the lab aka forge of the dwarves next. The door opened to an unspeakable horror. Verkal “who shall not bow” step out of a blood chamber. He had been transformed into a flesh golem. Arconn the monk was able to attune the magic lantern. They reversed course to check out the pentagram room. But pause to shake down the Dao in the hallway guarding the room. Just as the monster protecting Nangnang’s tomb was going to attack it detected the wizard Alice had the controlling gem. It swaps the gem for not attacking the group. Arconn bonded with Nangnang.
Going down the spiral staircase they enter level 3 to the revolving control room. While half the group were making faces at the flesh golem and mooning the other janitor through the window; the bard Niranath crawled through the crawl space and meet the golden hair bard Yaka. The group followed and was amaze as they crawled out of the space to watch Niranath dancing the can-can with a golden skull. I can not put to words what happen next. Everyone who had gawds started playing up their flaws. The ranger got mad at Yaka for eating part of loot they mugged the Dao for. And the other monk Skye opened the door to the hallway. And the party started fighting itself. Both verbally and physically. I awarded the max roleplaying award I could at the end of it. But I was laughing at them and enjoying the show.
The hallway battle was fun as. Part of group was fighting each other before they notice Verkal 3 was about to beat down the group. Verkal 2 was beating up Skye. The bard was being entertained by Yaka remember the actual dinner of the curtain room. However, the bard was scared of what was behind the final curtain. Once the flesh golems were destroyed. Most of group decide to see what scared the bard. Well I don’t want to get ahead of myself. On wait a minute Arconn did get a head of himself. He made a pig of himself. Or was the pig making a meal of Arconn. So Arconn the headless became the adventure tenth victim. I let the player bring in a surrogate and placed in Kubazan’s tomb with a skeleton key. I also let the magic, gawd, and items transfer over to the new pc. The group when through the ritual. And impulsive Skye switched gawds. He is now under Kubazan’s guidance.
Notes to players. The ghost lantern auto stabilizes the owner on the owner’s next initiative. If the gawd item you have can not be used by your class, the gawd item will try to transfer to another pc. So far, no one has save vs the gawd item.
XP 4,825 Gp 311 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 5 players average party.
Pc deaths 10
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 267 grand totals.
Day 11 Morning.
Some players have rotated in and out. The group started in Papazotl’s tomb and decide to open the secret door off the balcony. They were amused when looking into a reflecting pool when they saw through the eyes of a janitor opening the secret door they did not explore off the tomb and cleaning up after them. Yes, the TOMB has room service.
The interview with Withers did not go well. Well for Withers it didn’t he last a round and a half. They broke into the lab aka forge of the dwarves next. The door opened to an unspeakable horror. Verkal “who shall not bow” step out of a blood chamber. He had been transformed into a flesh golem. Arconn the monk was able to attune the magic lantern. They reversed course to check out the pentagram room. But pause to shake down the Dao in the hallway guarding the room. Just as the monster protecting Nangnang’s tomb was going to attack it detected the wizard Alice had the controlling gem. It swaps the gem for not attacking the group. Arconn bonded with Nangnang.
Going down the spiral staircase they enter level 3 to the revolving control room. While half the group were making faces at the flesh golem and mooning the other janitor through the window; the bard Niranath crawled through the crawl space and meet the golden hair bard Yaka. The group followed and was amaze as they crawled out of the space to watch Niranath dancing the can-can with a golden skull. I can not put to words what happen next. Everyone who had gawds started playing up their flaws. The ranger got mad at Yaka for eating part of loot they mugged the Dao for. And the other monk Skye opened the door to the hallway. And the party started fighting itself. Both verbally and physically. I awarded the max roleplaying award I could at the end of it. But I was laughing at them and enjoying the show.
The hallway battle was fun as. Part of group was fighting each other before they notice Verkal 3 was about to beat down the group. Verkal 2 was beating up Skye. The bard was being entertained by Yaka remember the actual dinner of the curtain room. However, the bard was scared of what was behind the final curtain. Once the flesh golems were destroyed. Most of group decide to see what scared the bard. Well I don’t want to get ahead of myself. On wait a minute Arconn did get a head of himself. He made a pig of himself. Or was the pig making a meal of Arconn. So Arconn the headless became the adventure tenth victim. I let the player bring in a surrogate and placed in Kubazan’s tomb with a skeleton key. I also let the magic, gawd, and items transfer over to the new pc. The group when through the ritual. And impulsive Skye switched gawds. He is now under Kubazan’s guidance.
Notes to players. The ghost lantern auto stabilizes the owner on the owner’s next initiative. If the gawd item you have can not be used by your class, the gawd item will try to transfer to another pc. So far, no one has save vs the gawd item.
jasper
Rotten DM
Return of the Lizard King Part 4.
Xp 3,800 Gp 200 Renown 1 Downtime 10
The dice really hated the group through most of the session. The players snuck into the tomb to fairly easy. But they did hit one major snag. Only the Goblin ranger spoke Draconic. The lizardfolk savages were nearly winning until the group started contracting fire. They wanted to take a short rest because the fourth level paladin had been nearly zeroed out.
The Test of strength room was a bother. They had trouble with savage here. And their were repeated fails trying to pass the purple curtain. So many that the group took a short rest here.
The test of resolve went south too. After 3 monsters I stared limiting when the lizards would appear. And after more fails I just the group through the veil. The group got wise and went to the haven. (ok I missed the statue properties). But I did let the group know the ritual was on the other side of the wall.
The group open the secret door and slaughtered the basilisk caretakers.
The cells I ran through quickly during the time. But one person did get the story award.
Lucky, stealth, and players telling others to leave rooms alone got the players into room of summoning. They chose to fight Ossil. After the fight and Ossill was dead. The Gawd rose.
I gave the group the remaining magic items the group skipped over as Sess'innek was feeling generous. The last part is a good dungeon crawl. Time wise the group must make good decisions to reach the summoning room in under 3 hours. The last combat took about 50 minutes with six players and the monsters.
Xp 3,800 Gp 200 Renown 1 Downtime 10
The dice really hated the group through most of the session. The players snuck into the tomb to fairly easy. But they did hit one major snag. Only the Goblin ranger spoke Draconic. The lizardfolk savages were nearly winning until the group started contracting fire. They wanted to take a short rest because the fourth level paladin had been nearly zeroed out.
The Test of strength room was a bother. They had trouble with savage here. And their were repeated fails trying to pass the purple curtain. So many that the group took a short rest here.
The test of resolve went south too. After 3 monsters I stared limiting when the lizards would appear. And after more fails I just the group through the veil. The group got wise and went to the haven. (ok I missed the statue properties). But I did let the group know the ritual was on the other side of the wall.
The group open the secret door and slaughtered the basilisk caretakers.
The cells I ran through quickly during the time. But one person did get the story award.
Lucky, stealth, and players telling others to leave rooms alone got the players into room of summoning. They chose to fight Ossil. After the fight and Ossill was dead. The Gawd rose.
I gave the group the remaining magic items the group skipped over as Sess'innek was feeling generous. The last part is a good dungeon crawl. Time wise the group must make good decisions to reach the summoning room in under 3 hours. The last combat took about 50 minutes with six players and the monsters.
jasper
Rotten DM
TOA Session 14
XP 3,000 Gp 1,122 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 5 players Weak party.
Pc deaths 10
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 269 grand totals.
Day 11 Afternoon Thru Day 10 Morning.
Ok again with an open table had some changes in the lineup. They broke their short rest from last week. Alice mental control over Moa slipped. And Moa tried to jump minds and take over Brenion the cleric. Brenion became the first person to save against the mind control. The group spend the rest of the day exploring the Vault of Reflection (level 3).
The use of crawl spaces were the standard way of travel in the afternoon. However, they trigger the shut off in crawl space 30, which nearly killed Brenion. Yaka was having funning singing songs to entertain the party. It took some skull sweat but they figure out they were now on the opposite side of the mirror room. This required some back tracking.
As they started across the Winds of Pandemonium, they with mad. The Bard fled the scene, the new sorcerer cooked off some fungus and ate it. (this started his fear of fungi). Half the group was trying to snatch the pebble um eyeball from the stoned nycaloth. The other half were playing music statues and dodging the headless clay golem of Arconn. But they got back together to do a drum roll in a room just off the golem pit. Then they discovered the big door. The really really big door with a nice mirror and ten eye sockets.
Having a clue, they started searching for more glass eyes. And Loche the sorcerer started dodging eye beams from the purple fungus. The reflecting hall prove some of the folks were wash outs. As they repeatedly got washed back to end of the hall for not figuring out the pass clue.
Going back into the crawlspaces cause the party to split as they activated the trap. So, I had the group take smoke breaks when I was not dealing with them. Niranath the bard thinks the soup course was not very filling. This got them most of the eyeballs they needed, and the trapped group figured out how to get out the trap by misty step.
They took a long rest in the soup room which allow the ranger to level up. Opening the door to Belchorzh pad was fun. They did get the eyeballs in the right order. However, combat went their way. Between being scattered over the room, good saving throws, and dispelling the Anti-magic ray effect, they wiped the floor.
Traps did most of the damage during the session. I did reduce some damage due them being a weak group. After the session some people questioned if you could dispel the Anti-magic ray. I said yes for the session as it appears to be a spell effect. But I am asking for feed back here and elsewhere.
XP 3,000 Gp 1,122 Renown 1. Downtime 10. 5 players Weak party.
Pc deaths 10
Pc souls 4
Monsters killed 269 grand totals.
Day 11 Afternoon Thru Day 10 Morning.
Ok again with an open table had some changes in the lineup. They broke their short rest from last week. Alice mental control over Moa slipped. And Moa tried to jump minds and take over Brenion the cleric. Brenion became the first person to save against the mind control. The group spend the rest of the day exploring the Vault of Reflection (level 3).
The use of crawl spaces were the standard way of travel in the afternoon. However, they trigger the shut off in crawl space 30, which nearly killed Brenion. Yaka was having funning singing songs to entertain the party. It took some skull sweat but they figure out they were now on the opposite side of the mirror room. This required some back tracking.
As they started across the Winds of Pandemonium, they with mad. The Bard fled the scene, the new sorcerer cooked off some fungus and ate it. (this started his fear of fungi). Half the group was trying to snatch the pebble um eyeball from the stoned nycaloth. The other half were playing music statues and dodging the headless clay golem of Arconn. But they got back together to do a drum roll in a room just off the golem pit. Then they discovered the big door. The really really big door with a nice mirror and ten eye sockets.
Having a clue, they started searching for more glass eyes. And Loche the sorcerer started dodging eye beams from the purple fungus. The reflecting hall prove some of the folks were wash outs. As they repeatedly got washed back to end of the hall for not figuring out the pass clue.
Going back into the crawlspaces cause the party to split as they activated the trap. So, I had the group take smoke breaks when I was not dealing with them. Niranath the bard thinks the soup course was not very filling. This got them most of the eyeballs they needed, and the trapped group figured out how to get out the trap by misty step.
They took a long rest in the soup room which allow the ranger to level up. Opening the door to Belchorzh pad was fun. They did get the eyeballs in the right order. However, combat went their way. Between being scattered over the room, good saving throws, and dispelling the Anti-magic ray effect, they wiped the floor.
Traps did most of the damage during the session. I did reduce some damage due them being a weak group. After the session some people questioned if you could dispel the Anti-magic ray. I said yes for the session as it appears to be a spell effect. But I am asking for feed back here and elsewhere.
So, yesterday, my group finally encountered Ras Nsi.
A little background. There are six members of my party, and they are VERY cleric heavy. The group consists of an Elven Hexblade Warlock/Shadow Sorcerer, a Fire Genasi Diviner Wizard, a Tabaxi Scout Rogue, a dwarven Ranger/Forge Cleric, an Aasimar Light cleric, and a human Grave cleric. All of them are sixth level. The group has gone through each of the various shrines within Omu, tracked down the red wizards who beat them to two of the puzzle cubes and defeated them, then descended into the Fane of the Night Serpent to chase down the final one.
They spend the first day probing into the secret entrance to the Fane, killing off the Yuan-Ti guarding the entrance and then defeating the brood keepers and the slaver in the southern portion of the dungeon. Then, they used Water Walk to move across the river, encountering the Hydra and handily defeating it. The group decides to call it a day, gather the drugged slaves they found, and return to their base camp in Omu (the group rescued all of the sailors who were in the wreck of the Sea Goddess, rescued Orvex from the Red Wizard Camp, and also convinced one of the mercenaries working for the Red Wizards to join them after wiping out the rest of the mercenary crew). I rolled secretly to see when the temple would discover the group's incursion and then started rolling for reinforcements.
On the second day, the group again used Water Walk on the river (damned Clerics and their rituals) and found the main throne room. There, they find Ras Nsi and his crew. Ras Nsi tries to convince the party to work for him, promising them the last puzzle cube if they do. The group wants nothing to do with it and attack. What proceeds is one of the most intense, most fun encounters I've ever run in my 30 years of DMing.
The wizard throws a fireball. Ras Nsi recognizes this and tries to counterspell...which is then counterspelled by the Wizard. Meanwhile, Ras Nsi's bodyguard rushes the Dwarf and the Hexblade. The Hexblade soon falls (Sekelok deals some crazy damage!), and the dwarf is doing everything he can to survive. The Light cleric throws a fireball, taking out a few more of the Brood Guards, and the Grave Cleric rushes to heal the Hexblade (Grave clerics are really good healers). Ras Nsi decides to withdraw to his lair for his magical shields while the rest of his guards delay the party. The Tabaxi Rogue sets himself up to target Sekelok, and the grave cleric uses her channel divinity to inflict vulnerability to the rogue's incoming sneak attack.
Needless to say, the entire encounter took 10 full rounds...the wizard and the grave cleric both dropped once, and the warlock came very close to dying twice (once due to massive damage, and once due to rolling a 1 on his death save after being taken down by one of Ras Nsi's fireballs). Spells were flying left and right, and the party (even though they were completely fresh coming into the encounter) were almost completely out of spells.
The module says that Ras Nsi has the final cube, but I played it so that it is Fenthaza who has it. This way, they will need to continue searching the Fane. Also, the party will now have to contend with the reinforcements as well.
A little background. There are six members of my party, and they are VERY cleric heavy. The group consists of an Elven Hexblade Warlock/Shadow Sorcerer, a Fire Genasi Diviner Wizard, a Tabaxi Scout Rogue, a dwarven Ranger/Forge Cleric, an Aasimar Light cleric, and a human Grave cleric. All of them are sixth level. The group has gone through each of the various shrines within Omu, tracked down the red wizards who beat them to two of the puzzle cubes and defeated them, then descended into the Fane of the Night Serpent to chase down the final one.
They spend the first day probing into the secret entrance to the Fane, killing off the Yuan-Ti guarding the entrance and then defeating the brood keepers and the slaver in the southern portion of the dungeon. Then, they used Water Walk to move across the river, encountering the Hydra and handily defeating it. The group decides to call it a day, gather the drugged slaves they found, and return to their base camp in Omu (the group rescued all of the sailors who were in the wreck of the Sea Goddess, rescued Orvex from the Red Wizard Camp, and also convinced one of the mercenaries working for the Red Wizards to join them after wiping out the rest of the mercenary crew). I rolled secretly to see when the temple would discover the group's incursion and then started rolling for reinforcements.
On the second day, the group again used Water Walk on the river (damned Clerics and their rituals) and found the main throne room. There, they find Ras Nsi and his crew. Ras Nsi tries to convince the party to work for him, promising them the last puzzle cube if they do. The group wants nothing to do with it and attack. What proceeds is one of the most intense, most fun encounters I've ever run in my 30 years of DMing.
The wizard throws a fireball. Ras Nsi recognizes this and tries to counterspell...which is then counterspelled by the Wizard. Meanwhile, Ras Nsi's bodyguard rushes the Dwarf and the Hexblade. The Hexblade soon falls (Sekelok deals some crazy damage!), and the dwarf is doing everything he can to survive. The Light cleric throws a fireball, taking out a few more of the Brood Guards, and the Grave Cleric rushes to heal the Hexblade (Grave clerics are really good healers). Ras Nsi decides to withdraw to his lair for his magical shields while the rest of his guards delay the party. The Tabaxi Rogue sets himself up to target Sekelok, and the grave cleric uses her channel divinity to inflict vulnerability to the rogue's incoming sneak attack.
Needless to say, the entire encounter took 10 full rounds...the wizard and the grave cleric both dropped once, and the warlock came very close to dying twice (once due to massive damage, and once due to rolling a 1 on his death save after being taken down by one of Ras Nsi's fireballs). Spells were flying left and right, and the party (even though they were completely fresh coming into the encounter) were almost completely out of spells.
The module says that Ras Nsi has the final cube, but I played it so that it is Fenthaza who has it. This way, they will need to continue searching the Fane. Also, the party will now have to contend with the reinforcements as well.
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