Rhenny
Adventurer
We just finished our 8th session, and we are enjoying our games greatly.
This entry also marks my 100th blog entry so I'm kind of pumped about that.
I'm changing a few little things in the adventure, but for the most part I'm using it as its written. Now that the PCs are 4th level, the players are starting to feel very comfortable with them so they are beginning to take more risks and try out more ideas.
If you want to read more about the previous games (or other campaigns I run or play in) feel free to jump over to my blog space.
http://community.wizards.com/user/1497701/blog
*******
100. Rhenny's Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign for 5e - Session 8
Submitted by Rhenny 13 minutes ago
Session 8
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign (WARNING: Mega Spoilers!!!)
Cast of Characters (4th Level)
Eyeta – Female Human Fighter
Kat – Female Human Wizard (Not present)
Vale – Male High Elven Rogue
Erebus – Male Human War Cleric
Ivan – Human Monk sent by Isteval as reinforcement, left and returned again.
After rescuing Thord the Dwarf from the Minotaur spit and taking a short rest, the party decided to travel up the stream to the east. Erebus took off his armor and swam, fighting the current for nearly a minute. He realized it would be tough for the others who didn’t have his strength to follow him, so he hammered spikes into the walls every 40’ and tied rope to them to give everyone a place to grab on to. As the others slowly followed, Erebus was able to make it to a chamber. When he looked up he saw a wooden summoning circle suspended 15’ above the room like a chandelier. Perched atop the circle were 3 gargoyles. Erebus moved back and allowed Ivan to enter the room first since Erebus had no armor on. Eyeta followed from the rear carrying Erebus’ armor as Vale and Kat got closer to the chamber opening. Ivan became the first target as one of the gargoyle swooped down to engage him. The beast bit him viciously doing damage, but its claws missed the mark. Ivan clubbed the creature with his staff and kicked at him, but he realized that even his most powerful blows did less damage against these stony brutes.
Soon after, another gargoyle flew down to attack Ivan and Ivan was quickly in danger. The others entered the room to help and eventually they were able to down one of the two gargoyles. All this time, the third gargoyle stayed up on the circle 15’ above, cackling. Ivan moved around the room with great dexterity. Vale used his bow and sneak attack well as Eyeta slashed with chakram, and Erebus created a divine hammer to smite the foe while smashing away with his magical mace. Before the 2nd gargoyle fell, the third one rubbed the magic circle and it activated.
Fearing the worst, Ivan jumped up, grabbed the wooden circle and hoisted himself up. Then he smashed at one of three chains that attached the circle to the ceiling. His blows broke the chain, and the circle dropped to a vertical position. The others including the 2nd gargoyle were able to dodge the falling circle, and Ivan was able to fall to the ground with minimal damage. The other gargoyle took to wing and attacked Vale, hurting him with both bite and claw. Erebus, fearing the summoning circle, directed his divine hammer to strike at it as he also attacked the 2nd gargoyle. That gargoyle eventually went down as Kat blasted it with flaming bolts. Then, Erebus and Ivan both targeted another chain, and took it down, while Vale jumped up on the circle and hacked at the final chain with his scimitar. Then he wedged his dagger into one of the weakened chains and popped it. It fell from the ceiling and lodged itself in pool below, half submerged, yet stuck on a protrusion in the river. Vale also fell to the ground taking damage.
Kat, still afraid that the summoning circle might summon forth a dread creature, fired a bolt at it. Erebus used his divine hammer to strike it too and Ivan aimed at the exact same spot that Erebus hit, delivering a quarterstaff blow and a powerful kick which cracked the circle and disrupted the magic. Just before the magic dissipated, the party could see a bearded devil’s face straining to come through the gate, but when the magic failed, the devil’s face was sucked back to the hells. While this was happening, Eyeta and Vale focused on the last gargoyle and eventually they prevailed.
In the room, the party found a dead man, which was undoubtedly one of Darwa Dallion’s companions. He had a 100 gp ruby on him and there was a small pouch with 50 sp. The group also found a magical long spear that could instantly change from long spear to 10’ pole. Eyeta took it and tried using it. Soon after, the group checked the grate to the east where all the water was rushing in and they found that the bars had been pried open wide enough for a human or even a half-ogre to escape. Erebus tried to climb up the river, but after moving about 20’ he was washed down and took damage from the fall. This would be a more treacherous ascent. To the north, a pair of double doors looked as if they had been opened and closed before. The group decided to open the doors and fearing some trap, they took the dead body and threw it into the next hallway that glistened with bright light from double doors over 60’ to the north. When the body landed, the floor curled up and engulfed the body. It was some type of creature that trapped the body inside it. The party attacked it mightily, but after a few seconds, the trapper opened again and lashed out at Eyeta engulfing her and injuring her badly. The others attacked to try to save their friend, but Eyeta failed to escape its hold. Fearing that the fighter would not survive much longer, Kat fired scorching rays at the beast and took it down.
Inside the next halway, Kat used the magic wand that Delfen gave them and revealed a secret door. Using another dead body as a decoy to try to check for more of those strange creatures, Erebus threw it down the hall. When nothing happened, he picked it up again and threw it further down the hall. Just then, another creature flopped down on him from the ceiling and engulfed him (critical hit too doing a ton of damage). Trapped inside, Erebus tried to force his way out, and he succeeded. Then the others attacked. Eyeta tried spearing it with the long spear, but she found that she was more deadly with her chakram so she switched back to using them. Vale fired arrows with his sneak attack doing massive damage while Ivan engaged and pummeled it. The lurker above switched tactics and lunged at Ivan, engulfing him. After another round of fight, where Kat hit the creature with a sickening ray, Erebus hit it with his magic mace, Eyeta hit it with one of her chakram and Vale pierced it with an arrow, Ivan punched up from the inside with his quarter staff. Although it was difficult, Ivan smashed the staff straight through the lurker above and burst out of it as the creature died. (Like Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the movie Men in Black – Ivan’s player said).
Since the group was really injured, they had to rest and bandage themselves for what was most likely the last time today. They had been in this dungeon for about 7 hours by now and they were low on resources and healing. After 1 hour rest, they decided to retreat into the gargoyle room, bar the door and try to take an extended rest. Thord the Dwarf finally caught up to them and told them more about what he could remember. He told them that they went through the secret door into the alter room. Then, when he reached into the alter he felt pain. He grabbed the elemental key tossed it to Lump and told Grit and Lump to run. He said something happened to Darwa Dallion but he did not stick around to see. He ran and when they all got to the gargoyle room, the gargoyles attacked them. He fell into the water and got swept to the west, but Grit, Lump and Nevil remained in the gargoyle room. It turned out that Nevil got torn to shreds by the monsters, but maybe Lump and Grit escaped out the grate to the east. Again, Thord said if Grit got out, he and Lump would go back to Mount Illefarn. That’s where the Red Wizards had sent them from, but most importantly that’s where Thord and Grit lived.
A few watches into their rest, they heard pounding at the double doors to the north. Everyone woke and took ready positions. Then, two minotaur burst into their room. One burst the door open and stopped before them. The other charged Ivan and missed. The party unloaded whatever they had left on the first minotaur as Erebus used his last spell to heal everyone in the party. Then they faced the two and were able to take them down without taking any damage. Lucky for the group, they were able to finish their long rest without more interruptions.
Moving forward, Vale snuck into the secret door area and down the stairway into the alter room. He saw the earth alter, with its cracked front, and he saw the life-like statue of Darawa Dallion standing before it. A weird purple light emanated from the geode like cavity in the alter. Vale alerted the others and everyone joined him. They had found Darwa Dallion, but she was turned to stone. They also started to believe that Grit and Lump did escape via the rushing waterway to the east.
End session.
This was a very cinematic session. The monk did so many cool maneuvers and so did the rogue.
The group had a number of good ideas too. The story is advancing well and I feel that the players are all getting much more into their characters.
There is interesting in-game tension too between characters. The cleric is bound by honor to succeed in their quests. He wants to leave the dungeon as quickly as possible to follow Grit and Lump. The fighter is drawn by riches and often tries to pull the group toward exploring for more treasure. She has even gotten the cleric to promise to return so that the group can check out the pools that undoubtedly hold more treasure. The monk is an old pirate who wants to make good on the wanted poster and pocket a bit of change, and the rogue likes to curiously explore and seems just as comfortable searching for treasure and trying to succeed in the group quests.
Each PC gets about 2,000 xp for this 4 hour session. They have about 2,800 more until they reach 5th level.
This entry also marks my 100th blog entry so I'm kind of pumped about that.
I'm changing a few little things in the adventure, but for the most part I'm using it as its written. Now that the PCs are 4th level, the players are starting to feel very comfortable with them so they are beginning to take more risks and try out more ideas.
If you want to read more about the previous games (or other campaigns I run or play in) feel free to jump over to my blog space.
http://community.wizards.com/user/1497701/blog
*******
100. Rhenny's Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign for 5e - Session 8
Submitted by Rhenny 13 minutes ago
Session 8
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Campaign (WARNING: Mega Spoilers!!!)
Cast of Characters (4th Level)
Eyeta – Female Human Fighter
Kat – Female Human Wizard (Not present)
Vale – Male High Elven Rogue
Erebus – Male Human War Cleric
Ivan – Human Monk sent by Isteval as reinforcement, left and returned again.
After rescuing Thord the Dwarf from the Minotaur spit and taking a short rest, the party decided to travel up the stream to the east. Erebus took off his armor and swam, fighting the current for nearly a minute. He realized it would be tough for the others who didn’t have his strength to follow him, so he hammered spikes into the walls every 40’ and tied rope to them to give everyone a place to grab on to. As the others slowly followed, Erebus was able to make it to a chamber. When he looked up he saw a wooden summoning circle suspended 15’ above the room like a chandelier. Perched atop the circle were 3 gargoyles. Erebus moved back and allowed Ivan to enter the room first since Erebus had no armor on. Eyeta followed from the rear carrying Erebus’ armor as Vale and Kat got closer to the chamber opening. Ivan became the first target as one of the gargoyle swooped down to engage him. The beast bit him viciously doing damage, but its claws missed the mark. Ivan clubbed the creature with his staff and kicked at him, but he realized that even his most powerful blows did less damage against these stony brutes.
Soon after, another gargoyle flew down to attack Ivan and Ivan was quickly in danger. The others entered the room to help and eventually they were able to down one of the two gargoyles. All this time, the third gargoyle stayed up on the circle 15’ above, cackling. Ivan moved around the room with great dexterity. Vale used his bow and sneak attack well as Eyeta slashed with chakram, and Erebus created a divine hammer to smite the foe while smashing away with his magical mace. Before the 2nd gargoyle fell, the third one rubbed the magic circle and it activated.
Fearing the worst, Ivan jumped up, grabbed the wooden circle and hoisted himself up. Then he smashed at one of three chains that attached the circle to the ceiling. His blows broke the chain, and the circle dropped to a vertical position. The others including the 2nd gargoyle were able to dodge the falling circle, and Ivan was able to fall to the ground with minimal damage. The other gargoyle took to wing and attacked Vale, hurting him with both bite and claw. Erebus, fearing the summoning circle, directed his divine hammer to strike at it as he also attacked the 2nd gargoyle. That gargoyle eventually went down as Kat blasted it with flaming bolts. Then, Erebus and Ivan both targeted another chain, and took it down, while Vale jumped up on the circle and hacked at the final chain with his scimitar. Then he wedged his dagger into one of the weakened chains and popped it. It fell from the ceiling and lodged itself in pool below, half submerged, yet stuck on a protrusion in the river. Vale also fell to the ground taking damage.
Kat, still afraid that the summoning circle might summon forth a dread creature, fired a bolt at it. Erebus used his divine hammer to strike it too and Ivan aimed at the exact same spot that Erebus hit, delivering a quarterstaff blow and a powerful kick which cracked the circle and disrupted the magic. Just before the magic dissipated, the party could see a bearded devil’s face straining to come through the gate, but when the magic failed, the devil’s face was sucked back to the hells. While this was happening, Eyeta and Vale focused on the last gargoyle and eventually they prevailed.
In the room, the party found a dead man, which was undoubtedly one of Darwa Dallion’s companions. He had a 100 gp ruby on him and there was a small pouch with 50 sp. The group also found a magical long spear that could instantly change from long spear to 10’ pole. Eyeta took it and tried using it. Soon after, the group checked the grate to the east where all the water was rushing in and they found that the bars had been pried open wide enough for a human or even a half-ogre to escape. Erebus tried to climb up the river, but after moving about 20’ he was washed down and took damage from the fall. This would be a more treacherous ascent. To the north, a pair of double doors looked as if they had been opened and closed before. The group decided to open the doors and fearing some trap, they took the dead body and threw it into the next hallway that glistened with bright light from double doors over 60’ to the north. When the body landed, the floor curled up and engulfed the body. It was some type of creature that trapped the body inside it. The party attacked it mightily, but after a few seconds, the trapper opened again and lashed out at Eyeta engulfing her and injuring her badly. The others attacked to try to save their friend, but Eyeta failed to escape its hold. Fearing that the fighter would not survive much longer, Kat fired scorching rays at the beast and took it down.
Inside the next halway, Kat used the magic wand that Delfen gave them and revealed a secret door. Using another dead body as a decoy to try to check for more of those strange creatures, Erebus threw it down the hall. When nothing happened, he picked it up again and threw it further down the hall. Just then, another creature flopped down on him from the ceiling and engulfed him (critical hit too doing a ton of damage). Trapped inside, Erebus tried to force his way out, and he succeeded. Then the others attacked. Eyeta tried spearing it with the long spear, but she found that she was more deadly with her chakram so she switched back to using them. Vale fired arrows with his sneak attack doing massive damage while Ivan engaged and pummeled it. The lurker above switched tactics and lunged at Ivan, engulfing him. After another round of fight, where Kat hit the creature with a sickening ray, Erebus hit it with his magic mace, Eyeta hit it with one of her chakram and Vale pierced it with an arrow, Ivan punched up from the inside with his quarter staff. Although it was difficult, Ivan smashed the staff straight through the lurker above and burst out of it as the creature died. (Like Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the movie Men in Black – Ivan’s player said).
Since the group was really injured, they had to rest and bandage themselves for what was most likely the last time today. They had been in this dungeon for about 7 hours by now and they were low on resources and healing. After 1 hour rest, they decided to retreat into the gargoyle room, bar the door and try to take an extended rest. Thord the Dwarf finally caught up to them and told them more about what he could remember. He told them that they went through the secret door into the alter room. Then, when he reached into the alter he felt pain. He grabbed the elemental key tossed it to Lump and told Grit and Lump to run. He said something happened to Darwa Dallion but he did not stick around to see. He ran and when they all got to the gargoyle room, the gargoyles attacked them. He fell into the water and got swept to the west, but Grit, Lump and Nevil remained in the gargoyle room. It turned out that Nevil got torn to shreds by the monsters, but maybe Lump and Grit escaped out the grate to the east. Again, Thord said if Grit got out, he and Lump would go back to Mount Illefarn. That’s where the Red Wizards had sent them from, but most importantly that’s where Thord and Grit lived.
A few watches into their rest, they heard pounding at the double doors to the north. Everyone woke and took ready positions. Then, two minotaur burst into their room. One burst the door open and stopped before them. The other charged Ivan and missed. The party unloaded whatever they had left on the first minotaur as Erebus used his last spell to heal everyone in the party. Then they faced the two and were able to take them down without taking any damage. Lucky for the group, they were able to finish their long rest without more interruptions.
Moving forward, Vale snuck into the secret door area and down the stairway into the alter room. He saw the earth alter, with its cracked front, and he saw the life-like statue of Darawa Dallion standing before it. A weird purple light emanated from the geode like cavity in the alter. Vale alerted the others and everyone joined him. They had found Darwa Dallion, but she was turned to stone. They also started to believe that Grit and Lump did escape via the rushing waterway to the east.
End session.
This was a very cinematic session. The monk did so many cool maneuvers and so did the rogue.
The group had a number of good ideas too. The story is advancing well and I feel that the players are all getting much more into their characters.
There is interesting in-game tension too between characters. The cleric is bound by honor to succeed in their quests. He wants to leave the dungeon as quickly as possible to follow Grit and Lump. The fighter is drawn by riches and often tries to pull the group toward exploring for more treasure. She has even gotten the cleric to promise to return so that the group can check out the pools that undoubtedly hold more treasure. The monk is an old pirate who wants to make good on the wanted poster and pocket a bit of change, and the rogue likes to curiously explore and seems just as comfortable searching for treasure and trying to succeed in the group quests.
Each PC gets about 2,000 xp for this 4 hour session. They have about 2,800 more until they reach 5th level.
