Olaf the Stout
Legend
Long post warning!
Well last session didn’t quite go as I thought it might. When we ended last session the party was looking pretty much boned. Aushunna still had 50-60 hit points remaining, while the party was close to being out of healing and a couple of PC’s were 1 or 2 hits away from dropping unconscious. In between our fortnightly sessions the players thought about what their next PC’s would be in the likely event that they died. (It was good to see that they were still interested in continuing the campaign at least).
We started the next session with the PC’s in the secret passage leading to the main chamber. Aushunna’s location was unknown as she had teleported away in the last round before we ended the session a fortnight ago. I kept the game running in initiative order and let the PC’s have a couple of rounds to quickly regroup before teleporting the Erinyes back into the passageway in front of the party.
Upon returning she told the PC’s (in Common – I decided she could speak Common as no-one in the party could speak any of her known languages) to stop attacking her as she had a proposition for them. She would allow them to leave Bhal-Hamatugn as long as the party agreed to return and destroy the statue in the main room that she was bound to. The party thought about it for a second and agreed. The Dwarven Warblade even quipped that was what he was trying to do but he was interrupted when she started attacking him!
The party started to leave when Aushunna then mentioned the one small catch. A PC would have to stay back in Bhal Hamatugn as insurance, just in case the PC’s decided not to return to fulfil their end of the bargain. This turned out to be a bit deal breaker for a couple of the PC’s. The Rogue, who had been knocked unconscious 3 times in the fight with Aushunna and was still in single digit hit points, was more than happy to agree to the deal. He was even happy to be the one left behind, as he knew that if the fight continued he was likely only a single casting of Unholy Blight away from dying. The Cleric of Heironeous also wanted to take the deal. He also selflessly volunteered to be the one left behind.
The Warblade, Conjurer and Hexblade weren’t so keen though. After about 30 seconds of discussion Aushunna said the PC’s needed to make a decision as the Kuo-toan High Priest would be with them soon and she would be forced to attack and kill the party. At this point the Conjurer decided they were better of just trying to kill Aushunna and cast a spell at her. I was quite surprised at this as I thought that attacking her at this point was pretty much a death with. I can’t remember the exact spell but I think it would have done either 4d6 or 7d6 damage, not enough to kill her.
Everyone re-rolled initiative to react to the Conjurer’s attempted spellcasting. The Cleric had the opportunity to grapple the Conjurer and stop the casting but decided to just tell her to stop casting, rather than physically restrain her. Thankfully for me (as I would have been forced to kill the party) the ranged touch attack for the acid spell missed and very generously gave the group one last chance to take the deal.
The Rogue started yelling that he would stay behind and everyone agreed to let him if that was what he really wanted. The rest of the party headed towards the exit to the temple but the Cleric of Heironeous changed his mind at the last minute and decided that he would be the one to stay behind instead.
The party (minus the Cleric) ran out the front of the temple, freeing the 2 prisoners from their cells along the way. The Kuo-toan ferryman appeared a minute or two later to take the party and the 2 freed prisoners back across to the other side of the lake.
About halfway across the lake the ferryman tried to tip the boat upside down and then dived into the lake. All the PC’s made their Balance checks in order to stay in the boat but the Halfling prisoner wasn’t so lucky. The Dwarven Warblade still had his Fly spell in operation so he plucked the Halfling out of the water, and flew him over to the far side of the lake.
Meanwhile, the Kuo-toan ferryman proceeded to smash holes in the boat from underneath. With the boat starting to fill with water, the Conjurer cast a Rope Trick spell and climbed up. She was quickly followed by the Halfling Rogue (who was still in single digit hit points at this point) and the other remaining prisoner. The Hexblade started climbing the rope when the Dwarven Warblade flew back towards them. Deciding that dry land was better than a magic spell in the middle of the lake he grabbed onto the Dwarf, who flew him to the far side of the lake. There, the 3 of them looked for any other passages off of the beach.
While they did that the Conjurer, Rogue and other prisoner discussed what to do next. After some discussion and a little rest they decided that they would take their chances in water. The Conjurer summoned a Fiendish Crocodile as well, just in case the Kuo-toa was still around. Thankfully he wasn’t’ and they were able to swim to the far shore without any trouble.
Meeting up with the other 3 people, they found a spot to rest for the “night”. After some rest, regaining of spells and hit points the party got themselves ready to assault the temple a second time. The prisoners didn’t want to head back in (or so they said) so the party left them to their own devices.
The Hexblade had Fly cast on him and then flew the 3 remaining party members across the lake to the temple. Some Kuo-toa guards attacked the PC’s with hand crossbows before jumping down to engage the party in melee. After the guards were easily dispatched the PC’s headed towards the main room in the temple. This time they went in through the front door, setting off a Glyph trap in the process which hurt both the Warblade and Hexblade.
They made it into the main room without any further incident, only to find another 4 Kuo-toan Whips and 4 Kuo-toan guards waiting for them. The Conjurer was able to pin the Whips in place with an Evard’s Black Tentacle. The other 3 party members set about engaging the guards. Despite being pinned in place they were still able to get a few Lightening Bolts off, hitting the Conjurer, Hexblade and the Warblade.
The Hexblade dispatched one of the guards before flying up to attack the statue. He was able to smash one of the gemstone eyes, reducing the potency of the lightening bolts generated by the whips. He then flew down to the back of the statue’s neck to try and hack off the head. The Warblade and Rogue dealt with the remaining guards while the tentacles slowly strangled the life out of the Whips.
While the party was still dealing with the other Kuo-toans Mangu-Michu, the Kuo-toan High Priest, entered the room from a door next to the statue, accompanied by his Duergar slave. The slave was quickly dealt with but Mangu-Michu was basically left free to buff himself up.
Once all the other Kuo-toans were dispatched a big melee erupted between Mangu-Michu and the party. The magic of the statue had been broken, thanks to the Hexblade hacking off it’s head (After taking into account hardness, the Hexblade managed to do over 150 points of damage to the neck! I figured that was more than enough damage to cause it to crack and break off, thus ruining the spell that called forth Aushunna).
Mangu-Michu did a bit of damage before finally being taken down as the last man standing. Thanks to an Unholy Blight right near the end of the fight the Hexblade was left on 0 hit points while the Rogue had just 3. The Warblade still had 30-40 hit points left (from a total of around 80-odd) while the Conjurer was in the teens.
That’s where we ended the session. So where do I go from here?
Thanks to the Cleric (unexpectedly) volunteering himself to be taken by the Erinyes the party now has almost nothing left in the way of healing. In the confusion of the party fleeing the temple, no one took any healing wands off of the Cleric. I’m not 100% sure but I think all they have left healing-wise is 2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds. With half the party 1 hit away from death that isn’t a great position to be in.
O
riginally I was going to have Aushunna show up again, summon some other devils for the party to fight and then flee. However, I think I might give that a miss now as I think the PC’s are in enough trouble as it is. I’ll probably bring her back into the campaign at a later date though.
So how can I avoid killing off the party? I don’t want to go too easy on them but in their current situation I don’t think that they will be able to survive another fight. The Whips all had scrolls of Cure X Wounds on them but since the Cleric isn’t with the party they are basically useless at the moment. The Rogue doesn’t have Use Magic Device so they have no way of casting it. One possible solution I thought of was for them to find a stash of healing potions in Mangu-Michu’s room. It makes sense that the High Priest would make healing potions for the rest of his tribe.
Other than the healing potion stash, I don’t know what to do. I’ve generally found that playing 3.xE without a Cleric is a tough ask, especially when you are basically out of healing potions as well.
I could have the Cleric escape somehow but I don’t think that would really make sense, especially since he currently has a Charm Monster spell on him. Aushunna put it on him (she said she would kill him if he didn’t accept her Charm Monster spell). Maybe I could have the Charm Monster spell end when the PC’s broke the statue (cutting off their connection with Aushunna)? Other than that, I’m stuck for ideas.
Suggestions?
Olaf the Stout
Well last session didn’t quite go as I thought it might. When we ended last session the party was looking pretty much boned. Aushunna still had 50-60 hit points remaining, while the party was close to being out of healing and a couple of PC’s were 1 or 2 hits away from dropping unconscious. In between our fortnightly sessions the players thought about what their next PC’s would be in the likely event that they died. (It was good to see that they were still interested in continuing the campaign at least).
We started the next session with the PC’s in the secret passage leading to the main chamber. Aushunna’s location was unknown as she had teleported away in the last round before we ended the session a fortnight ago. I kept the game running in initiative order and let the PC’s have a couple of rounds to quickly regroup before teleporting the Erinyes back into the passageway in front of the party.
Upon returning she told the PC’s (in Common – I decided she could speak Common as no-one in the party could speak any of her known languages) to stop attacking her as she had a proposition for them. She would allow them to leave Bhal-Hamatugn as long as the party agreed to return and destroy the statue in the main room that she was bound to. The party thought about it for a second and agreed. The Dwarven Warblade even quipped that was what he was trying to do but he was interrupted when she started attacking him!
The party started to leave when Aushunna then mentioned the one small catch. A PC would have to stay back in Bhal Hamatugn as insurance, just in case the PC’s decided not to return to fulfil their end of the bargain. This turned out to be a bit deal breaker for a couple of the PC’s. The Rogue, who had been knocked unconscious 3 times in the fight with Aushunna and was still in single digit hit points, was more than happy to agree to the deal. He was even happy to be the one left behind, as he knew that if the fight continued he was likely only a single casting of Unholy Blight away from dying. The Cleric of Heironeous also wanted to take the deal. He also selflessly volunteered to be the one left behind.
The Warblade, Conjurer and Hexblade weren’t so keen though. After about 30 seconds of discussion Aushunna said the PC’s needed to make a decision as the Kuo-toan High Priest would be with them soon and she would be forced to attack and kill the party. At this point the Conjurer decided they were better of just trying to kill Aushunna and cast a spell at her. I was quite surprised at this as I thought that attacking her at this point was pretty much a death with. I can’t remember the exact spell but I think it would have done either 4d6 or 7d6 damage, not enough to kill her.
Everyone re-rolled initiative to react to the Conjurer’s attempted spellcasting. The Cleric had the opportunity to grapple the Conjurer and stop the casting but decided to just tell her to stop casting, rather than physically restrain her. Thankfully for me (as I would have been forced to kill the party) the ranged touch attack for the acid spell missed and very generously gave the group one last chance to take the deal.
The Rogue started yelling that he would stay behind and everyone agreed to let him if that was what he really wanted. The rest of the party headed towards the exit to the temple but the Cleric of Heironeous changed his mind at the last minute and decided that he would be the one to stay behind instead.
The party (minus the Cleric) ran out the front of the temple, freeing the 2 prisoners from their cells along the way. The Kuo-toan ferryman appeared a minute or two later to take the party and the 2 freed prisoners back across to the other side of the lake.
About halfway across the lake the ferryman tried to tip the boat upside down and then dived into the lake. All the PC’s made their Balance checks in order to stay in the boat but the Halfling prisoner wasn’t so lucky. The Dwarven Warblade still had his Fly spell in operation so he plucked the Halfling out of the water, and flew him over to the far side of the lake.
Meanwhile, the Kuo-toan ferryman proceeded to smash holes in the boat from underneath. With the boat starting to fill with water, the Conjurer cast a Rope Trick spell and climbed up. She was quickly followed by the Halfling Rogue (who was still in single digit hit points at this point) and the other remaining prisoner. The Hexblade started climbing the rope when the Dwarven Warblade flew back towards them. Deciding that dry land was better than a magic spell in the middle of the lake he grabbed onto the Dwarf, who flew him to the far side of the lake. There, the 3 of them looked for any other passages off of the beach.
While they did that the Conjurer, Rogue and other prisoner discussed what to do next. After some discussion and a little rest they decided that they would take their chances in water. The Conjurer summoned a Fiendish Crocodile as well, just in case the Kuo-toa was still around. Thankfully he wasn’t’ and they were able to swim to the far shore without any trouble.
Meeting up with the other 3 people, they found a spot to rest for the “night”. After some rest, regaining of spells and hit points the party got themselves ready to assault the temple a second time. The prisoners didn’t want to head back in (or so they said) so the party left them to their own devices.
The Hexblade had Fly cast on him and then flew the 3 remaining party members across the lake to the temple. Some Kuo-toa guards attacked the PC’s with hand crossbows before jumping down to engage the party in melee. After the guards were easily dispatched the PC’s headed towards the main room in the temple. This time they went in through the front door, setting off a Glyph trap in the process which hurt both the Warblade and Hexblade.
They made it into the main room without any further incident, only to find another 4 Kuo-toan Whips and 4 Kuo-toan guards waiting for them. The Conjurer was able to pin the Whips in place with an Evard’s Black Tentacle. The other 3 party members set about engaging the guards. Despite being pinned in place they were still able to get a few Lightening Bolts off, hitting the Conjurer, Hexblade and the Warblade.
The Hexblade dispatched one of the guards before flying up to attack the statue. He was able to smash one of the gemstone eyes, reducing the potency of the lightening bolts generated by the whips. He then flew down to the back of the statue’s neck to try and hack off the head. The Warblade and Rogue dealt with the remaining guards while the tentacles slowly strangled the life out of the Whips.
While the party was still dealing with the other Kuo-toans Mangu-Michu, the Kuo-toan High Priest, entered the room from a door next to the statue, accompanied by his Duergar slave. The slave was quickly dealt with but Mangu-Michu was basically left free to buff himself up.
Once all the other Kuo-toans were dispatched a big melee erupted between Mangu-Michu and the party. The magic of the statue had been broken, thanks to the Hexblade hacking off it’s head (After taking into account hardness, the Hexblade managed to do over 150 points of damage to the neck! I figured that was more than enough damage to cause it to crack and break off, thus ruining the spell that called forth Aushunna).
Mangu-Michu did a bit of damage before finally being taken down as the last man standing. Thanks to an Unholy Blight right near the end of the fight the Hexblade was left on 0 hit points while the Rogue had just 3. The Warblade still had 30-40 hit points left (from a total of around 80-odd) while the Conjurer was in the teens.
That’s where we ended the session. So where do I go from here?
Thanks to the Cleric (unexpectedly) volunteering himself to be taken by the Erinyes the party now has almost nothing left in the way of healing. In the confusion of the party fleeing the temple, no one took any healing wands off of the Cleric. I’m not 100% sure but I think all they have left healing-wise is 2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds. With half the party 1 hit away from death that isn’t a great position to be in.
O
riginally I was going to have Aushunna show up again, summon some other devils for the party to fight and then flee. However, I think I might give that a miss now as I think the PC’s are in enough trouble as it is. I’ll probably bring her back into the campaign at a later date though.
So how can I avoid killing off the party? I don’t want to go too easy on them but in their current situation I don’t think that they will be able to survive another fight. The Whips all had scrolls of Cure X Wounds on them but since the Cleric isn’t with the party they are basically useless at the moment. The Rogue doesn’t have Use Magic Device so they have no way of casting it. One possible solution I thought of was for them to find a stash of healing potions in Mangu-Michu’s room. It makes sense that the High Priest would make healing potions for the rest of his tribe.
Other than the healing potion stash, I don’t know what to do. I’ve generally found that playing 3.xE without a Cleric is a tough ask, especially when you are basically out of healing potions as well.
I could have the Cleric escape somehow but I don’t think that would really make sense, especially since he currently has a Charm Monster spell on him. Aushunna put it on him (she said she would kill him if he didn’t accept her Charm Monster spell). Maybe I could have the Charm Monster spell end when the PC’s broke the statue (cutting off their connection with Aushunna)? Other than that, I’m stuck for ideas.
Suggestions?
Olaf the Stout
) before teleporting herself away.
She thanked him kindly for his effort, riling him up some more.
