Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yenrak" data-source="post: 7548929" data-attributes="member: 6888829">Session 1: The Luksan Troublemakers Journey to the Tomb of the Knights of the Blue Wyrm[ATTACH]104109[/ATTACH]Cast of Player Characters:Arche Braverest: Half-elf Rogue.Walker: Elven Rogue.Sabrina: Elven Fighter.Landon: Elven ClericValindar: Human Wizard.Ranbbain: Human Fighter.The Story.Arche, Walker, and Sabrina have been part of a band of trouble-makers who made their way to Luskan after wearing out their welcome in Mirabar. Their companions are Silver, Golinda, Zulkey, and Jade. They were all characters rolled up for one-off adventures that I've decided to include as NPC's in this campaign. All elves except Silver, who is a halfling cleric of Brandobaris, the god of halfing rogues.They make their living as hustlers in card games. But after an attempt to cheat some of the wealthier locals out of their coin, the gang found themselves under arrest. An influential elven cleric named Landon bailed them out on the condition that they give up their roguery, find honest work, and pray daily to Corellon.Landon's old friend Valindar has come to Luskan from Waterdeep. With him is Sildar Hallwinter. They are heading up to Icewind Dale to find out what happened to Iarno Albrek. The plan is to join a caravan headed north by hiring on as guards. After a brief conversation in the Cutlass, they all go to the Royal Arms. Three caravan masters are hosting a breakfast there to recruit guards for upcoming journeys. The caravan masters are Artemus Bellwether, Roger Peddywinkle (both from 2E adventure The Accursed Tower), and Gundren Rockseeker (from Lost Mine of Phandelver). After some negotiations, the masters agree to hire everyone but the NPCs will be traveling in different caravans. The PCs all sign up with Peddywinkle's company.After a few days, which the PCs use to acquire winter clothes and other supplies for the journey, Peddywinkle's caravan sets off. They meet the last PC, Ranbain, who has also signed up as a guard. The other two are already underway. It is expected to be a 20 days journey to Bryn Shander.On the first night, Sabrina spots something large moving at the edge of the treeline. She wakes up the rest of the party and they spend a good deal of time debating what to do. Finally, Ranbain gets tired of the discussion, takes up a torch and runs for the treeline. Fortunately for him, it was just a few deer grazing. They quickly dart off.The next night the head teamster tells them all the legend of the Blue Knights. A century ago, the road between Luskan and the Dale was plagued by a blue dragon. An order of knights dedicated themselves to chasing off the dragon. Surprisingly, they appear to have succeeded. The knights have long since vanished but recently locals have claimed to have seen blue cloaked knights moving through the forest. The teamster dismisses these as "ghost stories" and fables.The next two days pass without incident. But shortly before the dawn of the fourth day, at the end of Walker's watch, one of the migrants traveling with the caravan is found near-death, his neck pierced by an arrow. Worse: his young son has been kidnapped. Gustav, the migrant, cannot speak because of his injuries so he cannot tell the party what happened.Walker finds tracks leading off into the woods and the party pursues. They recognize the tracks as goblin tracks. But there is something else. A wagon, or a sled, that moved with the goblins. A mile or so into the woods, the forest becomes much less dense and the trees much younger. It is as if there were a clearing here once that has since been overgrown.Near the center of the one-time clearing, a pair of goblins stands in front of the doors of what appears to be an old tomb. Walker and Arche, the rogues, try to sneak up on the goblins. But halfway to them, they spot a huge, ten foot tall blue cloaked figure moving toward them at rapid speed. It has an abnormal gait, seeming to slide or float rather than stride.(At this point, the player running the wizard had to take care of something for work so I made his character mysteriously disappear. Perhaps lost in the woods? Wasn't Gandalf always kind of wandering off when he was needed?)Landon the cleric charges the blue knight, throwing his hammer when he gets in range. It strikes the creature, who appears to be a very tall man, in its helmeted head--and the head falls off. An arrow fires out from inside the cloak, striking Landon.The goblins spot the rogues and launch a volley of arrows, striking Arche. Arche fires back, killing a goblin with a single arrow to the head. She uses her movement to close in on the second goblin.Walker changes direction and runs at the blue knight. He looses a fire bolt (cantrip) on the knight, lighting its cloak on fire. Out from under the cloak come two goblins, screaming and brandishing swords. Landon, Walker, Sabrina, and Ranbain all engage with the goblins, taking them down without too much trouble.Arche, now in melee with the goblin in front of the door, gets stabbed in the same shoulder where she took an arrow. When the goblin tries to run down the stairs, however, she takes an attack of opportunity and kills the thing.The blue knight turns out to be a mechanical contraption. A sort of bicycle topped with a scaffolding, draped with a cloak. The goblins use it to scare off anyone getting too close to their hideout.The tomb entrance appears to be all that is left of a larger building that has long since collapsed. Beyond the doors, which are decorated in bas relief showing knights fighting a dragon, is a staircase leading down.(Note: some of you may recognize what follows from the Delian Tomb adventure Matt Colville described in one of his early videos.)The party goes down the stairs, battles the four goblins in the Offering Room, avoids the trap in the hallway, then confronts a bugbear and six goblins. Both Arche and Walker, the rogues, fall to the goblins. Landon tries to use Guiding Bolt on the bugbear but rolls a 1 to hit. So there are still four goblins and a bugbear and two players down. Total party kill became a real--and unanticipated--possibility. I really didn't want everyone to die on our first adventure. I seriously considered having the wizard show up in the nick-of-time to avoid TPK.Fortunately, the two fighters rolled well and took down the bugbear and three of the remaining goblins. The last attempted to flee but was taken out by Landon throwing his light hammer. The young boy kidnapped by the goblins is discovered chained in a corner. The goblins were preparing to sacrifice him to "The Witch of the North," the boy reports. They found the secret door. Couldn't figure out the riddle mystery but after some healing from the cleric and a short rest, the rogues got the door opened. Inside the tomb, they were attacked by three skeletons. It was a tough fight as everyone was still wounded and the cleric out of spells but the party prevailed. Inside the tombs, the party finds both a magic wand and a magic sword whose name--per the inscription on the blade--is Frostbite.Back in the Offering Room, the party now takes the time to study the intricate bas relief carvings. They seem to tell the history of the Knights, who formed to fight a blue dragon but only really succeeded when they allied themselves with a figure who appears to be some kind of Ice Queen. So the Knights were somehow in league with the same creature that these goblins were preparing to sacrifice the boy to.A joyous reunion back at the caravan camp and then it is time to resume the journey north. I think we played for about three and a half hours. Everyone appeared to have a good time and was particularly excited when I told them that when we play next they will no longer be novice adventurers. Welcome to Second Level!</blockquote>

Verification