Tolamaker
Adventurer
I'm glad! I started doing this because I found other peoples' recaps on here useful, so I figured I would give it a shot.
WotBS Tolamaker's Burning Sky
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Alright, I have a question to get ready for before my session today.
I'm mostly asking because it might add a few questions I have when interrogating the PCs
Namely, what is the relationship between Ragesia and the Trillith at this stage? I know that they are in league, but only from a few notes, and I can't remember exactly the nature of their alliance. Do the Ragesians know the trillith's true nature, or do they only see them as powerful allies?
I'm mostly asking because it might add a few questions I have when interrogating the PCs
emeraldbeacon
Adventurer
By my understanding:
The Ragesians favor the power that the Trillith offer. They're eager to use them as pawns (as they do to Agony in Scourge Prison), but probably don't understand their true nature. I'd be willing to believe that Coaltongue might have once understood them to a degree, thanks to his posession of The Torch, which contains an echo of Trilla's Soul... but for the rest, I doubt they know much beyond "really powerful creatures of a truly mysterious origin." To that end, I'd imagine any questioning would center around three questions...
- "Do you even know that something called a Trillith exists?" If the party can convince the interrogator that they don't understand the question, they may not want to push further... the less an enemy knows, the better.
- "Do you know what they are? What their nature is, and how they manifest?" If the party does express any knowledge, it would be important to gather how much they know... and possibly, glean any new details from them.
- "What Trillith do you know of, and what are their capabilities... and allegiances?" The most important issue is to identify as many Trillith as possible, to decide how important it may be to enlist or subdue them.
Meanwhile, I think that most Trillith don't really understand the full ramifications of their overall cause. The earliest escapees, like Foresight, Indomitability, and Balance, wanted to simply exist. Freedom, though, made sure to craft the tasks of her other children more carefully, ensuring that Deception, Madness, Desire, and Victory all follow her plan to sow discord and chaos, preventing anyone (ally or enemy) from stopping the birth of the ultimate trillith.
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 38: Breakout
As Gruz is pulled away, the others try and see what was done to Hethal, but can’t discover anything. They brainstorm several plans to escape, but eventually decide to wait until Gruz returns. Aripose also sneaks out again to follow the sound of dripping water, and finds himself outside of Jutras’ cell. He manages to sneak a look inside, and sees that the prison’s sewage all leads here, and drips down a metal grate. Jutras’ screams alert a guard, but Aripose is able to escape.
Gruz is taken to a room with many implements of torture, and is tied to a table with a lifted end, so Gruz can look down at his body. An inquisitor with a gentle voice explains to him that “my methods are slightly different from my brethren,” and the man waves a hand, and Gruz goes numb, unable to feel anything. The inquisitor, Torrax, proceeds to ask Gruz about Seaquens defenses, about when his party came to Bresk, and about their knowledge of Trillith, keeping note of Gruz’s answers. After the first time through, a knock comes at the door, and Nina Glemmer, the king’s advisor, comes in. She looks nervous, as if she doesn’t like what she sees, and hands the inquisitor a vial. After she leaves, the inquisitor dumps the contents on Gruz’s head, and his mind spins. As he begins the questioning again, the inquisitor begins to tell different stories of the heirs’ deaths, from Gruz killing them in revenge for the loss of his comrades, to helping the secretly alive queen escape a loveless marriage. As he does so, the inquisitor begins to dissect Gruz, who feels nothing, but can only watch in horror.
When all is done, Gruz is returned, and he cannot remember his time well. When the other’s question him, he has trouble remembering, and now seems to believe he was involved in the assassinations. The group is able to calm him down enough to cooperate, though he is still suspicious.
When night falls, Aripose sneaks out as he did the night before, and shoves everyone’s gear into the bag of holding. Back in the cells, he breaks the mages out of their binds, and they all barely sneak past Jutras, and into his cell. Gruz and Mishka break the grate, and they all make they’re way down. Corban is unable to properly secure the grate back in place. Making their way down the tunnel, they pass zombies frozen in the icy sewage. When they finally get out of the sewer, it is still night, and they are on the edge of the mountain. Before they can make their way down, Eluriah is just barely able to make out a hidden watchtower carved into the cliff face. With extra care, they are able to sneak down the mountain. Once they are far enough away, they decide the best escape route is to take Jinis to Duke Gallo aboard a dragon’s back, and activate one of the scales they were gifted in Innenotdar. With Eluriah wildshaped into a sloth, and Gruz riding alongside on his Broom of Flying, their just able to fly at half speed with everyone aboard. As they take off, they skim low to avoid griffon riders. However, at the dropoff before the Nasham River, they get a glimpse of hundreds of torches surrounding Bresk. Gruz has been part of the Dasseni military, but he has never seen a full army prepare for war.
Post Session Thoughts
I didn't do a lot of prep, and on the one hand, I think it went well, but as always, I think of how it could have gone better. It was good, because it was almost entirely player driven, listening to escape plans and chiming in when they had a question about what their character would know. That went great, as did the torture scene, which was fade-to-black. But then as things go on, I felt like I dropped the dramatic ball in favor of getting things "back on track" with the module. I had planned on having Jutras be this antagonizing force, but I pretty much relegated him to this creepy dragging sound, as they spent all of their inspiration on rerolling stealth checks. I think I could have done more to have him say creepy things about them, or lick his lips, or something, but he was more of a background character. I think I'll bring him back for the battle, just so I can use his intestine ability.
I let Gruz's player decide if he spilled the beans, and he chose not to. I made a point at the beginning of the campaign to explain why I wouldn't play out torture scenes, and so it faded to black after I gave the general idea, and then pulled Gruz aside to ask him what the end result was. Maybe not the best way to do it, but I think it went well. Also, Gruz kind of can't remember if he spilled the beans, so the other players are a bit worried as well.
One last mistake was that I completely meant to have them level up after the breakout, and I forgot until some players had already dropped out of the call. Ah well. Its still always exciting, and at level 8 they're choosing between feats and ASIs. Level 7 had a grand total of 1 fight scene, and honestly, I'm kind of fine with it. This was a more political/RP chapter, and there were a lot of fun moments. Plus, Gallo's Fend will have plenty of combat.
Changes to the module
Remember all the changes I said were coming up? They were all in that watchtower that they managed to sneak by. I had rearranged the encounter int he Alydi gap to a secret watchtower on the side of Bresk. I was going to change up some of the Ragesian Infiltrators for Dasseni Turncoats (same stats of course, because laziness), and have a fun fight with Dractyl and Inquisitor Crona. But, due to a combination of good rolls, and me kind of wanting to end the session, I let them bypass it. Frankly, alongside their proxy meetings, and what they already know of Steppengard, I think that's enough for them to jump straight to traveling to gather aid for Gallo.
Next session, Some respite at Gallo's Fend! But for how long?
As Gruz is pulled away, the others try and see what was done to Hethal, but can’t discover anything. They brainstorm several plans to escape, but eventually decide to wait until Gruz returns. Aripose also sneaks out again to follow the sound of dripping water, and finds himself outside of Jutras’ cell. He manages to sneak a look inside, and sees that the prison’s sewage all leads here, and drips down a metal grate. Jutras’ screams alert a guard, but Aripose is able to escape.
Gruz is taken to a room with many implements of torture, and is tied to a table with a lifted end, so Gruz can look down at his body. An inquisitor with a gentle voice explains to him that “my methods are slightly different from my brethren,” and the man waves a hand, and Gruz goes numb, unable to feel anything. The inquisitor, Torrax, proceeds to ask Gruz about Seaquens defenses, about when his party came to Bresk, and about their knowledge of Trillith, keeping note of Gruz’s answers. After the first time through, a knock comes at the door, and Nina Glemmer, the king’s advisor, comes in. She looks nervous, as if she doesn’t like what she sees, and hands the inquisitor a vial. After she leaves, the inquisitor dumps the contents on Gruz’s head, and his mind spins. As he begins the questioning again, the inquisitor begins to tell different stories of the heirs’ deaths, from Gruz killing them in revenge for the loss of his comrades, to helping the secretly alive queen escape a loveless marriage. As he does so, the inquisitor begins to dissect Gruz, who feels nothing, but can only watch in horror.
When all is done, Gruz is returned, and he cannot remember his time well. When the other’s question him, he has trouble remembering, and now seems to believe he was involved in the assassinations. The group is able to calm him down enough to cooperate, though he is still suspicious.
When night falls, Aripose sneaks out as he did the night before, and shoves everyone’s gear into the bag of holding. Back in the cells, he breaks the mages out of their binds, and they all barely sneak past Jutras, and into his cell. Gruz and Mishka break the grate, and they all make they’re way down. Corban is unable to properly secure the grate back in place. Making their way down the tunnel, they pass zombies frozen in the icy sewage. When they finally get out of the sewer, it is still night, and they are on the edge of the mountain. Before they can make their way down, Eluriah is just barely able to make out a hidden watchtower carved into the cliff face. With extra care, they are able to sneak down the mountain. Once they are far enough away, they decide the best escape route is to take Jinis to Duke Gallo aboard a dragon’s back, and activate one of the scales they were gifted in Innenotdar. With Eluriah wildshaped into a sloth, and Gruz riding alongside on his Broom of Flying, their just able to fly at half speed with everyone aboard. As they take off, they skim low to avoid griffon riders. However, at the dropoff before the Nasham River, they get a glimpse of hundreds of torches surrounding Bresk. Gruz has been part of the Dasseni military, but he has never seen a full army prepare for war.
Post Session Thoughts
I didn't do a lot of prep, and on the one hand, I think it went well, but as always, I think of how it could have gone better. It was good, because it was almost entirely player driven, listening to escape plans and chiming in when they had a question about what their character would know. That went great, as did the torture scene, which was fade-to-black. But then as things go on, I felt like I dropped the dramatic ball in favor of getting things "back on track" with the module. I had planned on having Jutras be this antagonizing force, but I pretty much relegated him to this creepy dragging sound, as they spent all of their inspiration on rerolling stealth checks. I think I could have done more to have him say creepy things about them, or lick his lips, or something, but he was more of a background character. I think I'll bring him back for the battle, just so I can use his intestine ability.
I let Gruz's player decide if he spilled the beans, and he chose not to. I made a point at the beginning of the campaign to explain why I wouldn't play out torture scenes, and so it faded to black after I gave the general idea, and then pulled Gruz aside to ask him what the end result was. Maybe not the best way to do it, but I think it went well. Also, Gruz kind of can't remember if he spilled the beans, so the other players are a bit worried as well.
One last mistake was that I completely meant to have them level up after the breakout, and I forgot until some players had already dropped out of the call. Ah well. Its still always exciting, and at level 8 they're choosing between feats and ASIs. Level 7 had a grand total of 1 fight scene, and honestly, I'm kind of fine with it. This was a more political/RP chapter, and there were a lot of fun moments. Plus, Gallo's Fend will have plenty of combat.
Changes to the module
Remember all the changes I said were coming up? They were all in that watchtower that they managed to sneak by. I had rearranged the encounter int he Alydi gap to a secret watchtower on the side of Bresk. I was going to change up some of the Ragesian Infiltrators for Dasseni Turncoats (same stats of course, because laziness), and have a fun fight with Dractyl and Inquisitor Crona. But, due to a combination of good rolls, and me kind of wanting to end the session, I let them bypass it. Frankly, alongside their proxy meetings, and what they already know of Steppengard, I think that's enough for them to jump straight to traveling to gather aid for Gallo.
Next session, Some respite at Gallo's Fend! But for how long?
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 39: To Stop a War
Flying north, the party flies over Dassen, into the duchy of Nasham. As they approach Gallo’s Fend, they are escorted in by griffon knights, and led to the entrance of the city. There, they are met by Michael Gallo, the handsome son of Duke Gallo. With him is Garret, Gruz’s brother, and they hug for the first time in years. Michael leads them into Gallo’s Fend, and they are able to see the militaristic nature of this Dasseni border-town. Almost everyone is armed, and the windows are as thin as arrow-slits.
In Castle Gallo, they are fed and place din a room, where they meet Duke Gallo. Duke Gallo is a clean, yet gruff man, with a plow in the shape of a chevron as his personal coat of arms. He also rushes to hug Jinis, and thanks the party for returning his friend. He then sits, and asks them to tell him what is going on. When the party tells their story, and end with the news of Steppengard’s forces preparing for war, the Duke hangs his head. “I had hoped such news was not true. I had hoped…”
The party discusses options of convincing Steppengard, but with an unknown amount of time to prepare, Gallo doesn’t believe that there is time to prove that he had nothing to do with the assassinations. And while Gallo’s fend can weather a siege from Steppengard, the third Ragesian legion is just beyond the Alydi Gap, “and I’m not going to cripple Dassen’s fighting force with the wolves at our back. This fight must be decisive.” Gallo explains his plan to fight in the open, in order to force a peace process sooner. “I’m sorry to ask this of you so soon, my friend, but I ask that you travel to Dashgoban and plead that he help defend us. Perhaps a larger army can deter our king from sparking another civil war.”
When the party asks what they can do to help, he mentions That another close ally of his is Lady Timor, though the Glaskeel Cliffs stand in the way of any quick travel, and messenger birds have been unreliable, likely due to Ragesian interference. Mishka then asks if they can break up the ice of the Nasham River, to stop Steppengard’s armies from having a smooth travel north. Gallo’s eyes light up in thought. “There is the Pitchwood Forest. They supply much of the pitch and tar for the nation, and even export some. It lies between Nasham and Otdar. If we can get their winter supply of pitch, and burn the ice, we may be able to delay him in time for reinforcements to arrive.”
In their time to rest, Mishka gets truly clean of the sewers, and goes about asking for news of Pine Owls, in search of information about her half-sister. Aripose explores the castle, discovering the deep food stores in case of a siege. Eluriah tests her flame magic against the icy river, and determines that her magic would take too long to make a dent. Gruz walks with his brother, talking of family, and also goes to a chaplain to have his leg healed. They also ask after Balan and Jineer, but no one has word of them.
The next day, they are supplied with horses, and set off for the Pitchwood with Jinis, hoping to do what they can to stop a war.
Post-Session Thoughts
This was a bit of a break, and also feeling out what the party wanted to do to help with. They immediately took to Gallo, stage-whispering if they could make him king. Yes... Yesssss..... I was going to skip the Pitchwood quest, but as soon as Mishka's player mentioned breaking the ice, I knew I had to use it. This is why I like very detailed campaigns. Even if I decide to cut something, I have it in my back pocket to grab when I need it.
Otherwise, this was a pretty laid-back session, with most of the overarching elements put on hold until the big showdown.
Changes to the Module
As I mentioned earlier, I decided to move the Alydi Gap encounter. Because they avoided where I put it, I could have reintroduced it, but honestly, I don't think there's much doubt that there is Ragesian interference going on. So instead, the players are going to be involved directly in the negotiations with the allied duchies, and it will just be a little bit more in the air.
I'm nominally tracking the days for the Steppengard invasion, but we'll see how that goes. With Gallo's super horses, and Mishka's Elk totem doubling their speed, it will likely not be an issue.
Next session, the party deals with a sticky situation.
Flying north, the party flies over Dassen, into the duchy of Nasham. As they approach Gallo’s Fend, they are escorted in by griffon knights, and led to the entrance of the city. There, they are met by Michael Gallo, the handsome son of Duke Gallo. With him is Garret, Gruz’s brother, and they hug for the first time in years. Michael leads them into Gallo’s Fend, and they are able to see the militaristic nature of this Dasseni border-town. Almost everyone is armed, and the windows are as thin as arrow-slits.
In Castle Gallo, they are fed and place din a room, where they meet Duke Gallo. Duke Gallo is a clean, yet gruff man, with a plow in the shape of a chevron as his personal coat of arms. He also rushes to hug Jinis, and thanks the party for returning his friend. He then sits, and asks them to tell him what is going on. When the party tells their story, and end with the news of Steppengard’s forces preparing for war, the Duke hangs his head. “I had hoped such news was not true. I had hoped…”
The party discusses options of convincing Steppengard, but with an unknown amount of time to prepare, Gallo doesn’t believe that there is time to prove that he had nothing to do with the assassinations. And while Gallo’s fend can weather a siege from Steppengard, the third Ragesian legion is just beyond the Alydi Gap, “and I’m not going to cripple Dassen’s fighting force with the wolves at our back. This fight must be decisive.” Gallo explains his plan to fight in the open, in order to force a peace process sooner. “I’m sorry to ask this of you so soon, my friend, but I ask that you travel to Dashgoban and plead that he help defend us. Perhaps a larger army can deter our king from sparking another civil war.”
When the party asks what they can do to help, he mentions That another close ally of his is Lady Timor, though the Glaskeel Cliffs stand in the way of any quick travel, and messenger birds have been unreliable, likely due to Ragesian interference. Mishka then asks if they can break up the ice of the Nasham River, to stop Steppengard’s armies from having a smooth travel north. Gallo’s eyes light up in thought. “There is the Pitchwood Forest. They supply much of the pitch and tar for the nation, and even export some. It lies between Nasham and Otdar. If we can get their winter supply of pitch, and burn the ice, we may be able to delay him in time for reinforcements to arrive.”
In their time to rest, Mishka gets truly clean of the sewers, and goes about asking for news of Pine Owls, in search of information about her half-sister. Aripose explores the castle, discovering the deep food stores in case of a siege. Eluriah tests her flame magic against the icy river, and determines that her magic would take too long to make a dent. Gruz walks with his brother, talking of family, and also goes to a chaplain to have his leg healed. They also ask after Balan and Jineer, but no one has word of them.
The next day, they are supplied with horses, and set off for the Pitchwood with Jinis, hoping to do what they can to stop a war.
Post-Session Thoughts
This was a bit of a break, and also feeling out what the party wanted to do to help with. They immediately took to Gallo, stage-whispering if they could make him king. Yes... Yesssss..... I was going to skip the Pitchwood quest, but as soon as Mishka's player mentioned breaking the ice, I knew I had to use it. This is why I like very detailed campaigns. Even if I decide to cut something, I have it in my back pocket to grab when I need it.
Otherwise, this was a pretty laid-back session, with most of the overarching elements put on hold until the big showdown.
Changes to the Module
As I mentioned earlier, I decided to move the Alydi Gap encounter. Because they avoided where I put it, I could have reintroduced it, but honestly, I don't think there's much doubt that there is Ragesian interference going on. So instead, the players are going to be involved directly in the negotiations with the allied duchies, and it will just be a little bit more in the air.
I'm nominally tracking the days for the Steppengard invasion, but we'll see how that goes. With Gallo's super horses, and Mishka's Elk totem doubling their speed, it will likely not be an issue.
Next session, the party deals with a sticky situation.
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Sessions 40 & 41
I missed a session recap, and then went on vacation, and then helped my brother move halfway across the country. So this recap is going to be a little basic!
The party arrives at the Pitchwood, and speaks with the mayor of Pitchburg. They discover that pitchlings, fae creatures of pitch, are holding the largest supply of pitch hostage. Eluriah is able to bargain with the pitchlings in sport and food, and resolves the situation peacefully.
They reach Dashgoban's castle the same day, and are able to confirm his support for Gallo. With the speed they have been traveling thanks to Mishka's Elk totem, Jinis suggests they ride around the Toraest Steppes to beg favor from Lady Timor. The party rides around the mountains, and are ambushed in Lord Rego's lands. As they cross a bridge, a troll comes over the edge, and and three Talon soldiers cut off their retreat. After Eluriah determines that the troll is there of his own free will, battle begins. And then it ends after Gruz Polymorphs the troll into a rat, and sets it down the river. Mishka slaughters two of the soldiers, as the final one surrenders.
In Lady Timor's land, diplomacy does not work as well, as she is not happy that they ended her northeastern protection of the Fire Forest. However, after telling them the story of Indomitability and the trillith, Lady Timor promises her support for Gallo if the party gives her the body of one of these Trillith the next time they come across one. "To be able to sustain a blaze for forty years shows that they have great ower. I should like to learn if we can harness that power." When the party says they're not sure how many trillith there are, Lady Timor theorizes that there are three, as in "tri"lith. She draws a henge, with two stone pillars and a third placed atop, as an example.
With Lady Timor's support given, they ride for the Glaskeel Cliffs, where a Timor war mage leads them down safely. Riding back to Gallo's Fend, they find a land ready for war, with earthenworks and trenches built up around the castle. Duke Gallo requests that as Steppengard's forces arrive, that they stay close to his son, and keep him safe. The party agrees, acknowledging that Steppengard may seek revenge for his own children's losses.
Before the battle begins, Gallo and the other nobles ride out with a white flag. Aripose joins them, as he was able to gain the support of Iztorun's proxy. In the parley tent, Steppengard looks like a man possessed, and he unblinkingly stares at Gallo as Fieldmarshal Malkan reads out instructions for Gallo's arrest. soldiers reach for their swords, but Iztorun stands up and scolds them. "You promised us this was in good faith, brother-in-law!" He shouts at Steppengard. The dwarf turns to Aripose, and says "It is not a common man who is able to pierce the heart of one of my men. While I cannot join you, we will not fight today." He gives a signal, and a horn blasts out. Those troops in Iztorun's colors peel away, and begin traveling back down the frozen Nasham River.
As the nobles are leaving, Gallo points out a dwarf in a silver cap to Aripose. "You are an assassin, yes? Then tonight, before the battle proper. I would like you to take out Kelkin Thravanvost."
Post Sessions Thoughts
These sessions were fun, with a lot of roleplay, but I didn't prep for the second session, after two weeks off in a row, and I felt tired to the bone. I remember back when I started DMing, I would get exhausted from the mental work. I thought I was over that, but it apparently because I got better at prep, not on-the-spot improv. I was also doing a little bit of stalling, as I didn't have any of the big battles prepped yet. Overall, fun sessions.
One thing that we tried during the two weeks off was play by post just to keep things moving. It seemed like a good idea, because it would be mostly RP, but then it turned out we had to change our entire playstyle to keep things moving. Overall, I'll probably just trim what I have planned, instead of dripfeeding D&D over two weeks when it could have been roughly 10-20 minutes of gametime.
Changes to the Modules
I made Lady Timor a bit more troublesome, and also used her to throw in a bit of a red herring. Not much of one, but I'll be interested to see if anyone assumes she's right because she's a learned NPC. I also added the treaty tent on a whim, and I feel like I kind of squandered it. Ah well.
I missed a session recap, and then went on vacation, and then helped my brother move halfway across the country. So this recap is going to be a little basic!
The party arrives at the Pitchwood, and speaks with the mayor of Pitchburg. They discover that pitchlings, fae creatures of pitch, are holding the largest supply of pitch hostage. Eluriah is able to bargain with the pitchlings in sport and food, and resolves the situation peacefully.
They reach Dashgoban's castle the same day, and are able to confirm his support for Gallo. With the speed they have been traveling thanks to Mishka's Elk totem, Jinis suggests they ride around the Toraest Steppes to beg favor from Lady Timor. The party rides around the mountains, and are ambushed in Lord Rego's lands. As they cross a bridge, a troll comes over the edge, and and three Talon soldiers cut off their retreat. After Eluriah determines that the troll is there of his own free will, battle begins. And then it ends after Gruz Polymorphs the troll into a rat, and sets it down the river. Mishka slaughters two of the soldiers, as the final one surrenders.
In Lady Timor's land, diplomacy does not work as well, as she is not happy that they ended her northeastern protection of the Fire Forest. However, after telling them the story of Indomitability and the trillith, Lady Timor promises her support for Gallo if the party gives her the body of one of these Trillith the next time they come across one. "To be able to sustain a blaze for forty years shows that they have great ower. I should like to learn if we can harness that power." When the party says they're not sure how many trillith there are, Lady Timor theorizes that there are three, as in "tri"lith. She draws a henge, with two stone pillars and a third placed atop, as an example.
With Lady Timor's support given, they ride for the Glaskeel Cliffs, where a Timor war mage leads them down safely. Riding back to Gallo's Fend, they find a land ready for war, with earthenworks and trenches built up around the castle. Duke Gallo requests that as Steppengard's forces arrive, that they stay close to his son, and keep him safe. The party agrees, acknowledging that Steppengard may seek revenge for his own children's losses.
Before the battle begins, Gallo and the other nobles ride out with a white flag. Aripose joins them, as he was able to gain the support of Iztorun's proxy. In the parley tent, Steppengard looks like a man possessed, and he unblinkingly stares at Gallo as Fieldmarshal Malkan reads out instructions for Gallo's arrest. soldiers reach for their swords, but Iztorun stands up and scolds them. "You promised us this was in good faith, brother-in-law!" He shouts at Steppengard. The dwarf turns to Aripose, and says "It is not a common man who is able to pierce the heart of one of my men. While I cannot join you, we will not fight today." He gives a signal, and a horn blasts out. Those troops in Iztorun's colors peel away, and begin traveling back down the frozen Nasham River.
As the nobles are leaving, Gallo points out a dwarf in a silver cap to Aripose. "You are an assassin, yes? Then tonight, before the battle proper. I would like you to take out Kelkin Thravanvost."
Post Sessions Thoughts
These sessions were fun, with a lot of roleplay, but I didn't prep for the second session, after two weeks off in a row, and I felt tired to the bone. I remember back when I started DMing, I would get exhausted from the mental work. I thought I was over that, but it apparently because I got better at prep, not on-the-spot improv. I was also doing a little bit of stalling, as I didn't have any of the big battles prepped yet. Overall, fun sessions.
One thing that we tried during the two weeks off was play by post just to keep things moving. It seemed like a good idea, because it would be mostly RP, but then it turned out we had to change our entire playstyle to keep things moving. Overall, I'll probably just trim what I have planned, instead of dripfeeding D&D over two weeks when it could have been roughly 10-20 minutes of gametime.
Changes to the Modules
I made Lady Timor a bit more troublesome, and also used her to throw in a bit of a red herring. Not much of one, but I'll be interested to see if anyone assumes she's right because she's a learned NPC. I also added the treaty tent on a whim, and I feel like I kind of squandered it. Ah well.
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 42
The party scouts out the area where Thravanvost is keeping his tent. After ascertaining his guards and sphinx, they come up with a plan for Gruz and Corban to act like drunk soldiers who are fighting, and for Mishka, Eluriah, and Aripose to sneak into the tent from the back. The drunken duo pull off their act perfectly, drawing the guards and even the sphinx over to send them on their way. When the others sneak into the back of the tent, they find that the interior is entirely filled with a silvery dome. They can't get in, and can't dig their way under.
Outside, worried that the sphinx will hear the others, Gruz and Corban taunt the sphinx, calling her a kitty. She get's a dangerous smile on her face, and offers them a riddle.
"I am always near, but never far.
I am always around, but never seen.
Often avoided, but always catching up.
I come with laughter, love, or even hate.
I am everyone's final fate."
Inside the tent, the sneakers decide to rip down the tent, hoping that will dispel whatever magic is causing the dome. They pull down a corner, and the dome disappears to reveal a dwarf putting on the last of his armor. "The answer to the riddle is death," Thravonvost says, and battle begins.
Nashara the sphinx tears into the group, and rushes towards Thravanvost, pulling him into the air. Gruz follows on his broom. On the ground, Eluriah and Corban pull crowd control with a Burning Sphere and Slow spell respectively. In the main Steppengard camp, torches and cries alight, rushing to see what the commotion is...
Post-Session Thoughts
Hoo boy, this was an interesting one. I think the party spent a good 40 minutes planning out their approach, and that was only after I kind of forced them to pick an approach. They are very good at coming up with a hundred plans, and not very good at picking one of them. Internally, I cringed when the two people capable of casting dispel magic were chosen as the distractions, but I think it didn't change much. The funniest part for me was thinking of Thravanvost watching the three adventurers tap the sphere and generally not know what to do. A bit slow of a session (we only got through two rounds of combat) but it was fun. I will be very surprised if they are able to capture or kill Thravanvost, but we will see. I gave them a 10 round clock for reinforcements arriving.
Changes to the adventure
I did not change a single thing about this encounter (I even accidentally made up the 10 round clock, but that's in the book too!), though I did cut out the catapult option. I could have presented it as a choice between one and the other, but I really wanted to test out two spellcasters again. Nashara and Thravanvost don't quite gel like some of the other spellcasters have, but we'll see how it turns out. I did end the session with Thravanvost charging a fireball with his War Mage Artillery ability, so that will be fun to see.
The party scouts out the area where Thravanvost is keeping his tent. After ascertaining his guards and sphinx, they come up with a plan for Gruz and Corban to act like drunk soldiers who are fighting, and for Mishka, Eluriah, and Aripose to sneak into the tent from the back. The drunken duo pull off their act perfectly, drawing the guards and even the sphinx over to send them on their way. When the others sneak into the back of the tent, they find that the interior is entirely filled with a silvery dome. They can't get in, and can't dig their way under.
Outside, worried that the sphinx will hear the others, Gruz and Corban taunt the sphinx, calling her a kitty. She get's a dangerous smile on her face, and offers them a riddle.
"I am always near, but never far.
I am always around, but never seen.
Often avoided, but always catching up.
I come with laughter, love, or even hate.
I am everyone's final fate."
Inside the tent, the sneakers decide to rip down the tent, hoping that will dispel whatever magic is causing the dome. They pull down a corner, and the dome disappears to reveal a dwarf putting on the last of his armor. "The answer to the riddle is death," Thravonvost says, and battle begins.
Nashara the sphinx tears into the group, and rushes towards Thravanvost, pulling him into the air. Gruz follows on his broom. On the ground, Eluriah and Corban pull crowd control with a Burning Sphere and Slow spell respectively. In the main Steppengard camp, torches and cries alight, rushing to see what the commotion is...
Post-Session Thoughts
Hoo boy, this was an interesting one. I think the party spent a good 40 minutes planning out their approach, and that was only after I kind of forced them to pick an approach. They are very good at coming up with a hundred plans, and not very good at picking one of them. Internally, I cringed when the two people capable of casting dispel magic were chosen as the distractions, but I think it didn't change much. The funniest part for me was thinking of Thravanvost watching the three adventurers tap the sphere and generally not know what to do. A bit slow of a session (we only got through two rounds of combat) but it was fun. I will be very surprised if they are able to capture or kill Thravanvost, but we will see. I gave them a 10 round clock for reinforcements arriving.
Changes to the adventure
I did not change a single thing about this encounter (I even accidentally made up the 10 round clock, but that's in the book too!), though I did cut out the catapult option. I could have presented it as a choice between one and the other, but I really wanted to test out two spellcasters again. Nashara and Thravanvost don't quite gel like some of the other spellcasters have, but we'll see how it turns out. I did end the session with Thravanvost charging a fireball with his War Mage Artillery ability, so that will be fun to see.
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 43: The Sphinx Flies the Coop
The party continues to battle, as Thravanvost rises into the air aboard Nashara's back. As battle goes on below, Aripos bloodies Thravanvost, who lets loose an empowered fireball. However, just as he casts it, Gruz counterspells him, leaving him fizzled. Nashara is also bloodied, and they begin to fly towards the main Steppengard camp. Gruz gives chase, but Nashara Suggests that he "go and tell Duke Gallo that you have failed. Gruz's eyes cloud over, and he rushes back to Gallo's camp.
On the ground, Mishka and Orwin take care of the last of the guards, and attempt to bring down Nashara. However, without more ranged weapons, and for fear of killing Dassen's strongest mage, they cease, and make their way back to camp as well. Gruz is the first to deliver the news, and then realizes he's been tricked. As he's coming back, he meets with the group, and they retell the bad news to Duke Gallo. Gallo shuffles his troops around on the board in front of him, and shakes his head. "We'll have a hell of a fight tomorrow."
The party makes their way to Michael's camp, and hole up for the night. Eluriah writes another letter to her husband, and they think on the battle ahead.
Post Session Thoughts
This recap is short for three reasons. First, This session happened two weeks ago, so I probably forgot some details. Second, The fight began to drag, and there wasn't a lot of post-fight happenings because Third, I completely misread the battle at Gallo's Fend, and ended the session early because I was flustered.
As I mentioned, this battle kind of dragged on a bit longer than I cared for, almost entirely due to crap rolls on the players side, and Gruz playing effective spell-control on Thravanvost. This meant there weren't any big swings or anything, just a very slow chipping away at HP until the reinforcements were too close to be sure they could actually retrieve Thravanvost.
My final thought at the end of this session is that I need a break from D&D. I've already mentioned it to the group, but I need like a good step away from this campaign to get my breath back. I felt like absolute garbage at the end of this session, and it wasn't even that bad. Two weeks later, I feel better about today's upcoming session at Otharil Vale, but that's almost entirely because I took a mini break for a wedding last week (and properly prepped). The last time I took a break was between our Curse of Strahd game, and this Burning Sky campaign. All it took was 4-5 weeks off (playing Fate) and when I returned to D&D, it was fantastic. I felt like I had when I first started, but with the experience I've gained over the years. Here's hoping that happens again, because I would love to finish the campaign, and I love playing with my group.
Changes to the module
I made the reinforcements more hefty, to really emphasize the urgency of running in and getting Thravanvost as fast as possible. Other than that, I don't believe I changed anything. I look forward to seeing how his fireballs will change the fight on the Vale in the morrow.
The party continues to battle, as Thravanvost rises into the air aboard Nashara's back. As battle goes on below, Aripos bloodies Thravanvost, who lets loose an empowered fireball. However, just as he casts it, Gruz counterspells him, leaving him fizzled. Nashara is also bloodied, and they begin to fly towards the main Steppengard camp. Gruz gives chase, but Nashara Suggests that he "go and tell Duke Gallo that you have failed. Gruz's eyes cloud over, and he rushes back to Gallo's camp.
On the ground, Mishka and Orwin take care of the last of the guards, and attempt to bring down Nashara. However, without more ranged weapons, and for fear of killing Dassen's strongest mage, they cease, and make their way back to camp as well. Gruz is the first to deliver the news, and then realizes he's been tricked. As he's coming back, he meets with the group, and they retell the bad news to Duke Gallo. Gallo shuffles his troops around on the board in front of him, and shakes his head. "We'll have a hell of a fight tomorrow."
The party makes their way to Michael's camp, and hole up for the night. Eluriah writes another letter to her husband, and they think on the battle ahead.
Post Session Thoughts
This recap is short for three reasons. First, This session happened two weeks ago, so I probably forgot some details. Second, The fight began to drag, and there wasn't a lot of post-fight happenings because Third, I completely misread the battle at Gallo's Fend, and ended the session early because I was flustered.
As I mentioned, this battle kind of dragged on a bit longer than I cared for, almost entirely due to crap rolls on the players side, and Gruz playing effective spell-control on Thravanvost. This meant there weren't any big swings or anything, just a very slow chipping away at HP until the reinforcements were too close to be sure they could actually retrieve Thravanvost.
My final thought at the end of this session is that I need a break from D&D. I've already mentioned it to the group, but I need like a good step away from this campaign to get my breath back. I felt like absolute garbage at the end of this session, and it wasn't even that bad. Two weeks later, I feel better about today's upcoming session at Otharil Vale, but that's almost entirely because I took a mini break for a wedding last week (and properly prepped). The last time I took a break was between our Curse of Strahd game, and this Burning Sky campaign. All it took was 4-5 weeks off (playing Fate) and when I returned to D&D, it was fantastic. I felt like I had when I first started, but with the experience I've gained over the years. Here's hoping that happens again, because I would love to finish the campaign, and I love playing with my group.
Changes to the module
I made the reinforcements more hefty, to really emphasize the urgency of running in and getting Thravanvost as fast as possible. Other than that, I don't believe I changed anything. I look forward to seeing how his fireballs will change the fight on the Vale in the morrow.
RangerWickett
Legend
Sometimes you don't realize how much a few hours of free time will help your mental health. When a cancelled game feels like a godsend, for me it's a sign I've been filling my plate with too much and need to give my brain time to just chill.
Good luck with getting refreshed and recovered.
Good luck with getting refreshed and recovered.
Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 44: The First Clash
The morning of the battle, Gallo's forces take up a line along the north west of the Otharil Vale. Alongside Michael's forces, their portion of the line is manned by four squads of soldiers, two troops of archers, a troop of Dashgoban knights, two chaplains from Gallo, and two war mages from Timor. The line arranges itself with the infantry at the front, with cavalry behind as support, followed by two cheval de frise(s?) where the archers and mages prepare to unleash missiles. The mages also bring with them a strange barrel carved with runes. "In case we need any help," they say. "Lady Timor has an agreement with an elemental."
The white valley of the Otharil Vale looks like a flooding river receding as Steppengards forces push forward to close the gap. Occasionally, a griffon will peel forward from the sea of banners, teasing out a few half-hearted arrows. One teases too far, and a shaft of ash through the neck sends it crashing down into the snow. Steppengards forces push on, steadily marching towards Gallo’s line.
Michael paces his horses back. “Gods I didn’t know it would be like this.” He grips his sword in its scabbard, his knuckles white. “Just come here already and be done with it!” Eventually, Steppengard’s forces seem to obey, as half of the oncoming line begins to double march. An older Dashgoban knight lifts her helmet to spit on the ground. “They’re going to crash into us twice. That’s how he broke Iztorun back in the day.”
Catapults stop about 1000 feet out, and begin loading their stones in place, sending testing flings towards Gallo's line. One boulder crashes into the knights, crushing dwarves and horses. The archers take up their arrows, and manage to drop two squads of infantry before they crash into the line. Griffons rise above the soldiers, flying straight towards the mages behind the line, and Gruz flies up on his broom to meet them. Eluriah and Aripose's arrows pepper an enormous minotaur among the forces.
As battle commences, Eluriah throws out a Wall of Fire, incinerating the minotaur, splitting the infantry, and slowing several troops' advance. A Steppengard commander maneuvers his troops effectively, wiping out a squad of Gallo soldiers before Michael's cavalry crashes into the line, disrupting them. The right flank is at a standstill until Dashgoban's knight's catch one of the squads off-guard, allowing Mishka to jump forward and finish off the survivors.
Once the soldiers are past her wall, Eluriah drops it, and raises a storm cloud above the battlefield, crashing lightning bolts on the right flank, targeting a prelate who attempted to Calm Emotions on the Gallo forces. In the air, Gruz fights sword and claw with a griffon, while Corban shoots fireballs at another until they fly away. On the left flank, Michael's cavalry are almost overwhelmed until the war mages slam Flame Spheres into the Steppengard infantry. With no one to support them, the Steppengard commander and prelate surrender. In four rounds of combat, the line begins to reorganize to face the second wave.
Post-Session Thoughts
Whoo boy, this was a fun one. I took a good 20-30 minutes explaining how the battle would work, doing math on how quickly people would arrive dashing 60 ft. a turn and how many arrow volleys would be allowed, and figuring out the ranges that PCs could start firing. After that long setup, the battle itself was actually very straightforward. The infantry squads really shredded each other, and the cavalry made a real difference. The mages were poorly placed, as it took several turns for their real spells to reach the fight. I think the archers did the most real damage.
The players really liked it. There were some real backs and forths as the armies ground against each other, with several crits on both sides, and its only by the sheer luck of the dice that only one squad of Gallo soldiers were lost, though several more were bloodied. The cavalry also took a beating. Similar to last session, the next will begin with a fireball from Thravanvost, because I forgot to do it during those four rounds.
The catapult was a bit of mess, for two reasons. One, I'm pretty sure I got the rules wrong. The book says you can skip the aiming step if they are aiming where it last landed, thus cutting down the number of rounds it took to launch, but I still made an aiming roll. That made it miss its next attack very badly, pushing back the firing time again. I plan on having it move forward to 400 feet the next wave, so that it doesn't have disadvantage, (and so that players can potentially counter attack)
Changes to the Module
So, I made a few changes, both to the stat blocks of the army, as well as the makeup of the battle itself. For stat blocks, I changed squads' resistances from slashing/bludgeoning/piercing to "all single points of damage". This was to make it so that squad on squad violence would go as normal, but the effects of a fire bolt or a swinging axe would be lessened. This is largely what contributed to the swingy nature of the fight, as it was not uncommon for 30-ish damage to happen, and the rolls from the infantry were quite good, considering they each had to hit either 18 or 19 AC. I also gave the Dashgoban Knights an ability that if they charged their whole movement, they dealt half damage even on a miss.
Half because I forgot, and half because I wanted the clerics to be useful, I also allowed healing, even single point healing like cure wounds. I don't think this made a huge difference, but I did like how it made the players change their target strategy.
For the makeup of the forces, instead of swapping all of the infantry for knights, I let the players decide what composition they wanted, with 2 squads of soldiers equalling one squad of knights. I also didn't bring in Granule the Rust Monster, because I made Michael and his cavalry a squad.
On Steppengard's side, I don't believe I changed anything, other than how far back the catapult is. In the book, the catapult has a range of up to 2,000 feet,which made it weird in my head to think that it would place itself at 600 feet, right at longbow range, but still outside of normal intelligence checks. (I got this wrong. Somehow I conflated the first wave beginning to charge with the catapult's location. It's supposed to hold back at 1900 feet.) So I pushed it back a bit, forward to 1000 feet, and it was largely useless due to disadvantaged rolls making me only roll over 10 once.
Next session, a fireball, the thunder of hooves, and the howls of trolls!
The morning of the battle, Gallo's forces take up a line along the north west of the Otharil Vale. Alongside Michael's forces, their portion of the line is manned by four squads of soldiers, two troops of archers, a troop of Dashgoban knights, two chaplains from Gallo, and two war mages from Timor. The line arranges itself with the infantry at the front, with cavalry behind as support, followed by two cheval de frise(s?) where the archers and mages prepare to unleash missiles. The mages also bring with them a strange barrel carved with runes. "In case we need any help," they say. "Lady Timor has an agreement with an elemental."
The white valley of the Otharil Vale looks like a flooding river receding as Steppengards forces push forward to close the gap. Occasionally, a griffon will peel forward from the sea of banners, teasing out a few half-hearted arrows. One teases too far, and a shaft of ash through the neck sends it crashing down into the snow. Steppengards forces push on, steadily marching towards Gallo’s line.
Michael paces his horses back. “Gods I didn’t know it would be like this.” He grips his sword in its scabbard, his knuckles white. “Just come here already and be done with it!” Eventually, Steppengard’s forces seem to obey, as half of the oncoming line begins to double march. An older Dashgoban knight lifts her helmet to spit on the ground. “They’re going to crash into us twice. That’s how he broke Iztorun back in the day.”
Catapults stop about 1000 feet out, and begin loading their stones in place, sending testing flings towards Gallo's line. One boulder crashes into the knights, crushing dwarves and horses. The archers take up their arrows, and manage to drop two squads of infantry before they crash into the line. Griffons rise above the soldiers, flying straight towards the mages behind the line, and Gruz flies up on his broom to meet them. Eluriah and Aripose's arrows pepper an enormous minotaur among the forces.
As battle commences, Eluriah throws out a Wall of Fire, incinerating the minotaur, splitting the infantry, and slowing several troops' advance. A Steppengard commander maneuvers his troops effectively, wiping out a squad of Gallo soldiers before Michael's cavalry crashes into the line, disrupting them. The right flank is at a standstill until Dashgoban's knight's catch one of the squads off-guard, allowing Mishka to jump forward and finish off the survivors.
Once the soldiers are past her wall, Eluriah drops it, and raises a storm cloud above the battlefield, crashing lightning bolts on the right flank, targeting a prelate who attempted to Calm Emotions on the Gallo forces. In the air, Gruz fights sword and claw with a griffon, while Corban shoots fireballs at another until they fly away. On the left flank, Michael's cavalry are almost overwhelmed until the war mages slam Flame Spheres into the Steppengard infantry. With no one to support them, the Steppengard commander and prelate surrender. In four rounds of combat, the line begins to reorganize to face the second wave.
Post-Session Thoughts
Whoo boy, this was a fun one. I took a good 20-30 minutes explaining how the battle would work, doing math on how quickly people would arrive dashing 60 ft. a turn and how many arrow volleys would be allowed, and figuring out the ranges that PCs could start firing. After that long setup, the battle itself was actually very straightforward. The infantry squads really shredded each other, and the cavalry made a real difference. The mages were poorly placed, as it took several turns for their real spells to reach the fight. I think the archers did the most real damage.
The players really liked it. There were some real backs and forths as the armies ground against each other, with several crits on both sides, and its only by the sheer luck of the dice that only one squad of Gallo soldiers were lost, though several more were bloodied. The cavalry also took a beating. Similar to last session, the next will begin with a fireball from Thravanvost, because I forgot to do it during those four rounds.
The catapult was a bit of mess, for two reasons. One, I'm pretty sure I got the rules wrong. The book says you can skip the aiming step if they are aiming where it last landed, thus cutting down the number of rounds it took to launch, but I still made an aiming roll. That made it miss its next attack very badly, pushing back the firing time again. I plan on having it move forward to 400 feet the next wave, so that it doesn't have disadvantage, (and so that players can potentially counter attack)
Changes to the Module
So, I made a few changes, both to the stat blocks of the army, as well as the makeup of the battle itself. For stat blocks, I changed squads' resistances from slashing/bludgeoning/piercing to "all single points of damage". This was to make it so that squad on squad violence would go as normal, but the effects of a fire bolt or a swinging axe would be lessened. This is largely what contributed to the swingy nature of the fight, as it was not uncommon for 30-ish damage to happen, and the rolls from the infantry were quite good, considering they each had to hit either 18 or 19 AC. I also gave the Dashgoban Knights an ability that if they charged their whole movement, they dealt half damage even on a miss.
Half because I forgot, and half because I wanted the clerics to be useful, I also allowed healing, even single point healing like cure wounds. I don't think this made a huge difference, but I did like how it made the players change their target strategy.
For the makeup of the forces, instead of swapping all of the infantry for knights, I let the players decide what composition they wanted, with 2 squads of soldiers equalling one squad of knights. I also didn't bring in Granule the Rust Monster, because I made Michael and his cavalry a squad.
On Steppengard's side, I don't believe I changed anything, other than how far back the catapult is. In the book, the catapult has a range of up to 2,000 feet,
Next session, a fireball, the thunder of hooves, and the howls of trolls!
