[D&D 5e] Princes of the Apocalypse 2016, Post 6

Well the Dragon Turtle seemed somewhat dazed, confused by some sort of monk it referred to inside itself. Though Ander the rogue shot some arrows, it seemed to not notice them terribly much and after a seconds reflection, party members back up along the ravine or spider climbed up it and away, as it released a steam blast that cracked the very side of the ravine, revealing a chamber and a dwarf inside, a trapped victim of a cave in who free now, fled along with the party and joined them!

Deciding to approach the water cultists fort from land rather than water, the party helped each other climb the cliff or just did it on their lonesome as the new dwarf, Travok, did.

The approach to the keep involved the recently named bard, cursed with looking like a child, and the paladin Rikarian trying to infiltrate with the story he needed to drop off the ‘child’ as he was going to a dangerous place. There might have been some confusion as to whether the rest of the party was going on, because after knocking on the door Rikarian found himself walking in with the ‘child’ and looking over his shoulder, seeing no one else following.  This ended up in a negotiation with the boss of the keep, to which Rikarian only had to pay 20 gold to get rid of the child – which he took from ‘the child’ to pay it. The child was then immediately put on dish washing duty, so Rikarian bid his farewells and started to walk out the door of of the bosses hall, only to see the rest of the party being escorted in. Considering averting his eyes and walking past, the party heartily greated him. Turns out they had gotten frisky and climbed the north wall of the keep – and had promptly been found by a patrol. Curiously with a few words they had avoided bloodshed and instead the patrol had escorted them in. And now Rikarian found he had to turn on his heel and follow them right back in before the boss of the keep!

The discussion went well as in there wasn’t a huge fight. But by the same token it went poorly enough that the party was assigned to dish washing duty along with the ‘child’ in the next room. Which they weren’t very good at…Rikarian broke several plates. The guards tried to beat him with the sides of their swords for it, but ironically he was wearing plate.

Pliskin slipped out and started investigating the base and after some time the party was done with their washing chores* (the ‘child’ pleading for a break) and were told to leave. Which they took to mean ‘snoop around our fort’.

Eventually they find a cave under the fort that takes a river, deep into the earth. They steal a boat from the fort, pick the lock on the gate on the cave front and start rowing…only to have their boat shaken by a force from under the water! The ghouls show their presence, reaching for everyone in the boat!

* Instead of having one player be the only one doing anything for some time before the supposedly long plates chore was done, I had the player do some investigation, then basically said time passed as the players PC looked around and now the rest of the party were out.

Note: I kinda messed up and didn’t filter out a player do a massively metagame thing that had significant character effect – ie, someone making their character basically suicide for no reason other than they wanted to play a new character (when they are free to simply bring a new character if they want to. Previous character doesn’t have to die to do that). So I’ve basically edited out of the story where the barbarian went to fight the dragon turtle as everyone else backed away and the barbarian was killed doing it because he wanted his barbarian killed. I fell into this error, not identifying how it was going against what I wanted/a high character effect based on a highly metagame effect – oh well, just keep it in mind to try and avoid next time – live and learn!

[D&D 5e] Princes of the Apocalypse 2016, Post 5

Part of the town of Red Larch shattered, Pliskin walked in and headed to the Swinging Sword tavern as if nothing was amiss – for him, anyway. Lucian hefted horse troughs of water and help put out various blazes across the affected part of town, which looked like a bomb had gone off through it.

Lucian investigated, despite Pliskin’s disinterest. The taverns proprietor Kaylessa let him in on what had transpired : Turns out earth cultists had arrayed themselves outside the town around some sort of glowing casket and insisted the town turn out the heretics who had invaded and slain the mud sorcerer. These cultists had probably headed out during one of the times the party had been sleeping in Master Quarbo’s chamber – the vengeful cultists traveling by mere yards from the party who had contributed to the mud sorcerers death, as well as his actual murderer! Possibly some sort of disdain the lower fortress cultists had for the upper cult fortress (being based on earth, after all), it likely forstalled a communication between the two that otherwise might have seen the party murdered in their beds (well, Quarbo’s beds, strictly speaking)!!

But something had gone wrong with the glowing casket, the cultists had fled and then there had been a mighty explosion outside of town, the blast radius reaching into Red Larch. And it was at that point that the party had arrived, after a brief but shocking encounter with willo wisps.

The party were thanked by and said good bye to the former captives they had freed and escorted to Red Larch. The dwarf amongst the captives tried to mention something about being part of a missing delegation and was thoroughly ignored by the party, who rested the night with Lucian insisting he was going to sleep on the floor of Pliskin’s room – seems like a token romantic sub plot, guys! But having rested and recovered their resources, much of the party investigated the crater outside of town, taking glowing fragments they found as samples. But there was no particular lead here – this was simply an event that had occurred, though the source (the earth cultists) was clear.

So now they headed toward the water cultists! Something completely different! The water cultists location shown in the tome Pliskin recovered when he regained half of his family heirloom – the silver runed disk. The text said the water cultists had split it in twain in their theft attempt of it and had taken it away! Some of them flying away, strangely enough.

The party resupplied and made their way out, heading west toward the Dessarin river, where they would turn north, following it up to the water cultists keep. But along the way they spied from a distance a caravan being held up by the stoney armoured cultists – the same sort of banditry that saw the paladin Rikarian slain some months back (fortunately his god saw to it that the resurrection ritual succeeded and had returned Rikarian to life). Indeed, one of the caravaners seemed to be being forced into stone armour himself by the other guards!

Though they could have tip toed around, the barbarian in the party, as barbarians are wont to do, pushed to charge. Battle was joined and the party showed much prejudice to the cultist priest and guards – the former warlock of the party, having be repudiated by his patron and made a lowly bard now,  argued to the earth armoured caravaner to not join the other earth cultists, in between saying mean things to the other cultists. The warlock-now-bard’s words swayed the former caravaner, who did not know who to join. Until the last earth guard tried to surrender, at which the former caravaner, turned by the bards words, went to slay the cultist – at which the bard cried out no to him, staying his hand again.

Turns out the cult had been trying to force the caravaner to join them for some time. Lucian wanted to kill the captive expediently, but the former caravaner said no, he would take responsibility of the earth cultist and turn him away from his dark path. The party agreed. If Lucians palm was greased a little, first.

Onward they went, to find other cultists called burrow sharks hunting for new Bullette mounts. Again they could have skirted around the cultists, but chose to engage. During which Lucian was stabbed to unconscious to the ground with their earthen spears. But battle was won and the barbarian stabalised! Why wont he die?

Then after further travel and another bad night of sleep the party had made it to the Dessarin river! They turned north, following the river that entered into tight ravines, keeping them close to the water.

Until Pliskin heard the water speaking in a form of elemental. Saying the monk told it to be here – the monk that talked inside of it. Tormented it!

From the waters, the maw of a dragon turtle burst forth!! The stone wall of the ravine at the parties back, trapping them!

[D&D 5e] Princes of the Apocalypse 2016, Post 4

Everyone wanted to cross the chasm, for some reason. The strange, half hidden path, the opening in the wall near it that showed a chamber filled with horrified statues, did not dissuade them.

Fortunately they worked as a group in their stealthy attempt, so as to make up for the clanking armour wearer amongst them.

Pliskin sensed his family artefact had been moved and a moment latter with a spell cast, flew across the chasm quickly and came to it – only to find it was only half of the silver runed disk!? It had been sundered! He snatched up the tome of research next to it, that hinted water cultists had stolen it (though some had flown away after the theft, strangely). There was a note about the water cultists surface settlement. That settled it for Pliskin – that was his next target.

So they snuck back along the thin path above a hundred foot drop, trying contradictorily to be both observant but not at all look into the statue chamber where a medusa might be lairing. The same male medusa that they had just looted the treasure chamber of!

They made it across, only to find a group of armoured earth cultists guards investigating the room the chasm path lead to. The barbarian Brogue growled there wasn’t enough of them, he wanted more than this – and indeed more did run in through the door until there were five guards against the parties own five. Battle was joined! The guards, though armoured and swift in their blows and strength, merely bruised the party and demanded the healer turn his healing magic upon himself. One guard was sent into the chasm by the goliath barbarian, Brogue, to brake upon the stones below. They were victorious.

Pliskin, having gained at least part of his artifact, felt he was done here. They made their way back through another arrow slit the goliath had adjusted and headed across the zig zag bridge to the two hundred and fifty foot set of stairs. Others laboured up, only one becoming partially exhausted and Pliskin used the remainder of his spell of flight to make his way up without effort.

Back at the sacred stone monastery, master Quarbo sought to question the group about their dealings below and why they were back, but Pliskin rebuffed him in his haste to leave. This almost agitated the master of the monastery, until mention was made of slaying water cultists, at which, along with the memory of the party having slayed the beast in his the basement, made him bite his tongue. The party left, the front door guards putting up no resistance this time.

Soon they had re-united with the captives they had freed before and hidden away outside. One of them was a dwarf, who now come to his senses having eaten properly, introduced himself as one of the Miribar trade delegates gone missing long ago and…the party pressed on. This was not their business – their aim was Red Larch, to drop off these captives!

A Bullette encounter in the wilderness, perhaps a reflection of the elemental imbalance of the region, with a knocked out barbarian and many shield spells, three chilled or nightmarish nights. After all that just as they get to Red Larch, they start to see the damage to its buildings – with people running around with torches, trying to put the town back together again. In fact, some lights danced in the nearby woods as well.

The party thought better of that and tried to walk past, straight to town. Which meant the will o wisps did not get their ambush – only striking with mighty bolts of electricity several party members and evading with their speed. Scorched near to unconsciousness, the party wins against the dread whisp lurkers – but what has happened in the town of Red Larch?

D&D Princes of the Apocalypse 2016, Post 3

The flames were hot and bright – and yet also tainted with shadow, somehow.

On a kitchen table amidst the flames a scroll lay, like master Quarbo had hidden before, with secrets on the family heirloom that Pliskin was here to take back. And from the other door the shouts of captives and the smell and heat of smoke emanating from that door. Plistkin’s knowledge of arcana would let him douse only one set of flames. Which would a man like Pliskin choose?

‘There are always more peasants’, might have been the words muttered as he brushed away the flames from the kitchen and went after the scroll!

Lucian and Brogue looked at each other and went for the door, despite the fiery supernatural blast that even being near it seemed to sap the strength, let alone running through it. The amnesiac warlock, despite seeing the flames were not natural, decided he would be fine – and had to turn back after much burning. Inside the room, Lucian wrapped two captives in blankets to jump back through the flames, while Brogue decided the inside of a nearby arrow slit would prove a good place for the goliath to craft a new doorway, so he burst through with two captives of his own!

And having split the party now, they attempted to re-join, heading west then south to the statue room, then the long east corridor and attempting to shield the captives from the hob goblins and the Bullette rider in the room at the end, who merely waved congenially to the party, having been bribed quite nicely already and less inclined to look closely as such.

The left by the battered north doors and there, decided what to do? Escort the former captives all the way back to town? Or try to hide them somewhere here? Either way, they’d have to get them past Master Quarbo upstairs. Though now that Brogue had re-joined the party and was Quarbo’s favoured one, perhaps this would not be as difficult?

As they argued, something crawled up out of the chasm to the north, something of stone, up the bridge and then lumbering towards them. The remnants of the armoured elemental that they had fought on the bridge before, now pulled itself together sans armour and lumbering toward them. The warlock looked at it startled and muttered something about why would it attack because they argued. As if speaking takes no time in the bowels of the earth with threats all around. Barbarian charges and blastings of magic ensued!

>> Just another small sample of play from the session!

D&D Princes of the Apocalypse 2016, Post 2

The priest called and something came.

But before that the others, in full plate made of stone had stood up from their meals at the tables, turning to the intruders.

The intruders tried to greet them. As if they expected the cultists at the table to respond cheerily like a neighbour.

The cultists decided to cleanse. And the priest called – and was shaken to the core by the power of an elemental wearing metal plates itself, thrusting itself out of the ground at the beckoning. And it seem to have come for the man with no shadow. The barbarian, Lucian.

It strode past the wizard Pliskin who had lead them into the room, striking massive blows with it’s maul twice upon Lucian who had not a moment to draw upon a resistant rage.

The other stone clad soldiers descended on the wizard and Rikarian the paladin. Their maces blows sometimes only bit into armour – other times they sunk heavily into flesh. Arrows and beams sped from the rear lines of the party, Ander the rogue and the amnesiac warlock into the priest, thinking this would banish the terrible elemental before them. But the priest was merely gravely wounded and did not fall.

The reign of blows was too great – word of retreat rang amongst the party. They withdrew as they could from the maces of their enemy, until Lucian back away and slamming the door shut, braced himself against it as the other made their escape.

Finally the door exploded, frame splintering around Lucian, from the massive blows of the elementals hammer.

He fell back, raced along the corridor as the creature of earth and the cultists guards chased the fleet footed barbarian. Down the corridor, past the statue room and east, side stepping blasts of web streaking down the corridor. Shot by Pliskin further up the passage, which splashed and stuck strands all around the statue room just behind Lucian, making it slow going for the elemental and the guards to catch up. Then the party all ran – until they got to the room with the hobgoblins and the Bullette and it’s rider. At which point they tried to appear casual and walk naturally to the north exit. As they had merely lightly bribed them before and who knows how suspicious you can act on just a mere few gold? Upon reaching the north exist, they dashed again across the zig zag bridge across the chasm, to the base of the 250 foot stairs…

>> Again, this is an abbreviated excerpt of the parties adventure. Writing it all out would take so much more.

Point form adventure update!

To quickly update (so as to ensure doing so!)

• They fought a flameskull - well, the barbarian picked a fight with it, then it flew away and he didn't do so well.
• They survived and finished phandelver!
• They returned to Red Larch and took up the notes of the previous party - who'd left none so I made it up some had left notes. Pliskin is after the mud sorcerer and Lucian the (now) barbarian has bad dreams so he want to smash elemental things.
• They partied at feathergale spire. Then when the knights tried to have a slumber party with them (maybe!), the party butchered the knights and escaped on giant vulture (nat twenty animal handling) or spider climbed down the side of the tower to the valley below.
• In the valley they stood around in the open (well, half did) and then were found by knights on vultures who refused to come down to the ground to be murdered by the barbarian and whatever Pliskin is. 
• So the party got hammered by javalins and Lucian the barbarian almost died trying to distract the knights from the almost dead Muriden the noble dwarf, as he tried to get away with his vulture.
• Muriden didn't say thanks. Nobles.
• They hid and rested but at the eigtth hour gnolls, one a pack lord, find the less hidden of them.
• Pliskin spares the packlord, insisting he is the gnolls leader now.
• They find the gully they spotted through a telescope on feathergale spire, find some magic monks who try to beat up the party but get beat up!
• They interrogate a final one and find the cult the monks are from hates the mud sorcerer! Plot twist!

And that was the short version!

Phandelver. part 6ish, 7ish and 8!

Oh, how the time flies!

They somehow managed to con the hobgoblins into them going inside to check on the king, while the PC's walked calmly, then jogged, then ran like mad away!

They managed to get the dwarf, Rockseeker (IIRC) back to town, where after resting overnight he immediately started insisting they get to wave echo cave.

The PC's did indeed make their way there - and apart from anti climactic stirge encounters (nothing like encountering them in pathfinder!), they opened a door with an illusion across it of the rest of the room...to trick a wight inside that no one had opened the door - after discovering the rooms occupant, they quickly moved on...to speak to a spectator and tried to convince him out of something that magic forces him to do (guard a location) and...the warlock seemed to ignore that you could bypass him if you simply twisted the words of his contract.

From that powerful foe they...then ran into a flaming skull, who'd been set to oversee the area. And managed to convince it that the dwarf noble amongst them was one of the owners of the ancient dwarven mining complex - DESPITE the nobles best efforts to screw this up by saying count comments!

They kicked open the barred doors of bugbears - then ran away, thinking the bugbears would chase them right into the flaming skull. The bugbears promptly boarded up their door again - having boarded it incase the flame skull had come their way - they knew about it, all right! Fair plan, otherwise!

Then an excellent ghoul encounter occured, where the party went and split itself most wonderfully! Lucian the warlock walks in to examine some tables, then the rest of the party in the corridor see him look to his right, look shocked and run left! Malcer the ranger (newer player, so fair enough!) runs after him...but then the fairly beaten up fighter Murden (bugbears did it!) decides not to draw the attention of six ghouls by running in front of them all! Ander instead shoots his short bow at one, drawing the attention of two!

After some zanyness and readied actions which confused initiative order for me! Players are like 'hey, didn't the fighter just have a go?' and because I'm tired and just did all the monsters moves, I say yeah - but actually it's because he readied his action to attack as a ghoul approached. So he goes just before them, and perchance of initiative rolls, he went right after them as well!

Anyway, they thought they were doomed, but with some nat 20's from Malcer and some sensible fighting, they did alright!

The final battle was while exploring a new room with just a handful of ghouls in it - a mere three this time! But Lucian decides to fall back while fighting - and this is the ideal time for the ochre jelly, that had seen them in their previous exploration and was following them, to attack! And it got in one good slap of it's pseudopod too - eventually Lucian retreated back to the party who had finished the ghouls. They all braced for the jelly to come at them...braced and...nothing happened. As far as the module informed me, the jelly picks it's fights - it doesn't come at superior numbers. Making the jelly smarter than some PC's, at times!

And so having beaten the ghouls and feeling hurt, they decide to rest in the room with the ghouls - using their bodies as blocks against the doors as best they can.

Whether they will short rest for an hour or attempt a long rest here, who knows?

Phandelver ( Part 5 and some 6 )

Castle Cragmore was kind of quick in the end - the party burst in on a group of hobgoblins, one of which dashed away while the others faught. However, party members chased after and slayed him before he could open the door to...well, what was the door to that the hobgoblin so needed to open?

Well, they burst in and find a bugbear and a drow talking at a table, with an unconcious dwarf in the corner. Heh - I stuffed up here - because I kept looking at the stats of the 'drow' who was actually a doppleganger, I gave away what it was by accident! Saying 'The doppleganger attacks!'. I'm not even sure why it was a doppleganger to begin with - but anyway! Also I forgot the wolf that aught to be present - but the party got a little hammered by blows before taking the bugbear, king Grol, down as well as the doppler!

Great! So they revive the dwarf, find the map and that was the end of one session.

Next they explored a bit, with a new player in tow playing an archer - as usual a player turns up and no real question of that was made (since it happens so often), so ended up making a reason for it latter on that they found him as a prisoner alongside the Gundren the dwarf. Ah, the things I do out of sequence!

So they explore a bit - lifted the bar on a door, heard a giant monster inside roar and...though they won initiative, nobody put the bar back! The owlbear clawed up the fighter a bit (like, to 1 HP!), but they toughed it out and won.

The thing is when they go outside, they ran into a group of hobgoblins coming back.

The warlock starts his smooth talker routine to try and talk them down (mostly because the fighter was down and we only had four PC's this session), essentially saying 'all those dead bodies - it was like that when we got here!'

Then someone else says something that ruins his speel a bit and he tries to give up and sneak away (fails!).

I'm thinking of a new house rule in future of basically individual diplomacy rather than group. How it works is if one PC says something to offend the NPC, the NPC's don't automatically target all PC's. The other PC's can step back if they want (or join in the defence of that PC, if they want). But they aren't dragged into the battle because of someone saying the wrong thing.

I'm considering that, because in combat one PC doing something inept doesn't doom the whole party. So I think for talking it would do well to be the same.

Anyway, did they get out of it? Mr TORGUE knows the answer to that! MAYBE!!!!1!

Phandelver ( Part 4 to 5 ) Hello Lizzy

So what happened across two sessions, so as to catch up?

Well, they got to Thundertree, poked around fighting stirges and restless dead.

The druid Lucian, who has been rebuked by nature and become a warlock (he rebuilt his character) decides to look for the druids house from the highest point and rolls to find where that is. A natural one latter, they go to the tower on the hill.

This is where Pliskin the grappler rolls a nat 20 charisma check when talking with the dragon inside, and becomes its pet. Meanwhile other character get tongue tied and just kind of run away (particularly the noble dwarf, Murden - the player was right on the edge of losing another character)

Eventually they find the druid who knows the way to Cragmore castle and they rest in his shack...

The next morning the players/PC's sway gently in the breeze like restless dead themselves, as they wait for god/the GM to tell them where to go next as they have all forgotten about having any motivation to live - I'm really going to have to have something quite fatal lined up for this. If you have no motivation to live, then you'll soon die!

They journeyed to Cragmore, encountering elves that were none too pleased the PC's were trespassing...this MAY have been in because a player had built a high persuasion character and it was an experiment to see if he was aiming for a spotlight moment and what would seem to qualify as one. Anyway, the warlock (former druid) Lucian charms them and the PC's leave with the elves even wishing them well!

All is good until Pliskin ends up sliding down a hill by accident and waking up next to a giant constrictor snake! This MAY have been an experiment in a grappler on grappler battle - where I find creatures who auto grapple on a hit aren't that amazing. So they grapple their opponent - all that does is the opponent can't move away. If they don't plan to move away, then it's no biggie.

Hilarious is the number of javelins, rays, and splashes of acid (the spell) used against the snake as Pliskin grappled with it - which of course have no (by the rules) chance of hitting him.

Eventually he defeats it with some help (it takes the other players a round or two to arrive safely), and they make their way to the castle.

Everyone walks in the front door all casual - only the paladin doesn't get away with it and gets shot by the goblins behind the arrow slits (the goblins rolled poorly on their perception checks for everyone else!). Much battles inside until the initial goblin forces are quelled, with Pliskin knocking one out then straight faced telling the kill intent warlock (no wonder nature threw him out) that he'd killed him.

They battled a grick in the next room, who was too well hidden for familiars to see - so someone walked in, it dropped down and...missed entirely! Then the trap behind them got set off (okay, I forgot to set it off when they walked into the region, so I had it go off latter and affect two PC's at random). After some good bites, the grick gets quelled as well...and although keen to investigate statues which are not there, the party feels a bit beaten up at this point and needs to go rest!

I'm really thinking of having the penalty for resting being that you have to deal with a bunch of smaller encounters first before you can get to the main meat. It's like the further you go, the more profit you make - but if you rest then you reset - having to go through smaller profits for your time, getting back to the bigger ones. But I haven't scratched out a draft of mechanics for this.

They do rest and return, entering a room to the north of the grick where six goblins are waiting in ambush...though having waited eight hours, they are a little bored now!

Higher level now and the goblins not having anywhere to really run and hide once the PC's where behind the shrine the goblins hid behind), the goblins were soon destroyed!

And that's the quick summery of two sessions, with the next soon to come!

Phandelver ( Part 3.1 ) A quick delve

I'm a little behind (well, part of me is, anyway!) since we've had a session and I hadn't summerised the one before.

Well, they ran into wolves stalking them on the way to the manor. And the druid decided to sit amongst them - and not call to them soothingly or cast magic upon them. Just sit. So they ate him.

Or attempted to, anyway.

Next amongst the ruins, spiders droped down from the upper stories to ensnare Murden (who promptly busted out of it a moment latter with a nat 20, IIRC. He can't hit, but when it comes to stunts, he's the bomb!).

The spy undead looking humanoids in the more distant ruins - but decide not to engage. Instead they enter.

Underneath the ruined manor that was the Redbrands hideout, they find a pit trap, get the party split in half by said pittrap (until we find how far strong characters can jump) so of course throw fire at the coffins in the next room before the party joins up. They battle skeletons awkwardly.

Then the first two into the prison area suffer a surprise attack by the redbrands within. But it does not go well for the two and they are quickly slain. Then they rescue the prisoners Sildar sent them to rescue, one of whom mentions treasure hidden in Thundertree to the north, as they have nothing else to give to the PC's as reward.

On the way back the druid almost goes to pick a fight with the undead, but back out of it in the end...

Back in town they ask around for information on Cragmore castle - and find that a druid who is in thundertree knows about its location.

So after resting overnight, off they head, for three days of travel north to get to the ruins of thundertree!

And that ended that session, IIRC! They still didn't pick up the beaver pelts, which are gone now...

Phandelver ( Part 3 )

Okay, a recap of the characters motivations to start the session. And with six players that takes awhile!

Ander the rogue, 'Best served cold', out to get Windharrow
Tumbleweed the rogue, 'Best served cold'
Lucian the druid, 'Ominous dream' - a dream of the elements of the world falling out of harmony
Murden the Dwarf noble and fighter, 'Shatterkeel' - hunting down Shatterkeel for nearly drowning him and drowning a bunch of others by sinking the boat they were on.
Rickarian the paladin, 'Ominous dream'

And the note they found in the Redbrand hideout, the one signed with a black spider, refered to dealings with Windharrow, Shatterkeel and working from Cragmore castle (a place shown in the ominious dreams as being the start of the trouble). This black spider guy is tied into everyone!

But Sildar does seek them out, in regards to finding missing people from town that he suspects are in the Redbrand ruins. He also gives a tip about the Wyvern Tor job that the townmaster offered - that there might be quite some orcs and perhaps even an ogre as well. It could go poorly for them if they take a frontal approach.

Sildar also talks about Cragmore castle, as he thinks the bosses of the goblins are there and offers 400 gold to find the castle and defeat or drive off the goblin chieftan.

Background info, the module has him offer 500 gold - but as adventure league wont let me add treasure to the game (and give no budget for me to add anything, because they want to be throwbacks to the 1990's) I reduce it to 400 for Cragmore, using 50 gold as the offer to find the lost towns people and the other 50 gold simply in case I need it for some other reward.

So they have an option of find the people, travel to Wyvern Tor or start looking for Cragmore castle.

Really I'd like the choices to be more thematic - not just 'do you follow your motivation or...do something else for the time being?'. But in a way the modules are set in just one direction and so it takes some work to do anything else, otherwise the motivations have to tie into the main direction OR you do something else/ignore the character motivations. I'll have to see if I can figure some choices that actually hinge on motivations next time.

In the end they decide to take up the cause of finding the lost people. So back to the Redbrand ruins they go!

Phandelver ( Part 2.2 )

Well what happened next?

Well they decided to try and track the boot prints - and the module says nothing about this idea, so it's improv time. I figure that Glasstaff would head towards the Redbrands hideout in Phandalin, the sleeping giant. There I could plausibly confuse the trail (from all the other Redbrands around) because I'm not sure you should just be able to find a main character just like that (otherwise why don't monsters with tracking simply find the PC's all the time - they don't. People who want to be special characters who get to ignore half the rules of the world are a bit too metagame for me). And maybe they could find the Ruffian who took the spoils of the gaming table in the dungeon before, as a sort of compromise towards their tracking efforts.

So they approach the sleeping giant inn - with two Redbrands on guard duty at the door. I think the dwarf fighter noble called Murden intimidated them (nat 20, I believe?), and while they were intimidated  maybe they let slip the guy the party was tracking was hiding out in a shed in the back - so they just started walking around the back openly. Well, the rogues may have stealthed, but Murden and the druid just strode around, where Murden proceeded to just kick in the door of the shed - another nat 20! Boom, the door flies inward and the startled redbrand has it hit him in the temple side on, instantly knocking him out! They grab the remains of the loot from the gaming table!


Now technically this would be a little loud - but on the other hand the second nat 20 was so cool it was kind of enjoyable to just have the PC/player have the badass moment without having to throw in whatever complications you might think might occur. Pure realism tends to dash just having a good spotlight moment.

At this point the townmaster of Phandalin spots them lurking around the side - and the townmaster, being afraid of the redbrands, tries to distract the PC's he sees with a quest to beat up some orcs at Wyvern Tor. The PC's he can see assure him they will, with some diplomacy checks and walking in with him to town...then going right back to the sleeping giant afterward!

Meanwhile the sneaking types, Tumbleweed, Anden and Pliskin are all climbing into the back of the Sleeping Giant one by one through a window and poking around - finding a door ajar and seeing six Redbrand Ruffians playing cards at a table or standing around watching.

To summerise what happened next, the rogues (and the grappler, Pliskin) decide they can totally tank - they shoot through the door that is ajar, miss alot, hit once and then suddenly they each have two redbrands each. And they get hurt quite a bit! For some reason they split the party, Murden and the Druid at the front door.

So they use their actions or bonus actions to disengage and run...leaving Pliskin there, all alone...who is quickly beaten into the ground by three Redbrands as the rest partly chase after the rogues, after not really getting to attack. But not too far as the Redbrands realised they would be standing out by some bushes and cover with some rogues who might pop out at any second with an attack from stealth!

Then the druid Lucian turns into a bear and show how at low level druids of the circle of the moon are destroyers!

Basically a massacre at the front door, even though the fight in the interior goes quite badly!

Eventually the front door PC's enter and start to attack the Redbrands inside as the rogues snipe from outside - and Pliskin gets an image in his semi concious head of a Nothic who could heal him - apply the healing potion he had on him to Pliskin, magically. Pliskin will have none of this freaky Nothic mind probe stuff though and denies him...fortunately the Redbrands had only beaten Pliskin unconscious (because the PC's hadn't hurt any of them at that point) so he wasn't making death saves. Reflecting on it now I might let the player decide that next time when the enemy only goes to beat them unconcious - whether they want to make death saves (with the chance of a nat 20 reviving them!) or just be unconcious. I think I gave Pliskin an asterix for that - it's my sub currency for character choices which aren't quite worthy of a inspiration point. Get three asterix and you get an inspiration! So he got something from lying down (as well as XP latter!)


I think another PC got knocked out during that battle - the druid certainly got knocked back into druid form at one point, despite being a CR 1 bear with 2D6 damage!

But they beat them in the end!! This encounter which is NOT in the module! Sadly adventure league will not let a GM add treasure and has no budget to let the GM add treasure built into the modules, so fighting at the Sleeping Giant gains the PC's absolutely no loot at all! Woot fun, adventure league!

But beaten and bruised, the party now considers its motives as individuals and what to do next...meanwhile, Sildar is seeking them out with an offer...

Phandelver ( Part 2.1 )

So, it's a twisty turny road back down to Phandalin (ah, that's why I kept calling this Phandalin rather than Phandelver to begin with!) and I realise the players were so quick to take up the tunnel entry rumour previously that I never actually ran the Redbrand 'In your face!' encounter. So I have them walking up the road while the PC's are walking down the road. Well actually they were tracking boot marks from the ruined manors cellar - it's the usual thing players do - they just have to try and kill any potential recurring villain as if they were terminators, even though they never met Glasstaff and frankly he never actually did anything to them. But he got away! I'm not sure why this provokes this responce.

I kind of imagine the Redbrands as a little lax and frankly not expected opponents to be coming from their main secret base, so I have the players roll perception checks and atleast one of them spots the Redbrands. Of course, when you ask for all players to roll perception, really one of them will make it generally, though not always! So I know I'm making the task pretty easy when I do that. But on occasion everyone stuffs up. Come to think of it though, I might want to work something out on that - the more players there are, the even easier it gets. Perhaps some DC adjustment per player over 4?

They decide to set up an ambush in the bushes by the side of the road. For this I decided only those who pass stealth AND use a ranged weapon can get a surprise attack - because of the distance between bushes and road (if they could just jump out five feet from the bushes and melee attack, that'd work). Not sure if adventure league rules is picky about that distinction - probably some pendant would be picky.

In addition the player of the Grappler turns up at this point, late to the session. I decide that he was following the Redbrands from town and ran around the side and ahead to set up an ambush - or atleast I air the idea of that and get no dissent from the player (lack of dissent = consent! lol!...no, don't take me seriously on that!).

My oh my.

The Redbrands roll terrible initiative (as I understand it, you roll even if you're the surprised party and doing nothing).

So the whole group goes...then goes again! If you've ever wondered what is the point of initiative, well this is a magnified version!

They utterly trounce the Redbrands, the Grappler only just barely getting one into a lock, while the Druid showing that early level circle of the moon druids turning into CR 1 bears is broooken!

Having fought a pitched battle with Redbrands before, the party is now relieved at how easy it was...err, from latter events it seems they think they have become more powerful than Redbrands rather than it being the power of surprise attacks (and good initiative rolls).

This makes things go quite wrong latter on...

Phandelver ( Part 2 )

So, after deciding to rest in the wizards quarters for an hour (I tossed the idea around, but as the module describes some other rooms occupants, they simply prep to ambush rather than roam around) to patch their wounds, the party sets out again, crossing the chasm by the north bridge and looking into a room that dead ends...though it does have a lot of beaver pelts in it. Which I note are both heavy yet players often forget to come back for such things.

Now the thing is there was a secret door in the wall. And I'm kind of at a loss for how to run such things - because while a video game might have some slight difference in the graphics as a clue, if you say anything about a particular wall in tabletop, the players will then swarm that wall. And you can't describe every single wall. And making up some sort of ambiguous clue that is attributable to the room but is a clue to the secret door (ie, strange air currents) - well, why didn't the module maker do that?

Never mind, it's not a big deal - the players decide to leave the pelts where they are for now and head south along the east side of the chasm, coming to a corridor that leads east and...right to a dead end. Now THIS time the PC's recognise something is amiss! But of course the person who looks fails the check and the next person who looks because they looked, gets it. Ah, that special anti-climaxical quality of D&D - so much like reality, in a way!

They go through and...the thing is, in this room there's a cistern and some barrels and a door to the east (and one to the north I failed to read the map properly over!) and it's the rogue who goes and checks the barrels. Now he's a rogue so I don't imagine he'd just roll the dang barrels around - but there are enemies in a nearby room who would hear that (the module tells me). So I have him do a stealth check as a compromise between the two positions, which he passes handily and searches the barrels without incident! And then he checks the cistern as well, where he rolls well and spots a rope going down into it and a bag at its end.

Now the thing is the wizard is supposed to have run from his room way back and taken whats in the bag. But you know, players actually exploring their environment is good. So it'd suck to say there's nothing in the bag. So I make up the fiction that the bag had a second part that was hard to get into and so the wizard gave up trying to grab what was in it - I have the healing potion and eight of the gold from the wizards stash still be there (four players at that point). That way I'm not inventing treasure (because Adventure League says NO to that!), just distributing what was there. I'm pretty sure there are some gamers so rigid of mind they'd treat the wizard taking everything AS a rule. You guys suck. But if no one would do such a rigid thing, then I'm good with that.

So the Druid, Lucian, decides to look for tracks - a fair move. And so he finds a pair of them. Boot marks leading to the east door (so it's kind of okay I mistakenly didn't mention the north door!). Unbeknownst to them (though guessable!), one set is from the Redbrand who almost slayed the Tubbleweed the Rogue. The second is from the wizard (I noted some wet water around the cistern - in fact maybe the events happened in the reverse order. It may have been the druids tracking which showed the wet ground which lead to the rogue searching the cistern).

So they decide east! I ask how they move and they go with stealthy - it's funny how one player will do it and then suddenly every other player follows suit. But anyway, the enemies in the west room (the door to which I have revealed to the players by now) do not hear them, even though the Dwarf Fighter Murden fails dismally. Because I went with a group stealth check and half passed and frankly it is SO predictable someone will fail that you are basically (deliberately or not) railroading the party into something if you expect everyone to pass their stealth check to avoid something. I think the designers know that and that's why they made group checks. Which is eminently sensible!

And they climb some stairs, finding themselves in the ruins of the manor on the edge of town - having exited the dungeon from its entrance!

And shortly after this, the ambush happened....

Phandelver ( Part 1.3 )

So let's wrap up last weeks story because we ran a session yesterday so there's more to get to...

Well, the rogue chases after the Redbrand who grabbed the money from the table. Side note: In the end I had the NPC grab half the money - sure, it might make sense that he'd get it all (he had several turns), but you weigh up sense VS fun for the players and find a compromise. Or atleast I do - going the extreme on either end is extremism. Making sense lacks fun, and being 'all about the players fun' would have meant the next part of spontaneous story would never have happened.

That being that the rogue chased the Redbrand and eventually made himself adjacent (my, can level 3+ rogues run! That bonus dash!!) so if the Redbrand ran, he'd take an attack of opportunity! Well, he decided not to and instead turn around with his two attacks and start slicing up the now by himself rogue!

And slice him up he did!

With that, the Redbrand ran, leaving the rogue called Tumbleweed bleeding out by a bridge by a chasm in a hole in the ground.

And that's when the nothic approached...

"Ah, my little marble murderer...."

Something reaching into his mind...and stabilising his wounds.

Meanwhile the other characters are wrapping up when they heard a cry from far away and suspect the rogue is the owner! The druid follows (by himself! It'd have been great if I'd had an abush waiting! PC's come one at a time around a corner where I knock them over the head...). He finds the rogue and carries his unconscious but stable body back to the group, where the palladin lays on hands.

In the end they go into a final pair of rooms but only find a chest with some coin and a mysterious note with a spider at the bottom as a signature! The note mentions various entities party members are pursuing! Windharrow is one, who is speaking against the owner of the spider signature! Shatterkeel is another, who is hiring some Redbrands from the spider mark for mercenary work. As is someone called the mud sorcerer!


This is the record of PC motives so far (missing some players when I recorded this)
Ander the Rogue : 'Best served cold' (hunting Windharrow)
Tumbleweed the Rogue : 'Best served cold' also!
Lucian the Elven Druid : Ominous Dream
Murden the Dwarf Fighter : 'Shatterkeel'
Pliskin (the likely to be rebuilt) : 'Mud Sorcerer'

And that wraps up last week....soon onto last Saturdays session!

Phandelver ( Part 1.2 )

So the party decides to take a passage to the west. This leads to a corridor that has a door on the south wall just before the corridor turns north and shortly ends at another door.

The first level druid prompts the...I was to say first level dwarf fighter to open the door. Who just does what he's told and...there are several redbrand ruffians inside playing a game of chance. I think the PC's tried the 'we live here' - this time the lunatic was met with the violent!

Since the dwarf is in the doorway, the redbrands can't get around him - so they all end up focus firing on him! And they win initiative! Though on reflection two of them would have a -2 to hit for cover. Not sure if that would have made a difference, as the dwarf is pummeled into the ground because two attacks each from the ruffians! And I think a crit was in there as well! So he did nothing and then was beaten unconscious - but the player was pretty cool about it, to his credit.

The next bit makes me think I should have sketched out the corridor and room a bit on some paper (I have no battlemat - donate me some money so I can buy one! :) ), because the position of his body and everyone crammed in the corridor was a little hard to track with theatre of the mind. I'll take a scrap of paper for this next time (though a battlemat would be so much cooler, doncha think?)

There's ruffians standing over the dwarfs body, then the person who steps up goes to fight the ruffian rather than try to stabilise the dwarf...it got pretty chaotic!

The thing was, two people tried to stabilise the dwarf and the dwarf got a death saving throw - can you believe three natural ones on every single occasion (with the death saving throw making it two failed saves out of three, of course!). Then when it was the dwarfs turn again - just failed normally and died!

But on the other hand, one of the PC's that went to stabilise...did have a cure spell (the other healer couldn't get near the body and had a touch healing spell only).

I've run into this before where someone who could heal decides to continue to fight. I'm not sure adventure league has touched on this at all. Thing is, I think it's pretty dishonest to not explicitly say 'take the players choice (on whether he heals or fights) away from him/her' but perhaps both expect it because of the text that implies PC's should work together and maybe even scald a group for not...taking away a player choice that's explicitly outlined in the rules. If they want that choice taken away, then they can suffer the players ire at being told how to play his character. The GM shouldn't be the focus of that ire for what is an adventure league decision. OR if adventure league are okay with that choice, well you have a pretty massive non co-operation going on when PC's that could live die because someone wants to save their spell for latter.


Anywhoo, we've yet to enter the tale of the ruffian who was stealing all the money from the table while his mates fought the PC's - and the rogue who took offence to the ruffian stealing his money...

Next Session!

Phandelver ( Part 1.1 )

So they made their way through the cave and so enter the redbrand hideout by semi unconventional means, seeing before them a large semi natural cave they are at the south end of, with a chasm from south to north through it's floor and they on the west side of that chasm. A pair of bridges cross it and a pair of natural stone columns support the ceiling. And something not quite human lurks behind the closest column.

Well, it they look closer and it's a man sized creature with one massive eye. At that point it starts speaking into their minds "What are you doing here?"

Now the responce - it seems a little meta. A little fourth wall breaking. A little deadpool. They say they live here now.

I mean, who says that straightfaced in real life? But if you're half out of character because you're half in the meta, then why not? But in real life it's actually a little lunatic to say that with a straight face/conviction.

On the other hand they don't just discard the idea of negotiation (in favour of, say, hacking anything not them to bits). Even when the paladin detects it as evil (which, I try to explain, doesn't mean it's somehow right to kill it - though it does mean it's probably a jerk and a douche)

The rogue decides to rush up and...spread marbles!

I think he expect it to be dazzled by shiny objects as it's a monster - now I haven't checked, but I'm wondering if the creature actually has a higher INT score than the rogue.

In responce it reads his mind for a dark secret - so I prompt the player to describe his background that he said was detailed. I may not recall correctly, but I think at first there was something about wanting to be the best baker in town...and really, is that a dark secret?

So I push some more...and some more...and I get something about him having killed his rival!? Whoa! Paydirt! There's a sudden, juicy chunk of meat on the table!

"Ah, my little marble murderer! Such a delight you are!" the creature (a Nothic) whispers into his mind.

Someone just made a friend!

Well to be fair it wanted food and even though they were practically still in town and could buy food, they decided to hunt anyway - catching several rabbits as the passing roll has it. Which they offered to the creature who took them happily. With that, they began to examine the exiting passages from the cave and make their choice...

But that marble murderer moment would tie in in a perverse poetic justice latter on...

Continued!

Phandelver : Part 1

So, it was a return to Phandelver indeed. One new player, one semi new player, one player from a long time ago, two semi regulars and one regular.

I asked for them to peruse the motivations from the princes of the apocalypse book - I'd photo copied them so as to make that easier (it wasn't for personal use - I handed it to someone across the table! Take that, copyright!). But as much as I leave players to monitor their own HP, I didn't write down their motivations - I think I remember some, like 'best served cold' and someone was after the mud wizard. I'll write them down next time.

So they'd already played part of this under another GM and now found themselves leaving a goblin hideout and entering Phandalin.

I'm not sure I'm excited by this format they seem to use of presenting a whole lot of buildings and hoping the PC's kinda get excited or something about them enough that they get this quest inside. The druid player did investigate the shrine and spoke to it's priest and of her woes a bit, but then it was back to the pub. I went from player to player asking one at a time what they do (otherwise they both tend not to do anything, then they latter think how they didn't get to do anything - to be fair, the louder voices do tend to do the most if you don't go from player to player). So they ate some crusty bread and heard various rumours. I actually found the rumour of someone in the village being killed as quite strong, brutal even in tone. Nup, not a ripple amongst the players - though who knows, sometimes the players with a PC who'd care, well, the player gets caught up in keeping up with the group. So you get a hive mind effect - and if the hive mind shrugs at murder, well it does. And maybe the pally just didn't hear me read the rumour - it was loud in the shop!

So instead the pally seems to get piqued by a rumour of some child having found a secret tunnel in the forest that leads into the manor ruins on the side of town. After speaking with the child who knew of this other kid, they decide to rest the night because (at a guess), the goblin hideout probably beat six shades of resources out of them!

Motivated by this random direction, the PC's awake from their luxury one gold rooms the next day and head out... More next time!

D&D 5E; Princes of the Apocalypse (P.4) : Watery grave...wait, watery bedroom!

Didn't run the game as a sad pet emergency occurred, regretfully.

To wrap up the events of the prior session: Shargoth and Angrog start exploring the room they've never been in before and it's at about this point I decide that it'll be above the difficulty rating of the game for the ghouls who are waiting inside to simply destroy them with their lack of gear and lack of HP. So I have them make perception checks and when one passes, give a warning that there seems an ambush here. At a higher difficulty of play you'd expect players to map and to figure in advance a retreat plan. Here the players didn't map and started to explore new rooms rather than swim across a lake (which is partly understandable as you don't know what's underneath - on the other hand they already killed a monster that came out of it) to an area they knew of.

At some point I've really got to write up a difficulty chart.

So they retreat at the hint and decide to swim the fairly still, calm lake. I think they keep expecting water to just kill them by drowning - I blame video games of the ninties where all water was lethal. See, video games can teach you adverse behaviours!

I say if it was some raging ocean or atleast choppy water they could potentially drown, but as is they both are skilled, it's very calm water - the worst that can happen is they move slowly and don't look particularly cool as they cross the water.

When they get across, they get back to the room with the dead bugbears - the fight that started this whole mess. Long story short, fight tough bugbears while they are low on resources - then the room to the north opens after the fight and a bunch of reavers enter the fray! Being a nice GM here (and slightly incompetent), as the room text says the north room occupants would hear a fight in the south room and join. I read this AFTER the fight and so had the north room burst in then. Which is advantageous to the players. But still, they had to run - and run they did and many things happened including dragonturtle...but I digress, as there has been much that has happened before this chronicle was begun.

So they get back in there real quiet like and start looting the dead bug bears for gear. Again I'm nice and have them find gold on the bugbears, as per the dungeon text (rather than, say, the north room occupants having already looted the bodies. I see that as a possibility, but I think it raises the difficulty of play above the setting aimed for currently. Really need to work on that chart...)

Long story short they still end up partially alerting the north room and then meet up with Reed, who I'm not doing justice to by skipping his attempt to also con a Reaver, subsequent return to prison and second break out and then flight across the bridges (including the bridge that the troll he scammed lives under).

They get into a room with weird backpacks with canisters on them. Finally! The proton packs! We can do ghostbusters!

No, no, no - they are copper canisters with some fluid in them that...when they go to jame each door of the room with them, the fluid moves weird. Yeah, they planned to rest here and use these copper drums to jam each door. The room that happens to be right next to the north room full of reavers. And when they go to jam the doors they find the water in the drums moves weird. And they blocked every door out of the room with these weird drums.

Then they nap.

Surrounded by Reavers and weird water, do they ever wake up?

And that finally covers the previous two hour session!

Gygax would have killed them by now. But I am not running at Gygax difficulty, because it's rather extreme (though I'd like to run a game at higher difficulty some time. Not sure I myself would survive at Gygax difficulty!!). Do need to work on that chart!!

Next Bit!

D&D 5E; Princes of the Apocalypse (Part 3) : Between a Troll and the deep dank cave pool!

Okay, so what do you do as a GM when you've got that prison scene coming up and you kinda just dread going through what will likely end up at nothing? I mean sure, players sometimes come up with some crazy plan and get out. But if they don't, then it stops dead and you find yourself fast forwarding to them being taken out and basically going to court. And if they didn't get a crazy plan in prison that worked, probably at court they wont either.

So you figure some psuedo-and-made-up-on-the-spot puzzle to get out!

There's a troll under one bridge in this dungeon and there's another bridge near the prison window - so I figure maybe the troll patrols sometimes (pun not intended). So there's a figure walking under the water - everyone's lousy at perception rolls, so I ask who have they met before in this dungeon. Actually Angrog remembers the troll (and a bunch of others) off the bat - it's nice to be remembered for once!

It's been about a week now, but as I recall their opening diplomacy involves throwing stones at the troll...to gain it's attention!

You know, I really, really want to record the dialog at my table - because it is so hard to remember all the crazy nonsense afterward, but it's all really engaging at the time!

I want to record it because now I have to cut to the chase - Reed offers the troll all the money under his bed if he comes and lets them out. All of the money under his bed would be zero money, of course. So there's a bit of a firecracker once the troll finds out - which is quite shortly after as he opens the prison door and comes in to look!

As I recall, they all pretty much book it out the door - except the honest barbarian Shargoth, who the Troll spots before he can sneak out. The barbarian gives some line about having to go catch that rogue for the troll and rolls a nat 20 persuasion roll, IIRC! So troll and Shargoth are best buds and Shargoth heads out - somewhat confused himself as he maybe needs to catch the rogue now to be honest?

They go south, as things are in general - and find themselves at a pier overlooking a lake. They can see off in the distance (about 160 feet away) a shore they've been on before.

But everyone is terrorfied of the water! But they've dead ended themselves - they are stuck between the troll coming down the corridor and the water! Well the rogue decides to climb the rough stone wall and kinda hide by clinging to the ceiling, semi Jackie Chan style. Shargoth and Angrog, being jocks (ie, having athletics as a skill) finally decide to swim to a closer dock than the far shore. And then Shargoth is the only one who fails to hide from the troll.

Troll: "You got that rogue yet?"

Shargoth, floating in water: "Uh, no? Still trying"

Troll: "Okay, that's good! We get him, yeah!"

And the troll slips into the water to head toward his bridge, hunting around for Reed the rogue as he goes.

There was even more than this - Shargoth and Angrog climb up and enter...the room of the many, many ghouls. And Reed goes back to prison!

And that's not even the two hours over, yet! And I'm running the next session of princes of the apocalypse tomorrow!

Part 4