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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:43 am
by Sly Boots
With the disclaimer that I have a vague, unsettling feeling that I'm forgetting something I think any of those should work for me.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 1:29 pm
by Mantis
I can only manage Wednesday out of those three days this week.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:56 pm
by Wrathbone
Assuming Raid's okay for Wednesday, we'll go with that.

Could be a day of D&D overload, as I'm starting a D&D game at work on Wednesday lunchtime. Eventually my head will morph into an oversized D20 and I'll only be able to communicate in dice rolls.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:06 pm
by Raid
Wednesday ought to be fine for me.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:02 pm
by Wrathbone
Good stuff!

Just remembered I said I'd post a list of all the items you found:

In the north room (Sage):

- A bag of holding
- Books on planar travel, teleportation magic and scrying
- A scroll of contact other plane
- Two scrolls of planar binding
- A potion of greater healing (4d4 + 4 healing)
- Some gloves and some goggles, both unidentified but with clear magical traces

In the south room (Charr):

- Vials of (from memory) red, yellow and green liquid
- A heart-shaped philter with reddish-pink liquid (unidentified)
- A medium-sized jug with ten stoppers, each of a different colour
- A journal about alchemy and an apparent wizard rival

In the east room (Slythe):

- A carved bone statuette of a demonic creature, possibly a gehreleth
- A face-changing mirror
- A silver-plated dagger

On the bottom floor:

- A book describing the planes
- A gnomish journal detailing the tower controls
- A note and a broken, depleted wand on the skeleton

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 5:22 pm
by Wrathbone
I ran the start of Lost Mine of Phandelver at work this lunchtime. It’s about the fourth time I’ve run that intro with the goblin raid, and it always surprises me how differently it can work out, but this one got messy! :lol: It was going well - they were sneaking around, investigating cautiously and eventually discovered the goblins and got the drop on them. Two goblins went down, and then it came to the turn of the only player of the table with any RPG experience. He positioned himself in the middle of the two remaining goblins and three other players.

“I’d like to cast Thunderwave.”

Being the very first session with a group of new players, I gently reminded that as an area of effect spell, Thunderwave would also hit his companions. He paused for a moment, then nodded.

“Nah, I’m doing it anyway.”

Being a fair and reasonable DM, I allowed it. I didn’t expect everyone to fail their saving throw. Nor did I expect the two 8s he rolled on his 2d8 damage. Everyone in the area immediately went down. What followed was a panic to stabilise the other players, who were now sat head in hands at the calamity of their teammate as he failed medicine check after medicine check. It came down to pure luck and a single, final roll to determine if one of them survived (he did).

It was a hilariously dumb move and it came very close to a TPK, but ultimately it’s a moment like this that they won’t forget.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 5:50 pm
by Sly Boots
Don't give the tieflings any ideas -_-

Sounds amusing though :)

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:01 pm
by Raid
Have you any idea how restrained I've forced myself to be regarding the use of area of effect spells? ¬_¬

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 6:23 pm
by Mantis
Ellis was very prone to the odd Thunderwave first, ask questions later tactic, but he only ever did it tactically.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 7:01 pm
by Sly Boots
Quick disclaimer, I'm on my own with the kids tonight and they're going to be a bit free-range for a while. I've asked them to be quiet but there might be the odd disruption I have to nip off to deal with...

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:19 pm
by Sly Boots
I'd love to know how much of what happens in a session like this one requires really deft thinking on your feet :lol:

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:44 pm
by Mantis
I would imagine pretty much most of that one. #-o

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:50 pm
by Wrathbone
Tonight, about 90% was entirely on the fly. :lol:

I’m honestly not sure what would have happened in that vampire fight if the chance paralyzation hadn’t occurred. I’d envisaged some fleeing or an incredibly nefarious bargain, but I never could have seen that coming! In a straight up, conventional battle, it would have been very tricky.

Good luck, Neverwinter! \:D/

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:30 pm
by Wrathbone
The recap:
The wretched creature of the night which stood before the Unmentionables claimed the tower for himself and demanded their immediate departure. It was pointed out to the vampire, though, that he did not know how to work the controls for the tower, and to that end our heroes attempted to trick the ancient being into being manacled into the restraining rack. Such an obvious deception did not fool it, but the grave warning it issued forth was cut short as Sage blasted a bolt of eldritch energy into its back. It is said that vampires are amongst the most terrible and feared beings in the multiverse, and to that end Slythe decided the best course of action was to hit the mystery button of unknown powers on the side of the bow that had previously scorched his face with magical backblast. Loosing an arrow with the button depressed, Slythe found himself unable to move and fell backwards into the wall. By a stroke of luck, the vampire suffered the same fate, and was swiftly grabbed by Truss and thrust into the restraining rack. Throwing the soul-extraction lever, Sage watched as.... nothing happened. Truss, blissfully unaware of the stakes at hand or what was even going on, peered curiously into the funnel above the frozen vampire. Thus did the nefarious mechanism latch onto his soul and extract it, leaving his living but vegetated body to slump wide-eyed to the ground.

Charr quickly awoke Slythe with a boot to the head, then attempted the same with Truss a few times to no avail, his drooling form staring at the ceiling. Having found a hatch leading out the bottom of the tower, Sage sent Raven to ask Brior for help, but he was not responding to summons from the guards outside the Cloak Tower. Charr then flew across the city to the Hall of Justice where he calmly explained to Sir Carac how - for the best of reasons, probably - they had broken into the tower where entrance was forbidden, enraged a giant, discovered a soul-powered transportation device which they used to go to the plane of undeath and despair, accidentally caught a vampire hitchhiker and then inadvertently removed Truss's soul from his body. Despite all these fantastical deeds, Sir Carac was not impressed. He marched over to Lord Neverember's quarters to inform him of the situation, and all three then went to the Cloak Tower to demand to see Brior, who eventually emerged, having been engaged in important private discussions.

Charr returned to the tower with Brior, who found it remarkable and agreed to try and figure out a way to restore Truss's soul to his body. He also provided a token which would allow the Unmentionables entrance to the Cloak Tower so that they could give their report on the tower to Archmage Jula. The party decided the best way to ensure the still-frozen vampire's demise was to restrain him outside in full view of the dawn, and so they brought him down to the surface where Sir Carac and Lord Neverember awaited. Slythe watched as his two arcane friends soared down gracefully, and he drank the feather fall potion provided by Brior before leaping through the hatch. About 100ft from the ground, however, the ever-reliable Brior's potion failed, and Slythe found himself hurtling towards the city, narrowly, heroically - romantically, even - rescued by Charr leaping through the air at the last second. As Sir Carac cautiously examined the horrifying vampire, Charr found himself unable to halt his heroic streak, and so whisked the vampire into his arms and hurled it into the river like an unwanted sofa. The paladin screeched petty warnings about vampires this and partial damage that, whilst Charr floated majestically above the river and admired his handiwork, right up until the river steamed and bubbled and the infuriated vampire shot into the night air and fluttered off as a bat to slaughter the many innocent victims that awaited in the slums.

Having severely admonished the Unmentionables for unleashing a being of pure terror and immeasurable power upon the city, Sir Carac and Lord Neverember departed immediately to organise a search party to hopefully keep the impending body count in the low hundreds. Meanwhile, the party finally made their way inside the secretive Cloak Tower. They were greeted by Archmage Elia Kross, who was overseeing two apprentices creating an illusion of a huge dragon, while other apprentices practised duelling and other exercises. She explained that the Tower was mobilising - preparing to meet whatever forces dared threaten Neverwinter, though she would or could not say what (if any) forces these were. She led them upstairs to Archmage Jula, who was using a crystal ball to scry on the Hall of Justice. She explained that the Tower had started scrying on important personnel and places in the city to ensure their safety. After providing their report and being gifted several magical items as a reward, the Unmentionables asked if they could use the crystal to scry on various people in aid of their investigations, to which Jula agreed on the basis that she didn't want to be involved or know what exactly they were doing.

Unaware of the term 'invasion of privacy', the party set about snooping to their hearts' desires. They first sought out the Council spymaster, Xalvador Montagu, who was found sipping wine while watching an obviously terrible play in the Winged Wyvern tavern, where the fiends had previously infiltrated. Next they sought out Lady Tanye, who was asleep in bed, and then the Master of Trade Beatrix du Bolbec, who was found at the docks speaking with someone by a ship where crates were being offloaded. The flag on the ship suggested it may have been one of the High Captains of Luskan. Checking in on Sir Carac and General Sabine, they found them hastily organising paladins and the guard for the clean-up force. Sage kept an eye on Brior in the Shard of Night via Raven, watching as he ferreted about the machinery, trying to determine its inner workings. Sage then took one final look in the crystal ball for his long-lost sister. Whether she was hidden, in a far-away realm of existence or simply demised, Sage could not tell, but his sister was not yet to be found.

As the Unmentionables' eyes scrutinised the city and further afield, it did not occur to them that other eyes, perhaps both near and far, may have been watching back.

Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:44 pm
by Sly Boots
Entertaining read as always, WB :)
Wrathbone wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:30 pm
Despite all these fantastical deeds, Sir Carac was not impressed.
I was laughing so hard as this whole scene unfolded I was crying literal tears :lol:
Wrathbone wrote:
Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:30 pm
As the Unmentionables' eyes scrutinised the city and further afield, it did not occur to them that other eyes, perhaps both near and far, may have been watching back.

:o