D&D Campaign 2: D&D Harder

[Raid]

Yeah, whereas Opus, being a compassionate little sod and playing from the back row commanding his troops, is probably going to spot an ally being turned better than a beserker whose vision is filled with one enemy and burning hatred.

[Mantis]

Dharnon usually has two actions anyway thanks to haste and he's well natured enough that I think he would also try and spend an action to snap someone out of charm.

[Sly Boots]

Oh this is fun, my favourite D&D channel has partnered up with Will from D&D Shorts to play a one-shot based on the new rulebook he helped design, with all-new races, monsters, sub-classes, spells etc:



Already looks like a lot of fun!

[Wrathbone]

The dream vision that Corvus experienced:

When Corvus rests, he receives a vision: the familiar scene of his own death, only this time a flame bursts from his chest. A woman in golden, radiant plate armour strides over, reaches down and rips his still beating, still burning heart from his chest and holds it aloft. He recognises both the woman and the symbol of the burning heart: this is Heleth.

You are on the righteous path to your rightful vengeance. Those responsible for your pain shall tremble at the hunt, as the monster Seft did at the end. Know that I am pleased by your deeds.

Her mesmerising presence looms over him, and he is filled with both awe and terror.

You bear a new burden: the Book of Exalted Deeds. My hand contributed to this sacred text. Part of my very being resides within it, as does the essence of Eormus and… others. I will not command you to take a particular course of action, as you must decide for yourself what is right. Know only that its absence from the Great Temple has already condemned one man’s soul, yet you and your companions may find a nobler use than simply returning it.

Secrets which even I may not speak surround this Book, and the truth is not always easy to hear. Stay true to yourself - I can ask no more.

She thrusts the heart back into his chest and he awakes with a start.

[Bird]

Dharnon usually has two actions anyway thanks to haste and he's well natured enough that I think he would also try and spend an action to snap someone out of charm.

One thing that annoys me is I have a counter-charm ability but I have to spend my entire turn performing it prior to the charm happening and it does nothing when someone is already charmed

[Mantis]

Isn't that something you could potentially pre-cast if we're going into an encounter where you think there's a possibility of charms being fired off? I'm not sure whether the counter ability works a bit like the protection from good and evil where it just stays active for a period or time or if you need to maintain concentration on it.

[Bird]

Isn't that something you could potentially pre-cast if we're going into an encounter where you think there's a possibility of charms being fired off? I'm not sure whether the counter ability works a bit like the protection from good and evil where it just stays active for a period or time or if you need to maintain concentration on it.

You have to spend your whole turn doing it every turn maybe I could teach Jeff

[Sly Boots]

I'm only five short levels away from being able to do something about people being charmed

[Wrathbone]

Right, downtime activities ahoy! Each player has their own section with a roll or response required - I've put them in spoiler tags just for space reasons, so feel free to read them all if you want.


Corvus

Spoiler

You take the Book of Exalted Deeds to the ruins of your village on the Isle of Beasts, to read it and reflect on everything that has happened. Nothing remains of the village but ash, silence and your memories.

You read everything except the last page. This provides a permanent +1 bonus to wisdom.

Reading the (very illuminating) final page would increase the wisdom bonus to +2 and provide the Enlightened Magic and Halo benefits.

While ruminating on the Book and how its universal wisdom relates to your own experiences with the Cutty Quartet, you attempt to commune with Heleth for guidance. She responds in your mind and explains that true understanding sometimes does not crystallise until the final moment.

Roll a religion check with advantage to try and commune more deeply with Heleth.

Dharnon

Spoiler

Jontu has determined that the robe you left with him was likely created in the Citadel of Golroth, before the mysterious cataclysm occurred that resulted in the Deadlands. Whatever craft was used to imbue the silvery runes with power has since been lost or forgotten, but perhaps its secrets remain in Golroth. However, even the most seasoned wanderers of the Deadlands are said to laugh at the prospect of entering the citadel.

You then return to the Veiled Forum to try and find someone you can trust to help you to research and understand what happened with the amplified Legend Lore spell.

The grouchy High Necromancer Noctis, who the party previously met and who warned against the dangers of meddling with time, is horrified when he learns what Irentus had been up to with you and the experiment, deeming it hugely irresponsible. But his dismay quickly turns to intrigue when starts examining the contraption, and over the course of a few days he has all but set up shop in Irentus’s laboratory.

Roll an arcana check with advantage to determine how well you and Noctis can fathom out the machine and interpret what it showed.

Farley

Spoiler

In the weeks that follow the victory against Lord Seft, you produce a first draft of your folio on the adventures of the Cutty Quartet to date. You focus mainly on the events around Lord Seft, creating a matinee performance that is quickly put together to play at the Coin and Clarinet. The play is a frothy, heroic piece that highlights the evil deeds and machinations of Lord Seft and how the Cutty Quartet put an end to his plans to usurp the throne. There is a romantic subplot about how the party worked with Earl Gerran to find and protect the one true heir of Aldania, the noble and kind-hearted Ursula. The play ends with Ursula’s coronation and her declaration of the Cutty Quartet as Defenders of the North.

As you put the finishing touches to the play, you hear a rousing and encouraging chorus from the Songblade as it rests against the wall. As you pick it up, you immediately sense it has grown more powerful and more inspiring as a result of your heroics against Lord Seft and the resulting tale you will share with the world. Songblade (Overture) is upgraded to Songblade (Aria).

Upgraded features:

When the Songblade encounters certain legendary foes (determined by the DM), the first strike of the foe with the Songblade provides all allies in the battle with Inspiration, allowing them to each re-reroll a single D20 with advantage.

You have a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.


The butler Mortimer arrives with Jeff and the cart in time for opening night, and he has brought Clive with him, healed up and ready to perform in whatever role you wish to give him.

Roll a performance check with advantage to determine the general success of the play.

Opus

Spoiler

Regarding Bytopia, where the tabaxi retreated to according to Ruby of the Long Sunset, you find some help at the Veiled Forum from High Conjurer Semetta, who has extensive knowledge of the planes. She tells you that Bytopia is one of the outer planes where goodwill permeates across a twin landscape of pastoral beauty and untamed wilderness. You are satisfied that his people are at least safe there, but you are acutely aware of what Ruby told you - that they do not belong there as mortals until death takes them, and without a home on the material plane they are stagnating.

Regarding magic weapons, Jontu can easily set you up with magic +1 bows. The Ring of Spell Storing would take a week for him to produce and would be quite expensive. However, he agrees a discount due to repeat business and the Cutty Quartet’s services to Aldania:

+1 shortbow = 150gp
+1 longbow = 220gp
Ring of Spell Storing - 2700gp

After taking care of business in Geldrun, you return to Westerport to find the Nightwind Agency has all but disbanded and Lord Seft’s manor is abandoned, the doors swinging in the wind. You head down to the crypt where the scrying crystal remains just as you left it. Your intent is clear: find your parents, but you’re unsure where to start. Eventually you simply ask it, "Show me the Greywood".

The magical smoke inside the crystal forms into an image of a vibrant forest. Moisture drips heavily from leaves on smooth, pale trees and the sun struggles to permeate the dense foliage. The sounds of the forest emanate from the crystal too - chirping, chittering, distant calls of larger beasts - it is immediately familiar, if somewhat wilder than you remember. You don’t recognise the exact location, though.

Realising the crystal can only be used to scry once per day, you spend the time until the next dawn preparing more effective things to ask.

Choose up to three additional requests you wish to ask of the scrying crystal.

[Sly Boots]

Right, downtime activities ahoy! Each player has their own section with a roll or response required - I've put them in spoiler tags just for space reasons, so feel free to read them all if you want.


Corvus

Spoiler

You take the Book of Exalted Deeds to the ruins of your village on the Isle of Beasts, to read it and reflect on everything that has happened. Nothing remains of the village but ash, silence and your memories.

You read everything except the last page. This provides a permanent +1 bonus to wisdom.

Reading the (very illuminating) final page would increase the wisdom bonus to +2 and provide the Enlightened Magic and Halo benefits.

While ruminating on the Book and how its universal wisdom relates to your own experiences with the Cutty Quartet, you attempt to commune with Heleth for guidance. She responds in your mind and explains that true understanding sometimes does not crystallise until the final moment.

Roll a religion check with advantage to try and commune more deeply with Heleth.

I rolled a 3 and a 19, so with advantage that's 22 altogether!

Edit: should say my religion stat is +3, I didn't just add the dice together

[Wrathbone]

I rolled a 3 and a 19, so with advantage that's 22 altogether!

You look up as a ray of sunlight manages to penetrate the overcast sky, and then you feel the heat of a blazing fire nearby. You turn around to see avatar of Heleth stood before you, adorned in golden plate armour. Her voice reverberates through your very bones.

"The vampire Seft taunted you with a question before you destroyed him: why did I restore you, and only you? Why did I burden you with the gift and responsibility of Vengeance?

It was because of the Trinity of the Dawn. Your parents, dutiful as they were in their protection of the Fragment, were not warriors. They were not driven to take action. You are. You were reborn with divine purpose, not simply to avenge your people, but to follow this path - a path of torment that has made you mighty - so that you understand what must be done, and then are able to do it."

She moves closer and places a hand on your feathered shoulder. Both the warmth of her comfort and the searing pain of duty emenate through you.

I’m sorry that this has been put upon you. Is there any question you would ask of me, that might ease your mind?"

------

As for Farley's nat 20 roll for a terrifyingly high total of 33:

The unprecedented success of the play has the people of Geldrun in a frenzy, to the point where it is becoming problematic. People are coming from all over Aldania to see it - every inn is fully booked for weeks, travellers are sleeping in barns, street corners - anywhere they can. The city guard are becoming stretched thin in dealing with violent disputes over who the greatest member of the Cutty Quartet is. The play’s propaganda has transformed Ursula’s reputation from an upstart usurper from foreign lands to Beloved Ursula, the Great Unifier. Ultimately, you have to adjust the play down a notch so you and the rest of the party can leave a building without being swamped by fans.

The initial run of the play makes a fortune: roll 2d100 and multiply it by 33, plus 3300gp.

Meanwhile, outside of the theatre, you practise your fencing with Opus’s skeletons until you feel more confident and able in your abilities. Your dexterity permanently increases by 1.

You also spend time studying the Book of the Keepers, entrusted to you by Archdruid Crastus, who claimed it had been written long ago by the hero and explorer, Pippenken.

It takes some time to translate the strange druidic language, but eventually you begin to understand what it is describing. It is a lifetime’s worth of research and communing with nature in an attempt to identify the relationship between the stone circles and the structure of the multiverse. It mentions that the stone circles will soon awaken and await the fragments of the 'Old Power', and when they reconnect, the barriers between the planes of existence will become malleable, and those who bear the fragments will begin to develop power over the nature of reality.

Pippenken believed the key to the Overgods’ power over the cosmos was that the links between the material plane and the other planes could be widened or narrowed. When widened, this would allow some transfer of power or energy or magic between them. If they were fully closed, the Overgods would only have power in their personal realms and war would doubtless ensue between them. If they were fully opened, however, the multiverse would collapse back into its primordial form, for better or worse.

Each of the regions of the great cosmic wheel could become vulnerable if a plane within them was merged with the material plane. Pippenken identified four known points on the continent which have strong connections to each region:

The Primal Depths, deep under the Tempest Spine mountains in the centre of Galania. It links to the Lower Planes.

The Squall Spire, at the peak of Mount Tielabern in the elven Sanctified Lands. It links to the Upper Planes.

The Foundational Flame, beneath the city of Tal Jalarat in the desert lands of Velath. It links to the Elemental planes.

The Wound, deep within the Deadlands. It links to the Feywild.

It seems Pippenken had heard rumours of a druid in Velath called Neema who possessed an item matching the description of one of the Fragments, and so intended to head there to find her, go to the Foundational Flame and use Neema's Fragment to strengthen the barrier to the plane of fire.

[Bird]

I rolled with advantage, first I got a critical fail then I got a nat 20

33 total on the performance check

61 on the earnings making a total of 5,313gp

I'll have to remind myself about the new leads and info before the next session, very nice Pete thanks

[Raid]

Opus

Spoiler

Regarding Bytopia, where the tabaxi retreated to according to Ruby of the Long Sunset, you find some help at the Veiled Forum from High Conjurer Semetta, who has extensive knowledge of the planes. She tells you that Bytopia is one of the outer planes where goodwill permeates across a twin landscape of pastoral beauty and untamed wilderness. You are satisfied that his people are at least safe there, but you are acutely aware of what Ruby told you - that they do not belong there as mortals until death takes them, and without a home on the material plane they are stagnating.

Regarding magic weapons, Jontu can easily set you up with magic +1 bows. The Ring of Spell Storing would take a week for him to produce and would be quite expensive. However, he agrees a discount due to repeat business and the Cutty Quartet’s services to Aldania:

+1 shortbow = 150gp
+1 longbow = 220gp
Ring of Spell Storing - 2700gp

After taking care of business in Geldrun, you return to Westerport to find the Nightwind Agency has all but disbanded and Lord Seft’s manor is abandoned, the doors swinging in the wind. You head down to the crypt where the scrying crystal remains just as you left it. Your intent is clear: find your parents, but you’re unsure where to start. Eventually you simply ask it, "Show me the Greywood".

The magical smoke inside the crystal forms into an image of a vibrant forest. Moisture drips heavily from leaves on smooth, pale trees and the sun struggles to permeate the dense foliage. The sounds of the forest emanate from the crystal too - chirping, chittering, distant calls of larger beasts - it is immediately familiar, if somewhat wilder than you remember. You don’t recognise the exact location, though.

Realising the crystal can only be used to scry once per day, you spend the time until the next dawn preparing more effective things to ask.

Choose up to three additional requests you wish to ask of the scrying crystal.

Opus will pull out his coin pouch before slowly and painstakingly counting out all 766 gold coins. Most of them lack teeth marks. He'll look up expectantly of Jontu before presumably being given a withering glance and a slightly snide remark. At this point he'll fall back on something he's far more familiar with and attempt to barter using the items in his possession. He will offer, in order, each time looking at Jontu as if to finalise the transaction:
- A single sheet of parchment.
- Two of his three potions of healing.
- His flute, though he'll then reconsider and put it safely back in his pocket.
- His little bag of sand.
And then, once Jontu is presumably entirely fed up, the Staff of Healing we looted a while back. (If anyone would prefer we kept this, I'd say that maybe Opus brought you along with him to Jontu's for you to object, but it's a staff that only Farley would be able to attune to and it'd mostly replicate spells he'd be able to learn anyway I think). If this isn't enough, he'll very, very carefully offer the Bead of Force.

---

I think I may have to do the questions for the scrying pool one at a time, as the responses may differ wildly depending on the result. The next attempt he'll ask the pool to show him Serene Winter (Opus' mother).

[Wrathbone]

Opus will pull out his coin pouch before slowly and painstakingly counting out all 766 gold coins. Most of them lack teeth marks. He'll look up expectantly of Jontu before presumably being given a withering glance and a slightly snide remark. At this point he'll fall back on something he's far more familiar with and attempt to barter using the items in his possession. He will offer, in order, each time looking at Jontu as if to finalise the transaction:
- A single sheet of parchment.
- Two of his three potions of healing.
- His flute, though he'll then reconsider and put it safely back in his pocket.
- His little bag of sand.
And then, once Jontu is presumably entirely fed up, the Staff of Healing we looted a while back. (If anyone would prefer we kept this, I'd say that maybe Opus brought you along with him to Jontu's for you to object, but it's a staff that only Farley would be able to attune to and it'd mostly replicate spells he'd be able to learn anyway I think). If this isn't enough, he'll very, very carefully offer the Bead of Force.

After examining the staff and giving the offer some consideration, he agrees that for the gold and the staff, you can purchase three +1 bows of your choosing and the Ring of Spell Storing. If you go for the more expensive longbows over the shortbows, he winces (presumably because he's getting a raw deal and is being generous) but does not object.

Just before you leave, he asks you to wait a moment as he scurries off, then he returns with a book that he insists you take as a free gift: The Novice Guide to Economics, by the renowned merchant lord, Alastaire Montfort.

I think I may have to do the questions for the scrying pool one at a time, as the responses may differ wildly depending on the result. The next attempt he'll ask the pool to show him Serene Winter (Opus' mother).

The mist in the crystal swirls and then clears, revealing the familiar sight of your village, but not as you remember it. The homes you scurried around as a young child - some on the ground, some built into or on top of the trees - are all overgrown and collapsing. Nobody is in sight. The village has been reclaimed by the forest.

At the site of your family's home, near the centre of the village, a great tree with two tangled trunks has grown through the roof. It is starkly unlike any tree in the Greywood, with long, thin branches flowing like unruly hair, but you immediately know that this is a Willow tree. Your mother told you that the tabaxi were first born of willow catkins, and she would describe every detail of the tree to you, such that you longed to one day see one. Its presence in your home is, you think, surely beyond coincidence.

Unsure what this means for your parents, but armed with a fresh memory and details of the Greywood, your hope of finally returning home is invigorated. You gain +1 to your wisdom. You return to Geldrun and begin scouring the Grand Library and bothering scholars to try and determine its location. Roll an investigation check with advantage.


-----


Now for Dharnon's roll of 28:

The controls of Irentus's contraption are of a needlessly complicated gnomish design and are completely unintuitive. However, with some effort you determine the basic functionality to prepare it with a spell and then deploy its magnified effects with a reasonable likelihood of success. Certain spells, such as simple evocations or conjurations, appear to be self-explanatory in how they would work, whereas the effects of other kinds of spells are an enigma and potentially fraught with danger or unintended outcomes. One day you agree to help Noctis with an experimental rejuvination spell he has infused in the device, in an attempt to reverse his undead nature. The spell fails and the residual effects cause havoc in the lab, but as an unexpected side effect you appear to have been made healthier by the shockwave of magical energy. You gain +1 to your constitution.

Regarding the Legend Lore vision, Noctis believes you were not transported from one multiverse to another exactly. Based on your description, he thinks the portal may have been projected from a point far, far removed not from your location, but from your time; in other words, the portal hurtled you to an inconceivably distant future, where the old multiverse had ended and a new one had begun, similar to what the Trinity of the Dawn is threatening to do. Where the portal came from remains a mystery, but Noctis points out that this is precisely the reason why he warns so strongly against meddling with time.

As Noctis explains his theory to you, a combination of awakening memories, frantic logic and wild speculation crystallises in your mind. Suddenly you picture yourself being propelled across time and realities, gods rising and falling as you’re flung past them, and you visualise a strand of your soul snagged all the way back to your home, your time. And as you hurtle into another reality that rapidly forms before you, the far side of the portal becomes visible, and gossamer threads of fate reach out and envelop you, pulling you forwards ever faster. And then you are here, in Aldania, this strange place surrounded by stranger people. Your companions, Corvus, Opus and Farley, each of them with a silvery thread connected to you, and to each other.

The thought is clear: your fates are entwined. But are they entwined because some force of fate brought you to them, or was it an accident of your arrival that chained them to you?

[Mantis]

Very cool.

When I spoke to him, was I able to discern where Sage factored into all of this at all? As far as I could tell does he at least still exist somewhere, now, within this far flung new future universe?