Chris Howlett, Archer 2nd Class (@chowlett09)

DMC DnD: Adventure transition!

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 09:53:13 GMT

I've completely failed to update about #dmcdnd (threading from here https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1664288751365894145?s=20) for a while - again. Let's try to catch you up.

Last we met the party, they'd been dungeon-crawling through the Frozen Sick adventure (EGtW), and specifically the frozen ruins of the Aeorian city of Salsvault.

They'd found the quest goal, fought on for a couple of days, nearly died, had enough, and decided to go home.

The journey back across the ice is uneventful, and they find the camp of Syrinlya without issue. Camp's pretty empty, the rescue party they'd been told about having headed out. Captain Gerrer is around the fire with a couple of the outpost left behind to keep it all intact.

Gerrer is busy telling stories of the party's exploits on the way over; and he claims a small wager from one of the "locals" as the party all returned safely. Rory takes an immediate dislike to the one who bet against them.

Quick as the tides allow, they're sailing back to Iriand. On the way, the ship is harried by a hungry pair of griffins. Rory conjures some fog. Giddy deploys the beef-jerky Mage Hand. Soon enough, distraction and damage combine to chase the griffins off, and the ship reaches dock

The party hastens to Magistrate Hornraven with the good news and the cure. He's moved the merchant Irven, his partner and their two little teifling girls into government quarters, and the party is able to administer the potion there and then.

Giving one dose to each of the four family members, they almost immediately lose their cold blue hue, and return to health! The cute little tieflingettes are saved!

The party leaves them to share some time together; and Hornraven gives them a reward of gold. He also says he'll put out some feelers as to whether anyone can analyse and potentially reproduce the Aurith.

For now the party should get some rest, and maybe check back tomorrow, as Hornraven suspects Irven and his family will want to reward them also. Newly wealthy, the party picks a much nicer tavern than usual.

The next day, there's a little light commerce to be done. At the Tented Market, Rory offloads his damaged and lightly-zombie-stained Aeorian robes onto a tailor and asks for them to be repaired.

Rrekk decides he's carrying too much, and dumps much of his inventory on the ground in an impromptu car-boot sale. He succeeds in palming a surprising amount off on other people, including selling a pair of old iron manacles to a shifty looking young female who moves at a sidle.

Having introduced Iriand to the concept of Ann Summers, they take (figurative) stock. Next agenda item would be checking in with Thokk's contact, Bremat, about the job he wants them to do. But where will he be at this time of day?

Thokk sends her Silver Raven off to arrange a meeting that evening. Rrekk tries to figure out why Thokk is obligated to this man. They explain it's about the boxes.

Rrekk tries to figure out what was in the boxes, and logically concludes it must be severed feet.

With the rest of the day in hand, they head back to see the previously-sick merchants. They're packing to leave the Seafoam Bastion.

While Rrekk plays tag with the tiefling girls (a flying opponent is _lots_ of fun), Irven and Fenton give the party a little something - a small business card which will let them summon an adventuring shop wherever they are - once only.

Magic pauses in her game for a moment and presents Giddy - they're much the same height - with a couple of "special" wooden building blocks. Irven is amused and tries to dissuade her, but she's having none of it. They're _special_. She found them, one town over.

Irven doesn't remember this. Turns out they fell out of some old man's bag as he unlocked his shop. He lets it slide - they're only toy blocks - and Giddy pops them in her bag.

As evening falls, Thokk leads the group over to the Hooded Witch, where Bremat is waiting as requested. He hands back the messenger raven, and is all mock-annoyed with Thokk for taking so long. But it seems he knows what's been going on; and his own plans were delayed by weather.

Rrekk asks why Bremat wants feet.

And with Bremat momentarily bluescreening, we leave the session, still waiting to find out what his plans actually are! And whether they involve feet. Spoiler: they probably don't.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/wjT0dqh

Shall we have some more #dmcdn

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 21:31:54 GMT

Shall we have some more #dmcdnd? Sure, why not? We're still in the official #dnd adventure Frozen Sick from EGtW; and last time was here. https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1626579018484174848?t=ODq2FjR297JxzbFd6WJm7w&s=19

Last time, they found presumably the goal of the quest: some shining gold liquid in glass vials.

With night coming in, they decide to stay one more night and quickly check out the rest of Salsvault tomorrow. But they'll camp on the ice rather than in the undead-infested ruin.

Next morning, they head back in and take the other door from the lobby, unlocking it with Ferol's purloined keys.

There's a pair of locked chests set into the floor, and doors West and East. The west is labelled in the same draconic script as before; and a lever beside it.

Thokk gets the translating monocle out and reads "Disease Storage: Authorised Personnel Only". In a truly uncharacteristic display of common sense, they neither open the door nor pull the lever.

Next, Thokk checks the chests. Both have runes which the monocle translate as "Ice".

Again, they choose to leave them be, and head through the east door instead, into a corridor. Giddy sends her spider under a door opposite, and finds an old dormitory room. It looks uninteresting; Giddy moves off to explore further while the other three enter to check the drawers

They find another set of robes; but suddenly the rug on the floor rises up and engulfs Rory! As he struggles for breath, Rrekk fails to pull it off him, and Thokk tries carefully to slit the rug without effect. Giddy charges back in and Eldritch Blasts it - but hurts Rory too!

Finally, with the last of his breath, Rory creates a strong gust of wind and blows the rug off himself, pinning it to the far wall.

He's hurt, it's still up, and we're out of time. Until next session!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/3dCWPxK

It was half-term last week, and we managed two …

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 22:48:14 GMT

It was half-term last week, and we managed *two* good-length sessions of #family #dnd, so I've got a bunch to write up!

In the Faewild, a (beefed up) Displacer Beast lies dead at the feet of Kithri, Igensi and Nemeia.
https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1613213722818007040

The fae erupt in cheers. The beast is gathered up to be Brought Back to court, and Queen Zepha invites the party to travel back with her. She is now haughtily (and a bit eccentrically) friendly, and amenable to hearing their complaint.

(For those who have forgotten, that's that a group of centaurs and satyrs attacked Nemeia and Igensi's circus, way back in Session 1, for no obvious reason.)

The Queen asks if they can see any of the raiders around them. Kithri's sharp eyes pick out a centaur with familiar chestnut markings and a distinctive long, braided mane.

"Ah. Baeringolt," says the Queen. Seems he's known for being a bit hot-headed.

She'll hold court properly tomorrow; but for now, feasting! An enormous bonfire is lit, and before long exotic fruits and roasted vegetables are brought to the hungry adventurers.

None of these are familiar, and the tastes are hard to describe. The simplest has the texture of an apple, but tastes reminiscent of vanilla and spices.

Soon roasted meats are ready. A centaur pompously presents the party with some of the Displacer Beast they killed.

All three try it, and initially it tastes of ... nothing; but about five seconds after the swallow, a rich venison-like taste manifests in the mouth.

A satyr next gambols by, offering two of the displacer's tentacles to try. Nemeia eagerly bites in, but the tentacle is *disgusting*. The satyr bursts into laughter and scampers away - but far from being annoyed, Nemeia is delighted at the joke.

She is in her element here, but Kithri rather disapproves of all the frivolity and pranking. Igensi, meanwhile, is enthralling a group of youngsters with his water magic.

Throughout the feast, the party is kept on their toes by a seemingly never-ending stream of odd beasts. A brightly-coloured bird alights in the blue-and-pink tree canopy above them, cocks its head to one side,

then swells to three times its size and squawks loudly before shrinking back down. It repeats this a few times before flying off. A squirrel-like creature noses down the tree to investigate Fez and Wiffle -

it has two tails; and when Kithri startles it both start spinning and it flies off.

Soon, the party notice the number of pet dogs around; and soon after that, they notice them blink from place to place, begging scraps from the sentients.

At one point, a drunken group on a hillock loudly hurry down off it, as the hillock transpires to be a slumbering giant. The giant wanders off a few paces and settles down again - and the carousers re-mount it to carry on.

At length, the three adventurers settle down to rest a little away from the most raucous satyrs, and dryads arrange plants for them to rest on.

Nemeia declares that she'd like to retire here.

They awaken in the morning to find rivers of flowers flowing past them - blooms erupt from the earth in canon, flowering briefly before being pulled back under. They marvel at this for a while, then seek out breakfast.

Soon enough, Zepha summons them - and Baeringolt - to discuss the party's message from Rikiskala. Nemeia retells the story with most of the court listening; then the queen asks Baeringolt for his side of the story.

Baeringolt, it seems, was leading his band of scouts near Rikiskala when he learned from the small beasts of the area that the city had been disturbing their burrows with mining, far beyond the limits agreed with the fae in a long-standing treaty.

So far from the court, Baeringolt claims, he took it upon himself to lead his band on an attack to convey their displeasure.

Kithri is incensed - the travelling circus a) had nothing to do with the city itself; and b) contained innocents.

Plus, the attackers did not in any way make it clear why they were attacking!

The queen intervenes and, after thinking for a while, pronounces her judgement.

It seems Rikiskala has overstepped its bounds, and questions must be asked.

But Baeringolt acted hastily, and has created something of a diplomatic incident. As punishment - she clicks her fingers - the queen causes Baeringolt's fine mane to fall out, and he stands there bald, ashamed, and the butt of the entire court's laughter.

So Queen Zepha asks if the party will go and see what's going on. And of course; what else can they do? Their contact here is Lady Emir Condorcet, though - not Mosswearer. The Merchants' Fool handles trade treaties, logically enough.

Before they go, the Queen bestows two items. First, a small metallic beetle. If the holder speaks a message to it and wills it to Take Flight, it will return to Zepha and deliver the message.

Second, a short cloak made from the Displacer's leather. It looks Kithri-sized, and appears to carry some of the creature's evasive magic - exactly how is not yet clear. They thank her, and take their leave.

A detachment of centaurs - not including Baeringolt - is provided to escort the party back to the planar crossing. Some light banter is engaged in. Wiffle rides on the lead centaur's head.

They take their leave of their escort at the tree-trunk planar crossing, and start to head back. Nemeia's goat statue is out of charges, so they must walk; it therefore takes them a little longer.

En route, Igensi writes up the battle with the displacer and the fae feast in his magic journalist's book.

Nemeia continues to study her new Spellbook. With a few nights to really concentrate, she figures out that she has five 1st level spells, and three each 2nd and 3rd.

Rather than spend time working out what school each is, or what components each takes, she dives straight in to researching one of the second-levels at random. Another two nights, and she figures it's an Enchantment spell - her school! - and feels that she's nearly cracked it.

Late on the 4th day, they reenter Rikiskala. Somethings seems a little off; the streets of the Undercroft seem a little empty. They catch a late-runner and ask what's going on. It seems there's a mob forming, and he doesn't want to be late!

A mob? That's concerning. The party hurry after the man, and find a group of more than 50 people - perhaps as many as 100 - armed and moving along the river. Where are they going, they ask a passing angry mobster?

To Lord Koldrin! To avenge Evelyn's death! The lord killed her, after all, and the mob knew Evelyn! Or at least, she lived 3 doors down; or she was a good customer at their cousin's shop.

That's... not quite how the party remembers it. They push their way to the front.

There, the front members of the mob are drawn up in sight of Koldrin's manor, steeling themselves. They shout about how Koldrin stabbed Evelyn! Or strangled her, I heard! Igensi hoists Nemeia up on his shield, and she proceeds to relate the tale truthfully (if embellished)

while Kithri adds well-reasoned appeals from the ground. Between the three of them intimidating, performing and persuading, the crowd starts to disperse until maybe 20 are left, most of whom are primarily listening to the story.

So the party invites them down the pub!

It's off to the Dandy Lion - which one of the mob knows - run by friendly halfling Felda Jebbo. Kithri stands all 23 of them a round, plus bar snacks.

(The pub's just invented a new thing - potatoes, sliced very thin, fried in a little oil and then sprinkled with salt)

So Nemeia completes her tale, but with all the truth and only embellished where it makes it more exciting, and the mob heads off, drunk and satisfied. The party rents rooms for the night, and Nemeia completes research on her first spell - Tasha's Mind Whip.

Maybe next time they'll get to see Lady Condorcet!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/coyO3eu

Hey, let's have some more #dmcdn

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 13:47:19 GMT

Hey, let's have some more #dmcdnd! You can tell it's a good old-fashioned #dnd dungeon crawl, because there's combat for the third session in a row!

This combat is brought to you be Frozen Sick from EGtW. We thread from here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1621214759310987265?s=20&t=-hjS0MLBCtnCGCQ4b7Iqfw

The party is fighting Ferol Sal, a researcher at Salsvault researching god-killing pathogens. He is by now long undead and a little bit crazed; but still a potent threat. The party have already learned that he's accurate with a bow, and that normal attacks aren't fully effective.

Now engaged close up with Rrekk, Ferol switches to his sword and cuts Rrekk badly. He tries to follow up with some kind of necrotic grasp, but fails to grab hold.

Giddy pops up from behind a bench, Eldritch Blasts him in the face, and pops back down.

With Ferol's attention taken by Rrekk, Thokk plants an arrow in a weak spot from a distance. Even with his unnatural resistance, it plainly hurts him significantly.

Rrekk, lacking any magical armaments, tries to shatter a Holy Water flask over Ferol, but misses.

Rory casts Guiding Bolt, but hits the wall on the other side of Ferol; then suddenly Rory's sword flies from its magical scabbard and catches Ferol off-guard - sadly, it only scratches him.

Ferol carves into Rrekk and he collapses to the ground. He tries to grasp Rory, but finds only armour plating. Thokk lands another accurate arrow, and Giddy plants an Eldritch Blast squarely on Ferol's head.

Rory heals Rrekk back to consciousness, while Ferol's sword also glances off his armour. Moving around to be in position to attack Giddy, Ferol is swung at by Rrekk prone on the floor, but Rrekk misses.

Giddy and Thokk finally miss with their Eldritch Blast and arrow; but Rrekk scrambles to his feet, hops onto a hand shelf, and carves a neat line down through Ferol's skull - and the wight falls down more-dead.

The party quickly takes the keys from Ferol's belt, and the chest in the submerged room is opened to reveal 20 vials of a shining golden liquid - surmised to be the Frigid Woe cure - and a curious glass eyeball. Giddy can't tell much about it, except that it's beyond her skills.

Searching Ferol, they turn up nothing of use in his dusty robes; searching the room, they cobble together enough ingredients and glassware to make a functional Alchemist's Kit.

But now it is late (in real time and in game), and we will continue next session.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/02CfALX

We're into the swing of #dnd this new year, with …

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 18:31:43 GMT

We're into the swing of #dnd this new year, with more #dmcdnd. Having fought off four snakes with accuracy, tenacity and not a little bloodshed, our party is about to see What's In The Box!

Again, this is Frozen Sick from EGtW. Threading from here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1615752030563467264

Rory walks out across the water to the submerged and floor-inbuilt chest, reaches down to the lid... and it's locked. Back to shore, and the Ring of Waterwalking is handed off to Thokk for a go.

But, still shivering from their immersion in the cold water, they can't manipulate the lockpicks dextrously enough, and the chest stays locked. Giddy looks around for a key, but there isn't one in this room.

The party takes stock, and also a Short Rest, recovering some much-needed health; then decides to check out some of the other rooms.

The one full of broken weapons isn't very interesting, and the one with the flesh golem inside is pretty terrifying

but the one directly opposite, which Spin couldn't find a crack to get into, that has possibility of the unknown about it. Rrekk goes to check at the door. It's not locked. Listening before barging in, he hears a voice from inside.

It's speaking as if to itself in a dry tone, but Rrekk doesn't understand the few words he can make out. He tries to replicate the sounds to the rest of the party - they are also none the wiser.

So, taking up position around the door, Rrekk pushes it open. It reveals a lab of some sort, around which a clearly long-dead humanoid moves, working continuously at the substances on the workbenches.

He speaks to them in a guttural, rasping language which none of them - not even Rory - understands. Seeing their lack of comprehension, he tries again, and this time Rrekk can just about follow along.

He's now speaking, basically, Chaucerian Elvish - it's archaic, but Rrekk can converse. The humanoid totally forgets to introduce himself as Ferol Sal, but does demand to know Who ye all be-eth, and whatte ye art all doing here? Why doth ye disturbeth his labours?

The party plays it straight down the line, and explains that the Frigid Woe is killing people and they are looking for an antidote. Ferol is puzzled - whatte is this Frigidde Woe ye speaketh of?

The symptoms are described, and Ferol understands.

He's still not exactly helpful though. Thatte contagion is en dead ende; it killeth mortals, but toucheth not the gods. This is why his work carrieth on! Antidotes are not his area; that would be the people in .

Rrekk and Giddy think to see if there is a key in the room with Ferol. Giddy can't see on one the walls, but Rrekk see's that Ferol has a key ring looped onto his belt! Maybe, suggests Rrekk, he would give it over and they could leave him to his work?

Well. Ferol is having none of that. Neither would you, on a Persuasion roll of 2. He accuseth them of being spyes from one of the rival laboratories, and draws his bow.

He's surprisingly quick, and gets two arrows into Rrekk straight off. Giddy goes for her crossbow, but the shot's wide. Thokk has better luck with their arrow, and Rrekk charges up and hits with both swords.

Rory dallies with the idea of overturning a table and using that as a threat against Ferol, but seeing the bubbly substances that would spill he thinks better of it. Instead, he launches a spear at Ferol, grazing his side.

But all the party's attacks seem to be sliding off Ferol somehow. They have cut him, sure, but not as deep as they first thought. It seems this foe might be hard to cut down. They gird their loins and prepare for a second round of combat - next time!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/b6AwU4C

We're back with a new year and some more #dmcdnd …

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 16:44:50 GMT

We're back with a new year and some more #dmcdnd #dnd fun!

Dungeon-crawling as part of Frozen Sick from EGtW, the heroes are about to be attacked by giant snakes!

https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1611000012150034432

Rory kicks off with a little Sacred Flame action for absolutely as little damage as possible. Rrekk lands an arrow in one snake, and Giddy makes use of the environment to cast Armo(u)r of Agathys, since it needs a cup of water.

An aside: DMs, check your assumptions about what players know! Giddy has a component pouch, therefore AoA is castable from the pouch - the component is just for flavour! But Giddy's player didn't realise that, so hasn't cast it before for lack of water!

(I'll also defend her on this; my component pouch contains, IDK, bat guano, soot, salt, coal... and *a cup of water*? Is that *really* plausible?)

Now it's Thokk's turn. Taking careful aim, they land an arrow right in the middle of a snake's head, killing it outright. Rogues, eh?

The remaining snakes bite down on Thokk, and two on Giddy. All three hit, and these things may be relatively fragile but they hit like a house. Giddy's Armour of Agathys retaliates both times, (taking out one snake and badly wounding the other) and is gone; Thokk looks bloodied.

Our heroes spend a full round missing their slippery opponents, before the last two snakes attack Thokk and Giddy again, bringing both to 0. Thokk's orcish blood lets them shake it off, but Giddy is down.

Figuring it's important to get the enemies out the way, Rory bonks Thokk's snake on the head, and Rrekk decapitates Giddy's nemesis.

Fortuitously, Giddy rolls a nat-20 on her death save and is back in the room. She backs up to the wall and tries to look unappetizing.

Thokk ducks and weaves to get a little space, then repeats their earlier trick, shooting an arrow straight down the throat of the last snake. All enemies dead, and no party members!

So, now, what's in that chest? Thokk wades into the water - and it's cold! They quickly jump back out, shivering uncontrollably. It'll be some time before they're properly warm again, and it looks like it'll affect their competence.

So Rory steps up for a go. He's wearing the Ring of Waterwalking, so the cold doesn't bother him.

But we're out of time! What's in the chest will have to wait for next time.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/0tOL4G6

And I've got #family #dnd to write up to

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:38:34 GMT

And I've got #family #dnd to write up too! Let's see... we had two sessions way back before Christmas, which I shall fold together.

https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1585759135781466112

We rejoin the crew traipsing through Rikislea in search of a crossing point to the Faewild,

so they can go and find the Fae queen Zepha and ask her what prompted the attack on Nemeia and Igensi's circus.

They are currently following the river, but the path soon takes them a little away from it and past a slightly lighter-wooded area.

Here, Kithri's sharp senses hear sounds of large mammals - two bears, recently awoken from overwintering*, are nearby and looking for food. The group's route will take them right by the bears and their cave.

(Note to self - the time is now canonically spring)

Not seeking a fight, the party attempts to distract the bears with some thrown rations and hurry past; but Nemeia's riding goat, Stetson, presents too tempting a morsel for the larger one. It swipes at Stetson once, twice - and the goat reverts to its statuette form.

Focus now is on getting away with minimal damage and resources spent. I... forget the details of this fight (I think Kithri probably used Spiritual Weapon; and Igensi his twin blades), up until Nemeia cast Fireball behind the bears, critically injuring and badly singeing both.

The bears retreat into their cave to literally lick their wounds, but not the forest is on fire!

Not that that's a problem when you have a Water Genasi in the party. It is but the work of a few seconds before the forest is merely very wet, and travel can resume.

Soon, they are back with the river, and find the lake Councillor Mosswearer promised. It's round, and they wonder if it could be their crossing, but it's not really round _enough_.

It does have a man in a boat in the middle, though, calling for help. It seems he dropped his oar.

Igensi, at home in his native habitat, swims out to push the man to shore while Kithri and Nemeia rest on the bank. He's just a local fisherman, and he's fished her many times, so he's a little embarrassed.

Today it seems his anchor caught some weeds and reveaeled something like buildings down below; and he was so startled his oars went overboard.

Interesting. Igensi swims back for a look. There is indeed an underwater town there, although it's long abandoned and in ruins.

He does find a locked chest, which they "persuade" into opening, revealing a small quantity of gold and a pearl. Fine recompense!

And then on into the mostly-trackless forest west of the lake.

After a few hours, Igensi spots something - a tree, bifurcating a few feet above the ground, only to come back together 8 or so feet further up. Truly unnatural, and most importantly - circular.

Nemeia looks through, then steps through. Nothing _obviously_ changes,

but as she steps to the side she disappears from view, as if the real world were a wall and the tree a window. And looking closer, the colours are more vibrant. This is definitely it. But now where to go? Despite Kithri's best efforts, Igensi and Nemeia start calling out.

Very soon, they are surrounded by a variety of fae creatures - centaurs and satyrs again, as well a few others they are hard-pressed to name immediately - bristling with weapons. Asked what they're doing, they give a rambling spiel about the circus attack.

It is quickly agreed that the party need to be taken to see the queen. They are led some distance through the Faewild - and despite not being blindfolded, they soon realise they couldn't find their way back.

The colours get steadily more vibrant, and weirder, changing to blues and pinks. Soon enough, they reach the court of Queen Zepha. She is an elven-looking woman, but more so. There is an air of forest about her; she has a set of magnificent horns - antlers, almost - on her head.

Zepha knows nothing about the attack the party alleges to have happened; but they mention Mosswearer's name and that buys them some goodwill. Zepha proposes a trial of their good intention.

She explains a little about the Seelie and Unseelie courts, and how her hunters have captured a beast of the Unseelie - a challenging foe. If the party are true and honest, then they will surely be willing to face it and rid her realm of it, no?

So proof by combat it is. The group is led to another region of the forest, and the fae form a ring around it to spectate and intervene if necessary. Then the beast is released! Snarling and running with an easy grace, a large black cat charges at the party.

(It's a Displacer Beast, but uprated to CR 6 because it deserves to be scarier! https://www.reddit.com/r/monsteraday/comments/m684t3/displacer_beast_revised_because_our_favorite/)

Leaping easily into a tree, the beast proves extremely hard to hit. None of the party are quite sure where it is! Then, leaping a wide chasm it knocks Kithri to the ground and nearly finishes her with vicious swipes!

And so combat progresses - a good long one, too, as kitty is really very hard to significantly damage! They soon learn that if they can land just one blow, then subsequent ones are a bit easier for a while; but the first blow is not easy to land!

And on top of that, spells that should damage it without needing to hit it exactly _also_ seem to slide off more than you would expect!

However, the party is not without defences of their own: none of the Beast's grapples stick, and Nemeia is getting quite familiar with Shield.

Eventually, with everyone battered and bruised but still standing, Igensi lands the killing blow, slicing its head clean off. The watching fae, who have been following along enthusiastically, cheer. Zepha calls that they have proven themselves, and she will hear them...

...tomorrow. For now night is falling, and there should be a feast to celebrate such a battle.

And there we stop too, and I... need to work out exactly what happens next!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/MNOLFsM

Ok! Session writeups #dn

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 14:01:55 GMT

Ok! Session writeups #dnd. Let's see what I can remember.

#dmcdnd first - a little bit more Frozen Sick from EGtW.
https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1596924116707069952

The party presses onwards, through the door into the chamber from whence the animated suits of armour came. It looks like a forge of some kind, long-cold. A stone worktable has collapsed, and a pair of boots protrudes from underneath.

Giddy's familiar reports that the feet are _twitching_.

The party starts clearing rubble off the trapped owner of the feet, despite Rory wondering whether it might be a zombie.

As soon as it's cleared off, the centuries-old form of the old blacksmith shambles to its feet! Surprise! It _was_ a zombie!

Fortunately, the group is pretty hardy by now, and the blacksmith goes down easily. Thokk finds a set of mithril tools in its apron - now twisted beyond usefulness, but still valuable for the material.

Pressing on, they enter a corridor which slopes down away from them. A door on their right is locked; Giddy's familiar crawls through a crack and reports a room full of shattered weaponry. The party moves on.

On the left, another door with a large red X painted across it. Sounds of banging and crashing emanate from within. Once again, Spin pops in for a closer look - a humanoid golem, wounded and with bones protruding all over, is thrashing around.

They skip that room, too.

At the end of the corridor, on the right, another door; but Spin can't find a crack to creep through. On the left, Spin reports a room with shards of glass on the floor, which slopes under the water level.

The party enter, hopeful that the glass may be from vials of cure.

The glass on the ground does indeed look like shattered vials, but nothing remains inside them. However, they can spot a chest set into the floor, submerged in the water.

Thokk tosses a stone into the water, and thence issue four snakes!

Fighting them, and anything that comes after, will be a job for next time.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/KNDPb7t

Wow, it's taking me longer to get around to writi…

Sun, 27 Nov 2022 17:49:18 GMT

Wow, it's taking me longer to get around to writing these. It's #dmcdnd time! Or it was, _last_ Friday. The party's dungeon-crawling in Frozen Sick from EGtW. Let's #dnd!

Mind you, this can be a pretty short summary, because there was combat! And a round-by-round is probably not massively necessary.

So - three animated suits of armour (one looking a little worse for the passing aeons) have arrived and look menacing. The two ice mephits the party had talked to on the way in quickly slip back out the main entrance.

Lacking in intelligence, the armours just attack whoever is closest. This is usually Rory - who tanks effectively - and Rrekk, who can absorb a fair amount of damage.

In return, Rory whacks them with his big hammer, and electrocutes two of them in retaliation when they manage to beat his chain mail.

Rrekk cuts at them with double shortswords, hitting with reasonable regularity. Giddy, vision aided by her spider familiar, pops around an obscuring door and lands a few crossbow bolts. Thokk stands back and places accurate arrows into critical joints.

It doesn't take long before the three suits have crumpled onto the floor. Only slightly winded, the party examines the second room of the complex. It contains a few already-looted chests, and a few sets of boot prints.

Despite the confusion, Rory is able to discern that a dwarf and a human came, stood by the chests, then left again when three sets of heavy boots arrived from the south. Looks like Urgon and Orvo, fleeing when the armours arrived to chase them off.

Session end! Scheduling is a little trickier in the festive season, so look out for the next thrilling instalment in a couple of weeks.

O

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 16:22:40 GMT

Oh! #dmcdnd! I totally forgot to write up last Friday's #dnd session. Which, of course, follows on from here, and is still running Frozen Sick from EGtW.

https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1580192486768619520?s=20&t=68TCXXgCUPbnAZ8j_KHLXg

Morning dawns of the party's third day on the ice. Jotan, the lost mage who camped with them overnight having been separated from his group, expresses his thanks once again.

In gratitude, he offers them a small artifact from his dig - a monocle-like object with a blue glass lens. He had discovered it was magical, but had not been able to discern its purpose yet.

The party immediately start looking through it, and a series of *terrible* Perception rolls follows. They all sweep the horizon with it, and see nothing but the flat ice tinged blue, and the sun dazzling them.

Rory and Thokk study the item, but learn nothing much from its construction - which is intricate and defies logic in how the brass ring holds the glass in place with wires passing through the glass.

Finally, Thokk takes their turn to look at the snow - but as they lower the lens, they catch a glimpse of Jotan's cloak, which has writing around the hem that Thokk hadn't noticed before.

It appears to be a prayer to Mystra - and removing the lens, Thokk realises it was there all along, but in *Elvish*, which they can't read. A little more experimentation, and they conclude that the item interprets written language for the viewer.

So on to Salsvault! Finding it proves tricky, as the frozen wastes are slowly swallowing it, and it takes most of the day before Thokk spots the Ice Mephit tracks Orvo spoke of. Following them, they finally reach the door of Salsvault.

The door - with SALSVAULT written above the top in Draconic - is firmly closed and frozen shut; and Thokk also notices two mephits sitting motionless and well-hidden above the door. Some banter is indulged in: the party concludes the Mephits are unhelpful at best, evil at worst.

Rrekk fails to force the door open. Giddy sends her familiar spider Spin through a tiny crack to check out inside. In what turned out to be a surprisingly adorable voice, Spin reports a dark square room, with something written on the far wall, but no lock evident on the door.

After using a torch to melt some of the ice off, Rory attempts to yank the door open, and succeeds. The party enters - magical torches immediately light and the mephits follow them in.

Using the lens, Thokk reports that the inscription on the far wall reads "Welcome to Salsvault! Visitors, please wait here for an escort, and DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING WITHOUT PERMISSION."

As they dutifully stand and wait (!) and discuss the sign, noises approach from behind one of the closed doors to the south. The door swings open, revealing two...

(wait, that encounter needs rebalancing)

...three! walking suits of armour, not looking very welcoming!

Just before initiative is rolled, we end the session. They made it to Salsvault, people!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/082M8Z3

Half term! That means it's time for #family #dn

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 22:23:52 GMT

Half term! That means it's time for #family #dnd. Last episode was here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1572570604116791306

The party discusses what to do now. They only have one immediate task, since Cllr Mosswearer's information on the Faewild crossing won't be available until at least tomorrow.

That task is to check on Lander's cat.

(Lander, you may recall, is the boyfriend of Evelyn the maid who was sacked by Lord Myrcor, and beaten - inadvertently to death - by his butler. He disappeared around the time the Slithering Tracker started showing up, which is probably not a coincidence)

They have his address from Evelyn's gnomish neighbour, so they head over to his property. It's in the lower-class Undercroft district as well, but he's done a decent job of making it look nice. Whitewashed walls, coloured fungi in a windowbox.

A tree root marks off a courtyardesque space, and he's put a bench in it.

The door is locked. Peering in, the party can see that the inside looks in order - furniture in place etc. - but no cat is visible.

They knock next door. A dwarf answers, sleeves rolled up and an apron on. Does he have a spare key? Nemeia tries to explain why, but gets a bit tangled and the dwarf looks distrustful. Kithri smooths things over (you'd never know she's the one with Charisma dumped...).

The dwarf does have a spare key, and agrees they can go in and collect the cat while he stands at the door to keep an eye on them. Kithri calls for the cat - the dwarf says its name is Muffin - and it comes readily to her.

After explaining to the dwarf what's likely happened to Lander, the party takes the cat to Lord Myrcor, who previously expressed a liking for the creatures. He seems taken with Muffin, and takes him in - "just for a few days, but let's see about a piece of fish, aren't you sweet"

A rooms (plus a beer crate for Fez to sleep in) is acquired at The Broken Blade - a tavern of dwarven proprietorship and décor - and meals purchased - double for Kithri, of course.

Nemeia spends a couple of hours studying her new spellbook. It is impenetrable to her, until her player realises that Wizards should really be proficient in Arcana and I let her swap. She doesn't get far, but deciphers a couple of symbols.

Igensi writes up the adventure with the Slithering Tracker / Wet Ninja in his new notebook; it makes for a thrilling tale.

Next morning, they head back to the Botanical Sanctum (my daughter's notes read "Eden Project"), where Cllr Mosswearer is now able to divine the new location of the Faewild crossing.

They are to follow the river out of the city, take its northern fork to a lake, then strike out westward. The crossing itself will be perfectly circular, in the nature of these things.

On the way out, Lord Mycor appears. Some gruff dwarven fellow turned up at his house the previous evening; it seems Lander's neighbour got nosy (...since the players weren't) and found a journal in Lander's house, which Myrcor is now passing on to the party.

Some entries near the end suggest that Lander had planned to propose to Evelyn; then record her sacking, and Lander's plans to go to Myrcor and complain.

A tearstained entry records Evelyn's death, and how Lander now wants revenge on Myrcor.

A final entry says Lander found a note under his door with directions to a location in the woods where someone claims they can help him. The directions are noted in the journal.

Mosswearer is aware of the location mentioned, but says that his vision of that area is clouded.

Troubled, they head out. Igensi casts Find Steed for the first time, and produces a warhorse made of water. Nemeia, not to be outdone, activates her statue of a riding goat, and mounts up. It's named Stetson.

Kithri opts to share the horse.

They start by following Lander's directions. To the river fork; turn towards the white rock; head for the tree with blood-red bark. As they approach the tree, nothing seems to be there -

but when they reach it, the forest moves aside and a wooden hut appears! Nemeia knocks, then they discuss whether that was a good idea. The door creaks open, and a creepy voice from inside bids them enter.

The inside is significantly bigger than the outside, and a variety of herbs hang drying near the large fire. At a kitchen table sit three figures; two very tall, slightly green, elderly women with extremely long fingers, very folded; and an even taller,
muscular female.

Kithri recognises them as Hags - specifically two Green Hags - while Nemeia thinks the middle one is an Annis Hag. Both recall that, in a coven of three, hags become more powerful than the sum of their parts. The party is worried.

(And rightly so - two green hags and one annis hag in a coven have an equivalent CR of about 16!)

One of the Green Hags says she's met Kithri before. Kithri is puzzled, until the hag clicks her fingers and assumes the form of a pretty young woman Kithri (along with Althaea and Balasar) met outside Dolkreath, claiming another woman had stolen her baby.

In a roundabout way, the hags confirm that Lander came to them seeking help, and they _kindly_ provided him with a means of wreaking revenge. Realising they are severely outmatched, the party leave, and are allowed to - although not before Nemeia gives her name as Splendour.

On the way out, Nemeia casts Detect Thoughts on the Annis Hag. She gets surface level desires to cause mischief and see misery, then she encounters a blank wall. The merest flicker of an eyebrow suggests she was noticed.

And nothing else happens; but now the hags _know about them_, and they are apprehensive. They Send to Mosswearer, who advises caution.

A little further on, they set camp. Nemeia removes the top-hat she has been wearing as long as the party has been together. Throwing it onto the ground, it becomes a comfortably-sized circus tent, with the hatband transforming into bunting.

Kithri is not impressed - it's so conspicuous! It won't keep them safe! Nemeia shows off the tent's other feature: a spectral circushand at the entrance, who shouts "Tickets, please!" at anyone trying to enter, loud enough to wake Nemeia at least.

Kithri is still unconvinced; but still makes dinner. Gerald the tea-weird makes tea for all, and experiments with a berry tea for Fez. Igensi writes a slightly-modified tale of the hags under a pseudonym.

And the session ends. We _may_ get another over the weekend; no promises!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/n7QMJQY

It's time for #dmcdn

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 13:43:52 GMT

It's time for #dmcdnd! Last time, we did this: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1567873298847105024?s=20&t=ff2N3nMGlepcg-GXXKKg4Q

We're still in Frozen Sick from EGtW, but we're maybe at the beginning of the end.

Quite a quiet session today, as the party finishes crossing the ice.

They head away from their encounter with the hunters, wiser for the knowledge that a remorhaz - even if only a juvenile one - is in the area. Their guide Orvo dispenses a bit more advice.

The remorhaz tunnels under the ice, and can sense people walking on the top. So Orvo advises they keep a sharp eye out for disturbed snow ridges being thrown up, try to move as little as possible if they see one -

and run, not fight, if the remorhaz does emerge.

The party takes it all on board, and make plans for how to get as many of them as possible off the surface of the ice.

(Now, as it happens, they don't encounter a remorhaz. It's a possible entry in a random table which they didn't roll. I made such a big deal of it because if it turned up and they got it wrong, it could easily be a TPK.

I don't regret doing it, though; the players engaged with the threat, and I feel it did a decent job of suggesting the landscape was risky)

Anyway. Night comes, and the party makes camp pretty competently. Watches are kept, but the night passes without incident.

Rrekk takes an aerial view as the sun comes up. He reports seeing some kind of stone structure to the northwest, which he surmises is the pillar they are to use as a landmark. He also spots a few dark specks creeping on the landscape.

Landing, he sets about breakfast as the rest get up. Orvo listens to Rrekk's report and seems satisfied. People on the ice tend to look out for each other. A few more words of encouragement and advice, and Orvo takes his leave back to Syrinlya.

The PCs head on northwards. Within a couple of hours, the pillar rises on their left, and they pause to wonder at what is plainly artificial.

Rory, with his past studies of history, knows that the only people who could possibly have built it were the Aeorians - which makes it several millennia old with no significant signs of damage or weathering, even from its crash.

Showing a very un-playerlike restraint, they decide not to investigate the Tower of Barad-Dûr^H^H^H^H obelisk, and turn a shade northeast.

Towards the end of the day, another figure appears on the eastern horizon. Over the course of a few hours it draws nearer, resolving into a single figure, who starts hailing and waving to the party.

As they finally close to conversational distance, the figure turns out to be a male wizard named Jotan, wearing robes from one of the southern nations (the one they left from in session one). He lost his group and has been wandering the snow since.

He really only needs directions - do they know where the black pillar is? He can navigate himself from there.

They do - it's back that-a-way.

Jotan is happy; but also, with night coming on, could they possibly share their camp with him, and he'll head off in the morning?

They're happy to do so, and so beings their second night on the ice; and our session ends.

There's a pretty decent chance they'll get some combat in Salsvault next time! It's been a little while.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/axg11VQ

There was bank holiday #family #dnd, now that I h…

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 12:57:17 GMT

There was bank holiday #family #dnd, now that I have recovered from my grump last time - https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1565339773782224899?s=20&t=CgjlBE4BAvrt9uoCMDzdpg

We pick up with the party - plus Berga the house guard - having summarily dispatched the Slithering Tracker that had been stalking local noble / politician Lord Myrcor Koldrin.

The staff gather at the commotion. A maid steps in the ex-tracker. Nemeia tells her. She screams a bit.

Wusta, the butler who beat up the maid, thus starting the whole thing off, is a bit taken aback to find that the Wet Ninja was real all along.

Myrcor appears from his bedroom, and has the events related to him by Berga and Nemeia. He is very grateful to see it resolved so thoroughly; and accepts Wusta's apology for everything that has transpired.

He's still fired, but he might get a reference now.

Myrcor suggests everyone returns to bed, and invites the party plus Berga to join him for breakfast in the morning, so he can thank them properly.

The cook is warned that Kithri is, indeed, a halfling.

Their Long Rest thoroughly interrupted, the party opts to sleep in.

Kithri has a Dream. She dreams that she is walking in Halfling lands between a field of grain on her left, and a dark forest on her right. Nearby in the field, a female halfling scythes her grain.

Suddenly, wolves run through the forest and break out heading straight for the farmer! Kithri is nearby - what does she do?

She moves to protect the farmer, placing herself between her and the wolves, and raising her shield in defence.

And suddenly the farmer steps from behind Kithri, sickle raised, and sweeps the wolves away in a flash of light! She turns to Kithri - and it is Yondalla herself!

She is pleased with Kithri. She espouses Yondalla's tenets, and protects the weak.

Yondalla names her a Champion of Yondalla. The priests will hear of this, and her name known in all Yondalla's temples; plus she will gain a little of Yondalla's power as her devotion increases.

(Mechanically: Kithri's reward for this storyline was a Piety score, a la Mythic Odysseys of Theros. She's starting at Piety 5, with the ability to grant +1 AC to a creature withing 30 yds once per long rest. Other abilities await at higher Pieties)

In the morning, over / after breakfast (the cook has done an excellent job, and Kithri makes her a gift of tea which is well received - Teahill Tea is His Lordship's favourite), Myrcor starts dishing out rewards.

First is 50gp apiece, but he feels this isn't enough. He recognises the ascetic in Kithri and offers to match the donation to her temple, which is accepted.

For Nemeia and Igensi, though - what do they want in life? What do they _do_ in life?

Nemeia replies that she just wants excitement and fun; and she's wizardy. Igensi (with a little player prodding) wants to be known for his great deeds (Oath of Glory).

Myrcor has a pair of ideas. For Nemeia, a book from his library, hand-bound in blue leather. Upon opening it, Nemeia cannot read it at all - but she knows what it is: another wizard's spellbook. A wizard who, according to Myrcor, was a bit eccentric in his spell choices.

(Mechanically: this is Nemeia's reward - the potential to gain a number of spells into her repertoire over the course of extended Arcana rolls. I can't say what's in it, because her player reads this!)

For Igensi, a trip into town to the offices of "The Linargel Herald", the foremost news-sheet of the Linargel region. Myrcor is owed a favour by the editor Wilser Drandon, and proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement whereby Igensi will write up his adventures for syndication.

(Mechanically: he now has a magical notebook; anything he writes in it is immediately relayed to Drandon's sub-editor [and yes, they did realise this includes "Help!"]. Opening the back cover in a town will reveal the location of the local offices, where Igensi can claim payment

- as well as possibly listing interesting contacts).

Thus rewarded, the party figures out what to do next. Information on the Faewild crossing isn't due for another day or so. They go back to the circus and tell the owner that they're taking a sabbatical of sorts.

Nemeia re-tells the night's events in possibly the most entertainingly convoluted way possible, including fixating on the fact that the dead maid's boyfriend (who is believed to have transformed into the Tracker) has a cat.

They decide to check on the cat, which sets us up for next time.

And at this point, I push the kids to Level 5 (with Kithri still on Level 6).

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/5JnB8I7

Friday was #dmcdn

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:51:49 GMT

Friday was #dmcdnd! It went better than my family one, but was short. Threading from here; and we're still in the middle of Frozen Sick, from EGtW.

https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1551966133237911552

Al prepared for the next day's departure towards Salsvault in search of Aurith, the golden cure for Frigid Woe, our party returns to the tent of Orvo Mustave in order to drink to Urgon Wenth.

(Urgon, you will recall, is the frozen icicle explorer that kicked this whole thing off. Keep up)

Orvo pours them all a glass of a strong, brown liquor, then proposes a toast to Urgon - something along the lines of "A good friend, a fine explorer, and he never did pay me those two gold he owed me".

Everyone drinks, although Giddy - in deference to her size - only sips. The drink is strong and warming; Orvo tops himself up.

There follows a pleasant, if nostalgic, evening of reminiscing. Orvo tells the tale of those two gold pieces, and the party drinks to the memory of Juniper (@TNotSoMiserable). Rrekk partakes heavily, but Giddy keeps him the right side of too drunk.

Mixed in, Orvo passes on some information he forgot to mention the previous session:

The magic around Salsvault seems to attract Ice Mephits. They're nasty little things, but following them is the best way to find the ruin.

Also, when Orvo and Urgon went in, they only explored a handful of rooms before they were beaten back by animated suits of armour. The party should take care!

Eventually, Orvo retires for the night in deference to the early start, and the party follows suit.

Morning comes, and they all head out, Orvo with some long flat strips of wood on his feet that seem to spread his weight over the snow.

It's a total of about 3 days to Salsvault, and Orvo describes how to find it. Around the middle of the second day, a large pillar should appear on the left. When they're level with it, turn about 15 degrees east, and continue.

Approaching the pillar is not advised, due to ancient magic weirdness.

Salsvault's partially submerged, so if they reach the coast they should hunt along it.

Meanwhile, the party is struggling with the snow. Thokk thinks to put on the Ring of Water Walking which (it seems logical) lets her fully Legolas it on top of the snow. She hands the ring off to Rory, as the heaviest party member.

Additionally, they figure that Giddy can penguin-walk on Rory's feet if it gets too deep for her.

Progress is good; and in the early afternoon Orvo spies a shape on the horizon and brings the party to a halt. Rrekk and Thokk between them discern a small number of humanoid shapes - the party advances cautiously.

As they near, the group turns out to be friendly - a group of hunters from another outpost, hunting a saber-toothed tiger but now out of arrows.

Rrekk hands over some of his, in exchange for a little local information.

It seems the hunters have seen signs of a juvenile remorhaz around, and they warn the party to be on the lookout. An enormous centipede-like monster of the northern wastes with ferocious jaws, even a youngster would be more than a match for our heroes.

They thank each other, and part ways in mutual respect. And there, we end the session. More snowy trudging next time!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/vbBlpRL

We've been away for much of August, so #family #d…

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 14:04:30 GMT

We've been away for much of August, so #family #dnd got put on hold, but we managed a short session last night.

I, uh, did not cover myself in DMly glory.

https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1555213995065257989?s=20&t=R9pv_C9kswgiYyzWS1vfHg

Staying with Lord Myrcor overnight to help guard him from possible predation by the "Wet Ninja", the party meets Myrcor's personal guard - an experienced human woman named Berga. As she leads them to the servants' hall for some food, she discusses the commission.

The four of them will take shifts watching outside Myrcor's room, which is located on the first floor. An antechamber off the same landing has been made available for the party to sleep in.

This all seems fine, and she leaves them to eat and settle on a watch rota.

Dinner is had - a decent goat stew, with some grapes, cheese and biscuits found to follow - while the staff bustle around at their nightly jobs. Kithri gets the sense there's no great sorrow felt at losing the butler.

In any case, he's still on the premises at Myrcor's direction, for his own protection. Kithri asks if he'd like to sleep near where the watching is occurring, but he sniffily replies that he's fine in his usual room, thankyou, and didn't believe this nonsense anyway.

After dinner, a few more precautions with Berga. Myrcor's window is to be tightly shut, and his jug and basin emptied carefully after he's used them.

In the bathroom next door, the plugs are to be put in, and something noisy placed on top - a metal plate and cutlery, perhaps.

A perimeter walk of the house is undertaken. Igensi spots the gargoyle downspout that services the bathroom; lifting Nemeia on his shoulders, she blocks it surprisingly well with a handful of path gravel, and holds it in place with her scarf.

Thus prepared, Nemeia takes first watch. She's rubbish at it, but Fez helps, sitting up inside her upturned fez, and nipping Nemeia when she nods a bit. The watch passes without incident.

Berga takes the next one. About halfway through, Kithri hears a slithering noise which wakes her (PP of 23, folks). Creeping to the door, she sees Berga dozing on the guard's chair, and a liquid something flowing up the stairs!

She wakes Berga, who shouts out, alerting the others - and this is where things go wrong from my point of view.

The monster is a Slithering Tracker - a somewhat fragile creature and admittedly under CR for the party, but with a novel and scary Engulfing attack that leaves the victim suffocating, taking regular damage, and also half the damage of their allies' attempts to hit the Tracker.

The intent was that the Tracker would flee, back to the river and its lair in a cave behind a nearby waterfall, where it could lie hidden until the party blunder in, and get the jump on them.

Unfortunately, I figured it would initially try to escape through the bathroom, but find the plugs blocked and be forced to retreat. In so doing, it flows back past the party, who get a round of normal combat as part of the Chase rules

(at the end of which, it would have made a Stealth check at +8 and slipped out into the darkness). Igensi hits it with an AoO, using his Frostbrand - it's vulnerable to Cold.

The Tracker then drops off the stairs into darkness, but even with Disadvantage Kithri lands a hit with Guiding Bolt, which lets Igensi follow up with his own Guiding Bolt at a straight roll...

...and it's dead. This pretty cool, deeply creepy assassin that's been set up since the campaign start has perished in under a round, without doing anything offensive.

I may have had a little sulk.

_Yes_, I could have fudged it, said it was still up and then had it escape; but I play fair, see, and it was bang-to-rights dead.

I _should_ have had it just leave the way it came straight off, avoided the fight altogether; but I didn't.

We stopped at that point - it was a natural enough point anyway, and I needed a brain reset.

I have ideas of where to go next - there's still fun plot I can get out of this - but yeah; not my finest hour.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/VueLYFw

We try to do #family #dnd roughly weekly during h…

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 15:28:24 GMT

We try to do #family #dnd roughly weekly during holidays, so here's another one!

Threading from here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1552671556525891584?s=20&t=lhkDv7mHyck8NUWkw3MLMw

Picking up the threads of their two investigations - into the fae attack, and the murder of Duval by the "Wet Ninja" - the party heads to keep their appointment with Councillor Mosswearer.

The Botanic Sanctum, where they are to meet, is one of the grand buildings situated in the canopy of the trees that form the northern part of the city, known as the Branchloft. A collection of glass domes, it resembles the Eden Project somewhat.

Mosswearer greets them, and welcomes them to the "Botanictum", as Mosswearer likes to call it. As they lead the party in, they relay a message from Lord Myrcor Koldrin (the Noble Fool); would they be so good as to see him at his estate afterwards?

The party agree, but ask if Mosswearer can provide directions. They can do better than that - the party is led over to one of the glass walls, offering a breathtaking view over the whole city. Mosswearer points out Myrcor's manor down below -

unlike most of the well-to-do here, he dislikes heights and so chooses to live at ground level - nevertheless in a grand house with large riverside grounds.

In any case, Mosswearer starts a divination, asking Nemeia to pass him a particular purple fruit. (She does so, and goes to take another to eat - "I wouldn't do that", Mosswearer interjects, "if you like your head its normal size." An alternative snacking fruit is suggested)

Cutting the fruit and sprinkling some herbs around it, Mosswearer is disappointed to learn that the Faewild is currently on the move - every so often the local court relocates, which tends to change the location and nature of the crossing with the material plane.

They could tell them where the crossing is _now_, but that won't be accurate by the time the party reaches it.

Mosswearer asks them to come back in a couple of days, when hopefully it should have settled down.

So for now, on to see what Lord Myrcor wants. He's a little hesitant to bring it up, but he's concerned that the Wet Ninja might be targeting him. Why? Well, first he's felt he's being watched for the last month and a half, which is about as long as the attacks have happened.

Not much to base a concern on; but a few days ago the night was unusually dry, with no dew falling - and yet taking a morning stroll through his grounds, Myrcor found a damp patch on the ground which he couldn't explain.

He's nervous. Would the party mind helping Keep Watch, alongside his houseguard Berga, until they have to head off to find the fey? He'll pay.

The party is ok with doing this in theory, but would like to know more. Has Myrcor fallen out with anyone recently, who would wish him dead?

He doesn't think so - Lady Shilden, the common fool, plainly dislikes him, but he doesn't think she'd stoop to murder.

Otherwise, nothing much comes to mind. He dismissed a maid named Evelyn a couple of months back, on suspicion of stealing silver; but really, nothing else.

The party gets her address.

The party decide they'd like to learn more, and will be back by end of the day once they've decided whether they'll help.

Next stop, the local temple to Yondalla, Kithri's god. These tend to be hidden in plain sight - this one appears to be a normal dwelling from the outside - but are always homely and welcoming places.

Kithri introduces Nemeia and Igensi. All three leave offerings of 1sp (and Fez adds a berry, politely raising his fez to the priesthood).

An audience is had with the surprisingly-young chief priest, Merrick.

He's heard rumours about the Wet Ninja, but they range from the mundane to the downright implausible; and in any case his main concern is comforting those in his flock who are concerned by the occurrences.

In the temple library, they have more luck. Kithri turns up information about a dark ritual a person can undergo to transform permanently into a liquid form in order to pursue bloody revenge on someone who has wronged them.

Once this is accomplished, the bloodlust remains, but undirected; and in any case the creature must kill every few days in order to feed on a victim's blood - the party surmises the previous murders are part of this feeding.

Kithri asks Yondalla whether seeking further information at Evelyn's house is a good idea. Yondalla responds positively - although maybe not in the way they're expecting.

Intrigued, the party heads to Evelyn's house in the Undercroft slums. There is no answer at her door, and an elderly gnomish woman next door pokes her head out and explains that would be because she's dead. Died "of her injuries", apparently.

Well now. That's intriguing. Would the gnome fill them in? Kithri offers to make tea, and the old gnome agrees.

She relates that when Evelyn was sacked, on the way out Myrcor's butler beat her, on - so Evelyn reports - Lord Myrcor's orders!

The injuries unfortunately included a punctured lung and a head injury, and Evelyn sadly died.

The party wonders if she lived alone - she did, but she was also seeing a young man named Lander; human, maybe late twenties? He has a cat. And the gnome has an address for him!

But - she hasn't seen him in, oh, about 7 weeks.

_Interesting_.

Nemeia rewards the gnome with a free circus ticket.

Thus informed, the party returns to Myrcor Manor, where they tell Lord Myrcor what they have learned. He is shocked to hear the allegations against his butler, and agrees that an interrogation should take place.

Magically enhanced by Zone of Truth and Detect Thoughts, the party probe the butler (a late middle-aged human man, Wusta) about Evelyn's dismissal. He is evasive, but the truth slowly comes out and Nemeia can see the events in his mind anyway.

Wusta was summoned to escort Evelyn off the premises after she was dismissed; Lord Myrcor saying that it was important to "teach these types a lesson".

On the backdoor step, Wusta rather over-interpreted that, and cuffed Evelyn around the head. She fell, twisting awkwardly and hitting her head.

The truth is out and Myrcor, shocked, fires his butler.

But not before he's instructed to get food for the party, ready for them to stand guard that night / next session.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/YAC4IHJ

The second #dnd session this week was #family #dn…

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 15:05:40 GMT

The second #dnd session this week was #family #dnd! For the first time, I'm grateful to Daughter for taking notes (for her own use) that I can now borrow to help write up :)

Threading from here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1549845454686343168?s=20&t=ypFi50zvjlGyKkZ8jcFOcA

The party are resting are their fight with a bunch of fey creatures in a circus. A couple of town guards show up, and are markedly incompetent. They confirm that the corpse backstage is indeed, uh, dead.

They are unconvincing about whether there have been other such murders, and about whether the guard are having any success investigating.

Nemeia re-examines the corpse, and determines that the blood that has left the body doesn't seem to be from any particular wounds; instead, it's come from the nose.

Kithri is offered a bed with the circus that night - she bunks with the halfling cook - and returns in the morning to cast Speak with Dead on the corpse of Duval.

This is the first time that spell's been cast, and can I just say I love it as a GM? The party gets five questions worth of plot advancement, and I have RAW sanctioned permission to give them exactly as much info as I want!

Anyway:
"How were you killed?" - Duval speaks of so much water, rising up, engulfing him, drowning him.

"Did you know the person who killed you?" - Duval denies knowing them, and says "'Person' is a strange word"

"Can you describe the person who killed you?" - Duval mostly just reiterates his early ramblings about a lot of water rising from the ground. This gets Kithri thinking of magical means of turning people into water. She resolves to ask her temple.

(We have apparently failed to note question 4)

"Have you made any enemies in the city?" - "I owe the barman three coppers".

Thus informed, the party - accompanied by circus owner Caerwinn Seriss - head for the city council. Residing in the Gilded Palace, a white marble and gold edifice, the council themselves are known as the Council of Fools; a historic name, to remind them of the need to be humble.

While the party waits for an audience, more tea is drunk, and it's decided that the Tea Weird is called Gerald.

There are six councillors, seated in carved wooden chairs representing their position. The party bring the murder and the fey raid to their attention.

News of the murder is taken on board, and the council says they will do something about it; the party ask if they can help, and are told not now, not while they're unknown. Lord Myrcor Koldrin (a portly aging human), the Noble Fool, is noticeably disturbed.

Then, the fey attack. Councillor Mosswearer, the Firbolg Fool of Nature, is the relevant councillor here. They explain that there is a fey court deep in Rikislea forest, but they've historically been on good terms and he doubts the fey Lady Zepha authorised the attack.

Halfling Lord Prafa Hearthward, Fool-at-Arms, is considerably more belligerent, and argues for a forceful response until cooler heads - in the form of Mosswearer and the elven Lord Nyelin Estwyr, the Bards’ Fool - intercede.

The party is asked if they would visit the fey court to find out what's going on; they agree - "Sounds like fun!" says Nemeia. Mosswearer will need to divine where the fey crossing currently is and its nature; would they please meet him this afternoon in the Botanical Sanctum?

Throughout these exchanges, Lady Emir Condorcet, Fool of the Merchants (a shrewd looking half-elf) has been asking pertinent questions; and Lady Gwen Shilden, the Common Fool (a young human) has been sniping at Myrcor.

Before they leave, Kithri suggests some extra security for Caerwinn's circus, which he thinks is an excellent idea. Lord Estwyr manages to draw a concession of 4 extra guards to be reassigned. And Nemeia Detects Thoughts on each to see what each is concerned about.

I will skip the results.

Seeking to follow up the only lead they still have, however slim, the party goes to The Amber Drop tavern to pay off Duval's debt.

A side-note on Rikiskala - I have created a high cliff that runs through the middle of the city, product of some ancient seismic event. This is called "The Drop", and The Amber Drop tavern is set into a natural cave in it.

Steps are cut into the sheer rock wall at intervals; and the main north-south road has a winch-and-platform system to let wagon pass.

Or "a disabled lift", as the kids put it.

Also of note - the forest is built into the city in the north, with wealthy dwellings in the canopy in a district called Branchloft; while slums occupy the root systems, called Undercroft.

The lead at the bar mostly runs dry, though. The barman and the tavern owner vaguely remember Duval, and thank the party for paying his debt. They don't recall him getting into any trouble - a little gambling, nothing major.

Asking around the other patrons, the party also find someone who knows a friend who knows someone who was drowned by the Wet Ninja a little while ago; but that's about all he knows.

Somewhat dispirited, the group have lunch, and hope that I give them better leads next time.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/aP7KR2z

I've got two #dnd sessions to write up, so let's …

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 16:22:24 GMT

I've got two #dnd sessions to write up, so let's get to it!

First is #dmcdnd, where Frozen Sick from EGtW is slowly progressing. Catch up here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1547932135398420480

The boat ride from Iriand to Aeor is coming to an end. The last full day's travel is noticeably colder, and Giddy excitedly puts on her big pink coat.

Captain Gerrer tells the party they'll soon arrive in the outpost of Syrinlya.

He'll introduce them to the de facto leader there, Morgan Delwur, whom he knows from previous trips. She should be able to help point them towards anyone they need to speak to.

Meanwhile, Rory spends a little time examining his new scabbard (in his player's absence). He learns that he can make the sword within spring forth to strike someone unexpectedly!

Gerrer, passing, remarks "Ah, so that's what it does!"

Next morning, they do indeed make landfall. Everyone's dressed in their big coat, and Morgan Delwur is on the dock to greet the ship. It seems she does indeed know Captain Gerrer, and his idiosyncrasies.

Gerrer introduces the party; but has apparently forgotten to learn anybody's name, so goes with "Short lady, big guy, green person, birdy. They fought fish with me. They're good people".

And with that, the group is handed off to Morgan. Gerrer will wait a week or so.

Morgan leads them through the snowy, tundra-based outpost. It's in a sheltered bay, with low hills rising all around, and presumably icy plains beyond. Fur-lined tents and yurts form a large camp.

A man sitting around a large fire in the centre of a bunch of thick tents jovially reassures the party that the weather will cool down soon enough. Morgan good naturedly ticks him off.

The party describes their mission to Morgan.

The people here seem more familiar with Frigid Woe. They've seen it a few times, but no-one's yet found a cure, so the party bring hope!

Morgan offers to introduce the party to Orvo Mustave, ice-statue Urgon's expedition partner; and to find them a tent.

Seems a rich elf came through a little while back looking for adventure, but only found a Sabre-toothed Tiger. His yurt and gear is still here, and the party is welcome to it.

Settled in, the party goes to find Orvo. A younger dwarf with a scar big enough to give anyone thinking of copying his profession pause for thought, he confirms that the party's information thus far is good -

he and Urgon found some blue powdery vials in their last expedition to the ruins of Salsvault, and while they didn't find a cure at the same time it is logical to think it might also be there.

He didn't, however, know Urgon was dead, and is properly grief-stricken.

Plans are made for the onward journey. Orvo regrets that the party won't find any help in camp - everyone spare is needed for a search-and-rescue mission of a previous expedition - but Orvo will take them one day and see them on the right track.

They will leave at first light; but Orvo invites the party back that evening to share a few drinks in Urgon's memory.

For the moment, the party gather a few extra pieces of equipment. Tents and a sled are acquired from another explorer,

while the dead elf's food and grappling hook are scavenged. Giddy finds a book - "Is it a good book?" asks Thokk.

"Adventure Sexy: Impress Potential Lovers with Great Deeds".

No. No, it is not a good book.

Thoroughly mortified, we're going to take the next few weeks off so everyone can enjoy the summer holidays; and I can concentrate on my family campaign instead. This campaign will be back in September!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/At1Z8lA

Drum-roll please - this Sunday saw the start of t…

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 19:55:40 GMT

Drum-roll please - this Sunday saw the start of the second season on #family #dnd! After winding up their characters' arcs around Easter, my wife chose to keep playing Kithri (Halfling Cleric, now lvl 6); but the kids opted to change characters (not without some heartache, mind)

So, new dramatis personae:

Nemeia Melech, "Splendour"; Tiefling Wizard (Enchanter), and ringmaster of a circus currently entertaining the city of Rikiskala, played by Daughter (13).

And Igensi; Water Genasi Paladin (Glory), performer in the same circus, played by Son (11).

As we start, Kithri is finishing up a sabbatical, touring the area with her parents. They're finishing up in Rikiskala, and with her parents heading home Kithri notices the circus and decides to pay a visit.

Seated in the excited crowd, she listens as a booming baritone voice magically projects into the circus and welcomes them, then introduces the ringmistress, Splendour!

Splendour, with many a flourish, introduces many exotic beasts, and the various acts; including Igensi's: a cleverly-staged swordfight between the Genasi, wielding his Frostbrand, and an apparently invisible opponent - in reality his Dancing Sword.

There is an interval, during which Kithri buys some caramelised nuts, one of which is fed to her dormouse.

The second half proceeds as the first, until Splendour announces "Duval the Daredevil, and his Bareback Acrobatics!"

Duval does not appear. Splendour announces him again, a little louder - but this time a woman screams backstage and a half-elf stagehand rushes up to Splendour and whispers in her ear.

Kithri's unparalleled eyesight lipreads from across the circus: "I think Duval's dead!"

Splendour sends in the clowns, then she and the stagehand Avria head backstage. Avria pauses to ask the audience if there is a Cleric in tonight before heading off.

Kithri waits to see if anyone else offers assistance, but quickly gets up and heads back to see if she can lend a hand.

Backstage, Avria leads the three to the stables where Duval - young, muscular and dressed in his performing leotard is facedown in a pool of blood.

A thorough check of the corpse, and Kithri pronounces that he is dead, he has been dead for some minutes, that his blood is mixed with water, that most of his blood has been drained out, and that he *drowned*.

The assembled circus folk begin to mutter: "The Wet Ninja!"

(This is an in-joke. Son was originally planning on playing a Water Genasi Monk, and intended to call him "The Wet Ninja". This name was - rightly, if a little cruelly - mocked by Daughter. I thought I'd throw in a reference)

Splendour remembers hearing some of the city-folk discussing the Wet Ninja recently. Seems there have been a couple of unexplained deaths like this, but it's a new phenomenon since they last visited.

Kithri offers to come back tomorrow and Speak With Dead.

Suddenly, hoofbeats are heard approaching the main circus tent, followed by panicked screams! Splendour and Igensi duck back to see what's going on. Four figures seem to be running between the public, causing mayhem while the audience rushes for the exits.

Unable to get a clear look, Splendour draws on her infernal heritage to make herself heard, and an gap opens up in the crowd allowing her to see the assailants - a centaur and three satyrs, one with a magic looking bow, are harrying but not harming the people.

Splendour and Igensi launch an attack on the interlopers. The lead satyr launches a magically-multiplied volley of arrows at them before taking cover.

Kithri hangs back, providing only healing to the other two until she can determine whose side of this fight she's on, if any.

This is a problem, as the fight is balanced for levels 6/4/4, not just 4/4. Igensi is tanking a lot, but Splendour is quickly downed with arrows, and Kithri is persuaded (largely OOC, sadly) to join in.

It's still a tough fight, but when it becomes clear they are beaten the centaur and lead satyr flee, while the other two satyrs - overcome with bloodlust - fight to the end.

On its way out, the satyr upsets an oil lantern, setting the tent aflame!

But not for nothing is Igensi a Water Genasi. Drawing on his own heritage, he quickly summons enough water to douse the flames.

Over tea, brewed by Kithri's recently acquired tea weird (thanks, Griffin's Saddlebag!), proper introductions and full names are exchanged.

Eventually, the circus' owner, Caerwinn Seriss (owner of the bombastic baritone), arrives in A Bit Of A State, takes the news of Duval's death about as well as can reasonably be expected, and says they should speak to the council.

Which they resolve to do, next time.

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/sJ6csgb

Only a week late, the recap of last Friday's #dmc…

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 13:12:42 GMT

Only a week late, the recap of last Friday's #dmcdnd #dnd. Threading from here: https://twitter.com/chowlett09/status/1541405986291732482,

and still running Frozen Sick from EGtW.

They're still on a boat, and still fighting fish! But there are only a couple left and the tide is turning in the party's favour.

Giddy carefully backs out of melee, preparing to take a shot on a later round.

The first surviving sea spawn continues to pummel Captain Gerrer with fists and poisonous quills, and only Gerrer's Primal Rage keeps him upright long enough to retaliate.

Rrekk follows up with his slashing talons, and that fish falls dead.

The last remaining sea spawn punches Rory's armour a few times, and pokes him with its own quills, before deciding that the odds are not favourable. It runs back to the side of the ship and dives into the sea. Rory stabs it as it runs, but it keeps going.

With a sudden gasp, Thokk regains consciousness (nat-20 on a death save!). Quickly grasping the situation, they rush to the side of the ship and shoot an arrow into the disappearing sea spawn; before Rory charges past and leaps _into the water_ in pursuit!

There is a brief discussion of whether one can, in fact, swim in chain mail (an Athletics 20 suggests yes; the internet later backs this up) before Rory seriously wounds the spawn with his spear - the GM having to check whether "spear" is an acceptable water weapon.

Giddy, finally able to get a Clear Shot, finishes the sea spawn off with a grass-green Eldritch Blast. Its body sinks, and the surroundings are calm once more.

In the aftermath, Rory is hauled aboard. Giddy has stern words with Captain Gerrer, seeing as he warned the crew about sailing over the known sea-spawn beds literal moments before the attack.

Gerrer counters that he doesn't usually sail this way; he's had to take a direct but more dangerous route because Hornraven said the trip was time-sensitive! And also, he didn't know that the party could fight. But he takes the point that a few minutes' notice would have helped.

Rrekk dispenses a little healing to the Captain, and the voyage continues. Next day the weather is fair, and nothing attacks. Captain Gerrer approaches the party and presents them with the scabbard off his belt as thanks and apology.

It's magical, he says, but he never took the time to find out how. Rory takes it gratefully, and finds that it does indeed reshape itself to fit his scimitar. What else it does remains a mystery.

The third day is also fair and danger free, and brings us to the end of the session. I predict that next time, the party should make landfall in the icy wastes of old Aeor!

You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: https://typefully.com/chowlett09/yJEp39Z