D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 12 Season Finale

Another extended session at Tabletop Tyrants this week. We picked up where we left off last session.

• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Gadwin, half-elf paladin.
• Oliver – Ace Freehly, human cleric/bard/mage/druid.
• Heather – Reida, wood elf druid.
• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Tilly – Gummi, tiefling bard.

After the brutal beating they had taken at the hands of the Thayan undead the heroes limped their way back to the room with the cells, with the two elves taking turns keeping watch while their allies took a much-needed long rest. Thankfully by the time they were ready to continue reinforcements had arrived in the form of their cleric friend and a tiefling bard sent by Sir Isteval.

Returning to the chamber where they had faced the wight and dread warriors they were surprised to find no trace of the corpses but pushed on anyway, coming into the final chamber of the estates basement. The only other exits appeared to be a trio of strange portals on the walls. One side showing a hall with stone trees forming like pillars, the other side showing a field of fire with a river of lava flowing through it. The one on the wall opposite their entrance showed an arid desert and as they watched they could see a trio of figures in the distance. As they watched the figures appeared to jump closer and closer and they were able to identify them as more of the undead warriors they had fought the day before. The heroes took up positions in readiness for the dread warriors arrival, and when the undead stepped through into the chamber battle commenced.

As the two sides crossed blades it seemed the heroes would easily outmatch their foes, then fiery imp appeared beside Gadwin ineffectually attacking him with a tail stinger before being swatted to the floor. This wouldn’t have proved much of an additional threat, until an elf woman with glowing red eyes in green dragon leather armour appeared as she cast a fireball right into their midst, blasting the heroes with arcane flames.

Gedrick moved to engage her, finding that she was as adept with her blades as she was with her spells. Meanwhile the dread warriors had spread out so as to threaten more of the party too and very soon heroes were having to be revived with magical healing to stay in the fight.

It didn’t help matters when as the heroes scored a killing blow on the dread warriors they kept fighting, refusing to return to deaths embrace thanks to the dark necromantic magic that created them. And then the elf threw another fireball!

With the dread warriors finally beginning to fall the heroes turned their attention to the elf and Gadwin struck with smite empowered blow staggering her, realising that this was Shalendra, Ace was advocating trying to take her alive so as to get her back to her brother – unfortunately Gummi hadn’t heard and the tiefling stabbed his rapier in the elf’s side. The wound wasn’t particularly deep or deadly but the elf suddenly glowed red from some energy source inside and exploded!

All that remained was ash but with her death the protective wards dropped and Darfin was able to enact his magic and recall the heroes to the safety of Daggerford.

Time once again had beaten us and so we didn’t run the events in Daggerford, but our other table had taken care of that side. We were all impressed by how much was in the adventure as a whole but agreed that it felt way to much for a normal Encounters adventure. As it was we had to skip several quite large sections throughout the season to even attempt to finish on time so that we could take part with the launch event this weekend for Dead in Thay. Even running an extra hour to make our weekly sessions 3 hours long only gave us a little more lee-way.

Not that we didn’t enjoy it, that was probably the problem. We enjoyed it too much (spending so long in Julkoun and Harpshield), but I think the players wouldn’t have got as much enjoyment out of the games if we had rushed through them.

Looking ahead to the Launch Weekend (which at the time of writing this I have just returned from) despite having a hiccup in receiving the store code to download its going to be quite a baptism by fire for the heroes – kind of reminds of the scene in Winter Soldier in the elevator when Cap says “Before we begin, does anyone want to get out?” – but of course none of our heroic souls would do so, we’re heroes after all!

So a huge thank you to Tito Leati, Matt Sernett and Chris Sims for a great adventure and to my players for making such a thrill-ride to run.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 11

Another extended session at Tabletop Tyrants this week. No Tilly and Sunyi this week and Vipin had returned to DM his normal table, so down to 4 players this time with 3 of them running new characters (Oliver and Heather as their characters died, and Tanis wanted to change his too so we had said that Lan had headed off back to Waterdeep rather than Daggerford).

• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Gadwin, half-elf paladin.
• Oliver – Ace Freehly, human cleric/bard/mage/druid.
• Heather – Reida, wood elf druid.

Arriving back in Daggerford alone Gedrick headed for Sir Isteval’s to report on what had transpired at Harpshield Castle. There he met a trio of adventurers that had also answered the call and happily fell in with them. As they discussed recent events there was a loud knock at the door, followed by Jekk leading a very battered and dishevelled looking Darfin Floshin into the room.

The elf lord recovered enough to tell the group that his family home had fallen to the Red Wizards and their undead minions but he feared for his sister, Shalindra, safety. He had tried to enter the family estate only to have its protective wards turn upon him. While the heroes collected any necessary supplies around town, Isteval, Darfin and Jekk would consult with Delfen Yellowknife (the Dukes wizard).

A short time later Jekk caught up with the heroes and hurried them back. Darfin and Delfen had worked out a way of teleporting the heroes past the wards and into the basement of the estate, though it would not be without risk. Darfin told them that if his sister was able to she would have fled to the deepest chamber of the basement and secured herself within. If they could find her then her magic hopefully get them all out together, his only concern was that as the wards  had been turned against him something was terribly wrong – only a Floshin could change the protective spells.

The heroes agreed to go, and followed Delfen to his towers summoning chamber. The wizard performed the ritual he had created and with a stomach churning lurch they found themselves transported to the estates wine cellar. Once they gathered their wits and decided on a light source they began to explore the basement with Gedrick leading the way.

They found an abandoned workshop where someone had crafted a clay statuette of a demon stabbed by a sword, Gedrick recalled the legend of Dragonspear Castle and the slaying of a pit fiend to close the portal the forces of evil were pouring forth from.

The next two rooms proved to be store rooms, one of dry wood, the other having shelves of candles, sacks and soap. The next room had a trough of running water and shelves full of washing implements. As Gedrick looked in the water he saw a pair of gelatinous masses and gave one a poke with his sword. The masses morphed into anemone-like jellies and began squirting water at the ranger, though none hit. He stepped away and quickly realised they weren’t coming out of the trough after him so left them alone.

They heroes came to the raised stairwell landing and remembering Darfin’s words chose to explore further in the basement rather than head up into the manor proper. Heading west down the corridor they came across a wall mounted fountain in the shape of a leaping dolphin that had another of the jelly creatures in the water basin. This time the heroes decided to attack it, using blades and spells and eventually reduced it several smaller pieces which they could see were slowly dissolving into the water. Continuing west they came to a large kitchen, they checked the water basin but found no sign of more jelly creatures but they heard a low moaning coming from the smaller fireplace to the north. As Ace looked up the chimney he fell back in shock as a black shape flew out and attacked the party – they were able to identify their foe as a wraith and knew they needed magic to cause it serious harm. They were able to despatch the wraith but not before it had drained some life energy from Reida.

The next room they explored was a pantry stocked with several ceramic jars of pickles, honey and preserves. Ace, Gadwin and Gedrick chose to empty a couple of jars (which they then returned to the kitchen and rinsed clean in the water. The heroes then decided to head back the way they had come, Gadwin wanted to collect some of the quicklime they had found in the workshop, while Ace and Gedrick wanted to try and catch the jellies from the laundry trough, which they did reasonably easily.

Returning to the landing there was only one other way to go, north, so off they went. The corridor led into a room that looked like a barracks area with bunks and a weapons rack. As they entered some of the weapons began to move and attacked the heroes by some animated force. The heroes quickly dealt with the threat and then examined the remnants of the racks contents, finding a well used greataxe and set of scale mail which looked out of place amongst the usual elven fare of longswords and bows. Searching through the contents of a desk draw they found the torn out pages of a journal which upon reading they found was Shalindra’s – her comments told that she found herself having nightmares, then allowing the red wizards in and helping them alter the wards of the estate, all the while seeing herself do these things while having little-to-no control of her actions. The final entry stated that as she realised that she had become possessed by Baazka, the demon defeated when the portal in dragonspear castle was closed, so she was going to seal herself in the estates most secure chamber.

A side door led to a pair of cells, one of which had the body of a dead half-orc in it. Aware of the Red Wizards liking for undead the heroes took no chances and used sacred flame to immolate the body. Returning to the barracks Gadwin tried to kick the northern door open but as it opened in to the room all he managed to do was jam it into the frame. Ace tried using his druidic power in an effort to affect the wood of the door but all it did was burst into bloom. Gedrick used his thaumaturgy to create a screwdriver and managed to pry the door open allow the heroes to pass through.

The walls of the corridor beyond were carved to show a woodland scene and ended in a set of white marble doors. At the slightest touch they opened onto a circular chamber with a statue of an elf in centre. All the heroes except Gadwin had entered the room when the doors on the far side opened, causing their entrance to slam shut, leaving Gadwin alone in the corridor. But Ace, Reida and Gedrick didn’t have time to worry about their ally as a quartet of figures came in from the other doorway. Three of them looked like zombies in armour with wickedly sharp axes while the fourth they identified as an armoured wight, and they charged at the heroes.

Back in the corridor Gadwin was worrying as both doors had disappeared and the carved walls were beginning to close in! He tried bracing them using a spear which slowed them slightly but soon the spear began to bend. Gadwin cried out “I don’t believe I’m going to die like this” (at which point I had him roll a Wis save, which he passed) and suddenly found it all to be an illusion. Gathering his weapon back up he rushed to the circular room to help his companions.

The battle was brutal with all of the heroes being dropped unconscious at least once throughout it, as the zombie warriors proved quite vicious as well as refusing to stay down once “killed” (one of them we referred to as super nugget as he managed to get back to his feet several times before finally succumbing). By the time the last of the undead finally fell the heroes (and their healing capacities) were thoroughly exhausted.

And that was where we had to leave it as we had over-ran even our extended session time, playing for 3.5 hours. Even running the estate in an abridged form seems to have been too much to complete in a single session but hopefully we’ll be able to finish it and complete the finale next week. The players were discussing at the end of the session that they wanted to find somewhere to take a rest before venturing forth to the wherever the undead had come from, whether that’s a good idea in a structure overrun by evil wizards and their undead minions remains to be seen.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 10

Still at Harpshield Castle, we played another 3 hour session at Tabletop Tyrants this week. Tilly wasnt with us this week but Vipin rejoined for a session as his players couldn’t make it

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.
• Vipin – Traster, half-elf barbarian.

The heroes needed somewhere to rest so Kaemri and Lan crept up the stairs to the shaman’s chambers. There they found a pair of the larger orogs “playing” with a manacled half-elf. Despite their being surprised the orogs were able to fight the pair of rogues halfway down the stairs before finally being overcome. Satisfied that the way was now clear the whole party ascended (even leading Fudwick’s pony upstairs too) where the half-elf lurched forward only to be bashed by the heroes.

Lan and Gedrick volunteered to take watch as being elves they required less rest. The recovered half-elf kept talking to Lan, disturbing him and when even the threat of physical injury didn’t shut him up Kaemri knocked him unconscious. Lan spotted movement in the darkened courtyard and awoke Gedrick and Kaemri. None of them could see anything further from the arrow slits so carefully (as the stairway was pitch black in the night) descended to the tower entrance. As they got there they realised that the area was blanketed in silence, which masked the attack of a trio of zombies behind them (inside the tower!).

The zombies seemed more interested in reaching the top of the stairs and only attacked the heroes when they tried to get ahead of them but were quickly despatched (which had the added effect of ending the silence). Wanting to make sure there were no more undead heading their way they threw some burning oil flasks (and even fired a flaming arrow at the remaining tents) to illuminate the area, but no signs of further enemies could be seen.

The rest of the evening passed thankfully uneventfully, and in the light of morning they managed to talk to the half-elf, finding out he had been a caravan guard captured by the orcs and kept as a torture victim. Arming him with some of their spare weapons he accompanied the heroes. Kaemri and Lan pulled the rough wooden bed across the top of the stairway and rigged it with a spare crossbow and hammer trap so as to protect Fudwick’s pony while they returned to the catacombs to deal with the “pale one”. In the light of day they realised there was a trapdoor behind the stairs and that it led into a chamber Lan had previously discovered.

Descending carefully, they made their way back to the cells where they had left Half-pint’s corpse and the tiger. Both were missing and the floor was littered with bits of tiger flesh and fresh bloodstains leading east. Approaching the brazier lit room with caution they could see two pairs of stone sarcophagi on either side of the room but their focus was the pale, hunched figure seated at the far end pawing over something held in its hands. Before the creature even realised the heroes were there, they let fly with arrows and bolts and it slumped lifeless on its throne of bones and skulls, dropping what it had been holding onto the floor.

The heroes moved further into the chamber, with the injured half-elf hanging back with Lan to provide cover if necessary. Kaemri stepped toward the nearest sarcophagi to examine it. As the dragonborn reached the ancient carving all four of them exploded open in a cloud of stone shards as their occupants burst forth. Two of the figures were obviously once human, the third was Halfpint, but all three were clearly zombies as they shambled into combat. The fourth figure however was more imposing. A tall orc in armour with bone white skin crisscrossed by glowing red scars whose eyes glowed malevolently. This was obviously the “pale one”, and he tore into Gedrick with his vicious axe and his claw (choosing not to use his shield for defense). The zombies proved more of a distraction, disrupting the heroes attacks while the pale orc continued to assault them but thanks to the supporting fire of their comrades they were soon dealt with.

Kaemri tried to sneak in and strike the orc but misjudged it and actually hit Fudwick (with a crit no less!) and as he stood there in shock the orc turned his attention to the rogue. Its claw not only slashed the dragonborn’s scales but it’s very touch seemed to drain the life out of him and only a couple of such blows had the rogue lying lifeless. Seeing this Traster took off at a run, quickly followed (and overtaken) by Lan. This left Mal, Fudwick and Gedrick facing their opponent.The orc showed little sign of their attacks and as Fudwick dove to recover Kaemri’s magical hammer, Mal and Gedrick also turned tail and fled. The plucky gnome stood his ground, but with the orcs full focus now upon him the diminutive warrior soon fell to the flurry of blows (in the final round I managed to crit with the axe and hit with claw).

The remaining heroes regrouped at the tower to discover that Fudwicks pony had inadvertently triggered their traps while searching for food and lay dead, so they gathered their things and continued running as fast as they could back towards Daggerford.

Well we finally finished with Harpshield Castle, though not in the way the players had expected I’m sure. Five sessions and 12 gaming hours, I’m pretty sure if this was a home campaign it could have taken even longer with the survivors returning to seek revenge. As we only have two sessions left I’m going to have a discussion with our other DM and see that we all end up at the same point ready for Dead in Thay launch.

Speaking of which, our packs hadn’t arrived by the weekend but hopefully they will be in for collection this week. I read the preview on Dungeonsmaster.com and am really looking forward to it.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 9

This week at Tabletop Tyrants we had agreed to play for an extra hour in the hopes of finishing Harpshield Castle. I had a full team once again and we picked up where we left off last week with the tiger pouncing at Fudwick and Halfpint…

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.

The tigers roar reverberated throughout the dungeon complex but the gnome and halfling were more concerned with its wickedly sharp claws and teeth. At first it focused on the armoured gnome before it but when Halfpint stepped behind and slashed violently at its haunch he got the beasts attention. With a swipe of its massive paw it left the halfling gasping and bloody (down to 1hp in a single hit!) so while Fudwick pounded away on the tiger, Halfpint withdrew and tried to heal himself. The only healing he had available was the decanter from the previous treasure room so he took a deep drink. The familiar tingle of magic began coursing through his small frame but suddenly changed, leaving him wracked in agony – poison! As Fudwick landed a fatal blow on the tiger, Halfpint dropped lifelessly to the ground (Tilly had died 10 minutes into the session, but we had the playtest documents to hand so she set about creating her next character).

Meanwhile Lan and Kaemri explored the doors before them, finding they both led into what appeared to be an abandoned tavern room. It had two more doors leading from it but rather than explore further they decided to head and investigate the source of the roar, catching up with Mal and Gedrick as they went. As they passed the empty cells they noticed the eastern passageway looked to lead to a chamber partially lit with firelight but chose to ignore it in favour of discovering their companions fate.

Once the heroes had regrouped they examined the rest of the chambers treasure, Gedrick was able to detect magic upon the chainmail, shield and warhammer on the stands and while they took a short rest to help Fudwick recover a little they were able to identify the items and distributed them amongst the group.

The heroes decided to return to the tavern room and explore further from there, taking the door leading east into a short corridor and another door. Fudwick and Gedrick boldly opened it and entered the room beyond to find the floor strewn with debris, a stone stairway leading up choked with rubble, and a large spider crouching in the northeast corner. When the spider didn’t immediately attack, the ranger and gnome began to approach so as to investigate but before they could find out more Kaemri fired a bolt through its face. The heroes were a shocked when the head of the beast collapsed inwards revealing it was just a dried out husk. But not as shocked as when a quartet of purple scaled worms burst from the floor and attacked.

Lan took one look at the creatures and ran away to secure himself in the well room. While Fudwick and Gedrick battled the strange creatures in melee, Mal assisted with well placed blasts of holy fire and Kaemri used his favourite strike and fade routine. The worms were quickly despatched with very little damage being taken by the heroes. Once the sounds of combat had faded Lan returned to the disapproving looks of his companions.

A search of the room proved fruitless until Fudwick found a hidden door in the east wall, when they opened it they were hit with a blast of stale air but thankfully it had no detrimental effects. Moving in to the room beyond they found it was empty aside from a liberal layer of dust and some rubble from where part of the ceiling had collapsed some considerable time ago. A single door led east from the room. Kaemri used his mirror on a stick to peek beyond the door, finding it darkened, but then he realised it was due to a large heavy covering hanging behind the door and could make out that the room beyond was lit by  firelight.

Forging ahead they found the room beyond to be lit by a brazier in each corner, with a pair of bookcases against the east wall, a desk against the north and a peculiar archway on the south wall that opened onto the blank wall behind. Gedrick stepped forward to examine the curious stonework and it began to fill with swirling shadowy-stuff which then leapt out at the ranger, forming into a pair of shadow creatures.

One of the shadows continued to strike at Gedrick while the other seemed drawn to Mal, possibly sensing his link to his god. As their attacks seemed to be less effective, Kaemri, Lan and Fudwick began bashing at the carved arch in hopes of collapsing it. Eventually the ranger and cleric were able to destroy one of the fiends and as the other heroes caused enough damage to the arch to disrupt its link to the plane of shadow just as the final foe was destroyed. Examining the  books and scrolls caused them to crumble into useless dust.

The heroes decided to regroup back at the barracks room but firstly Fudwick and Kaemri wanted to check on the condition of Fudwicks pony back in the orc tent. They made their way to the well room and Kaemri threw his grappling hook up towards the top, though his first attempt almost came back down on his own head. His second throw sailed up and caught securely. The dragonborn clambered swiftly up and as he approached the lip of the well the light become blocked out, looking up he saw the hulking mass off an ogre – just before it smashed a huge club into the stonework, dislodging the grappling hook and sending Kaemri tumbling. Luckily Fudwick was able to pull the falling rogue to safety and as the bleat of a warning horn from above rang out they swiftly returned to their companions.

Rushing back above aground to the courtyard they found the ogre guarding the entrance to the tower, a one-eyed orc skulked behind it. Kaemri bolted the ogre, receiving a powerful icy ray from the orc in return. Fudwick charged forward to engage the huge brute, trading blows as Gedrick joined them. Lan and Mal used their ranged attacks to support their comrades. The orc shaman struck the gnome down with an Inflict Wounds spell, dropping the feisty barbarian to the ground, he tried the same with Gedrick but his new shield helped him to shrug the attack off. The heroes continued to focus upon the brutish ogre and as it fell to their combined assault it landed upon the unconscious gnome!

With everyone shifting their focus to the shaman Mal rushed forward to use healing magic upon the stricken gnome, reviving the diminutive warrior just in time to see the orc fall. Still worried about his pony Fudwick ran back to the tent, happily relieved to find his trusty steed where he left it while his allies picked over the bodies of the ogre and shaman.

And that’s where we had to call it for this week. This had been the fourth session and a total of 9 hours of game play in Harpshield Castle, so hopefully we can (finally) complete it next week with another extended session as we only have 3 sessions left for this season.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 8

We only had my table this week at Tabletop Tyrants as most players on the second table had real-life commitments to deal with. I had a full team once again.

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.

Having spent a short rest to prepare themselves the heroes decided to let the rogues scout the best approach to the castle proper. With the steepness of the hill the only practical approach would be the main path but they hugged the  hillside were able to see that the main wall was patrolled by a pair of orcs while another pair were stationed on the arched gateway. Returning to their comrades they decide to try and hug the eastern wall and sneak in through the collapsed section.

The plan worked reasonably well, with Fudwick even managing to guide his mount over the rubble into the courtyard, that is until Gedrick cam across last. Misplacing his feet and tumbling down the loose stones to the path below and alerting the pair of orcs on the archway. They threw javelins at him but missed and blew an alarm on their horn.

The rest of the heroes spotted a handful of orcs rushing out of the ramshackle tents in the courtyard and cutting a slash in the back of the nearest large tent managed to sneak inside before being seen. The orcs rushed to the opening and began pursuing Gedrick who led them back down the hill towards the campsite. Once there he tried to distract them with his prestidigitation created images but they ignored them and skewered him with javelins (out of 5 shots I scored 3 hits and a crit, giving him 25 damage!) before he made it to the woods beyond and once again used his cantrip to make the sounds of an approaching sizable force. The orcs began to return to the castle.

Meanwhile back in the courtyard Kaemri used his skills to sniper an orc sentry, the bolt going through the beast throat and pinning it into place where it stood so that it still looked to be on guard. The heroes then use their ranged attacks to take out the pair or patrolling orcs on the curtain wall with quiet ease. Leaving Fudwicks mount in the tent they then head through what looked to have been an armoury, taking the remaining halberd, short swords, longsword and flail before ambushing the pair of orcs on the arch. They propped the dead orcs up against the wall to make them appear still at their posts. As they did so they heard grunting noises coming from the door at the far end. Preparing their weapons, Fudwick pulled the door open and the heroes let loose, quickly slaughtering the large orc and his quartet of pigs within the room.

By now the remaining orcs that had chased Gedrick were approaching the castle and the heroes on the archway peppered them with missile fire easily taking them out before they even got within range of returning fire. Gedrick collected up the spent ammunition and returned it to his comrades as they met up back in the courtyard.

They quickly decide to head into the northern buildings, through the defaced entry hall and into what looked to be a communal eating area. A search amongst the build up of refuse revealed a trapdoor in the floor and after checking it wasnt trapped the heroes descended.

The trapdoor led onto a narrow steeply descending staircase, beyond which they could see it opened into a chamber apparently lit by firelight. Kaemri peeked cautiously into the chamber and discovered the sleeping forms of a pair of the larger orcs. Using his stealth he snuck forward and killed them without waking them. The rest of the party joined him in the room as they planned their next move.

There were there darkened corridors leading out of the room, east, south and west, and the trio of rogues decided to scout one each, Lan heading east, Kaemri south, and Halfpint (accompanied by Fudwick) west.

Halfpint and Kaemri used a lit oil soaked rag in an empty potion bottle as a temporary light source while Lan used one of his candles. The elf skulked along the darkened corridor passing an opening to his right before his path turned north and ended in a door. It took him a couple of attempts but he managed to unlock it and passed into the room beyond. A thick central pillar dominated the room with a large coil of rope around it but nothing else caught his attention so he returned to the south opening. This led down to another door.

Kaemri glided down the south tunnel finding a door a short ways in. He couldn’t find any traps on it and pulled it open. The smell that assaulted him was horrible, fetid and decayed refuse as well as a hacked elven corpse. Even after he had pushed the door closed he felt nauseated. Continuing south he came to a junction, the way south blocked by an orc built barricade but another corridor led eastward. Rather than clamber over the barricade he turned east soon finding a pair of double doors to his right. A brief examination revealed dim sunlight and the smell of fresh air and water (which thankfully cleared his head of the previous stench), but he continued down the corridor until it ended in a door.

The halfling and gnome headed west but the corridor soon turned south, eventually opening into a chamber whose western half had been made into a pair of cells complete with shackles and manacles chained to the walls. Both cells were open and empty. Two exits led from the chamber, a corridor leading east and a stairway descending south. The pair of heroes took the stairs and found themselves in a largish chamber with several broken and empty crates, barrels and boxes. Another set of stairs led up and out to the east but as they searched through the debris they discovered a movable section of the western wall. Once they had convinced themselves it wasnt trapped they pushed through into a narrow corridor which led into a hidden chamber.

The chamber has several niches and alcoves lining its walls and a stairway leading up to the north but it was choked with rubble. Nothing of note took the heroes attention so they took the passage at the far end to the north and discovered another chamber. This one certainly had something worth looking at, at its center sat a large open chest filled with shining coins and a crystal decanter sitting proudly on their top. Halfpint and Fudwick cautiously checked for any sign of traps and finding none they examined the loot. The decanter was labeled “Healing” and looked to contain the equivalent of about four potions worth of liquid while the chest was filled with silver and copper coins. Just to be safe the pair searched the room for any hidden compartments and found another sliding wall panel leading north.

Passing through they found a larger chamber, this one had a pair of smaller closed chests, a trio of display stands holding a suit of chainmail, a warhammer and a shield, a trio of large clay urns and a wooden bench with a life-sized golden statuette of a cat sitting on it.

Opening the first chest the diminutive heroes found electrum and silver coins, the second chest yielded gold coins and an abundance of red gems which Fudwick identified as Bloodstones.

Turning their attention to the statuette they checked for traps,careful not to actually touch the bench or cat. Satisfied that there were none, Fudwick picked it up to appraise it…..

… the statuette shattered as the cat sprang forth, growing as it did so into a large snarling tiger!

Halfpint and Fudwick quickly grabbed their weapons…..

 

 

And as they rolled for initiative I ended the session (we had overrun by about 15 minutes anyway but what a cliffhanger). It was quite coincidental that both of our female players (both playing male small race characters) chose to head off together, will it spell their doom?  A really fun session with some great moments and excellent player interaction, I really liked their idea to use the burning rags as small light sources for sneaking around rather than the very bright coins with a light spell on them, certainly shows they’re thinking tactically.

So next week we’ll begin with the pouncing tiger, I had pre-rolled initiatives for all the monster left in the castle and comparing  it to the rolls Tilly and Heather made (and I noted down) it’s certainly going to be a bloody beginning 🙂

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 7

Another full table this week for me down at Tabletop Tyrants. 

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.

After a brief recap we picked up at the point we left it last week and a call for initiative…

The remaining orcs of the camp, led by a large built specimen, each grasped their wicked axes eagerly. Halfpint considered charging through the throng to attack the leader but (wisely) decided just to spring at the nearest orc, stabbing with his blades before neatly sidestepping away.

A pair of orcs tried to hack at Kaemri, the first missed while the second almost gutted the dragonborn (a crit which reduced the pc to 1 hp!), while the rest engaged the rest of the party (apart from Lan who was still up a tree providing covering fire).

The fight was vicious, and despite the rogues using their cunning actions to disengage their opponents were quick to follow and gave no respite in their brutal assaults. By the time the heroes had slain the last of the dozen orcs both rogues and Fudwicks mount had been knocked unconscious (twice in Halfpints case) and had to rely on Mal’s healing spells and their potions to survive. As they began to catch their breath they realised that a quartet of more orcs were approaching from the northern camp, possibly to investigate the noise of combat. Still weakened, Halfpint led Fudwicks healed horse into the cover of trees while the rest of the party ducked into the tents of the orc camp so as to ambush the newcomers.

Fudwick used his illusion to produce an image of an elven wizard with a pile of gold. Two of the orcs immediately headed for it but the other two seemed to sense something was a little off. Both the dragonborns let loose with their breath weapons, quickly  destroying the two fooled by the illusion, while Gedrick and Fudwick charged the others.

The party slew one of the orcs and knocked the last one out, wanting to interrogate it regards the other camp and castles defenses. Kaemri proved decidedly adept at the task with Gedrick translating the orcs foul tongue. While this went on Lan descended his perch and had a search amongst the orcs belongings finding a few caches of coins.

The orc revealed that only four more orcs remained at the other camp, probably still sleeping, but many were in the castle under the command of the White One, along with his magician Sezibul and her pet Lutha who the orcs described as a great lumbering beast. Once they realised the orc had nothing else to add they put the beast down permanently.

Kaemri and Lan, using the base of the hill for as much cover from prying eyes as possible, snuck across to the other encampment finding two tents occupied by a pair of sleeping orcs each while the remaining two were empty. Kaemri was able touse his assassination skills to quickly and quietly despatch the sleeping orcs. The pair of rogues then searched the camp finding a small chest of coins and stone ring marked with dwarven symbols, before returning to their companions and preparing to head up and investigate the castle ruins themselves.

First off, my apologies for the lateness of this post. Unfortunately a couple of days of being under the weather, followed by yesterday being out at my hometown’s Star Trek First Contact Day event meant I had neither the time nor impetus to do a write-up, but better late than never.

While it didn’t seem like we’d got through a lot this week the session still took a little over the usual two hours. The main fight took longer than expected mainly due to my having good dice rolls and the players having difficulty in hitting back (for a change).

I didn’t use a battlemat after all this session, mainly because I hadn’t had time to prepare one, but I think the theatre of the mind style we’ve been using is working well with the group.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 6

A full table this week for me down at Tabletop Tyrants, while our 2nd table was missing a body. 

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.

Meeting up with Darfin Floshin the party begin heading north along the trade road, passing the few refugees still heading in to Daggerford. After a couple of hours travel they notice smoke coming from a farm building about half a mile off to the west, and despite Floshin insisting that it wasnt their business the heroes decide to investigate.

They approach to find a large barn with a stack of hay bails out front that have been set alight. Fudwick and Gedrick both identify recent tracks in the area as belonging to Gnolls and being only a couple of hours old.

Lan and Kaemri approach the barn, its door slightly ajar, brushing aside the cloud of buzzing insects to peer inside. Even with the poorly lit interior they could see the four bodies hanging from the rafters and once they were sure nothing lurked within the whole group entered.

The bodies looked to be a farmer and his family (wife and two teenage daughters) and all showed signs of being brutally hacked with bladed weapons before being left dangling on their ropes. Halfpint and Kaemri climbed up and cut them loose while Gedrick looked for further clues within the barn. He found a concealed trap door and called the others over. The rogues determined that it wasnt trapped and Fudwick tugged it open, as he did so he noticed movement within and dropped the lid back down, stepping back and holding his morning star at the ready. Cautiously they re-opened the trapdoor and revealed a small boy of three-four years old cowering in the shallow cubby hole. After assuring him they were here to help the discover his name is Bruce and he had been playing hide and seek with his sisters while their parents bailed the hay when the dog-men had attacked. They asked if he had any other family nearby and he told them he had an aunt and uncle on another farm about five miles away. The heroes wanted to take him there but Floshin insisted that they couldn’t spare the time and instead offered to take the boy to his estate and arrange transport for him from there. They agreed on the compromise and Mal said a prayer while they used the burning hay to cremate the corpses.

Carrying on back up the road they come across what looks like a group of large dogs lurking in the bushes ahead, they quickly realise that it’s a gnoll ambush and despite approaching with caution the gnolls open fire with their bows. One arrow strikes true at Floshin but is stopped by a magical barrier before it pierces the elf lord. Bruce isnt lucky enough to have such protection though and an arrow strikes through his little frame, he’s dead before he hits the floor. The heroes rapidly close with the gnolls as Lan provides covering fire from a vantage point up a tree. Fudwick, angered that the enemy had dared try and shoot his pony, charged his mount forward and leaped off at the last-minute to stab his helmet spike into a foe. The gnolls fought with such ferocity that even as they died they struck out at their slayers, but the heroes were angry over the death of Bruce and quickly stood triumphant.

Not wanting to leave the boy’s body with gnolls, Floshin took it with him vowing to see it returned to his family as originally planned. When they reached the point where Floshin needed to separate he offered the heroes a map of the ruins of Harpshield Castle and advised them to check that out first. Taking Bruce’s remains he bid them farewell and good fortune.

The heroes continued up the trade road until the light began to fade then chose a camp site off the road where they could still keep an eye out for trouble. Gedrick and Lan volunteered to split the watch, needing only minimal sleep thanks to their elven blood, with Gedrick taking first watch.

It was barely an hour after his companions had settled down that Gedrick spotted a handful of figures walking south along the road. As they got closer he could hear them speaking orcish and identified them as an orc patrol. Quietly he roused his allies, but the orcs hadn’t noticed them and passed on by. The heroes decided to leave the orcs be and settled back down, the rest of the night proving uneventful.

Next morning they continued north and as they neared the end of the woods that would give way to the hill upon which Harpshield stood they spied a lone orc stood facing a tree unaware of their approach. As the others advanced with caution Gedrick strode forward and greeted the orc in orcish, this obviously surprised it as it turned to see the newcomer while still relieving itself (Gedrick managed to step back before getting “splashed”) and began screaming “Argh! Elf!” but before its shouts could alert any others nearby Kaemri surged forward and smashed the orc in the head with his warhammer, knocking its head clear off its shoulders (using his assassinate ability and scoring enough damage to kill it outright, twice!).

The party spied the tents of an orc camp through the trees and Fudwick used his illusion cantrip to recreate the scene of the sentry’s demise on the far side of the camp and distract the handful of orcs milling around. This allowed Kaemri and Lan to kill another pair before they realised what was happening. As the remaining orcs grabbed weapons, the heroes charged into the camp.

And that was where we left it for the evening, time having defeated us once again but we’ll begin the next session with the initiative rolls. With attacks on the orcs being such a surprise (and the resulting damage being enough to easily kill in one go) they didn’t get a chance to use their Relentless ability, and earlier I had forgotten the gnolls blood frenzy until the third one died. Oh well it didn’t alter the fun of the session and to me that’s the main goal.

Looking forward to next week I think I might have a tactical map for the orc camp, re-using one of my pre-drawn ones from another campaign (or maybe digging out my wilderness dungeon tiles set, we’ll see), before they continue on to the castle ruins themselves.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 5

This week at Tabletop Tyrants we had our regular 2 tables, my group consisted of

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.

Arriving back in Daggerford the heroes found that most residents were surprised to see them alive as after receiving the homing pigeon scouts had been despatched to Julkoun only to find it abandoned with goblinoid heads on spikes set up to look like defenders. The heroes were also glad to hear that Sir Isteval had returned in their absence and Jekk advised them to pay the paladin a visit before heading back out.

Before they did so they visited Sherlen Miller and the temple of Chauntea to receive the promised rewards and report their findings. While at the militia they asked as to the whereabouts of Alven Gissen, as he seemed to be the last person to actually see the real Delimbyr Bloke. Apparently Alven had been missing for three days, last seen having a meal with a female companion, and his house showed no signs of trouble.

The heroes decided to relax at one of the towns taverns and chose the halfling ran Happy Cow, partaking in the house special wine (which Gedrick got quite intoxicated on) and a sampling of some Luirian Cheeeese (the halfling patrons loved it but the heroes thought it tasted like old socks).

Their enquiries uncovered that Alven’s companion had also been previously linked with the dead guard Grengel, and was now reported to have caught the eye of the Duke himself. Quite popular for a simple serving girl on the Dukes staff. Kaemri headed up to the Dukes residence to question the girl but was told she was busy and made arrangements to have her meet him at the Happy Cow the following day. Lan and Gedrick returned to Sherlen and asked if they could examine Alven’s house, which she allowed under escort.

Nothing in the house seemed out of place, the bed was made and everything was tidy but a thorough search revealed a hidden compartment in the chimney place that contained a fur trimmed pouch. Inside the pouch was a jewelled necklace that appeared to have a self-cleaning spell upon it.

Later that evening Lan decides to visit the Dukes home via a window, easily climbing to the upper floor and bypassing the simple lock. However once inside the bedchamber he began to feel a tingling sensation in his hands which quickly spread up his arms. recalling that the Duke had a wizard on staff he decided to withdraw – quickly, but as he returned to try and scale the palisade it gave him an electrical jolt when he touched it. In an effort to remain undetected he hid in nearby bushes hoping the tingling would fade. It didn’t, and he soon became aware of a figure standing close behind him. The Dukes wizard had found him, but simply asked he pay to repair the window and promise to visit Sir Isteval as soon as possible, when Lan agreed they shook hands and the tingling stopped. Lan returned to his companions and told them what had occurred.

Next morning the heroes visited Sir Isteval, finding him in conversation with a pair of elves who he introduced as Darfin Floshin and Kelson Darktreader. Kelson revealed a gnoll’s head he had recovered, explaining that while gnolls were common in the area the ones carrying out the raids appeared to be of Thayan origin and were reported as being in the vicinity of the Ardeep Forest. Darfin reported that orcs had been seen near the ruins of Harpshield Castle as they attacked passing caravans. The heroes were going to head to north to investigate and Darfin offered to accompany them part way as he returned to his family’s estate en route, after agreeing to meet up next morning the heroes headed back to the Happy Cow.

Drinking more moderately this time they were soon joined by a pair of serving girls from the Castle, one of which had been Alven’s dinner date. Brief questioning revealed that she had indeed had several meals and drinks with the sculptor and on the evening of his disappearance he’d left her saying he had a special gift for her, but she hadn’t seen him since. With no other information to impart the girls returned to the castle. While at the Happy Cow, Kaemri noticed that the bar staff were passing the takings down through a hole in the floor, but said no more of it.

The heroes spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the weaponsmith to commission improved weaponry, and then visiting Delfen Yellowknife (the Dukes wizard) to enquire as to the possibility of getting the weapons enchanted at some point.

That evening Kaemri returned under cover of darkness to the now closed Happy Cow and tried to access the lower chamber to see where the money was being sent, but before he could access the very well secured chamber he noticed a crossbow armed halfling approaching and decided to withdraw and rest in preparation of the upcoming journey.

And that was were we left it for this session. Not an overly action-packed one compared to the last few weeks but great fun all the same, particularly as Lan declined Kaemri’s invitation to the nocturnal visit to the Happy Cow.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 4

This week at Tabletop Tyrants although we were back to our two tables I had two new players joining us, this would be not only their first time at Encounters but first game of D&D ever, a real baptism of fire.

The party consists of:-

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.
• Oliver – Kaemri, dragonborn rogue.
• Heather – Fudwick, gnome barbarian.

As the other heroes recovered their gear and donned their armour, Lan heard noises of mailed feet approaching the door to east and tried to shove the shelves beside the door across to block any entrance. His first attempt proved fruitless, so trying once more he felt a satisfying give – and then realised the entire unit was falling towards him (rolled a 1 on his Str check). Although his natural elven agility let him jump easily out of harms way the resulting crash of the shelf unit sounded as loud as a thunder-clap. Mal heard the beginnings of mystical chanting coming from the behind the west door and conjured a globe of silence in front of the door.

As the doors burst open the heroes could see a trio of duergar in the corridors each side. Harrold sprinted forward and stabbed at the leading dwarf in the east doorway bloodying the dour-faced warrior (a crit!) before using her cunning action to disengage to safety. Lan fired his bow at the dwarf overseer in his platemail behind the warriors but the shot glanced off the armour.

Remembering how much the light affected them previously, Mal summoned his magic and made Fudwick’s spikey helmet glow like the sun, just in time for the diminutive warrior to charge at the bloodied dwarf with his weapon swinging.

The dwarves in the east corridor surged into the silence aura and engaged Lan and Gedrick as the robed figure behind them threw a small ceramic globe across the room at the gnome. It fell short and as it broke open on the floor the contents were revealed to be a stone with a darkness spell cast upon it, which negated the glow on the gnomes helmet.

The dwarves respite from the eye-stinging brightness didn’t last however as Mal chose to cast another Light spell on the table in the center of the room, under which Harrold was hiding. Kaemri kept jumping down from the safety of the bunk beds to strike at the dwarf fighting Gedrick before retreating once again to his vantage point.

The robed duergar moved into a viable position now that the silence had dispelled and unleashed a fan of flames with his burning hands spell, luckily Lan, Gedrick and Harrold were able to avoid the worst of it.

Fudwick continued to trade blows with overseer having dispatched the warriors, and despite taking several vicious blows from the dwarf’s weapons eventually slew the armoured warrior.

The remaining heroes then focused on the sole duergar, the robed one, and although his magic protected him briefly he soon fell under their combined assault.

Their foes defeated the heroes needed to rest and recover, with the rogues working together to secure the doors and taking turns to sit watch they bunked down.

Their rest was undisturbed and then they decided to explore where the robed duergar had come from, following the corridor to his chamber and discovering the tortured form of Jekk Ironfist manacled to the wall.

Before tending his wounds and releasing him the heroes were more interested in the large chest beside the bed, finding the dwarf’s spellbook and treasure as well as Jekk’s plaster copy of the Delimbyr Bloke.

Once Jekk had recovered enough they gave him his armour and weapon back and he implored the heroes to accompany him back to Daggerford and inform Sir Isteval of what had occurred.

Returning to the chamber with the prisoners the heroes led them along the cart tracks until they came to a chamber with a strange machine beside the tracks which continued up a steeply rising tunnel. The party examined the machine and realised it could be used to activate the sloping tracks to raise loaded carts to the upper halls. While the heroes clambered aboard Lan pulled the lever and the cart lurched upwards with the former prisoners following in foot.

The cart finally came to a halt in an upper chamber beside a similar machine and as the party waited for the prisoners to catch up they caught the scent of fresh air tinged with something else coming from the corridor leading east. They realised the strange smell was that of decaying flesh but still heading towards it with the promise of fresh air and a possible exit.

As they headed down the corridor Gedrick felt the floor under his foot sink slightly and managed to stop before he lifted his foot off, while Lan and Kaemri examined the pressure plate he’d stood on, Mal urged the prisoners to hurry past just in case. The pair of rogues were able to detect that letting the plate rise would activate a mechanism of some sort and so used their skills to jam it, just as the screams of the prisoners further down the corridor began.

The heroes rushed forward to find several dead prisoners lying on the floor of the next chamber and bloody footprints leading onwards. A quick examination showed the prisoners were being pursued by armoured feet, probably more duergar, and so they charged to catch up.

They caught up in the next chamber as a pair of duergar warriors were laying in to the remaining prisoners whose screams had covered the heroes approach and so they blasted into the surprised dwarves and slew them. Out of the twenty or so prisoners only three remained alive. The source of the fresh air was revealed to be a door leading outside that hadn’t been quite shut and as the heroes led the way out cautiously they fund the source of the decaying scent too, a mass grave of bodies in various states of decomposition, former prisoners.

Getting their bearings, Jekk was confident that he could guide the party back to Daggerford and so they journeyed towards the relative safety of the town.

With time just about up, we called it there. The heroes will be meeting with Sir Isteval and the authorities to let them know what they and Jekk had found out and discuss the way forward.

D&DEnc 17 – Scourge of the Sword Coast – Session 3

This week at Tabletop Tyrants we were down to a single table as our 2nd DM, Liam, was unavailable. I gave his group the option of joining our table for the evening using their pc’s as other prisoners alongside my regular group.

The party consists of:-

• Sunyi – Mal, dragonborn cleric (Light domain).
• Adam – Gedrick Gladomain, high elf ranger.
• Tanis – Langar ‘Lan’ Shadowweaver, wood elf rogue.
• Tilly – Harrold ‘the halfpint’ Hopson, halfling rogue.
• Hannah – unnamed prisoner, bard.
• Richard – unnamed prisoner, monk.
• Shane – unnamed prisoner, bard.

The heroes faded in and out of consciousness as burly hobgoblins transported them, finally coming around to find themselves stripped of armour and gear and placed in dark stone cells. Cells was a generous term, being little more than a pit in a cavern floor with a padlocked grate over the top. Luckily Harrold had managed to secrete a set of his lockpicks about his person and between him and Lan were able to open their padlock and the adjoining cell’s to release their companions and a trio of prisoners from Julkoun. Grabbing some of the discarded mining tools as makeshift weapons they awaited the returning patrol of guards (I foolishly said they were “standing in the dark grasping their tools” which elicited several chortles), the pair of grey skinned dwarves were quite surprised to find armed prisoners waiting for them and despite being better armed and armoured were soon laying dead on the floor.

Moving on they entered another natural chamber, as they had several members that couldn’t see in the dark the monk asked Mal to cast Light on his hands (earning him the name Mr Glow-stick) and decided to continue down the worked tunnel in search of their missing equipment.

Entering the room beyond the door they found stores of preserved foods and a large barrel of strong ale which some of the heroes recognised as having the symbol of Firehammer Hold emblazoned on. Some of the party tried the ale while all took advantage of the readily available food. Sated, they moved on into the corridor beyond and come to a door leading south. Exploring they discover a long abandoned workroom and quickly continue into another chamber beyond, finding this one also having been left to ruin but having an old forge taking up most of one wall. Mal used his searing light to reignite the forge while the rest of the party discussed their next move and agreed to return to the natural caverns and try to find the guards barracks (and hopefully their equipment).

Going north from the chamber they discover a pair of grey dwarves tending to a pair of spiders the size of ponies. At the approach of Mr Glow-stick the spiders withdrew into their tunnel and the heroes were able to despatch the dwarves. Gedrick approached the spiders with some food (the deceased dwarves) and left them confident that they posed no threat to the heroes.

Following the tunnel as it turned east they entered a wider chamber where more of the Julkoun prisoners had been made to mine. However, the prisoners all now were prostrated on the chamber floor, and as Mr Glow-stick led the way in he realised that more of the armoured dwarves were skulking in a side corridor.

Charging the dwarves revealed there to be three of them, two in the now familiar garb of the guards and a third in plate armour. As the heroes attacked the dwarves began to shake and swell, growing in size until they were as tall as a human warrior. Thankfully Mr Glow-sticks glowing hands were proving to be off-putting to the dwarves, but hen their weapons did find their mark they hit with supernaturally enhanced strength. While the rest of the heroes engaged the dwarves, Lan, Mal and Harrold dodged past and unlocked the door beyond.

The chamber was indeed the barracks room of the dwarves, though surprisingly uninhabited. The heroes didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly found their gear along with a set of strikingly familiar gold-green studded dragon leather armour. Confident their allies were handling the dwarves the trio took the time to don their gear and arm themselves with their favoured weapons before helping to finish off the plate armoured dwarf and the remaining heroes retrieved their gear.

At this point time had beaten us and so we left it there. It’s definitely harder to maintain a good flow with a larger group in store as noise and available space can be an issue but hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves. I’m hoping that Liam will be able to rejoin us from next week as there are another possible four players coming to join in, bringing us up to twelve players. We shall have to see.

I had originally planned on having the pc’s begin this session on half Hp and no gear but decided to just have them begin with no gear and instead gave all enemies maximum available Hp each given the larger group. Most of the pc’s spent the session without armour (Hannah and Adam stole some chain from dead dwarves) and using improvised weapons which I said cold be used one-handed (D4 damage) or two-handed (D6 damage) and as spellcasters hadn’t had access to their equipment I restricted them to cantrips only.