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The Caveat:
This is a campaign I am running for my children, Hermione (8) and Teensy Valeros (6), and my husband. We started them on Pathfinder two years ago (which was my first foray into GMing as well), and if you’re interested in how little kids learn to game, you can read our adventures through the Beginner Box, some homebrew adventures around Sandpoint, and Book 1 of Legacy of fire, HERE.
This being our gaming group, this is not the same campaign I would run for teens or adults. It all started back in January, when I was at the seafood counter in Central Market with the kids, buying some salmon for our Burns Night dinner. Hermione looked at the tank of live lobsters and asked,
“Mama, can we buy a lobster?”
“No,” I said. “First of all, you can’t buy just one, you need to buy one for every person having dinner, and they’re expensive. Second, you cook them by dropping them into the pot of boiling water while they’re still alive, and while I love to *eat* lobster, I don’t have the stomach to cook them.”
Hermione gave me a horror-stricken look. “NO! I don’t want to cook them and eat them! I just want ONE, to keep in my room in a tank. As a pet.”
To which the answer was still no.
A few months later, we were at the children’s aquarium in Fair Park for a classmate’s birthday party. I found Hermione staring into the lobster tank in the aquarium. She said, “You know what would be awesome? To play a Pathfinder game that was totally underwater, and to have a character that rides on a giant lobster that can fight. “
“A dire lobster?”
“YES! A dire lobster animal companion.”
And since Ruins of Azlant was the most easily adaptable AP, I decided to start in the underwater section of Book 3, The Flooded Cathedral, which meant starting the PCs at ninth level.
The PCs:
Arwen, a Sea Elf Ranger (played by Hermione), whose animal companion is
Fluffy, the Dire Lobster.
(Building these characters with the Hero Labs software required a lot of kluging and a lot of “yeah, we’re just gonna call it that.” Fluffy is actually build on a Shark animal companion, and the “Bite” attack is really the combined force and damage of two massive lobster claws.)
Before I’d started reading the Azlant AP and Cerulean Seas, I’d decided that Arwen would be the potions maker of the group, and as an undersea Ranger, she had studied undersea herbology. The various potions are represented by doses (by size of a rolled preparation) of different types of underwater plants, and the time it takes to craft a potion is represented by the time it takes to locate, harvest, and prepare the plants. Think “gillyweed” from Harry Potter 4.
She had been hearing worrisome rumors of a great evil that had awakened in the sunken temple of Amaznen, and felt it her duty to find this temple and investigate the rumors. Before going, she went to find her good friend…
Bruce, a Selkie whose land form is dwarf, not human, and whose undersea form is elephant seal. His personality is akin to “Badger” from Wind in the Willows.
Bruce is a multiclass Sorcerer 6 / Fighter 3.
Bruce is where we get a little mystical.
Have you read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods?
He was looking at Mr. Nancy, an old black man with a pencil moustache, in his check sports jacket and his lemon-yellow gloves, riding a carousel lion as it rose and lowered, high in the air; and, at the same time, in the same place, he saw a jeweled spider as high as a horse, its eyes an emerald nebula, strutting, staring down at him; and simultaneously he was looking at an extraordinarily tall man with teak-colored skin and three sets of arms, wearing a flowing ostrich-feather headdress, his face painted with red stripes, riding an irritated golden lion, two of his six hands holding on tightly to the beast's mane; and he was also seeing a young black boy, dressed in rags, his left foot all swollen and crawling with black flies; and last of all, and behind all these things, Shadow was looking at a tiny brown spider, hiding under a withered ochre leaf.
So, yeah. Bruce is an elephant seal swimming along beside you with a head-axe strapped onto his head. And he is also this stocky dwarf swimming along beside you, bubbles in his flowing beard, holding a Greatspear of the Selkie and kicking legs as big around as cabers and speaking to you telepathically in a Scottish accent. Think of transparencies overlaid, or those souvenir books of ruins that show you the contemporary photograph with an artist’s rendering of what it looked like two thousand years ago or more. And then remember we’re running this campaign for kids, not for grown-up and “serious” gamers.
We don’t know much about Bruce’s backstory because he doesn’t tell anyone anything much. Arwen doesn’t know exactly where he is, she just knows kind of generally where to look for him, and he, for reasons that make sense only to him, is fond of her. When Arwen went to visit Bruce to tell him of her plan to find and investigate the temple of Amaznen, he told her, “You’ll nae be goin’ alone, lass, Ranger or no.”
Super Sonic Swimmer Boy (known as S Cubed B), a half-elf (sea) Cleric of Elion. He is played by Teensy Valeros. He was the only land-based PC at the start of our campaign.
As a Cleric of the lost god Elion, he has been sent by his (whatever the higher-ups in the clerical hierarchy of Elion are called) to go to an island called Zanas-Tahn, where colonists have been vanishing. As Elion was the Azlanti god of exploration and discovery, when Azlant fell into the depths of the sea, it was the followers of Elion who were instrumental in aiding the survivors to settle elsewhere. Now, SSSB has been told that the mystery of the missing colonists may be bound up in the past--and present--of the sunken continent. After travelling to Zanas-Tahn, he assisted a party of their bravest adventurers to explore the old watchtower and caverns on the island. He discovered clockwork archers made of wood, a mysterious astronomical laboratory that was haunted by the ghost of the astronomer who foretold Earthfell, clockwork bees, and a ruined temple. Making his way down through the layers of the temple, the party came to a section where only those who could safely travel underwater could go. SSSB’s landbound comrades swore to wait for him until he either returned with the missing colonists, or returned to say that there was no one to save, and they made camp in the ruins of level C. (Having cleared all the levels above, they feel reasonably safe.) He put on a Helm of Underwater Action given to him by his superiors to enable him to breathe and swim freely underwater, and slipped beneath the surface of the water.
Session One
August 8, 2019
This was a short introductory session, because it took me a while to set up, and go over backstory, and introduce the characters to one another after the fight, and it's a short window between the end of supper and bedtime.
After a day and a half of travelling, Arwen, Bruce, and Fluffy locate the sunken temple of Amaznen at Zanas-Tahn. Swimming around the western side of the temple, they discover a fissure in the wall leading to C14, the Drowned Colonnade. As they enter, the see a humanoid figure descending the steps into the chamber from the halls above the water. As the figure enters the water, he sees them, and shouts, "DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" (which is what happens when a ninth level Cleric is being played by a first grader), which of course (after the GM's facepalm) triggers an ambush by the four Skum who were waiting behind the secret door.
There was some fighting, during which Bruce took a little damage and SSSB took a ton of damage (note to self: when assigning armor to PCs in Hero Labs, be sure to click the box to equip the PC with the armor, or it doesn't actually change their AC and other bonuses on the printed portfolio. But a crit is still a crit.)
SSSB channels twice to heal himself and Bruce. SSSB tells Bruce and Arwen of his adventures in the chambers above and explains he's looking for the missing colonists. They agree to help him. They loot some minor oils and pouches of pears from the dead Skum.
With kids, that's really enough for one session.
Session Two
August 11, 2019
Tonight's session should have been longer, but Bruce's player (being unused to playing a fighter) had been alarmed by the damage SSSB had taken during the first session and decided it was his duty to block the corridor and serve as a damage-dealing meat shield. The result was that it stretched out the fight to nine rounds and bored the kids to tears. To his credit, he later apologized to the kids and promised not to do it that way again.
After Arwen, Bruce, and SSSB agreed to team up, they went through the east archway toward the offering hall. Bruce, ever suspicious, rolled a stellar perception check and was able to sense the presence of more Skum in the Offering Hall beyond. He planted himself in the middle of the corridor and used his telepathic suggestion to instill the idea in the mind of one of the Skum guards that he really ought to investigate those suspicious noises he heard in the corridor. Skum have lousy will saves. Of course, once Skum Stranglers see an enemy, their "favorite tactic is to initiate a grapple and then pin the foe on the following round, all while squeezing the life out of the foe with his strangle ability."
This works great if your enemy is not a burly fighter wielding a polearm with a 10' extended melee range. By the end of round 2, the first Skum was a kebab. The others, meanwhile, were holding their posts inside the room as they were supposed to. (The Uot cast his buffs per the instructions in the AP.) In round 3, Bruce started working telepathically on the next Skum guard, who (like his friend) biffed his already pitiful Will save. He was a kebab by the end of round 4. By the moment in round 5 that Bruce suggested to the third Skum that he really ought to just run away rather than die like his comrades in arms, the kids were sick of saying "I wait" whenever their turn came up. They were about to lose their minds. In round six, after Bruce had moved toward the entrance to the Offering Hall to attack the remaining Skum, the train was off the rails. The kids' PCs charged up behind Bruce, the Skum saw them all advancing and fled toward the opposite door, only to be stopped by SSSB's declared action of casting Spear of Purity if anyone tried to flee. Rounds 8 and 9 finished off the Uot, and SSSB found and disabled the Coral Spine Traps. Arwen rewarded Fluffy (who had contributed to the demise of the Uot with his claw attack) by tossing his weighted purple squeaky squid toy for him to catch. They loot the corpses examine the bodies for clues, which yields the Uot's potion formula book (which Arwen claims) and a Ring of Resistance +1 for SSSB. (This was where I went into Hero Labs to add the Ring to SSSB's sheet and discovered I'd forgotten to check the "equip" box on his armor. Hey, maybe now he won't die!) SSSB heals himself with an oil of Cure Serious.
Session Three
August 15, 2019
This was the first session where the PCs worked together a little bit better, but we started too late and the kids were tired and irritable. I'd hoped to knock out two or three rooms tonight, but we only managed one. Again. So frustrating. We need to find a time to do this earlier in the day.
As the party came around the corner heading north toward C18 and the stairs up to the above-water areas of level C, Bruce turned to SSSB and started asking questions about the "dry" rooms. Sure, he asked them telepathically, but they got answered verbally, and so it wasn't much of a surprise when two of the Skum guards in C18 (one of whom rolled a natural 20) came at Bruce suddenly from around the corner.
Other than the fact that Teensy Valeros finally felt more comfortable using some of SSSB's offensive spells from further back so Arwen, Bruce and Fluffy could handle the melee fight, there's not much to say. It was over pretty quickly, with one of the four Skum fleeing as his compatriot had last time.
SSSB channeled to heal Bruce's injuries, and Bruce also used an oil of Cure Mod. SSSB made his Knowledge: Religion checks and explained the statues of Eyndea and Lissala in the room. The team looks into The Pantheon and The Hall of the Heroine and decides to tackle the Pantheon first.
Next time.
Session Four
August 18, 2019
This was our first session that we played mid-afternoon rather than between dinner and bedtime, and as such, the kids were in much better moods and we got through three entire rooms! As a result, we're only going to play on weekends from now on.
We begin today's session in C19, The Pantheon. SSSB has pumped his Knowledge:Religion and History stats as high as he can, and rolls really well. Because he's six and takes things too personally, the few times he misses, I have him stop in from of one of the ruined columns and say, "Yeah, this one's too broken up for me to identify anything." The kid is a born storyteller (I swear it's genetic and he takes after my dad and uncles even though they all died long before he was born) and his shining moment is having me whisper the myths of Pharasma, Shelyn (and Dou-Bral), Abadar, Amaznen and Acavna to him ("Whisper softer so *I* can tell it to them!") so he can then turn around and retell the stories in his own words.
This task finished, they begin to check for traps, secret doors, and loot. They locate the secret door leading to C13b, the Burial Chamber, which proves problematic: the AP clearly states that it requires three successful checks (either disable device or Strength) to get the door to open, but to my husband's eye, I'm "cheating" by letting them continue to try. I can't explain without giving it away, so I try to narrate around it to make it reasonable. This part is NOT FUN.
The door opens.
When Hermione realizes what kind of room this is, she asks, "Are the dead people going to stay dead, or will magic make them come alive and fight?"
The group has a quick discussion--which, I'm proud to say, they did in character and true to alignments--and decide that treasure or no, they're not going to desecrate the bodies of the dead priests, especially given the chance that they were devotees of a god of magic. SSSB successfully re-locks the secret door mechanism before enough rounds have elapsed to trigger the Azlanti Mummies.
C20, the Hall of the Heroine
Crossing back through the Pantheon and the hall of the Shunned One (C18), the team reaches the doorway to C20 just in time to see the two Skum that had fled the previous fights being torn apart by a pack of great white sharks just past the ruined south wall of the cathedral. (They had fled in this direction, one of them was bleeding from losing half his hit points, and the AP clearly stated there were four sharks there, so, hey! sharkbait.
Arwen successfully makes her Wild Empathy check and indicates that the PC's have no interest in bothering the sharks or interrupting their snack.
SSSB successfully identifies the figures in the statue and once again does a stellar job of retelling the story.
Hermione asks, "Hey, why is the sword glowing? Statues aren't supposed to do that! Is it stone or metal?"
Bruce successfully makes his spellcraft checks, but can't manage to make the required Strength check to release the sword from the statue. Fluffy tries as well (his strength is a point higher than Bruce's), but Arwen admonishes him to be careful with his big claws and not damage the statue to get the sword free, so he doesn't use his full strength and the sword stays where it is.
They don't try to investigate the areas outside the broken south wall because the sharks have been feeding there, so right now the party thinks that all that is left of this level is the Sanctuary up the steps from C16.
Session Five
August 25, 2019
Crossing back through the Offering Hall, our adventurers make for the steps to the Sanctuary. There is some meta-game whispering as to who has the best stealth. It turns out to be Fluffy, by a longshot. Fluffy goes up the steps to listen at the door. Bruce asks, telepathically, "Can you hear anything?"
Glorandral, however, has rolled a natural 20 on his perception check, and has been waiting and listening for the party since he heard the sounds of the fight with the Uot and his Skum guards in the Offering Hall a short while ago... but, Glo doesn't make his own stealth check and Fluffy's perception roll is also high, so Fluffy hears him whisper a bit too loudly, "Hide behind the alter... they're coming."
Fluffy lets Arwen and Bruce know.
Bruce casts "Shield of Faith" and Mirror Image (he gets five of them), and S-cubed-B casts Bless and Prayer.
Fluffy goes through the door first with Arwen on her back (Arwen opens the door) and is hit with two bowshots from Glorandral (20 points), who pops up from behind the furthest of the altars. Fluffy finishes her move to hide behind the closest alter to the door. Arwen gets off of Fluffy's back to crouch next to her behind the 4' alter and feed Fluffy a potion nugget of Cure Serious.
Bruce comes in behind Arwen and Fluffy, his own crossbow at the ready, fires off two shots at Glo, and with a crit and a 2nd hit, does 36 points of damage. The three Skum Impalers pop up from behind the other side of Arwen and Fluffy's alter and attempt to poke them with longspears, but all three miss because they can't roll for cr*p.
SSSSB aims a Spear of Purity at Glo, who makes his saving throw for half damage, so only takes 6.
Fluffy claw attacks the closest Skum Impaler (Sk3) for 11.
The two Skum Shooters hidden in niches on either side of the door both try to shoot Bruce, and both miss.
At the top of round two, Glo does six points to Bruce with his first bow shot and eliminates one of the mirror images with the second.
Arwen does 11 points of melee trident damage to Skum 3.
Bruce gets in one good bow shot on Glorandral and double-crits for 54 points.
The useless Skum Impalers can't hit Arwen or Fluffy, who have partial concealment.
SSSB summons a basic shark with his Summon Monster. (I changed the summon list per Cerulean Seas.)
Fluffy tries to claw one of the Skum Impalers but misses. Both of the Skum Shooters miss Bruce.
At the top of round three, Glorandral biffs his roll and misses Bruce, twice. Arwen finishes off Skum 3. Bruce takes 15 more points off Glorandral. The two remaining Skum Impalers fail to harm Fluffy or Arwen, SSSB's summoned shark fails to bite Glorandral, SSSB fails to harpoon a Skum, and the two Skum Shooters fail to hit Bruce. But Fluffy savages another Skum Impaler with his claws (8 points).
At the top of round four, Glorandral again misses Bruce. I narrated it as he's weak from blood loss and a little dizzy, but really, my dice just suck. Arwen further damages Skum 2, and Bruce takes out one of the Skum Shooters in one efficient attack. The two Skum Impalers both miss. What else is new? SSSB's summoned shark successfully bites Glorandral, killing him. My son is very smug. SSSB and Fluffy tag team on Skum 2. The remaining Skum Impaler triple crits Bruce with an additional 3 points of bleed damage.
Yeah, just kidding. He misses. Again.
Round 5: Arwen finishes off Skum 2, Bruce kills the other Skum Shooter in one round, and they tie up the last surviving Skum and intimidate him into telling everything he knows about the laboratory, Ontooth, survivors, etc. They loot Glorandral's body. They locate and examine the mechanism in the central altar, but decide not to activate it, instead returning to SSSB's former adventuring party just up the stairs from C14 and rest for the night. (Fluffy will have to remain in the water on the stairs, but within sight of the NPCs keeping watch.)
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Session Six
September 1, 2019
After today's session, my husband said, "Hey! That actually felt like a real gaming session!" Which stung, because I'm trying, and it's not easy trying to GM for two kids and a guy who thinks he knows everything about gaming. But, yeah, it was a good day. Less "I kill it; it dies."
The party had spent the night with SSSB's former adventuring party, who remain camped in C6, the Library, with two men keeping watch on the landing at the top of the submerged staircase, C5. Fluffy remains on the staircase, Arwen sleeps at the top of the staircase with her tail in the water between Fluffy's claws, and Bruce and SSSB actually get to kip on bedrolls in the funky-smelling library. There are hard biscuits and cheese and sausages, which are a novelty to Arwen, but the Dwarven side of Bruce enjoys immensely. The land-bounds enjoy feeding sausages to Fluffy.
The next morning, after SSSB has finished his morning orisons and everyone has rested and breakfasted, Bruce asks for a couple of cold sausages from the night before. As the adventurers go back down the staircase to the Colonnade where they first met (C14), Bruce stops to check on their Skum prisoner who remains tied up in the secret room (C15) and feed him the sausages.
The dead bodies in the Offering Hall and Sanctuary are gone (mostly), but there are tiny bits of armor and gear with visible shark bite marks.
SSSB sets to work studying the central altar in the Sanctuary, and, with an assist from Arwen, is finally able to figure out the mechanism, slots a dusty rose prism ioun stone he found in one of the chambers above the water line into it, and activates the mechanism. Electricity arcs through the water between the two poles over their heads, but (because it's magic) does not fry everything in the water-filled room. You have to touch it directly, and they're staying close to the floor. The staircase to C16 has slid closed, but a door leading down has opened up in the niche where their Skum captive had said it would. Bruce casts Shield and they descend.
Eight mutated colonists are bobbing in the water, staring vacantly ahead. (Instead of the official pawns for these monsters, I just pulled some random matching unpainted metal orc minis from the cabinet and said, "they look like zombie-mermaid-fish-people-things. They're pretty gross."
As the party enters the chamber, Mutants 1, 2, and 4 come forward to engage them.
Bruce attempts telepathic suggestion on them, as he had successfully done with a few of the Skum, and realizes that they are devoid of intelligence. The party has a quick conversation and decide that if these mutant fish people aren't actually evil and are really what remains of some of the colonists they were too late to save, they don't want to harm them or kill them, just incapacitate them, so they're going to attempt nonlethal damage by using the blunt handles of their polearms to do the same type of piercing strike... like a choku tsuki jo strike in aikido.
I rule they have the skill to do it, it's just going to take a little longer, because less damage per strike.
This settled, the adventurers engage the first three mutants.
I'm not going to type out the play-by-play of all seven rounds.
To summarize:
Because the mutants have no intelligence, they have no strategy. They're just kind of floating there until someone comes within a few squares of them. So the party moves along the right-hand wall of the chamber, knocking out mutants 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 in turn. (At one point, I have Bruce roll a perception check as he is about to strike his opponent and he realizes that one more hit with his weapon, even at half damage, would kill him. Bruce says, "Okay, I tuck my chin down and head-butt him."
Me: "Dude! You have an axe-head affixed to your helmet!"
Him: "Oh, that's right. Uh..."
Me: "Might I suggest an unarmed strike?"
Him: "Oh. Yeah."
Mutant 7 moves to block the party from reaching the cells.
Arwen is next in the initiative order. My daughter rolls and triple-crits.
Me: "You remember that scene in The Princess Bride where Inigo tells Fezzik to job the Albino's memory and Fezzik hits the Albino and says, "I'm sorry, boss, I didn't mean to jog him so hard"? Well, you accidentally whack him in just the right place on his face to kill him." I don't elaborate. One-punch killings are a thing; Australia even has a special law about sentencing for accidental one-punch deaths. Hermione feels bad. She's never the fighter, and she rarely gets a kill; the one time she triple-crits, she was trying not to hurt the guy too badly. Poor kid.
The adventurers finally move towards the three prisoners trapped behind the force fields in their air-filled cells. SSSB rolls a perception of 34 and realizes that Armin, the lady in the right-hand cell, clearly seems afraid of the two in the other cell. Bruce uses his Message spell and learns from her that the Aboleth has been experimenting on the colonists a few at a time, that Celia and Jaram in the cell next to her have been his most recent subjects, and she was to be next. "Don't trust them;" she says, "they are not what they seem to be."
Bruce switches his Message over to Celia and Jaram. They express pity for Armin, poor thing, her brain has become addled with the torture and experimentation, and she is about to transform; they were to be next. They would be happy to show him where to go to free the remaining colonists."
Bruce turns his attention to the party and they begin to discuss who to trust, but it has taken so long to get to this point that Celia and Jaram suddenly begin to cough up black bile and complete their transformations into Abhominals. Armin seems unchanged, just panic-stricken.
The party makes a plan: Arwen will pull the lever weakening the force field on Armin's cell. SSSB will step through and give her a potion of Touch of the Sea. Bruce holds his crossbow at the ready and declares an action to blast her if she starts to transform, and Arwen commands Fluffy to be ready to pull SSSB out bodily if he is in danger. She pulls the lever. SSSB goes through. He gives Armin the potion. She takes the potion. He brings her through. Bruce tells her to hold onto his back. The party swim her back to the camp in the Library (stopping to remove the stone from the altar) and ask the land-bound NPCs to care for her while they go look for others.
It's been a while. September 8th was my birthday, and we went up to the lake for the day, got home late, picked up some fried chicken and watched a movie and had pie. Really good pie, it turns out. Key lime meringue. September 15th, Whingey Wizzard got us cheap tickets to go see the Rangers (our new home team, and his childhood team) play the Oakland Athletics (our all-too-recently home team). The A's won. It was pretty brutal. The only run the Rangers scored was when the runner on third managed to get home on a pitcher error. Kinda embarrassing, really. Then last weekend, we had had WW's big 50th birthday party the day before, and we were all exhausted, I was depressed (not because anything went wrong, but throwing a big party and cooking for that many people triggers all my introvert-claustrophobia-anxiety-misery buttons, so even though it was a success, I felt awful), and we did nothing. So, yeah. Three weeks.
Session Seven
September 29, 2019
For frustrating parenting reasons, our session started late and was short.
We recapped. We retconned a bit so the PC's could ask Armin everything they had forgotten to ask her at the end of our last session.
The party dealt with the Mutation Mechanism in D2 a little too quickly (Bruce rolled high on his Perception check, SSSB rolled high on his Disable Device check, that was basically it, which was good, because they did it while studiously ignoring Arwen, who was making a lengthy speech about how the computer could probably help them and was unlikely to be evil, and how they should give it true, detailed answers to everything it asked them.)
Then WW and the kids had a lengthy, metagame discussion on their plan of attack for how to confront the Big Bad. They finally settled on their spells and their plan of attack, swam down the hall, and lined up. And that was it.
Session Eight
October 3, 2019
Most disappointing Boss Fight EVER.
As we sat down to start playing, Teensy Valeros finished off the list of buffs everyone intended to cast by saying, "Okay, so I've got my special Cleric ability that lets me see through doors, so I want to do that first."
I'd totally forgotten that his Exploration domain gave him Door Sight. The problem was, what was on the other side of the door was an Illusion spell. The description for Door Sight pointed me at Clairvoyance, which pointed me at Scrying, which didn't really answer my questions about what he would actually see, so I called Nobody's Home, my DM-ing guru. He explained that, essentially, what SSSB would see with the special ability would be the same as what he would see with his own eyeballs. Check. He sees the illusion. [but, he gets to use his various Detection spells, and rolled a natural 20 on his Detect Magic check. This was the first in a series of natural 20's for the party as a whole that was one of the contributing factors to this going down in the Pathfinder Hall of Shame as a ridiculously anticlimactic end to the module.
Because the Mutation Mechanism had been successfully disabled, the Oculus Gate opened without a hitch. The party attempted to disbelieve what they now had a fairly strong hunch was an illusion (I gave SSSB as little information as I technically could to answer his Detect Magic, but there were things I couldn't get away without telling, and the party made some very good educated guesses.) and they all nailed their will saves by wide margins. Therefore, when they saw the two cameroceri in the side chambers, they correctly guessed that those were illusions as well, made their will saves to disbelieve those, and then Bruce correctly guessed where the real monster was hiding. Again, successful will saves against disbelief.
In the first round of actual combat, SSSB summoned a shark using the Cerulean Seas variant of Summon Monster I, Bruce attacked Onthooth with his special crossbow, and everybody moved into position, forming a wall of PCs in front of the niche where Onthooth had been hiding behind the illusory wall.
Round two: The shark missed. (It was just like a fight from an episode of "Jabberjaw"... it rushed at the monster with mouth gaping, the monster flicked his tail idly and dodged, the shark smashed his head against the stonework.) Onthooth idly sent Magic Missiles at each of them. Bruce and Arwen both made successful attacks (bow for Bruce and trident for Arwen).
Round three: The shark and SSSB both made successful attacks. Onthooth tossed another round of Magic Missiles at everyone. (I could not believe the instructions for Onthooth's combat in the book. That's what it said to do. The only thing I could think of to say when WW said, "Seriously?!? Again?!?" was, "Yeah, he doesn't believe you're a real threat. He's toying with you.") Bruce switches to his greatspear and crits. Arwen and Fluffy both make small but successful attacks. Onthooth is now down to 74 hit points.
Round four:The shark misses. SSSB misses. Onthooth sends another round of Magic Missiles. (I freely admit this was a DM mistake; I should have had him heal himself, but the book said "uses a swift action either to heal itself with its live on ability", and as repeated Google searches turned up NOTHING, I MM'd just to keep the flow going. I honestly thought I'd have more time to find it. But then...) Arwen made a confirmed critical for 27 points with her trident.
Round five: The shark vanished. SSSB missed. I still couldn't find what I was looking for on the weird healing ability, so Onthooth sent its entire round of Magic Missles at Arwen for 20 points, thinking that would cause her to retreat and open up a path for it. Then Bruce rolled a confirmed critical with his greatspear, did 38 points of damage, and killed it dead.
Session Nine
October 6, 2019 and October 10, 2019
Wrapping up Book 3 and the start of Book 4
After the defeat of Onthooth, the PCs searched the Vault of the Eye and found a Rod of the Aboleth, a Wand of Make Whole, a Lesser Maximize Metamagic Rod, and (after Bruce had decapitated the aboleth), Onthooth's Headband of Twisted Intellect.
They found the prisoners. SSSB channeled positive energy a couple of times to heal all the prisoners. Since Arwen's aquatic Ranger's particular talent is in studying and using various flora and fauna of the sea and making edible nugget "potions" out of them (my way of getting around the "drinking a potion underwater" problem), Bruce sat and talked with Nieran Codali, and offered meal rations from all the PCs packs to all the prisoners, while Arwen and SSSB collected a sufficient quantity of aboleth mucus and she spent the requisite amount of time making potion nuggets to get the prisoners from the air-filled cells to the land-bound adventurers in level C who will take the prisoners home.
Bruce gives Nieran Codali Glorandral's Crossbow of the Crab, since it's basically a duplicate of the one he already had. Nieran Codali gives Bruce his dolphin brooch and all the information the PCs need to set off for Talasantri. Arwen finishes making potions and makes a successful Diplomacy check to convince the prisoners to trust her and take them. The PCs take the prisoners to the NPCs on level C who will take them home. Bruce tells them, "with a little time, I believe I can use the mutation engine in the lab to restore all but three of the mutated colonists and return them to you. Can ye come back this evening? By then I will either have succeeded, or I will know that it is not possible, and I will put them out of their torment." They agree.
Bruce spends eight hours and takes 20 to study the mutation mechanism and restore all the mutated colonists except for the two undead abhominals and the one that Arwen accidentally killed. Arwen and SSSB spend the day reconsecrating the cathedral (as a cleric of a similarly-aligned Azlanti deity, SSSB considers it his duty) and trying one last time to get the sword from the statue in the Hall of the Heroine. (At this they fail, but decide it is meant to stay there and make peace with their failed attempts.)
They return the last seven colonists. They camp in the reconsecrated cathedral overnight. The next morning, they set off for Talasantri. The day-and-a-half journey there over the seabed is largely uneventful. At one point, they notice some odd patches of sargassum that seem to be morphing into humanoid shape and make the decision to swim at full speed along the bottom to avoid conflict with them.
Approaching the city, they notice a pack of Sahuagin poking their tridents at something hiding in a crevice in the coral. Bruce, who hates Sahuagin with a passion, used telepathy and his Intimidate skill to tell them that, unless they stopped what they were doing and made themselves scarce, he would kill them. He rolled high, they biffed their will saves. Drecissa, the young merfolk druid saved by this action, is both impressed and grateful. After they introduce themselves to her and explain their business in Talasantri, she insists she personally conduct them through the city gates and to the home of Anemora, her mother, an influential person in the city. They agree.
Approaching the gates of Talasantri, the PCs are challenged by Argnos, but since they have Drecissa with them and they are only aquatic foreigners and not surface-dwellers (SSSB is a problem, because he's only half sea-elf and uses a helmet to breathe underwater, but Arwen makes a brilliant Diplomacy speech and rolls well.) They enter the city and go to the home of Anemora.
Bruce almost spoils everything with Anemora by being, well, himself: a crass a graceless Selkie-Dwarf (he tries to return the gift she gives them by implying it will hurt her financially if she gives them something so nice). Arwen and SSSB save the day, however, arrangements are settled, and the PCs retire to their rooms in Anemora's house for the evening to prepare for the day of exploration to come...
Session Ten
October 13, 2019
Our adventurers begin to explore Talasantri. This was another short session; we started late in the day when the kids were already pooped from a day out at the Arboretum.
Before they retire for the evening, servants come to Bruce, Arwen and SSSB's rooms to ask them about their wishes for breakfast and to ask SSSB if he would like his early, before he performs his orisons. The ranger and cleric are polite and a bit embarrassed by the fuss, but Bruce relishes the chance to try his hands at Talasantrian fare and asks for "wha'e'er ye hae, and plenty of it." Accordingly, two servants come to his room the next morning carrying a small trough between them, loaded with fish eggs, kelp bacon, black pudding of unknown origin, and assorted other morsels. He makes a show of tucking in, then as soon as they are gone (a natural 20 on his perception check catches a sotto voce "We put the wrong guest in the stables last night" as the servants are going back down the hall, and he nickers like a seahorse at them), he wraps most of it in oilcloth, ties it up, and tucks the packet into his bag of holding... making it look like he ate everything in one sitting.
Arwen, meanwhile, goes to visit Fluffy in the stables. She meets Drecissa there, who asks her questions about her adventures and her life as a ranger... poor sheltered little rich girl. She asks if she can show them the sights and shops of the city this morning, since the meeting Anemora has arranged with Rillkimatai isn't until the afternoon. They collect Bruce and SSSB and set off.
Arwen, feeling guilty about leaving Fluffy in the stables, asks to go to the Talasantrian equivalent of a feed store to buy some lobster treats. She sees a cute chibi pink shark toy and buys it. Then she notices some beautiful seahorse saddles, and asks if the saddlemaker who made them could do a dire lobster saddle as well (hers is rather plain). Since this is the Seamount district, it turns out the saddles are made by Hrothgar (whatEVER, I was stuck for a name, and it was the first thing that came to me, the finest bespoke saddlemaker in this part of the ocean. She tells him what she wants, pays him the full amount in advance even though it is customary to only pay half upfront (she tells him that, based on what she's seen of his work, she trusts him completely), and he asks if it would be convenient to call on Fluffy at Anemora's stables to take measurements and promises to have the saddle finished in a week.
The group continues on their tour of the city, with Drecissa prattling on about architects, history, and gossip, and none of them paying much attention. As their attention wanders, Drecissa suddenly stops short and says, "Well that's funny. That jellyfish floating with those other luminescent jellyfish doesn't look right. It doesn't light up, and its tentacles look different." (Yes, the NPC is the only one who didn't biff her perception check.) Arwen makes her Knowledge: Nature check and realizes that it's a dangerous Death's Head Jellyfish, the stings of which are often fatal, and which is normally found in an entirely different part of the ocean, not here at all. Worse, it seems to be heading straight for a merfolk couple who are chatting in the square. Bruce bellows at them to take note of it and charges, interposing his bulk between the jellyfish and the citizens, firing a burst of Magic Missiles at it. Drecissa, meanwhile, calls for the city guards, who swim up and deftly wrap the offending creature in a special bag they keep for any small nasty (you can't exactly use handcuffs on many types of sea creature). They ask questions, take notes, and thank Bruce for his swift action. The merfolk are grateful and effusive.
The party begins to head back toward Anemora's house for lunch. On the way there, they are approached by a young cecaelian girl with red hair and green tentacles who introduces herself as Oona. She offers to take them somewhere they can buy all sorts of goods, implies they can also fence any dodgy magical items they might have acquired, introduce them to "influential parties" in the city. They thank her but decline. Bruce asks her how they might get in touch with her later. "Oh, don't worry," she says. "We know where to find you."
Session Eleven
October 20, 2019
An exposition-heavy session with no combat. My husband enjoyed it, but the kids got a little bored. The best part for me as a GM, however, was when the PC's "logical" choice in handling an issue was not an option forseen in the AP... although it's written flexibly enough that I could make it work.
Anemora has asked her servants to prepare lunch a little early today; the party's meeting with Rillkimatai isn't until mid-afternoon, but she wants to escort them herself and spend some time in the center of town, showing them around so she can make introductions and be seen with them. Accordingly, everyone leaves Anemora's house for the town square almost an hour before the meeting.
A couple of blocks from the center of town, the PC's notice a huddled locathah floating in an alcove between two buildings, muttering to herself and fretting.
As SSSB and Arwen attempt to calm her and talk to her, Anemora tells them disdainfully that some people aren't worth their time and are beyond help, and insists petulantly that they leave the creature alone and go on to the central plaza. Bruce tells her not to worry, that they will be there soon, and to go on without them to go visit her friends. Anemora is miffed, but departs.
The locathah explains that Anemora's antipathy toward her comes from the fact that she borrowed money from Jurix, queen of the Undertow, to finance a salvage expedition. Anemora had promised to purchase the salvage to guarantee the debt. Unfortunately, the expedition was a failure: the ship the locathah had hoped to find was broken into bits, its cargo scattered to the currents, and she was left with a massive debt to repay Jurix. By hard work and privation, she managed to save the entire sum, including interest, and was on her way to pay Jurix back when a cutpurse snatched her bag and swam off. She had tried to follow it, but wasn't fast enough. She indicates the direction he had gone, and Bruce uses the locathah's scent to track the bag to the base of a pillar on the next block. The money is still inside.
The locathah is befuddled that the bag should have been discarded with all the money inside, but is glad to have it back, and Bruce insists that the PC's will escort her to Jurix to return it. They go to the Undertow and are led to Jurix's office.
After the locathah has paid Jurix, Jurix dismisses her and asks the PCs to remain. She tells them that she has a little job she needs done, and they are in the perfect position to help her. Anemora is having a dinner party the next night to introduce the PCs to the who's who of Talasantri, and Jurix wants Anemora humiliated. She produces a vial and says that the potion inside it, if introduced to the canape filling, will cause immediate and intense stomach distress to any who taste even a little of it. She also gives them a scrap of silk which she says she obtained from the lady Kormallis's dressmaker. She wants them to plant it, with the empty vial, by the kitchen door. She offers them 2000 gold each, plus one hard-to-find "item" they might care to name, in exchange for their services. They tell her, as diplomatically as they can, that they will need time to think about it. She says she will be in touch. They depart without incident.
The party arrives at the central plaza with just ten minutes to spare before the meeting. Anemora is irritated, but manages to handle herself with airy grace as she introduces them to a few people before they head in to city hall. Rillkimatai receives them graciously, and listens to their story with interest. He begins to tell them of recent troubles in the city, but the sounds of a commotion outside can be heard, and a guard rushes in to say that the Doomcriers are in the plaza and stirring people up. Rillkimatai asks the PCs to go with him. As they come down the steps of the hall, they see a group of Doomcriers at the base of the steps with a crowd around them. Their leader is Vallik, who is warning the people of Ruinquake.
Rillkimatai and Arwen manage to settle the crowd and Rillkimatai invites Vallik and the other two Doomcriers to go back with him to his office to discuss the threat they warn of, telling the PCs he will send a messenger to invite them back at a later time. The crowd begins to disperse and things look as if they are about to return to normal when a ribbon of crimson water snakes into the plaza. Suddenly people are fleeing and shouting again, and cries of "It's a crimson current!" can be heard. As waves of the current move through the plaza, there is bedlam. SSSB sees three citizens who had been in the path of the current and are sickened. He swims to them and heals them. Bruce sees a frantic merfolk man searching for a lost child, looks around, notices the boy hiding behind a pillar, and escorts the child to his father. Arwen sees six citizens in the path of the current, swims to them, and guides them on a safer path away from it.
Arwen is surprised by the presence of the crimson current; although it is known to her, usually the poisonous algae travels slowly, and scouts should have noticed an approaching cloud. For a small cloud of the algae to arrive in the city center with no warning is decidedly strange.
Notes the players reminded me should be included:
* Before Debebedi the locathah leaves town, Bruce gives her 200 gold to "invest" in her next adventure and promises to aid her if he can, in exchange for 10% of the profit in her next success.
* Jurix interpreted "we need time to think about it" as a flat no and was slightly menacing in not so much "we'll be in touch" as "I'll be watching you".
* Bruce tells Anemora of Jurix's plot. She reads them the riot act, but is gleeful about having this new information.
* As Rillkimatai tells the PC's of the random thefts, disappearances, and attacks, he gives them a piece of parchment with his seal to mark them as his agents in looking into this business, which he believes may be related to their business.
* The leader of the Doomcriers is not Vallik. That's the problem with double-columned print in the AP books. Vallik? Who's Vallik? I didn't mention that name. No idea who that is.
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Session Twelve
November 3, 2019
A nine-round battle with the King Ragworm, the CR13 first big bad of this book.
What's there to say, really? It was a big smackdown. From a GM standpoint, the coolest part was hearing my kids talk through figuring out what they could or could not do.
"Can I use my Spear of Purity?"
"I don't know; is it evil?"
"Oh, yeah, right; it can't be good or evil because it doesn't have any intelligence, so none of my spells will work except Gozreh's Trident!"
(Since they're six and eight, I'm pretty happy that they're able to do this.)
With the big worm dead, the crowd of locals began to reassemble, and the agent in the crowd picked SSSB to try to plant the bomb debris on, since he looked young and clueless. He didn't notice a thing until the pieces fell out of his belt pouch.
Fortunately, the PCs were able to successfully protest the logic of their innocence to the crowd and to the guards who arrived on the scene to investigate, and while they are not *totally* free of suspicion, they're looked on more favorably than not at this point.
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Smart kids you got there.
Session Thirteen
November 10, 2019
A little combat and a lot of plot.
After defeating the King Ragworm, Bruce attempts to drag the entire thing to Anemora's house to offer it to her cook as a delicacy for tomorrow night's dinner party. They return to the house to find all the servants in a tizzy, as Anemora has decided to move the party up to this evening to confound Jurix's plans.
She tells them that she would like them, in addition to mingling with the guests, to occasionally patrol the kitchen to make sure everything is safe. The guests, in addition to her own houshold (her husband Torrun, her son Cassiux, and Drecissa) will be the lady Kormallis and her son Argnos; a merfolk poet named Merysyd; an aquatic elf ranger named Osarte; and an aquatic elf bard named Tolajo.
Arwen goes to check on Fluffy. Bruce and SSSB go to the Whalefall district to an arcana shop owned by an aquatic elf wizard named Vhenarryn. Bruce buys some waterproof spell-writing paper from her, while SSSB roams around, picking up things and playing with them. He picks up an old wand carved with intricate scrollwork. It's a bit beat-up already, and as he plays with it, flipping it around, he knocks it into the coral wall and chips off a bit of the carving on the side. He gets out his Wand of Make Whole and uses a charge to repair this wand, and shows Vhenarryn, but she laughs at him, saying the wand is a useless curiosity she keeps because she can't sell it, and he can keep it if he likes. It makes people fly. Over land. Have you ever heard of anything so silly? Anyway, it only has a few charges left. As I said, worthless. SSSB, who has lived on land and knows the uses of a good Overland Flight spell, accepts this "useless" gift with mock gravity.
Meanwhile, Drecissa comes to Arwen's room, and seeing as how she wouldn't expect a Ranger, even a pretty female elf one, to pack an evening gown while adventuring, and since they're almost exactly the same size, offers her a dress and jewelry to borrow for the evening. They try things on. Arwen finds a shiny red and gold one made of tiny shimmering fish scales that change color depending on which way they are turned. Oh, look! Drecissa has even had a matching evening bag made for the gown that is secretly a bag of holding. Not every bag of holding has to look like a Fjallraven backpack. Or whatever.
When evening comes, Arwen discovers that Drecissa is wearing an outfit identical to her own, down to the jewelry and bag, but with scales of a different color. Hero worship is a scary thing.
At the party, Bruce suggests to Arwen and SSSB that they do most of the mingling while he does most of the patrolling. The only problem with this is that his dice don't appear to like him much this evening. Particularly on Perception checks. When he checks the kitchen the first time, he completely fails to notice the sounds of a struggle coming from the pantry. Must have water in his ears or something. The next time he comes, he still doesn't notice anything, but the cook is still not there. He asks Arwen to come in and help. The scent of blood coming from the next room almost knocks her over and she wonders if he is feeling quite well. They find the body of the dead cook in the large storage pantry, ask SSSB to come (Bruce's telepathy works wonders!), and SSSB right away notices the assassin hiding behind some barrels in the corner, but pretends he doesn't. They investigate the body, and Arwen goes out to let Argnos and Anemora know what is going on. She leads the guests from the dining room back into the main salon so Merysyd can recite some of her verse while Argnos fetches some of his men he had asked to be on hand nearby because of the plot to frame his mother. Argnos and three guards come in to the kitchen just as Yutpan realizes he is trapped and decides to try to make a break for it.
The fight, round one:
SSSB casts Prayer. Yutpan attempts to make a break for it, vaulting up over the barrels and taking a whack at Bruce with his blade. Bruce casts Mirror Image. Arwen casts Wilderness Soldiers on some potted kelp the cook had growing in this room to use in food preparation, which attempts to entangle Yutpan. His CMD is too high. The guards all shoot Yutpan with their crossbows.
Round two:
Yutpan attempts to slash at Bruce, but takes out a mirror image instead. Bruce does some spear damage to Yutpan, and the guards continue to make good crossbow shots.
Round three:
SSSB does some melee harpoon damage to Yutpan with a lunge (staying out of range), Yutpan continues to whack at Bruce's mirror images, and Bruce and the guards continue to hammer away at Yutpan's hit points until he is down to so few that another round will finish him. Arwen entangles Yutpan with a net, the guards move in with manacles, and Bruce successfully intimidates him into talking about the mysterious deep merfolk, Naqualia (hereafter to be known as Nyquilia) who hired him to do the deed and attempt to pin it on the PCs.
The party accompanies Argnos and the guards as they take Yutpan to the city hoosegow. As they are leaving, Drecissa expresses her wonder--and dismay--that Arwen made it through the entire combat without the borrowed dress being torn, smudged, or otherwise damaged. She was hoping for a story she could tell every time she wore it.
At the jail, Bruce questions Argnos and the guards about the physical and magical defenses, which they assure him are adequate to the challenge of protecting prisoners, and asks Yutpan how Nyquilia will kill him. "A knife in the dark," he answers.
As the PC's leave the jail with Argnos, a member of Rillkimatai's staff they recognize from their meeting that morning approaches with a message asking them to meet with Rillkimatai at the eighth hour the next morning. Argnos asks the PC's to accompany him briefly to his mother's house, where Kormallis thanks them profusely for the service they have done to both her and her son, and offers them any help she might provide.
They return to Anemora's house, where they find the guests gone, the staff cleaning up, and the entire household grieving and in shock. Anemora and her family ask the PC's to remain in Talasantri and find Nyquilia and either bring her to justice or kill her (with an emphasis on the latter).
The next morning, in Rillkimatai's office, the old seer tells them of his meeting with the Doomcriers and their warnings of the plankta called Ruinquake. He tells them of Talasantri's history, how the last time Ruinquake appeared, a century ago, the city was saved by Wavewalker, a man from the surface world, who fought back Ruinquake single-handed, armed only with a spear, but was killed in the attempt. Rillkimatai listens gravely as the PC's warn him that Yutpan claimed the doomcriers were acting in the service of Nyquilia. He says he has forseen Ruinquake's return and the danger the plankta poses to the city. He asks the PC's to undertake a journey to Blood Lily Cay, the island where Wavewalker's tomb lies, to take possession of Wavewalker's spear and return to Talasantri with it in order to save the city. They agree to leave the next morning after finishing their preparations.
Hey, kids! It's time to level up! This one goes up to ELEVEN!
Session Fourteen
November 17, 2019
Arrival on Blood Lily Cay
Preparing to leave didn't take all that long. Anemora's household was still quiet and awkward, and it doesn't take seasoned adventurers all that long to acquire a couple of tents and bedrolls from a junk shop in the city that specializes in odd salvage from wrecked surface-world ships as curiosities and useless bric-a-brac for the wealthy collector who already has too much crap, as well as a week's worth of trail rations. They are able to leave Talasantri by 11:00 and swim the twelve miles to Blood Lily Cay without incident, arriving mid-afternoon.
The western side of the island boasts a beautiful cove, and our intrepid adventurers swim closer, ready to set up camp on the beach before they start exploring, when SSSB suddenly notices something that looks suspiciously like very large eyestalks twitching behind some volcanic glass obelisks on the side of the cove. It is a very, very large Shipwrecker Crab that came ashore a day earlier and has been wreaking havoc on this part of the island. Bruce is inclined to live and let live, but Arwen suggests that the island is too small to sustain a creature of this size, and it needs to be removed. Bruce tries to use telepathic suggestion on it, but the creature is insufficiently intelligent to take a good hint, and as they swim up to engage it, it attacks.
Bruce uses his lesser metamagic rod to maximize a fireball for 42 points of damage, and the fight begins. It's over fairly rapidly; Arwen used her level-up feat to get proficiency with a bow and purchased one in Talasantri (that same shop full of surface-world salvaged curiosities), and the party uses the classic Scooby-Doo defensive strategy of getting the bad guy to chase you around and between the large, immovable bits of scenery, hiding in something, then ducking out to fight and duck back in. Arwen crits with her brand new bow on the first time out, which makes her very happy.
The fight over, Bruce drags the carcass up onto the beach, transitioning to his Dwarven form (hairy, naked, dripping wet dwarf dragging a colossal dead beastie by a leg so he can hack it up and cook it... savor that mental image for a moment), aided by SSSB, who removes his special helmet now that he's back on land. Arwen, meanwhile, rides Fluffy as her companion crawls over the crab's carapace while she searches it for treasure. And, wow, yes, she finds some. Yes, we sang the "Shiny" song from Moana.
When she gets back down on the beach, a strange green jungle cat appears out of the undergrowth. It is a boruta, the Island Guardian. It thanks them for ridding the island of the crab and asks them their purpose in journeying there. They answer all his questions in a straightforward way, and as a reward for their service in killing the crab, and their honesty, he pays them in information on island, the nagas that have taken over the tomb of Wavewalker, and the ruined temple of Dagon.
Note: Yes, anyone who has read this AP will know that I moved the location of the crab encounter to Glassrock Cove. I honestly couldn't come up with a good reason not to.
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Session Fifteen, parts I and II
November 24 and 26, 2019
When the dice hate you, you improvise…
After the Island Guardian has finished sharing its knowledge of Wavewalker’s tomb, the ruined temple, and the geography of the island with our adventurers, it bows to them and disappears back into the jungle.
The PC’s gear up, Fluffy returns to the water, Arwen uses a charge of Overland Flight from the wand SSSB got for her, and set off east along the stream toward the center of the island, and the tomb. It’s pretty… hanging vines, rippling island stream, pretty red flowers which may or may not want to eat you… and, oh look, a bleached skeleton disfigured by acid in the middle of that clump of flowers, and thanks to a good Perception check, you can see that those two are clearly the killer kind. Arwen’s Knowledge: Nature check is 31; she figures out their defensive and offensive capabilities and how far back they need to get to use their missile weapons to stay out of reach of the blood lilies’ ranged attack. Sadly, that is the last good roll that anyone will make today.
After six rounds of Bruce and Arwen using bows and SSSB, who has no ranged weapon and only one offensive spell that can be used on a creature that is Neutral instead of Evil, and consequently only taking one flower down to about 1/3 of its hp and not damaging the other one at all, our adventurers have an epiphany.
This fight is a time-and-resource-consuming distraction. The flowers aren’t actually Evil, won’t hunt them down, and have a ridiculously slow move rate. The PC’s can simply leave, go take care of their actual business on the island, and maybe come back and finish off the flowers later.
They reach the tomb without further incident and are able to scope out the entrance undetected from the surrounding jungle. They discover the three shipwrecked sailors on guard but are not seen by them. The sailors are alive, not undead, and not evil, just under a spell. Unfortunately, Bruce fails his Dispel Magic attempts. Twice. The PCs really do not want to kill the sailors, so Arwen decides to try to lead them away from the tomb back toward the beach, then double back at full speed.
I say, “Great! So, the sailors are standing guard, and all of a sudden, a mermaid appears, floating in front of them, swimming through the air, and singing!” I do a quick YouTube search and pull up Nimue’s song from Camelot and say, “Okay, here’s your song. Now show me your sweet smile and “Follow me” gestures you use to get the sailors to follow you away from the tomb, and then you can rolled your Diplomacy check.
Hermione was embarrassed at this and wanted to just roll her d20, but I said, “When Auntie GothBard makes a Diplomacy speech, does Uncle Nobody’s Home just let her roll, or does she have to actually make the speech?”
Hermione: “(grumble grumble) She has to make the speech.”
So my husband said, “Here! I’ll fly you!” And he picked her up and held her up in his arms, flying over the gaming table, while she lip-synced to the music and waved her arms around. She made her roll, and it was good.
I say, “It worked! The sailors totally fall for it! They follow you through the jungle as you fly in front of them, leading them back to the sea! After you’ve gotten them thoroughly lost in the jungle, you can disappear through the leaves and go back.”
Meanwhile, SSSB, our handy Cleric/Rogue multi-tool, aided by Bruce and his Dwarven stonecunning, sneak up to the entrance and discover that the lock on the door is broken, and the fearsome runes scrawled above it are not even magical. SSSB uses his Door Sight to peer beyond and sees the empty corridor with the statues about thirty feet down. They go in and close the door behind them. They discover the trap between the statues, but SSSB, try as he might, is unable to disable the trap that will let them get across the pressure plate in the floor without tripping it. They are concerned about taking too long to keep trying because they don’t know if the sailors, who are still under the nagas’ spell, will return soon. As they are trying to disable the trap, Arwen returns, and says, “Why don’t I just pick each of you up and fly you across the trap? It’s not very far and I’m strong enough.” It works. They reach the false tomb and discover the catch that will trigger the hidden stairs. This is where we stop. Next time: The Big Naga Fight!
Sessions Sixteen and Seventeen
December 1 and 8, 2019
The Big Naga Fight:
Knowing they are about to go downstairs to face the Big Bad (or so they believe), S3B casts Prayer and Bless, and Bruce casts Haste. As Supersonic Swimmer Boy releases the catch under the sarcophagus, three Spirit Nagas leap out. Kinda like the Powerpuff Girls, but Evil Snake Powerpuff Girls.
Round One: Bruce uses his lesser metamagic rod to maximize a Fireball, doing 42 points of damage to each naga, as they fail their Reflex saves. Supersonic Swimmer Boy follows up with a Holy Smite that does 23 points each as they fail their Will saves. Arwen uses a hasted attack with her aberration-bane longbow to do a total of 30 points of damage to Naga #3, dropping her. Naga #1 summons a swarm of rats in the corridor (don't ask me why; it's in the AP book) and Naga #2 casts a Fireball. All PC's make their Reflex save for half damage and take 13 points each.
Round Two: Bruce closes on Naga #2 and attacks her with his longspear for 22 points. S3B casts Spear of Purity at Naga #1 and hits her for 23 points. Arwen finishes both Nagas off with bow shots.
S3B channels positive energy twice to heal everyone. As they are about to decend the stairs, Bruce notices the trap on the step and Arwen flies Bruce and S3B down the stairs in turns.
As they walk down the corridor, they see the boss Naga, Ghalashe, doing something with a squid in a bucket. Round One (again): Bruce casts Mirror Image. Ghalashe hisses threateningly at them and casts Cause Fear. S3B casts Spear of PUrity. Ghalashe rolls a whopping 2 on her saving throw and takes 18 points. Arwen makes two successful bow shots for 21 points.
Round Two:Bruce charges and does 22 points with his longspear. Ghalashe hits Bruce with a Scorching Ray. S3B casts Holy Smite, but only does half damage (8 points). Arwen only hits with one bow shot (12 points).
Round Three: Bruce, still hasted, makes two successful spear attacks for 48 points. Ghalashe casts Flame Strike at Bruce, but he makes a successful Reflex save for half damage (11 points). S3B, out of useful spells, decides to try to Command the squid in the bucket to Grapple the Naga. Amazingly, the squid rolls a 25. Arwen misses her first two bow shots and rolls a critical fumble on the last. I click the "ranged weapon" button on the crit fumble app. It says, "Attack successful but enemy keeps the weapon". The damage is 33 points, and the dead Naga gets to keep the arrow.
As they are searching the body for loot (which includes a Headband of Alluring Charisma +4), Bruce's Player says "OOH! A Hand of Glory?!? How much is that worth?"
I say, "No, you can't have that. You're the good guys. You burn it with the rest of the naga bodies."
My husband says, "But I could use it for GOOD."
To which our daughter gently replies, "Papa, that's what Boromir said about the ring, but it ended up driving him mad."
The spirit of Wavewalker awakes and challenges them. The kids make successful Diplomacy attempts to reason with him and explain their purpose. S3B offers to cleanse and reconsecrate the tomb, and Wavewalker asks the PCs to return his body to the sea, and offers them the spear in exchange. The agreement is made. Wavewalker's spirit is at rest, the tomb is cleansed, and the sailors, freed from their enchantment, have fled to try to flag down a passing ship.
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mermaid appears, floating in front of them, swimming through the air, and singing!” I do a quick YouTube search and pull up Nimue’s song from Camelot and say, “Okay, here’s your song. Now show me your sweet smile and “Follow me” gestures you use to get the sailors to follow you away from the tomb, and then you can rolled your Diplomacy check.
Hermione was embarrassed at this and wanted to just roll her d20, but I said, “When Auntie GothBard makes a Diplomacy speech, does Uncle Nobody’s Home just let her roll, or does she have to actually make the speech?”
Hermione: “(grumble grumble) She has to make the speech.”
So my husband said, “Here! I’ll fly you!” And he picked her up and held her up in his arms, flying over the gaming table, while she lip-synced to the music and waved her arms around. She made her roll, and it was good
completely and totally adorable.
Sessions Eighteen and Nineteen
December 22 and 29, 2019
The Temple of Dagon and leaving Blood Lily Cay
I've been delaying writing about these sessions because they a GM decision that made me profoundly uncomfortable. My son, who usually plays a Fighter or a Bard/Rogue combination, elected to go with a Cleric/Rogue (but mostly Cleric) for this campaign, and he's been taking it very seriously. Sometimes a little too seriously. And when he discovered that the big monster at the bottom of the temple was, in fact, not evil but good--a divine guardian that had been tortured to madness by Dagon's followers, in fact--even though it was trying to kill him and had just done him some pretty serious damage, all he wanted to do was pray to his deity to try to heal it. And even though I know there are specific methods/procedures outlined in the Cleric books for this type of thing and he technically did not have them, he does not know that. So I made a GM call that I probably would not have made with a party of all grown-ups. I will steadfastly maintain that, for a six-year-old, it was the right thing to do. But the occasionally-lawful part of my mostly NG nature still whispers in my brain that it's Wrong to deviate from the Handbook.
As our intrepid adventurers reach the clearing, Arwen succeeds in a knowledge:nature check to see that the ground has been deliberately salted so nothing will grow here again, and judging by the dryness of the soil, it happened years ago. S3B successfully interprets the rune over the door as a Symbol of Strife trap, and succeeds in disabling it. The PCs enter the room and are set upon by the undead Draugr Sailors, who are easily defeated (a couple of Channels from our Cleric and a Scorching Ray and some handy spear attacks by Bruce, as well as bow shots from the Ranger). S3B identifies the markings of Ylimancha added to the walls alread covered with the markings of Dagon. He realizes it must have been the cultists of Ylimancha who salted the clearing around the temple.
The glowing yellow crystal floating above the central altar attracts the attention of Bruce, who studies it, and when he discovers what it is and does, he wraps it in a piece of oilcloth and stashes it away in his bag of holding. Yes, he wants to weaponize Dagon's Eye and use it against the bad guys.
Going down the stairs to the underground chamber, our heroes perceive the bits of rotted seagull carcass around the altar and hear the clacking of beak and bone and decide to give it a wide berth. They follow the tunnel down to the deepest chamber and the pool where the divine guardian Achol guards the temple's treasure, waiting just below the surface of the pool . Arwen holds her action until she sees what the creature decides to do. Supersonic Swimmer Boy summons a giant shark, because why not? The couatl raises its head above the surface and blasts all three with a Scorching Ray.
This is where our heroes make their various knowledge checks to realize what the creature is, that it is not, in fact, evil, and where S3B decides that it needs to be helped, not fought. Accordingly, he Channels at it to try to begin to heal some of the damage done to it while praying to Elion and asking for the deity's divine favor to restore the creature's soul. The creature swims up to SSSB and puts its head in SSSB's outstretched hands. Elion decides to heed SSSB's prayer and releases the creature from its madness and opens a portal to its home dimension, pulling it out of the chamber.
Bruce dives down to recover the chests of treasure, which they remove and put in their various bags of holding, and then he puts the chests back at the bottom of the pool. They return to the beach, pack up their camp, and leave for Talasantri with Fluffy, who is decidedly bored. And a bit sick of eating dead crab.
Session Twenty
January 5, 2020
In Which Our Heroes Return to Talasantri
Arwen, Fluffy, Bruce and Supersonic Swimmer Boy have an uneventful return swim to Talasantri, arriving in the late afternoon. They go straight to City Hall and ask to see Rillkimatai, although when they tell him of their success in reclaiming Wavewalker's spear, setting his spirit to rest and cleansing his tomb of evil, he seems a bit distracted and tells them he is grateful for their efforts, but he fears he's sent them on an unnecessary errand. The scouts Rillkimatai sent to assess the plankta threat have reported back that there is no immediate threat after all, and the deep merfolk who warned of it have disappeared. Meanwhile, the unrest and difficulties in the city have continued. Rillkimatai gives them a scroll case with all the information his scholars have been able to uncover about Ochymua, the race of algollthus, and the Veiled Masters. They thank him and depart.
They then go to the Undertow to call on Jurix and show her the treasure they recovered from the Temple of Dagon. She is pleased with the bounty and finds their honesty and forthrightness "refreshing", and offers them 37,000 gold and two picks from the horde instead of the 12,000 and one item she had originally offered. S3B chooses the Sword of Subtlety, and Arwen chooses a ring in the form of a leaping shark, made of star sapphires and diamond set in silver (proving that elves can be just as tacky as the rest of us when it comes to bling). Jurix tells Our Heroes what she knows of the continued disturbances in the city: one of her agents, a freelancer who has occasionally done a minor job or two for Naqualia themself, informed her that Naqualia is growing frustrated in her search for Vallik, and is venting her anger in further random attacks. An attempt was made on the life of Yutpan in jail, but it failed. Jurix asked the agent to spread the word among the Undertow freelance community that any atttempts to harm the PCs will meet with her stern displeasure. The agent told her that Naqualia is still using the shipwreck an hour outside of town (the same one Yutpan spoke of) as a place to meet with her agents.
The PC's thank Jurix and return to Anemora's home, where they spend a pleasant evening telling stories of their adventures over dinner before retiring for the night. In the morning, they rise early and set off for the shipwreck, arriving around seven a.m. They approach from the east, and Arwen makes a staggering Perception check to notice the Siyokoy and the band of Galvos waiting to ambush them, and so she, Bruce, and Fluffy are able to make a loud frontal assault while SSSB sneaks around the mound of coral to hold his attack for last, from the rear. Bruce begins with a maximized Fireball to the Siyokoy, and Arwen makes a bow attack, after which Ayeuessa concentrates all her ire on Bruce, so is not prepared for S3B to sneak up behind her with his Sword of Subtlety, doing his multiclassed Roguey best. Ayuessa's hitpoints are significantly lowered. The Galvos move toward them but are unable to get into range to attack. Bruce delays his action to telepathically tell S3B to get the heck out of the way, Arwen successfully attacks Ayessa further, S3B swims high above Ayuessa toward Arwen, and Bruce launces another maximized Fireball that lands squarely between the Siyokoy and the Galvos, killing three Galvos outright and knocking the Siyokoy and her Galvo lieutenant down to minimal hitpoints. She surrenders and agrees to talk in exchange for her life. She tells the PCs that Naqualia has pledged herself and her followers to the service of the Master, who has directed Naqualia to search for Vallik, but the Siyokoy does not know who that is. She says that, while she has been loyal to Naqualia, she is through and just wants out. She gives the PC's the location of Naqualia's safehouse near the Undertow as well as the key to the door. The PC's let her and her remaining Galvo live with the injunction to never return to Talasantri. Ayuessa departs.
The PCs search the shipwreck but find nothing else of value. They swim back to Talasantri. Upon reaching the city gates, they are greeted by Argnos, who tells them that Drecissa has been kidnapped by deep merfolk.
Session Twenty-One
January 12, 2020
In Which Our Heroes get Unceremoniously Tossed from their Cushy Digs and Attack Naqualia's Safehouse
Our Heroes return to Anemora's home to an eerily familiar sight... family and servants stunned and angry in their grief. Anemora greets them with cold fury. "It is because of you that my daughter is missing. All those stories around the table last night of your adventures... and every night around the table since you first came to Talasantri. Her adolescent hero-worship. This morning, when the maid went to take her breakfast tray, she found her room empty. Argnos later came with the news that, just as he was arriving at the gate for his mrning guard duty, he saw Drecissa swimming out the gate and into the sea beyond, wearing the same ridiculous outfit she had worn to the party the other night... the sequinned "adventurer" costume. He was used to seeing her go out early to look for herbs for her experiments, but never dressed like that. As he started to call out to her, he saw three deep merfolk rush upon her with a large dark cloth or bag and wrap her in it, then swiftly swam off. He tried to pursue, but they had too much of a lead and outswam him. Who knows what will become of her? Leave my house now. I do not want to see your faces again until you find my daughter. I wish you had never come to Talasantri." She turned and left the room. A maid approached with a small bag. "I took the liberty of gathering the remaining things you'd left in the rooms you had been using. There aren't many places in town for outsiders to stay, but you can try the Restful Shores in the Threadfin district. I'm sorry. Please go now."
For once, even Bruce didn't know what to say. The PCs left Anemora's house. Arwen convinced them to stop by the feed store on their way to the inn so she could pick up Fluffy's new saddle. She was glad that Hrothgar wasn't there to speak of Drecissa. The PC's arrive at the Restful Shores in the late morning and bargain with Minastella, the proprietress, for the largest room in the inn for the three of them to share. They study the documents in Rillkimatai's scroll case, but while the information in it is interesting, there is nothing that can help them find Drecissa. The only lead they have is the safe house that the Siyokoy told them of early that morning. Bruce telepathically messages Rillkimatai, apologizes for the unusual method of contact, and explains that he believes there are spies in Rillkimatai's office and he doesn't know who to trust. Rillkimatai says he will have an agent who works with his office and the city guard meet him in the common room of the inn in half an hour and recommend the jellied eels. The PCs go to the common room, have a late breakfast, and wait for the agent. They go together to the western edge of the Threadfin district near the wall, and scout the safehouse. Rillkimatai's agent stands guard outside the entrance to the cul de sac with Fluffy, just a man taking his dire lobster for a walk. Every house around it looks vacant and deserted. There are no signs of life or habitation anywhere. Except for that giant barracuda guarding the alley. Yeah, that's not creepy or ominous. Let's stay away from that part. The PCs cast their standard buffs (Prayer and Bless from SSSB, Haste and Stoneskin from Bruce), use their key and enter the safe house, and immediately find themselves in combat with a deep merfolk druid. Bruce shoots his crossbow once and crits him. Cyreus, the druid, uses Wild Shape to take the form of a giant octopus. There follows four rounds of mostly successful bow attacks, with Cyreus trying first one thing and then another (grapple attacks against Bruce, Thorn Body and grapple, etc.) until the PCs have eventually punched through his 120 points of DR and almost all of his hit points. Cyreus speaks the password that opens the trapdoor in the floor and tries to flee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the Bruce, who has by now switched to his greatspear, and shishkabobs him with it. Byebye, Druid.
Session Twenty-Two
January 19, 2020
Naqualia's Safehouse
Having just taken out the druid guarding the safehouse, the PCs go through the trap door, down the tunnel leading below, and approach the archway to the common room. Three deep merfolk, two polearm fighters and a skald, are lounging at the opposite end of the room while the skald plays and sings.
"What does her singing sound like?" my daughter asks. I pull up YouTube and play some Bjork.
The fighter closest to the arch notices the PCs arrive and take a full move to attack. Bruce swims around to try to flank him and hits once. The fighter makes a successful attack of opportunity on Bruce, but is now flanked for S3B's attack. The skald casts Confusion, which Bruce and S3B easily beat, but Arwen does not. The second fighter moves in to flank Bruce. Arwen does nothing but babble incoherently, and shoot the person closest to her, which is S3B. Good thing she rolled minimal damage. The first fighter makes a full attack on Bruce, which is somewhat mitigated by the Stoneskin. Bruce holds his attack until after S3B, since the two of them are flanking the fighter, who has his back to S3B to attack Bruce. S3B uses his Sword of Subtlety to make a flanked sneak attack for 48 points of damage. Bruce then follows up and finishes him off. The skald casts Displacement on herself. The second fighter tries to flee through the door to the laboratory, but this provokes an attack of opportunity from Bruce, who hits her. Arwen continues to babble incoherently. Can't you see this is a land of Confusion. Whoa-oh... S3B shoots her. Bruce bullrushes the second fighter to knock her body back and block the doorway with his considerable bulk. Then he makes an Intimidate check to order both women to surrender, that Naqualia isn't worth dying for, that he will guarantee their lives and their safety if they lay down their arms, and free the Ranger from the Confusion spell. They both fail their Will saves miserably. Bruce telepathically communicates with Rillkimatai's agent and tells him there will be two to pick up shortly. The agent responds shortly thereafter that he is in position with two guards, and by the way, there was a giant barracuda in the room, feasting on the corpse of a merfolk, so they had to dispatch it. Bruce tells the women they can go. They swim up through the passage and the trapdoor and are apprehended by the guards. Bruce asks the agent to hang out for a bit.
Bruce takes two potions of Cure Serious Wounds that he finds on a shelf in the common room, recasts Haste, and casts Mirror Image on S3B. S3B recasts Prayer.
The merfolk sorcerer in the lab, Thalem, has heard the sounds of fighting in the next room and has had time to cast Stoneskin and Freedom of Movement and Invisibility. Because I have issues with invisiblility working underwater (which is why I refused to allow Bruce's player have it in his spellbook), and will fervently argue that it would cause displacement in the way water flows, fluid dynamics being completely different in water and in air, I'm treating it as if there is a subtle fluid distortion in the water that can be perceived, and am therefore giving a percentage chance to hit as with concealment. Thalem hides his mostly-invisible self behind a table at the far end of the room and readies a lightning bolt. Just before they go into the room, S3B summons a big freaking shark.
Surprise! Lightning Bolt! Everybody makes their Reflex saves for half, and I won't let S3B roll to have it take out a Mirror Image instead because his actual body was directly in the line of fire. There's no getting around that. Bruce's player is unhappy with this ruling. Arwen's Hasted arrow attack should have resulted in a crit and two more hits, but with the percent-to-miss-chance roll, one of them doesn't get through. Same with S3B, the shark, and Bruce. Mostly they're slowly chipping away at the Stoneskin DR. In the second round, Thalem targets Bruce with another Lightning Bolt for half damage (another successful Reflex save). Arwen makes four hits but only one succeeds because of the miss chance roll. S3B succeeds in 2 of three hits, the shark in 1 of 2 bites. Bruce tries to cast Dispel Magic on Thalem but fails. Thalem tries to cast Dispel Magic on the Mirror Image, but fails. Arwen crits again, with two other hits, but has only one success. S3B only has one success. The shark misses entirely and disappears. Bruce, who has had Dagon's Eye in a sling, now hurls it towards Thalem, who has a few of Bruce's crossbow bolts sticking out of him. The crossbow bolts that Bruce has painstakingly written the word "Bolt" in Celestial on each one of. So that when Dagon's Eye shines its light on them, the Celestial writing suddenly erupts in a 6d6 fireball. Thalem makes a Reflex save for half. He hits Bruce with another Lightning Bolt. Arwen continues to shoot. S3B fumbles, loses his grip on his bow, has to pick it up again. Bruce switches to his greatspear, rushes toward Thalem, makes two hits with one success. Thalem tries to use Suggestion to get Bruce to give up, as in five rounds of fighting, pulling out every trick in their book, the PCs still haven't bested him. Naqualia and the girl aren't even here. Isn't this pointless?" Yes, I did my best Jeremy Irons voice. The kids, who had just watched The Lion King the other night, thought this was funny. The Suggestion does not break through Bruce's Spell Resistance. We keep fighting. Arwen makes another crit. (Go Team Ranger!) Plus another two hits. Two of them are successes. Thalem's Stoneskin DR is now wiped out, and his hitpoints are down to about a third. S3B makes three hits, two of which succeed. Bruce makes two successful spear attacks, taking Thalem's HP down to 16. Thalem tries to cast Dimension Door, but Bruce gets an Attack of Opportunity, and does... you guessed it... exactly 16 points of damage. Now Thalem is just unconscious, with no spells up, and can be revived and questioned after the PCs toss the place. Arwen finds the secret door to the side chamber the Siyokoy had told them of, S3B uses his Door Sight to make sure Naqualia isn't hiding behind it, and Bruce speaks the password to disarm the trap. No more bad guys and no Drecissa. Just an ivory scroll case and, on the floor, a sequinned Handy Haversack that looks very familiar. The scroll case contains notes from Naqualia. Oh, hey! This one says she's finally discovered where Vallik is and is going to the Lionfish Gallery to confront him. Oh, and here's another that says that she's sending Drecissa to the tower of Auberon the Lich as a gift for The Master. Yeah, that doesn't sound like the plot of a Hammer Horror film. Or the plot of an early Doctor Who serial. Take your pick.
The PCs pick up any gold pieces, jewels, potions, etc. they can get their hands on, waken and attempt to question Thalem, but learn nothing useful from him. They take him up to the guards at the entrance (checking the other rooms/bodies for treasure on the way), and accompany the guards and the three prisoners to city hall.
Next time: Continuing our Saturday morning cartoon theme, Bruce gets to have a boss fight in a bougie art gallery. This is sooooo Scooby Doo.
Session Twenty-Three
January 26, 2020
The End of Book Four
Fred, Velma and Scooby hop in the Mystery Machine and rush to the art gallery Sorry, Our Intrepid Adventurers rush to the art gallery. On the way there, as they are passing through a quiet residential neighborhood, SSSB sees something odd in his peripheral vision down a passage between two houses. He starts to say "Something's not..." when the group is attacked by two deep merfolk, one coming from their nine and one from their four. They attack Arwen and S3B first with polearms, and Arwen is only able to get a half-hearted trident strike in on her assailant before both PCs are attacked again. Fluffy flips her tail under and does that incredible retreat that lobsters do so well, leaving only a small cloud of coral dust where they were a second ago. Bruce misses Merfolk 1, but S3B strikes his opponent (Merfolk 2) twice with his sword. A group of three Cecaelian rogues rushes up, telling Bruce telepathically that Jurix sent them to follow and assist them in whatever way necessary, as the deep merfolk are a threat to business in "her" city. Bruce says, "Excellent. Help us get rid of these guys."
Arwen fumbles, knocks herself in the head with the handle of her trident, is confused, and throws her sword at the nearest person to her, which just happens to be S3B. Luckily, she throws poorly and he only takes 5 points. The first Cecaelian moves to flank the first Merfolk (the one who attacked Arwen and is now engaged with Bruce) and strikes. The other two take five-foot steps to attack Merfolk 2. With the Cecaelian rogues focusing their efforts on flanked sneak attack damage whenever the merfolk are engaged in attacking the PCs, the fight is over in two more rounds, the merfolk are no more, and the Cecaelians offer to accompany Our Heros to the Lionfish Gallery. Arwen takes some potions of Cure Serious, and SSSB channels once for 19 for himself and the Cecaelians.
Arriving at the gallery, the party finds it closed and locked even though it is early afternoon on a busy day. SSSB uses his Door Sight ability to see inside the gallery and observes Naqualia and another merfolk talking together, not quite halfway down the long hall. He examines the lock and is confident he can disable it easily. Buff time: SSSB casts Prayer and Bless, Arwen casts Communal Protection from Evil, and Bruce casts Haste, as well as Shield and Mirror Image (6) on himself). SSSB picks the lock, the Cecaelians spread out their lower bodies in front of the first line of PCs to provide partial concealment while they open the door (having octopus tentacles instead of legs can be very useful), and they throw open the double doors. Naqualia raises her crossbow and shoots one of the Cecaelians. The other merfolk ducks behind a wall and disappears. Bruce, guessing this is Vallik, communicates telepathically with it to try to intimidate it into staying out of the fight or aiding them. Vallik tells Bruce that, although Naqualia is his enemy, he believes the PCs are the bigger threat to him, so while he will be grateful if they can dispatch Naqualia for him, he won't be aiding them in the fight. Unseen around his corner, he goes through a secret door into J4 and disappears.
The fight itself is over in two rounds... our PCs manage to make every hasted shot with their bows, Arwen crits, Naqualia tries to flee, but cannot get to the only door without providing attacks of opportunity from everyone but Arwen, and SSSB crits his AOO. She tries to bargain, offering them information if they will spare her, but just then, the Cecaelian who was hit by her arrow doubles over and shows every sign of having been poisoned. As the others are momentarily distracted by this, Naqualia uses the opportunity to take more of the blue-ring octopus venom she had stored in her bodice, and dies.
They search the gallery, but are unable to find any other combatants, any other doors, or any other clues. The PCs decide to teleport to the Temple of Amaznen where they first met up and swim the rest of the way to Auberon's tower from there. They take Naqualia's body to Rillkimatai, report, and prepare to leave Talasantri.
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I really need to read this more. Sorry.
On that note: away to caring for sick kiddos!
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And when he discovered that the big monster at the bottom of the temple was, in fact, not evil but good--a divine guardian that had been tortured to madness by Dagon's followers, in fact--even though it was trying to kill him and had just done him some pretty serious damage, all he wanted to do was pray to his deity to try to heal it. And even though I know there are specific methods/procedures outlined in the Cleric books for this type of thing and he technically did not have them, he does not know that. So I made a GM call that I probably would not have made with a party of all grown-ups. I will steadfastly maintain that, for a six-year-old, it was the right thing to do. But the occasionally-lawful part of my mostly NG nature still whispers in my brain that it's Wrong to deviate from the Handbook.
For what it's worth, I think that was a great way to resolve the situation and if the book stops you from doing something awesome then the book is wrong!
My gaming group are a bunch of cynical adults who would never approach the situation like that - but if they did, I'd allow it. (Albeit probably with some sort of spurious dice roll to make them think they'd "earned" it.)
And when he discovered that the big monster at the bottom of the temple was, in fact, not evil but good--a divine guardian that had been tortured to madness by Dagon's followers, in fact--even though it was trying to kill him and had just done him some pretty serious damage, all he wanted to do was pray to his deity to try to heal it. And even though I know there are specific methods/procedures outlined in the Cleric books for this type of thing and he technically did not have them, he does not know that. So I made a GM call that I probably would not have made with a party of all grown-ups. I will steadfastly maintain that, for a six-year-old, it was the right thing to do. But the occasionally-lawful part of my mostly NG nature still whispers in my brain that it's Wrong to deviate from the Handbook.For what it's worth, I think that was a great way to resolve the situation and if the book stops you from doing something awesome then the book is wrong!
My gaming group are a bunch of cynical adults who would never approach the situation like that - but if they did, I'd allow it. (Albeit probably with some sort of spurious dice roll to make them think they'd "earned" it.)
Wow, thanks, Amethal. That's really kind of you to say.
Sessions Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five
February 2 and 16, 2020
Beginning of Book Five, The Tower of the Drowned Dead
The party leaves Talasantri via teleport thanks to S3B, who transports them directly to the Cathedral of Amaznen where he first met them. It remains clean and largely deserted, except by fish. They look around. In the Hall of the Heroes, they encounter the sharks they accidentally "fed" the wounded Skum. Bruce communicates with them, saying, "Hey, how've you been?" The sharks think back, "Good! But no more strange food. Got any more snacks?" The party remains in the cathedral overnight, then swims the rest of the way to the Tower without difficulty. (Although at one point, the guys swear they could almost see what looks like a giant clockwork nautiloid swimming in the distance, and tell Arwen, who tells them that sounds like a legend she has heard, but such things don't exist, really, and it must be their imaginations playing tricks with them.)
Upon arriving at the Tower, Arwen uses her wand of Overland Flight on Fluffy, who first flies up Bruce (in dwarf form), puts him on the wall of the middle tine, then returns for S3B and Arwen. They poke around for a bit, then S3B hears the repeated thud of footfalls on the floor below and troll voices getting louder. Our heroes get into position with bows at the top of the staircase, and manage to completely decimate the party of three Scrag Renders as they come up the stairs. They descend to the dry larder below, look around, go back up, and fly over to the east tine, at sea level. They take out the seaweed beast from the wall without getting into the muck themselves. Bruce transforms back into his aquatic form and tries to find a way down through the rubble, but everything is blocked. They fly over to the west tine. They explore the vista tower (A2) and are all set to go down the stairs when Arwen's elven perception allows her to hear many Scrag voices arguing in the room below. They decide to go back up, fly back to the middle tine, and descend back through the larder to the room below and surprise the Scrag from below rather then coming down the stairs like total n00bs.
They go back down through the dry larder to A6, the Carrels and Reception area, where a statue of Desna has been reshaped to resemble Auberon, who looms over a table covered with a topographical map of the area surrounding the Alabaster Trident. As they approach to view it more closely, Auberon casts Enter Image to speak to them through the statue. He asks who they are, why they've come, blah blah blah. Arwen attempts to be diplomatic, tells them of what they have discovered of Ochymua's plan to discover his secrets and use them to further the aims of the Veiled Masters, and tells them they've come here to warn him. Oh, and to find this girl, no one of consequence, who was being sent here as a gift for Ochymua by an underling who assumed that Auberon's downfall was a matter of course.
Auberon says he knows nothing of the girl, does not believe their story, and they should leave now or be killed, blah blah blah. His presence departs the statue.
Session Twenty-Six
March 1, 2020
In which I attempt to explain dungeon crawling theory to my children without tipping them off or over-helping.
After deciding to ignore Auberon's warning at the end of last session, our intrepid adventurers descend the stairs to the lower hall. With her +20 in Perception, Arwen easily makes out the sounds coming from the training hall, and asks SSSB to use his Door Sight to look through and see what it is. He sees the brineborn marsh giant attempting to train two giant mantis shrimp, all of whom seem rather irritated. The party begins to argue among themselves whether to go back up the *other* stairs to take care of the group of scrags on the level above, as they had originally planned, or just to take out the marsh giant and mantis shrimp now since they "seem easy".
Here followed a lengthy discussion about how this is the start of the next level down, the map for this level hasn't been revealed yet, but it's a cinch these aren't the only three monsters on it, and CR for the opposition tends to increase as one descends. Also, the bad guys get perception checks, too.
So, eventually they decide to sneak up the stairs to A5, lure the scrags further up the stairs to A2 (i.e. out of the water so they can't regenerate), and do away with them as they had done with the first group upon their arrival.
And, even though our heroes are outnumbered five-to-three, it works easily. Mostly because Bruce is a battle wagon and the ranger can't miss.
My husband complained that he was bored because it took ten rounds for the three of them to kill five sea trolls. I didn't feel particularly sympathetic. It's gonna get tougher much sooner than he thinks, and it's good for the kids to have multi-round combats just to practice how combat works, because they're still learning and haven't been doing this for forty years like he has. Grumbly old codger.
But, I have to admit, I do not feel up to typing out the details of a ten-round non-magical combat. It happened. It was long. Our team won. There was no loot worth mentioning because they were scrags. After searching the scrag lair and finding nothing, they return to the lower hall outside the mantis shrimp training room.
There was no game on March 1st because WW and the kids got back from Grandma's late, and everyone was tired and out of sorts.
Session Twenty-Seven
March 8, 2020
Yes, I'm trying to get caught up on three separate sessions weeks later, because switching to teaching online from home has been insane.
The Training Room (A9) fight with the Marsh Giant and two giant mantis shrimp took four rounds and was completely uneventful. The home team won. It was four weeks ago, but looking at my handwritten notes, I really don't see the point in typing any of it.
One useful thing I did, just for myself, though, was to make myself a Buff spreadsheet in Google Sheets, because I'm notoriously bad at tracking what stacks and what doesn't. Ask Nobody's Home, if you know him.
So what I did was make a handy sheet with the following columns: Name of Spell, which PC casts it (I only have 3 players and only two cast buffs), their Caster Level, the Spell Level, Actual Casting time (I plugged in a formula based on their current caster level), Range, Duration, Bonus Type, AC effect, to hit effect, damage effect, other effect 1, other effect 2.
Then, I chose a fill color for the cells for each type of bonus (green for luck, red for morale, etc.) and highlighted each entire row in the appropriate color.
Yes, it took far longer than it should, but I'm tired of constantly asking, "What does that do again?" and "What type of bonus is that? Wait, that doesn't stack with..."
And I like organizing things in spreadsheets.
They make me feel like Doctor Strange.
Session Twenty-Eight
March 26, 2020
Varkax and the Marsh Giants (A10), a tense meeting with Glorballo (A7), and the Snapsnap Nests (A11)
Let me preface this by saying that everyone in my house has been stressed and irritable, so the last couple of sessions have been kinda weird. The coolest thing about this combat was that my daughter, who plays the sea elf ranger Arwen, finally mastered the concept of using her Dire Lobster for Spirited Charge so she could move and take her full combat round at the same time. In her defense, she's still only eight. My husband, who plays the dwarven/elephant seal Selkie fighter/sorcerer Bruce (again, we're playing the Saturday Morning Cartoons version of this campaign for the kids), has been playing with his new toy: since he first took possession of Dagon's Eye at the ruined temple on Blood Lily Cay back in December, he's been writing in Celestial on his crossbow bolts (usually just the word "bolt"), and keeping Dagon's Eye wrapped in oilcloth. When he has shot an enemy with a few bolts and still isn't doing enough damage to them, he chucks the eye at them, and the Celestial writing erupts in a 6d6 fireball. He also has been experimenting with Aqueous Orb in combat, but today it spectacularly... did nothing. The bad guys made every single reflex save. So the fight took seven rounds, and again, the home team won.
They went upstairs and met Glorballo, tried to convince him that a Big Bad Aboleth was on its way to take over the Alabaster Trident, and they should totally be allies and he should help them and stuff. Glorballo told them to go away and kill the Scrag Druid Dahaaka, and he would consider listening to them. They go away, and descend through the snapsnap nests, deciding to leave the poor snapsnaps alone unless they attacked first (spoiler: they didn't), and SSSB, who is only half-elf and breathing underwater by means of a magical helm, acquired a nifty folding boat of Elvish provenance which, while currently broken, can totally be repaired. They end up outside the door to the Scrag guardroom (A10), where SSSB uses his doorsight to give the others needed intel on the room beyond, and we stop for the night.
Session Twenty-Nine
March 28, 2020
The Scrag Guardroom, A12
A seven-round fight with the four Scrag guards.
The highlight of the game was my seven-year-old as the rogue/cleric really making excellent use of the sneak attack/flanking/Sword of Subtlety combination, which was super deadly.
Particularly when, with only a handful of HP left, the last remaining Scrag crit fumbled his attack on Bruce (the fumble table for natural melee fumble said "overextend, provoke AOO"), and on his AOO, my son rolled three natural 20's in a row.
Yes, he did an end zone dance.
Next time: Dahaaka
Session Thirty
April 5, 2020
Dahaaka, the Scrag Druid
This was a fun challenge. Yet again, I found myself searching the Paizoverse for answers mid-combat and then sending an emergency "HEEEEEELP!" to the kindly denizens of Deep6FaWtL because I couldn't find a succinct answer on the forums quickly enough. And, yet, the FaWtLites came through. Which, really, ought to be their motto.
Round 1: Bruce casts Haste, the PCs get into position around the door, and Fluffy flips it open so everyone else gets their full move. Bruce makes two crossbow hits to Dahaaka, the Mantis Shrimp and Scrag Berserker (i.e. Dahaaka's favorite pet and consort) close to confront the PC's, but both miss. Arwen makes two bow shots at Dahaaka, as does SSSB, who follows her in turn order. Dahaaka casts Ball Lightning.
Round 2: Bruce gets in one more crossbow hit at Dahaaka. The Snapsnap attacks SSSB and gets through the door. The Scrag tries to bullrush through the door and push Bruce back, but fails. Arwen scores three bow hits on the shrimp. Fluffy holds her action until SSSB attacks, then closes the door. Dahaaka casts Stoneskin.
Round 3: All the PC's attack the shrimp, who attacks and deals more damage to SSSB. The three orbs of ball lightning hover behind the Scrag, who hammers ineffectually on the door. Dahaaka casts Freedom of Movement.
Round 4: Bruce finishes off the Snapsnap, says the password to open the door, and the Scrag comes through, attacking and missing Bruce. Arwen, Fluffy, and SSSB all successfully attack the Scrag (Bow, Pincer, and Harpoon respectively). Dahaaka casts Greater Magic Fang.
Round 5: All the PC's continue to attack the Scrag, who flubs his attack on Bruce. (Bruce's initial hasted Greatspear attack alone did 71 points of damage.) SSSB's harpoon attack finishes off the Scrag, and on hearing his death cry, Dahaaka wails in rage.
Round 6: Fluffy opens the door and Bruce shoots, Arwen crit fumbles her bow attack and is knocked prone on Fluffy's back, and SSSB casts Spear of Purity. Dahaaka casts Protection from Energy.
Round 7: Bruce hurls Dagon's Eye at Dahaaka, and the fireball does 18 points of damage to her. As he swims over the ball lightning to evade them and come into closer range to Dahaaka, he telepathically tells her that they made a deal with Glorballo. Arwen rights herself. SSSB follows Bruce and misses a harpoon attack on Dahaaka. Dahaaka attacks Bruce, popping one of his mirror images. The ball lightning follow Bruce and SSSB.
Round 8: Bruce attacks Dahaaka with his greatspear, Arwen with her bow, and SSSB with his harpoon. Most of the damage is against her Stoneskin. Dahaaka pops another of Bruce's mirror images. The ball lightning hits the PC's, damaging Bruce, SSSB, and Fluffy.
Round 9:Haste expires. Bruce attacks Dahaaka with two scorching rays, then moves. Fluffy moves into Dahaaka's chamber, leaving one orb of ball lightning in the other room, and Arwen closes the door behind them. Arwen shoots Dahaaka once. SSSB gets one harpoon strike on Dahaaka and runs away. Dahaaka still manages to damage Bruce and sends the two available orbs of ball lightning to follow Bruce and SSSB.
Rounds 10-12: Bruce and SSSB, who move faster in water than the ball lightning, continue their strategy of striking Dahaaka with their melee weapons, running away, shooting her while the ball lightning chases them outward, then swimming back to close with her in melee range again. Arwen continues to chip away at Dahaaka's Stoneskin with her arrow attacks. SSSB moves to flank Dahaaka, who has started to miss Bruce. Twice in a row.
Rounds 13-14: Bruce strikes Dahaaka with his greatspear, Arwen puts another arrow into her, and SSSB makes a sneak attack with his Sword of Subtlety. Dahaaka makes one final successful attack on Bruce, but his next greatspear attack finishes her off.
Oh, the thing I needed GM help on was Dahaaka's ability to regenerate 5 points per round from the fire damage she took when Bruce threw Dagon's Eye at her.
We didn't play on Easter Sunday. We had a long Zoom call with my family and we spent a lot of time eating the food I'd been cooking all weekend.
Session Thirty-One
April 19, 2020
Part 2, In the Haft
The PC's begin by scrounging every bit of treasure they can find from Dahaaka's chamber and the scrag guardroom in A12 (coin, jewels, another bag of holding, some origami swarms, an incandescent blue sphere ioun stone, and a merform belt for SSSB, the only member of the party who doesn't breathe naturally underwater so he can, at will, transform his lower half into a tail and ditch the helm that lets him breathe underwater. Apparently my son was feeling self-conscious about this and hadn't said anything, so he was pretty excited.).
They also move the rocks in front of the entrance to A13 and discover the Azlanti observatory, and decide it will be a good place for them to rest and recharge from time to time. Bruce casts Arcane Lock on the door.
They discuss whether to go back to Glorballo and let them know they've dealt with Dahaaka, or just keep exploring, and decide they don't feel like dealing with him yet because they don't really trust him, so they're just going to press on. They swim down the entrance to the Haft.
They search the servants' quarters on B2 and find a Sustaining Spoon. Arwen and SSSB turn up their noses, but Bruce is delighted. Not sure if it's the Scot or the Dwarf in him, but the idea of having plentiful food for free without effort is a win, and he rather likes plain porridge anyway.
Entering the Viewing Gallery on B3, our heroes quickly spot the badly hidden Clockwork Golems, and would ignore them and keep explorng, but for the "Intruders! Destroy Intruders!" insistence of the golems. The PC's swim up the haft a bit. The golems begin to stack furniture so they can reach the walls of the haft above B3 so they can begin climbing up after them. The PC's decide on a strategy of "shoot them, then swim upwards 5' per round, and eventually they will biff their climb rolls and fall and we can keep exploring". It helps that Arwen, the Ranger, has Constructs as one of her favorite enemies. (Knowing this was an Azlanti-centric campaign, and she was playing a ranger, my daughter and I had discussed reasons her character might choose this favored enemy, such as a deep love of the natural world undersea and an abiding distrust of "living machines" which she considers a threat to her world.)
In Round 3, Auberon's image enters the face of one of the Golems, and the conversation goes about as well as one would expect: the PC's insist, earnestly, that they have come only to find Drecissa and stop Ochymua, and he continues to disbelieve and threaten them. He does, however, let slip that one of the reasons for his distrust is having already been interrupted and used by "that duplicitous sea slug". The PC's realize he must mean Ochymua, and try to question hm further, but he refuses to give them any more information or accept their offers of alliance. He vanishes, and the Golems continue their attack. In the following round, the Golem that Auberon had entered falls to the bottom of the shaft (and, wow, was there a lot of math figuring out how far it had climbed and how far it had fallen and the amount of damage it took, but thanks to Chinchbug's excellent diagram of the Alabaster Trident and the rules for falling into water I found on d20pfsrd, I was able to suss it out.), takes 36 points of damage, and prepares to climb aaaaaall the way back up.
The PC's continue shooting at the other Golem until he, too, falls, takes 48 points of falling damage in water, and at -39, is reduced to Clockwork Rubble. The Golem at the bottom of the shaft is having a miserable time... if it makes its climb check, it advanced 7.5 feet up the shaft; if it misses, it either falls or stays put. So it advances 15', falls, advances 7.5', falls, advances 22.5', falls, repeatedly. Once our adventurers had left combat rounds, I kept rolling for the Golem behind my screen, because it would be useful to know at what point in the story he reappears to continue the fight.
With one Golem destroyed and the other out of the action for an extended period of time, our heroes descend to the reception room on level B4 and continue exploring this level. They spot, but still trigger, the Chain Lightning Trap in Auberon's private study, take the damage, keep going, and are rewarded by finding and successfully opening the Clockwork Box holding three Elixirs of Concordance in Auberon's old bedroom. Arwen also finds the schematics for the Alabaster Trident with Auberon's handwritten notes, including "Arcanovallation. Combination forbiddance/wall of force secures High Halls in event of emergency. Must also secure subterranean entrance."
Having finished their search of this level, our adventurers decide to call it a day, return to the Observatory, heal up and rest for the night.
Yes, the Golem at the bottom of the shaft is still trying to climb back up to find them.
...and more time passes between session. My school's Home Learning Plan has involved roughly half again as many hours per day as actual classroom teaching, between extra planning and prep to do the video lessons, scheduling weekly one-on-one check-ins with each student, and still having to update records and write my parent-teacher conference reports and submit them on time... oh, yeah, and trying to make sure my own kids are keeping on top of their own video lessons and homework. Only two weeks left, though.
Session Thirty-Two
May 3, 2020
Day two in the Alabaster Trident
Our adventurers exit the Observatory at 6 a.m. having rested, healed, and breakfasted, reset the Arcane Lock, go through to A14, and find the Clockwork Golem guarding the entrance to the Haft. Bruce attempts to Bull Rush him, crit fumbles, pulls a muscle, takes a point of strength drain, and although his mighty elephant seal bulk smacks into the Golem, the Golem makes his grapple check and pins Bruce to him as he falls. He does 14 points of damage to Bruce, who has Stoneskin up, so only 4 get through. After the first round of falling, Bruce breaks free of the grapple and the Golem continues to fall, taking a total of 51 points of damage (0 points for first 20' of 175, 2d3 for the second 20' = 5 points, and 13.5d6 for the final 135' = 46 points).
Arwen, Fluffy, and SSSB swim down to meet Bruce at the entrance to area B5, the Reception Room, and they swim down to B7. They see the three Kin Warden guards on the catwalk guarding the prisoners.
[i]I could describe the fight with the zombie aquatic elf ranger guards round-by-round, but why? Suffice to say, it takes only eight rounds, involved the use of Dagon's Eye to create a fireball, and Arwen fumbling not once but twice, the first time slipping the string on her bow and taking a round to reset it, the second time spilling her quiver. Fortunately, Fluffy (who had been holding her action) sees the arrows falling and flicks her powerful tail to send the arrows scattering on the floor in B7 rather than down the hole.
Bruce collects Dagon's Eye and Arwen gathers her arrows.
They look over the railing and see 9 merfolk and 6 aquatic elf prisoners, starved and wounded, who cry out, "Please help us!" The PCs ask, "Who is down there? Who is guarding you?" They answer, "Two Litanus and Carthagax. She is the head of Auberon's guards, and she is the most evil... she enjoys hurting prisoners. Please."
Our heroes descend to the opening to B8 and engage with the Litanus. Again, the round-by-round isn't terribly exciting, but S3B gets in a couple of solid uses of Gozreh's Trident, Fluffy keeps Arwen moving around and out of harm's way while she turns the Litanus into pincushions, and S3B and Bruce try to keep moving, hitting on the fly, to keep from taking significant damage. The fighting moves back up to level B7. The Litanus chip away at Bruce's Stoneskin. The Clockwork Golem, meanwhile, gets 75' up the shaft before falling and taking 19 more points of damage, reducing it to 12. Our heroes finish off the Litanus and prepare to go back down to B9 to face Carthagax.
Session Thirty-Three
May 10, 2020
Carthagax the Graveknight and Freeing the Prisoners
Supersonic Swimmer Boy casts Prayer and Bless; Bruce casts Shield. Our Heroes swim back down a level and ready themselves outside the door to room B9, the Interrogation Room. Fluffy opens the door and takes a 5' step back, and Carthagax sends a Devastating Blast at the party. It only hits Bruce and does not overcome his spell resistance.
SSSB casts Spear of Purity at Carthagax, but she easily makes her Will save and her DR against magic takes care of the remaining half damage.
The long-suffering but determined Clockwork Golem is now 15' back up the shaft.
Bruce and Arwen each make one bow hit and Bruce closes the distance into the room. Carthagax attacks and pops one of his mirror images. SSSB switches to his bow and does some damage. The Clockwork Golem falls again. Arwen scores with her bow, Bruce switches to his Greatspear, and things continue, Carthagax focusing her attacks on Bruce, SSSB and Arwen attacking with bow, and the Clockwork Golem climbing and falling. At the end of round 4, even though he had already taken 77 hp of damage, Bruce made a full Greatspear attack and finished her. SSSB claimed her Full Plate of the Deep, and they took her keys and freed the prisoners (including the one in the iron maiden). SSSB channeled four times to heal the prisoners and Bruce, and Bruce gave the prisoners detailed instructions on how to get out of the Trident and to freedom. They tell the PC's of the young prisoner with the sequinned handy haversack who escaped a few days ago, trying to find a way out.
[b]Sessions Thirty-Four and Thirty-Five[/]
May 17-18, 2020
Finding Drecissa and Finishing Part B
After sending the prisoners on their way, healed and with rations, and stashing the graveknight's armor in its very own bag of holding with the intention of making sure they do just enough damage to it every day to keep the graveknight from regrowing until they can get a spell cast to make it usable, Our Heroes descend to the sixth level of the Haft, the Guest Rooms. With a Perception check of 38, SSSB easily spots the head of the Sisyphean Clockwork Golem only 2.5 feet below the level of the floor, aims his bow, and finishes off his few remaining hit points. The Golem falls and shatters.
On the Guest Room level, three doors are standing open, two are closed. SSSB uses his Door Sight on the last two and discovers Drecissa hiding in one, a Litanu smashing about trying to free himself in the other. Bruce communicates telepathically with Drecissa to let her know they are there, and casts Arcane Lock on the door to the Litanu's room. After Drecissa comes out and they chat and hug for a minute (during which Drecissa tells them what she discovered about the mechanism in the Guard Room below), Bruce swims her up to their safe room in the Observatory, gives her a short sword, a mail shirt, and the Sustaining Spoon, and Arcane Locks her in.
Bruce thinks this is very funny, and also a nice consequence for all the trouble she's caused. He's not wrong.
After Bruce returns to the group, they go down to the final level of the Haft.
They explore the classrooms silently and consider what to do. Eventually they decide to just make a lot of annoying noise (Bruce singing) to lure them out, swim up the shaft, and shoot them a lot.
This plan works beautifully, with the added step of SSSB summoning a shark to assist them in the fight. Arwen's +2 Favored Enemy bonus against Constructs doesn't hurt, either.
The Golems dealt with, they go into the Guard Room. Arwen examines the 3D map of the Alabaster Trident while SSSB disables the mechanism to release the bars. Arwen discovers the entrance to the Vaults on the sea floor. They go out onto the balcony and deal with the jellyfish.
Next week: Part C, The Vaults
Session Thirty-Six (See, I can, on occasion, resolve my brackets.)
May 24, 2020
Entering the Vaults
Arriving on the sea floor at the entrance to Vaults, Our Heroes make a cursory Perception check. With a natural 20 + 21, SSSB realizes that the clump of seaweed underneath a clump of nearby coral is both familiar and suspicious... reminding him of the seaweed siren they fought on the tines when they first arrived at the Alabaster Trident. He Summons a shark and then warns Bruce, who fires off a Magic Missile.
Although the sight of the Seaweed Siren in full repulses the delicate sensibilities of Arwen, who is sickened for a round, Bruce, S3B and the Shark wail away on it and do consistent damage. The Siren itself is not having a good day, first attempting Confusion, then Bestow Curse, then trying to Charm Bruce and S3B. Nothing works. It is dead within five rounds, and the PCs are free to enter the Vaults.
Taking the passageway to the North first, our adventurers quickly encounter a wall of solid rock. S3B, with his ridiculous knowledge of Azlanti history, correctly surmises that this must be a result of the Trident falling into the sea during Earthfall. Turning to the door closest to them (C3, Storage Room), Bruce and S3B are astonished when it opens automatically at their approach. They investigate the storage room and its supplies of fresh water and seaweed cakes, decide it would make an adequate room to take their rest on this level, and move on. Arwen and Fluffy turn to leave first, but the door does not open automatically for them. Bruce and S3B decide that this is because it only opens for men. Arwen counters with, "Oh really? Send Blue Ring at it, then." Blue Ring does not open the door. Interesting.
They come back down the corridor to the passage to the NW. Going down the passage, they come to C2, the Curator's Room. Our Adventurers notice that the furnishings are oddly sun-bleached, and another ridiculously high Perception check means the source of the radiance is a spot behind the desk. Bruce swims up just high enough to see the edge of the trap and figure out what is without triggering it. He and S3B Detect Magic around the room, and locate magic in a number of urns and coffers around the room. They edge around the room with their backs to the center, looting the magic items, and then going back to the door. From the entrance, they still detect magic coming from the desk. As Blue Ring cannot read, but has an 8 strength and 21 dex, S3B has him swim across the desk and open the drawer. Blue Ring takes the first of two iridescent spindle ioun stones out of the drawer and swims it back to S3B, then returns for the other. Showing off on his return, he swims up to Arwen with the shiny piece of rock, and as he approaches the door, it opens. Mystery solved. The two new ioun stones go to Arwen and Fluffy. Blue Ring gets treats.
Going up the central (eastern) passage, Our Heroes find themselves in another room that seems to have sustained a serious collapse when the Trident fell into the sea. Bruce successfully identifies the five canisters as extraplanar travel pods, similar to the pneumatic tubes at a drive-through bank. Except not really. Discovering there are two creatures trapped inside one, the party decides the best course of action is to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING and to leave everything in the room alone, unless they can fine a way later to weaponize the room and the creatures in the tube against the Bad Guys.
They go back to the intersection where they started and take the passage to the south.
Time to level up!
Sessions Thirty-Seven and Thirty-Eight
May 30-31, 2020
In the Vaults
Our Heroes begin to investigate the rooms along the southern passage, beginning with the empty operating room in C5 (creepy, nothing magical or valuable to take, nothing evil to kill, moving on) and the empty-except-for-a-dead-elf-on-a-table operating room in C6. Oh, look. The dead elf still has an ioun stone orbiting her hea... okay, roll for initiative.
Happily, the PCs still had their ears plugged from dealing with the seaweed siren on the first day, and have taken the precaution of "let's just use telepathy because we can".
The fight is over quickly. Arwen's level up enabled her to take the Deadly Aim feat, which gives her -4/+8 on a single attack per round. Since her highest to hit is +21, it's an acceptable tradeoff. Elven Rangers. Pfft. S3B Channels every round. Bruce gets the ioun stone.
Continuing on to the next room (C7), S3B listens at the door and hears nothing. He goes inside the empty room and rolls a natural 20 on his Perception. With a total of 43, he hears and sees *everything* possible to experience in this haunt (a still-living Auberon pursuing and torturing a victim in a maze, asking "When did you begin serving the veiled masters? Who has been compromised in the Spindle Solution? What do you know of the oncoming apocalypse?") as if it is happening right in front of him (which no one else cans see or hear) and is suitably creeped out. He explains thing to the others, then closes the door and they move on.
C8. Yet another operating room. Two evil extraplanar creatures that are supposed to be amphibious versions of a Shining Child, but to me look more like the salt vampire from TOS. They've been experimenting on a dead sahuagin, grafting aboleth tentacles to its torso. Because that's going to turn out well.
Because S3B rolled a ridiculously high perception check *again* when he listened at the door, he is able to hear that there are more than one creatures moving about inside the room, so they are able to cast a couple of buffs, with Arwen using her new "Channel the Gift" spell to give S3B one of her spell slots for free. Because they like to be spontaneous and unpredictable, S3B casts Prayer and Bless; Bruce casts Shield and Gravity Bow. And the Spanish Inquisition. Because no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
Tactics: Arwen is again using Deadly Aim with her bow. S3B is using his new Vital Strike feat. Bruce casts Haste to give everyone an extra attack, and uses his new Undersea Geyser to attack the M-113 Creatures, who are frustrated because, as many other opponents have found, Our Heroes have ridiculous luck with saving throws. They now use their teleport spells to try to flank Bruce for the next attack, but S3B uses his Dimensional Hop to get behind one and stabby stabby.
After the bodies have fallen, S3B finds a Wand of Gentle Repose on a ledge. "Hey, what does this do?" my son asks.
I tell him, "It's used to make dead things not decompose and smell bad."
"Cool! We could use it on cheese! (pause) Or on my shoes."
And that's where we left things, because really, what can you say after that?
Session Thirty-Nine
June 7, 2020
Uluuthann
Having just finished off the Pelagic Children in C8, Our Intrepid Wanderers proceed down the southern corridor, where the next room is a twisted art gallery with one exhibit, an aboleth version of Körperwelten which just cements in my mind the theory that Auberon is really just Gunther von Hagens in a wig and better jewelry.
Bruce takes ten to sketch the exposed layers of aboleth anatomy for himself, in case it might prove useful later.
Next up is the Litanu Workshop in C10. With brilliant Perception and Heal checks, the Cleric is convinced that the Litanus-in-progress in the cages aren't undead *yet*, but will be in a matter of days, but no, you don't want to go disconnect them, because see that stuff leaking from those hoses? Ewwww, David. So Bruce lets loose a maximized Fireball in the midpoint between the cages and fries them, and Our Adventurers move on.
At the next door, it's easy enough to hear the sounds of the necromantic pump working away, and S3B uses his Door Sight to peer into the room and observe Uluuthan at work, as well as the two Lacedons attached to the pump. He lets the others know and they backtrack a bit in order to buff up fully... S3B casts Prayer, uses the Wand of Displacement on himself, and prepares to Summon a shark right before they open the door; Arwen uses Channel the Gift to give an extra spell slot to Bruce, who casts Heroism, Shield, a maximized Mirror Image, and Haste (his Stoneskin was still active). They open the door and Uluuthan, who has the first initiative, attempts to talk to them, a la Jeremy Irons, as the bored erudite villain monologue is a trope valuable for its exposition purposes, and the AP says that's what he does. But Bruce will have none of it, tells him off, and attacks with Seaspike, because when you have an Aberration-Bane weapon, why waste it?
In the next two rounds, Uluuthan's Ego Whip III andPsychic Crush both fail against Bruce's SR (somebody remind me to look more closely at what magic items my husband buys when he builds his next spellcasting PC, because this has been a bit unreasonable), Bruce and Arwen do an impressive amount of damage, and S3B and the shark keep missing. When S3B finally gets a hit in by using Dimensional Hop, flanking the aboleth, and then stabbing him in the back, he fumbles and gives himself a point of Bleed.
Uluuthan switches to his claw attacks, first on S3B, then on Bruce, but that isn't enough to save him, and in round 4 he hits -15 HP and dissolves into a swarm of jellyfish and his ioun stones drift to the floor. S3B Holy Smites the swarm and Bruce lets loose another maximized Fireball which toast not only the jellies but also the two Lacedons attached to the pump. The ioun stones are claimed. Everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief, because when they first realized that a 30 didn't touch the Aboleth's AC, they were certain that one of them was going to die.
Our Heroes circle back around the corridor to the storage the storage room in C3, Arcane Lock themselves in, and prepare for eight hours of rest.
Session Forty
June 14, 2020
Finishing the Vaults and the Entrance to the High Halls
Finishing their rest period at three in the afternoon, Our Heroes have a bit of lunch and cast their longer buffs; Arwen channels the gift to give Bruce spell slots and Bruce casts Heroism on Arwen, and Stoneskin on S3B and himself.
They check the rooms along the corridor from C5 through C9 to make sure they are still clear, then peek into C12. S3B realizes that it is, in fact, a (nonfunctioning) teleportation chamber, and also (with a Perception check over 40) notices subtle bleaching of the stonework in this area that differs from that of the stonework in the corridor outside. His very clever blue ringed octopus animal companion, who cannot read, is sent in and notices the picture on the ceiling. Yup, gonna leave this room alone.
Moving on up the central corridor, our intrepid adventurers first check room C13 (nothing but creepy anatomical models; nothing magical, valuable, or overtly aggressive), and then try the opposite passage leading to C14. S3B's killer Perception again saves the day, and he hears the sound of more than one creatures in the room as they sift through the coral and sand in Uluuthan's coffin.
As Bruce peeks round the corner, the two Pelagic Children both let loose with blasts of Searing Light. Which fail to hit his Touch AC. Our Heroes attack.
All three manage to make minor attacks. The Pelagic Children both attempt Rainbow Pattern. Our Heroes all make their will saves. Bruce casts Heroism, Arwen scores another minor hit, and S3B fumbles his attack, spills his quiver, drops the bow and makes a 5' Dimensional Hop.
The Pelagic Children both fail to hit Bruce with searing light. Bruce uses his greatspear to attack the Pelagic Child that S3B is now flanking. Arwen scores a hit and a critical hit for a total of 42 points (Rangers with Deadly Aim: the Ultimate Answer), and S3B uses his Sword of Subtlety to make a Vital Strike Sneak Attack.
The Pelagic Children attempt Searing Light again. One misses S3B and the other might have hit Bruce, but for his ridiculous Spell Resistance. Bruce attacks again with the greatspear, Arwen continues to turn the Pelagic Children into Pelagic Pincushions, and S3B makes another attack with his Sword of Subtlety, killing the first Pelagic Child.
The remaining Pelagic Child turns to use Burning Hands on S3B, Bruce stabs the Pelagic Child with his greatspear, Arwen makes another critical bow attack, and S3B misses. The Pelagic Child attacks S3B with Burning Hands for a second round, and then Bruce and Arwen kill it.
Our Heroes collect the glaives from the weapons racks, search Uluuthan's coffin, snag the ioun stones from the Pelagic Corpses, and Fluffy pulls down the Wand of Gaseous Form hanging from the wall.
Our Intrepid Adventurers go down the central corridor to the stairwell going up to the hatch, easily suss out that the ioun stones fit into the three shaped openings, open the hatch, grab the ioun stones, and ascend before the hatch closes again.
In the Central Workshop of the High Halls (area D1), they explore and discover two Scrolls of Fabricate and a Scroll of Polymorph Any Object in a box on the forge.
Ready to explore the High Halls in earnest next session, we call it a night.
Session Forty-One
June 21, 2020
The High Halls
Exploring the workshop in greater depth than "no traps, nothing to fight, what can we loot that's valuable and/or magical", Our Intrepid Adventurers see two doors to the NW and NE, and a Wall of Rubble that curves around the western and southern edges of the room. Bruce, with his Dwarven stonecunning and engineering knowledge, mentally lines up the rubble barriers in the Vaults below with the rubble on this floor and believes that the best course of action is to take the NW door first, which should give them a solid rubble wall on one side and only one unprotected side when they go through, then circle around to the SW. Seeing no reason to argue, SSSB and Arwen agree, and they proceed.
In the clockwork storage room, they are approached and befriended by an absurd little clockwork lionfish named Baucrade, who offers to help them. He gives them an overview of the level, and the party decides to lure the Clockwork Nautiloid in D3 over to the door to D1 using Bruce as bait so they can shoot it from relative safety. The fight that follows is a little strange, as their strategy doesn't work *entirely* to plan, Our Heroes miss almost half their shots, and the Nautiloid does not stay entirely still, but keeps moving out of their line of fire. Bruce makes good use of Dagon's Eye, however, and Arwen crits not once but twice.
The Clockwork Leviathan and Greater Shadow possessing it prove a bit easier to sort out (even with its breath weapon) because the Leviathan doesn't have the Nautiloid's reflective shell, and after the Shadow is ejected, Bruce crits his Ghost Touch attack.
Taking note of the value of the assorted ghost components and bits of clockwork for a later time, Our Heroes prepare to ascend the stairs to the next floor.
Session Forty-Two
June 28, 2020
The High Halls, continued
Our intrepid adventurers ascend the staircase to the kitchen. Looking through the murky water at the rows of cabinets, pantry, and other random hiding places, as well as the broken china scattered around the floor, they spend an absurd amount of time searching for secrets, magic, and hidden traps before they notice the odd sounds coming from the Dining Room. Opening the door, they discover two Omox Demons feeding on creepy sludge.
There is a very long fight (twelve rounds), mostly involving the demons alternately hurling acidic slime balls at the PC's with unerring accuracy, making a funfair game of popping Bruce's mirror images with them, and making slam/grapple attacks on S3B, who takes so much damage over the course of the fight that it takes three potions of Cure Serious to heal him afterwards.
But.
Our Heroes do steady and effective damage (Arwen and Bruce with bow/crossbow, Bruce with maximized magic missiles, and S3B with the deadly combination of Dimensional Hop/Sneak Attack/Sword of Subtlety), and Good Prevails in the end, because that's what it's supposed to do.
Hurrah.
Moving on into the Hall of Speaking Gods (D8), S3B easily recognizes the figures for what they are and explicates for his companions. They are all a bit disappointed that the statues will no longer speak.
They move into the Assembly Chamber, look around, and decide that S3B will go up one set of stairs to have a peek at the level above, and Arwen will go up the other. Accordingly, S3B pokes his head into D11, the Scholars' Passage, and Arwen into D12, the Great Hall, and sees Xochatli waiting there. Arwen and S3B both descend, and after a lengthy argument, the party grudgingly agrees to go up to the Scholars' Passage first. They have a peek around, find nothing except a secret door and a couple of Shadows, and Bruce and Arwen handily sort them out.
After further argument, Our Heroes decide to forego the battle with Horchata for the moment and instead continue up the next flight of stairs in pursuit of Auberon, Truth, Justice, and then a Snack.
So they go up. They discover the Seers' Audience Chambers, and once again, with ridiculously high Knowledge: Religion and Knowledge: History rolls, S3B is able to explain the use of the different chambers to his companions. They start to explore, and in the chamber with the iron entrance arch (for prophecies of calamities), they see a monstrous shadow (whose voice came out sounding like Harvey Fierstein, I couldn't help myself) who taunts the PCs.
We stopped here so we could begin with this battle next time.
Session Forty-Three
July 5, 2020
Concluding the High Halls
The fight with Oulat Gloaming-Chill and the remaining Greater Shadow was over too quickly. Oulat focused his fly-by attacks on Bruce, but Bruce had a ghost touch ioun stone, so could hit him with his serious melee weapons, Arwen fought the Shadow with her ghost touch dagger, and SSSB channeled. It was over in five rounds.
Bruce is convinced that the last chamber of the High Halls is where they will fight Auberon, because part E does not appear on the map of the Alabaster Trident (he peeked), so he insists that they rest for eight hours to restore their spells. (Arwen has Restful armor that allows her to fully recharge with only two hours of rest, so she amuses herself in the remaining time by stripping the gold plating from one of the archways.)
Bruce asks Arwen to burn all three of her uses of Channel the Gift to give him extra slots so he can give all three of them Heroism. He uses an Insistent Doorknocker to open a doorway from the NE audience chamber in D12 into D13. They pass through. They look at the stairs on the south side of D13 and calculate how far into the room Xochatli could conceivably extend a tentacle from the chamber below, and decide to stay on the northern side of the arch.
There follows a lengthy discussion on what lies on the other side, what the spell is, how to disable it, and what the purpose of the "metal fruit bowl" next to the arch might be.
First they try to pick up the entire bowl and walk through the arch with it. When this doesn't work, they finally realize that, hey, maybe they should try to remove that cube thingy.
Enter Abdak, the Marut Inevitable. He attempts to enlist Our Heroes to bring Auberon back from the Omen Dominion for him so he can end Auberon's existence. Bruce hedges, saying they hoped they would be able to, but couldn't promise, just in case there end up being extenuating circumstances. Abdak is not pleased, but as he cannot enter the Omen Dominion himself, he has no choice but to wait.
Arwen gets out her Wand of Overland Flight. SSSB removes his Merform Belt. Bruce prepares to go into Hairy Dwarf mode.
We call it a night.
Next week: The Omen Dominion!
Session Forty-Four
July 12, 2020
The Omen Dominion
Our Players spend an absurd amount of time debating whether to buff before or after they enter the portal and, eventually, decide to wait. They go through.
Our Adventurers step through the portal (Arwen still in her saddle on Fluffy's back) with no ill effects. Arwen immediately casts Personal Raincloud over Fluffy (and thereby on herself as well) to keep them both moist on land, and uses her Wand of Overland Flight on Fluffy.
While Bruce is busy casting Shield, Gravity Bow, and Bulls Strength, S3B looks around a bit, assuming there is a trap (good kid), detects it, and takes ten to disable it. Bruce is buffing, he figures he's got time.
Looking around them in the forest, they see the huge, rough-hewn lodge immediately in front of them, a smaller lodge just beyond that, and, through the trees to their right, the wall of another smaller lodge. Deciding that the lodge immediately to the north is *obviously* a trap, Our Heroes decide to sidle off through the trees to E4, one of the empty lodges. They poke around a bit. It looks very empty. S3B, the only land-born member of the party, realizes there is no dust in the building, no cobwebs, no sign of decay. Bruce remembers that the ground just in front of the portal was dark as if all the water from some previous crossing had not dried out yet. He wonders if there may be a connection here, but can't quite put his finger on it.
Looking at the podium on the cabin's porch, facing the trees, Bruce stands behind it and looks out at the forest. The runes on the trunks start to twist and reform into shapes, and he sees a silent scene of Auberon and a young, dark-haired Taldan man walking and talking together. He steps away from the podium and tries again to see if he can change the channel and view a different scene, but no dice.
There is a path that leads from the porch of this cabin, through the woods to the north and then west, to E3. They follow it. Bruce again steps up to the podium and sees the same young, dark-haired Taldan man standing next to Auberon inside a building. Auberon is pointing at a wall map. As Auberon turns away, the young man quickly slips a yellow jewel from the Lich's robes, but his hand has suddenly transformed into a slimy tentacle. When Bruce tells what he has seen to the others, Arwen is dubious and insists upon looking herself. She blows her perception check and only sees the two men talking by the map.
However, when they go inside the cabin and notice the film of dried slime covering the floor and furnishings--not to mention the broken body of the clockwork mage with Auberon's facial features--she recognizes it as similar to the slime they found on Onthooth's body. They agree that the Taldan man must have been Ochymua in disguise, and that the yellow jewel might have been the phylactery.
Moving on, Our Adventurers go to the other small cabin just to the north of Ochymua's (the other E4/Empty Cabin). It's just as empty as the first one, and the podium shows the same scene. Going back past E3, Bruce suggests they skirt around the large, rough cabin through the woods bordering it on the western side, then come up to the porch through the woods, entering on the corner by the podium.
So Bruce climbs up onto the porch of E2 and faces the podium, which reveals a scene of three cyclopes cowering in fear from Auberon, who strides away from them along the path through the woods, and a hooded figure watching from a short distance away, brandishing a handful of daggers.
As Bruce is pondering what this all might mean, a crossbow bolt (Evettin's, as she was closest to the door) thud-oing-oing-oings into the wood of the podium, just to his left. He spins around and (as Arwen holds her action so he can go first), aims a maximized fireball through the doorway of the cabin. All three cyclopes inside miss their saving throws, and the curtain limiting the view of the interior is incinerated, which is a bonus.
Arwen and Fluffy use combat riding to do a fly-by, scoring two hits on Evettin with Deadly Aim. S3B and Evettin shoot each other. Harbydlo and Vanti cast Shield of Faith.
Bruce casts Mirror Image (5). Arwen and Fluffy do another fly-by, scoring three more hits on Evettin. S3B shoots Evettin. She misses him, but Harbydlo and Vanti both hit him. Good thing he's got that Stoneskin up.
Bruce finishes off Evettin and Arwen and S3B shift their attacks to Vanti. Harby shoots Arwen and Vanti pops one of Bruce's mirror images.
Bruce misses, Arwen takes Vanti down to 0 with her next attack, and S3B shoots Harby. Harbydlo decides to make a run for it, but provokes attacks of opportunity from S3B and Arwen, who both hit. She doesn't get far enough down the path to be out of bow range, and Bruce and Arwen finish her off.
They tie Vanti up, bring her around, and question her. She gives them a brief description of what awaits them on the eastern side of the woods. Bruce asks, "Does anyone have anything that does nonlethal damage?"
S3B says, "I've got a waterproof stuffy in my backpack."
Fluffy twitches her spines in a way that indicates she is doing the lobster equivalent of rolling her eyes, and backhands Vanti with a claw to knock her out.
Session Forty-Five
July 19, 2020
Uncle Knives
We had intended to finish Book 5 today, but it just. didn't. happen. My players spent a reaaaaally long time debating whether or not to go fight Uncle Knives or just skip him and go straight to Auberon's lodge, and which spells to cast and which ones to save, and everyone was surly and grumpy. At one point or another, each player left the table to fume in another room for a bit. Fun! Finally they made their decision, we had this one battle, and then called it a night.
I made the decision when I read the stats on Ankous not to use the Circle of Death spell. If it were an all-adults game, sure, but my kids aren't ready for their first "Yeah, it blinks and kills you all." I stuck with the Prismatic Spray instead.
Bruce buffs to the teeth. He and SSSB both still have their Stoneskin up, and he gives both SSSB and Arwen Displacement. He casts Shield, Gravity Bow, Bull's Strength, Heroism, and Mirror Image on himself. I keep hearing Fezzik in my head saying, "That's not very sportsmanlike."
Once again, Our Valiant Heroes make the decision to sneak around the cottage through the woods and for Bruce to step up onto the porch by himself right onto the corner with the podium. As they approach, they see the dainty fey seer sitting on the porch swing through the gauzy hangings. Bruce largely ignores her as he climbs up onto her porch and approaches the podium. She hails him, saying that if it's visions and prophecies he is after, she would be happy to offer him a free consultation that would show him so much more than the few seconds of images that he would see looking out at the trees. He says, "Yeah, maybe later, thanks." and ignores her. From the podium, he sees the ankou tear the fey prophetess apart with his claws and assume her form. Bruce spins around as the ankou casts aside its disguise and dives at him, attempting to rend him, but only popping a mirror image instead.
Arwen misses her attack, but SSSB (bow) and Bruce (greatspear) both hit. The ankou sends a Ray of Exhaustion at Bruce, who uses his Windy Escape. The ankou flies back into the cabin. As Fluffy brings Arwen up onto the porch, she pulls down the hangings with a tug from her claw. Arwen makes one bow shot. SSSB attempts Spear of Purity, but Uncle Knives makes his will save and only takes 9 points of damage. Bruce runs into the room full-tilt with his greatspear to stabby stabby.
Prismatic Ray! The roll comes up Red, which is the most meh of the options. Everyone makes their saving throw for half-damage *except* Fluffy, who takes 20 points of burn and cannot see for 7 rounds. My daughter bursts into tears and runs from the room, saying I cheated and I'm a horrible mother. I contemplate letting the ankou use Circle of Death after all. I try, through gritted teeth, to remind her that Fluffy still has 75 hit points and will make a full recovery in a matter of moments, that Arwen can still maneuver her with her epic riding skillz, and that, btw, Nobody's Home *killed* my favorite animal companion ever with no hope of even a saving throw, and I didn't scream at him and tell *him* he cheated. I just wept a bit and Auntie Gothbard hugged me and brought me a drink.
Ahem.
Hermione sulks in her chair but makes her bow attack, and Bruce finishes the ankou off with his greatspear.
Everybody heals up, including Fluffy. Eventually.
The PCs find a Robe of Blending in a heap by the porch swing and a Staff of Divination in the cabin.
We call it a night.
Session Forty-Six
August 2, 2020
The Big Fight with Auberon the Drowned and Concluding Book Five
We missed a week because the kids ended up grounded for various reasons.
WW and the kids spent a very, very long time discussing strategy. Finally they decided that Fluffy, who had the best stealth, would attempt to fly up in the tree canopy and land on the roof of Auberon's lodge, whereupon Arwen would attempt to ensnare the four Clockwork Mages with Wilderness Soldiers.
First, Fluffy made his stealth check and beat the Mages' Perception checks.
Then Arwen rolled a natural 20 on her Grapple check for the spell.
I was *going* to have the spell just entangle the Mages' feet up to about the knees, but still have them spend their first round casting all the spells I had pre-planned for the combat (Glitterdust, Scorching Ray, Ray of Exhaustion, and Protection from Arrows). Wouldn't you know it, my daughter actually read the fine print on the grappled condition and realized that the spell would render the Mages' crystalline wands--the source of their spells--useless. She then used her speech free action to call out to Auberon and ask him to speak with her, rolled astonishingly high on her Diplomacy, and persuaded him that they could help him with Ochymua because, after all, they'd already killed and beheaded one aboleth already. And she calls to Bruce to pull the severed aboleth head from one of his bags of holding and toss it into the center of the courtyard in front of Auberon's lodge. (Which he does, gladly.) Auberon is impressed and agrees to talk with them.
The PCs converse politely as long as Auberon keeps answering all their questions about the Compass, Ochymua, and the phylactery. Auberon proposes making a deal with them. I get sent out of the room again so the PCs can converse.
I come back when summoned a few minutes later, and my son says, "So Bruce is gonna attack him and knock his head off!" My daughter and husband are incensed. I decide to pretend that I think he's just joking. He tries to protest that he's serious and I talk over him and repeat my comments about his "joke".
Bruce gets in a surprise round, and he and the kids are quickly able to knock Auberon back enough hit points that he surrenders. They make a bargain, saying that if Auberon will agree to go with them, they won't harm him. They lead him through the portal and Abdak the Marut Inevitable slays him.
The PCs ask Abdak to wait a bit, go back through the portal to get the loot, then come back and tell him that, before they travel to the Compass to retrieve Auberon's phylactery, they still have to take Drecissa home to Talasantri.