Session Seven: Lucky Breaks Aren't Always Lucky

 

Alternate Title - "Why, Dice Gods? Why?"

I was asked to not be specific on how bad the rolling was this session, so I won't be, but let's just say that no one is allowed to use longbows anymore... This was also a shorter session. Weather and whatnot had me aware that we wouldn't have nearly a full session's time, so I made sure to adjust a few things to keep the story going in the time we are able to utilize.

Things opened up where we left off last session, with the party on the grounds of Valeth Tower. We ran through a quick summary, stuff about the book and Analise Brokengulf and that everyone would eventually be returning from whence they came, whether going back north via Phandalin or heading west to Saltmarsh, or going to the various mines in the area. Lenneth earned some extra XP by using her Song of Healing (is that the name of the ability? I can never remember without looking) to heal up everyone within the sound of her voice, which was basically all of the noncombatants, the dwarves, the goblins, the elves, the party, the Dragonborn, etc. The Stoneshield dwarves reiterated their invitation to visit their excavation works any time, and the Golgari did functionally the same.

This is where the party also got to add their XP from the previous couple sessions. I've been tracking mostly combat XP as a group, which I'll continue to do, but players will now also gain extra XP for doing very in-character actions or solving puzzles or whatnot. Once the APL of a group passes 3, it doesn't really matter if someone hits 4 first or whatever since subclassing basically renders the difference of a level or two moot.

Once the formalities were out of the way, the party embarked on their trip back to town. I described how different the forest felt now, the lack of bird or animal sounds, the oppressive mist, the knowledge that the necromancer had come this way with his horde & that danger could be around the corner at any point. I made a note to have the party determine their march order, even though I knew what it would be, as I'd planned on having someone make a roll every game hour as they traveled. I also made notes in case the party decided to do a short or long rest before leaving, and how that'd impact the later portions of the session, but they soldiered right on.

However, with the session losing a couple hours or so, I decided to change the every hour of the eight or so hour run to every two hours. It lessened the amount of encounters and helped speed things up to the next portion. Rather, I took the result of the roll and determined which encounter I would use & where the party would be.

So, two hours in, and they hear sounds that remind Besiljka of a pack of raptors trying to chew through an armored knight. Little of note would direct them to the origin of the noise, and the party did a quick scout of the area, with Gabriel getting as high up a tree as he could. There was no sign of the source, and soon the party decided to move on.

Four hours after setting out, they stumbled across a half dozen zombies taking a leisurely stroll northward. Gabriel went into the trees to try and shoot the zombies with the elven longbow he snagged last session, aaaaaand did bad. Like really bad. But he didn't kill anyone with it this time, so as Besiljka ran up to smash, Lenneth demanded the bow be throw to her and really, when the blindsight Tiefling decides to take a shot, you know its going bad. And her roll was... Every bit not good, but my new thing with crit failures is to have the player roll multiple d20s for any target they -could- hit, and compare against AC. So, in the end, a different zombie got it. Also, these zombies weren't at full HP or fighting prowess, but they did some serious damage to the barbarian, until she whipped out a healing potion and drank deep. Between that and some Healing Hands from the paladin, the party succeeded in destroying some more undead & moved on.

Six hours in and this was an encounter I've been waiting to give the party. An unnatural darkness fell, limiting even darksight to see more than ten feet out. Honestly I figured Gabriel would pull out the Light cantrip since the party's spell slots were shot, but Lenneth ninja'd the process and wanted to cast Dancing Lights to form the shape of a handsome man. Her roll was, again, not good, and instead, she cast it in the form of an unattractive man. Who we called Danny DeVito. Then I described the beating sound of wings as the party prepared to be attacked by harpies! But no, no, it wasn't hostile harpies. It was mothcats that I call maulin, after an elvish word. Basically a cat-moth hybrid with six legs, a fat kitten shaped body, and wings like ghost moths. I dunno, I found images on the internet and thought it'd be cute for party pets or something. Lenneth did not do well on her rolls to entice one (see a theme here?) but Besiljka came to the rescue and was able to get her one, and will most likely return to the forest at some point to get one of her own.

Final check wasn't really a check per se, I already had an ending to the trail in mind, but because the party was able to get there not long after nightfall, it changed how the encounter went versus middle of the night (less hostile). Arrows rained down from behind barricades, but Elspeth was there and she called a fire hold, running out to greet Besiljka.

The big thing from here to the end of the session is that I wanted to communicate that the players are the most important part of the game, but the world exists no matter what.

So, Elspeth was overjoyed to see Besiljka, because they have a blooming romance going on, and the other villagers came out looking soot streaked, with the town appearing to have been hit by the undead as well. Elspeth relays to the party that she's fought before, but nothing like this, and that Sildar was at the Townmaster's Hall. The party didn't want to delay and headed straight there, so I described the battlefield feel of the town, the buildings being shuttered, the pyres for the zombies, etc. Armed folk patrolling the streets, just trying to get across that things were not sunshine and roses here.

They reached the hall aaaaaaand I got to pull out the Warlock Tiles building I slapped together for it, thanks to Lenneth's player. It looked super great on top of the dry erase grids and really lent a visual feel for what went on after that.

Sildar was leading a congregation of townsfolk and assessing the situation when the party arrived. He greeted them, then upon seeing their condition, he got the story of the Tower. After they finished, he went into what had happened in their absence - finding Harbin Wester's body in the Hall, his being assassinated by unknown parties most likely before Sildar and the party arrived in town, that Iarno "Glasstaff" had escaped, possibly with aid from the same assassin, the town being attacked, etc. I threw in some lines from Elspeth about equipping the townsfolk from the Redbrand's poorly kept weapons and how some of the townsfolk that went into the basement heard a voice in their head, ie the Nothic cackling and saying "naughty, naughty!" I'm not done with them yet.

Because I wanted the players to enjoy the interactions, I went on some stuff where Linene and Sildar went back and forth on running the town, with Elspeth getting encouragement from Besiljka about forming a three person town council with her and the two of them. This continues the line of running the town and thwarts a plan that -muffled sounds of intervention before this part can be completed-

With this decided, the party went back to Stonehill for the evening, to rest up, and regain their spells & HP. The next day, I had the describe what they were doing and how they wanted to spend their time. Besiljka wanted to get closer to Elspeth so they went off together. Gabriel went fishing with the intention of getting everyone together for a celebratory "hey, we didn't die!" feast. Lenneth also went down to the same stream, a little further down from him, to wash some clothes after everything that had happened.

As she was washing clothes, and everything is peaceful and serene and really just idyllic, I had a tentacle rise from the water and just sort of... wave... at her. She didn't know whether to wave back or run, and Gabriel was too far away to help. In the end, she waved, and that's when she heard laughter behind her. The tentacle was Sora's Fathomless Warlock ability, and she used it to announce that the Dragonborn, as well as some of the survivors from the tower, had made it back to Phandalin.

Gabriel continued fishing, and Lenneth & Grimfang went off together to help the farmers, since Lenneth had that as part of her background, and Grimfang is always willing to lend a hand for heavy lifting. Sora, lazier being that she is, went back to town proper to get a drink and chill. Eventually, Besiljka decided to see the blacksmith about forging an engagement ring for Elspeth, and Lenneth made her way there as well to get a circlet made. Both had plenty of gold for stuff like that. Lenneth also wanted the silken dresses she grabbed from the tower tailored to fit. A girl's gotta look good in a battle skirt, after all.

An appropriate amount of time later, everyone met back up and we did some stuff with a festival, goblin fireworks and some other stuff (I just wrote "bullshit here" on my notes, and stuck with it) that ingratiated them with the townsfolk. By this point, everyone has a really favorable opinion of the party, though Besilkja didn't do so well with her marriage talk to Elspeth, where we decided the subject just came up, not that it was an actual proposal at that point.

The next morning, Elspeth brought the party back to a frazzled but energized Sildar, who laid out some of the town plans, and then, under the authority of the Lord's Alliance, he offered the party the deed to Tresendar Manor. Keeping the party close for the time, and using the gold to strengthen the town, Sildar was already showing himself to be a competent administrator. I let the party have input in how the money was spent, whether they went more Infrastructure, Commerce, or Military, and eventually it was decided to put a little in all three rather than become really strong in any one thing.

Afterwards, Sildar laid out some news - Cragmaw Castle was still the party's best bet for dealing with the mine situation, plus his kidnapping, and addressing the Black Spider who may or may not be involved with the attacks. In addition, he relayed rumors of a necromancer spotted in the area. So next session, the party can meet with Daran "I swear my orchard isn't haunted, please buy some apple jam, I have kids to feed" Edermath to learn about his missing friend Reidoth, an individual that knows where Cragmaw is, or they can pursue the necromancer lead at the Old Owl Well, or even both, depending on what they decide.

Main takeaway from the session is something strange is afoot at the Circle K.