The day before this session Justice (DM/dad) and I participated in The Game to Grow Method of Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games, Educator Level 1 training. This was a 6 hour seminar that was both very educational and fun. We decided to apply some of what we learned to World of Corde right away, starting with the Check-In and Check-Out process. The purpose of these is to bring the players into the fantasy world, and then help them reorient to reality when the session is over. For check-in the players will answer a question as both themselves and their characters. For check out the players will answer three things:
- Spotlight – name something that stood out to you that was done by another player
- Name a challenge from this session, or something either the player or character learned
- A hope or prediction for the next session
Check In Question: What is the weirdest thing you have eaten?
- Miranda: An oyster. I can’t stand them, never again.
- Lysithea: Termites. I was desperate for food one day…
- Kevin: Chicken dipped in blueberry yogurt (yes, this is a thing he eats and enjoys).
- Gobbles: I ate a vegetable one time. It was horrific. I did not enjoy it.
- Cordelia: Green tea chocolate from Japan, I did not like the taste of it.
- Surina: A dragonfly.
- Ian: Rice flavored gelato.
- Professor: That soup that Mateen gave me.
- Liz: Grape leaves. Not that weird, but it was weird for me.
- Olivia: Scarab beetles.
- Justice: Chocolate covered ants, at an anime convention. The insectarium had a booth that offered chocolate covered ants.
- Slogoth: The cactus smoothie from Dalvok.
Shannon was unable to participate this session due to impending finals. You may be wondering who Kevin and Gobbles are. Kevin is Victor’s Godfather, and, since he is technically family, we welcomed him into our family sessions. His character is Gobbles the Goblin, and he is… special.
And so enters Gobbles, a small, green Goblin with a too-wide smile and too-pointy ears, decked in ridiculously ill-fitting bright orange chainmail with the symbol of Bahamut of it, wielding a small Goblin-sized war hammer and shield. The symbol on the shield is himself, mirrored infinitely like the Colbert painting. Gobbles the Goblin is a rogue Goblin adventurer extraordinaire; jack of all trades, self-proclaimed master of all trades. He has currently “mastered” the ways of the paladin, rogue, and bard (level 1 in each). Every time he levels he will choose a new class.
DM: Gobbles is wandering the world traveling, looking for adventure, when he hears about this big temple of Bahamut in Dalvok. He travels to Dalvok to visit the temple, and is greeted by a Goblin merchant.
Mathistos: Ah, another Goblin! Greetings!
Gobbles: Hi, I haven’t seen another Goblin in a little while. I’m Gobbles the Goblin. Nice to meet you.
Mathistos: Gobbles? That’s a weird name. I’m Mathistos, and I’m a merchant.
Gobbles: You’re a merchant?
Mathistos: Yes, I’m a merchant! What are you?
Gobbles: I’m everything! I’m the greatest adventurer that’s ever lived!
Mathistos: Greatest adventurer, eh? Have you seen the merchant guild?
Gobbles rolls perception, 10.
Mathistos: *scribbles something down and folds it up*
Gobbles: What is that, a recommendation for restaurants?
Mathistos: No, an adventuring guild. They told me if I saw any adventurers to give this to them. Finders fee. Here, it’s called the Golden Griffin Adventuring Company, and they’re looking for adventurers.
Gobbles: I will go check them out.
Note: I, Gobbles, will give 10% of my adventuring fee to Mathistos on completion of jobs.
Gobbles: I’ll just make one correction here. *licks the 1 off so it says 0%*
Mathistos: *blank stare* Yeah, you’ll fit right in with them. I’ll leave you to it then. *walks off quickly*
Gobbles: Much appreciated.
Gobbles goes to the Golden Griffin Adventuring building.
DM: The building is in the military section of the city off to the side. It’s a big building labeled GGA. There’s some movement inside, with a few groups gathering. Everything looks rather new. You see a Dragonborn sitting behind the desk stamping papers.
Gobbles: A stamp, that person seems important. *confidently strides up* Hello there, good day to you.
Akron: What was that?
Gobbles: Right here. *is short*
Akron: Oh, hello. *looks down*
Gobbles: Hello, I am looking for adventure!
Akron: *jumps up* Oh good! We are always looking for bodies, I mean people, not bodies, we are looking for people! Lots of adventuring business lately.
Gobbles: Awesome, that’s what I’m here for.
Akron: *looks him over* You seem… competent? What type of adventuring are you looking for?
Gobbles: The adventurous kind. Something with excitement, danger, and heroism.
Akron: Well, we have a great group for you. We just sent them out a few days ago. You probably saw the purple comet?
Gobbles: I don’t look up very often.
Akron: *slides contract* Here, just sign this adventuring contract.
Gobbles: *signs contract with signature, which is just a stick figure of himself with a tiny Bahamut*
Akron: Excellent! Excellent. If you head to the town entrance tell the stable master *hands guild pass* they will set you up with a camel and supplies. You night me able to find a guide or two.
Gobbles: Excellent. What was your name again?
Akron: Akron! I’m in charge of this establishment.
Gobbles: Pleasure meeting you, and I’m sure you’ll be praising the name Gobbles the Goblin soon!
Akron: I’m sure I won’t. *goes back to work* Happy adventuring!
Gobbles: Happy adventuring!
Gobbles goes to the stables to obtain a camel.
Gobbles: *picks out most prestigious looking camel and walks up to it* Stable Master, I was told I need to speak with you.
Stable Master: *looks at Gobbles talking to a camel*
Gobbles rolls perception, 9.
DM: You notice there are 2 other individuals – a woman with long, intricately braided blue hair, and this other big, strong-looking guy with a mohawk. Both are watching you. They look really competent.
Gobbles: Hey… how’s it going?
Stable Master: *approaches Gobbles* Can we help you?
Gobbles: Yes, I was told by Akron to seek you out because I will hopefully be the newest member of the guild.
Stable Master: Do you have the pass?
Gobbles: *hands over the card*
Stable Master: We’ll get you a camel. You’re with Surina’s party? We’ll set you up.
Gobbles: *hands over Mathistos’s note* Not sure if this is worth anything.
Stable Master: Oh, that merchant… Yeah, this is nothing. *loads up camel* They headed south.
Gobbles: Can you be more specific?
Stable Master: Towards the purple comet.
Gobbles: What was your name?
Stable Master: Greg.
Gobbles: Does the camel have a name?
SM Greg: No.
Gobbles: His name is Sir Eagle!
DM: Roll animal handling (12). You are competently riding the camel. The two individuals approach you.
Sable: Need guides?
Gobbles: Sure. If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it.
Sable: All we ask is 10 gold each.
Gobbles: I will be fine, then. I do not have that much money.
Sable: But you’re joining the guild, right?
Gobbles: Yes, but as a Paladin of Bahamut I cannot make promises that I don’t know if i can keep, and I don’t want to put this on the party.
Sable: Where are you going?
Gobbles: South.
Sable: We will accompany and guide you as long as if we encounter treasure we get some of it.
Gobbles: Some of it, or all of it?
Sable: Just some… just the 10 gold…
Gobbles rolls insight, 22.
DM: They are not going to mug you. Especially when you said you are a paladin, they want to go with you.
Gobbles: Well then, let’s go. I’m Gobbles the Goblin. Nice to meet you.
Sable: I am Sable, and this is my bodyguard, Mateen. So which direction are you heading?
Gobbles: South…
Mateen: Which way is that?
Gobbles: The southerly one. (Rolls insight, 18)
DM: He is asking truthfully which way is south.
Sable: He’s just the muscle, don’t worry about him.
Gobbles: Can you tell me which way is south, then?
Sable looks around and points south. Gobbles rolls insight, 10.
DM: You have no doubt she knows which way she is going. She 100% believes she knows which way she is going.
Gobbles: Your bodyguard isn’t instilling confidence, but you seem to know which way you are going. Commence guidance then, I guess.
DM: As you travel you feel that you are getting closer to your destination. You see the remnants of an inn, which looks like the wood is rotting and it is falling apart. You see a sandstorm off in the distance. You pass by a town, but you keep going south. Finally, you hit this giant meteor hole with nothing in it.
Sable: Well, we got to the meteor, but there’s no meteor.
Gobbles: Guide, are there any tracks we can use to find Surina’s group?
Sable: Tracks, good plan.
Gobbles rolls insight, 8. He only notices Sable’s lute.
Gobbles: I see you’re an instrumentalist as well. I also davel in the arts. *shows off his kazoo*
Sable: Uh-huh.. There’s tracks. There’s definitely tracks, lots of them. Mateen! He may not be the best or the brightest but he knows tracks. MATEEN!
Mateen: *looks at tracks…* They go that way! *points* Uh huh, that way.
Gobbles: Alrighty then. (Survival check, 9)
DM: There are definitely tracks there.
Gobbles: *scratches head* Okay then, lead on guides.
DM: You follow the tracks, and are now heading west. You see this giant, gorgeous temple of a city. Huge, pristine walls and guards outside. There are giant statues of a human figure with a jackal head. Inubus. The guards are humanoid, wearing jackal heads. Sable and Mateen see the guards, then cautiously look around. Roll perception (22). You see them nod to each other in a signaling motion.
Sable: This is as far as we go. You can go on ahead in. *step back and whisper to each other*
DM: You see camels tied up outside the city.
Gobbles: Alright then, see you in a bit. *confidently strides up the main path* Hey guys.
Guard: Lots of new visitors. There’s a trial going on now. Everyone is watching. You may go to the temple.
DM: You enter the town and there’s a fountain in the center. Everything looks pristine and new as you’re walking through. At the entrance of the temple there is another guard.
Guard: Welcome. Just don’t touch anything.
Gobbles: Like with my hands?
Guard: Yes, that is the rule in our temple.
Gobbles: Got it. *folds hands under arms*
DM: Everything looks freshly painted. There are pictures showing this great queen, lots of images of balancing scales. As you walk further in you see a giant podium/judge seat, with this 7ft tall woman behind it slamming her hand down.
Queen: I want my statue back!
DM: You see a Dragonborn and a Tiefling standing with a Goblin, who is sitting in a defendant’s chair wearing a “car salesman from New Jersey” type outfit. Roll perception (13). This is a huge crowd, something feels off about it, you can’t put your finger on it. Your vision is drawn to this beautiful queen. Roll arcana (19). There is definitely magic, not so much with the people, but you feel this whole area is just magical. Something about this is magical, you don’t know what, but this queen is just so beautiful to you that you cannot focus on anything else. And she’s banging her hand, throwing a fit yelling…
Queen: I want my statue back! This Goblin is not leaving here till I get it back! I don’t care how innocent this Goblin is! He is here until I get it back! If you want your purple comet you’ll bring me back my statue! Dismissed. *storms out*
DM: As soon as she says, “Dismissed” the whole audience files out fast. Everyone roll perception (Gobbles 11, Surina 12, Lysithea Nat. 20). Lysithea notices the illusion starting to fade a bit. She is so angry, storming off, and you see the scales on her arm, lower body, moving in a very snake like manner. And her size, she grows a little too in your eyes.
Lysithea: Surina, we need to get our party because this just got a lot more complicated.
DM: Two guards take Slotogth away.
Slogoth: But i’m innocent for once!
Gobbles: Hi there, are you Surina?
Surina: Yes.
Gobbles: Hi, i’m Gobbles the Goblin and I’m here to join your party. I was sent by Akron and Mathistos, and I’m a fellow Paladin of Bahamut.
Surina: I’m a Paladin of Bahamut, too!
Gobbles: Awesome.
Lysithea: Great, another pathetic life form…
Professor and Octavia are allowed out of their rooms and join up with Lysithea and Surina. K’un-Lun chooses to stay behind to meditate. With the party united Lysithea explains the events of the previous session, including the dust, what happens when you touch things here, the trial, the current situation with the statue thief, and how the queen is not what she seems.
Lysithea: In order to obtain the purple comet we will need to track down the thief and return the stolen statue. Seeing as how the queen is probably a much more powerful snake-like being it’s probably best we don’t try to steal the comet from her and actually find her statue. Oh, and this is Gobbles, apparently.
DM: All you know is you are on the western edge of the continent. There is an oasis to the south that Octavia knows, but everything else is north. Gobbles did not see anyone coming from the north. The queen has supplied the party with 6 more days worth of supplies. I will give you the hint that nobody in this town will be able to help you. So your best bet is out of the town.
The party heads out. Lysithea immediately puts the toy back in the chest (see Sessions 4 and 10). As she puts the toy in the chest a shadow emerges from it and forms into a figure of an elderly man.
Spirit: Thank you. My children had made this for me and it was stolen.
Lysithea: I am happy to have helped.
Spirit: What can I do to help you?
Octavia: What are your special skills, sir?
Professor: What do you do?
Spirit: I can’t do much, but I can provide information if I have any.
Professor: Hold me back, I’m gonna get him! Hold me back, hold me back!
Surina holds him back.
Lysithea: I’m sorry for them. Can you help us? We are trying to find a statue that was stolen from this place.
Spirit: *disappears for a second, then reappears* This is an evil place, here, but if you are helping, the person you are in search of is to the south. I believe she is held up somewhere with a mage. That is all I can do.
Lysithea: I figured this place was evil, but an idiot is being held hostage. What should I do with your box?
Spirit: Don’t worry. *box starts decaying, then folds in to reality and poofs out*
Lysithea: Well that’s one less thing to carry.
Octavia: Ah, south.
DM: Everyone roll perception (Gobbles 16, Surina 5, Lysithea 17, Octavia adjusted 20, P 6). Octavia, Lysithea, and Gobbles notice 2 individuals off to the side, about where Gobbles left the guides. It looks like they are suiting up, putting on black clothing, and they have rope. Mateen is struggling in his clothing and it really sticks out since you are in the middle of the desert and it is day. They are nodding to each other. They then fold up a map and put it in a bag.
Lysithea: What…what are you.. Why….
Gobbles: What are my guides doing?
Mateen: I told you black was a bad idea!
Lysithea: These are your guides?
Gobbles: Yes…
Sable: You didn’t see anything! Shoo!
Lysithea: I mean, I don’t really care, but this seems off.
They start scooting away around the city to the other side of the wall.
Lysithea: If you are planning on stealing anything from this city you should know it’s not going to end well.
We stop for a second and ask Cordelia if she thinks Sable and Mateen are about to do something good or bad, and how her character would react.
Surina runs up and attacks them with her sword, choosing to attack Mateen. She rolls her attack (15) and hits doing 7 damage.
Mateen: *freaks out* What are you doing! We give up! I give!
Surina: I thought you were going to steal something.
Mateen: We were gonna break out somebody! One of our bosses is trapped and we were going to go break him out! But fine!
Lysithea: Do you mean Slogoth?
Mateen: Yeah, he goes by that sometimes.
Lysithea: Go home, we got this.
Mateen: Fine…
Sable: Not even any treasure… We saw another town, let’s go rob them instead. *get camels and head off north*
Professor wants the map Mateen and Sable were using. Gobbles tries to take it (Sleight of Hand, 11) and grabs it easily. It’s a poorly drawn map of the city – it could have been done in crayon. Those that can see it can tell it looks nothing like what the inside of the city is actually like.
Gobbles: Here’s that map you requested. You’re welcome.
Professes creates a bonfire and tosses the map in.
The party starts heading south. They travel about a ½ days ride when they come upon the Oas’il oasis. Octavia feels that there is something weird going on at the oasis. There would usually be tents or travelers set up, but nobody is around.
Octavia: This is usually a very busy spot on the road. Nobody is here… This is very weird.
The party rolls investigation (Gobbles 6, Octavia 11, Lysithea 21, Professor 4, Surina 2). Lysithea notices a pile of humanoid bones still dressed with clothing and a dirty, dusty, ripped apart, slashed cloak.
Lysithea: Oh, oh, ewww…
She also notices this weird, ticking contraption made of shiny metal. Professor takes the cloak and dumps the bones out of it. Lysithea then hands him the ticking object, which he investigates (investigation, 22). He discovers that this is a gearbox. It looks like a sundial, but it’s mechanical with rotating gears inside. He recognizes it as a creation, not a magical object, and it’s something that people don’t normally see. To everyone else it looks like a regular sundial, but he can tell it’s a gearbox that is keeping. Professor puts the gearbox in his pocket to dissect later.
The party rolls perception again (Gobbles 23, Surina 17, Octavia 12, Professor 10, Lysithea 6). Gobbles notices there are people coming this way. There is a man in fancy, bright blue clothing on a camel, and 2 guards in front of him. It doesn’t appear that they see the party.
Gobbles: We got some people poppin’ up. We got a guy wearing blue stuff on one of the humpity-humps and 2 guards.
DM: As they move closer you all feel the ground start shaking a bit, and out from under the sand a creature emerges and swallows one of the guards whole. It looks like a giant snake.
Lysithea: Still with the snakes! (see Sessions 2 and 3)
DM: It has arms. Surina and Gobbles, you both feel the creature emanating Undead. Everyone roll initiative (Gobbles 14, Surina 7, Octavia 22, Lysithea 20, Professor 12, Draggy 5 – Victor joined in for combat).
Begin Another Snake Battle
The creature is about 55 ft away from the party. Octavia shoots her longbow towards its head, but misses with an attack roll of 7. Lysithea shoots Fire Bolt, hits with a 15 and does 8 fire damage. The snake moves and eats the other guard. Gobbles moves towards the snake, points at it, and makes wizardly-ish motions at him.
Gobbles: What you did there was pretty cold blooded, hah!
He casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter at the snake. It makes a wisdom saving throw and succeeds. The snake simply shrugs off Gobbles’s pun. Professor moves next to Surina. He does a nature check (7) to see what this is, and it looks like a giant snake like creature. He casts Fire Bolt on it, but misses with an 8. Surina moves up to the snake and hits it with Searing Smite. She hits with an adjusted 20, doing 3 fire damage and 5 regular damage to the snake, which is now also on fire. Draggy moves next to Surina to punch the snake with his ax. He hits it with an 18 and does 10 damage. The camel of the fancy gentleman disengages. The fancy man is freaking out, the camel is freaking out, and the camel bucks the man off it. The man falls flat on his face in the sand. Octavia aims at the snake’s head, but misses with a 7. She leaves her panther back at a safe distance to keep it from being eaten. Lysithea shoots Magic Missile at the snake, doing a combined total of 14 damage. The snake makes a constitution saving throw because it’s on fire, but it fails and takes an additional 2 fire damage. It will continue to be on fire. The snake attacks Surina, using constrict, but misses with a 14. It’s second attack swings its scimitar at her, and hits with a 17, dealing 9 damage to Surina. It takes a third attack with its other scimitar and hits her for 8 more damage.
Lysithea: Oh no, Surina!
Gobbles: That joke was supposed to do things…
Gobbles gets his war hammer, charges in and swings at the snake. He hits with a 21 and does 11 bludgeoning damage. It looks like the snake is getting weaker as the party hacks and smashes it. Professor runs up behind Surina and casts Cure Wounds, healing her for 8 points of health. Surina hits the snake with her longsword with a 23 and does 9 damage. Draggy swings at the snake with his ax, hits with an 14, and does 11 more damage. The fancy man’s camel runs away and is gone. The noble is unconscious, face down in the sand. Octavia sends her panther in and it leaps to pounce on the snake, but it misses. Lysithea shoots Fire Bolt, but misses with an 11. The snake attacks Draggy, but misses its constrict with a 2 (it originally rolled a Nat 20, but it rolled with disadvantage). It swings both its scimitars at Draggy, but Draggy dodges both attacks! Gobbles attempts to smack it again but misses, and throws up hands in frustration. He uses his bonus action to cast Bardic Inspiration.
Gobbles: Surina, attack this in the name of Bahamut!
Surina can now add 1d6 to her attack roll. Professor moves to flanking. He uses his bonus action to light his hammer arm on fire (Arcane Weapon) and hits the snake with an adjusted 20, doing 1 bludgeoning damage and 5 fire damage. Surina hits it with a 23 and does 9 more damage. It is almost at 1/10 of its health. Draggy rolls to attack with his ax, hits with a 21, and does 11 more damage. He takes his bonus attack, hits with an 18 and does 11 more damage. The snake falls down dead.
End Snake Battle
Lysithea: What was that?
DM: It was a giant Yuan-ti. You notice that it is Undead. It is decrepit and decaying. There’s also a knocked out noble who slowly, groggily gets up.
Noble: What was that? Feels like I got hit by a truck. Where did my camel go?
Gobbles: That was fun, that’s what that was!
Surina: It ran away!
Noble: It ran away? But I paid good money for it! That was supposed to be the best camel in the land. This would never happen in my hometown. And where are my guards?
Surina: They got eaten.
Professor: They were consumed, sir.
Noble: I paid money for those, too!
Octavia: I thought they smelled bad on the outside. I don’t want to cut it open.
Professor: You don’t have a knife? You go out on an adventure and you don’t have a knife?
Noble: I’m not on an adventure! I heard there was a beautiful queen and I want to marry her!
Professor: Oh.. Well you go do that. It’s that way. *points* Maybe some money for saving your life?
Noble: Fine, fine… I don’t have anything on me. I paid for the camel and the supplies and the guards. If you ever go to the lovely, lovely, lovely islands called Doompit Falls you can find my family and give him this note. I live in a palace in the hills.
Professor takes note and tucks it into his mustache.
Noble: The note says I owe you a favor. Can I get one of your camels?
Professor: You can borrow my camel. Do you have money?
Octavia: Fair exchange.
Professor: My camel, Lord Humperdink, is the best camel in all the land.
Noble: You are no help. *walks away*
Gobbles: Do you have shoes? We can trade for one of your shoes. You don’t need both if you have a camel.
Noble: *mumbles about never having to walk in his hometown*
Professor: You must be a very feeble man.
Lysithea: Wait…
Gobbles: Have you seen a flying thing carrying a statue maybe?
Noble: No. That’s weird of you to say. No, I haven’t seen a flying thing.
Gobbles: Like a persony-looking thing in the air carrying a statue. (Persuasion, 15)
Noble: A statue of what?
Gobbles: Statue of the queen you are going to meet.
Noble: Well… I’ve seen a statue of this queen, yes. That’s why I know she is the most beautiful woman in the land.
Gobbles: Did you see it recently?
Noble: Yes, I arrived and someone was selling the statue.
Lysithea: You arrived where?
Noble: From Doompit Falls, like I said.
Lysithea: Someone was selling the statue in Doompit Falls?
Noble: Nono, someone was selling it in the city of Ryphyet.
Lysithea: Did you purchase it?
Noble: No, my father did. He brought the statue to his castle, and then he sent me to marry her.
Lysithea: I’m gonna tell you now, guy, if you show up and she finds out you have her statue and didn’t return it to her she’s going to kill you.
Octavia: Just seeing it and not bringing it back to her will not be good for you.
Noble: Well that’s not good. Well, I’ll just return home. Nah, I’m joking, she won’t turn down money.
Lysithea: She’s going to not turn down money you don’t have?
Noble: My father has.
Lysithea: You’re not your father.
Noble: Whatever… *walks off towards the queen’s town*
Lysithea: Well, he’s gonna die.
Professor: Maybe they’ll get married.
Lysithea: I guess we need to go after the statue in Doompit Falls.
Octavia: Ryphyet has boats that lead to the islands.
The party gets back on camels and starts traveling again. As they move the gearbox Professor has begins ticking faster. He feels it in his pocket ticking faster and faster and faster…
Professor: *coughs* Excuse me, must be the eggs.
The party is moving along smoothly. They hit a giant sand dune as they approach the coast. As they walk over the dune the gearbox starts ringing in Professor’s pocket.
Octavia: What is that sound?
Professor: Ahh, ahh, it’s my new…gearbox. *pulls out the gearbox*
The clock is set to noon, even though it’s not. When he takes the gearbox out the ground below starts shaking, and the sand clears away to reveal a stairway. With no hesitation Gobbles runs down the stairs.
Octavia: Gobbles!
Gobbles: Come! This looks like adventure!
Professor immediately follows, along with the rest of the party after him.
Down the stairs the party finds a very long hallway. There are doors made of wood to the left and right at the entrance, and doors all along the hallway. It is dark down the hallway, and they can hear clicking, ticking, and whirring. The stones are made of wall… the walls are made of stone, and they are cold to the touch. (Yes, the DM actually said that and I had to leave it in.) Professor rolls stone cutting (17). These stones don’t look like anything they have seen. They are not natural, but man-made stones that have been placed here. An arcana check (Gobbles 21, Lysithea 15) reveals the stones to be magical, and their coldness magical. It is dark, and Surina, the only member of the current party without darkvision, cannot see. Luckily K’un-Lun let her borrow his night vision goggles.
Gobbles: There’s magic in them thar stones.
As they place their hands on the stones they feel vibration behind them.
When we entered the DM put on a song because when he was designing this dungeon this is what he had in mind. He plays Powerhouse.
Gobbles inspects the door to the left (investigation, 11). It’s a locked wooden door, but there is a key hole. Lysithea checks the other door and it is not locked. The party opens the right door and finds a 5ft wide hallway that ends in another door. Gobbles creeps forward watching for traps the whole way. As he proceeds he hears a gear begin cranking louder and louder. He rolls perception (12). As he crosses through a thin green ray points to him, and a tiny green dot lands on him. He immediately freezes.
Gobbles: I need some adults! Got a green thing pointed at my head thing!
He rolls a dexterity saving throw (Nat 20) and expertly Matrix-style springs off the walls as a tiny missile sails forward from the door in front of him and lands with a suction cup on the floor behind him. Professor tries to pick it up off the floor (Strength, 8), but cannot pull it up. Surina attempts to help him as he sits there straining to pick it up (strength, 11), but even with their combined strength they cannot lift the suction cup.
Professor: I give up.
Gobbles: Everything okay with the thingy?
Lysithea: It was just a suction cup…
Gobbles checks the door at the end of the small hallway for traps. The door is unlocked, and he enters. Torches light as he opens the door to reveal what looks like a throne room, with a throne at the back center. Sitting on the throne is a slumped figure. Gobbles perceives it to be a wooden puppet with a jester’s outfit (perception, 19).
Gobbles: What is this place guys? There’s a puppet guy in a really big chair over here.
The party follows him in.
Lysithea: Don’t touch anything.
Lysithea attempts an investigation, but rolls at Nat 1, so she thinks this is a real throne room for a king. There’s banners on the wall and a throne, and that’s pretty much it. Professor rolls investigation (13). It looks to him like a theater stage of sorts. Everything is made out of wood and painted gold. The whole room is a stage. Professor goes to sit on the throne. As he approaches the puppet figure springs to life and laughs.
Puppet: Welcome to my kingdom!
His voice is a very jestery, Mad Hatter type voice. There are no strings. Everyone hears a child-like giggle over the constant ticking. The puppet swings a scepter with a jester head at the end of it at Professor for 2 damage.
Puppet: Bonk!
Professor, who is pretty surprised by something coming to life and saying “bonk”, reacts with Thunderwave.
Professor: Nobody says bonk to me!
Lysithea: What just happened?
Gobbles: Wha….
The puppet makes a constitution saving throw (15) and passes, so it only takes half damage from Professor’s Thunderwave. The puppet takes 7 damage, then slumps back down with its head hanging off to the side. Professor pokes it with his hammer. No reaction. Professor kicks it across the room and its head falls off. Professor sits on the throne and it is very uncomfortable. He is comfortable with the sense of victory, though. Inside the marionette are gears that are now blackened and fried.
Lysithea: This was mechanical?
What is this place? End Session.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Cordelia acting on her own. That was awesome! (Cordelia gains 1 inspiration for next time)
- Kevin: Cordelia immediately attacking Sable and Mateen.
- Ian: The DM saying the stones are made of wall the first time.
- Liz: Ian being able to tinker with all the stuff we found today.
- Cordelia: Kevin licking the 1 off of Mathistos’s letter.
- Justice: Kevin licking the 1 off of Mathistos’s letter.
A Challenge, or Something Learned:
- Miranda: I rolled a Nat 1…
- Kevin: I learned the names of many characters.
- Ian (answered as Professor): Don’t approach a creepy puppet in a chair!
- Liz: I can’t rely on low rolls. I had a terrible battle with the snake!
- Cordelia: Answering this question.
- Justice: Making a monster that was supposed to be a challenge rating 7 in to a lower challenge rating but still providing a challenge. I rolled a 99 on the random encounter, and it was the Yuan-ti.
Prediction or Hope for Next Session:
- Miranda: I hope the entire party gets to participate.
- Kevin: Same thing. I want to know everyone’s characters and have some fun interactions.
- Ian: I hope this is some sort of game show we are about to play with this stage, like the end of Banjo-Kazooie with Gruntilda.
- Liz: I predict that puppet is not the only thing that is going to start speaking to us in this place, and there will be more of this clockwork stuff.
- Cordelia: Professor will take something that doesn’t belong to him.
- Justice: I hope you all get as much joy from this dungeon as I did creating it because this is a fun one.
Analysis: This was a really fun session, especially with the introduction of Gobbles the Goblin. By their powers combined, Ian, Shannon, and Kevin will keep us all in stitches. This was another BOOM session for Cordelia (see Session 5: Here Comes the BOOM). When she saw Sable and Mateen changing into all black and preparing to sneak into the city, she didn’t think, she reacted! Her character wants to punish all evil doers. When her character saw what she thought were thieves she immediately attacked! We were all very proud of her. Not because she attacked because she thought they were thieves (I mean, it was pretty great, don’t get me wrong), but because she reacted and acted as Surina with confidence and without hesitation. Her confidence has been sparing, but when she brings it it is glorious. Here’s hoping her confidence continues to grow.