Check In Question: Everyone has a nickname. What is/was yours?
- Ian: Ians, or Sterman Ster as Dad calls me. Or Squidward, as Miranda calls me. Professor’s nickname is The Professor.
- Kevin: Either Kevy-G or Scyther the Dancing Dog Boy (Justice gave me that name). Gobbles’s nickname is just Gobble and he starts making turkey noises.
- Justice: Mine’s easy. Just-Ice. Or as my mom yells at me, “Just-Me”. Mateen’s nickname is Lil’ M.
- Cordelia: One of them is Delia-Child. Another is Thing 1 (Victor is Thing 2). Surina’s nickname is Rina.
- Liz: My nickname in my family is Bibis, which devolved into Bibi and then just Bibs at one point. For Octavia the Red Sunset because of her hair.
- Miranda: Bubby. When I would cry as a baby my dad would ask, “What’s the hubbub, bub?” Lysithea’s nickname is Smarty Pants, but she’s proud of it.
When we last left the party they had just defeated the evil Queen Themaphila, who had been using magic to revive an old city and fill it with people hypnotized to worship her. With the magic gone the city has revealed its true form – an excavated site of ancient ruins.
Octavia wipes a bead of sweat from forehead from relief, having originally been correct that this city was not alive but actually ancient ruins (see Session 9). Everyone rolls perception (Lysithea 5, Surina Nat 20, Professor Nat 20, Gobbles 10, Octavia adjusted 20). They sense that not only has the magic faded but there’s now an increase in something else. In fact, the magic was holding something back… holding many things back, and now there’s an overwhelming sense of dread spreading across the site. The Queen’s nickname was “The Death Lover”. Surina now feels Undead all around her. With his knowledge of the walls, Professor can now translate all of the original transcriptions that have revealed themselves with the dissipation of the magic – this whole place was cursed. The party will not feel surprised by anything coming.
Surina: I feel Undead.
Octavia: Oh no! But I’m so tired!
Professor: Yes, we should probably leave as soon as possible.
Octavia: Yup.
Professor: Can we burn it down to the ground?
Lysithea: I can burn it down!
The Undead are downstairs, below the party. They all hear quite the commotion coming from outside. Out of a window they can see that the people of the city are waking up, having been freed from Queen Themaphila’s spell, and are very confused. There are also skeletons and zombies rising and attacking them. Some of the people are fighting back, some are running. It’s pure chaos.
Octavia: I suppose we should do something about this.
From downstairs Professor and Surina hear a shout, “Any help?”
Professor: Sounds like someone might need some assistance.
Lysithea: Let’s go.
As they rush downstairs the once lush temple entrance is decaying and crumbling. There’s a few bodies of knocked-out jackalweres sprawled on the floor. They make it downstairs and find 2 giant, decaying zombies standing over the unconscious bodies of 2 familiar looking people. On the other side of the room is another decaying looking creature in white wraps fighting a Goblin.
Lysithea: Slogoth, we need the portable hole!
Slogoth looks at the party rushing down the stairs, and then disappears. Everyone rolls perception (Gobbles 24, Octavia 11, Surina 14, Lysithea 12, Professor 6). Gobbles doesn’t see what actually happened (Slogoth rolled a Nat 20), but he sees the fading of Slogoth, like he’s using a spell. Professor casts See Invisibility and can see Slogoth running away. He’s going down to the dungeon.
Professor: Get him! Get him!
Roll initiative (Octavia 6, Gobbles 7, Lysithea 9, Surina 12, Professor 17).
Begin Giant Zombie/Mummy Fight
Professor puts on his crossbow hand and casts Arcane Weapon on it. He fires at the giant zombie standing over Mateen, but misses with a 5. He gets to attack twice now because of his level up and fires again, but a Nat 1 jams his crossbow. Professor points it up to see what’s wrong when the arrow fires and lands on a crate, setting it on fire. The giant zombie by Sable moves and picks up another crate and throws it at Surina, but misses with an adjusted 1. Surina moves towards the giant zombie and uses Branding Smite (one of her new spells). She hits with a 22, doing a 11 damage and an additional 5 radiant damage. This zombie ogre is now glowing radiantly.
Professor: You’re positively radiant, darling.
Surina swings her sword to attack again and hits again with a 13, doing another 10 damage. The other giant zombie picks up the fire box and throws it at Professor. It hits him with a Nat 20, doing 7 damage and causing everyone in a 10ft radius to make a dexterity save (Octavia 6, Lysithea 17, Onza 22, Professor 17). Lysithea, Onza and Professor all jump out of the way, but Octavia gets hit with debris for 4 damage, and is now on fire. Lysithea casts her newest spell with the mummy and 1 ogre zombie in range.
Lysithea: FIREBALL!!!
The zombie ogre and mummy both fail their saving throws and take full damage from ball of fire. The Fireball does a total of 33 damage to the zombie, and 66 to the mummy (vulnerable to fire). The mummy catches fire and immediately combusts in a burst of flames. The bandages are reduced to ash, which gently blow away. Gobbles flinches in awe…
Thistle Winkle Frost: New friend, I think she did damage.
Gobbles: I think so, too.
Gobbles Confetti Eldritch Blasts the ogre zombie, and hits twice with a 15 and a 17. His colorful attacks do a total of 12 force damage. Octavia rolls a 14 dexterity save and puts out the fire trying to consume her. She casts Hunter’s Mark on the less damaged zombie, then shoots at it with her longbow. She hits with an 18 and does 7 damage. She shoots again but rolls a Nat 1. The shot fires over the ogre’s head and she hears a groan…
Mateen: Oh no…. My spices….
The arrow pierced one of his spice bottles. Professor casts Shatter on the less damaged zombie. It fails a constitution saving throw and takes 10 thunder damage. Professor attacks again with his crossbow and hits with a 14, doing 2 piercing and 2 fire damage. The zombie ogre engaged with Surina attacks her with its Morning Star, but misses with a 17. Surina attacks back with her longsword, hitting with a 18 and doing 7 damage. She takes her second attack and hits with a 13, doing additional damage. As she makes her strike the ogre falls down, but it rises back up. The party simultaneously “Awww”s in disappointment when it rises. The other giant ogre zombie moves in to hit Lysithea, but misses with an 8. Lysithea retaliates by taking a 5ft step back and casts Magic Missile as a 2nd level spell. Her attack does 16 damage to the zombie. Gobbles attacks using Magic Missile as well, doing 14 more damage. Octavia shoots her longbow at the same giant zombie, hits with a 22 and does 7 damage. She shoots again and hits with a 13 doing 10 more damage. Professor casts Fire Bolt on the same zombie and hits with a 14, doing 2 fire damage. He attacks again with his crossbow but misses with a 7. The ogre by Surina attacks her again with its Morning Star but misses with a 14. Surina attacks back with her longsword and hits with a 17 doing 8 damage. The zombie falls yet again, but stands back up. Surina takes her second attack and hits with a 21, doing 9 damage. The zombie falls down, finally defeated. The remaining zombie attacks Lysithea with its Morning Star and hits with a 17 doing 13 damage. She reacts with Hellish Rebuke. The zombie fails its saving throw and takes 18 fire damage. The zombie is gone.
Lysithea: KILL ALL THE THINGS WITH FIRE!
There’s No Way it was That Easy…
The overwhelming sense of dread has only faded slightly. Out of the shadows steps Slogoth, with his hands in his pockets.
Slogoth: So, we have a situation folks.
Professor: Spit it out, Slo-go!
Octavia: We need that meteorite out of your pocket.
Slogoth: Well, you see. I know some of you don’t care, but the prisoner down there is still alive, and there’s a giant… it looks like the rumored Beholder. Never seen one, but it’s zombified.
(Arcana Check Lysithea 18) Lysithea knows Beholders are fabled, magical, multi-eyed creatures. That’s probably where all the dread is coming from.
Lysithea: HAHA. We can’t let that thing live. I should clarify the Beholder, not Marcus. I’m not a fan of Marcus but no one deserves that.
Slogoth: I kind of made a deal to set him free.
Octavia: Of course you did.
Professor: Give us the hole and we will free your friend.
Slogoth: I can’t…
Professor: The Hole Shebang!
Slogoth: …do that…
Professor: Why?
Slogoth: Cause it has the rest of my stuff! I’ll transport it like I said.
Octavia: We need a little more reassurance, sir.
Gobbles: Can we hold on to it at least? Cause you’ve been captured several times and we have not.
Octavia: How about you stick with us then?
Slogoth: Fine. IF you get rid of that Beholder.
Octavia: NO running!
Slogoth: I’ll give you my portable hole to hold on to until you deliver the meteorite.
Lysithea: We should probably hurry before Marcus… you know…
Surina: Come on! Let’s go!
The party makes their way down to the dungeons, which have definitely seen better days. There’s a giant hole in the wall that is glowing a dark red. They see a giant, flying, decaying ball with a giant mouth and decaying eye stalks, plus 2 zombies. From the glowing red hole 2 more zombies emerge. A voice calls timidly,
Marcus: Help, help me…
Lysithea has never seen anything like this before and immediately begins taking notes. Same initiative as last time.
Begin Beholder Battle
Professor reaches into his bag, grabs a little ball, pushes a button – here comes Spider-Bro! The force ballista cannon is now out and Professor commands it to fire away at the zombie Beholder. He hits with a 21 (initially rolled a Nat 1 but used an inspiration) pushing the Beholder back 5ft and dealing it 11 force damage. The Beholder moves forward and attacks Onza (rolled a d8 to select a target). It shoots a blue ray at Onza, who makes a constitution saving throw of Nat 20, so nothing happens to the panther. Surina moves up to one of the zombies and swings her sword. She hits with a 9 and does 9 damage. Her second attack hits with a 15 and does 7 more damage. The zombie falls but rises back up. Lysithea casts Fireball again right on top of the Beholder. All zombies are in range of the attack. 2 zombies succeed their rolls so they will only take ½ damage. The other zombies and the Beholder failed. Her attack does 37 fire damage.
Lysithea: SEND THEM BACK TO HADES!
The 4 zombies are obliterated, and the Beholder takes the full 37 fire damage. Gobbles moves in and Confetti Eldritch Blasts the Beholder twice, hitting both times with a 15 and 16. He does a combined total of 19 confetti damage. Octavia casts Hunter’s Mark on the Beholder then rolls to attack. She rolls 2 Nat 1s, but spends 2 inspiration to reroll. She rolls a Nat 20, and hits again with a 15. Her attacks do a combined 28 damage. From the portal emerges an ogre zombie. Professor uses a bonus action and fires his cannon at the Beholder, hitting with a 19. It gets pushed back 5ft and takes 10 force damage. He then casts Scorching Ray on the Beholder. The first ray misses with a 10, the second misses with a 12, and the third misses with a 10.
Professor: I’ve never done this before! *shooting suppressed fire*
He then shoots his crossbow at the Beholder and hits with an adjusted 20, doing 8 piercing and 4 fire damage. The Beholder moves forward and fires a deep purple Enervation Ray at Gobbles, who makes a constitution saving throw (9). The ray hits Gobbles and does 32 necrotic damage. The Beholder tries to bite Gobbles, but its teeth shatter on his shield, leaving it looking like The Bumble from Rudolph (rolled a Nat 1).
Gobbles: I need an adult!
Surina swings her sword at the Beholder and hits it with an adjusted 20. She casts Divine Smite as a 2nd level spell upon hitting, doing 7 damage and 11 radiant damage. The Beholder falls and dies. The portal is still open and there’s still an ogre zombie.
Professor: What do we do about the hole? It’s a big hole!
Lysithea casts Magic Missile as a 2nd level spell, doing a total of 14 damage to the ogre zombie. Gobbles scooches up to the zombie and casts Dissonant Whispers. The zombie fails its wisdom saving throw, so it hears Gobbles whisper…
Gobbles: Go back to your home! Are you too good for your home?
The zombie flees backwards to into the portal to escape the sound of Gobbles’s voice.
End Beholder Battle
The party feels the danger and dread subside, and Professor feels the pot of holding vibrating. He starts pulling things out of the pot and tosses them aside…
Professor: Fancy lady hat? No. Wooden mug? No. Magic Necklace? Better put that on. Rusty Helmet? No! Picnic basket? No. Healing potion? Here Goobles, take this. Shoes? No…
… until he finds the box from the Sphinx temple (see Session 7).
Professor: Here it is!
The mysterious cube is shaking and giving off a radiant glow. It still cannot be opened. Professor looks at it, then chucks it into the portal. The eerie red glow disappears, leaving behind just a gaping hole in the wall. The temple ruins begin crumbling. Gobbles collects some sand for a souvenir.
Octavia: I suggest we get out of here.
Lysithea opens the falling apart dungeon door and says to Marcus..
Lysithea: You poor thing, you owe us so much.
They all start running out of the ruins. Slogoth has collected Sable and Mateen, who is crying about some of his spices.
Octavia: Yeah, that’s my bad.
Lysithea: Hey, be sad later! Time to go is now!
Professor picks up the pot, lady hat, and Spider-Bro before running out of the room. Everyone is running, the buildings are crumbling to dust around them, but the zombies and skeletons are gone. The party makes it out safely.
Octavia: Thank goodness.
There’s a lot of people standing around looking very confused.
Lysithea: We just lifted your curse! (throwback to Session 7)
The entire temple area is crumbling down before their eyes. The large statue of Inubus is nothing more than broken pieces.
Gobbles: Alright everyone if you need souvenirs now’s the time. I’ve got mine.
Octavia: That’s the last thing on my mind.
Slogoth: So, where are we going now?
Professor: You’re coming with us, Slo-boy.
Surina: The Temple of Bahamut in Dalvok.
Slogoth: Oh, Dalvok. Haven’t been there in a while. Shall we walk?
Lysithea: We’re going by boat.
Slogoth: Ah, the classy way.
Rouge Hareng is still waiting for the party.
Rouge: Hey, ho people! So uh… what was that all about, guys?
Gobbles: Adventure!
Lysithea: We were just finishing up a few errands.
Rouge: Oh.. so where to?
Gobbles: Somewhere to sleep, I’m feeling a bit drained.
Lysithea: Dalvok, please.
Rouge: I can take you there. But we don’t have a crew.
Gobbles: We can assist.
Lysithea: Make Sable and Mateen do it.
Slogoth: I’m still going to follow you all, but here’s the portable hole.
Lysithea takes possession of the hole with the meteor and stores it for safe keeping.
The party has finally obtained the mysterious comet for their original quest. End Session.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Cordelia because she actually did a little bit of role playing today!
- Kevin: The many Fireballs Lysithea did, finally giving her the opportunity to destroy all the things.
- Liz: I agree, Miranda just being able to destroy the entirety of our encounters.
- Ian: The Fireball was obviously pretty freaking great, but I’ll say when Gobbles pushed the zombie ogre back into the hole.
- Cordelia: When Professor was so silly and threw all of his things out of the pot.
- Justice: Liz learning what Inspiration finally does by rolling 2 Nat 1s which is a 1/400 chance, then rerolling and getting a Nat 20.
Challenge/Something Learned:
- Miranda: Fireball is awesome! I was finally useful in combat!
- Kevin: I learned that while my damage went up it did not go up enough to be helpful so I’m probably going to me more of a battle support character.
- Liz: I stare into the face of death, or at least massive discomfort, by rolling 2 Nat 1s.
- Ian: To think more about the combinations I can make with my spells.
- Cordelia: I learned to use a new spell.
- Justice: Level 5 is when the balance of monsters needs to go up more. I thought the mummy would be a hard challenge, but Miranda vaporized it immediately.
Prediction/Hope for Next Session:
- Miranda: I hope we FINALLY get to turn in this meteorite and can be done with it and Slogoth and Mateen and Sable and Marcus.
- Kevin: Seeing all my guild mates again like What’s His Face, the guildmaster who may or may not have been the camel.
- Liz: Buying Mateen another bottle of spices.
- Ian: Find my cart! I have no idea where Professor’s cart is. I hope it’s right in front of that fountain still.
- Cordelia: I want to have fun like this again.
- Justice: That I get the next session that I planned to run fully written out with everything because you’re going to the music festival.
Analysis: This session was mostly combat, dealing with the fallout from destroying Queen Themaphila and her magic, but Cordelia still roleplayed a little bit. We are definitely seeing progress with her confidence, which is one of the reasons we started playing Dungeons & Dragons with her in the first place. With this session Justice wanted to have less RP and more combat to help Cordelia relax a little and feel less pressured to act, so when she did act it was a lot more natural. Some of the adult players had had a rough week, so he also wanted to provide an outlet for us to relieve some stress. All around it was a fun and therapeutic session.
Love the Check ins, Spotlights, Predictions, great way to begin and end. The transcript is pristine! And the story looks fun, well done!