Fantasy

Session 18a – Plateau of the Aarakocra

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Roleplaying Game , , ,

Pursued by the Pick & Axe Dwarves, harassed by Batiri Goblins, the PCs had not much choice (1) in going North, towards the Mistcliffs mountains.

Characters:

  • Shin (level 5), Tabaxi Fighter (Arcane Archer), Outlander; big-game hunter, has no patience for weakness, Shield Guardian Vorn in tow
  • Kalohan (level 4), High Elf Wizard (Evoker), Inheritor; noble Elf, ill-suited for adventuring life
  • Leon (level 3), Human Monk (Way of Shadow), Outlander; long dead hunter whose tribe worshipped Zotzilaha, has been reincarnated due to recent events
  • Anfi (level 2>>3), Locathah Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Outlander; medicinal herbs collector, wants to see how is life above water, Muck Dweller companion in tow

Valley of Mist

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The valley ahead was covered in mist. Was it natural? Kalohan inspected it with a Detect Magic and could see small shapes slowly coalescing. She did not wait any further and cast Burning Hands, evaporating the mist-shapes (2) into oblivion.

Rocky Promontory

Later in the day the PCs could see from their vantage point a rocky promontory with some activity on it. Most impressive was the huge Quetzacoaltus perched on top. Lower on a ridge, small figures (hard to see what kind of folks they were from the distance)  had gathered together for some purpose.

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Kalohan and Shin did not agree as to approach the promontory or not and had somewhat of a heated argument about it. (3) Finally, it was decided that Kalohan would go see what was over there, alone, while the rest of the group waited for her. An arduous trek led her up to the ridge and she could now see that the place apparently served for commerce. Aarakocra (bird-folks) owned the place and the Quetzacoaltlus, loaded with leather bags, was their aerial pack animal.

The leader, an energetic female Aarakocra, was also the lead trader. Also present at the moment were two Albino Dwarves (father and son), a Batiri Goblin and three Gripplis.

Kalohan spoke with the Aarakocra trader (who spoke common fluently) and asked if there was perhaps a way to get out of this valley? Turned out that maybe they could help each other as the Aarakocra’s trading partners, the Albino Dwarves, were in need of help. There was a recent increase of attacks from lizardish humanoids at night, the Albino Dwarves could not root out their foes as the place where those had their lair was taboo for them (4). If Kalohan and her friends were able to clean out the threat (5), the Aarakocra, in exchange, could provide airlift transportation near their destination, Port Nyanzaru. They agreed!

Rock-Cut Portico

The two aforementionned Albino Dwarves, Poï Pà and Poï Pok, would serve as guide up to the creatures’ lair.

The entrance looked like this (6):

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There was a lot of footsteps around but no trace of the humanoids yet. There was Giant Wasps though! The PCs killed 3 of the oversized insects and got closer to the portico. In one of the open room, they could see a dead Giant Spider on its back. It started to twitch… Then its bulgy abdomen bursted open and an Insect (wasp) Swarm flew out of it (7)! Horror-struck Kalohan annihilated a big chunk of the swarm with a cathartic Burning Hands…

DM’s notes

  1. They could also have tried to forced their way through but that would have been a big risk as they could not easily take to the river without dumping Vorn, the object of their mission in the first place…
  2. Mist mephits
  3. I did not want to sway their decision but to myself I was like « Noooooo! All my prep for naught! »
  4. In my version of Chult, albino dwarves don’t want anything to do with underground places
  5. The PCs did guess (easy) that the Sting of Decay, a jungle spirit they had vouched to destroy, was the cause of the increase of attacks in the sector
  6. The remnant of an older civilization
  7. real-world braconid wasps lay their eggs in their preys, I mean, how cool is that!

A note on Aarakocra

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, world-building ,

I’ve planned an important scene for my players with bird-folk Aaracokra but there’s not much going on with them in D&D 5e. There’s a mention that they hail from the plane of elemental air and being enemies with gargoyles (as elemental antagonists) but I don’t really care that much about extra-planar stuff. Aside from that… well, they’re basically just birds (live in nest, fly for hours without landing and so on), with nothing indicating that they’ve got, you know, human-like intelligence.

So here’s a few quick ideas to make them less bland:

Female Leadership

You know these intricate rituals that male birds (from many species) have to go through if they hope to seduce the oh so hard-to-get female? That makes me think that female Aarakocra ought to be the ones in charge…

Long-range traders

Forget about galleons and caravans, true, efficient long-range trade is made by air! Especially since the Aarakocras (in Chult) use the gigantic Quetzacoalts as aerial pack animals!

Rocky promontory tradepost

Near the Mistcliff Mountains, the jungle folks gather under the protection of brightly-colored Aarakocra warriors. For many local traders, it’s the only place they can get their hands on merchandises from afar.

Cliffside City

Looks like that:

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Session 17 – Cave Tunnel

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Isaac's adventures

My son Isaac, after having a taste of D&D as he played the powerful Shield Guardian Vorn wanted to play a « true » character, even if it meant being much weaker. He even selected a mini from my stash in advance. I was pretty happy that he chose a Locathah (a fish-folk), a rather unusual and interesting pick. Here’s the recap of the session I did with him, with his younger brother playing as his enthusiast sidekick.

Characters:

  • Anfi (level 2), Locathah Fighter, Outlander; medicinal herbs collector, wants to see how is life above water
  • Edmond, Muck Dweller; friendly creature that Anfi saved from being cut to pieces by giant crabs

Making a Friend (1)

Fresh out of the sea Anfi could spot a Muck Dweller cornered by Giant Crabs. Sympathetic to the amphibian’s fate, Anfi intervened and killed some of the Giant Crabs, the others skittered away.

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Entrance to Another World

With his new friend in tow, Anfi entered the large cave that, as he’d been told, led to Another World. The first creature encountered was familiar enough to the Locatah, a Moray Eel was trapped in a shallow pool. A few stabs of Anfi’ spear were enough to kill it. (2)

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Dead Pirates

Further ahead, along the inundated cave, a decrepit rowboat floated upside down with other flotsam nearby. Anfi decided to investigate and as he approached, 3 dead pirates surfaced with rusted sabers in skeletal hands. This time Anfi and his companion got a few wounds before dispatching their opponents. Anfi found a good dagger and some equipment. (3)

Snake Attack

Now on dry land, they advanced along a narrower part of the cave when suddenly, snake attack! The Muck Dweller was fast to react and put a fierce bite on the snake, which chose to retreat hastily in the hole it came from. (4)

Too many Cockroaches

After a brief rest, the 2 amphibians continued their subteraean journey. The stench of bat guano was overwhelming now and the ground was swarming with vermins. The Cockroach Queen led a throng of its subjects to the assault. The Muck Dweller gorged itself on the insects and Anfi stabbed the Queen, killing it, but the cockroaches kept coming nonetheless. Finally Anfi had enough and fled some distance to safety. (5)

DM’s Notes

  1. That way Edmond could roll dice and play with us!
  2. Isaac chose combat but we can’t fault him too much for that…
  3. Isaac wasn’t very eager to approach, in fact, I think he tought that he was expected to and did as much. I have to remind him that he can do whatever he really wants.
  4. Isaac kept asking if they would see the snake afterward, as if it’s unfinished business…
  5. I had one essential lesson in mind for this encounter: don’t fight every time!

Session 16 – The Way of the Shadow

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Roleplaying Game

Now that my sister is fully hooked to D&D, the next logical step was to introduce my nephew to it. As he’s 11 yo, I didn’t want to overwhelm him with everything and tried to keep it simple on a gameplay and roleplay level. The way I found was to let him pick a mini (of course he picked the more sinister of the lot) and then I proposed him a character that suited (more or less) how it looked. Anyway, he did enjoy discovering new powers for his character. Job done!

Characters:

  • Shin (level 5), Tabaxi Fighter (Arcane Archer), Outlander; big-game hunter, has no patience for weakness
  • Kalohan (level 4), High Elf Wizard (Evoker), Inheritor; noble Elf, ill-suited for adventuring life
  • Leon (level 2>>3), Human Monk (Way of Shadow), Outlander; long dead hunter whose tribe worshipped Zotzilaha, has been reincarnated due to recent events
  • Vorn, Shield Guardian, found masterless by the party, beside a gaping hole in the ground

The Way Back is Blocked

The PCs had learned previously that  the Dwarves from the Pick & Axe co were en route toward the Tamoachan site, probably to claim the riches that the PCs had just unearthed.  They opted to evade them, going North-East through the jungles, as the way to the river was now cut off (1).

Crazed Stegosaurus

Crashing through dense vegetation and charging the PCs, the herbivorous dinosaur was oddly aggressive. The mighty Vorn got himself in a titanic duel against the fearsome beast while Shin, Kalohan and Leon had to fend off sneaky Batiri archers (2).

A Feast of Maggots

A huge sauropod carcass blocked the way ahead. Monstrous maggots sprung forth from the cleaned bones, but not before Shin had sent an explosive arrow at the disgusting remains, sending grisly worm flesh everywhere.

Frilled Spitters

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The following night, Leon found a good spot to camp but still, two big frilled raptors (3) got too curious. Kalohan managed to put one asleep with a spell. The other attacked Vorn but its poison was useless against the construct and was thus overmatched.

Petrified Spider

Next day, the PCs could see an immobile, giant spider. Shin tried to speak with it (via his magic hat) but didn’t obtain any response. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the spider was turned into stone. Alerted to this fact, the PCs soon found the cause: cockatrices! Those were just eating berries in the vicinity, but the wary adventurers didn’t took any chances and slew the deceptively dangerous chicken-like creatures.

Dwarves in the Night

Their sleep was again disturbed when vigilant Vorn woke them as the P & A Dwarves had somehow managed to catch up with them. Leon activated one of his shadow trick, a pass without trace, and the PCs left the Dwarves behind once more.

Mounted Batiris

Shin and Leon were tired by the previous night’s ordeals but the group wanted to put some distance between them and the unrelenting Dwarves. Unfortunately, those weren’t the only ones to watch out for as patrolling batiris mounted on Axe beaks got upon them. Shin got to work with his bow while Kalohan shot deadly lightning bolts with her magic wand and only two mounted batiris got in close range. Those last ones were dispatched by Vorn and Leon in a quick but brutal scuffle.

(4)

DM’s Notes

  1. Travel through the jungle ought to be more dangerous than the river journey
  2. and kill a goblin shaman that controlled the stegosaur
  3. dinosaur frilled raptors, in fact, didn’t look anything like the one in jurassic park but the venom-spitting beast depicted in the movie makes for a cool addition to an imaginary dinosaur roster nonetheless
  4. I had thought to do a few more encounters, with some non-combat too, but well, 11 yo boys have short attention span! :p

Gloomhaven: Fading Lighthouse and Pit of Souls

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, gloomhaven ,

We’re sidetracking in our sidetracking, imagine that. Forget about the dragon or The Voice, there’s a lighthouse in the Lingering Swamp!

Scenario 61

Goal:  loot all treasure tiles

Team: Brute (lvl 8), Elementalist (lvl 8), Soothsinger (lvl 9)

Set difficulty: 5

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Filled with unpleasant inhabitants…

This is one of the coolest looking scenario (with Math’s 3D decor) hands down.

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We’re not killing much monsters, the challenge is to jump over monsters and traps without getting too much damage.

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Victory!

  • we moved fast, mostly ignored (or immobilized) the monsters and got a secure win

Scenario 62

Goal: Kill the Hungry Soul

Team: Brute (lvl 8), Elementalist (lvl 8), Soothsinger (lvl 9)

Set difficulty: 5

A single, if somewhat large, room with living bones and living spirits. The elementalist wipe out the living spirits with a well-timed vengeance. We can then focus on the immediate goal of slaying 10 living bones (they keep popping up each round).

Once it’s done (not a big feat), the Hungry Soul manifests itself. Oddly, the Hungry Soul is no big deal as it’s just a slightly stronger elite living bones (with a strong shield that diminish the more living bones there is). So all in all, an anticlimactic end to the Fall of Man thread.

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Victory!

  • All three of us can now retire our characters, that’s pretty awesome!

Gloomhaven: Decrepit Wood

David Skelector Fantasy

Now, maybe the sensible thing would be to get some information on who or what is The Voice exactly? But following what IT wants means that we get in the Lingering Swamp. And, as it happens, we have a swamp aficionado, of all things, among us. So to hell with prudence, lets go to the decrepit wood to seek something or other that our desincarnated employer wants so bad.

Scenario 32

Goal: Reveal G tile, kill all monsters, loot treasure

Team: Brute (lvl 7), Elementalist (lvl 7), Soothsinger (lvl 8)

Set difficulty: 4

I’m not quite certain what are Harrowers but they sure are tough cookies. But fortunately, as they’re melee attackers, they’re quite easy to outmanoeuver. In fact, we did so well with this scenario that… I don’t feel like there’s much to say?

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The soothsinger’s forte is not high damage output.

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Or that’s what we thought…

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We chose to enter the door in front of us instead of going by the side entrance. We get pesky Black Imps and more Harrowers.

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Last room and we still have plenty of resources, no worries.

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Victory!

  • this one was a walk in the park
  • we now unlock the elementalist’s life goal special (double) scenario
  • Both me and the soothsinger will complete our own life goals too so we’ll retire as a team!

Gloomhaven: Echo Chamber

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, gloomhaven

We’re supposed to investigate a dragon sighting in the copperneck mountains, but more frivolous adventurers the world as never seen. We’ve sidetracked at the first occasion, in this case after seeing some odd writings on the walls of a cave mentionning a « voice ». Or rather: The Voice.

Scenario 24

Goal: Open all doors

Team: Brute (lvl 7), Elementalist (lvl 7), Soothsinger (lvl 7)

Set difficulty: 4

We start the scenario with our first encounter with drakes (of the rending variety) and oozes. The soothsinger immobilize the whole lot before the elementalist softens them up. I then finish the two leftmost drakes with a devastating swing of my battleaxe. The way is clear (mostly).

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In the next room floats 4 living spirits with their annoying shields and all.

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But they’re promptly zapped into oblivion by the elementalist.

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Living spirit: « I think it’s our cue! » Living spirits in unison: *anguished wail*

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3 more drakes. We manoeuver so that they’re bunched together and:

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Boom! They’re disintegrated, just like that.

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Things are so smooth & easy, we’re swaggering our way deeper into the echo chamber. We will pay the price for our overconfidence though…

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Only one door to open to win the scenario, but at least one of us must survive the round and it now seems far from certain…

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The elementalist goes down too but the soothsinger survives to win the day. With 1 hp!

  • That was an incredibly close call!
  • Upon verification,  surviving the final round isn’t mandatory but that would have felt like cheating…
  • The drakes are hard-hitting but not very durable, glass cannons essentially.
  • I think this scenario should be fairly easy, with a sound plan, on most play

More locations for Jungle/Chult hexcrawl

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, jeux de rôles, Roleplaying Game, RPG, world-building , , , ,

Dinosaur Boneyard

Miles upon miles of massive bones with no vegetation whatsoever. Somewhere in the middle is the ancient mansion of a necromancer. But first you’d have to get past the carrion critters and various undead dinosaurs.

Pit of the Broken Idols

A cave where a long-lost civilization have thrown offensive statues down the 60′ deep shaft. Their residual power has taken shape as a powerful Eidolon.

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Treant Permaculture

A spectacular array of flowers and rare medicinal plants amongst the tallest trees of the jungle. This is the works of a cigar-smoking treant that doesn’t take kindly to trespassers. Sometimes, he does need help to get a rare plant he wants to add to his domain or to eradicate something particularly bothersome.

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Plateau of the Aarakocra

A rocky promontory that serves as a place of commerce for Aarakocra traders of the Mistcliffs and their partners. Huge quetzacoatlus are used to bring goods from afar.

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Ubtao’s Tooth

Rogue, evil Aarakocra, have made their lair atop this lonely peak. They’re given to banditry. They have tongueless harpies as their wretched slaves.

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Sacred Cenote

A very ancient site of worship, originally to some obscure amphibian deity. Glittering precious stones can be seen in the pristine water of the pool. Evil winds are always present as well as more tangible threats.

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Tunnel Cave (Mistcliffs)

A several miles long cave makes the link from dense, batiri-infested jungles to the coast, through the mistcliffs mountains. There’s many divergent paths and a lot of dangerous critters along the way.

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Jagged Summit (Mistcliffs)

The greatest aarakocra « nest » of the mistcliffs, the numerous sentinels patrolling the air don’t miss much. Only rare visitors are considered trustworthy enough to be allowed further.

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Sunken Firefinger

One of several rock tower that served to guard the border of the now defunct mezroan empire. This one has sunken below ground, only the uppermost tip remains. The lower part is now in the middle of a cave system inhabited by strange creatures.

Seashore House

Along the eastern coast, this lonely house is inhabited by a friendly hermit. Friendly unless you’re a pirate, if so you better give a wide berth to his house.

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Gloomhaven: Clockwork Cove, Oozing Grove,Vermling Nest, Payment Due

David Skelector Fantasy, gloomhaven , , ,

Four random side scenarios in a row. I’ll make it short & sweet as it’s been several weeks and I’m going on hazy memory now.

Oh, and:

The Rat is Back, Baby!

Scenario 66

Goal: Activate pressure plate e

Team: Brute (lvl 6), Elementalist (lvl 6),  Mindthief (lvl 5) Soothsinger (lvl 6)

Set difficulty: 3

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We’ve cleared the oozes without much sweat but the ancient artilleries in next room are another matter. The mindthief takes control of the Elite and make it move in the first room just as we release the pressure plate, trapping it behind the door! Nicely done!

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Next, we had to manoeuver uncomfortably between stone golems, oozes and artilleries. Add to this living spirits, once we got to open two more rooms (with treasures!). The Elementalist stood ready to step on the last pressure plate as we’re finishing a last xp & gold grab.

Scenario 72

Goal: Destroy all trees

Team: Brute (lvl 6), Elementalist (lvl 6),  Mindthief (lvl 5) Soothsinger (lvl 6)

Set difficulty: 3

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Our first encounter with forest imps and aren’t they lil’ motherfuckers?! Ranged attacks that do curses? Annoying. Anyway, with the first few rounds that seemed like we weren’t doing anything useful, we managed to cut down the tree in the central area. I then split off to get to the tree to the right, as the Elementalist had mostly cleared the way for me, while the rest of the group went for the tree to the left.

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Borborygm, joyfully swinging his axe at the oozing tree

Scenario 94

Goal: Kill all monsters

Team: Brute (lvl 6), Elementalist (lvl 6),  Mindthief (lvl 5) Soothsinger (lvl 6)

Set difficulty: 3

Hey, we’ve unlocked a scenario with vermlings, at last!

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The hounds facilitate our job by getting all bunched together
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Elementalist: I’ll leave the rats for you, I swear! *Kill 2 vermlings » Mindthief: « GrrrRRRrr »
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Brute: « Hey, I need some back up! » 6 attacks later with a grand total of 4 damage « Oh, nevermind. »

Scenario 95

Goal: Kill the Prime Lieutnant

Team: Brute (lvl 6), Elementalist (lvl 7),  Scoundrel (lvl 5) Soothsinger (lvl 7)

Set difficulty: 4

The completion of Vermling Nest unlocked Payment Due. We have to find tokens dissiminated in two areas, one with damaging difficult terrain, and the other full of obstacles and deep terrors. Meanwhile, flame and earth demons keep popping up in the hallway so, no fooling around…

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Scoundrel: « I’m melting! »

Our new member, the fast-moving scoundrel, takes on her to get the 3 tokens in the acid-filled room.

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Brute: « What the hell are those things?! »

Deep terrors are brutal monsters. They’ve got range, annoying effects, and have retaliate to boot. The large room is difficult to navigate: rocks, columns, puddles, traps… The Cragheart would have done marvels, ahhh… The nimble Soothsinger gets the 2 tokens in the back while I get the other, not without taking many hits. Damn those tentacles!

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Scoundrel: « Huh, guys? »

Once we got the tokens, we could open the hallway’s door and fight the Prime Lieutnant. This fight was a pushover, really. He wasn’t even a true Boss, c’mon! It’s not even deserving of a pic (my phone’s battery died just before the final fight, oops)!