Location: Camp Righteous
A lesson I learned in Dungeon Master-ing in this session goes as follows: buy your own re-usable battle maps, because drawing a grid of one inch squares using a ruler and a Sharpie hurts after an hour. If buying the maps are impossible, then at least don't start drawing the map only three hours before your players arrive, because that is bad time management. I finished the map an hour before anyone arrived, so the session did not start completely in disaster. Makenna, however, had lost her character sheet, which ended up being an omen for what came to pass in the session.
To avoid the settlement of violent and overpowered goblins, the guides Flask and River suggested crossing the River Soshenstar at the abandoned camp of the Order of the Gauntlet, Camp Righteous. After a brief disagreement (because my players are contrarians to the bones) Casamir used his wings to fly Agile and Nugget the Velociraptor over the river, while the guides crossed in a canoe and Princess Quiana tried to fjord the river with her cart and donkey. Quiana fell off the donkey three-fourths of the way across, and waded out of the water soaked and muddy.
During the party's investigation of the deserted camp, a nearby disturbance caused the appearance of an allosaurus, which I intended for the party to fight. Ashley and Meagan stubbornly insisted on trying to tame it, however, so after a few rounds of battle wore down the dinosaur's health and Casamir and Agile rolled high enough Animal Handling checks to win its respect. Newly-dubbed Waffle the Allosaurus joined the party as yet another NPC.
After taming Waffle, the party investigated the temple that the camp was built around: the Shrine of Man and Crocodile. Immediately after entering the shrine, the party made to succeed in Acrobatics checks to avoid swings blades coming from the ceilings. Agile and Casamir made it through all right, but Princess Quiana and her entourage were unlucky. Quiana and her handmaid Faylisha died rather quickly, which left Makenna to phantom-play Quiana's bodyguard and long-lost father Alfred for the rest of the session.
Upon exiting the hall of swinging blades, the party easily surpassed a ledge that also functioned as a balcony, since the next section of the shrine was a tiled puzzle floor. A partial map of where to step was displayed on the opposite wall, and Casamir remembered his supply of preserved sheep meat, and used process of elimination to determine the correct tiles for the rest of the map. When triggering the traps, fire burst out from the walls, and now the party has a few servings of very-well-done mutton in their pack.
Since the temple was dedicated with a legend of a man who rode a crocodile's back, I tried to emphasize that mirroring the piggyback riding stance could help the players evade traps. Thankfully they got the point by the next obstacle, which was a stone doorway locked by a pressurized stone panel with the same tile pattern as on the floor. To demonstrate the penalty for not following the legend's example, Casamir tried to touch the tiles and if Ashley had not succeeded on a Constitution check, would have taken 13 points of lightning damage. Alfred pressed the correct tiles on the bottom rows and Agile pressed the tiles for the top two rows.
In the final cavern stood a thirty-foot tall spiral staircase, at the top stood the treasure of the shrine: a jug capable of producing most liquids: sea water, fresh water, poison, and even mayonnaise, among others. To avoid any potential traps in the stairs, Casamir used his wings to fly up to the top of the stairs. After re-emphasizing the importance of the piggyback riding, Casamir re-used the sheep meat and rolled it down the stairs to trigger the four trapped steps on the stairs. The pair of Agile and Alfred then climbed the stairs safely and picked up the urn.
The party took a short rest in the antechamber just inside the shrine, allowing themselves to heal up from all the damage taken in the shrine. After their short rest, the party exited the shrine, only to come upon an ambush of kobolds. The Chief Kobold, Yokka, baited the dinosaur into attacking the party when they had arrived, to see whether or not they could beat the traps in the shrine, and now that they had emerged, he wanted the treasure from them. While the ambush was initially meant to be a combat experience, Casamir persuaded Yokka to marry him (following a tradition from a previous campaign in which a player won the heart of a kobold, initially for information) using his impressive and respectable combat skills.
Ashley then rolled a natural twenty to throw a lavish wedding and Meagan, apparently also in the mood for character romance, rolled to seduce Flask of Wine, one of their Tabaxi guides. Meagan's roll resulted in a natural twenty as well, much to my consternation. Makenna, seeking to throw a funeral for the Princess, and also rolled a natural twenty. Fabulous omens for them, and a message to me from the universe to prepare for more shenanigans.
To avoid the settlement of violent and overpowered goblins, the guides Flask and River suggested crossing the River Soshenstar at the abandoned camp of the Order of the Gauntlet, Camp Righteous. After a brief disagreement (because my players are contrarians to the bones) Casamir used his wings to fly Agile and Nugget the Velociraptor over the river, while the guides crossed in a canoe and Princess Quiana tried to fjord the river with her cart and donkey. Quiana fell off the donkey three-fourths of the way across, and waded out of the water soaked and muddy.
During the party's investigation of the deserted camp, a nearby disturbance caused the appearance of an allosaurus, which I intended for the party to fight. Ashley and Meagan stubbornly insisted on trying to tame it, however, so after a few rounds of battle wore down the dinosaur's health and Casamir and Agile rolled high enough Animal Handling checks to win its respect. Newly-dubbed Waffle the Allosaurus joined the party as yet another NPC.
After taming Waffle, the party investigated the temple that the camp was built around: the Shrine of Man and Crocodile. Immediately after entering the shrine, the party made to succeed in Acrobatics checks to avoid swings blades coming from the ceilings. Agile and Casamir made it through all right, but Princess Quiana and her entourage were unlucky. Quiana and her handmaid Faylisha died rather quickly, which left Makenna to phantom-play Quiana's bodyguard and long-lost father Alfred for the rest of the session.
Upon exiting the hall of swinging blades, the party easily surpassed a ledge that also functioned as a balcony, since the next section of the shrine was a tiled puzzle floor. A partial map of where to step was displayed on the opposite wall, and Casamir remembered his supply of preserved sheep meat, and used process of elimination to determine the correct tiles for the rest of the map. When triggering the traps, fire burst out from the walls, and now the party has a few servings of very-well-done mutton in their pack.
Since the temple was dedicated with a legend of a man who rode a crocodile's back, I tried to emphasize that mirroring the piggyback riding stance could help the players evade traps. Thankfully they got the point by the next obstacle, which was a stone doorway locked by a pressurized stone panel with the same tile pattern as on the floor. To demonstrate the penalty for not following the legend's example, Casamir tried to touch the tiles and if Ashley had not succeeded on a Constitution check, would have taken 13 points of lightning damage. Alfred pressed the correct tiles on the bottom rows and Agile pressed the tiles for the top two rows.
In the final cavern stood a thirty-foot tall spiral staircase, at the top stood the treasure of the shrine: a jug capable of producing most liquids: sea water, fresh water, poison, and even mayonnaise, among others. To avoid any potential traps in the stairs, Casamir used his wings to fly up to the top of the stairs. After re-emphasizing the importance of the piggyback riding, Casamir re-used the sheep meat and rolled it down the stairs to trigger the four trapped steps on the stairs. The pair of Agile and Alfred then climbed the stairs safely and picked up the urn.
The party took a short rest in the antechamber just inside the shrine, allowing themselves to heal up from all the damage taken in the shrine. After their short rest, the party exited the shrine, only to come upon an ambush of kobolds. The Chief Kobold, Yokka, baited the dinosaur into attacking the party when they had arrived, to see whether or not they could beat the traps in the shrine, and now that they had emerged, he wanted the treasure from them. While the ambush was initially meant to be a combat experience, Casamir persuaded Yokka to marry him (following a tradition from a previous campaign in which a player won the heart of a kobold, initially for information) using his impressive and respectable combat skills.
Ashley then rolled a natural twenty to throw a lavish wedding and Meagan, apparently also in the mood for character romance, rolled to seduce Flask of Wine, one of their Tabaxi guides. Meagan's roll resulted in a natural twenty as well, much to my consternation. Makenna, seeking to throw a funeral for the Princess, and also rolled a natural twenty. Fabulous omens for them, and a message to me from the universe to prepare for more shenanigans.
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