[Days 1 and 2 – A show, an alley fight, and then a summons.]
[This game uses the D&D 5E roleplaying game. Game sessions happen once a week. These sessions happened June 19 and 26, 2023.]
[SPOILERS! This is part of a published adventure set, Prepared 2: A Dozen One-Shot Adventures for 5th Edition, by Kobold press.]
Player Characters
Blaze Fulmen, Lord Auctor Braccas – male tabaxi (Noble), 6th level Storm Sorcerer; NG
Cecilia Payne – female tabaxi (Outlander), 6th level Circle of Stars Druid; LN
Joe Trade – male human (Guild Artisan), 2nd level Celestial Warlock, 4th level Armorer Artificer; LG
Via Roll20
Donnis Dustdrifter – male human (Investigator), 6th level Shadow Monk; CG
Bjoern Bjoernson – male human (Urchin), 3rd level Totem Warrior Barbarian, 3rd level Circle of Moon Druid; CN
Min – female tabaxi (Hermit), 6th level Mercy Monk; N
Autumn
[Session 1 was mostly those with incomplete characters completing their characters and us stringing together a thin lattice of how we knew each other. Joe, Donnis, Bjoern, and Min ended up doing set design and security for a play in the city of Nogvurot. Blaze and Cecilia met on the way to Nogvurot, debating the value of civilization. Blaze insisted the play he was on his way to see was the epitome of civilization and he would pay for Cecilia to see it just to make his point. She reluctantly agreed.]
[This set of connections only lasted until Session 2 started and Clone DM 1 changed it (slightly). Ah well.]
Day 1
Evening
[This is where Session 2 starts.]
Having watched a culturally significant play (at least according to Blaze, Lord Auctor Braccas), a group of acquaintances were making their way to a local tavern in Nogvurot to continue their discussion [read: so Blaze could continue talking about the play]. Cutting through a side alley to avoid a knot of others leaving the play in the street ahead, the group heard a cry for help ahead.
Suddenly alert, the group observed a young dwarven local flee across an intersection ahead, pursued by a pair of some sort of purple elves with spears. Uttering a short oath, Joe Trade identified them as bearded devils!
Blaze channeled the storm, casting Scorching Ray, transmuting the spell into three bursts of lightning from his hands [he used a Sorcery Point to activate his Transmuted metamagic feat to turn the fire damage into lightning damage]. He targeted and hit the lead devil with all three rays, using the roiling winds his casting summoned to launch himself to a nearby roof. [As a Storm sorcerer he has Tempestuous Magic, allowing him to use a Bonus action to fly 10 feet before or after casting a spell of level 1 or higher.] Bjoern wildshaped into a bear before running up to the lead devil and attacked it recklessly [advantage to hit in exchange for enemies gaining advantage to attack him], biting and clawing the devil. The dwarven villager continued to flee down the cross-alley. The lead devil attacked Bjoern with its glaive and beard to serious effect [a total of 30 points of damage]. The second devil joined in but was much less effective [only 12 points of damage]. Something the play-goers could not see due to the intervening buildings attacked the fleeing dwarf, causing him to cry out in pain. Joe Trade activated the broom of flying built into his suit of armor and flew forward and upward, catching sight of a third bearded devil standing over the prone and bleeding body of the young dwarf. Cecilia cast Hold Person on the lead bearded devil but it shrugged off the effect [it made its save]. Not defeated, Cecilia switched into her Starry Form [something Druids of the Circle of Stars can turn into with wildshape], showing the sign of the Archer, and launched a luminous arrow at the devil, hitting it. Donnis stepped through the shadows, reappearing behind the bearded devils. There he cast Word of Radiance, the burning radiance scorching one of the devils [the other made its save].
Blaze ran across the rooftops to get closer to the fight and cast Mind Sliver at the lead devil, his cape billowing dramatically despite the devil resisting the spell. [Blaze has a Cloak of Billowing so he can always look dramatic.] Bjoern raged – biting the lead devil to death and clawing the second devil before moving to a flanking position for Donnis. The villager bled, edging closer to death [failed his first death save]. The flanked devil attacked Bjoern to no effect [missed twice]. The devil standing over the dying dwarf drove its glaive into the dwarf’s heart, killing him, before fleeing. Incensed by this, Joe flew ahead of the fleeing devil and cast dual Eldritch Blasts, forcing the devil back to the fight. [I don’t know how he cast two of them, but they were both Repelling Blasts and each pushed the devil 10 feet back.] Cecilia cast Call Lightning on the flanked devil and then hit it with another luminous arrow. Donnis unleashed a flurry of blows on the flanked devil, killing it, before moving to engage the devil that killed the dwarf.
Blaze pursued the remaining devil, running across the rooves of several building and leaping a 10-foor gap between two of the buildings, his cape billowing out behind him [bonus action spent for the dramatic appearance]. Once he stopped he could see the remaining devil and cast Magic Missile at it, hitting it with all three missiles. Bjoern also pursued the last devil but could not run far enough to physically close, so he activated his Shadow Claw tattoo, recklessly raking the devil with his attacks, killing the devil.
Joe Trade flew up for a better viewpoint and looked around to see if there were anymore bearded devils attacking people. There were not. Donnis dragged the last devil body to where the other two bodies were. Cecilia treated Bjoern’s infected wounds. The rest of the group waited for some town guards to arrive.
When two town guards arrived [Bill and Ted], Blaze introduced himself with his title and explained the situation. Having a noble doing the talking made it easier for them to accept the story and they wrote down what Blaze said. Afterwards, Blaze discretely inquired if there might be some reward for ridding the town of three devils. The guards tell him to report to the Starosta’s [Mayor’s] office in the morning for that. Blaze thanked them and led the group off to the tavern.
Once at the tavern and with drinks, the group discussed the situation and speculated who might summon bearded devils. They had no real ideas but they all agreed that devils in town was a problem and maybe they should look into it more.
They then spent the rest of the evening discussing the play and drinking. Afterward they went to their various rented lodgings.
Day 2
Morning
An early riser, Donnis got up before the dawn and checked on his horses. He focused his ki to provide himself darkvision [part of the Shadow Arts gained by following the Way of Shadows]. He then took a short rest while eating some fruit for breakfast. [This restored the ki he had just spent.]
Elsewhere, Bjoern rolled out of his rented cot and made his way over to the bazaar. There he borrowed a crate and started running a game of 3-card-monte. The people shopping at the bazaar that early were more alert than Bjoern was and they noticed him cheating. He at first attempted to talk his way out of it, but talking is not his strong suite and he had to beat a hasty retreat. Once he lost his pursuers, he went to the drinking room at the inn Blaze was staying at and sipped their cheapest drink until the rest woke up.
End of session
Commentary
[This session was short due to technical difficulties getting everything set up in Roll20 taking up a lot of time to troubleshoot. I’ll try to explain what is going on when people activate their powers the first time and then merely reference them later. This fight was an introduction to the situation in town and a shakedown for our characters to get the players used to what they can do and how 5E works. As a first session goes, it went reasonably well.]
[Joe Trade's player realized after the fight that he had a ranged healing power that he could have used on the young dwarf. If he had done so, the third bearded devil would have only knocked the dwarf back down to negative hit points instead of permanently killing the dwarf. He now vows to never let that happen again.]
Hell Comes a’Glittering
Last session: None
Next session: Session 03
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