Why yes, I would love to see more of your lovely home.....

As the party tra-la-la-la's through the basement of the ruined Tressendar Manor, they have pretty much been unchallenged by Redbrands although the physical obstacles themselves have provided much unanticipated rivalry.

Leaping back across the chasm at it's narrowest point (now they're thinking), they make their way down the stairs in the corridor immediately in front of them stopping at the bottom and listening to the door on their left.  On the previous map, its the passageway on the north west side of the chasm - and remember, up is north so the original orientation is changed.

NOTE:  Add some Shakespear to the story plot.....The Tempest....Caesar

What A Lovely Home You Have!

Let's get our bearings.  With the previous maps orientation, the party is on the south side of the crevasse and see a light ahead (to the east/right) so they make their way into the storage area.  Not much here, nothing of real value but they did make a check for a secret door (only found the one on the south wall) to their surprise!

Once inside the narrow hallway, they had a door right in front of them and one down the hall to the right.  The one in front of them was locked and they couldn't get in it so they went down the hall to the other door.  It's unlocked so they listed carefully and hear.....nothing.

Opening the door, they ease into what appears to be a vault with 3 crypts that are cracked and aged.  There are lifeless skeletons on the ground beside 2 of the vaults.  Ever so cautiously, they ease on through the room until the bones begin to rattle and gather themselves - skeletons alive!  Roll Initiative!

It was a good quick skirmish with, once again, the dwarf defeating the skeletons almost single-handedly however, the two guards in the next room were alerted to their presence and set up an ambush.  Surprise!  The party is rolling good!  Killing one guard in the first foray and the second guard, heavily wounded, surrenders.

Pushed back into the makeshift prison area, they lock the injured guard in a cell and free a mother and her 2 children.  The mother thanks them profusely and says she has no reward to offer them but her family used to run a business in Thundertree and if they find their way to those ruins, she tells them of a secret location where an emerald was stashed away by her father.  The party makes note of this for later.

Rummaging through the tattered clothing and old belongings against the wall, Fallon finds an interesting medallion on a necklace and recalls this as belonging to his Uncle Sawyer......but why would that be here??

Back to the vault room to rummage and loot the vaults, the party finds some healing potions and jewelry.  Afterward, they head toward the double doors to the south west, listening again and hearing nothing, they enter the hallway only to have Fallon fall into the pit!!  Ouch, that had to hurt!

The Ranger, quick with a solution and some rope, helps him out and he (all red faced) thanks her for it (I think they like each other).  Easing their way along the ledge to get around the pit, they eventually make their way to the arched entryway at the end of the corridor on the west wall.

Emerging into the somewhat "H" shaped 20' x 35' room, the party immediately notice the shimmering cistern of water along the north wall that is fed by old drain pipes from the ruined mansion above.  The water is not transparent and the party rolls poorly on perception to notice the satchel in the water.  The root around and make enough noise to alert the three Redbrands in the room behind the door that is located in the north east corner.  As the Bard approaches the door, it swings open suddenly as the Redbrands leap out to attack!  Roll Initiative!

Another quick skirmish - the party is rolling good tonight!  They dispatch the Redbrands, all but one, and leave him wounded locked in the store room.  PS - they are forgetting the repercussions of leaving wounded enemies behind.

Eventually they find the secret door in the north west corner - plus finding out the second come-and-go way is the stairs that lead to the cellar door outside the mansion.

Well, they are back in the cavern where the nothic was!  Where to go from here???

Redbrands!

Like an old west showdown in the dusty streets of Phandalin, our heroes stand toe-to-toe (metaphorically) with the Redbrands outside of the Miners Exchangs - the ruffians seemingly have their flanks covered.

 

"Drop your weapons or we'll have to kill you"! shouts one of the Redbrands, then he spits in their direction.

As Brocc begins to engage the ruffian with a self-preservation type conversation, Bruenor takes offense and charges the brute yelling in Dwarvish "you'll taste steel for that!".........ROLL INITIATIVE!

The party actually does a good job here and works the game mechanics showing me they are improving their skill set.  They do indeed dispatch all of the Redbrands except for one who after being wounded, took off down the road toward the Sleeping Giant seeking reinforcements.  If I am not mistaken (bad notes, worse memory) Fallon threw a dagger and brought the ruffian to a crawl before he could get to the Sleeping Giant.  Through some quick interrogation, they found out about how many members the Redbrands have but not much else.  They dispatch the last one and solicit help from Halia at the Lionshield Coster and she is happy to help dispose of the trash - stating they will all receive payment for the emblems on each thug.

The party though victorious was not without injury so they decided to rest back at the Inn and worked out some good logic as to the Redbrands and where their hideout may be.  They decide to sneak out at night and try to find the tunnel in the woods south of Tresendar Manor that Carp had told them about.  On a really good roll, they find the secret tunnel.....

Heading into the tunnel, they enter a cavern that has stalagmites here and there and see a crevasse down the length of it with two wooden bridges crossing it at each end as seen in the center of the map (entrance tunnel just left of that).  I printed out the map and glued it to foam-board then cut it strategically where the yellow lines are in a "fog of war" type of map approach.  

They enter quietly and look around seeing very faint light from the far end and a glow from the bottom of the crevasse.  The Ranger Brynwyyn - being played by Fallon's mom who has never ever played before but was showing interest and we needed a sub - spots movement across the crevasse and a few of the party members hear a voice in their head shrieking "food!".  She fires her bow at the creature......ROLL INITIATIVE!

This was a fun little encounter seeing that the Nothic could play mind games from across the gap in the floor and soon had struck damage with his gaze on one of the party members.  Did I mention that the substitute player who started the combat round left the room..?

If I recall, Bruenor attempted to cross the wooden ladder which was trapped and he fell into the chasm - both good and bad!  He saw something interesting down there but couldn't engage in combat with the group.  Someone got smart and made an athletics roll to jump over the crevasse and succeeded but then someone else didn't succeed....

So they dispatched the Nothic but took more damage, they discovered the chest and the partially eaten body at the bottom of the crevasse and found some healing potions.  Go Team!

Oddly enough, the crevasse provided the most trouble for the party in this room.  It took quite a while to figure out how to cross the divide but they figured out the mechanics of it eventually and probably learned a valuable RPG lesson in overcoming obstacles.

Now lets see, what was that next obstacle?  Oh yeah, what's that light ahead..........?

Request for Feedback

Okay team, if you read this blog, I need some feedback from you:

1.  what is the name of your adventuring party?
2.  what "type" of adventure do you think you would enjoy next?

DM Dave

So, This Is Phandalin

Party on!

The group, beaten and bruised and back from the (almost) dead, gathered themselves the best they could and made their way to Phandalin.  I failed to mention that previously, they tied their oxen to a tree but l was a good DM and let the cart still be there when they came out of the cave. 

So the group gets to Phandalin with Sildar who immediately heads for the constable to see what's going on and gather as much information as he can.  The rest of the party decide to stop in at Barthen's Provisions seeing as that is where Gundren gave orders for them to delivery his stuff to.  They chat it up with Barthen who is genuinely sad to hear about their mishap and the suspicion that something bad has happened to Gundren.  He makes sure to point out the Redbrands and their harassment of the townsfolk here in Phandalin and they can usually be found at the Sleeping Giant tap house. 

From there, they make their way down the road a building or two and see the Shrine of Luck on their right hand side.  Seeing as how they are in much need of healing, they say "hey!" and stop in for a visit.  They meet Sister Gareale there who herself seems to be recovering from some mishap - almost looks like she's been in a fight with someone.  She explains that she is too weak to heal them today but does make small talk - enough to lead into a proposal for the party.  She needs to know the status of a certain magical spell book and on her travels to see Agatha in Conyberry to inquire about the book, she almost had a run in with some orcs but managed to evade them but then got lost in the woods eventually finding her way out but worse for wear.  She offers them some healing potions if they would do this favor for her.....(well, there's a hook!).

Continuing through the town to The Stonehill Inn for some much needed food and rest was the next most logical thing to do seeing as they received no healing from Sister. Farron decides to be the entertainment for the evening with a round of songs and dance which gets him a free meal and lodging for the night.  The party (sure be glad when they name themselves) order food and drink and talk with patrons eventually receiving the full gambit of rumors as detailed in the adventure book.  

• Sister Gareale recently returned from a short trip all wounded and exhausted
• Duran the orchard keeper is a former adventurer
• The east end of Triboar has seen some Orc raids
• A local gang murdered Thel Dendrar and now his wife and kids are missing
• Mr. Alderleaf's son found a tunnel in the woods and was almost caught by the local gang
• The local gang, the Redbrands, harass everyone except Halia at the Miners Exchange

The next morning (19th day of Kythorn) the party talks to the barkeep at breakfast and finds out where some local establishments are in order to pursue some of the rumors.  Fortunately, Carp Alderleaf was making a morning delivery to the Inn and engaged the party with conversation.  Here the party learns of a tunnel that Carp found while playing in the woods just south of the old Tresendar Manor.  He probably shouldn't have been there as he was almost caught by those Redbrands coming out of the tunnel!  He was really scared and could probably get the party close to the tunnel if they needed his help.

They depart the Inn and occasionally notice here and there some men with red patches on their sleeves that give the party glaring stares and and they soon come to realize these are the Redbrand gang members. Coming to the center courtyard adjacent to the Shrine of Luck, they hang a left and head to the Lionshield Coster which as they recall was the name on some of the loot they found in the caves.  They meet the owner, a lovely middle-aged woman named Linene Greywind who cordially addresses them but once she finds out their story and that she may get her merchandise back, she quickly offers them 100 gold if they can return her stuff within 2 weeks. She also proceeds to bash the Redbrands whom she thought was behind the raids on her companies caravans and offers the party (geesh! get a name already!) 10 gold for each Redbrand patch they can bring to her and she doesn't care how they get them either!  The party is in agreement, though they know very, very little about the Redbrands and strike a bargain with Linene.  She has offered to be their "book keeper" of sorts negotiating an impromptu deal to mind their gold in exchange for goods and services for the betterment of Phandalin.....(well, there's another hook!).

Seeing the  Miner's Exchange just down the road and playing on the rumors that the Redbrands never harass that business, they decide on behalf of their new business partner, to pay a visit and see what may be taking place.  They enter the Miner's Exchange and take notice of the proprietor Halia Thornton, a middle-aged human with spectacles on the tip of her nose, grey streaked hair haphazardly pulled back into a bunch allowing her full round cheeked face to show her youthfulness.  The facility seems to hold many records of small claims in the nearby mountains or stream-side panning operations - not that Phandalin has any level of gold rush going on.  They have a somewhat tense exchange as the party presses for answers regarding her perceived relationship with the Redbrands up to the point that she asks them politely to leave if they have need of her services.

Once outside, they see several Redbrands have taken positions on the porches of the fronts of buildings and businesses.  Three of the Redbrands are standing in the street and one of them shouts "throw down your weapons or you might get killed!" and spits in their direction.

This might not work out well for them......(a name would be nice!)

DM Dave

Phandalin or Bust - Part 2

So, as the DM for this new (and I mean new) group of gamers, I admit that I have fudged some of my monster attack and damage rolls for the sake of fun and interaction.  This is not uncommon at low levels since after all a hobgoblin could easily kill a gnome sorcerer.....twice.

Let me clarify Brocc's situation:  he was killed but as DM, I knew the momentum of the game would be dissolved with the death of a character so instead, I opted for his unconscious body to be kept "barely alive" while the player used Sildar as his character - who had no armor and very few hit points.  

Yemeek advised the party to where Klarg could be found and the best way to surprise him.  Well, they screwed that up pretty good by being loud and clanky.  Two goblins were waiting for them behind the stalagmites in the pool area where half of the pool had previously been released when the party got partly washed away, before the gnome got killed.

The party was whacked pretty good by just 2 goblins, but surprise generally does that and being the conscientious DM that I am, I made sure no one died.......except the goblins.

The party, now assuming they had the upper hand, snuck into Klarg's quarters in an attempt to hide and surprise him unknown that the third goblin from the pool area had already warned Klarg so the hobgoblin chief was prepared.

What a battle - Klarg, his wolf and 3 goblins were all at 1/2 cover so they were damn hard to hit.  The wolf was taken out by the Ranger, Brynwyyn, with much remorse.  Klarg presented himself in the open once his wolf went down and with the other 3 goblins quartering to take advantage, well, let's say the dice rolls were on the side of the party and yes, again I fudged some rolls to prevent a TPK - for the sake of the future.  Everyone got really low on hp except the dwarf, Bruenor, who is hard to hit with his 19 AC.  I've also subbed out some treasure for a few 2d4+2 healing potions.

This wasn't even the big ending!  They had to get back to Yemeek with evidence that Klarg was dead so their end of the bargain was complete - except Yemeek is a double crossing no good hobgoblin!  Hehe.....

Now the team gets into role play more than just being murder hobos because they are basically whipped.  With Yemeek holding Brocc's life in his hands, the party negotiates enough to get Yemeek distracted so Bruenor can lay in to the goblins and Brynwyyn can get a shot off at Yemeek - with a really good roll she hits him, thus turning the tide of the skirmish.

Long story short, the party survives and gets some loot but the best part - they all want to know when we can play again and start looking at the upcoming calendar.  

It's great being the DM!

- DM Dave

Phandalin or Bust - Part 1

The party had the long weekend to rest, recover and well, go nowhere seeing as they were on house arrest for their little "adventure" in helping Tipper get his money back.

The reward was confiscated by T'jer and sent to the characters families along with a note explaining that he was taking care of them and they were "learning a lesson".

The party seems to have an adventuring itch and the eagerness to expand their horizon outside of the Neverwinter region so T'jer has coordinated a provisions escort for Gundren Rockseeker where the party simply has to deliver the last wagon, with all of it's goods intact, to Gundren in Phandalin - shouldn't take more than a week.

Headed down the road, the party had to make basic decisions on who rode where and who looked for what, etc.  It was good role playing time.  Once they rounded to corner and saw the dead horses, they were all in. 

DM advice - with a new group, be very descriptive in the surrounding using visual, auditory, sensory queues to really set the stage.  The group will be overwhelmed with quick combat and stats thrown at them so take it easy even if the first few kills are easy.  The people need time to adapt to the game style. 

So, funny thing happened, once they skirmished with the arrow shooting goblins, the pit and rope trap, the team emerged from the forest so I had Breunor Jr make a perception roll to see if he could see the cave entrance and he rolled a "1".  I said "you look up and point straight ahead and shout 'mountain'!".  They just rolled!!

The party found the entrance, role played nicely for noobs, simultaneously attacking the goblins that were supposed to "ambush" them, dispatched them nicely and then stealthily entered the cave.

I created puzzle-like maps for this adventure segment (sorry it's upside down):

They stealthily entered the cave - Breunor, Brynwyyn, Fallon and Brocc, in that order.  Breunor was agressive and attacked the wolves.  He's beefy (AC 19) so the party hung back and let him do his thing.  Once dispatched, they headed deeper into the cave and were spotted by the guard on the bridge.  The goblins triggered the water trap washing the heroes back to the entrance except for the Brynwyyn who quickly plugged the goblin with some arrows.

They gathered themselves and continued into the cave, this time turning left and running into some goblins by surprise!  This melee round resulted in Brocc being killed (unconscious) and heavy negotiating by the party.  Some ad-hoc by the DM resulted in the second-in-command hobgoblin agreeing to let Sildar go with the party while he watched over Brocc - ensuring he would not let the halfling die.

The agreement - the party had to kill off the leader Klarg thus putting Yeemik in charge of the looting operation........what could go wrong?