Online 5e Reboot Session 1 (1/11/15)

This is a reboot of our online Udders Well solo campaign. After retiring Six-Shite, we decided to dive into 5th edition with a fresh 1st level character and test drive the new rules. Though this storyline does exist in the same setting and time as the main Udders Well tabletop campaign, and also contains a lot of the same personalities, the characters from each won't be able to interact directly until I have upgraded everything later in 2015. If Ryan shows up for tabletop games in the meantime he will use an NPC and be credited attendance/XP sessions for this solo run.

Here is the link to the transcript for session #1. We're now using the Roll20 web browser gaming interface, so I've cut and pasted this to a Word .doc for the time being.

Udders Well Renown Tracker (5e)

Arkana Arkiva

1 Pupil
3 Aide
10 Graduate
25 Instructor
50 Chancellor
75 Dean

Church of Eleste

1 Acolyte
3 Chaplain
10 Lector
25 Bishop
50 Prelate
75 Archbishop

Circle of Crake

1 Aspirant
3 Ovate
10 Fielder
25 Warden
50 Archdruid
75 Great Druid

Fifth Eidolorn

1 Private
3 Lieutenant (Sergeant)
10 Captain
25 Major
50 Commander
75 General (Admiral)

Fourth Eidolorn

1 Private
3 Lieutenant (Sergeant) Baro
10 Captain
25 Major
50 Commander
75 General (Admiral)
 
Gnarlbottom Clan

1 Arbiter
3 Smith
10 Patron
25 Noble
50 Lord

Hosspotch Family

1 Associate
3 Soldier
10 Made Man (Woman)
25 Underboss
50 Boss
75 Grandfather (Grandmother)

Imperial Recognition

1 Friend of the Realm
3 Partisan of the Realm
10 Hero of the Realm Baro, Gruulsh
25 Champion of the Realm
50 Knight of the Realm

Last Eidolorn

1 Private
3 Lieutenant (Sergeant) Baro, Gruulsh
10 Captain
25 Major
50 Commander
75 General (Admiral)

Reddenbalm Clan

1 Rube
3 Soldier
10 Patron
25 Elder
50 Patriarch (Matriarch)

Roodeye Clan

1 Rube Ivellio
3 Soldier
10 Patron
25 Elder
50 Patriarch (Matriarch)

Wizards Elite

1 9th Circle
3 8th Circle
10 7th Circle
20 6th Circle
30 5th Circle Baro
40 4th Circle
50 3rd Circle
60 2nd Circle
75 1st Circle

Session 67 (12/12/14)

*Squatter's Rights (To Die)*

Ivric, Verget the 15th, 838 ID

The PCs are beset upon by a number of spiders of various sizes, all equal or greater to a man, and they seem to reflect a steely tint from the lava below their strangely thick, rubbery webs. Though the creatures seem to be resistant to numerous forms of attack, they are quite easily dispatched by magic from Baro and arrows from Badger, to the point that the melee fighters barely got to engage any of them. Gruulsh explores a ledge near the webs to find a few old boxes, one of which is still locked and contains some loot and an interesting script. As the heroes pick their way across the rest of the great web to a new area, they notice a gargantuan spider beneath, rolling in the roiling magma, possibly a more mature end-stage to the vermin they just destroyed... 

They end up in an egg-chamber, loaded with 100s of the spider-things in their embryonic state. Some are destroyed, but they notice that there are tools lying about, a sign that other humanoids had come along and removed some of the things. A nearby tunnel has a strange ribbed appearance, and as they travel to the end of it, they find the corpse of a dwarf who must have escaped one of the miners' many struggles above (or below). Wendel suspects the tunnel itself might be the maw of some great beast, so they are hasty to pass through. Pressing on, they find a number of strange stone statues which seem a little too realistic for comfort, in a large cave where there is also a pool of strange gray sludge. Neighboring caverns contain a number of additional statues...humans, dwarves, troglodytes, and larger creatures. They decide to avoid the larger concentration of the things and enter a chamber marred by steaming magma fissures which must be connected in the deeps to the lava pool beneath that massive spider's web. They carefully wind their way through to avoid being scalded.

In the next area, a rocky cavern with uneven ceilings, they run across a trio of other 'explorers', unusual squatting giants which have the ability to 'unfurl' and grow more powerful wherever the ceiling is high enough. A gruesome conflict erupts, and though the PCs are eventually able to bring down the violent beasts, Gruulsh is battered to death...and upon her death, the damnedest thing happens...her womb splits open and a dwarven babe spills forth. Baro recalls the strange 'pricking' incident from the Sunken Forge, when they were exploring the shrine of Sharindlar, and puts two together...believing that the same gender-swapping magical trap must have simultaneously impregnated Gruulsh with what might be the avatar of the newly-rediscovered dwarven goddess!

Ivric, Verget the 15th, 838 ID

Thankfully, Solveig is skilled enough in her natural magic to reincarnate the bugbear, only into a new form...that of a halfling, the next day. Gruulsh must adjust to her new form...which is wildly different than the previous.

PCs: Badger, Ballyhoo, Baro, Gruulsh, Solveig, Wendel

Session 66 (11/7/14)

Ivric, Verget the 15th, 838 ID

After their nasty run-in with the umber hulk, the PCs have now healed and rested to regain their spells, before setting off further into the Crowslode. They find another cavern area which is was a last stand site for a group of dwarven and human miners. Within is a slightly preserved journal kept by one of the prospectors, Slott Squatbottom, which has a few entries intact. He has named this top region of the caverns the 'Hazard Shafts'. Apparently the explorers and miners had discovered a number of antagonistic races within the depths. Deep gnomes have rigged specific areas with some truly deadly traps, while bands of troglodytes have been harassing and killing them, recently massing to repel the decades old expedition. Slott himself appears to have died from the infection of wounds sustained in such a battle. And it looks like a lot more of the old remains in the cavern belong to the dwarves than trogs. The PCs decide to press further, finding a pit to the next lower level, which is unfortunately guarded by a stone golem that activates once they try to use it. Although the construct proves impervious to many forms of attack, and renders the melee fighters' attacks weaker, the group eventually manages to bring it down through teamwork, though Wendel hangs back for safety.

Once lowering themselves to the second level, they find a corridor oddly guarded on both ends by a low wall of placed stones...with a few shreds of cloth swirling around inside. They sense that there is strong illusion magic in the area, but Wendel can't figure out if it's trapped, so they decide to check out another cavern and discover several hidden caches of small-sized weapons, in mine carts that were tucked into alcoves in the wall. The PCs return to the strange corridor that bars their progress through the 2nd level, and dispel a chunk of the corridor, revealing a complex system of churning, completely silent spiked columns of death that will grind anyone up moving through the area. Wendel can't disarm it, so they decide to send Gruulsh through in gaseous form just to scout out the other area, where they get a peak at the next room. She returns and becomes corporeal again, and they attempt a number of other bypasses like using one of the mining carts to jam some of the columns, but it fails because the cart is too big. They decide to return to the first level to see if there is anything they might have missed...rather than send someone to an almost certain death.

The only place above they hadn't examined further was the chamber mostly submerged in water, so Gruulsh and Wendel head out to the little island and examine the small hooded skeleton. They find an everburning torch inside the lantern, a silver fishing rod and a gorgeous goblet, and bring over Baro to examine their magical radiations. When he raises the fishing rod, the skeleton also raises, and begins to follow the evoker. He also notes that divination radiates from the lantern, and conjuration and necromancy from the goblet. After further exploration of this cavern, including some diving, the PCs return to the second level, where they keep banging up against the obstacle of the trap corridor, until finally Mistlethroe identifies the lantern to possess proprietary detection and negation properties, which not only give a full reveal of the 60' hallway of grinding columns, but they also neutralize it. The party squeezes through, while Baro goes last, backwards, making sure the lantern is keeping the trap from restarting. Once through, the columns begin to spin, silently, eternally, again...

In the next chamber that had been scouted, there is a massive six-armed statue to a troglodyte god with emeralds in its headdress. The deity is so obscure or ancient that even a well reasoned Religion knowledge check can't place it. There are offering bowls surrounding the thing, some filled with the charred remains of reptilian humanoid offspring. Badger decides to remove some of the emeralds while standing on Gruulsh's shoulder, and he picks out too, but is cursed after each. Luckily for him, Ballyhoo has an ability to counteract the effects of said curses. They decide to leave the rest of the emeralds be, and then head south into the next area. a larger cavern full of rubbery, steel-colored webbing that also serves as the floor...deep below there is a red, bubbling glow of what is most likely magma. Ballyhoo uses his tongues spell to shake the webs and hopefully communicate something to whatever has made the webs, but the only response he gets is an overwhelming emotion of...

'HUNGER'.

PCs: Badger, Ballyhoo, Baro, Gruulsh, Solveig

Online Session 65 (11/4/14)

Here is the link to the transcript for online session 65. We're now messing around with the Roll20 web browser gaming interface, so I've saved this one as a Word .doc for the time being.

Coincidentally, this is the final session involving Six-Shite, who we have retired since it made sense for the character and in favor of running a 5th edition solo game in the same campaign/setting. This new character will not be able to cross over with the normal Udders Well group until we've made the jump from 3.5e sometime later this year, but they will still run concurrent and can potentially affect each other in terms of events. The fate of Private Tharbalas has yet to be determined, though the Wintersbreath defector left him with as much shelter as possible while he heals from his wounds...

Online Session 64 (10/20/14)

Here is the link to the transcript for online session 64. We're now messing around with the Roll20 web browser gaming interface, so I've saved this one as a Word .doc for the time being.

Session 65 (10/17/14)

Essel, Verget the 13th, 838 ID

After unsuccessfully searching for hidden exits from the chamber where they discovered the illithid skull, the PCs decide to drag the copper-dowsed dwarf back to the entrance area and then proceed down the one tunnel they had yet to explore. They spied an unstable chamber covered with webs of cracks and nooks in it, and a damaged cart track. A single mine cart remained, and from this they saw glints of something shining...so Gruulsh and Wendel went into to get a closer look, while the rest of the party stayed near the entrance. It turns out there was a pressure plate trap, so rather than attempt to disable it, Wendel recommends the party stay clear of the cart and the coins stacked within, and press onward. They do so, but somehow their very presence manages to trigger an enormous 10' x 15' worked stone block falling in the entryway! Had Wendel removed the coins earlier...the rest of the party might have been completely crushed...

They pressed on to the next area, and found a ribbed looking, naturally eroded cavern where some water was dripping from the mountainside above. Four strange stalagmites were scattered through the place, and there were weird, spongy net-like surfaces on the ceiling which seem like they might have been left behind by the miners. Unfortunately, as they began to search the walls for anything less than obvious, they were attacked by deadly Strength-sapping strands, as the stalagmites turned out to be aberrations! Furthermore, the things on the ceiling joined the battle, lurkers above who would drop and then attempt to grapple the heroes, a dangerous proposition if they've had their Strength drained. It was a dodgy battle, with Ballyhoo, Mistlethroe and Wendel finding themselves in potential danger; inevitably the PCs proved victorious over the aberrations. They found some treasure in a shallow pit on the floor beneath where one of the creatures was prepping its ambush. It was also in this battle that Ballyhoo and Baro discovered their teleport-like spells did not seem to function in the Crowslode... perhaps this explains the abjuration the evoker detected near the entrance to the caverns.

They took the corridor running east, and found a place where rivulets of water running down the walls were beginning to pool, and a heap of humanoid bones and scales which they deduced might belong to troglodytes, since they are aware the Marrow Suckers and other tribes are reported to dwell beneath the Vernal Wall. Within the bones, they find a shale-encrusted, slowly pulsing egg which must have been hidden here by one of the stone ropers in the previous fight, and they claim the thing, deciding to press further along where the water was gathering. A larger cavern, with dank, opaque water at least 4-5' deep, full of bioluminous cavern fish, the surface slowly rippling and undulating. There is an islet in the center of the chamber with what a cloak-shrouded, small humanoid skeleton sitting alone near a lit lantern on a leaning pole. Badger fires an arrow at the figure to see if it moves, and then the party decides to search elsewhere and then return here later, once the mages discern there are numerous sources of magic on the islet...including necromancy.

They next come across a cantine of some sort that had been set up by the miners, who must have assumed their operation would be quite large and prosperous. A number of stone benches and tables hewn from the cavern floor itself are in the place, dubbed the 'Crows Nest' in dwarven on a small sign near the entrance. To the south of the area is a semi-circular bar-like structure. Stone bowls and crude utensils lie strewn about in webs and dust. The 'scout team' of Gruulsh and Wendel heads towards the bar, with the rogue searching all the while for any traps...there are no 'traps', it turns out, but a massive and terrifying umber hulk has taken up residence in a burrow at the middle of the bar, and it 'rises to the occasion', using its confusion ray on the two scouts! Shenanigans commence, but luckily Baro, Badger and Mistlethroe are on the job, raining down hostile magic upon the thing whilst Solveig turns its burrow into a thick mud with a transmutation. spell. It is hard to fell, but manages to only get one heavy attack off on Gruulsh who can take it, before Baro's disintegrate erases it from existence! A close call...if the beast had been able to take action again, it might have slain one or more of the confused characters.

They find it's treasure within the burrow, after digging through the mud, and set Monch to identify an item, which he does for the cloak of the mountebank, that is given to Wendel. The PCs heal and then decide to rest and regain some of their spent magic, before pressing further into the Crowslode.

PCs: Badger, Ballyhoo, Baro, Gruulsh, Solveig, Wendel