Tag: fifth edition

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 54 Recap

We meet Countess Sansuri of the Cloud Giants and attempt to bargain for the magical shell.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

The 30-ft tall queen of the cloud giants strode into the room, carrying all the haughty annoyance that I had expected. She stopped, her mouth practically hanging open as she surveyed us standing there, our hippogriffs nervously pawing at the ground behind us. 

I took a deep breath and bowed deeply with all the respectful flourish I could muster.

“Your majesty,” I began. My mind was spinning. We were conch inspectors – no – we were hunting that foul group who just made off with her dragon. And stole all the treasure from her study! Those rascals. We’d catch them for sure. 

But we still needed that shell, and only she could summon it. Behind us Cressaro spoke up in a monotone that made me smile: “It is of the utmost importance that we retrieve the shell.” He was still under my influence.

I then offered to give her what she wanted – the location of some ancient dragon magic. The Countess began to slowly lower her guard. 

I was on a roll as she retrieved the magical chest, spoke the words, and brought forth the shell. “Tell it to me now,” she demanded, while holding the shell.

Before I could speak I felt my spell dissipate from Cressaro, its command full-filled. I instantly reached out with my mind to warn the others around me, starting with nearby T.I.M. <GRAB THE SHELL> I screamed into his mind.

Somehow the enlarged construct gracefully leapt forward and gingerly snatched the shell from her hand. Then the room exploded.

Storm King’s Thunder has been mostly bereft of large-scale dungeons, making it almost the complete opposite of our previous campaign. It’s ironic that when we finally reach a big dungeon, we skip almost all of the content.

Yet Lyn Armaal still took us a solid four sessions to get through, thanks to complex planning and strategy. We turned it into a heist mission, a rescue mission, and finally some hilarious diplomacy as we meet with Countess Sansuri, acquire the magical conch shell of teleportation, and get the hell out of dodge. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 54 Recap”

DMs Guild Review: The Theocracy

Infiltrate a militant temple of Tyr to recover a magical artifact in this heist adventure for 11-16th level.

A review copy of The Theocracy was provided for the purposes of this review.

Designed by: JVC Parry

dms guild reviewJVC Parry is one of my favorite creators on the DMs Guild. He’s produced many quality one-shot adventures with neat ideas and well-designed miniature dungeon crawls.

“The Theocracy” is Parry’s latest adventure, and while the actual title is hopelessly generic, it offers a substantially deeper, higher level dungeon crawl with a unique, richly detailed theme.

The twist is that the “dungeon” is actually a Temple of Tyr (the Forgotten Realms’ militant God of Justice), and the PCs are tasked with retrieving an important magical item – hopefully without declaring war on a bunch of paladins, priests, and a gods damn angel. Continue reading “DMs Guild Review: The Theocracy”

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 53 Recap

With the help of some stealthy subterfuge and a little well-applied drug use we rescue Felgolos the bronze dragon from the Cloud Giants.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

We heard the giantess’ voice ring out from somewhere beneath us. It was clearly magical, drawing every damn guard from the castle to her location. It meant our friends were in trouble.

We raced upstairs and hopped onto our hippogriffs. Korinn and I flew through the open hatch in the ceiling as I looked at back at T.I.M., whose magically enlarged body was attempting to grab onto a pair of unhappy hippogriffs at the same time.

We flew down to the lower courtyard of the cloud giant castle, which held a greenhouse and an elaborate, giant-size checkerboard with armored pieces. The giant in the garden was racing back inside the castle to heed the summons. 

Moments later we saw Halfred and Bryseis, riding a top a shrunken Felgolos, speeding through the air toward us. Behind them a horde of griffins raced after them. 

I predicted last session that this week’s castle exploration shenanigans would be fun and I’ll be damned if this wasn’t one of our craziest sessions ever!

Stealthily getting high with a manacled dragon, escaping the clutches of a giant queen, dominating the mind of another giant, and an aerial spell-slinging dogfight with a pack of griffins. It was so much fun that when our DM called break time, we had to inform him that no, it was in fact time for our session to end! Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 53 Recap”

DMs Guild Review: Monstrous Uprising

A review copy of Monstrous Uprising was provided for the purposes of this review.

Designed by: Alex Billiedeaux

dms guildThe Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition campaign The Rise of Tiamat briefly mentions several adventure hooks that DMs can employ that showcase the chaos and unrest from the machinations of the Cult of the Dragon. One of these hooks is a half-red dragon and his band of kobolds and lizardfolk, which the DMs Guild adventure “Monstrous Uprising” expands into a 10-page mini adventure.

“Monstrous Uprising: A Sidequest” is a designed as a 4-6 hour adventure for 7th-8th level heroes. It’s stated as a single-session adventure, but my own sessions rarely go over three hours, and there are multiple battles to be found here, including a mini-dungeon crawl.

While it’s designed to slot into The Rise of Tiamat, DMs could easily employ these villains in any adventure. Given that the Tyranny of Dragons campaign is nearly four years old, I suspect that will most likely be the case. Unfortunately there are several major issues that hold it back. Continue reading “DMs Guild Review: Monstrous Uprising”

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 52 Recap

We defeat the invisible guardians of the tower and infiltrate the Cloud Giant Queen’s bedchambers.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

The battle with the invisible guardians was irksome, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Our rewards were plentiful; we’d practically stumbled upon the treasure cache of the entire castle, or at least its Queen’s. But the real treasure we were after lie at the top of the tower.

The Queen’s bedchamber was breathtaking in its opulence. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the massive bed. Its wooden frame was ingrained with gold and covered in gemstones. Above it a group of stuffed pegasus circled, propelled by a magical wind.

We stared for a moment, then got to work searching the room. Our only clue was a ‘secret chest’ that the oracle had spoken of, but we were coming up empty-handed.

After some more unsuccessful searches, Korinn pointed to the headboard while holding her Wand of Detect Magic. We found a small button, which revealed a hidden compartment. Inside was the chest.

We opened it, and it was empty.

Over two weeks later and we’re finally back to our weekly D&D adventures! This week was a Sunday make-up session. We’ll resume our regular schedule this Friday.

We picked back up in our careful exploration of the Cloud Giant Castle of Lyn Armaal.  We’ve managed a stealthy infiltration thus far, heading to the tallest spire as per the Oracle’s cryptic instructions. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 52 Recap”

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 51 Recap

We reach level 10 and successfully infiltrate the flying Cloud Giant castle of Lyn Armaal.

Streamed, recorded and uploaded every week. Subscribe for our weekly adventures. Join us live on Fridays at 7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern!

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to multiple scheduling conflicts over the next two weeks, our next D&D session will stream on Sunday, May 6.

Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

It took both our sorcerers deploying their Mage Hands to turn the latch and pull open the massive giant-size wooden door as the cold winds buffeted our faces.

As the doors slowly opened we caught movement on the ramparts. The arrakocra statues had sprung to life, turning toward us as if controlled by one mind.

We saw their mouths begin to open in unison and we quickly lurched into action. Halfred fired off a bola-shot from his new bow, completely destroying the nearest statue when the ropes attempted to wrap around it. I charged my hippogriff at a third, blasting it apart with a pair of telekinetic strikes. Bryseis launched a Magic Missile, shattering another.

The statues held spears but they were more interested in squawking then attacking. Just as the last two were about to screech out a warning to the whole castle, Korinn held up her hands as lighting crackled between them. She muttered a phrase as the electrified orb became two orbs, and set them flying at them both, destroying them in a static cloud.

The area lay still again. For now we remained undetected, hundreds of feet in the air atop a flying castle full of giants.

After the action-packed dungeon-clearing session last week we settled in for a more expository and logistical session this week. We also officially leveled up to 10! Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 51 Recap”

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 49 Recap

We make a deal in Waterdeep, get a new quest in Everlund, and assault a pirate base on an island.

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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

We had a brief respite in Waterdeep after the battle at Goldenfields. I was planning on resting for much of the day, but curiosity got the better of me when I noticed Korinn and Bryseis slinking out the tavern door, giggling and whispering.

I followed them to the North Ward, my curiosity turning to nervous dread as Bryseis applied a disguise to Korinn, transforming our blue dragonborn white. When Korinn subtlety cast her Creation spell, a diamond appeared in her hand, and I knew exactly what they were up to.

I glanced around nervously but Korinn deftly played the part of the bubbly noblewoman, going so far as to drop the gem near the feet of her mark. To his credit the young man was unperturbed at the sight of a noble dragonborn. Korinn had picked her target well.

The two exchanged pleasantries, and Korinn laid her charm on thick. I caught myself nearly laughing out loud when she mentioned donating the gem to an orphanage.

The fool offered to buy it off her using all the money he had on him. Korinn tried to hide her anxiety as we both felt the clock ticking on her illusion spell. Bryseis waltzed up, her magical hood held up high, playing the part of her secretary or handmaiden. It was getting more difficult to stifle my laughter.

Astonishingly the man paid out hundreds of gold pieces right there in the middle of the street, and the women comically fast-walked out of there. Just as they turned the corner I could hear the young man began to shout, and I ran after them.

This week was more of a logistical episode as we finally returned to the main quest. Or what I thought was the main quest path, only to receive what looks like a very major side quest involving the Weevil, some pirates, and the K Society. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 49 Recap”