sacred stone monastery

D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 10 Recap

The party finished clearing out the Sacred Stone Monastery using might, magic, and a little trickery.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

A live DM can enhance a dungeon-crawling experience above a typical video game offering. The obvious example is a dungeon as a living ecosystem rather than a static area, waiting for the players to stumble into room-by-room.

In this week’s session our party cleaved a bloody path through the remainder of the Sacred Stone Monastery. They traveled West past the original entrance and worked a large circle through the kitchens, shrine, and courtyard in the North.

Last week they were quite proficient at stealthily ambushing the monks. This time when a wandering monk rounded a corner, Kalinaar charged him heedlessly, right in front of the barracks. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 10 Recap”

D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 9 Recap

Returning to the ground floor of the Sacred Stone Monastery our heroes meet a friendly lich, hordes of monk cultists, and the Abbess of Stone herself.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

The unexpected can make for some supremely fun and memorable moments in tabletop role-playing. It’s a two-way street. Players often do things that will take me completely by surprise, and part of the DM’s skillbook is how to react to that. Sometimes though, I can throw a fun monkey wrench at my players and watch events unfold exactly as planned – like Renwick the friendly lich.

This week my players had finished mopping up the Sacred Stone Monastery basement, and were intrigued about a well guarded door in the crypt. Having fought the zombie guards and survived the Cloudkill glyph, they prepared for a tough battle. They opened the door and were surprised to find stairs that lead back up to the monastery.

Inside was a lich. Renwick is a few centuries old and has a neat backstory involving the creation of the paladin order that Kalinaar once ascribed too – the Knights of Samular. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 9 Recap”

D&D 5E – “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 8 Recap

The party explores the mines beneath the Sacred Stone Monastery, freeing prisoners, battling guards, and tripping arcane traps.

Recorded every Sunday night, uploaded on Mondays. Subscribe for our weekly adventures!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

When my players are roaming around the world trying to figure out where to go and what to do, I’m a nervous wreck. With dungeon crawls, however, I’m in my element. D&D has a lot of dungeon crawls, and “Princes of the Apocalypse” is no exception.

Each dungeon features some unique hooks, denizens, and geography. In the Sacred Stone Monastery it’s the nifty Umber Hulk trap I sprung last week. This week’s session was a bit less exciting. But I enjoyed my players’ nervously shuffling through the dark winding mines having been weakened and drained from the last battle.

The mines aren’t a terribly safe place to rest but my players needed a breather. Thankfully D&D 5E has the Short Rest mechanic, which seems designed explicitly to allow some mid-dungeon breaks without completely leaving and setting up tents.

I had a patrolling orog (slightly tougher orc) wander by but the PCs chose not to engage. Not every enemy sighting has to lead straight to combat, and I like giving my players as many options as possible – even if they simply choose the straightforward path most of the time. Continue reading “D&D 5E – “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 8 Recap”

D&D 5E – “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 7 Recap

From the Feathergale Spire to the Sacred Stone Monastery, only to get dropped into a trap with an enraged Umber Hulk!

Watch our sessions live on my YouTube channel every Sunday night beginning at 9pm Central. Subscribe and catch up on previous episodes!

Previously on “Princes of the Apocalypse”

Sometimes your open world campaign may be a bit too open, or you sprinkled in a personal quest that was a bit too dire. Magical locked gates to the rescue!

I don’t feel great about it but it ultimately helped funnel my players into a much more agreeable path, especially after hinting how “Princes of the Apocalypse” is set up. Plus, I got to send them tumbling down a flight of stairs into a room with an enraged Umber Hulk. Fun stuff!

We picked up this week after the non-stop action at the Feathergale Spire that left most of its residents dead. The party swept through the rest of the now empty tower, seeing a few rooms on the ground floor for the first time.

Kalinaar made a dramatic show of releasing the last few hippogriffs in the stables, dumping oil all around and then lighting it all on fire with his dragon breath. A major structure like the spire won’t go down quickly but it did transform into a giant smoke stack as the flames did their work. Continue reading “D&D 5E – “Princes of the Apocalypse” Session 7 Recap”