Tolamaker
Adventurer
Chapter 1 started here
Session 6
The party enters the Fire Forest, drinking their potions that at first are warm on their tongues, then cold in their stomachs. Traveling along the Elfroad, they each pick up on different oddities in the forest. Mishka, wanting to make sure they find the most straightforward path, journeys down the side roads, but soon discovers that they are not clear of fire like the Elfroad. Eluriah notes the way the fires burn, but don't consume the bark and leaves of the brush. Together, they surmise that some other force is protecting this road in particular. Orwin and Gruz keep an eye out for fire monsters and other refugees respectively, so Gruz is the first to notice three bodies on the road, one of which is half in the fires at the edge of the road. When he leans down to inspect it, the body leans up, and begs for him to kill it. Gruz asks for his name, and apologizes to Durval as he lops of his head. Unfortunately, the eyes blink awake, moaning in the horrible realization that he isn't dead.
Speaking with Durval, they reattach his head and learn that he and his companions attempted to pass through a few days earlier. He believed that his water magic would be enough, but he couldn't keep up protections, and they succumbed to the heat. He was attempting to make it to some burning houses he saw in the woods, but immediately caught flame. The party is unable to bring him out of his misery, so they leave him, kneeling in front of his companions' bodies.
Later, the group comes to a stone bridge crossing a gorge. The rocky area is free of fire, and they see a wagon with skeletons at the bottom. Artemis is sent down to investigate, and sees that the wagon had gold and potions, which Mishka retrieves. While down in the gorge, she sees flickering fiery bats hanging upside down under the bridge, and advises the party to travel quietly. Unfortunately, Gruz steps on a loose brick, that goes tumbling down, and the bats attack.
Gruz takes the brunt of the attacks, but Crystin suffers burns as well. Haddin roars in anger, and demands they heal her, which Orwin does. The battle takes time, because not only are the bats small and hard to hit, but they also regenerate after a while. Eluriah finds that stamping on them helps keep them dead. Eventually, the party defeats them, scavenging them for parts, and making their way across. In the distance, they see a village. Is it lost in the flames, or will they find some respite in this burning hellscape? We'll find out next week!
Post Session Thoughts
A fun session, but I felt like I made combat drag out too long. Definitely was affected by a lot of low rolls where nothing happened, but I still could have done something more interesting. Orwin is entirely fire focused, so Haddin got to yell at him for not being prepared. Orwin's player was quick to remind Haddin that all he was good for was invading people's minds. On the other hand, as a Tiefling he gets to resist all the fire damage coming his way, so it evens out. Artemis' fire immunity is turning out very useful in a fire forest as well.
The encounter with Durval was much darker than intended, but I liked it. I wasn't expecting them to actually put him out of his misery, so it was fun to have everyone have that "oh naughty word" moment at the same time when he opened his eyes. I'm also slightly glad that they weren't able to bring him along, partially to keep the NPC count low, but also because this party had a ton of luck when it came to raising the spirits of sunless Barovians last campaign. So its nice to know that some people can still succumb to trauma I suppose.
Changes to the Module
Not much. I cut the magma mephit encounter. I also simplified the bridge mechanics because I didn't want to roll twenty dice each turn in combat to see if they fell down. I simplified it to if they moved more than half speed, they knocked rubble loose. This would have been fine, but then I played the bats in a way where no one wanted to move anyway. If I were to change how I ran it, I would have had all the bats ambush them, and chase them off the bridge instead of a fight to the death. That way they'd want to run away and potentially risk falling. All in all, a good intro to the Fire Forest!
P.S. @Nod_Hero Fern is named Fern because Aripos' player thought that sounded like a nice naturey name for a Forest Gnome's pet. I finally remembered to ask.
Session 6
The party enters the Fire Forest, drinking their potions that at first are warm on their tongues, then cold in their stomachs. Traveling along the Elfroad, they each pick up on different oddities in the forest. Mishka, wanting to make sure they find the most straightforward path, journeys down the side roads, but soon discovers that they are not clear of fire like the Elfroad. Eluriah notes the way the fires burn, but don't consume the bark and leaves of the brush. Together, they surmise that some other force is protecting this road in particular. Orwin and Gruz keep an eye out for fire monsters and other refugees respectively, so Gruz is the first to notice three bodies on the road, one of which is half in the fires at the edge of the road. When he leans down to inspect it, the body leans up, and begs for him to kill it. Gruz asks for his name, and apologizes to Durval as he lops of his head. Unfortunately, the eyes blink awake, moaning in the horrible realization that he isn't dead.
Speaking with Durval, they reattach his head and learn that he and his companions attempted to pass through a few days earlier. He believed that his water magic would be enough, but he couldn't keep up protections, and they succumbed to the heat. He was attempting to make it to some burning houses he saw in the woods, but immediately caught flame. The party is unable to bring him out of his misery, so they leave him, kneeling in front of his companions' bodies.
Later, the group comes to a stone bridge crossing a gorge. The rocky area is free of fire, and they see a wagon with skeletons at the bottom. Artemis is sent down to investigate, and sees that the wagon had gold and potions, which Mishka retrieves. While down in the gorge, she sees flickering fiery bats hanging upside down under the bridge, and advises the party to travel quietly. Unfortunately, Gruz steps on a loose brick, that goes tumbling down, and the bats attack.
Gruz takes the brunt of the attacks, but Crystin suffers burns as well. Haddin roars in anger, and demands they heal her, which Orwin does. The battle takes time, because not only are the bats small and hard to hit, but they also regenerate after a while. Eluriah finds that stamping on them helps keep them dead. Eventually, the party defeats them, scavenging them for parts, and making their way across. In the distance, they see a village. Is it lost in the flames, or will they find some respite in this burning hellscape? We'll find out next week!
Post Session Thoughts
A fun session, but I felt like I made combat drag out too long. Definitely was affected by a lot of low rolls where nothing happened, but I still could have done something more interesting. Orwin is entirely fire focused, so Haddin got to yell at him for not being prepared. Orwin's player was quick to remind Haddin that all he was good for was invading people's minds. On the other hand, as a Tiefling he gets to resist all the fire damage coming his way, so it evens out. Artemis' fire immunity is turning out very useful in a fire forest as well.
The encounter with Durval was much darker than intended, but I liked it. I wasn't expecting them to actually put him out of his misery, so it was fun to have everyone have that "oh naughty word" moment at the same time when he opened his eyes. I'm also slightly glad that they weren't able to bring him along, partially to keep the NPC count low, but also because this party had a ton of luck when it came to raising the spirits of sunless Barovians last campaign. So its nice to know that some people can still succumb to trauma I suppose.
Changes to the Module
Not much. I cut the magma mephit encounter. I also simplified the bridge mechanics because I didn't want to roll twenty dice each turn in combat to see if they fell down. I simplified it to if they moved more than half speed, they knocked rubble loose. This would have been fine, but then I played the bats in a way where no one wanted to move anyway. If I were to change how I ran it, I would have had all the bats ambush them, and chase them off the bridge instead of a fight to the death. That way they'd want to run away and potentially risk falling. All in all, a good intro to the Fire Forest!
P.S. @Nod_Hero Fern is named Fern because Aripos' player thought that sounded like a nice naturey name for a Forest Gnome's pet. I finally remembered to ask.
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