Herein lie the tales of the heroes Bob the Halfling rogue, Galadriel the Elf Wizard, Xander the Human archer, and Ulric the Dwarf cleric. We follow their adventures behind the thin veil of time and space (and a DM screen).
-First Session-
Our intrepid adventurers met in Neverwinter, to assist their longtime friend Gundren Rockseeker in escorting a wagon of goods to a town some two days away called Phandalin. Gundren’s excitement at the prospects of his impending journey was rather unusual, and he had hired on a guardian to travel ahead with him before the adventurers.
Their journey seemed rather dull and uneventful, until they came across a pair of dead horses. Once Bob set his mind to investigating, he was ambushed by a pair of Goblins who rushed him. Two more hidden Goblin archers joined the fray, firing upon the rest of the party. Xander's archery skills, and Galadriel's Magic Missiles, laid the archers low. But Bob was struck down by the savage little greenskins. Ulfgar barely had time to reach the little Rogue to save his life.
One Goblin attempted to escape the battle, but a well-placed arrow from Xander sent him tumbling lifelessly to the ground. Xander went to check out the fallen Goblin, and noticed a pathway leading from the horses. After resting for a short while (Bob still smarting from his injuries), the party agreed that Ulfgar would stay behind to guard the wagon while Xander, Bob, and Galadriel would follow the pathway.
The three set off, and Bob was soon left in a quandary. A snare whipped out and caught his ankle, pulling him into the air and leaving him dangling ten feet off the ground! Galadriel quickly cut him down from the trap, dumping him unceremoniously into Xander's waiting arms. The group steeled their resolve, swearing to become more wary of such snares and pitfalls.
Xander took the lead, his skills in woodcraft much stronger than those of the Halfling's. His sharp eye caught a cleverly disguised deadfall further down the trail. The group skirted around it, and made their way into a clearing with a rocky escarpment surrounded by tight, thorny brambles. From their place, they could see a cave in the side of the escarpment. Xander's tracking skills uncovered the trail of those who had passed this way before, and the cave had definitely been their destination as well as origin.
Bob decided to scout the area for the group. His deftness and small size lent well to such stealthy tasks, and he proved quite talented at uncovering the hidden Goblin guards in the brambles. He returned swiftly to his comrades, alerting them to the hidden danger of the guards. Galadriel advised Bob and Xander to approach with caution while she prepared to cast a spell.
The Goblins were caught up in a mystical drowsiness that left them falling to the ground in a dazed slumber. The party tied them up, and gagged them. They then prepared to enter the cave, with Bob leading the way. But they were unprepared for what they found. Chained wolves within the cave began to growl, bark, and howl at the interlopers.
Ulfgar had advised the group not to join in battle, as his healing talents were sorely stressed by saving Bob's bacon in their previous fight. Discretion being the better part of valor, the group dashed from the caves as one of the wolves broke free of its chains. Xander put it down with a well-placed arrow, and the group ran most of the way back to their wagon and Ulfgar.
The party decided to make haste to Phandalin rather than explore the caves further, their resources tasked and having no wish to take on even more Goblins that might be lurking within the caves. Their first stop was Barthen's Provisions, where they were to drop off the supplies carried for their friend Gundren Rockseeker.
They were greeted by the proprietor cheerily, and paid for their journey. But Barthen had no idea where Gundren might be as he had not shown up at the provisioner's shop. The party feared the worst might have happened, for the horses had looked somewhat familiar (although Bob was convinced that "If you've seen one horse, you've seen 'em all.")
The group parted ways, with Bob heading to his Aunt Rosie's house to visit, Xander heading to a merchant clearinghouse called Lionshield Coster, and Galadriel heading to Stonehill Inn to appropriate a room and some food. Ulfgar spent more time talking with Barthen.
Bob discovered that his Aunt would be unable to host his friends, as she'd been robbed by some men who belonged to a group called the Redbrands. Bob knew these men all too well, having been a member of the "mercenary" group based in Phandalin (although he'd never tell his Aunt he'd been one of them). He was rather upset at her brutal mugging, and vowed he'd have his revenge upon the Redbrands for their thuggery.
Xander stocked up on some more arrows, and heard rumor from the proprietor of Lionshield Coster about a shipment being subjected to rude brigandry. He offered the woman assistance in locating the stolen goods, and made his way towards Stonehill Inn.
Galadriel found peaceful relaxation. Until, that is, her companions began to converge upon Stonehill Inn. As Xander and Ulfgar took a seat and placed their order for food, Bob walked in. He was being followed by some rather rude men in red cloaks, making unseemly gestures at the Halfling and mocking him.
As they passed him up and headed towards the inkeeper to solicit his "fees" for the week, one said to Bob, "Once you're in the Redbrands, you can't leave."
While one of the ruffians demanded the innkeeper's daughter as payment for the "fees" the man was behind on, Bob was working himself into a rage. The demands of the ruffians from the innkeeper were too much for Galadriel as she sat quietly in her seat. As Xander approached the men to demand that they leave the innkeeper in peace and this needn't end in violence, Bob let out a howl.
"I'm Bob the Halfling, and you can't tell me what I can't do! And I never have a plan, but right now I'm going to carve you up"
As the Halfling rushed forward to pierce the side of one of the ruffians with his short sword, Galadriel calmly cast her sleep-magic again with a casual flick of her wrist to toss some rose petals in the air. With Xander in their sight, the ruffian leader decided that he was the "witch", and made to attack. Ulfgar then stood, shaking his head. He knew his healing would be needed, yet again.
Galadriel's magic left the innkeeper, his daughter, and one of the four ruffians sprawling and snoring. Xander pulled his greatsword free, as his bow would be of no use to him in such close quarters. The ruffians pulled out their own blades with red in their eyes.
The heroes struck down the Redbrands swiftly, bringing their days of terrorizing the townfolk of Phandalin to an end. Xander had taken a terrible wound to his shoulder, but Ulfgar worked his fingers into the young Human man's injury and healed it. The innkeeper was not so sure this fight had ended anything, though. He was certain the ruffians would be back eventually, and in force.
Although the Redbrands presented a problem in Phandalin, the group decided that they would rest until the morning and head out to the cave they had intended to explore earlier in the day. They were worried that Gundren might have been the victim of the Goblins' banditry, and were determined to find out what might have happened to their friend.
-End of First Session-
More tomorrow on Session Two, which has already transpired...
-Second Session-
Bob, Galadriel, Xander, and Ulric rise in the morning for breakfast. The master of Stonewell Inn offers them food, grateful for their defense of his family yet still worried about the Redbrands returning. Galadriel is also worried about the innkeeper and his family, so she casts Mage Armor on the man. Xander wants to work all the townspeople up to fight back against the Redbrands, and speaks to anyone in the inn who will listen about rising up against them. He gets some limited successes, as the people recognize him for the Folk Hero that he is, but no one's ready to do anything more than grumble and swear they will fight back just yet.
The group departs Phandalin, and arrives at the cave. Bob reprises his scouting role, and discovers that the Goblins have doubled their guard, and have the remaining wolf out with them in the hidden blind. He's so good at sneaking around that again his scouting goes unnoticed by the guards. With this many Goblins front and center, Galadriel again steps forward to use her magic to leave them slumbering. The wolf in the blind is the only thing that is unaffected by her magic.
It seems confused, having been released from the hold its masters have kept it in. When the party approaches, Xander offers it food in an attempt to befriend it (or at least to avoid it attacking them). His use of a non-threatening approach and the offer of food calms the beast, and the group passes it by while it eats to head into the dark of the cave. Only Ulfgar and Galadriel can see well within, so they rope Xander and Bob up to them in an effort not to give away their position as Ulfgar leads. Xander is not enthusiastic about Ulfgar's offer to hold his hand while leading him into the darkness.
Galadriel carries a torch readied to light if trouble arises. The group tries to sneak slowly and quietly around the cavern, the unseeing members with hands against the cave walls. Galadriel sees the bridge, and Ulfgar leads them under it. As the pass the other side of the bridge, a gong sounds out. A hidden sentry has alerted the whole of the caves to their presence!
Galadriel lights up the torch she is carrying just as the Goblin sentry's arrow pierces Xander's thigh. Xander and Bob fire their bows up at the sentry, standing upon the bridge and trying (and failing) to hide from their sight behind a pole. Although they can see him, the pole does give him some shielding against their arrows.Ulfgar throws his hand axe, cutting the beast's feet out from under it. Xander's next arrow pierces its skull, and leaves it falling from the other side of the bridge and down into the stream below that the party has been walking alongside.
The group moves swiftly, certain that their presence is known now. They hear a rushing noise, and see a huge flood of water headed their way! Fortunately, their mad dash for a stone stairway leads them out of harm's way (just barely), and they enter a chamber with a waterfall on the far end. They can see the three Goblins breaking dam walls in an attempt to send another flood downstream, and they move to flank the foul creatures. Two of the three are felled quickly, but the third evades Bob's blows and slips away from the Rogue to run away, in the direction of the waterfall. And the huge natural stone stairwell across from it.
The Goblin's screaming cries leave the party certain that there are even more of the creatures lying in wait. Their suspicions turn out to be true as two Goblins and a wolf come rushing down those stairs. Behind them stood the hugest, hairiest, ugliest Goblin any of them had ever seen. It roared out to them.
"You dare defy Klarg the Mighty?!?!"
It said something else to its comrades in their strange Goblin tongue, and then slipped into the shadows close to the natural stairwell surprisingly deftly for such a large creature. The wolf ran across the intervening distance, taking an arrow from both Bob and Xander as it did so. Ulfgar stepped up to meet it, smashing in its skull with his warhammer. The two Goblins moved closer to the archers, shooting their own bows. Xander took another arrow, and had to summon up his inner reserves of strength to continue the fight. Bob also was injured as an arrow creased his shoulder.
Galadriel held back, uncertain if she wanted to use a spell or wait until the melee came to her as she drew her sword. Then she had an idea. She summoned forth a spell to allow her to see mystical energies. A faint glow began to rise near the cavern wall to their flank, and in its brightening light, she saw the sneaking Bugbear moving closer to Xander, preparing to strike him. She let fly with a stream of Magic Missiles soon after, and shouted a warning to her friends.
Bob and Xander loosed their bows in the direction Galadriel pointed out, and struck the Bugbear leaving him howling in pain. The Goblins moved up on Ulfgar and began to pound ineffectually upon his shield with their short swords. He let loose with a bellowing Dwarven warcry, and returned their efforts to kill him with a heavy blow that crushed one Goblin's trachea.
The wolf attacked Bob, seeing a small and tasty snack, yet its wounds had left it weakened. Even as it bit into the Halfling, Bob returned with a stinging thrust of his short sword into the creature's chest, leaving it falling to the ground. Galadriel moved forward to strike at the remaining Goblin fighting with Ulfgar, felling it with her longsword. Xander fired again upon the Bugbear, who began to flee back towards the natural stairway.
It was fast, but as Xander gave pursuit, the Bugbear could not evade his arrows. Xander dropped the creature before it could make good on its escape.
The party entered the chamber of Klarg the Bugbear, and found something that Xander instantly recognized. There were a group of boxes and sacks along one side of the wall bearing the symbol of the Lioncourt Coster. These Goblins had been the ones who had hijacked their last shipment! Bob moved to investigate the crates and sacks, while Xander moved to check out the fallen body of Klarg the Bugbear. Galadriel saw a man lying tied up and gagged, unconscious. They moved to help him.
Bob's discovery of a small wooden chest unearthed some treasures for the party: a goodly number of silver and copper coins, a vial of strange make... and an odd little jade statuette of a frog resting atop it all with eyes and mouth open wide as if in shock of being discovered. Bob quickly pocketed the jade frog after making certain no one was looking.
After healing and untying the unconscious man, the party awakened him gently. Introductions were made, and it was found that this man was Sildar Hallwinter, the very warrior that Gundren had hired to accompany him to Phandalin! After some discussion about Gundren's whereabouts, which Sildar was uncertain of (he'd been in this very cave before Sildar had been rendered unconscious), Sildar revealed that he'd had an ulterior motive when he'd hired on with Gundren. He advised the party that he was a member of the Lords' Alliance, a group dedicated to seeing that justice and law was upheld along the Sword Coast.
The party listened interestedly as he revealed that he'd been journeying to Phandalin to discover the whereabouts of a fellow agent whom had disappeared some time ago in the area of Phandalin. Meanwhile, Xander opened up the Bugbear's pouch and fumbled through the trinkets within it to find a small scroll. The parchment bore letters that thanked Klarg for his dutiful service and swore to reward him if he'd send "the Dwarf" to Cragmaw Keep. It was signed with the stamp of an eerie-looking black spider.
Hallwinter was uncertain what the black spider was, or where this Cragmaw Keep was. They all assumed that "the Dwarf" definitely meant Gundren Rockseeker. The group was weary from battle, their resources drained, yet their spirits lifted with some small victory and hope that they would find out where their friend had been dragged to. They left the cave after emptying the chest Bob had found, and headed back for Phandalin with Stillwinter limping along beside them.
Their new plan was to ask around town about this newfound mystery of Cragmaw Keep, lead Hallwinter back to his contact in town, and gain some hard-earned rest. Ulfgar, Bob, and Xander were in agreement that the Redbrands would soon need dealing with, but all Galadriel could think of was her arcane studies.
They traveled back to Stonehill Inn.
-End of Second Session-
The third session has not yet begun, due to work schedules and such. We're hoping that either tonight or tomorrow night will continue the adventures of Bob the Halfling rogue, Galadriel the Elf wizard, Xander the Human archer, and Ulfgar the Dwarf cleric.
Nice write up! Thank you. Having read the adventure, I am especially curious to see how many TPK's occur at Thundertree. I notice you shifted the location of Sildar Hallwinter so that the party would not have to face another battle in order to find him. I assume that you did this because the party's resources were severely depleted after the battle, and they were planning to retreat back to Phandalin without finding Sildar (?)
Good guess, Leugren, but really I did it because they had already reached a halfway point to 3rd level from the XP earned, I was getting bored with combat, and I wanted to move the story along.The boys are teens, and while they roleplay very well when they want to and the situations arise, they are like many people that age obsessed with the metric of "Kill things and take their loot". My fiance also likes to roleplay and doesn't want to spend every gaming moment fighting. So I removed a minor combat encounter and placed Sildar in Klarg's cave instead, to reach a happy medium. And I gave them XP for rescuing Sildar and escorting him to Phandalin, rather than the extra fight they would have had.
I gather from reading ahead in the adventure they'll gain plenty of opportunities to fight some more ;)
But... it seems I missed one thing! Sildar was to offer them gold for their escort, and he never did. And they never thought twice about protecting an injured man while walking him back to town. So maybe instead they will gain standing with the Lord's Alliance, rather than the gold. Or I will have Sildar surprise them with a gift for their kindness. Not sure which yet.
EDIT: Oh, also, this session had to be cut short because my oldest son had to work that day. Another contributing factor.
SECOND EDIT (though sadly not Second Breakfast): I didn't think about it until just now, but perhaps aside from an editorialized encapsulation of the storyline, I might also include any game mechanics pertinent to the story (and that influence its ebb and flow) with my write-up of the next session.
I enjoyed reading this write up. It makes me very eager for my own starter set to arrive.
Also, I love the fact that you're gaming with your sons and fiancee.
OrwellianHaggis wrote:
KuiperDragon wrote:
Thanks for the writeup - this sounds awesome! It sounds like WotC did a bang-up job designing a simple rules system that just lets you have fun. Just reading through this I could easily picture how I'd use the 5e ability/skill checks without having to flip through pages of skill descriptions. :D
SeanCaruso wrote:
As an update, life's been getting in the way of another session but it looks like TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT! Bob the Halfling rogue, Xander the Human archer, Galadriel the Elf wizard, and Ulric the Dwarf cleric are set to jump the Redbrands after locating their hideout, and ending their reign of terror over Phandalin.
I have also started up my regular Thursday night crew on a Lost Mine of Phandalin trip, using the Basic Set to generate characters.
The protagonists of that group are:
- Cardove Lightouch, female Halfling acolyte Cleric of Sheela Peryoyl
- Sergor Bersk, male Human folk hero Rogue
- Evender Greycastle, male Human folk hero Wizard
- Dakar Rumhallin, male Dwarf soldier defense Fighter
- Eowyn, female Sun Elf criminal Rogue
- Arya Willowsong, female Wood Elf acolyte archery Fighter
So far these PCs have traveled from Neverwinter at the behest of their good friend Gundren Rockseeker with a wagon full of goods bound for Phandalin only to run into a Goblin ambush, defeat it handily, and find out to their horror that Gundren had also been ambushed by the same goblins as he'd forged the trail ahead of them. The session ended with the scouting of the Cragmaw Caves after hiding the wagon they were protecting in some foliage.
Having mostly played Pathfinder, this group was a little more critical of the simplified rules of Basic/Starter (lots of "Where's all the feats?" and "No five foot step?" "No attacks of opportunity if the opponent rushes up on me?"), but overall there were positive responses to the gameplay of the new edition of D&D and the group is looking forward to another session in two weeks (we alternate GMs with the other running Pathfinder and myself running Edge of the Empire/Numenera/D&D).
Definitely enjoying the write-up and looking forward to the next 'episode'... 
Summer antics, and non-custodial parents finally wanting to spend some time with the kids, have nixed another session with Bob the Halfling rogue, Xander the Human archer, Galadriel the Elf wizard, and Ulfgar the Dwarf Cleric. Looks like it will be the weekend before a play opportunity with them arises again.
My fiance and I have been making good use of an empty house, catching up on reading, and Hemlock Grove, and other things ;) And we may end up starting up some adventures with a Monday night group!