Session 1

Hi there everyone! Today I bring you my write up of session one, where the players face a powerful enemy and learn what they are up against. Let’s get started by meeting our heroes.

Earendil- Earendil is a fallen aasimar paladin who lost his way and his oath to the Platinum Dragon after being tortured by a powerful black dragon with unusual features for two years. After breaking free, Earendil vowed revenge against any dragon he could kill, no matter the cost.

Lila- a protector aasimar cleric in service to Bahamut, Lila is devoted to protecting and helping the innocent people of Toril, using powerful divine magic to shield her comrades. Lila does her best to reign in her twin brother Earendil, making sure that his thirst for revenge doesn’t cost them both their lives.

Northius- A drow raider from one of Menzoberranzan’s noble houses, Northius was left behind after a raid to the surface was repelled, leaving him to the mercy of the sun and his former victims. He was spared on the condition he devote his life to the greater good and the ways of Illmater, and was taken in by the monks at the Monastery of the Yellow Rose. Trained in the martial arts and learning how to use his ki to influence the elements around him, he set out to see the world and put his skills to the test.

Sinnafae- a member of the Luminian race, a rare breed of elves with a connection to the moon goddess Selune, Sinnafae is well versed in almost any subject you can name. As a Lore Master wizard, Sinnafae can twist the Weave to her desires, substituting elements and modifying ranges. She will put her powers to the test on this journey, fighting to keep her compatriots safe.

Z3-R0- perhaps the most unusual member of the party, Z3-R0 is a Warforged assembled by a master smith and artificer from Vaasa. Thorn Blackforge, the smith, created Zero (as he came to be called) to fill a void left by the death of his family. Treating the construct as his own son, Zero soon learned the ways of the artificer, blending magic and technology seamlessly to create useful items and powerful weapons. Sadly, Thorn was poisoned by a jealous rival, and used his last word to tell Zero to “find his son.” Zero took this to mean he had a flesh and blood brother, and set off to find him. Armed with his trusty Thunder Cannon and mechanical allosaur Razorjaw, Zero set out to fulfill his primary objective.

The adventure begins with our party on the way to Heliogabalus, capital city of Damara. Traveling in their own wagon, several of them noticed the sounds of a scuffle up ahead, and Northius spotted a few winged figures fleeing into the clouds. Preparing themselves for trouble, the party soon came across the scene of a battle; a broken wagon lay in the center of the road, with several corpses all around. Six men at arms lay slaughtered, along with a elderly dwarf with snowy white hair and sunburned skin. Earendil and Northius were able to determine the victims were slain by claws rather than blades, and Sinnafae identified scorch marks on the ground as places where devils were slain and returned to the Nine Hells. Zero made a peculiar discovery, a silvery metal leg, broken clean through at mid-thigh that resembled his own construction in some ways. A thick trail of blood led to the top of a small hill, and Lila immediately set off to see if she could aid whoever left it, the rest of the group following their friend. At the base of the hill, they found a most unusual sight-a one legged man determinedly dragging himself along the road with a clawed hand. The man appeared to be an old human, who had one side completely replaced with metal. Although Lila wished to help him, sadly he was leaving bits of entrails on the ground behind him and was not long for the world. The man said his name was Dorn, and told the group he and his party were attacked by devils, seeking a Harper agent named Kara, who fled while he and the others fought, soon becoming overwhelmed. Coughing up blood, he asked them to help Kara, and to tell her that he was sorry he could not protect her better. Having delivered his message, Earendil drew Hyrm and gave Dorn the gift of mercy, as the group quickly set out for a nearby village to find this Kara girl and help- after Zero harvested Dorn’s metal parts for further study and use.

Upon reaching the village, the adventurers noticed the lack of normal village sounds. Earendil and Lila reached out with their divine senses, feeling an overwhelming sense of fiendish evil radiating from the village square. Proceeding cautiously, the twins were soon accosted by two white scaled monsters with bestial features, wings, and stinger tails. Sinnafae’s knowledge let her identify the attackers as abishai, devils in service to Tiamat herself. Quickly launching into battle, the group was able to slay the abishai without too much difficulty, rounding the corner to take in the scene before them- slaughtered villagers on the ground, three black abishai, and an enormous white dragon giving instructions. Upon seeing a hated draconic foe, Earendil launched himself at the opponent, the rest of the party scrambling to follow. Laughing at the audacity, the white called himself the Old White Death, and released a wave of magical fear at his enemies, causing Zero and Razorjaw to halt their rush until they could shake off the effects. The battle intensified; Lila, Razorjaw and Sinnafae slew the abishais, while Northius briefly fell to the white’s frosty breath, only to be swiftly revived by Lila. Sinnafae soon realized their opponent was not a typical dragon, and threw a Fireball, manipulating the fabric of the spell and replacing the fire with radiant energy. The attack badly hurt the dragon, and Earendil pressed his advantage, infusing Hyrm with divine energy and lashing out. Their foe stood defiant, and prepared to breathe his deadly cold once more, until the players heard a fierce battle anthem ring out, healing them all for 30 points. A slim dragon with beautiful, iridescent blue scales plunged from the sky onto the white, breathing a cone of crackling gas onto the Old White Death head, finally killing him.

In the aftermath of the fight, the dragon shifted to the form of a beautiful human female and identified herself as the song dragon Karasendrieth, also known as Kara. She thanked the group for assisting her, but grew sad when told that her party had died in battle with the devils. She told the group she had vital information for the temple of Bahamut, and requested they help escort her to the capital. After enticing Earendil with the promise of gold, the party agreed, and returned to their wagon, setting out for Damara after Kara gave her companions a proper burial. Upon reaching the capital, the party was escorted into the temple, and met with Kara and her superior Azhaq, a commander of the Talons of Justice, a paladin-like group formed by good dragons. Azhaq warmly thanked the heroes for their aid, and paid them both for their help and the information they then provided on the battle. He identified the white as Arauthator, a name that pricked Northius’ memory- the dragon had been slain almost a year or more ago by a monk from the Yellow Rose. Azhaq agreed, and told the party the mission Kara had been on was gathering information on the Consorts of Tiamat- five chromatic dragons who are the mates of the Dragonqueen, who had infused their souls with infernal power and returned them to Toril in mortal bodies. Although Tiamat was blocked from the Material Plane by another party of brave adventurers (at the end of the Rise of Tiamat module) it seems like she isn’t giving up that easily, and will make one more attempt to return her godly body to the realm and take over the Material Plane.

Although the Consorts are powerful, Kara revealed she had discovered their weakness- the consorts are vulnerable to holy energy, and do not return to the Hells upon death- once they are killed on the Prime, they’re dead for real. Azhaq said that the Platinum Dragon had foreseen these adventurers and considered them key in thwarting his sister’s evil plans, and Azhaq asked them to help them hunt down the consorts. Lila, a cleric of Bahamut, instantly agreed, and Earendil was eager to take the opportunity to slay more dragons. Northius and Sinnafae were eager to test their powers on a true quest, and Zero agreed if Azhaq would assist him in his primary objective.

After their agreement, Azhaq brought them to a large chamber, where he assumed his true form of a massive silver dragon. He breathed a fresh, cold blast of air over the group, granting each of them unique powers in the name of Bahamut. Lila received the ability to shield herself from the power of a dragon’s breath, while Sinnafae could evoke the power of it, as well as summon draconic allies in battle. Northius could draw elemental power to his fists, while Earendil’s blade dealt double damage against Consorts and abishai, as well as striking harder against dragons. And Zero was presented with a box of parts that he discovered he could assemble into a mechanical dragon companion. Azhaq also offered to tutor any of the group in advanced techniques of draconic magic- the Dragon Touched prestige class. After bestowing the rewards upon the group, Azhaq sent them to quarters and bade them good night- except for Earendil, who insisted on a private audience with the silver. Earendil undid his armor, showing the paladin the horrific acid scars that decorated is body. He demanded answers from the dragon about the one who did this to him, and Azhaq informed him that the black that had earned his hatred was none other than Thauglorimorgorus the Purple, the Terror of Cormyr himself. Thauglorimorgorus was also a Consort of Tiamat, and was working to conquer the forest kingdom for his queen. Azhaq cautioned Earendil against blind and burning revenge, and suggested that Bahamut still had faith in him. Earendil didn’t seem to care that much, leaving the temple to stay at an inn, uncomfortable in the holy place of his forsaken god (unbeknownst to him though, Azhaq had paid for the room.”

And that ends session one! Now our heroes know what they are facing, and are starting to learn more about the true scope of their quest. Luckily they aren’t alone, and have been uniquely gifted to combat their enemies. I can’t wait to play again and see what the future holds!

DM NOTES

If you’ve read the Year of Rogue Dragons Trilogy by Richard Byers, you’ll probably be mad at me for killing off Dorn and Rayn. Sorry bout that… but at least Kara is still alive! Hopefully she’ll have more of a role to come.

Several of my players are using homebrew or Unearthed Arcana options. Sinnafae is a Lumninan elf, found here (https://dnd-5e-homebrew.tumblr.com/post/147697395853/luminian-race-by-geekfirelabs), and Northius is playing a modified version of a Four Elements monk that I’ll post when I find the proper link. Zero is a Warforged Artificer, Lila is a Protector Cleric, Earendil is multi-classing into Hexblade Warlock, and Sinnafae a Lore Master Wizard, all which can be found in the UA material from Wizard of The Coast. I found stats for 5e abishais here (https://rpggeek.com/rpgitemversion/320074/pdf-version-next.) Finally, Kara’s stats came from here (http://imgur.com/a/C4qnH). All credit for these races and classes goes to WoTC and the wonderful hombrewers who made them!

I need to learn to be more mobile with my main opponents. It’s a weakness of mine that led to Arauthator dying quicker than I thought, and I’ll have to get a bit better

I’ll do a more thorough Meet the Players after everyone finalizes their backstory; I’m already thinking of ways to weave everyone in.

I’ll try to put up the Dragon Touched prestige class, the Blessings of Bahamut, and Arauthator’s profile up soon. Until next time, see you!

Hyrm, the Frostblade

Hyrm, the Frostblade One of my players is multiclassing into Warlock, and planned to take the Pact of the Hexblade. Since the pact is obtained from a sentient weapon, he asked if he could have such a weapon. I told him sure, and since he said he wants to associate his character with cold and death, I whipped up a neat little weapon for him. If any of you are Pathfinder fans, you might recognize the charatcer from Tim Pratt’s Pathfinder Tales novels, which I highly reccomend by the way. I really liked the idea of giving Zak a sword that could snark back at him, and even speak up as a part of the group. Hyrm really isn’t a sword, he’s almost the 6th party member, and I cant wait to play with him in the full campaign. I introduced Hrym in a backstory one shot, where the players found him in the former lair of a white dragon. As they battled a remorhaz, Zak spied the hilt of the sword on a pile of treasure and drew the blade, gaining access to his mighty powers. After the beast was slain, the player entered into a contract with Hyrm; take him on adventures and give him gold, and he’ll be loyal. Hyrm briefly tried to tempt Zak with his own pact, but relented and granted the Hexblade pact upon the contract being agreed upon. Stats HRYM, THE FROSTBLADE Hrym is a bastard sword made from pure, magical ice that has transferred from wielder to wielder over the centuries. No one knows the true origins of the sword, not even Hrym-for the Frostblade is in fact sentient and aware of his surroundings. Hrym has the mind of a mercenary-he likes to travel and sleep on a bed of gold coins. In return for these things, Hrym lends his fearsome prowess to his wielder in battle–as long as the money keeps coming. THE BRINGER OF WINTERS PROPERTIES: Versatile DAMAGE TYPE: Slashing *Damage: 1d10, 1d12 (two handed) *Modifiers: +2 to hit and damage, 1d6 cold damage upon a hit Being made of pure magical ice, Hrym has grants the user the power over ice and snow. Ice is not considered difficult terrain for the wielder, and the swordsman is protected from the adverse effects of traveling in the snow. Hrym also grants his wielder several magical abilites that are shaped into arcane spells. The sword has 8 charges, and recovers 1d6+2 charges at dawn. You can cast Cone of Cold (5 Charges) Ice Knife (1 Charge) Ray of Frost (1 Charge) and Snilloc’s Snowball Swarm (2 charges). (I realize this seems like an overpowered item, but hey, I’m throwing adult dragons with devil powers at them. I figure it won’t affect the balance too much) Hyrm Partners Although just a sword, Hrym does have his own code of honor and sense of profit. The user must never forget that Hrym is alive and is not obligated to travel with them. He must be treated as an equal, not a tool. If provided with some treasure to sleep on and a good adventure he will stay loyal. If not, your friends might not find you until the thaw.

Introduction

Hello, and welcome! Thanks for stopping by! This blog is my first attempt at doing something like this, so please bear with me if I get something wrong with it.

This blog is to record one of my hombrew Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaigns. My hope is that anyone reading this will have be able to use this to run the same campaign if they feel like it. If not and you just want to follow the crazy adventures of my party, that’s ok too!

Plot wise, this campaign is set as a follow up to the Hoard of the Dragonqueen and Rise of Tiamat campaigns released by WoTC. You don’t need to have played these campaigns to do this one, although some general familiarity with them would help. In addition, this game will be dealing with some historical events of the Realms, so you might have to do a little homework to be prepared. I reccomend reading the Year of Rogue of Dragons Trilogy by Richard Lee Byers, as well as books that deal with the history of Cormyr, as well as the Sellswords Trilogy by RA Salvatore to familiarize yourself with the history of the Vassa/Damara.

The story of this campaign involves Tiamat, angry after her entrance to the Prime Material Plane was foiled by adventurers in RoT, making one last attempt to rise to godhood and take her place as ruler of Toril. Although barred from bringing her godly form to the Prime, she has one last trick up her sleeve-her Consorts, five chromatic dragons that had infernal powers infused into their souls by Tiamat, and installed in mortal bodies to be her hands and eyes on the Material Plane. With her loyal servants and a small army of devils to back them up, the Dragonqueen is ready to assault the world again-and only the stalwart adventurers can stand in the way of her wrath.

Well, that’s it for the intro! My group did a little prologue session, so I’ll get that written up sometime soon too. Until next time!

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