Session 0.5:
Between-session changes:

Mergand: Player has switched background from Faction Agent to modified Guild Artisan, trading language stuff for Leatherworking proficiency. His character’s hobby is making saddles, tack, and related items as a way to focus, disconnect, and calm down / control himself. He says there’s small stuff that can be worked on on the road… RL interests coming into play here.
If he gets too upset or out of focus, he may accidentally find himself carving skulls into things, making whips, etc. Before they hit the bridge district, I’m going to have to figure out a better clue for the human flesh leather quest line than that ridiculous “my last name is the third letter of the fifth word, and you have to buy a certain book” stuff for the “if you want to make it” end of it. Open to ideas. I can probably tie it in with the Twisted Rune enclave in the Bridge district, and also vaguely with the Guarded Mansion in the Temple district, which ties back to the slavers, as there’s a tentative link there. We’ll see where it goes!

Ludwig: Background is Spy/Criminal. I asked what he’d done to gain the attention of the Harpers or with him, and gave a few examples. He just said “All of those, plus I punched a bank robber.” So here’s what he’s done:
-Exposed illegal slaving by a noble
-Helped stop a necromancer who tried to kill and take over a village.
-Contributed to the exposure, tar, and feathering of a corrupt tax collector in your home village (this may have been how you got the Harpers attention?)
The first one ties in with the Baron Ployer quest.
His physical stats are Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16.

Cormak: Switched to Cleric of Mask. He didn’t like the nihilism of Shar.

Leon: Background is Hermit. A half-elf, he grew up in the Forest of Tethyr (south of Amn, not too terribly far from Suldanesselar, not that the player knows that. If the Coran/Safana/Werewolf encounter thing happens, it’ll be on his home turf). He had violent impulses and outbursts, and killed his mother when he was around 15-16 in one of them with a spontaneously cast Inflict Wounds after discovering a journal she had kept. She was a Priestess of Bhaal, but ended up running away from the temple rather than giving birth to him and having him sacrificed there. Full of regret and fear, he has isolated himself in the forest and avoided social interactions by living the life of a hunter/gatherer/scavenger. His favored enemy is beasts.
Leon started with the Skill feat as Vuman and has +7 Perception. This came in handy several times.

Here’s the Harper Pin conversion.
Lesser:
• Shields from magics that detect thoughts, lies/truthfulness, and alignment.
• Telepathic communication with you only happens if you allow it.
• Advantage on saves vs. Charm spells and effects

Greater: as lesser, but also
• The bearer is shielded from divination spells
• Resistance to electricity
• Advantage on Intelligence saves
• Immunity to Magic Missile
• If attuned to by an evil creature, turns black and constantly produces loud and discordant jangling sounds, like a metal harp being played badly

I added the advantage vs. charm to the Lesser one to make it more useful for early on. It will also help against vampire charm.
The Greater pin then stacks on the mental protection by giving advantage on INT saves, which should help against illithid and spells like Synaptic Static.

NPC Notes:
Anomen is going to start as a Cleric 5-ish, and hopefully hit Paladin around level 9… depending on what life choices he makes, of course. We already have two other Paladin options, Keldorn (obviously a Watcher paladin) and Mazzy. Mazzy’s game abilities give her Remove Fear, a Strength Boost, and self-Haste. Oath of Glory Paladin gets Heroism, Enhance Ability, Haste, and a CD that lets her wrestle even big folk with a good chance of success, so it is a great fit for her. The high end abilities aren’t bad either.

Nalia will probably start as a Rogue 2/Wizard 2. It puts her a level behind, but Cunning Action isn’t bad for supporting a wizard! War wizard school gives her some defenses while letting her be a generalist, and her spell list will be slanted towards troll-killing (fire/acid). Given her background, I just don’t think it makes sense for her to start as a higher level character, compared to Anomen who at least has been on campaign against giants and a few other things.

The big one that I haven’t figured out yet is Aerie. Cleric/Wizard? Arcana Cleric? Divine Soul sorc? Open to ideas. What best fits her character and background? She ends up as a cleric of Baervan the gnomish deity thanks to Quail, but why is she a Wizard? There’s no discussion of spellbooks or study or arcane magic in any of her conversations that I recall. Despite having pretty good mental stats, she certainly never possessed the confidence or magical power to just explode her way out of slavery in a circus cage (also, I don’t think her story would get written in today’s climate, especially since she never even gets any justice for it). She’s squishy and vulnerable, and is kind of a damage/healer mix… Lore bard?
I don’t expect the party to take her with them.

Session 1: 5/28/2023
Here’s what I sent to each of them this morning via Discord:

Cormak (Priest of Mask / Tainted Mind):
You were captured from... wherever (undecided), and placed in a cage that seems to prevent spellcasting. Everything immediately before and after that is a mystery. You know you woke up with a headache, and there's a massive scar on your head (you pick where). You still have headaches from time to time.

Your captor has been by a few times, but he mostly just seem to do some type of diagnostic spell before walking away. "Will you heal and do more? Or are you another failed...experiment?"

You feel like whatever happened to you hasn't done what he wanted. You haven't seem him much recently.
In addition to the tall form of your captor, you've seen some goblins who sometimes clean and bring food, and a 7' tall golem with manacle-like hands that moves you the few times you've been out of your cage.

In the distance, there's the thump of heavy footsteps. A deep, guttural voice lacking intonation calls out. "More intruders have entered the complex, master." You hear your nameless captor respond.

Time passes... you don't know how much. You don't even know how long you've been here for. The complex is rocked by a vibration, or explosion, of some sort.... (and that's where we'll pick up)

Mergand (Bhaalspawn sorcerer):
Mergand has been captive for a while... you think over a month, but it's hard to keep track of time. Your cage prevents spellcasting, somehow... You initially thought you were captured as some sort of retribution, but your captor, who doesn't usually bother talking to you, seems entirely clinical. His "tests" often seem to involve injuring you, or pain. There's something he's looking for, but you're not sure quite what.

You've seen only him, and some goblins who sometimes clean and bring food, and a 7' tall golem with manacle-like hands that moves you the few times you've been out of your cage. Today...or tonight...or whatever time it is.... he comes in to see that you've awakened.
"It is time for more...experiments."
You black out for a moment after he casts something at you.
"The pain will only be passing. You should survive the process."
Does he really care if you don't?
There's the thump of heavy footsteps outside. A deep, guttural voice lacking intonation calls out. "More intruders have entered the complex, master." H
e turns with a sneer on his face. "They act sooner than I had anticipated. No matter, it will only prove a slight delay."
He motions the golem away, and steps out to the hallway before disappearing with the pop of some sort of teleportation...

Leon: Ranger/Secretly Bhaalspawn:
Leon has been captive for a while... you think over a month, but it's hard to keep track of time. Your cage prevents spellcasting, somehow... You don't know why or how they came after you, but you have some suspicions by now.
Your captor, who doesn't usually bother talking to you, seems entirely clinical. His "tests" often seem to involve injuring you, or pain. There's something he's looking for, but you're not sure quite what.

At one point, he brought you to another room and had you watch while he killed someone with knives, taking him apart in a way you found oddly fascinating. [this is Khalid]

You've seen only him, and some goblins who sometimes clean and bring food, and a 7' tall golem with manacle-like hands that moves you the few times you've been out of your cage.

Today has been quiet, but you hear the thump of heavy footsteps in the distance. A deep, guttural voice lacking intonation calls out. "More intruders have entered the complex, master."

You hear your captor's voice in the distance, hard to make out, followed by the pop of teleportation. Something is going on. Some time passes...


Ludwig (Rogue/Harper Agent):
After your capture, you've been mostly left alone once your captor, who seems to be nameless and uninterested in talking to you, established that you are not what he is looking for. Your small, jail-cell like room goes ignored for days at a time, and meals have been skipped occasionally.

In addition to Mergand, you were traveling with another Harper, a warrior named Khalid. You haven't seen or heard him in weeks.

In addition to the tall form of your captor, you've seen some goblins who sometimes clean and bring food, and a 7' tall golem with manacle-like hands that moves you the few times you've been out of your cage. You've saved some eating utensils and made a few slivers that you think will work as lockpicks, but the door is too well-made to pick with what you have.

Today, there's some noise in the distance. The complex rumbles and vibrates, as though some great spell were cast in the distance. One of the walls of your cell shifts, and the door creaks and shifts under pressure.
You think you can pick it now... (that's where we'll pick up with you tonight).


Ludwig breaks out, lockpicks Cormak out, and then checks the other door in their hallway. It contains a golem and a table with a pile of weapons. They back out, and check the other halls. One leads to a portal, another to more cells, and the last is better-lit. They turn a corner in that one and surprise a goblin. Having nothing but rocks to throw at it, they fail to stop it from fleeing and yelling about escaped prisoners.

The two then go back to the hall with more cells and free Leon. Ludwig has travelled with Mergand, but almost doesn’t recognize him at first. Unfortunately, his cage-within-a-cell’s keyhole apparently requires some magic. The other three go back to the room with the golem. It tells them to go back to their cells, but doesn’t act. They search the room, getting some weapons and some armor. I include a generic “wand” so that Mergand will have a spell focus. Leon’s high perception helps him spot that the painting on the wall is too big, and also that there are a couple of concealed buttons that have to be pressed when it’s opened. They get the +1 dagger and the healing potions, as well as the key. There are no bows or ranged weapons in this room.

Having the key, they free Mergand, and proceed to the lightning crystal room. Leon gets zapped and they kill a mephit, then roll high enough on an arcana check to figure out how to turn it off before it spawns more mephitis. Proceeding on to the crystal room, they meet a djinni of some sort, who recognizes and questions Mergand with a hypothetical moral dilemma. Mergand immediately picks the noble and self-sacrificing answer, so they get to face the consequences of nobility: The djinni gives them each 10 temporary HP (like from the Aid spell) and conjures an ogre. The ogre gets off only one attack, and it’s dead. The djinni returns, and tells them to seek the trees for answers. (I cut the Rielev stuff and extra tank room).

They explore one of the exits, and find that it’s a muddy hallway ending in a door, so they go on to the next one. There’s an eyeless sewer golem in the room, and a table with some stuff on/around it, including more healing potions. Everything is dusty, but when Leon goes over to investigate it, the dust turns into a Dust Mephit and attacks… they kill it. They attempt to get information out of the Sewer Golem, but he’s not very informative. They do get a shortbow, which Leon grabs, and a second shield. I moved the +1 longsword to Ilyich.

Proceeding into an area with zig-zagging dark corridors about 50’ long, they trip an ambush by goblins. Half the party has no Darkvision, and the Light cantrip was cast on Mergand’s belt instead of something they could throw ahead. The 5 goblins just keep readying attacks for whoever comes around the corner first. Cormak has a shield and chain shirt for a total AC of 17, but 5 attacks still hits… and Leon has disadvantage some of the time due to darkness. When the goblin caster blocks half the corner with Cloud of Daggers, they decide to maybe move in. Ludwig the rogue charges in all by himself, two-handing his longsword. Everyone else stays at range for another round, until Cormak moves in to help proc sneak attack. They kill 3 goblins, and the others retreat, ending up around a corner. Eventually the goblins are dead, but Leon, Mergand, and Cormak each have one level of exhaustion from going down, and everybody has lost their 10 temp HP. The goblins rolled well, and it took the group a long time to move from shortbow range (1d6+1 damage) to dagger range (1d4+1). Cormak used both his spell slots, on a Guiding Bolt that missed and on a Bless spell. They loot plenty of arrows and more shortbows from the goblins, plus a bit of gold, and check the doors ahead.

One leads to a room where two smaller clay golems are just standing and waiting. They very quietly close that door and move on to the library.

Two mephitis (ice and dust) attack them in the library, after which they search it and find the sewer golem activation stone and some scrolls and still more healing potions, plus some money. Somewhere in there, they’ve also found a 100gp pearl (material component for Identify, not that anyone has the spell yet). Backtracking to the sewer golem, they follow it to the sewer crossroads area.

In the game, this is guarded by a fully-fledged Otyugh, but this is a 1st level party… so I describe an Otyugh as something they are familiar with, and then reveal that this appears to be a young one (I give it 45hp and d4 damage dice). They try to sneak past it to go out the exit, but roll something like 24, 9, 8, and 5, and end up just running away and slamming the door on it, hoping it can’t open doors. There’s a brief discussion where someone says “We’re not going back there, at least not on purpose.”

They find Irenicus’ bedroom and successfully deal with the traps, which I had fun describing (2 holes by the bookcase, a fruit bowl set to tip, and a rug with a very faint line where a tripwire runs under it). Ludwig wants the Helm of Balduran, but nobody else wants to take an hour to short rest and attune right now. They also get more scrolls and two of the trap keys for the next level. I deliberately cut the loot from the Otyugh area as it doesn’t make sense for it to be there, and I don’t want them having “Darkvision solved!” immediately for another party member with the Helm of Infravision (Darkvision). I describe one exit as being an archway with some more natural light…and a few leaves.

After a couple of seconds, Mergand’s player jumps on this, rembering that the djinni said to seek the trees. He goes up to one of the three trees in the faux-sunlight-lit cavern and tries talking to it. They talk to the dryads, and get the name of their captor: Irenicus. I go ahead and let those who speak Elvish (3/4) translate it as “Shattered One,” and use their descriptions of him as hollow and empty, etc. They plead with the party to get their acorns so they can be rescued, and are swiftly promised that it will be so. They also say that “Her” room is beautiful, but dangerous, but to not go there… but that a key may be needed there.
Leon and Ludwig go to investigate the room, Leon’s high Perception letting him spot a big area covered with almost-invisible runes near the door. I don’t like the “You must trigger this trap and fight golems” in the original, so their checks let them hop over it. Working together, they get over 15s in all three pieces of furniture, retrieving potions, the Pommel Jewel of the Equalizer, and a portal key.

They return, and the dryads again ask them to not leave before retrieving their acorns. The party heads back to the sewer area… ha ha. Ludwig opens the door with the other 3 having readied attacks. Leon then tries to run past the Otyugh, but gets hit by an OA, and then since he’s the only one in the room, it follows him and bites him, causing his second “drop to 0” so far. The party kills it and dumps a healing potion on him after 1 failed death save.

It’s late enough to stop at this point, and I comment that the Ilyich fight could be over very quickly, or it could take a while, so we decide to stop. Mergand’s player is aware that if he can get his scroll of Fireball to go off, that would end any one encounter at their level… I think they will probably do that. They short rest in the library, and everyone goes up to 2nd level. Any new spells/spell slots are immediately available, as they are regaining capabilities now that they get to move around and can get their blood flowing again. This gives Cormak one 1st level slot, and he rolled on his Tainted Mind table and can cast Jump once per day (one of the lowest possible results). Mergand gets two (2 sorc points and nothing else to spend them on but a 1st level slot). Mergand has used both of his slots on Hunter’s Mark, which pairs very well with Chill Touch. Leon also gets 2 1st level ranger spell slots, and I’m saying that the Metaspell Amulet gives a 1st and 2nd level slot… he put it on when they found it, even though it was unidentified. Ludwig will be attuning to the Helm of Balduran… so everyone gets something from this. All of them except Ludwig rolled for HP.

Leon is using two scimitars or his shortbow (usually the bow), Ludwig is using the shortbow or longsword, Mergand is using his quarterstaff (he actually scored a crit on a mephit with it), and Cormak is using short sword and shield.