Baldur's Gate II (5e campaign log)

[J-H]

This is a fun read, especially as someone who will probably never play BG1/2 (don't like RTwP games), but is kind of curious about what the various things that are clearly references in BG3 lead back to. I will make a note to check in on it in the future.

Also, I am kind of jealous of your players being in between games myself, I hope they appreciate their luck on the DM front.

One thing that does amuse me though is knowing that 5e was built to be "magic item optional" how common they end up being in normal games, and how you can be drowning in them in anything even remotely video game related.

Thanks!
I've said it in plenty of other places... magic item frequency helps martials / non-casters have a more even playing field. Very few magic items are truly unbalancing.
That said, they really don't know what they want to buy. They can afford some really good stuff but can't seem to decide. It would help if they'd consider things outside of game time....

Shar's 5e domains are Death and Trickery, though that was before Twilight was printed. She had Knowledge in 3e/4e, and that sorta gels with the whole "memory manipulation" stuff she has. Were Twilight not so busted I'd vote for that, but if that one doesn't work for you then Knowledge works too.

I'm typing this part before the game... I waited to reply because I've seen the recent discussions around campaign logs and am wary of getting slapped with a warning over double posting, so this way I can be not double-posting. It looks like I'm hitting over 1000 views per campaign log post and getting some interaction, so I don't think it's an issue, but I'd rather not be wrong.

I agree, despite coming from the completely opposite perspective, having played the games countless times, the last time being just earlier this year. As I know the plot by heart, it's quite interesting seeing the changes caused by either the GM or the players.

Mostly the players, I think. So many "assumed" magic items are just not happening. I've got to lay a trail from the Slaver Stockade to the Guarded Compound to the Twisted Rune, and I have yet to figure out how the Lich in the Crooked Crane relates to anything at all. It's just there behind a secret door...how? why? I don't think they are going to be interested in some big social check, or likely to succeed, to figure out that the innkeeper is secretly covering up a Lich's hideout behind his wall.
Maybe if they go Planar Sphere and get the CW quest to Imprison someone. idk.



Session 10: 9/24/2023
Mergand’s player is not feeling well and attended via Discord. Still waiting for him to pick up the thread on the first Bhaal dream.

We took some time to verify everyone’s levelups. Cormak’s player needed a bit of help, but is now a Tempest cleric. He has not currently swapped his stats around, so he’s still running medium armor. The party decides to do recon on the Slaver Stockade, which is suspected to be in a long-grounded ship nearby that has been turned into a building. The ship is about 3 stories high, with what looks like a building built on the deck as well. There are no ground-level entries… only stairs leading up to deck level and a sturdy door there guarded by a single guard.

They climb up onto the Copper Coronet’s roof (which has several buildings). Their Stealth checks are bad, but the guard across the street also rolls poorly. They watch for several hours. A bit before noon, a couple of City Guards pass on patrol and stop to wave at the guard atop the ship. One of them bends over and picks something up off the ground (I rolled, the Slaver guard got a nat20 on his Sleight of Hand check to toss their daily pay-off down). Ludwig does ask if he can make anything out as the guards walk off, and his Perception vs. their Sleight of Hand lets him see one of the city guards shaking coins out into his hand and then handing them off to the other patrolman.

There’s some discussion, and they consider stealing the next payoff, I think maybe to try to turn the city guard against the slavers? They also discuss stealing city guard outfits and trying to impersonate them, but then talk themselves out of it because the slaver guards would probably know the faces of the guards they’ve bought. Ultimately, they decide to try the sewer first.

Telling Cernd good luck, and that fair winds blow him someplace nicer, they instead recruit Korgan Bloodaxe for the party.

Ludwig checks back with Bernard and gets his replacement Harper Pin.

Spoiler

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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
• Resistance to lightning damage.

Spoiler

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Korgan Bloodaxe
Medium Humanoid
Armor Class 19 (Splint+Shield), DR 3 B/P/S (now AC 20)
Hit Points 65
Speed 25 ft.
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
16(+3) 12(+1) 18(+4) 11(0) 10(0) 8(-1)
Saves Str+6, Con +7, adv. saves vs. poison
Skills Athletics +6, Intimidation +4, Perception +3, Survival +3, +6 on History (stonework)
Damage Resistances poison
Senses Passive Perception 13, Darkvision 60’
Languages Common, Dwarven, Undercommon
Proficiencies All weapons/armor, smith’s tools
Dueling. +2 to damage when wielding a melee weapon in one hand.
Heavy Armor Master. Reduce damage from B/P/S by 3.
Improved Critical. Crits on a 19-20.
Slasher. Once per turn when dealing slashing damage, reduce target’s speed by 10’. On a crit, target has disadvantage on all attack rolls. Both apply until the start of Korgan’s next turn.
Actions
Battleaxe +1 (melee). Melee Weapon Attack, +7 to hit, 5’, 1d8+6 slashing damage.
Handaxe (thrown). Ranged Weapon Attack, +5 to hit, 20’/60’, 1d6+5 slashing damage.
Bonus Actions
Second Wind. Regain 1d10+6 HP, 1/SR
Free Actions
Action Surge. Take an extra action, 1/SR

I point out that he’s wearing only splint armor, and they decide to go shopping. Korgan gets a set of full plate armor (4000gp), and Cormak gets a Shield +1 (2200gp), and they consider getting Bracers of Armor for Mergand and possibly the Stonefire axe for Korgan, but decide against it. Mergand also sends me a long list of adventuring gear that he buys, including things like darts, chalk, a grappling hook, fishing line and tackle, a mirror, rope, cord, an herbalist kit, 3 pints of whiskey, and 3 pints of oil. Spot the person who’s played since some time in the 1980s. 

While at the Adventurer's Mart, Ribald gives them the name of Cromwell, an expert smith in the Docks who works with exotic materials. He should be able to turn the Ankheg shell into full plate armor, for a price. This gives Cormak a full plate option, albeit one without an upgrade path as they run across better armors.

Hendak leads them to the semi-hidden exit to the sewers, which he has had barricaded shut and rigged with alarms. He asks, and the party says to go ahead and block it up after them, but not to rush. As the door opens, a sour smell wafts upwards… and they descend into the sewers.

Ludwig does not have Darkvision, and decides to have Cormak’s Light spell placed on his right boot. They go down the hall, with Ludwig in the lead. At the first T-intersection, the party’s total lack of stealth checks and the light has drawn the attention of the Otyugh that occupies the room to their right. Roll initiative! I used the A5E otyugh, which has a bite that can cause a lingering disease, and which grapples on hit with its spiked tentacles and can use them to slam grappled creatures together or into walls for damage and stuns, and generally seems like a really fun melee bruiser. It never rolled higher than an 8 on the dice, so 9 attacks in 3 rounds all missed.

Mergand hit it with Lightning Bolt, and Cormak used his staff to Lightning it again. Korgan chopped it up, Ludwig shot it, and it died. The two Ochre Jellies in the room did more, as they scored a total of 2 or 3 hits against Cormak. One of them got split a couple of times, which is always fun to spring on unsuspecting players. However, oozes are still easy to kill, so they fell.

Cormak healed himself some, and the rest of the party explored the room. They found a desiccated hand clinging to the metal drain grate in the middle of the room… just a hand. Ludwig the rogue eventually uses Mage Hand to pick it up and sticks it in a belt pouch without ever touching it. He asks if there’s anything else, and I say “No, nothing else, unless you want to cut open the otyugh to find out if it has anything in his stomach.” He decides to cut open the cow+ sized monster and examine its stomachs.

If an otyugh carries a disease in its bite, wouldn’t that also be present in its stomach? He failed his Constitution save and is now diseased, which gives him the Poisoned status, with a re-save every 24hrs and a very slow max hp loss on failure, or full cure on a single success. I asked, and nobody seems to think they have anything other than regular healing potions. The cleric does not have cure disease prepped.

They proceed on and find a more cave-like room that includes two skeletons half-embedded in the walls in an eternal embrace. One has a ring on its finger. Ludwig takes the ring with his Mage Hand.

In the game, the sewers have 3 or 4 groups of Hobgoblins in them. We don’t know if the Hobs are working for the slavers, where they sleep, what they eat, or why they are standing around. From the skeleton room, if the party had turned left, they would have encountered a fortified goblin outpost (a la Goblin Defense) that consolidates these and also puts them in a setting that makes a bit more sense. The slaver stockade has 2-5 combat encounters (depending on what mashes together) and the party successfully bypassed 2 traps and skipped the goblin camp, so I’m not too worried about it from a pacing perspective.

They turned right instead, and came to a longer open area with walkways on both sides of the flow of sewer water. The obvious bridge is a large door that’s been laid across, and the less trustworthy bridge is a pair of planks nearby. Everyone except Cormak decides to take the planks. Cormak goes for the door, but I roll a Perception check for him and get a really high number, so he spots the tiny runes on the door. Everyone rolls terribly on Arcana checks, so they don’t get to know that it’s a petrification trap… just that “it does something when you walk on it.”

They follow a couple of twists and turns, with Ludwig spotting and bypassing some pressure plates, and end up in a room with a dirty, skinny older man who says he might be called Quallo, and his “friend,” a carrion crawler. Quallo doesn’t seem to know much and is kind of glassy-eyed, and he assumes the party is there for a blade. He won’t tell them much, but tells them to look for the area where the city’s filth drains to find clues, and that he might be able to help with clues.

They leave him be and proceed, finding the stairs up to a fortified wooden door that they believe is the slaver stockade (it is). Ludwig has the Light spell removed so he doesn’t give away his position, then sneaks his way up the steps. It’s dark, and he has no Darkvision. The door is locked.

He decides to pick the lock… except he has no Thieves Tools. The party has been shopping a number of times, but if he bought some, he didn’t write them down! I feel like maybe he did, but if they aren’t on the character sheet, oh well.
The group decides to just go through the door the hard way, with steel and perhaps a Thunderwave to blow the door off suddenly once it’s close to falling apart.

This is quite obviously going to lead straight into a battle that will be a bit longer, so we stop here. I think I’m going to use the Gladiator statblock from a5e for Captain Haegan (bonus action shield shove), then some Veteran type statblocks for 3-5 guards, and a Trickery Priest block for the priest of Mask or Cyric. We’ll see in two weeks...