Baldur's Gate II (5e campaign log)

[J-H]

Dream sequence 2: Mergand
(Mergand's player's responses are in italics)
You have a dream during the long rest on the journey. You stand in a large hall with bookshelves lining the walls, white marble floors, and some statuary around. Other people stand around... Ludwig, Hendak the barbarian innkeeper, Tirdir, the man you saved from being buried alive, and others. Some you may have seen in passing. Others are strangers. You can't move, so this must be a dream. A bad one. Irenicus, your captor and torturer, stands just feet away from you, his magically-enhanced body unnaturally tall and powerful. He gazes down at you with his blue eyes, then speaks. "Life... is strength.
This is not to be contested; it seems logical enough. You live, you affect your world. But is it what YOU need? You are...different...inside."

He points at a woman standing vacantly nearby. "This woman has strength of a sort. She lost her parents to plague, her husband to war, but she persevered. Her farm has prospered, her name is respected, and her children are fed and safe. She lived as she thought she should."


He casts a spell. She falls to the ground, dead. “And now she is dead. Is this what you are destined for? Is this what you need?”

I do what I do, because it is correct. Do I need to be remembered? That is a prideful assumption. Do I need to be remembered? Not by a lesser being like you.


“You are born of murder, the very essence of that which takes life. You have power, if you wish it.”

I’ve found that power tends to corrupt. Ultimate power corrupts ultimately. I wish nothing but to enjoy life and adventures.

“You would turn away from power?”

It sounds like something that would disturb my peace.

“Really? But the consequences are so very real. Your actions affect so many others than yourself. You will come to realize how little choice you have. You will do what you must, become what you must, or others will pay for your choice.”
Irenicus kills Ludwig and several others with Chain Lightning.

“You will accept the gifts offered to you.”

At the end of the day, all we have is our free will.

“Do you even have that?” And you wake up.

Mergand checks on Ludwig, then makes some tea and then goes back to bed.

The player is talking about visiting Candlekeep to get advice about these dreams. I may need to move the setting from Candlekeep to somewhere else next time.

Cormak the priest…the Tainted Mind priest with telepathic abilities… also gets a copy of this dream.

Session 27: 3/31/2024

Terry’s player is going to be out soon for a relocation, the online again until about August when he moves overseas as part of his role in the Navy. We have a new player who decided to attend tonight and just watch to see how things go before making a character.

The party retreats from the Guardian and short rests, as most of them were sub-15 hit points. They then move in. Ludwig is wearing the mask, so he can see it, and attacks, scoring a hit (but no sneak attack). The Guardian goes shortly after, punching him twice for about 18 fire damage after uncanny dodge. It’s basically a Fire Elemental with a few tweaks, and spellcasting that’s neutralized by the mask. The group starts hitting it, and Ludwig retreats. Terry moves up and is the target for the Guardian’s next turn. It punches him… and he had attuned to the Ring of Fire Resistance during his short rest, meaning that he’s immune to fire damage, so he takes no damage.
The guardian goes down.

Ludwig kicks open the doors to the tomb of King Strohm III. They find a sarcophagus, wall paintings, a sword, a shield, and a shelf with some old tomes on it. The sword and shield appear to be magical. They pick those up, and specify that they are not touching the sarcophagus.
I point out that they are behind a warded door in a guarded area, and that if they’re going to long rest in the dungeon, this is the place to do it.

They take the hint.

Before leaving, Ludwig decides to place the mask on the corpse of King Strohm. Mergand leaves the room, but everyone else stays to see what happens. He plays with looking at the skeleton with the mask on, then with it off, and then putting it on the skeleton. It turns out that putting a mask on a dead skeleton means you have a dead skeleton with a mask.
Ludwig takes the mask back with him, talking about starting a collection. “Do you put it back on?” “No.”
Someone takes the humerus bones from King Strohm III, joining the Hand from the Sewers and the vampire skull from the cavern in the party’s collection of body parts.

They head back out and have a conversation with Samia. She’s pretty grateful and asks about leaving and the route being clear. As the party gets ready to move on, she yells “Hey Akae! Your plan worked, get out here!”
The door behind her that nobody had ever asked about (they knew it was there) slams open, and initiative is rolled. There’s a wizard, a dwarf cleric, an ogre with a shield and battleaxe, and an elf with a katana and wakizashi.
This is supposed to be a big battle, and they each had their own statblock with a range of 42 hit points (wizard) up to 72 (ogre). Akae is a Dex-20 fighter-type with 3 attacks per round and is a Bhaalspawn brought in for a shot at his brother by Firkraag.

Akae chugs a potion of Haste, then charges out (eating an OA) to attack Mergand twice (Haste action + BA attack), scoring a hit and a miss. Ludwig shoots someone with a bow, then Nalia Fireballs the enemies, most of whom haven’t gotten to go yet. 37 damage, save for 18. The ogre fails his Dex save. The enemy cleric goes next, and drops Silence on the room the party is in, covering nearly the entire room. Mergand retreats outside of the Silenced area, eating an OA to do so, and lightning bolts Samia. Cormak then moves up and uses his Staff of Thunder and Lightning, which does not say it requires a verbal component to activate, to Lightning bolt the Ogre, cleric, and wizard. 35 damage, and 2/3 fail the saves. The ogre goes down and the wizard goes down, and then Terry moves in and chops up the enemy cleric. The ogre and wizard never even got to go.
I had gone a bit light, specifically having them use Bless, Shatter, and Silence instead of Fireball for fear of a TPK. Obviously I didn’t need to bother.

Samia, pretty badly injured, Shoves Mergand prone and makes a run for it. Ludwig pursues. Akae the Bhaalspawn runs over and stabs Mergand 3 times, but it’s not enough to kill him, and despite Haste, Akae doesn’t get another turn. Mergand is aware that it’s better for him if he strikes the killing blow, but just says “No, just make him dead!” Terry’s player “The DM says “here’s something for your plot, and you just say make it dead?” “Yep.” Mergand, meanwhile, retreats to the side room and readies an action to Fireball himself, Terry, and Akae if Akae gets close. I’m not sure how he was planning to manage dealing all that damage to himself.

After this it’s looting and distributing loot, plus discussing the new player’s character.

Items from King Strohm III’s tomb:

Peridan, Longsword +1: Dragonslayer
Few dare to create items such as this, for who does not fear the wrath of
dragons, and what action would more tempt their reckoning? Yet, at a time
lost in Faerun's past, there was a need, and this sword was forged in answer.
Tempered by a wizard's skill, this blade protects the wielder from the fear
they should rightly feel while staring down a dragon's maw. It also bolsters
with healing, dispels the trickery of invisibility, and dares to do extra
damage against the greatest creatures of the Realms.
Requires attunement: Immunity to fear; Mass Healing Word 1/day (BA, up to 6 visible creatures within 60’ heal 1d4+2hp); See Invisibility once per day for 1 minute; deals +3d6 damage to dragons.

Dragon Scale Shield +1
Another powerful item created by the warlock Wormsor, this shield consists of red dragon skin stretched over a steel frame. Green and white dragon scales adorn the red background in a pattern that, when looked in the right way, reveals the face of an ancient dragon.
Grants the bearer resistance to fire, cold, and lightning damage.

Loot from Samia’s dead ambush party:
1975gp in gold & non-magical items
Battleaxe +1
Plate +1
Scimitar +1
Wand of Magic Detection
4x Greater potion of healing, 4d4+4
Pellan's Shield +2
This dwarven-made shield was commissioned by Pellan of Tyr, a brash paladin
known for unquestioning courage and an almost total lack of common sense.
Upon hearing that a red dragon was ravaging the countryside, Pellan mounted
his horse and rode off to do battle. As it happened, Pellan and his armor
digested readily enough, but the shield gave the dragon severe stomach
cramps. Subsequently coughed up, it lay in a hoard for years until retrieved
by Pellan's son, a warrior who knew when to sneak.
Superior craftsmanship is supplemented by a permanent lightness spell, which
makes the shield very easy to wield.


DM Notes:
The group has a really great alpha strike in terms of Fireball, Fireball, Lightning Bolt! The side room the ambushers were in was not huge, so Cormak was able to line up 3 in a line.
They have also now used at least half of their high-damage AOE for the day. Tazok will be pleased.


I'd like to give the new player some options. Unfortunately I'm running low on "extra background"
Bhaalspawn
Dhampir (have one)
Harper (have one)
Tainted Mind (have one)
Betrayer (Yoshimo; not a good fit for joining 25 sessions into the campaign)
Normal person
Replace Valygar Corthala (no long term quest hooks beyond the Planar Sphere, and I think they have enough to chase right now)

I really only have the Bhaalspawn and Normal Person backgrounds to offer at this point.
Ideas for others?
The only new one I have is
Resurrected Paladin - one of the Paladins slain by the PCs due to Firkraag's trickery, Raised from the dead by the Order's clerics. What extra features would this have beyond "must be a Paladin"? Advantage on saves vs. necromancy spells, plus Good Reputation and the ability to call on the Order for reinforcements?