Summary
Quite a few new adventurers enter into the fray as the party returns to their initial entrance to the Barrowmaze. Therein they battle with stirges supping on a recently deceased adventurer. They discover a secret shrine to a demonic patron, and a magic-user pledges service to an unnamed entity asking to be led to the thief that took his scroll. In pursuit of this scoundrel, the group witnesses a massive Beastfolk, several times larger than they usually encounter as it immediately rushes them, trying to tear the adventurers limb from limb. After a bit of trying to sprint around it they group enters into combat, pinning the beast in a doorway and eventually dispatching it. Late into the night Sena uses her Ring of Invisibility to break into Krotho’s manor, leaving the head of the beastfolk in his chambers, torching his undergarments in the hall before sneaking out.
Cast
Player Characters
- Barmox the Magic-User, played by Stripe
- Glarg Grumblebeard, played by Trusty
- Jollen the Druid, played by Xenken
- Key the Thief, played by Robert
- Rocco the Fighter, played by Daryl
- Sena the Ranger, played by Malley
- Slaine the Hermit, played by Dio
Hirelings
- Manks the Cleric of Hathor
Rewards
- 3 sapphires worth 600gp
- A coin-purse of 50gp
- A bag full of chipped jewels worth 200gp
- A silver dagger designed for ritualistic sacrifice
- 187.5 total party combat xp
Thoughts
It was a good game, a little hectic given that we had 5 new players. I need to remember to both instigate a Caller when we have lots of players, and to actively utilize them. Even when I have a caller I often forget and respond to absolutely everyone.
I also know due to the size of the game a few players had technical difficulties and unfortunately missed some of the material, which I feel bad about. I think this is unfortunately just chalked up to Discord, each person’s individual setup, and Roll20, but if anyone has recommendation I’d love to hear them.
There were a few questions of utilizing Floating Disc, a notoriously specific spell, in a very general fashion. While I love creativity, I do think the specifics of a spell is kind of a social contract. Some requested exampled were to use it as a wedge for a door, or as a bludgeoning device. Both are clever interpretations of the spell, but why I ruled against those is that it somewhat mitigates the usability things like Hold Portal or Magic Missile. That said, I’m always game for suggestions.
Overall I enjoyed it, but I do feel like I should move back to my policy of trying to keep at most 6 players. When playing online really my sweet spot is 3-5 players. I love being able to share this game with lots of people, but I also think that my strengths as a ref lay in kind of my free formy conversational manner, which can cause a lot of downtime when the table is packed.
Anyway, thank you for reading, and hopefully this shorter format will help me stay on pace with play reports.