Last session, the party finished the battle of Goldenfields, and they received quests from some of the NPCs. Miros asked them to escort a wagon of Goldengulp beer to the town of Amphail and to give his regards to his friend Arleosa at the Staghorn Flagon there. Naxena suggested they visit a wizard in Waterdeep who was a dragon expert to discuss asking good-aligned dragons for help against the giants. She also informed them about other giant attacks in the sword coast region. Zi Liang gave them a black pearl necklace to deliver to a butler at House Thann, to be traded for some items that belonged to her parents.
These were the only three quests I handed out, as I did not like Oren or Shalvus’ quests, and they neglected to go speak to Lifferlas again before they left town. They all also leveled to 6, as the adventure recommends. I informed them that the leveling would go more slowly from here. I intend to start counting XP now. That could level them higher than the recommended level in some cases, but I can always adjust the encounter difficulty if necessary. I also told them that death was a real possibility going foward, and that everyone should have a backup character plan in case something terrible happened.
They stayed in Goldenfields the rest of that day to assist with some of the work cleaning up the town and repairing the walls. They then rested that night to recover from the exhausting battle. They discussed their next move over breakfast. They needed to report back to Leosin in Waterdeep about the giant situation, as well as visiting two other locations there. However, they wanted to help out Miros, an NPC who fought by their side the entire battle and never backed down, even saving Alnryn from a bugbear at one point. She especially insisted on delivering his beer. Ultimately, they all agreed they should help him, and were pleasantly surprised when he offered them 100 GP each in payment. However, they insisted on only taking 80 GP each. That may be the first group I’ve ever had to do reverse bartering!
On the Road Again
After resting that night, the group hitched their two horses, Cazna and Dro, to the wagon full of beer and started toward Amphail. The journey would take about two days, and the terrain was rougher with only a wagon trail to follow instead of the well-worn roads they were used to taking. Imsh the druid took the reins, easily convincing their horses to take a steady pace along the way. Inarieth played a travel tune on her dulcimer as they traveled, while Rhogar walked net to the wagon. Alnryn and Eclipse went out to scout ahead and behind respectively, keeping a watch around them.
As nightfall came, they decided to keep going, since they left fairly late in the morning. They reached a point where they were feeling tired, and the horses also seemed to be exhausted from the load, so they elected to stop and make camp. Inarieth got a new spell, Leomund’s Tiny Hut. I found out that Jeremy Crawford, the lead rules developer for 5e, said the hut has a floor, so no burrowing creatures coming from underneath. Way to ruin a DMs fun, Jeremy! 😀
Alnryn used some nearby brush to expertly camouflage the wagon. Inarieth called everyone inside, and put the horses inside as well, since there is room for them. However, Alnryn refused to go inside the hut. Despite coaxing from the party, saying it was translucent from the inside, she still refused. Alnryn hates cramped spaces because they bring back those terrible memories of fleeing the Underdark in those winding, tight tunnels. She would sleep under the stars and hide if necessary. I thought this was a great roleplay on her part, sacrificing a mechanical advantage in favor of playing her character.
No Rest for the Weary
Just as they were about to rest for the night, Eclipse’s feline hearing picked up the distant sound of loud voices. He informed the rest of the group, and he and Alnryn decided to scout out the situation. As they got closer, they could tell the voices were cheering in delight, and that another loud voice was speaking in a language that Alnryn understood. They got close enough to see, and they realized the voice came from a female Hill giant, who stood atop a high hill, bellowing out a speech to her hobgoblin and bugbear followers who stood at the bottom of the hill cheering her on.
She said, “Chief Guh kick me out of Grudd Haug. Chief Guh take all husbands and all food for herself. Chief Guh might be biggest, but Kragatha is strongest!” At that point, Kragatha the hill giant held her fist into the air, on which she wore a leather gauntlet that began to grow with a strange rune. She slammed her fist into the ground, sending debris and a wave of force that was even felt by the two party members hiding behind a rock crag. The nearby hobgoblins stumbled and barely kept their footing. She also mentioned something about “others” coming to help them attack the human town and take their food, which they would then feast upon. As long as they followed Kragatha, they would all feast all the time.
Battle Strategy
Alnryn and Eclipse returned the the group to tell them what they saw and heard. At this point, things slowed down a little more than I would have liked. I thought there should be a sense of urgency to keep these monsters from attacking a town and to take them out before reinforcements arrived, but they took forever discussing what to do and how to do it. I finally showed them the battle map, which I usually do not do until I’m ready to roll initiative, and that made it even worse as they began to ask if they could sneak around the backside of the hill (which was off map).
I’m still a relatively new DM, so I’m still learning as I go. Looking back, I should have had reinforcements come and possibly cross paths with them as they sat discussing strategy. However, I allowed them their time and they eventually split into two groups. One group managed to hide themselves, while the fighter in chain mail was noticed pretty quickly. I gave the hidden group a surprise round, which again looking back, I probably should not have done that. It made the encounter much easier than it should have been, with the beefed up Kragatha, my own proud creation, hardly getting in any attacks before they took her out.
A sleep spell kept the Hobgoblins out the entire fight, while two bugbears can’t do much against a five-member PC party. We had another slowdown when they kept discussing strategy mid fight. The bard player is very new to D&D and still is learning all her spells, which is fine, but I probably need to let her make some mistakes and learn from them instead of always holding her hand.
If the Glove Fits…
In the end, they mopped the floor with the encounter, and there lay a dead hill giant with a strange magical rune. This gauntlet is infused with the Haug (Hill) rune, and is an artifact that Kragatha managed to find somehow and she fancied herself better than Chief Guh, so she tried to start her own faction. I am going to allow the players to have the gauntlet, which will give them the ability mentioned earlier. Once per day, they can slam the ground with the gauntlet and send creatures within 10 feet flying into the air 30 feet, fall to the ground for 3d6 damage, and land prone. They can make a strength save to avoid all the effects. It recharges on a long rest.
I got this idea from this site, and altered it to be a gauntlet instead of boots. I just thought punching the ground was cooler than stomping it, because HULK SMASH! It may seem like a powerful ability, but it is only once a day and gives them something different than just another +1 item. It also opens the door for asking around about rune magic, as well as deciphering the runes later at the temple of the All-Father. I may have them discover other things the gauntlet can do as they learn more about rune magic.
Going Forward
I have to be honest, as a DM I did not enjoy this session. I felt that metagaming was through the roof and the players were way too hesitant. However, I know it was a great learning session for me, and I plan to bring up some points about staying in character when we play next time. I also read an extremely good article that has helped me take a new perspective on the player/character knowledge wall.
The Angry GM has a ton of good advice and tools for DMs out there, and this article is something I am going to put into practice in my next session. (I will warn you that it contains TONS of adult language, which I am personally not a fan of using, but I can look past it to see the wisdom). The gist is that if the player says something, then their character is saying it. If they are talking strategy, then their characters are talking strategy out loud and in the open. So when they take too long and those reinforcements arrive, or if they are talking too loudly or making jokes, then that orc patrol hears them and initiative is rolled.
I also see there are times I will have to remind the players of time constraints. “You don’t have time to think, since there is a Fire Giant holding a boulder about to throw it at you. What are you doing about it? Decide quickly! I would appreciate any comments that other DMs have to deal with these slowdown issues. As always, thanks for reading and until next time… adventure on!
DM Capn's Adventures 