Post by dm_mainprize on Apr 10, 2015 0:18:48 GMT
So last night was the final session for me and my current group of players in the DnD 5e starters set. They had taken the adventure hook from Gundren Rockseeker, been ambushed by goblins, dealt with a criminal organization led by an evil wizard, hunted an orc scouting party, fought a necromancer with a hoard of zombies, found the location of a goblin stronghold and at long last rescued Gundren and found the entrance to the long lost dwarven/gnomish mines. They had explored much of the mines and learned the location of their true enemy the Black Spider. This session was going to simply be them fighting a big boss battle against the black spider, his bugbear henchmen, and 4 giant spiders. They entered the final chamber of the mines which in the old days was a temple to Dumathoin, it was now the black spiders base of operations and he was not happy to have 4 adventurers meddling in his plans to find the Forge of Spells. The adventuring party consists of 2 dragonborns and 2 humans. A blue dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut, and a gold dragonborn Sorceress. The humans were a cleric of balance(semi-homebrewed) and a Warlock of Ghaunadaur who due to psychological issues thinks he is a dark elf. They burst into the temple chamber from 2 entrances and catch the bugbears by surprise. The drow, cast spider climb on himself and runs up the wall into the darkness of the rooms ceiling. The bugbears were dealt with and then the drow began to taunt the party. They grouped up to be ready for an attack from any direction. This was exactly the drows plan. Casting a web spell he catches all but one of them in think web causing them to be restrained! He then descends to attack bringing with him his 4 giant spiders ready to pite and poison the horrified adventures. Each time the party would get free of the web the drow and his pets would ascend the marble pillars and taunt them. Eventually the drow got cocky and fell victim to some eldritch blast, a deep wound from a 2 handed greatsword and a scorching ray from the sorceress. With his dying breath the drow unleashed a devastating attack using the power of his spider's staff he began to collapse the temple chamber and the entire cavern.
At this point I congratulated my players on beating a very difficult boss then had them roll dex saves to not get crushed by falling debris. They all passed luckily and then something amazing happened.
During the course of the campaign one of my players had expressed interest in DMing or trying it out when we were done. I was totally down with that idea as I have never really had the experience of being a player and was ready for a break/wanted to move on from the forgotten realms and into my own homebrew setting. So unbeknownst to the rest of my player, me and this player had set up for the end of the starters set to be the beginning of a new story. It would deal with one of the player backstories and allow us to continuing playing weekly without needing to take a break.
So the party survives the initial cave in and I prompt them to head to the exit of the cave with all the speed they can muster. At this point, I stand up from my chair and take a step back. My player (the human warlock) stands up and takes my seat and I move over to his and sit down. The other players are so profoundly confused and are all looking at each other and me with question looks. The new DM says "ok guys, we are gonna roll some dex and strength saves to see if you escape the cave in. They roll and succeed and make it to the exit chamber of the cave, at this point our new DM narrates a beautiful description of his character who has been chaotic neutral making an ultimate change in alignment to save the people he has come to call friends. He sacrifices himself to keep the cavern from collapsing and flooding while they all escape. It was beautiful, upon exiting the mines the paladin dropped to his knees and offered a very sincere prayer to his god to bless the soul of his fallen friend and that he would always honor his memory.
At this point I am just watching all of this unfold a beautiful ending to the story I had been telling and constructing since October, and the passing of the baton to a new DM. It was at this point I may or may not have teared up a bit and gotten real emotional and fuzzy and warm inside.
The rest of the night dealt with setting up the next adventure hook and helping the new DM learn the ropes. I was introduced to the party and will be playing an Dwarven Monk who doesn't drink ale but has a profound interest in cooking and food. So much so that literally the 30lb capacity of my characters sack is filled with cooking supplies and ingredients. I am very excited to cook food and punch/kick bad people in the face till their bones are a fine powder. I am so excited to play but also can't wait to DM again. I am starting up a new group with 4 new players and will DM for them for the foreseeable future.
The final act of the night was to tell our new DM about a great podcast call The Dungeon Master's Block. Hopefully if he is wise, he will check it out.
At this point I congratulated my players on beating a very difficult boss then had them roll dex saves to not get crushed by falling debris. They all passed luckily and then something amazing happened.
During the course of the campaign one of my players had expressed interest in DMing or trying it out when we were done. I was totally down with that idea as I have never really had the experience of being a player and was ready for a break/wanted to move on from the forgotten realms and into my own homebrew setting. So unbeknownst to the rest of my player, me and this player had set up for the end of the starters set to be the beginning of a new story. It would deal with one of the player backstories and allow us to continuing playing weekly without needing to take a break.
So the party survives the initial cave in and I prompt them to head to the exit of the cave with all the speed they can muster. At this point, I stand up from my chair and take a step back. My player (the human warlock) stands up and takes my seat and I move over to his and sit down. The other players are so profoundly confused and are all looking at each other and me with question looks. The new DM says "ok guys, we are gonna roll some dex and strength saves to see if you escape the cave in. They roll and succeed and make it to the exit chamber of the cave, at this point our new DM narrates a beautiful description of his character who has been chaotic neutral making an ultimate change in alignment to save the people he has come to call friends. He sacrifices himself to keep the cavern from collapsing and flooding while they all escape. It was beautiful, upon exiting the mines the paladin dropped to his knees and offered a very sincere prayer to his god to bless the soul of his fallen friend and that he would always honor his memory.
At this point I am just watching all of this unfold a beautiful ending to the story I had been telling and constructing since October, and the passing of the baton to a new DM. It was at this point I may or may not have teared up a bit and gotten real emotional and fuzzy and warm inside.
The rest of the night dealt with setting up the next adventure hook and helping the new DM learn the ropes. I was introduced to the party and will be playing an Dwarven Monk who doesn't drink ale but has a profound interest in cooking and food. So much so that literally the 30lb capacity of my characters sack is filled with cooking supplies and ingredients. I am very excited to cook food and punch/kick bad people in the face till their bones are a fine powder. I am so excited to play but also can't wait to DM again. I am starting up a new group with 4 new players and will DM for them for the foreseeable future.
The final act of the night was to tell our new DM about a great podcast call The Dungeon Master's Block. Hopefully if he is wise, he will check it out.
