Bensentials Session 6

Game Date: 3/29/2025

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 6

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Human Fighter (Champion)

Rick - Tabaxi Rogue (Assassin), Tiefling Druid (Running for absent player)

The Session: When we left off last session, the town had been attacked by giants, and our heroes had accepted the mission to teach them a lesson. I used the version of Against the Giants that appears in Tales from the Yawning Portal, but mostly just for the map of the compound.

The PCs approached the giant compound from the south, listened at the door, and heard snoring on the other side. They sent the rogue in first, and managed to kill the first giant in his sleep. The other guard woke up but found himself surrounded, and was quickly dispatched shortly thereafter. They looted a couple of storage crates, then explored the staircase in the southwest corner.

In the original module, this staircase goes up to a guard tower, I believe. But I had it go down to a maze room. I got the maze layout (mostly) from an adventure in the book "One-Shot Wonders" by Roll-n-Play Press. This is a fantastic book for DMs who need a quick idea for an impromptu session, and they're not even paying me to say that.

The maze paths were only five feet wide, and the walls were electrified. The only light came from electricity sparking on the walls. Touching the walls produced the same effect as the Lightning Bolt spell: If a PC touched the wall, they would have to make a DC 15 Dex save or take 8d6 lightning damage (save for half). The players figured out not to touch them after seeing the walls spark, and experimented by throwing copper pieces at the wall and watching the sparks.

So, don't touch the walls. Easy enough, right? But some hallways also featured electrodes that fired bolts of electricity every five seconds. Getting their timing right to pass through these hallways also required a Dex roll to keep from getting shocked.

The whole thing gave us something of a Pac-Man vibe. The maze was populated by some creatures I made up, which I haven't really named. For the sake of this blog, we'll call them Orbies. They looked like beach balls with rubbery skin. They had feet and eyes, but no mouths or arms. Behold my MS Paint skills:

Of course, they don't look like they present much of a challenge. No teeth, no claws, no weapons.. what harm could they possibly present? Here's the stat block I came up with, in case you want to use them:

Orbie

AC 15, 20 hit points, Speed 30, Initiative 5

Immunities: Lightning

Resistances: Bludgeoning

Weaknesses: Piercing

Attack: +8

On hit, 0 damage, but the target is knocked into the nearest wall within 10 feet.

The PCs learned pretty quickly to defeat these monsters fast, lest they get pushed into the shocking walls. The creatures popped like balloons when reduced to 0 (originally I was going to have them explode on death, but the encounter turned out to be hard enough without that).

Getting past the electrodes was difficult for the party. The sorcerer managed to block one off with his immovable rod. But later he left the party to backtrack and retrieve it, and he got shocked to death. He failed his three death saves while the rest of the party worked their way to the center of the maze.

They found that the Orbies themselves could help them get past some of the electrodes. If they kept an Orbie between the electrode and the party, the electric jolts would be blocked by the Orbie, allowing the party to pass through the tunnel harmlessly. So they had to think tactically to keep the Orbies where they wanted them.

They finally reached the center of the maze, where three large treasure chests lay in the center. I let them draw Treasure Trove cards from Nord Games to determine the loot. That's my second product plug in this blog and I'm still not getting paid, I promise. Each card has the players roll a d12 to pick the treasure.

They also found a control box down there that allowed them to turn off the electricity in the maze. Then they found the sorcerer's body and took him back to town.

There were three churches in town with resurrection services, and they paid to have the sorcerer brought back to life. Then they stayed in town a couple of days so he could recuperate. When they were well-rested, they returned up the mountain to take another crack at the giant compound.

Along the way, they came across a druid grove being attacked by a couple of hill giants. The party joined the fight and the druid priestess thanked them by leveling up their pet wolf (he's now dire) and blessing each member of the party with an inspiration die. She also informed them that the giants were on an angry rampage now, due to the party's earlier intrusion into their compound.

The rest of the session featured a lot of exploration, taking out giants one at a time as they traversed the compound. They rarely had to fight more than two giants at a time. The sorcerer managed to befriend three wolves that were being held at the compound - they'd been taken from the druid's grove and they'd been mistreated by the giants.

As they cleared out room after room, they liberated several human slaves. Some fled the compound, but others joined the party, though they were too weak to be of much help.

The party took a counter-clockwise route through the giant compound, saving the main hall for last. This is where they finally fought the leader and his closest allies. The sorcerer, who is a changeling, enlarged himself and made himself look like a giant. He was still quite short for a giant, but it was close enough to cause the confusion he needed.

The disguised sorcerer burst into the main hall and shouted, "There's been a rebellion! The slaves are escaping!" The leader pushed past him into the hallway, and the sorcerer braced the doors closed with his immovable rod. Then the rest of the party rushed in through the other doors on the opposite side of the hallway.

The giant leader banged on the doors while the party, the wolves, and the freed prisoners took out the giant's minions. After a few rounds the leader burst through the doors, only to find half his allies had been wiped out. The party had saved all their best moves and resources for this fight, and they took the leader out a few rounds later.

We wrapped up pretty quickly after that. The party looted what they could, then returned the wolves to the grove and began to lead the ex-prisoners back to town.

I ignored a large portion of the Against the Giants adventure, but we might revisit it at a higher level.

Bensentials Session 5

Game Date: 3/1/2025

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 5

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

Baileigh - Tiefling Druid (Circle of the Moon - 2024 rules)

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Human Fighter (Champion)

Rick - Tabaxi Rogue (Assassin)

The Session: Happy new year... Oh, it's March. Well, it's been a busy few months. Last October we ended the session one-third of the way through White Plume Mountain from Tales from the Yawning Portal. Today we picked up right where we left off.

This time they took the north path. The kelpies tried to lure them into the water, but the party wouldn't fall for their ploys. It wasn't a long fight. The party continued to follow the hallways until they fought the giant crab, retrieving the legendary item Wave, which the party Sorcerer claimed (after changing their religion).

They returned to the central junction and took the east path. They - somehow - correctly solved the Golem's puzzle (which number doesn't belong - 5, 7, 9, 11, or 13), so they didn't have to fight the golems, and one golem joined the party. Then they backtracked to the room with all the glass orbs. Even when they found the correct key, they continued smashing orbs to collect all the treasure in the room.

Heading back north again, they went through the one-way turnstile and entered the room with the hanging platforms and boiling mud. By utilizing a potion of flying and all the rope the party carried, they managed to make the puzzle a little easier.

Finally they faced the vampire in the magically darkened room. This was a difficult battle for obvious reasons, but they hacked away until they won. They probably couldn't have done it without the other two legendary weapons, Blackrazor and Wave. With the vampire now killed, they aquired the final weapon, Whelm. None of the party can weild it, but they're going to hang onto it for a while instead of collecting the reward money.

On their way out, they encountered the owner of the dungeon, an evil wizard who invited them to join his cult. The party refused, and fought the wizard along with his guards. The Sphynx joined the fight on the side of the party. This battle wasn't quite as difficult, and soon the party made their way back to town.

After a few days in town selling items and spending money, the city was attacked by hill giants. The party helped the town guard fend off the attackers. Shortly thereafter, the party was summoned to a town meeting, and hired to investigate a hill giant compound located on a nearby mountain.

Next session is scheduled for 3/29, where we will be starting the module Against the Giants, also from Tales from the Yawning Portal.

OAWYM: Don't Mess With The Johann

Game Date: 8/19/2017
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: OAWYM, Session 36
Module: Queen of the Spiders

System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Meece (Daniel) - Goblin Arcane Archer
Ulmack (Gary) - Halfling Monk
Val Ravensword (Matt) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
To paraphrase an old joke:

A small, timid man was hired as a bartender in a small town.  He worked for a few weeks with no problems. Then one day a someone rushed in shouting, “Everybody clear out!  Big Johann’s comin’!”

The customers quickly abandoned their drinks and cards, shoving each other in their hurry to exit the tavern.  Within seconds the tavern was empty.  The bartender was perplexed, but he figured that he'd best get out as well.  He started putting things away so he could lock up.

But before he could get very far, he heard the stomping of heavy boots approaching the tavern.  The door swung open so hard it fell off its hinges.  A barrel-chested giant of a man - easily nine feet tall - stomped into the tavern, shaking the building with every step.  He approached the bar, and slammed his fist on the counter.

"GIMME A BEER!" he bellowed.  His hands shaking, the bartender quickly pulled out a bottle from behind the bar, and set it in front of the giant.  The bartender started to hand him a glass, but the giant just bit off the top of the bottle and spit out the broken glass.  He swallowed the beer in one gulp and demanded another.

After his second beer, the giant stood up and said, "Sorry about the damage.  I hope this will cover it."  He set some money on the counter, more than enough to cover the beer and damages.  At this point the bartender thought that maybe this wasn't such a bad guy after all, and the townsfolk had just misunderstood him.  He asked the giant if he'd like another drink, on the house.

"Thanks," the giant said, "but I've got to get going.  Big Johann's coming!"

Today we started a new adventure.  Last session we were hired to sail cross the ocean and help some refugees who had been driven from their homelands by giants.  We sailed, we docked, we met some refugees.  We learned that it isn't just one type of giant, but variety of giants, as well as goblins, hobgoblins, human bandits, and several other races besieging the capital city.  Some of these are races that don't usually work together.  It's rumored that there is a greater power at work here, some great force organizing these giant soldiers.  Having read the novelization, I already know the answer to that one, but I'll try to act surprised.

We set out for the capital city, Istivin.  We took three carriages, each drawn by two horses.  Our party was in the middle carriage.  On the first day, Halfbeard noticed that the road led into an area that would be perfect for an ambush.  And he was right.  He spotted an Ogre about to drop a tree on us, and suddenly we were surrounded by at least sixty ogres.  We discussed going out in a blaze of glory, but Ulmack decided to parlay.

The ogres just wanted food.  We agreed to give them some of the horses, and they let us pass.  We combined everything into one carriage and continued the trip.  On the second day, we encountered a single hill giant, but it was a short fight.  We joked about that one all day.  Later we met some soldiers, who gave us news about giant raiding parties in the area.  We told him about our encounter with the ogres the previous day, and he confirmed there were some disorganized groups of monsters wandering around the area.

We finally reached a small town, and in true D&D fashion, headed straight for the inn.  Once seated, we saw a customer harassing a waitress.  Val walked over and intimidated him into leaving.  As he left, he threatened us, telling us that he'd be back with his friends to raze the town.  The townsfolk were not grateful.  It turns out the customer was one of Big Johann's men.  BJ was a frost giant, and his followers had been causing trouble lately.

So, we did our duty.  Not wanting to bring ruin to the town, we marched out of the town's front gate, and prepared to defend it.  We didn't have to wait long.  Big Johann rode forward on a mammoth, surrounded by ten hill giants, and the human Val had threatened.  We didn't bother trying to reason with them, we just rolled initiative.

Halfbeard, now invisible, flew his broom over the battlefield and landed on the back of the mammoth, behind Johann.  Val and Meece concentrated their attacks on Johann in the early rounds, while Ulmack worked his way through the hill giant grunts.  After a few rounds, the townsfolk sent some archers to help us out.  Val dealt the killing blow to Johann, and Halfbeard managed to calm down the panicking mammoth.

Ulmack finished off the human, so now we just faced the hill giants.  They had low AC and for various reasons they had disadvantage on most of their attacks, so it wasn't too difficult a fight.  Once the battle was over, Val took a trophy braid from Johann, and tied it to her armor.  The townsfolk now adored us, and treated us like royalty as we stayed the night.

The next day we continued our trip to Istivin. At one point we saw a caravan of stone giants.  They turned out to be peaceful.  One of them approached us waving a white flag, and told us a bit of a prophecy involving the rise of dark forces. Once they had passed, we continued to Istivin without incident.

Istivin had a giant black globe bisecting part of the city.  It looked like a sphere of darkness, except it was actually solid.  We were led to the leader, and he explained more fully.  The sphere had appeared a month ago.  Only natives to the area are able to enter the sphere, but none of them have returned.

Once again we were told of how the giants are more organized than giants usually are, and that there must be a secret mastermind behind these attacks. Some dark, pointy-eared menace that can manipulate other armies with their spider-like machinations, staying in the shadows, emerging only underdark of night.  If only we could figure out this puzzle!

We have been tasked with finding out this secret.  We need to find out who is directing these attacks, and maybe even defeat them.  And if we can recover some of the treasure the giants have stolen, we're allowed to keep it.  They told us we should start with the hill giant settlements, because they are the lowest level closest in proximity.  Mission in hand, we ended the session there.

OAWYM: When Treasure Attacks

Game Date: 7/29/2017
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: OAWYM, Session 35
Module: Scourge of the Slave Lords, Queen of the Spiders

System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Halfbeard (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Meece (Daniel) - Goblin Arcane Archer
Ulmack (Gary) - Halfling Monk
Val Ravensword (Matt) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
After being asked to retrieve a book from a monastery, we fought several zombie monks and took a short rest.  Once we felt ready to continue, we explored more of the monastery.  We looked into a couple of empty rooms, finding a dorm and a kitchen, before reaching a much larger throne room.

The room had a river of lava separating us from a throne and two chests.  (This world's architects are crazy.)  But before we could think of going that direction, there were nine more zombie monks facing us.  Ulmack and Halbeard managed to kill one before the monks got a turn.  On Val's turn she used Turn the Unholy, causing four of the remaining eight to flee.  Then Val took more damage, lowering her maximum HP, down even more from last session.

Once we finished off the four, we went after the other four that had fled, and killed them one by one.  It was like shooting fish in a barrel.  We took another short rest in the dorm area, and headed back to the throne room.  We used our various flying items to get over the lava, and examined the new area.  Val checked out one chest while Ulmack looked at the other.  Val's chest was locked, and Ulmack's was a mimic.

Ulmack thwacked the mimic, and Val ran over to finish it off.  Val used her Detect Undead and felt a strange presence coming from the throne.  A red mist coalesced on the throne, and became a robed Elf vampire.  Meece used his winged boots to fly to the other side of the lava, attacking from range.  The vampire used Charm on Halfbeard, so we now faced two opponents.  The vamp tried to charm Val as well, but she was immune.

Halfbeard attacked Val, and brought her down to 1 very quickly.  Only her Half-Orc Relentless Endurance kept her on her feet.  We hit the vampire a few more times, attacking Halfbeard whenever the vampire was out of range.  We finally did enough damage to the vampire that it dissipated, turning back into a mist and escaping through holes in the throne.

Defeating the vamp didn't end Halfbeard's charm, so we had to take him down to 0.  Then we tied him up and healed him.  He was angry, but we managed to talk him into a truce.  (The Charm finally wore off 24 hours later.)  Then Val smashed open the remaining chest and found the book we'd been sent to find.  Back to town.

Once we gave our questgiver back his MacGuffin, he arranged passage for us on a merchant ship.  We hid aboard the ship until we were out of Iron Circle territory, and eventually made it back to Sarthel.  We managed to claim part of an old Iron Circle barracks to call our home base while we waited on more opportunities.  We have been given the title "The Knights of Sarthel."

A few weeks later Dame Gold requested our presence.  A barbarian prince had come to plead for help. His homeland was being invaded by giants.  The barbarians suspected that a greater force was behind the giants' actions.  He wanted assistance in defeating the giants, and to find out what was behind the attacks.  We agreed to travel to his homeland and assist their efforts.  And thus begins the next module.  We ended the session there, traveling to the prince's country.