LFG: Roc Falls, Wizard Gnome Dies

Game Date: 10/12/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 15
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer a.k.a. "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (James, subbing for Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius (James) - Human Cleric
Doran of Clan Hawk (Eddie) - Human Barbarian
Jared (Cliff, subbing for Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Daniel, subbing for Thomas) - Human Monk
Vikao (Daniel) - Human Ranger
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul the Sleep Deprived (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:

Braaaains... nope, none here.

When we left off last session, we had befriended some exiles from Doran's tribe, who allowed us to make camp with them.  While Zuul and Demethius were on the first watch of the night, the encampment was attacked by a group of ghoulish undead.  Since most of us had been sound asleep, it took us a round or two for us to join in the fun.  Unfortunately we didn't yet have the benefit of an extended rest, so we had to face this battle with limited resources.  Jared used Entangle for a little crowd control, and Zuul's Turn Undead caused half of the enemies to flee the area.  The rest of the deadites didn't take too long to finish off.  We watched out for an hour or so to see if any more appeared, and then went back to bed.  Good thing that won't happen again, right?

Gamer Food

A few hours later our sleep was interrupted again, this time by the sound of birds screeching.  I'm starting to call this "The Island That Never Sleeps" because we so rarely make it through an entire rest.  This time the encampment under siege from a pair of Rocs, who kept swooping down and carrying off villagers.  One went straight for Woil, the party Wizard.  At first he managed to push it away with Thunderwave, but on the next round it ate him.  As one of the lower-level party members, he had a max HP of 12.  The Roc hit him for 32 damage, swallowing the little Gnome in one gulp. (Not the healthiest diet, but at least it wasn't beef snacks in spray cheese.)  We never even had the chance to heal him.

Steif was the next to get carried off.  While flying through the air in a Roc's beak, Steif attacked the monstrous bird, finishing it off...  then suddenly finding himself plummeting to the ground.  The fall dropped him below zero hit points, but we healed him before he could share Woil's fate.  The surviving Roc decided it had eaten enough, and flew away.

We (finally) finished our rest and continued our hike.  Eventually we reached a 100-foot rope bridge.  We were concerned the bridge might not hold our weight, so we tried going across one at a time and used some of our rope to reinforce it.  As it turned out, the bridge's structural integrity wasn't the problem.  No, the real challenge was the flock of pterodactyls that attacked anyone who tried to cross.  Luckily they weren't nearly as powerful as the Rocs, and we didn't lose any more party members.

Kill it with fire!

Our guide, Vikao, joined the party as we continued on our quest.  After the bridge, we reached a plateau and started following a river.  One night, while camping by the river, we were attacked by three trolls.  Demethius and Zuul were once again on watch (we've got to stop letting them watch).  The trolls managed to knock out Demethius before he even knew they were there, and he stayed near death through much of the fight.  Having been asleep, some of the party members weren't in their armor, which is never a great thing when facing trolls.  Keyleth used her favorite fire spell against one of the trolls, and spent the rest of the battle moving the fire around.  One of the trolls quickly realized she was responsible for this burning sensation, and punished her harshly.  Though bruised and battered, Keyleth got the last laugh when her spell eventually finished him off.

Troll Soccer

Steif decapitated another troll, which is a pretty mean feat considering he was using his fists.  However, the headless troll continued to fight, and the troll-less head continued to bite anyone who came near.  Steif tried to drop-kick the troll head, but instead the head ended up chomping on the Monk's ankles.  Steif spent the next few rounds wrestling the surprisingly agile head.  As the fight continued, both head and body started to regenerate into full trolls.  Another troll's severed arm also threatened to regenerate into an additional monster, but we didn't let it get far.  There were a lot of ups and downs in this fight, but eventually we got all the trolls down long enough to finish them off with fire.  We camped again and ended the session.

Reminders:
We might not play next Saturday 10/19, as our DM is scheduled to run a game at Nashville Comic-Con.  I will not be able to make it on 10/26 or 11/2, but there might not be a game on 11/2 anyway.