LFG: The Great Mudpit Caper

Game Date: 11/9/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 17
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer a.k.a. "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius (James) - Human Cleric
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Thomas) - Human Monk
Vikao (Daniel) - Human Ranger

The Session:
I missed the 10/26 session.  Apparently they reached a village inside a volcano.  The villagers asked our party to battle some cannibals that had been attacking the village.  They spent a good deal of last session fighting these cannibals.  They ended the session thwarted by a blocked tunnel.

Today we broke down a wall and started exploring some of the enemy tunnels.  After a few turns, the floor fell out from under us, dropping Halfbeard and Barad into a water-filled dungeon.  We went ahead and started investigating that level, slogging through chest-deep water past some old prison cells and torture devices.  Jared discovered a secret door which led to a room full of statues.

Statues... of Doom!

Of course the statues came to life and attacked us; what other reason would there be to have a room full of statues in D&D?  If I were the king of a fantasy realm, my first act would be have all sculptors put to death.  Anyway, these statues hit hard, and they were all around us.  At first we were getting creamed, until we fled the room and fought them in the doorway instead.  After that the fight was much easier, but we still used up a lot of healing resources.

Two of the statues fled through a trapdoor in the roof, but we caught up with them afterwards and destroyed them as well.  Back in the hallway and through another door, we found an enormous room filled with deep water.  The water was too murky to see anything.  It looks like the perfect place for an eventual boss fight.  We didn't want to mess with it just yet, so we picked a different hallway.

Ghouls... of Doom!

At the end of another long passage, we fought eight ghouls.  The hallway was only ten feet wide, so it was a rather structured fight.  Front fighters take out an enemy, move into the square, wash rinse repeat.  At the end of that hall we found a room with an altar, and looted a bone-handled mace.  We wanted to take a closer look at it, but we were pressured for time - our pushy Cleric was hoping to trigger another encounter before his Bless wore off.

No such luck.  We spent a good while exploring more halls, opening doors and getting very wet from the ensuing floods.  One particular blast of water swept us down some stairs, landing us in a cavern full of sand and mud pits.  The sand was very warm, and the mud pits were boiling.  We were afraid to explore too far into this cave just yet, so we headed back up the stairs.

Giant pool... of Doom!

In the next room we triggered a powerful flame trap.  Most of us were burned, some quite badly, and the damage continued due to burning oil and smoke inhalation.  Once the last of the water, smoke, and fire cleared out of the room, we sat down for an extended rest.  We ended the session there.  We believe the adjoining hallway leads back toward the giant pool room, so we'll probably head there next.

Update: I missed the 11/23 game due to it being an international geek holiday (The Day of the Doctor).  I don't know what happened, but here's where things left off, courtesy of Rusty:  "...the game ended with a mind-controlled Barad, Jaraed, and Golog fighting Damethius, Vikao, Steif, etc.  Steif briefly switched sides, but as things ended, Jaraed and the pirate wench were outright killed."  It looks like we'll be doing some Pathfinder playtesting for the next few weeks, so it might be a while before we see how things turn out.