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.

Bensentials Session 4

Game Date: 10/12/2024

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 4

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

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

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Shifter Monk (Way of Shadow), Human Fighter (Champion)

Rick - Assimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance), Tabaxi Rogue (Assassin)

The Session: When we left off last week, they were finally ready to face the dragon. Today they bought a few things in town to get ready, then climbed up the mountain on horseback. They fought a few ice mephits while on the chasm-lined path (this encounter isn't in the book but it felt interesting), and then they made their way into the guardhouse.

They knew they weren't alone when they saw that there were already other horses in the stables. They listened at one door and heard four bandits talking about how they knew a party had arrived. They bandits agreed that they would con the PCs into helping them defeat the dragon, and then they would betray the PCs while they were still recovering from the battle.

So the PCs decided to pull the same con - they befriended the bandits, with the understanding that they would kill them after the dragon fight. The group continued to explore the guardhouse, then they crossed a bridge over a chasm, and searched the keep. They fought a few more ice mephits (they were stirges in the module, but I wanted something a little tougher), then finally made their way up to the roof where the dragon slept.

The module called for a young white dragon, but I've had my adult white dragon mini for 15 years and I've never used it. So that's what we used. I still used the young dragon stats, though... mostly.

They spent several minutes deciding on how they would approach the fight. Finally they decided to sneak into positions around the edges of the roof. The paladin's opening move took off a huge chunk of the dragon's health. Then the dragon turned around and used his frost breath on the paladin, taking him down to 0 hit points. 

Some of the others tried to help the paladin, but the icy roof meant people kept falling down when running to his aid. He failed three consecutive death saves over the next few rounds.

The dragon took to the skies for a round, then landed and knocked a bandit off the roof with a swipe of its tail. Everyone converged on the great beast and finished it off with no further lives lost. Then the PC and the bandits turned on each other. This proved to be harder than the dragon fight, but the PCs prevailed in the end. They gathered up the treasure and returned to town.

Then everyone leveled up, except the paladin, who remains dead. He replaced his character with a Tabaxi rogue. Next we discussed what to do next. It looks like we'll be trying out the Strixhaven module, though we're going to take a quick detour to White Plume Mountain (the version from Tales of the Yawning Portal) first.

The rogue solved the sphinx's riddle, and they started with the western path. They dealt with hallway that heats metal, fought some ghouls, and spent a while getting through the frictionless room. Finally they reached the "inverted ziggurat" room and spent the next hour or two fighting the multi-tiered menagerie. They managed to open the safe at the bottom without setting off the vibration trap, and convinced the oni to give them their prize: the legendary sword Blackrazor.

Afterthoughts: White Plume Mountain is a fun, wacky module, with a variety of encounters that don't really make sense when put together. I read the novel 11 years ago (yeesh time flies), and I've been wanting to run it ever since. Next session we will finish White Plume Mountain, and then possibly start the Strixhaven campaign if there's time. We also plan to update all the characters to the 2024 rules before next session. 

Unfortunately this group's days are numbered, as I will be moving out of state in a few months, but we're going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Bensenstials Session 3

 Game Date: 9/14/2024

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 3

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

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

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Shifter Monk (Way of Shadow), Human Fighter (Champion)

Rick - Assimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

TJ - Elf Ranger (Hunter - 2024 rules)

The Session: We left off halfway through the Woodland Manse quest. This time we added two new players. Note that the two new players are using 2024 character creation rules, while the three original players are still using the 2014 rules. Note that the new players had never played D&D before.

Woodland Manse: Last session had the players finding a secret room in the top floor of the mansion. Then they heard some orcs entering the room they'd come from. The two new players, a druid and a ranger, had been watching the mansion from the woods, and saw the party go in. This led to a very large battle between a bunch of orcs and the players.

Axeholm: This is the biggest dungeon they've conquered so far. It took a couple of hours, but the PCs eventually cleared out every room. The druid spent most of her time transformed into a rat, scouting ahead of the party in the inconspicuous form.

Shipwreck: This encounter killed the party's monk last session. Today it was much easier. The new druid turned into a shark and retrieved most of the treasure with no combat required.

Shrine of Savras: The party explored the ruins of an old church, where they fought some orcs. Then the Paladin received a vision showing him the location of the Dragon's nest. We had to end the session at this point.

Notes: All that's left is to fight the dragon.They know where it is, but reaching it won't be easy. Since this is likely to be a short session, I will try to find something to prepare to keep it going.

Afterthoughts: Using old and new characters together seems to work just fine. The druid seemed to be the most valuable charcter of the session. Her versatility made her useful in every situation.

Bensentials Session 2

 Game Date: 8/17/2024

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 2

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Shifter Monk (Way of Shadow), Human Fighter (Champion)

Rick - Assimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

The Session: This was a continuation of a practice campaign we started in March.

Butterskull Ranch: The party went to the basement at first and rescued Big Al. He came with them and helped clear out the orcs.

Logger's Quest: The party only had to fight one ankheg. Then they found and destroyed the totem that causes the rest of the ankhegs to leave the camp.

Dragon Barrow: The party did not find all the treasure. Once they aquired the Dragon Slayer Sword and fought the invisible stalker, they left the rest of the tomb undisturbed. 

Tower of Storms: The party fought the boss and returned the conch shell to the banshee. Then they explored the shipwrecks. They only had one potion of water breathing, so they sent Bryan's monk. Unfortunately he was killed by the sharks before he could find any treasure, and he had to roll up a new character.

Woodland Manse: The party made their way through most of the mansion, found the secret room and aquired the removeable rod. They made a lot of noise and the orcs came to investigate, but they closed the secret door. We had to call the session short, so next month they will have just have the one final encounter to finish this quest.

 

Notes: The party is currently at level 4, but will level up to 5 after they finish the Woodland Manse quest.

Bensentials Session 1

Game Date: 3/23/2024

Location: Home Game
Campaign: Bensentials, Session 1

System: D&D 5e
DM: Matt

The Party:

Ben - Changeling Sorcerer (Draconic)

Bryan - Shifter Monk (Way of Shadow) 

Rick - Assimar Paladin (Oath of Vengeance)

The Session: A friend's daughter's boyfriend (...'s brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate) wanted to learn how to play D&D, so I ran the Essentials Kit again. We played for about four hours and got through the first three mini-quests. We spent about as much time building and leveling up characters as we did playing the actual game, but that's only because none of the players had played 5e before.

Dwarven Excavation Quest: The very first hit in combat brought the Monk down to zero hit points. I do think that the oozes in this quest are a little overpowered for level 1 characters, but at least we had three people in the party this time. The other two players were able to kill the monster and heal their fallen friend.

Ghomengarde Quest: Because it worked pretty well in the last Essentials campaign, I had them rescue a wolf whose pack had been killed by the white dragon. They healed the wolf's injuries and it joined the party as a DM-controlled NPC. This job had more exploration than actual fighting, and the battle against the mimic wasn't too difficult for them. 

Umbrage Hilll Quest: With three attacks per round, the manticore is pretty tough. The Monk and the Paladin both went down, but the monster only had a couple of hit points left at that point, so it turned out okay. The woman they rescued was a professional potion brewer, and she brought everyone back up to full health afterward.

Afterthoughts: I think it went well. The players seemed to have a good time. I don't know if we'll meet back for another session, but if we do, we're off to a good start.

Note: Everyone is now level three. They started the Butterskull Ranch quest but had to end the session shortly afterward, so if we do play again we'll start there.