Epic D&D Day

Today I had two D&D games - one for my own group, one for the group Mac runs. I'm currently running a pre-gen module called The Last Breaths of Ashenport. My PCs, as members of the Silver Company, have been dispatched to Ashenport to investigate the rumors that every year around this time, travelers to Ashenport mysteriously disappear. The flavor of the module is distinctly Lovecraftian, and I thought it would be excellent for this time of year. To add to the atmosphere, I played the Spooky Symphonies Pandora station on my laptop. It was horror, and it was terrific! It was HORRIFIC! Wait... 

Visit scenic Ashenport at least once
(immediately) before you die!

In the first session of this adventure, our PCs made their way to Ashenport in the driving rain and immediately sought shelter at the  well-appointed Smooth Sailing Tavern and Inn. They find that the inn is all but full with various treasure seekers and merchants, along with their bodyguards. Everyone settles in for the night without incident. But then! In the middle of the night a strange call is heard emerging from the ocean. Many cannot resist it's song, and are compelled to walk towards the ocean (no doubt, to drown). I didn't feel like printing all the maps for this adventure, but luckily I had a large-scale town map for the PCs to use. In order to snap their friends and the other traveler at the inn out of their trance, every adventurer who was aware had to attack their allies and the NPCs. Heh, that was fun.

To make a long story short (too late) the party quickly realizes that no townspeople seem to be affected by this call. They intimidate a frightened villager into revealing that a ritual is being performed that will protect the town and preserve its prosperity. The site of the ritual is the Gleaming Dawn church - before the PCs could act of this information, another call sounded. They rushed back to the inn to help save their fellow travelers (securing promised rewards for their efforts). On their way to the church, they were ambushed by abhorrent fish-men, foul creations spat up by whatever evil lurks beneath the waters of Ashenport.

GROSS.

In today's session, the PCs finally made it to the church - well, to the base of the hill the church sits upon. I decided to throw in a modified version of this puzzle challenge (source: The Player's DM, Puzzle of the Week), just to make the trip up more interesting than a simple Athletics check. My players did well, though not everyone could understand the puzzle. I feel like puzzles and riddles can be hit or miss, but are generally well-received by my group.

Once inside the church, the party fought two tough battles and made their way through a trapped corridor. They ended up taking a lot of damage and were running out of healing surges, so tension was high (yay). They decided to take an extended rest in an easily-defensible area of the dungeon - a small study off the trapped corridor. The module implies that the ritual is happening that night, but I can't imagine them going on without a rest. I will probably just hand-wave that the ritual is still ongoing when they emerge from their rest. Or will I? Dun dun DUNNNNNNN.

Next post: Mac's game!