Sunless Citadel - Session 1 or "You're supposed to be heroes... right?"

What a great start to the adventure! I think there were somewhere around 30-35 brand new players at Emerald Knights last Wednesday for our start of The Yawning Portal. It seemed like most of them had either never played before or had some limited experience playing. These are some of my favorite players as it can create some unique storytelling moments since they don't know the world and some of the limitations. The ideas that can be generated can be absolutely hilarious!


Party Makeup:

    Goronk - Halfling Paladin
    Ophelia Crow - Human Bard
    Harley - Halfling Rogue
    Poggles - Half-Elf Sorceror
    Excellence - Tiefling Rogue
    Ro - Silver Dragonborn Warlock

The session got off to a slow start as we had about an hour (an almost hour and a half) of character creation and table assignment. Once we got situated (around 8:00 pm), I had my players go around the table to introduce their characters and try to come up with a way they met. A few had some really great ideas including saving a thief from being caught by framing a random person on the street, and a Halfling Paladin trying to ride a fox, failing and receiving pity from a passing Dragonborn Warlock.


Once the team building was over, we jumped into the adventure. The players did not react kindly to Shule's condescension and immediately started plotting to kill him (yikes). They eventually agreed to go to Oakhurst, retrieve the apple and investigate where the apple comes from. On the way to Oakhurst, they ran across a small homestead being attacked by a group of Kobolds. The homestead had a mother and two children defending themselves against 3 Kobolds and the husband dead in the middle of the road. The house was on fire, and their 2 cows were lying dead in the barn. The characters dispatched the kobolds without much trouble (curse their initiative rolls!). Then the Paladin ran over to the man and healed him. Typically if an NPC is dead, I would say that they couldn't revive him without a spell like revivify or raise dead. When I come to a quandary like this, I usually roll a die and ask the player to pick low or high. If the player guesses correctly, then the outcome is in their favor (Thanks, Tom Lommel!). Lucky for them, the Paladin guessed correctly, and I allowed him to bring the man back to life with lay on hands.


However... The Tiefling decided that they deserved to be compensated for their trouble and bringing the husband back to life, so she tried to extort the shaken woman for some gold. The woman didn't have much on her but was willing to part with 5CP. They then discovered 24SP on the Goblins, and the Halfling Rogue had a moment of compassion and donated 5SP to the family. Huzzah for charity, however begrudgingly it may be!


The investigation of the cows was fruitful as well. They discovered that the cows had been slain in the night by something other than Kobolds. Needle-like puncture wounds dotted their corpses. Unfortunately, they failed their nature checks to identify the creature/weapon that could have done this and continued on their way to Oakhurst.


Things got hairy in Oakhurst. The Goblins were setting up a stage in the middle of the town with the intention of auctioning off the apple. The characters basically marched right up to them and started questioning them with the intention of killing the goblins and stealing the apple. I managed to steer them away from slaughtering the Goblins in broad daylight in the middle of the town, but then they decided to try to take the Goblin (Gnell - risky choice for me) to the back of a building and conduct their affairs away from prying eyes. At this point, the Paladin remembers that Shule was with them to verify the authenticity of the apple. He runs to the Inn to grab Shule and gets back just in time to stop the mugging and make a deal.


They then investigated the town by talking to the bartender, blacksmith, and mayor. Finally, after insulting the mayor's ability to run Oakhurst effectively, they decided to go to the Citadel.


At this point, we had about 30 minutes left. I really should have let them play in the town more, then start next week in the dungeon, but alas.


The sorcerer cast dancing lights down into the pit to reveal the length of rope, and the Paladin took it upon himself to slide all the way down to the bottom. Wearing heavy armor. Not being stealthy. At this point, I had them roll for the initiative because a lone character is a tasty snack for 3 giant rats.


Unfortunately for me, my dice continued to betray me, and the monsters went last... Everyone was able to get down the rope in time to make quick work of the rats (except for the bard who hung out at the top, then slid down the rope and cast Eldritch Blast into the darkness).


When they finally got down the switchbacks, they found the sunken courtyard. The Paladin rushed into the middle of the yard and stumbled across the first trap. He fell into the 10-ft pit and... they rolled for initiative. Mr. Giant Rat performed moderately well this time. The Tiefling leaped heroically into the air, flipping, and landing in the pit with her daggers plunging into the rat's flesh. Then the rat did 6 damage to the Tiefling but was finally slain by the Bard.


The next section is a large tower, 30-ft high with some dead Goblins and writing in Draconic pointing toward Ashardalon and the Cult of the Dragon. They're obviously on edge now about traps and proceeded to investigate the room thoroughly for traps, but failed to notice a secret door.


And, that's where we ended things after the Warlock used his unseen servant to look down a hall and empty room.

We should see some exciting developments if the characters continue with their anti-hero motif. I foresee a TPK in their future :)