The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 15 - Fractured Facktore Tales and the Amazing Blunicorn

The prep...

Crossbow machine to the north and wine room
of death to the east. Nice and safe.

So I had most of the material prepped already for this session. The big change was turning Fracktore, the gnome in room G7 from an insane scientist into a traumatized witness to the murders of the gnomes in the dining room. I took this idea from Sly Flourish and his excellent article about running this adventure. This allows the characters to use roleplaying to get more information out of her about what she witnessed. Her paranoia is fueled by the fact that she saw the attack, and realizes that the attacker is a shapeshifter of some kind. This gives the players another ally they can use as they work their way through the complex, one with a bit of knowledge.

I re-read about the rooms the trio hadn't explored yet, just to get a refresher about them. I was going to have the attack occur in the room G8, with the wine casks for sure. I also prepped the magical items that the characters would get from this excursion. I felt like we were good with ending this portion of the adventure tonight. I got my gnome voices ready and then we started.

The story...

The Rogue, Druid and Donnabella (magical unicorn) discussed where they wanted to go next. They were warned about the crazy gnome Fractore, in the room to the south, but they hoped that maybe they could get past her without things getting out of hand. The players were extremely cautious moving down the corridors. I described how this corridor was different. As they neared the room, torches were set up, as well as lamps.

Alternate crossbow machine, human made instead of
gnome made.

The Druid rolled a high perception roll and I told her that she realized that the positioning of the torch would cause her shadow to move in front of her as she walked down the corridor. They realized that Fracktore was using this as a way to determine when someone was coming down the hall. The Rogue used her sneaky skills to inch down the corridor, masking her shadow with clever placement. She was able to peek into the next room and get a good look at the room layout and the mechanical crossbow design.

The Rogue went back to the group and they discussed a little further. The machine could fire a crossbow in four different directions and was controlled by a gnome operator in the seat above the crossbows. They decided to try to talk to Fracktore and hopefully get the gnome to stay calm. They made a big production about going down the hall, and the gnome called out a warning. They responded that they were here to catch the murderer, and needed her help. She didn't trust them, saying any one of them could be the killer. The discussion continued, but Fracktore lost her patience and fired down the hall at them. She missed, and the Rogue used a well placed arrow to damage the machine.

"I swear it was supposed to do that... any data
is good data!"

This caused a break in the attack and made room for more talking. The group explained that they had talked with the kings and the inventors and were really there to help. Some high persuasion rolls (thanks to the Druid's awesome hat) were able to convince Fracktore that they were honest folk. The gnome described how she was in the dining room discussing how there shouldn't be two cutlery cabinets. She is in charge of work orders and if anyone is going to be building cabinets, they need to clear it with her. Suddenly the cabinet attacked! It had teeth and a horribly long tongue and messily devoured two gnomes before she was able to run away.

The group noticed that her tools on her belt were well cared for and very shiny. They reasoned that the shimmering the King saw during the attack could have been the sunlight from the nearby cave entrance reflecting off Fracktore's tool belt (I admit I had to stretch that a bit, but it got the group to stop obsessing over the "shimmering light clue"). The gnome explained how she had been hard at work on this machine for days and had little sleep. The group promised to guard her while she took a nap, and this boosted her trust in them. She vowed to help them out after a couple of hours rest.

The group took this time to talk about the possible shapeshifters this creature might be. They didn't roll all that well, and couldn't come up with anything. Once Fracktore was awake she joined them on their continued exploration of the complex.

To quote one of players, "Ewww, just... ewww."

Up next was the wine cask room, where the murderer was hidden. They walked in and I described how there were twelve barrels of wine in the room as well as a couple of gnome sized mugs on the wall. They asked Fracktore about the room, and she told them how they would move the barrels around using the crab contraption machines. She said that it was part of her job to keep an inventory over all eleven barrels. The Rogue was getting some wine at that moment, picking the barrel right next to the one where the mimic was hiding. I rolled a D12 and got an 11 for mimic placement. The Rogue was at barrel twelve.

The players picked up immediately that Fracktore said eleven barrels and there were twelve in here. The Rogue immediately backed away from the barrels. I rolled a 1D4 behind my screen: evens it attacked her, odds it did nothing. I rolled a 3. The group asked Fracktore if it was possible that someone added a new barrel. She said they would have to have a work order and no one had given her one in the past few days - because she was shooting at anyone who came down the hall.

The Rogue pulled out some ball bearings form her pack and then started to toss them at each of the barrels. She skipped the one she had pulled a drink of wine from, and went for the one next to it. I described how the ball bearing didn't bounce off but sunk in for a moment. Then we rolled initiative.

Donnabella in one of the pre-chosen forms!

It was a fun battle, with the mimic being a gross creature and its tongue being just plain disgusting to the players. Donnabella cast Firebolt and a wild magic effect occurred - she turned blue! At that moment the group dubbed her the Amazing Blu-nicorn. The Rogue took some shots at the monster, but it moved in close and attacked her, doing some serious damage. The Druid cast Moonbeam on the creature. This caused a wild magic effect of the Druid sprouting wings! But more importantly the moonbeam attack caused the mimic to drop it's disguise. They saw it as a puddle of translucent goo. More fire spells were unleashed and the moonbeam did a good amount of damage. The creature was finally slain.

With that accomplished the trio went back to tell the inventors and the kings the good news. There was much rejoicing, and the kings kept up their end of the deal. They ordered that their best magical inventions be given to these heroes. The characters received a Hat of Wizardry, a Wand of Pyrotechnics, a Clockwork Amulet and a Pole of Collapsing. I think the players were a bit disappointed by the bounty. Still they decided to accept the gnomish hospitality for the evening and sup with them and talk about their adventures.

The post...

Sometimes a barrel of monkeys is just a barrel of
monkeys and not a mimic.

This session was a bit strange because we only really had two encounters the whole night. They spent a lot of time around Fracktore, first trying to figure out how to approach her, next spending time discussing what she saw and how she could help them. It was some good roleplaying and I think the players really felt bad for the poor traumatized gnome. After that the whole sequence in the wine storage room was pretty suspenseful, especially when they realized there were too many wine casks in the room. They spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the best way to reveal the killer - if there was one and it wasn't just an extra barrel that was delivered without Fracktore knowing.

I did end up speeding through the bit at the end with the kings and the awarding of the gifts. We were running out of time for the session and I wanted wrap up the adventure and not leave any dangling for the next session. The players were having a good time, but I also go the feeling that they were ready to head back to Phandalin for the festival.

Up Next...

Session 16: Botched Bountyhunters

Don't Mephit Up - Low Level Elemental Enemies

One thing I've noticed when watching/experiencing low level play in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons is the tendency to use either goblins or kobolds as the first couple encounters for a low level party. Nothing wrong with that, but you or your party may want to try something a bit different the next time. And no, having them kill rats in a cellar doesn't count either.

One variant you may want to look into are Mephits, found on page 215 - 217 of the fifth edition Monster Manual. These little guys are elemental based enemies with a variety of abilities to make combat encounters challenging, but have low hit points (HP) and average armor class (AC) to keep them from getting overwhelming in low numbers.

"Here's mud in your eyes!"

You get six flavors of Mephit, and depending on what kind of environment you are using they can fit into just about any one. Mephits are made from a combination of two elements. So the mud Mephit is made of water and earth. A steam Mephit is fire and water. They are tricksters by nature, and they are usually summoned by magic to guard an area or defend a spell caster.

Most Mephits have the False Appearance ability, which allows them to hide in plain sight, allowing them to get the jump on a party, especially in their favored environment. So mud Mephits hiding a swamp are going to be very hard to to detect. All Mephits also have the Death Burst ability, which causes them to explode when they are killed, causing a Saving Throw for anyone within 5 feet of them or there are consequences. Sometimes it is damage, but other times it can be a condition. For example if a dust Mephit is destroyed, anyone within 5 feet of the Mephit must make a Constitution Saving throw or be blinded for one minute.

Mephits have a standard claw or fist attack that typically does 4 of a standard damage type (slashing or bludgeoning). But a few add some elemental damage to the average damage (typically fire). They also have a breath attack they can use once and recharge on a die roll of 6 on a 1D6. These breath weapons act much like the Death Burst causing damage or a condition impact if the saving throw is failed.

With six types to choose from and a bunch of different abilities and actions you can come up with some really interesting encounters for a low level party to deal with.

His breath is actually very refreshing.

I used Mephits in a one shot adventure for 1st and 2nd level characters. The Mephits were part of a defense system a wizard had put in place in his lair. They acted as guardians and part of a larger puzzle to figure out. So the Mephits would lie in wait using their False Appearance ability for the characters to make the wrong selection during the puzzle and either attack or just mess with the characters. The Ice Mephit could create a Fog Cloud that caused problems for the characters trying to solve the puzzle. While the Mud Mephits were acting more as attackers for a combat situation.

You can also have the Mephits working as minions for a wizard. Maybe the sorceress sends Magma Mephits to start a fire in a keep, or heat the metal weapons of the guards as she attempts to sneak into the keep and poison the characters.

As in most cases, at 1st level these little guys can be lethal, especially with their Death Burst ability. So you may want to keep the numbers low. But at higher levels, even if they get one shot, Mephits can present a challenging encounter and one that is sure to shake things up if you are looking for an alternative to goblins or kobolds.

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary - Episode 14 - Scum and Villainy

The prep...

So it was time for the Rogue to deal with her debt and meet the bounty hunter I cooked up for her. I reviewed the bounty hunter's stats and got Haylia's toughs ready in case they were going to get involved in this whole mess.

But the real prep revolved around getting Gnomengarde ready and rolling. I was dreading this section a little bit. It was the most involved map we've worked with yet. It has a bunch of characters, nearly all of them are extremely wacky and wild. Speaking of wild, there is wild magic going on, and my Druid and Donnabella are primarily spell casters. I wasn't sure if the players would find this fun, or just annoying. And then there the gnomish voices - how high pitched did I want to make them?

But really the big issue was the murder mystery element. I wanted to give the characters enough to learn and explore so they didn't get frustrated, but I wanted to keep in intense and interesting all at the same time. I decided to seed some additional clue into the story when it seemed appropriate. I also used some advice from Sly Flourish about turning Facktore into a witness to the murders (see more about that in the next diary).

The way I saw this, it could either go really well, or flop really hard.

The story...

"I is spy."

So the session started with the Rogue and Druid accepting Haylia's invitation to meet with her at night. As they headed to the Miner's Exchange they moved slowly and kept eyes open for a trap. Sure enough the WORST SPY EVER halfling was watching them. I rolled for stealth for the little guy and he got a one. So I said he was hiding in the shadows of a building when someone put a oil lamp in the window and illuminated his shape. The Rogue snuck up behind him as the Druid distracted him by playing with her Produce Flame cantrip. It worked, the Rogue captured his sorry butt and dragged him into the Exchange to confront... meet with Haylia.

Haylia's poker face broke for a second when she saw the captured halfling but she waved off the spy as just an inept fool who she regretted hiring. More important was the fact that the messenger from Neverwinter arrived asking about the Rogue's debt, and made it clear that a bounty had been issued. Haylia explained that if the Rogue paid a bit of the debt right now, it would give Haylia leverage to negotiate with the messenger.

The Rogue wanted to talk to the messenger, to find out what they knew. Haylia gestured to the mysterious cloaked figure in the corner. I described the figure as being mostly in shadow, but they could make out fine leather boots with some scrollwork on them, as well as a rapier scabbard of excellent make. The Druid being part of the Circle of the Underdark recognized the scrollwork as Drow in style and I mentioned of wisp of silver white hair peeking from the hood. The player became convinced it was Jarlaxle (an infamous Drow crime lord) which gave me a chuckle. The figure didn't say anything, but Haylia kept talking, telling the Rogue that it was in her best interest to fork over a little gold, 10 pieces at least to start.

Dark elf assassin or bard groupie?

The Rogue grumbled and handed Haylia 50 gold pieces and said the rest would be coming soon. Haylia was pleased and said it put her in a much better position to bargain with... the messenger. The adventurers left, grumbling to themselves and securing their bedroom in the Stonehill Inn. The next morning they met Donnabella already waiting for them and bursting to go on a real adventure with two real heroes. The fan-girl antics made both players chuckle.

So it was off to the mysterious Gnomengarde. The ladies chatted a bit as they headed to the river and followed it up to the waterfall that marked the entrance to the gnome enclave. They got a kick out of the little islands dotted with giant mushrooms. Of course the Druid had to check those out and I described them as having different scents and attributes (the green ones had a yeasty smell, the purple ones smelled fermented, and the red had an oily sheen).

It was a little tricky describing the entrances to the complex. I was trying to avoid using the map for this one and stick to theater of the mind. But my players did get a bit confused by the whole thing. Eventually they decided to climb up to one of the ledges on the west side. This lead to the "bunkhouse" full of sleeping gnomes. The group rolled really well with stealth and passed by the snoozing gnomes without an incident.

From here they went to the laboratory to meet the two bickering gnome inventors. This was a fun encounter as I had both gnomes constantly arguing with each other, talking rapidly and getting off course with any bit of conversation that reminded them of one of their inventions. Eventually the two inventors pleaded with the heroes to find a killer in the complex. If they caught or killed this murder, then the gnomes would give them some of their best magic items. The players agreed.

"It will work perfectly, as soon as I figure out what it does."

I described how one of the gnome kings had gone mad after seeing two of his people murdered right in front of him. After it happened he ran to the throne room and locked it tight. He then proceeded to glue the other king to the throne so he would remain out of danger. This makes perfect sense because... gnomes. The inventors advised the heroes to try to talk to the mad king and see if they can get anything out of him. They said he was ranting and raving and that maybe if the killer was caught he would return to his normal state.

The players also found out that one of the inventions here was a strange portal that lead from a "trash barrel" to the "treasure barrel" in Barthan's. They also learned that the clockwork goldfish they found way back at the start of the campaign came from here. The gnomes were fascinated by this development and asked the characters to try an experiment by forcing "Bruce" the goldfish through the barrel at the other end to see if appeared in Gnomengarde. The players found this funny, not sure if they are going to try it or not.

So the characters went to meet with the king. Sure enough he sounded pretty darn crazy. He refused to open the door to the throne room. But he did tell them that he saw massive sharp teeth, a long tongue and a sparkle of light right before the attack. Now I added that bit about the sparkle of light because I thought the dining room (where the attack happened) was closer to the waterfall than it turned out to be. This caused a bit of a problem as the players became obsessed with the sparkle of light as they tried to piece together the mystery.

The inventors had warned the characters about Facktore, a gnome who had also gone mad and was shooting anyone who came near her with a massive crossbow device. The characters wanted to avoid her. So they left the complex the way they came in (awakening a gnome named Quibby who thought she was having a dream about elves and demons). They crossed the river (with all three failing their Dex checks and getting soaked. And then climbed to one of the eastern platforms. Here they found the dining room.

Gnomes come running for the great
taste of 1up.

Here is where the mysterious murderer of gnomes attacked the king and his subjects. But it looked pretty darn normal in there. They searched around and with some good Investigation rolls they determined the the cutlery cabinet had been moved. Adjusting it themselves they found dark stains on the wall and on the back of the cabinet. They also noticed the cabinet had some damage inflicted on the back of it. They looked around for the source of the sparkle. They spent a lot of time on that. Teaches me not to spout out colorful descriptors during a murder investigation.

The trio proceeded to check out the kitchen and see the gnomes at their whimsical work with the mushrooms. They headed into the pantry and checked out that area, but didn't find any more clues. They headed back to the dining room and discussed what they wanted to do next. It sounded like Facktore would have to be talked to, but they weren't sure how to approach her.

We ended the evening there, allowing them some time to think of the next move and the clues they had.

The post...

Nope no wild magic to see here. Just normal magic.

Overall I think the session went well. The first part with Haylia and the bounty hunter was just as intense as I wanted it to be. I'm going to have the bounty hunter watching the Rogue carefully going forward, and if no more money is paid to the bounty she will come after them.

As for Gnomengarde, it was a lot of fun. The role-playing was entertaining and engaging. The players seemed to like the crazy personalities of the gnomes and the murder mystery. While I did mention the wild magic to them in the laboratory, they haven't seen that in action yet.  But they did like seeing the extra stuff I added with the treasure barrel and the clockwork fish.

I'm curious to see where they end up next session, and how they handle the monster hidden in this complex. It looks to be a fun one.

Up next...

Session 15: Fractured Facktore Tales and the Amazing Blunicorn

The Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary

This page will contain a handy listing of my campaign diary entries for The Dragon of Icespire Peak that was included in the Essentials Kit. This campaign was played with two players on a weekly basis for about two hours. I did modify the campaign a bit, adding some different plot elements and some additional enemies to personalize it for my group. Hope you find it entertaining and useful.

• Introduction
• Session 0 - Origin Stories
• Session 1 - Welcome to Phandalin - Phandalin
• Session 2 - Taking Umbrage - Umbrage Hill
• Session 3 - Let's Make a Deal - Phandalin
• Session 4 - All that Glitters... - Dwarven Excavation
• Session 5 - When Condiments Attack - Dwarven Excavation
• Session 6 - Stormfront - Dwarsen Excavation
• Session 7 - Along the Triboar Trail - Phandalin and traveling (home-brew)
• Session 8 - Village of the Dead - Conyberry (home-brew)
• Session 9 - Who Let the Cows in? - Butterskull Ranch
• Session 10 - Bearly Surviving - Butterskull Ranch
• Session 11 - Shriner's Convention - Shrine of Savras
• Session 12 - Tempestuous Negotiations - Shrine of Savras
• Session 13 - Of Reminders and Rewards - Phandalin
• Session 14 - Scum and Villiany - Gnomengarde
• Session 15 - Fractured Fracktore Tales and the Amazing Blunicorn - Gnomengarde
• Session 16 - Botched Bountyhunters - Phandalin
• Session 17 - The Night Before the Festival - Phandalin/Festival (home-brew)
• Session 18 - Graboids? - Logger's Camp
• Session 19 - The Falcon and the Pumpkin Patch - Falcon's Hunting Lodge & The Woodland Manse
• Session 20 - Webbed Orcs and Bear Brawling - The Woodland Manse
• Session 21 - Dueling Druids and a BIG Ham - The Woodland Manse & Falcon's Hunting Lodge
• Session 22 - Stinky Fortress - Axeholm
• Session 23 - The Haunting of Axeholm - Axeholm
• Session 24 - A Rat in the Toe - Mountain's Toe Mine & Shrine of Savras
• Session 25 - A Miner Problem - Mountain's Toe Mine
• Mid Campaign Wrap Up