This is part of a series about my DMing Princes of the Apocalypse, a D&D 5e adventure by and copyright Wizards of the Coast.
There will be SPOILERS. If you are playing in a PotA game, please don’t read this. If you are DMing a PotA game, or are a DM who wants to see what the ride was like … read on!
GM Recap
Session 3 (Day 11-13) “The Lord of Lance Rock”
The party attacked and quickly subdued the brigands in the woods, with rapid, deadly exchanges of arrow fire. Faith killed her first person, and did not feel good about it. One of the bandits got away. They also freed a bear that had been caged by them. The goods in the brigand’s cave were put in their (?) wagon and brought back to town.
Constable Harburk Tuthmarillar was happy to see them, and the results, but upset that there had been another disappearance, a young couple from an outlying farm. He also warned Nala and Theren that Elak Dornen, an Important Man, had filed a complaint about their shenanigans at Mellikho Stoneworks.
Moony and William saw their new horse put away under the care of Iraun Thelder, the stable master at the inn.
Theren and Nala interviewed Tandelle Ethburk, a merchant traveling south from Mirabar. She knew something about the The Mirabar Delegation, and rumors of their working to strengthen or expand the Lords Alliance. She’s trying to get to Waterdeep before them; she says they should be just a few days behind her.
Kaylessa Irkell offered to William to hire the party to seek out the fell magics, dire circumstances, and darksome influences up at Lance Rock.
The next day the party journeyed to the farm the Constable spoke of, the home of Joen Endrath and his wife, Mira. There were no signs of foul play, but the dinner meal had been interrupted, and a clay holy symbol to Chauntea was missing. The horse in the stable was also gone. Joen’s father came by, and milked and left with the cows.
The party continue to journey to Lance Rock, where they found a sign warning of plague, signed by the “Lord of Lance Rock.” Ignoring the warning, they entered a cave complex, fighting a variety of skeletons and zombies, and ultimately confronting the “Lord,” Oreioth, whom they defeated amongst his warnings about the blurry Necromancer’s Sigil and an Eye that was watching their every move.
They exited the caves to camp out overnight and regain their rest and health. Ding! Level 2!
Player Recap
Looking for Bandits Down the Cairn Road: Following the road out of town we find two sites that have been abandoned for a while. Approaching the third site, we small meat cooking. The party pauses and Moony moves ahead quietly to check things out. There are 5 brigands and a cart with a bear in a cage. A mighty battle ensues where the group learns all about cover and difficult terrain. One brigand runs off and the bear remains alive in the cage.
William gives the bear some crumble cake and calms it down enough to be released safely. In a cave near by the group finds some money, goods, cheap weapons, and a worn down draft horse to pull the cart. We head back to the constables office with the loot and bodies.
Theren and Nala head to the constable/butcher’s office to report. The shop is closed, but the constable is at his house next door. Harburk applauds their success. He doesn’t recognize any of the brigands bodies and calls his “boys” to take care of them. He does note that more strange things are happening. Out of town of Cairn road, a farmer and his wife have been reported missing. The ground tremors have the whole town spooked. There is also a general discussion of increase in strangers passing through that don’t look like merchants. Finally, he tells them that a complaint was lodged about the shenanigans at the quarry. It wasn’t Mellikho, but came from Dornen the other quarry owner.
Faith visits the temple and contemplates the life she took today. She feels the weight of her actions. Lymmora, the acolyte of Chauntea, comes out from the back room and asks if there is anything she needs. Faith turns her down. Lymmora continues and asks if Faith might stop by tomorrow to discuss something and then leaves Faith in peace with a blessing.
William and Moony head to the Swinging Sword to see about stabling the horse, Buttercup, and storing the cart. The one-eyed stable man, Iraun Thelder, says they have room and will fix up a stall. There are a couple of horses belonging to guests and one at the end, Daisy, that looks like it belongs to the inn. Moony strikes up a conversation with Iraun who turns out to be a retired sell-sword. They chat about the customers, a hobbit merchant and a lady travelling with a caravan from the North. William chats with Kaylessa about their adventure and asks for some water to be heated for baths. The conversation moves onto the “Fell Magic” of Lance Rock.
Theran and Nala join the woman travelling from the North in hopes of getting information on the delegation. They exchange introductions. Tandelle is a merchant from Mirabar and looks to profit from the upcoming negotiations. When she left Triboar the delegation had recently arrived. She is hoping to make it to Waterdeep before the delegation arrived. Since they will likely stay a few days in Triboar, she expects the delegation to arrive at Red Larch in a few days.
Down on the Farm: William takes an opportunity at breakfast to talk with Kaylessa about looking into the “Fell Magic” coming from Lance Rock, South West of town. The “dark influences” are causing the bad thing and making everyone nervous. She is willing to pay. It has been several years that she has felt the danger rising.
Faith returns to the temple and Lymmora offers her support and words of wisdom about the trauma of the day before. She also asks if Faith is intending to stay in town long. Lymmora says that there might be someone in town who could use the group’s help. They can talk again later.
The group picks up Faith on their way out of town. With Buttercup pulling the wagon, they follow the constable’s direction to Jowen and Mirra Endrath’s farm. The farm is quiet. The cows in the barn have not been milked in at least a day. The house is closed and the fireplace cold. There is an interrupted meal on the table. Nala notices that it looks like the evening meal and the lamps have burned down. Jowen’s father shows up and demands to know what is going on. Faith is the Power of Not Helping.
William steps up and explains that the constable sent them and that it looks like they up and left in the middle of dinner. Jowen Senior eventually agrees and notes that a clay holy symbol to Chauntea, (Goddess of agriculture) is missing from above the fireplace. We don’t see any tracks going anywhere but the field and road. The saddle is still in the barn, so they didn’t ride away. In the end Dad wants to milk the cows and get them back to his farm. Before he leaves, we ask him for directions to Lance Rock.
Lance Rock!: The group parts ways with the farmer and heads South. They find the path from the road that leads towards Lance Rock. The ride is pleasant with slight hills through mostly grassland. The occasional copse of trees breaks up the scenery. Soon they can see the rock about 6 miles away. Lance rock is a single pillar that juts out at a sharp angle. The stone is different from the surrounding limestone. As they approach the rock, Faith suddenly realizes what the farmer meant by folks coming here for picking berries – wink wink – nudge nudge.
Beyond the rock, there is a ravine with a sign that says “Come no closer lest you catch the disfiguring plague that afflicts me! The Lord of Lance Rock” Ignoring the sign, the party heads down the path single file. Moony stealthily goes ahead. Followed at a distance by Nala, William, Theren and Faith. The trail opens and Moony comes back to the group with the layout. There is a cave ahead with another sign warning of the plague. There are putrid smells coming from the cave. Before entering, Faith casts light on Nala’s sword. Moving closer and Nala yells announcing their presence, but not in an intimidating way. Again Moony scouts ahead, the air is thick, dank and cool with almost of feeling of fog.
A ways inside the cave there is a dead body. It’s probably been dead for four days and looks like he might have been disemboweled. William goes back to the cave entrance and gets the sign post to poke the body. As he rolls the body over, it reaches for William. Faith strikes first with Guiding Bolt doing significant radiant damage. Moony steps up with a sneak attack with his rapier. The body dies again. Nothing of interest on the body. To make Faith feel better, Theren sends a fire bolt at the zombie. The smoke of rotting flesh follows the party as the path opens into an open space.
There is a flat rock in the middle of the cavern. It looks like an altar with dried blood on the surface. As Moony enters into the space, he nimbly sidesteps around a falling box of rocks. The rocks are followed by two zombies jumping off of a ledge. The battle is joined and damage is exchanged. In the end the heroes are victorious. Theren confirms that the alter was used for necromancy.
There are two exits from the cavern. The group chooses to go left. Creeping down the narrow passage, Moony spies a zombie in a frilly dress and heavy makeup. Nala moves to steps to the front, but Faith passes her to check it out. The zombie lady is accompanied by a zombie man wearing a bearskin and a zombie hobbit in clown makeup. This zombie circus is a disturbing and ridiculous sight. The group is hampered by the narrow passage, but eventually fells the lady and the bear. They struggle to hit the zombie clown, either because of his small stature or absurd visage.
A warren of tunnels lead from the room. Moony eventually works his way to a room that looks like it has more alters. Returning to the group, they decide to go slowly forward with Faith in the lead. There are three flattened boulders inside the opening serving as tables that hold a variety of body parts. A hooded figure stands at the farthest slab. They appear to be drawing a long needle with thread through the flesh in front of it. Moony opens the battle with a sneak attack on the hooded figure. Several creeping hands with jagged claws are moving towards the group. Faith and William each take out a claw. Theren takes out the remaining three claws with magic missile.
Suddenly a UNICORN appears in the room. (DM: Don’t do anything yet, I need to deal with the unicorn!) [Note: the Sorcerer summoned a Unicorn via his Wild Magic, one of three times it happened in the entire adventure.] It descends in a kaleidoscope of color, rainbow colored sparks dance from it’s hooves as it touches down. The magnificent beast turns and glares at Theren. Nala continues to attack hooded figure. Faith resists the urge to pet the unicorn, but misses with her mace. William moves forward and throws himself at the ground before the unicorn and calls out “Mielikki, my goddess, how may I serve you?”
Theren runs past the unicorn to attack the zombie. The unicorn is a bit confused, first turning towards William and raises an eyebrow and then tracks offending sorcerer passing by and raises it’s other eyebrow. Glancing around the room, they eventually faces William. Through the unbelievable chiming tones he hears “Get to your feet, child”. Seeing the glittering unicorn, Moony is enchanted. “Pretty horsey” Moony says and he moves toward it.
Faith smashes the zombie’s head but it remains standing. William stands before his goddess and says “Thank you for coming and saving us from this great evil.” Theren gets another hit in but the zombie won’t die. The unicorn looks at William, it’s eyes are dark and filled with starry depths. “You are hurt, child,” It lowers it’s horn to touch William and heals him. Moony remains enchanted by the pretty horsey and asks it he can pet it. Nala gets another hit on the zombie; it remains stubbornly animated. Faith finally delivers the killing blow. She then move towards the unicorn, also wanting to pet it. Eventually, the unicorn give a soft snort at the group and with a final glare at Theren disappears.
Traveling further into the large cavern they come upon another workspace. There are stairs going up the right side of the wall towards the ceiling and a stone protrusion leveled into a rough table on the left. Saws, knives and other tools litter the surprisingly clean table. Just beyond the circle of magic light Theren and Moony see a group of skeletons. A voice yells from the darkness beyond, “Leave now or feel the wrath of the Lord of Lance Rock”. As the sound of footsteps recedes, the voice screams “Obey your master! Kill Them!”
The attack begins, blows are exchanged and Nala goes down while holding off three undead. Theren takes out one of the attackers. William jumps up on the table yelling to draw their attention. Unfortunately his bow shot misses. Faith says a short prayer to stabilizes Nala and jumps in front of the remaining two skeletons. Moony attacks and moves to Nala’s side. The skeletons attempt to hit Faith, but miss. Theren, Faith and Moony take the battle to the skeletons. William does not fall off of the table. Finally Theren and William finish them off.
After a short rest, everyone is back on their feet, ready to take on the “Lord of Lance Rock”. Faith leads the way on through the tunnels beyond the skeleton. They come upon a cavern. Purple tapestries line the walls and a pillar made from bones supports a glowing sphere in the center of the room. There is a blurry sigil hovering above the globe.
Faith sees a figure step into view from behind a tapestry. He is an attractive young man, Oreioth. “Can’t you see it? It’s the Eye! It sees your every move! Don’t you fear it?” Faith has no patience left and smites the lord of crazy. He grabs at her with something in his hand. Three darts shoot out from a wand and strike Faith. Her eyes flash with mystical light and injurious radiance hits Oreioth. The rest of the party joins in fight. As Nala passes the globe the sigil disappears. In the end, Faith pulls her final blow and drops the “Lord of Lance Rock” unconscious.
With Oreioth tied up, they investigate the room. Behind the tapestry there are niches for food, clothes, and treasure. The loot ranges from rare delicacies to stale crumble cake or worse. The glowing globe in the center is a Driftglobe. It produces light (Daylight spell) when activated and it will float after you. Oreioth’s weapon is a Wand of Magic Missiles.
The party decides to rest and recover before exploring further. They set up camp near Lance Rock for the night away from the cave. When they awaken in the morning they are Level 2.
Game Notes
This was really the first episode where I felt everything was firing on all cylinders. We had action and adventure. We had dialog. We had investigation. We had some interesting characters and some things that would become touchstones in later episodes.
Faith’s experience — her first kill — was a great little character bit. I can’t remember now if it was something I prompted for or something she raised, but it’s sort of a landmark experience, especially for such a naif. It’s always good to look for those “first time” experiences, good and bad. Characters are not just character sheets.
Side Quests
There are a slew of side quests around Red Larch, many more than you need (but I had to prep for all of them, depending on what the players might do). The party had gotten clues to all of them from the locals, some of which eventually paid off many, many episodes down the line (almost certainly better than they would have here).
The Bears & Bows fight against the guys in the woods with the bear is a great intro to D&D combat, including ranged and melee, concepts of Cover, Hiding, etc. It was also an encounter that, for some reason, I was expected to build my own map, complete with cave (or arrow point to where the cave was off-stage), cart, etc. (There’s also no mention in the section about a horse, which I had to add in back at the cave.)
Dear WotC: If you describe an encounter, provide a map. It’s not bad exercise for the GM to find the resources and do it, but it’s also something that should be covered in the $50 dropped for the book (or VTT campaign).
(Note: There were a lot of maps missing from this game. I made them all up. After the fact, I discovered that enterprising folk on Etsy and other places had done the same. I prefer my own efforts, but allocate your resources as you find most valuable.)
The Necromancer’s Cave at Lance Rock is also a cool little dungeon crawl (though, again, a picture of Lance Rock would have been nice), and was a fine intro to both me and the players of how Dynamic Lighting works in Roll20. It’s not an easy encounter for Level 1 characters, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t turn into a TPK. The party was beginning to learn their SOPs for dungeoneering and combat, which was nice to see.
Oreioth the Necromancer is presumably intended to be killed here. Instead, in one of those weird twists with this party, they decided to capture him and bring him to justice back in Red Larch. Which was awesome because it was fun to play him as the crazy-pants egomaniac he was (intermixed with moments of existential dread because of What He’s Seen Coming — the Elemental Evil Eye thing).
The fact he was captured also meant that he could later escape and show up later on in the story at an appropriate or amusing moment. Again, setting up those threads is an important part of the GM’s job, and a bit of schtick that the players loved.
I actually created a visual effect for the final scene here. It’s supposed to be, on re-reading, just the image of the Elemental Evil Eye, but I took all the parts, blurred and twisted it, and set that up as a puzzle image for the party as they would be progressing against the various elemental cults.
The neat thing is that the players actually remembered this symbol, and it made the eventual revelation of its in-focus instance, way down the line, much more exciting.
Two magic items from this encounter — the Driftglobe and the Wand of Magic Missiles — were useful for the rest of the campaign. Both of them, actually, ended up in the possession of Nala, the Dragonborn Fighter, who didn’t have Darkvision, and who didn’t have a decent ranged weapon. It’s a great example of how something the players pick up early can have an influence way down the line — and so how the DM should be mindful of same.
Night at the Improv
So there are all sorts of scary things going on around town. The party has already experienced the weird weather, and everyone talks about that (as townsfolk would) as well as the strangers passing through town, raids and disappearances of people, etc.
I mentioned to some party members about a couple who had apparently been kidnapped from their outlying farm. That’s a bit of “Oooh, scary things going on” that the module just throws out there. But the players asked where, and I told them the farm was (random numbers in my head) to the west …
“Oh, hey, that’s kind of on our way to Lance Rock. Let’s investigate.”
So in the middle of all of this, I had an unexpected / unplotted / unprepped visit to a improvised farmhouse where undefined people had been kidnapped. None of that’s in the book. And since they players were showing an active interest, I didn’t want to just do a “You visit the farm, but find no clues” handwave.
So I had to improv a farmhouse, and farm, and names, and what the scene looked like, etc. As they were being kidnapped by folk from town, the Believers, for fell purposes, I figured that there would be no sign of forced entry or even much of a struggle (“Oh, Mistress Mellikho, please, come in!”), but that the cultists would also nick the holy symbol at the fireplace. I needed to come up with names off the top of my head, how long ago it had all happened (and how that would affect the milk cows), and even add a dad to come along and take over the scene so that they could get a move on.
I mean, that could (and does) happen at any time in any campaign, but it’s a cautionary note to new DMs that, even if you have a big thick book full of campaign stuff, the players will still find a seam to peel back and explore through.
That said … it let me do something a bit creepy in a few episodes …
The other big improv moment this session was the Sorcerer rolling a 1 on his Wild Magic in the middle of the battle of Oreioth’s zombies, and summoning a Unicorn. Which, it turned out, I did not have an icon for, let alone any knowledge of what its stat block was like until I pulled it up, etc. Pay no attention to the GM tap-dancing behind the curtain!
It turned out to be a very fun encounter, since the unicorn was unamused about being summoned, but half the players broke off from the melee with zombies to pet or bow down to the unicorn. Hilarity ensued.
Leveling
It’s not strictly Rules As Written, but I prefer to level up after a Long Rest. The “I’m walking along and there’s a huge ‘Ding’ and I’ve gained new spell slots and abilities” has always been a bit too computer game for my taste.
So the party leveled after their Long Rest having cleared the Lance Rock complex. That milestone wasn’t clearly defined, but it seemed a good opportunity … and a way to escalate things with the goings-on at Red Larch.
Another Favorite Moment
The campaign mentions that Red Larch is somewhat famous for a somewhat superior version of crumblecake, a meat-bits-protein-loaf kind of food that can be used as a provision or something you order at a tavern.
Add lots of jokes about crumblecake, but it became a fun little bit about people eating it, comparing it to crumblecake from other towns, the party taking it as provisions, even using it as feed for the bear they rescue.
It’s a small thing, but something entertaining and non-threatening to lean into.
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