July 20 Game Prep

Characters

Copa
Kerwyn
Rana
Taonga
Thia

Session Recap

Last time we met, the Saltmarsh Rebels uncovered an enchanted toppled cart with a handwritten note.

The candleman watches Saltmarsh. He'll make sure Eliander does his part. Ned will keep an eye on the girl. Make your way to Thornhill and try to avoid any thorny situations.

— "Remember - here to see an old friend"

As you followed the footprints East toward Hidden in Thornhill, a bandit watcher stopped you in the middle of the road. Through some quick talking you were able to convince her that you were "visiting an old friend". After hearing the password, she lead you to the makeshift village. After openly asking a couple questions in the village tavern the current bandit captain Atti brought you to her tent. You let her know about Ned and his potential connection to the slavers. While she asked for an hour to process the information, most of you went to the tavern while Rána investigated the tower ruins on the outside of town. While unable to get a detailed look inside, she did confirm unsavory visitors talking about a "beautifully terrified" young woman. At the end of the hour wait, you were disappointed and suspicious to find Danys, one of Atti's henchmen, back at your tent. She took you to an extradimensional room free from prying magical eyes to discuss the town's more recent visitors. Disturbed by the information Rana reported, Danys offered her assistance provided no significant harm come to her person.

Strong Start

As a group you wait until an hour after nightfall and head towards the blacksmith shop. The air hangs heavy and thick with the promise of coming rain. A make-shift home closer to the village appears to have collapse and lies toppled, half-sunken into the marsh. As you near the blacksmith building you see the worn brown shoulder coverings and the green hood covering Danys's dirt-blond braided hair. Looking out towards the tower, she doesn't seem to see you yet.
GET MARCHING ORDER AND STEALTH ROLLS USED AGAINST ENEMY PERCEPTION.

Small Scene Description

• Bandits bickering about Ned
  Would the two of you shut up? I don't care how sniviling you think he is. The Candleman assigned us to him and we will do our job. Right now your job is to keep watch and my job is to sleep.Though between you and the wailing tunnels I don't know how I'm supposed to do that.
• Ned is scrying to the Candleman.
  As you walk up the twisted staircase you see I expected more fire from Eliander's daughter, but she's proven docile. I trust your judgement on the halfling, though I don't think the Saltmarsh rebels will be as much trouble as you anticipate.
• Discovering Elisandria Fireborn
  As you push the door open you see a young adolescent girl, around 14, with chil-length mousy-brown hair. Her hair is tangled, her face coverd with slight streaks of mud and dust. Her eyes are filled with a mix of fear and determination and I need WHOEVER OPENED THE DOOR to make a DEX check as she chucks a rotting chair leg towards your face.
  She is reluctant to trust. wants to help fight. Is unarmed. She knows she was kidnapped to pressure her father to do something he wouldn't otherwise do, but she doesn't know why.
• Discovering Flippy
  Met these slugs while I was trying ito finish my job. Saw this young girl looking a little less than willing and so I tried to chat with her. Guess I wasn't as discrete as I thought. Still not sure what they drugged me with, but one minute I'm eating dinner and the next I'm waking up in this crubling hole.
• Exploring the alchemist's chambers
• Exploring the tunnel crypts [aloud]Water oozes through the wall—from the cracks between the faced stone blocks—to collect in a small pool on the floor. The air is musty. A rotting wooden door hangs from its upper hinge at a crazed angle. Soft shards of damp, rotten wood and the remains of the door’s missing hinge lie on the floor nearby.

Secrets and Clues

• The bandits have captured Eliander Fireborn's daughter
• Ned is working for the Candleman
• the thugs all wear the robes of the Scarlet Brotherhood
• An alchemist lived in this tower. Bad experiments were tossed down the drain and unintentionally created several oozes and gelatinous cubes
• The bandits captured Flippy and forced on him an enchanged ring

Important NPCs

• Elisandria Fireborn
• Ned Shankshaft

Potential Monsters

• Bandit
  Bandit CR: 1/8 (25 XP)

  Medium humanoid, any non-lawful

  Armor Class: 12

  Hit Points: 11 (2d8+2)

  Speed: 30 ft

  STR

  11 +0

  DEX

  12 +1

  CON

  12 +1

  INT

  10 +0

  WIS

  10 +0

  CHA

  10 +0

  Senses: Passive Perception 10

  Languages: Common

  Challenge Rating: 1/8 (25 XP)

  Actions

  Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage.
  Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80 ft./320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
• Veteran
  MoD Veterain CR: 3

  Medium humanoid (any race), any

  Armor Class: 18 (Plate Armor)

  Hit Points: 58 9d8+18

  Speed: 30 ft , fly: 0 ft , burrow: 0 ft , swim: 0 ft , climb: 0 ft

  STR

  16 +3

  DEX

  14 +2

  CON

  14 +2

  INT

  10 +0

  WIS

  12 +1

  CHA

  10 +0

  Saving Throws: STR +6 & CON +4

  Skills: Athletics +5, Perception +3

  Senses: (Any Applicable Racial Abilities), Passive Perception 13

  Languages: Common

  Challenge Rating: 3

  
  

  (Any Applicable Racial Abilities)

  Actions

  Multiattack- The veteran makes two longsword attacks. If it has a shortsword drawn, it can also make a shortsword attack.
  Longsword- Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8+3 slashing damage, or 1d10+3 slashing damage if used with two hands.
  Shortsword- Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6+3 piercing damage.
  Heavy Crossbow- Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 100/400 ft., one target. Hit: 1d10+2 piercing damage.

  Trained at the behest of the Merchants of Death,

  Suggested Environments

  They carry on them; 1x longsword, 1x silver shortsword, 1x plate armor, 1x heavy crossbow, 10x crossbow bolts, 5x silver crossbow bolts, (1x bolt case), 1d8 gold, 2x potion of Healing, 1x manacles.
• Ned Shankshaft
  Ned Shankshaft

  Medium Human, Mage Assassin, Any

  Armor Class 12

  Hit Points 40

  Speed: 30 ft

  STR

  9
  ( -1 )

  DEX

  14
  ( +2 )

  CON

  11
  ( +0 )

  INT

  17
  ( +3 )

  WIS

  12
  ( +1 )

  CHA

  11
  ( +0 )

  

  Languages Common, Dwarvish, Thieves' Cant

  Ideals

  Power gained in the shadows cannot be stolen by the light

  Bonds

  I am loyal to the Brotherhood, who have shown me loyalty and acceptance

  Flaws

  Runs away when he feels vulnerable or threatened

  Suggested Environments

  Ned is a slippery fellow who gives few straight answers. He was sent by a cloaked figure who kept calling him as "my friend". He claims to be an adventurer but doesn't do a great job of inspiring confidence with his companions. He is often unbalanced, trips, and does more harm to his allies than good.
  In reality, Ned is a rising member ofthe Scarlet Brotherhood in Saltmarsh. An orphan, he's grown attached to the close bonds within the organization. He works hard to prove himself to his mentor, whom he knows only as the Candleman.

  DnDBeyond Statblock with spells

  Actions

  Proficiency with a dagger allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
  Dagger of VenomMelee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 1d4+3 piercing damage.
  You can use an action to cause thick, black poison to coat the blade. The poison remains for 1 minute or until an attack using this weapon hits a creature. That creature must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 2d10 poison damage and become poisoned for 1 minute. The dagger can't be used this way again until the next dawn.
• Gellatinous Cube
• Crinaea Wraith - TOB2 151
  Flayed Crinaea

  Tiny , any

  Armor Class: 12

  Hit Points:

  Speed: 0 ft , can hover

  STR

  9 -1

  DEX

  15 +2

  CON

  17 +3

  INT

  12 +1

  WIS

  9 -1

  CHA

  8 -1

  Saving Throws: WIS +2

  Damage Resistances: cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons

  Damage Immunities: necrotic, poison

  Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, paralyzed, poisoned, prone

  
  

  Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the flayed wraith has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. Torturer. When the flayed wraith reduces a creature to 0 hp, it knocks out the creature, which falls unconscious and is stable.

  Actions

  Multiattack. The flayed wraith uses its Howl of Agony. It then makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 1d8+2 slashing damage plus 5 2d4 necrotic damage. Howl of Agony. The wraith screams its pain into the mind of one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 10 3d6 psychic damage and is incapacitated as it doubles over in pain. On a success, the target takes half the damage and isn’t incapacitated.

  A once-beautiful figure made of water and plants emerges from the well. Her form looks like the disembodied skin of a once-living person draped with rotting seaweed. Its mouth is twitsted into a tortured scream, and its eyes gleam a baleful blue.
  This flayed wraith corrupted the crinaea (nymph-like water fey that inhabit small bodies of water) that dwelt in this crypt's well.
  MadThe flayed wraith is in a perpetual state of madness, reliving the days and moments that lead to its demise. Flayed wraiths constantly feel the corrupted demonic magic coursing through its body, hte pain of blunt trama to the fingers and toes, or other objects being used on their bodies for the sheer purpose of causing agony. In death, this flayed wraith seeks to cause a similar corruption in others to validat the reality of the corruption other doubted during its life.
  Undead Nature a flayed wraith doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
• Swampgas Bubble -TOB2 343
  Tome of Beasts 2

  Swampgas Bubble CR: 2

  Medium ooze, unaligned

  Armor Class: 8

  Hit Points: 59

  Speed: 20 ft , can hover

  STR

  16 +3

  DEX

  7 -2

  CON

  18 +4

  INT

  1 -5

  WIS

  10 +0

  CHA

  3 -4

  Damage Vulnerabilities: fire

  Damage Immunities: bludgeoning, poison

  Condition Immunities: blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned, prone

  Senses: blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10

  Challenge Rating: 2

  
  

  Bludgeoning Bounce. Whenever the swampgas bubble is subjected to bludgeoning damage, it takes no damage and instead is pushed up to 10 feet away from the source of the bludgeoning damage. If the bubble is subjected to bludgeoning damage while attached to a creature, the bubble must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or detach from the creature and be pushed up to 5 feet away. Fiery Death. If the swampgas bubble has half its hp or fewer and takes any fire damage, it dies explosively. Each creature within 20 feet of the bubble must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 7 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

  Actions

  Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 1d6+3 bludgeoning damage plus 4 1d8 poison damage. Suffocating Grasp. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 1d6+3 bludgeoning damage. If the target is Medium or smaller, the swampgas bubble attaches to the target’s head, and the target is blinded while the bubble is attached. While attached, the bubble can’t make pseudopod attacks against the target. At the start of each of the bubble’s turns, the target takes 9 2d8 poison damage and begins suffocating as it breathes in the poisonous gases within the bubble. A creature is affected even if it holds its breath, but creatures that don’t need to breathe aren’t affected. The bubble can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement. It does so if its target falls unconscious or dies. A creature, including the target, can take its action to detach the bubble by succeeding on a DC 13 Strength check.

  A semi-permeable bubble surrounds a blue-tinged gas. The bubble jauntily bobs in the air.
  Consumers of Exhaled Gases. Swampgas bubbles feed on concentrated exhalations from living creatures. They surround their victims’ heads and extract these gases, usually in copious quantities as their victims panic and breathe harder.
  This leads many to believe the bubbles are sadistic. However, encounters with swampgas bubbles are rarely fatal, since the bubbles typically sate themselves by the time their prey falls unconscious, losing interest as the creature’s breathing slows.
  Attracted to Fire. A swampgas bubble is instinctively drawn to fire, even though they are highly flammable. Its susceptibility to fire makes it relatively easy to dispatch, but its explosive ending makes the use of fire risky for its foes. In fact, this form of death, accompanied by a beautiful burst of blue light, is just part of the bubble’s overall lifecycle. Its outer layer hardens and shatters, and the remaining bits fall into the swamp where they grow and encase swamp gasses, developing into new swampgas bubbles.
  Ooze Nature. A swampgas bubble doesn’t require sleep.

Potential Treasure

• Alchemist's journal: The tower was once a network before the Destruction of the Second Age. The alchemist stationed there was tasked with royal research. Bad experiments were tossed down the drain and unintentionally created several oozes and gelatinous cubes

Random Names

• Kaelyn Songstorm
• Meryell Killtraveler
• Ormond Exleyth
• Aneth Sawatsky
• Dilia Haeck
• Enel Lockley
• Wynna Merrin
• Richelle Pyley