Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017-18, the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign I ran in 2018-19 and ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020-21. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s another grand campaign that started out with a slightly warped version of ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’, then rolled on to merge ‘Storm King’s Thunder’ and ‘Princes of the Apocalypse’ (it took the intrepid heroes to 20th level using experience points – yes, those antiquated things lol). Please note it was never called ‘Footfall’ in the beginning, as it was originally just going to be playing the Lost Mine, but I had some ideas along the way and the campaign grew as it went along in an ad hoc, improvised manner, adapting parts of Storm King’s and Princes to pad out the story. The main villain wasn’t even thought of until about three-quarters of the way through the 70-session campaign. Each session was approximately 5 hours (sometimes more) long. This campaign was also the first time I didn’t write all the summaries – some of the players were given that task and did so admirably! Most of the summaries appear here as they first appeared (with minor edits). If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Steve 🙂

Session 7 – The Journey Home

From Aelfwyn’s (the elvish wizard played by Pieter) Journal:

The party had finally subdued all threats within Old Owl Well, and it was time to discover what secrets lie within. Upon opening the sarcophagus, many magical items and jewelry were found. A splintmail+1 that went to Striver the dwarven Cleric, a longsword+1 and potion of hill giant strength went to Lady Atrasian the Fighter, a potion of greater healing was handed to Fuzz the halfling Rogue, who was now basically our ad hoc healer, there was a potion of waterbreathing, a jeweled breastplate (250gp), a jeweled torc crown (200gp), 2 rings (50gp each), and 5 tablets containing history of the Netheril Empire, about the wizard Versh’erak the Lucid, whom had built many watchtowers like the one we were in, all around the lands. I spent some time identifying everything and reading the contents of the tablets, which were in the old Netherese language.

A long rest was needed, but after this, we decided it was time to head back to Phandalin, taking Haemond Cost with us per our agreement, and after showing him the tablets.

Less than a day out from Old Owl Well, we were ambushed by a big band of goblins and hobgoblins. We counted 20 of them, at least. The hobgoblin leader demanded tribute for us to safely pass. Grigor the fighter decided that the only precious metal they’d be receiving was cold, hard steel, as his arrow pierced the leader’s throat, setting him to tumble over the cliff. The sight of their leader being killed in just a single shot caused fear amongst the ranks of the goblins; the hobgoblins tried to force them back in the fight, but at least half the goblins were uncertain and didn’t know if they should run or fight. Over the next minute, the party decided to focus most of their fire on the hobgoblins stirring them on, and as they started falling one by one, half the goblins fled. Once all the hobgoblins were dead, as well as some goblins, Grigor suggested using some prisoners for jobs. I stood up and in the goblin tongue advised the few remaining foes to join our ranks or face the same fate as their fallen brethren. They did not like the advice, so unleashed another volley, before scattering to the wind. We quickly looted some bodies and noticed the tracks leading up north, possibly heading towards Cragmaw Castle, but we were not in the best condition to start chasing them and potentially fall into another ambush. We decided to press on homewards.

We were getting closer to Phandalin, just coming up near the fork in the road, when a strange hooting growl was coming closer at a fast rate. An owlbear burst from the brushes. Caught by surprise at first, the party was skilled enough to deal with the creature in short order. Its pelt looked valuable, but we didn’t have the right skills to process it. We tried lifting it up on the cart, but even with the entire party trying, it was too heavy. Then I remembered I’d packed a block and tackle, after which it suddenly became a lot easier.

Once back into town, we all felt stronger than we were before. We collected the 100gp reward for killing the orcs, which could not come sooner as the leader’s severed head was seriously starting to stink. Probably attracted the owlbear in the first place. We sold the owlbear for 40gp and some rations. Never tried owlbear jerky before…we’ll find out soon. Finally, we sold some ancient Netheril coins for 10gp.

It felt time to do some work on Tresendar Manor, or rather the hideout beneath it. We left Droop to clean up the place, while Haemond made things more orderly, looking to rebuild the alchemy set, and having access to the reading materials there. We hired some workers too, to build strong doors and an iron gate at the entrances, costing us 100gp, which we took straight from the reward for killing the orcs. I enchanted both gates with arcane locks, making them very difficult to break or pick. This should make our stronghold more secure. With the use of mending, and our own tools and labour, we put the broken bridge back across the pit back together with the intent on breaking it, should any foes pass over. There was still much to be done ere the manor regained its former glory, but for the time being, it was safe.

Session 8 – Agatha’s Lair

From Aelfwyn’s (the elvish wizard played by Pieter) Journal:

It was time for us to venture to Agatha’s Lair. Having run out of healing potions, we first stocked up on some, exchanging jewelry we found along our travels with Sister Garaëlle, for 5 of her healing potions. Over the next 3 days, the followed the Triboar Trail towards the ruined city of Conyberry. Arriving in the pooring rain, we were ambushed by Goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears!

The initial surprise seemed very manageable, but as we went further into the ruined city, an entire wave of them rushed forth, hitting from front, side, and back. I implored them to surrender, but there was too much blood in the water. Striver the dwarf cleric and Fuzz the halfling rogue held one group back at one side, while Lady Atrasian the fighter and Grigor the fighter fended another group off at the other side, with me throwing spells left and right. Despite their numerical advantage and good armor, the party managed to make short work of them. Upon investigation, the goblinoids seemed to be from a different band than the ones we encountered from Cragmaw. We all took a short rest after the fight.

I wandered off, assuming the area to be safe, but got pounced upon by giant spiders. With a very manly cry for help (not!), the rest of my companions got up and came to my aid. Not even giant spiders were a match for this brave party of adventurers. Once slain, a set of delicate procedures were performed, trying to harvest the venom glands from these spiders. Surprisingly, all succeeded. We could not face Agatha in our current state. A long rest was needed as night began to fall…

Next Week: Facing Agatha…

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