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. 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 fill 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 some edits). If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Steve 🙂

Part 22: Assault on Thundertree

(Transcription by Pieter, who played Aelfwyn the elvish wizard.)

Six months had passed since the destruction of Phandalin, the end of Versh’arek the Lucid and the betrayer, Haemund Kost. Thundertree had finished being rebuilt and the lands were peaceful for a time. Lady Atrasian the fighter became mayor of Thundertree, Striver the dwarven cleric left for Neverwinter to seek new adventures, Grigor the fighter and Fuzz the halfling rogue stayed with the people of Thundertree (Fuzz’s sister and nephew survived the destruction of Phandalin and bought an inn in Thundertree). Both heroes were somewhat troubled by their part in what had transpired in Phandalin, experiencing bad dreams. Aelfwyn the elvish wizard/fighter had been roaming the area undertaking research.

One day, as Grigor and Fuzz shared drinks in Thundertree’s Sleeping Dwarf Inn, alarm bells rang. The village was under attack! Swarms of hobgoblins, half a dozen hill giants and some fire giants stormed the town, some heading to what once was one of Versh’arek’s towers at the center. As the bells went off, Aelfwyn arrived from the north, while two strangers to these lands came visiting from the west, Verendus the tiefling sorcerer and Kathra the aasimar paladin (Note: two of the players wanted to bring in new PCs of their own, as they originally played pregens from the DnD starter set). Townsfolk quickly rushed inside their homes, barring their doors. The lightly armored town militia took arms to defend the people, under leadership of Lady Atrasian. The heroes of the Phandelver’s Pact and the new arrivals drew their weapons and jumped into the fray. Soon, bolts of magic and fire, arrows and clashing of swords, shouting of orders, war cries and screams were heard all over the once quiet little town.

(Note: Want a copy of the map of New Thundertree that I used for this scenario? You can find it here: https://stevestillstanding.com/2020/11/17/free-map-old-becomes-new/ )

It didn’t take long for the town militia to go down, being no match for the better armored, more skilled Hobgoblins. Even Lady Atrasian could not hold them back – she was knocked unconscious. Verendus and Aelfwyn darted about, one on the ground, one in the air, throwing fireballs all over the place, killing most of the hobgoblins and damaging many of the giants. The heroes had no problem dealing with the hobgoblins, but those giants proved to pack quite a punch! In the middle of the fight, two giants ran away after Verendus commanded them, while Aelfwyn dragged Lady Atrasian to safety and stabilised her. Fuzz’s ambushes slew another giant – one might soon be telling stories of Fuzz, who took down the Goliath with a simple stone!

Whether by fireballs or giants thrashing about, the town saw some damage, too. Grigor and Kathra both fell unconscious at one point even, though some quick healing potion action by Fuzz and Verendus allowed them to get back on their feet. As the battle drew to an end with most foes had fallen, Verendus polymorphed Grigor and himself into giant apes, stood face to face with the remaining giants and punched their way to victory. In the end, the town was saved.

Once everything was quiet again, the townsfolk cautiously opened their doors and windows again, and as they saw the heroes standing tall once again, they cheered and clapped for saving them (it was not to everyone’s delight though – some buildings had been heavily damaged). The adventurers, old and new, introduced themselves properly and discussed what had transpired. They had received news of more giant activity up and down the Sword Coast. Verendus and Kathra delivered a missive by the Pact’s old contact, Bill of the Lord’s Alliance. From this they learned that our old nemesis, Glasstaff, had a role to play in this open hostility. During the battle Fuzz overheard the giants discussing looking for a “voddendod”, whatever that might be. After looting the foes, a history book written in giant was found – a book about the ancient giant empire, which Aelfwyn took to translate.

A long rest was in order, and the town needed repairs (and perhaps some better soldiers and maybe a sturdy outer wall too). But for now, the Pact needed to figure out what’s going on, and what they would do about it…

Part 23: Neverwinter and Triboar Beckon

(Transcription by Pieter, who played Aelfwyn the elvish wizard.)

After dealing with the attack on New Thundertree, the Phandelver’s Pact sat together to discuss what to do next. Lady Atrasian knew Darathra Shendrel, the Lord Protector of Triboar, a mercantile town with good farmland. Though Triboar should have better defenses than New Thundertree, if they faced an assault similar to this, or worse, they would be in trouble as well. Thus, we sought the fastest way to get there. We set off to Neverwinter, arriving in the evening, and went our separate ways to complete business in the city. Aelfwyn had a hunch though, and went to the pub where Grigor was headed. As expected, Grigor got into a bit of trouble. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too grave and the barkeep wouldn’t press charges against us. The rogues who attacked Grigor and Kathra left bit of poison and some gems behind, though. Fuzz and Verendus found a cheap source of healing potions, so we were slightly better off than before.

(Note: Expanding on the side-happenings, Verendus led Fuzz astray and back to his old thieving ways. They robbed a coffee house/general store and Fuzz nearly fell prey to a pet Mimic the proprietor used to guard his goods at night. Meanwhile, Kathra’s past caught up with him while he and Grigor shared a few quiet drinks – Kathra’s cousin-in-law turned up with a few mates to claim Kathra’s wife’s ashes, which he carried with him with the intention of returning them to her druidic coven…)

Before departing, Aelfwyn had a private conversation with the Grand Master of the House of Knowledge, concerning Project Oghma’s Retreat. We had come to an agreement that this was to be my new mission: to rebuild Cragmaw Castle and repurpose it for research and development. The House of Knowledge pledged to fund an amount equal to the money Aelfwyn raised.

After gathering up some supplies, the Phandelver’s Pact left Neverwinter along the High Road, then followed the Triboar Trail, heading east to Triboar itself. We passed the road that used to lead to Phandalin, and passed the ruins of Conyberry (where they previously fought giant spiders). As we neared the town, we saw movement up ahead. After scouting, it appeared to be two hill giants and two earth elementals, looting a cart with dead bodies around it. We flew and rode in to attack. The hill giants proved easy enough to kill. The earth elementals, however, were far more elusive as they kept sinking back into the ground after every attack. It was a difficult battle, trying to prepare for where they might pop up next, but in the end, we managed to defeat them. Unfortunately, it cost us two horses in the process. We put the bodies of the people to the side of the road, prayed for their souls. It appeared they had left Triboar in a hurry, but not fast enough to escape their fate.

We saw smoke rising in the distance and hurried to Triboar. Topping the hill, we had a view of the town: it was overrun by giants and other creatures, including a young red dragon and was going up in flames. After our harder than expected encounter, we weren’t ready to take on such a force. Yet the longer we waited, the more destruction. Time to make a decision…

Next Session: The Defence of Triboar!

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