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 🙂

Disclaimer

Okay, okay – if you’ve been following these posts, you’ll have noticed my players were writing the game summaries each week and they were fairly detailed (I originally asked them to do this as I just didn’t have the time to do the summaries myself, the way I normally do). Well, from week 29 forward, my players stopped doing summaries, and I was forced to step in.

Normally, I would spend more time writing session summaries, but this campaign it was tricky, so what you’ll see from now on is some very short session notes and some occasionally detailed ones, depending on what was available from my prep or what I remembered at the time. Sorry it can’t be as detailed as it was, but at least the short summaries give you a general idea of what was going on each week.

Steve 🙂

Part 45: A Heist & Some Shopping

Fuzz the halfling rogue infiltrated the cloud giant’s gallery to steal the Banner of the Krig Rune, while the rest of the Pact caused a diversion on the roof garden, where they battled cloud giant guards and air elementals. Verendus the tiefling sorcerer and Grigor the human fighter were thrown overboard, but were saved by their balloon packs and Verendus polymorphing into a giant eagle to carry Grigor to safety. Aelfwyn the elvish wizard diced with death but survived and Kathra threw him from the castle to the airship to escape.

The Pact headed off to Waterdeep, City of Splendours, where they traded, purchased, banked and eventually reported to the Lord’s Alliance and the House of Knowledge. Kathra received news from Lady Atrasian of New Thundertree via the Harpers regarding the location of his dead wife’s Druidic Order of Ful’m, which has been silent for several months. Kathra planned to have his wife’s ashes converted by the order into a sacred talisman to use as his Paladin’s focus.

After a day in Waterdeep, the Pact agreed their first port of call would be Grud Haug – the steading of the Hill Giants!

38 days until the Apocalypse of Footfall!

Part 46: The Devourer of Grud Haug

The Pact flew their airship north west to Grud Haug, steading of the Hill Giants. Scouting with Aelfwyn’s owl familiar, they realized they could enter the steading on the lower level via the sheep pens.

Grigor captured a hobgoblin – Bilbo Boggins – and Verendus persuaded it (with magic and money) to sign on with the Pact and betray the Hill Giants. Speaking with Bill, the Hobgoblin Captain, they learned a strange fiend called a Devourer had taken control of the Abattoir (‘meat room’), which the fearful Hill Giants had barricaded up. The Captain escorted the Pact into the Steading to defeat the beast, past the Hill Giants and pig pens. Breaking through the sturdy barricade with the help of a Hill Giant (which Verendus had to pay to help them), the party was attacked by the Devourer, which shredded Verendus and caused panic as it generated a life-sucking vortex, affecting everyone but Fuzz.

The party received visions of a huge, dark humanoid with green eyes, ominously whispering “I see you” in their minds. It seemed Fuzz’s little comatose trip into the Shadowfell and his encounter with a certain dark lord that gave him mysterious invisibility powers a few weeks back may have been a bit darker and further than he thought. The Devourer mentioned “Fu’at Fu’al” was coming for them all – Footfall! Eventually the party wore the creature down, but not before Verendus was knocked unconscious and brought back by Aelfwyn, who destroyed the Devourer with a lightning bolt after Kathra successfully commanded it to attack him instead of the downed Tiefling.

Recovering the Gavel of the Venn Rune from the Devourer’s body, the party escaped the meat room and got back to the airship, where Verendus successfully persuaded everyone to kill all the Hill Giants for the “good of the children” (and definitely not for the 100 GP he wanted back from the Hill Giant who helped break down the barricade).

After a short rest the party frontally assaulted the Steading, with Kathra and Grigor polymorphed into Giant Apes and Fuzz, Aelwyn and Verendus sniping giants from the rear and sides.

Part 47: Assault on Grud Haug

The Pact continued their assault on the Steading, battling Hill Giants, Mouth of Grolantors, Earth Elementals, Earth Elemental Myrmidons and Dire Wolves, finally facing the massive Elmer, son of Chief Guh, and the massively obese chieftain herself. When he wasn’t being a giant ape-sponge and smite master, Kathra managed to fall through the floor and kill numerous pigs with sickening radiance. Grigor shined as both a giant polymorphed ape and amazing crossbow shot, Aelfwyn brought an accurate sextant for angles/distance and blasted many with his spells. Fuzz proved to be as deft at hiding as ever, even though the magic users kept stealing most of his potential sniped kills.

After the hard-fought battle, the party looted the steading, Verendus hired some Hobgoblins as his own personal hit squad – I mean servants – and everybody leveled up to 13th. The the local villagers gained a steading and lots of copper pieces and the Pact sailed into the sunset, heading for the Druids of F’lum, where Kathra’s wife’s ashes wouldbe consecrated by the sect…

35 days until Footfall…

Part 48: Kathra’s Quest

The Pact flew the airship to the Druidic Order of F’lum in the High Forest, where Kathra intended to consecrate his wife’s ashes in the time-honoured way of the sect. As they approached they could see the forest below, swathed in dark shadows. On the ground, strange and misleading illusions within the whispery black mists led to a cautious approach.

In the caverns of the Druids, the Pact found deformed Owlbears, demented and eerily empty of life. Aelfwyn commented on the similarity to when the Pact fought Versherak, the Netherese Wizard turned wraith that was controlled by Hamun Kost (who eventually brought about the destruction of Phandalin). Further inside the caves, a canyon of trees; as the party crossed the ground it became a minefield, the earth erupting with tendrils from a Burrowing Taproot. Several of the Pact were dragged below ground. Kathra dug himself free, while Verendus used telekinesis and Aelfwyn used thunderstep to save the others. More Owlbears to fight and kill, and beyond, the cavern of the druids.

Kathra found the standing stones of the druidic order his wife belonged to, but no druids. Painted in blood (druidic blood?) on the walls mere days before (perhaps by the corrupted Owlbears as the artworks were very primitive), the story of the Phandelvers’ Pact and their battles, including the fall of Phandalin. How could whoever recorded these images know about the Pact? As Kathra delivered his wife’s ashes to the druidic circle, he received a warning from her. Suddenly a Shadow Fiend of F’uat F’ual erupted from the circle, enveloping Kathra. Fuzz leapt to the rescue. As Kathra, Fuzz and the rest of the party attacked, the creature succumbed to radiant light attacks and was finally destroyed. Kathra poured his wife’s ashes into the circle and they transformed into an oval talisman. She would be his spell focus and holy symbol, reunited forever.

The cavern grew dark. All were enveloped by blackness, swept upwards along a mile-high body until they reached the face of a three-eyed being that could only be Footfall. “I see you all, now,” it said. Only Grigor could withstand the terrifying mental assault. As the others succumbed to visions of madness, Grigor launched three crossbow bolts into the vast central eye. Everyone fell, blinking back into reality as the standing stones cracked and the ceiling caved in. The party fled, avoiding the Burrowing Taproot and exiting the cavern as it completely collapsed.

Aelfwyn speculated that Versherak must have somehow tapped into the power of Footfall – perhaps that was how Footfall knew of the Phandelvers’ Pact? Fuzz was very apprehensive, retiring to his airship cabin deep in thought and without his characteristic quips or frivolity. Verendus spent time boosting the Hobgoblins’ morale, playing cards, drinking and impressing them with magic. Grigor had washed all the dirt and clay off himself, but Aelfwyn retired smelly and filthy, too intent in his studies to worry about personal hygiene. Sharing a cabin with the elf was not fun.

Twelve hours later, the airship closed in on Deadstone Cleft, home to Kayalithica’s xenophobic stone giants. The party spotted an immense Roc flying up from below. It circled the airship, prompting them to land further to the south. Approaching the Cleft in the dark, Grigor decided to give Aelfwyn an impromptu bath in the river. The Roc was drawn to the noise, and Verendus twin-spell polymorphed Kathra and Grigor into giant apes. Fuzz sniped the creature from below as the Roc pinned Grigor, shredding him until he changed back to human form. The redoubtable warrior was dragged 120 feet into the air but escaped, using his emergency balloon pack to slow his fall. Eventually the two magic users finished off the Roc with lightning bolt and scorching rays. It fell to earth with a monumental crash, narrowly missing several of the party…

33 days to Footfall!

Next Week: Deadstone Cleft Awakens!

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