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, the ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020, the ‘Phandelver’s Pact’ campaign I ran from 2020-21, and the ‘Shadows over Saltmarsh’ campaign from 2021-22. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that), which is why I could use them for this column.

Here are the session summaries from my first Pathfinder 2e campaign which I started running in 2023 after WoTC stunned the TTRPG community by deciding to be dicks about the OGL (remember that?). Like many who progressed to PF2e, we commenced with the Beginner’s Box, progressed to Troubles in Otari and then to the Abomination Vaults campaign.

I apologize in advance for the writing in these summaries – they’re a bit raw, and not fancy at all (I don’t have time for fancy writing when typing them up late at night after each game lol). The campaign continues, and we’re still learning as we go!

Steve 🙂

Session 4 – Menace Under Otari (Part 4)

 Merisiel the Rogue spied two kobold scouts on guard in the next chamber. The party attacked and quickly disposed of the first, while the second held them off on the stairs and the kobold’s leader, Zolgran, peppered them with spells from her throne on a ledge above the cavern floor. Ezren the Wizard managed to blast Zolgran with Magic Missiles from afar. Defeating the kobold scout at the top of the stairs, Valeros the Fighter rushed forward to confront Zolgran, only to have Corny the Cleric take her out from a distance with a Divine Lance.

Merisiel searched the bodies and opened the tribe’s chest, revealing a number of magic items, including a smoking sword. While the party rested to wait to treat wounds again, Ezren wandered off by himself into the next cavern where he spotted some mushrooms. Effectively splitting the party, he soon realized the error of his ways as the green dragon wyrmling there easily dispatched him. The others responded to his cries of pain and rushed to the cavern to attack, but the wyrmling took out Corny and Merisiel in quick succession. Valeros was left to try to take down the dragon, and while he fought valiantly, he, too, was felled by the wyrmling’s onslaught. (While the others used their hero points to stabilize, Valeros used his up in the battle, and several checks later, died.)

The wyrmling had already fed on enough fish that day (it had only been defending its lair, after all) so it left the unconscious heroes where they fell and retired to a shelf in its cavern to sleep. An hour later, the heroes came to and discovered Valeros’s eviscerated corpse. Despondent, they returned to the surface with their fallen comrade’s body.

The reward for discovering the source of the problem wasn’t enough to compensate the loss of a good friend. Ezren and Corny vowed to go back and destroy the wyrmling (as soon as they recruited some new party members…).

Next Week: The party goes back to face the dragon as two new heroes join…  

Session 5 – The Wyrm Turned

The party made their way back to the surface, Valeros’s dead body in tow. Tamily Tanderveil, owner of the Otari Fishery, was notably upset, and when the party asked for a boat to bury their comrade at sea, she happily obliged. Merisiel the rogue was too upset about the loss and promptly left Otari, never to return. Valeros was buried in a burning rowboat, drifting out with the tide (actually, towed by Ezren the wizard’s summoned guard dog, swimming through the surf).

Gunnar the fighter knew Valeros and watched the ceremony. He joined the others at the Rowdy Rockfish tavern for drinks to mourn Valeros’s passing. Meanwhile, Lob, goblin alchemist, was scouring local bins for trash for components for his alchemy (and to eat). He upset one of the locals and fled into the tavern, where he overheard the others talking about the green dragon wyrmling in the caves under the fishery. Lob offered to join the party to take it out.

The party – Corny the cleric, Ezren the wizard, Gunnar the fighter and Lob the alchemist – made their way below until they came to the cavern where the wyrmling dwelled. Gunnar stood at the entrance and called out the dragon, which promptly blasted him with its poison breath. Ezren cast grease in front of them, but it didn’t slow the dragon, which rushed forward and slashed Gunnar. In response, Gunnar struck the creature with a deadly lunge, slicing deep into its breast. The wyrmling retreated, forcing Gunnar and Lob to enter a cavern filled with huge mushrooms to find it. Lob threw bombs and revived Gunnar each time he was knocked unconscious, Corny cast support spells from outside the room and Ezren summoned animals and used his familiar to help. The wyrmling was worn down and finally defeated with Ezren’s magic missiles.

The party went back to the surface, where Tamily Tanderveil provided a free celebratory meal and offered them an old fishing camp to use as their personal base of operations. It was a few hours outside of town and might be overrun by creatures by now, but it was a good excuse for the party to clear it out and make it their own…     

Next Week: Troubles in Otari!  

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