Introduction

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 15 – Under The Three-Eyed Gaze

The Otari 2600s (yep, they’re sticking with that name) rose early the next morning and headed out into the dawn’s early light, passing over the road and into the tree line, then into the rolling grassy hinterlands beyond. Corny the cleric used his exceptional survival skills to get the party lost as they circled the same boulder over several hours. After six hours of travelling, a thunderstorm hit and the party sheltered under that same annoying boulder they had passed so many times, while Corny checked the compass and realized the pointer was stuck. Once the storm passed, the party was able to make better headway northwest across the plain.

As they moved further into rolling hills and waist high grasslands, Lob the goblin alchemist noticed some figures cresting a rise in the distance. The party approached warily, Gunnar the fighter in the lead, Corny and Lob flanking and Bequian the bard supporting from behind. Gunnar spotted an orc’s ears behind a large rock and yelled for it to come out in peace – it threw a javelin in response, which sailed over the big fighter’s head. The battle was on, with orcs emerging from behind several boulders and rushing towards the heroes. Lob tossed alchemical bombs and tanglefoot bags. Gunnar sliced up a few Orcs with deft blows. Bequian supported by making the team fleet of foot and bolstering their confidence to improve their aim; he threw telekinetic projectiles. Corny used his electric arcs to blast multiple enemies at a time. Soon, the seven orcs were reduced to one, who quickly surrendered. The poor orc outlined his sad story, indicating the remnants of his warband had come here searching for a cult of Lamashtu in the area so they could join. He mentioned they had to “brave a field of nightmares and overcome a challenge of five beasts.” The party let the orc go after Gunnar objected to Bequian’s suggestion of using the orc as live bait for the upcoming ‘minefield’.

Corny attempted to fix Gunnar’s wounds (he sustained a broken rib from a mighty blow from the orc commander), but only succeeded in making the injury worse when he bandaged it (“not so tight!” grimaced the fighter). The party rested for the night in the shadow of one of the boulders, but everyone felt ill at ease, as if something were watching them from afar.

The next morning, the party approached a long ridge. Bequian’s magic sense detected a strange aura covering a 60 ft. area before the ridgeline. Remembering some of the lore he had been told, Bequian realised that only those with three-eyed sight might be able to pass safely. Two-by-two, linking arms and with one of the pair closing one of their eyes, the team moved into the magicked area. They were assaulted by visions of a hellish landscape, replete with aspects of menacing creatures cloaked in a sulfurous haze. Lob managed to get through the strange field with a splitting headache, discovering a door in the ridge’s side with a strange puzzle lock next to it. The others passed through the field of horrific dreams, with most sustaining migraine-like headaches. Corny offered some of his home cooked brownies to ease the stress, but a burnt brownie actually made Lob feel worse. It just wasn’t Corny’s day.   

Bequin’s sudoku skills came in handy to work out the basics of the solution to the puzzle lock, with the party all working together to finally solve it and open the door. A dark corridor beckoned. Bequian’s dancing lights provided some illumination. Gunnar accepted the obviously vacant corridor challenge, wandering ahead and activating a fire trap that blasted Corny and him from above. Lob tried to block the overhead nozzles, to no avail. Corny located a control panel around the corner. Gunnar spotted a rusted gate and managed to break through, only to be attacked by kobolds hiding in a room full of prison cells. Lob tried to deactivate the trap at the panel but was unsuccessful. Bequian was eventually able to disable the fire trap.

The party finished off the kobolds (who were a little more resilient than those they had faced in the past, or at least seemed so). Lob checked the cells and uncovered a skeleton-headed key and arrow, (which Bequian determined were magical) and a thunderstone, which the goblin determined to reverse engineer as soon as he got home.

There were doors to the east and north. After Lob and Bequian made sure they weren’t trapped, Gunnar put his shoulder to the northern door. As it burst open, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air. The heroes recoiled (bolstered somewhat by Bequian’s rejoinder) as an owlbear reached for Gunnar…

Session 16 – Under The Three-Eyed Gaze (Part 2)

Half the party was frightened by the owlbear’s bloodcurdling shriek and Bequian the bard fainted and remained unconscious for the rest of the battle. Gunnar the fighter fought the owlbear through the open doorway, taking hit after hit as the creature grabbed his arms and dragged him through into the room beyond. The long-overslept Ezren the wizard appeared at the entrance to the lair, declaring he’d been looking everywhere for the party. He had awoken back at the fishing camp and traced the party’s steps to arrive just in the nick of time! Eventually the owlbears were defeated, but not before Gunnar was knocked out twice (Lob the alchemist’s healing potion and Corny the cleric’s heal spells were invaluable, as always).

The party elected to retreat and lick their wounds. Dragging Bequian with them, they located a cave further along the ridge away from the Scar’s entrance. Gunnar kept watch, hearing the doors to the lair grinding closed. Night fell, but nothing pursued the Otari 2600’s – the piercing cries of animals in the distance indicated the hallucinatory terrain trap outside the Scar’s entrance was doing its job.

The next morning, the party headed back to the Scar, leaving Bequian’s unconscious form hidden in the cave. Refreshed from their arduous battle the day before and now with the benefit of darkvision from Lob’s reagents, the party moved quietly into the lair. Realizing the fire trap might still be active, Corny jumped the triggering floor tiles, only to be hit by javelins from all sides. It was another trap! The rest of the party followed as Corny rushed forward to safety, only to come face to face with an ogre at the other end of the corridor.

Lob set off a smoke bomb, and the party fought four ogre guards through billowing smoke at the intersection. Corny was knocked unconscious, but Lob managed to bring him back with a healing potion. Gunnar killed one ogre and then was enlarged by Ezren – this made the fighter an easier target for the ogre’s hooks, and he was eventually put down (Corny’s heal spell brought him back). Ezren put an ogre to sleep (which later awakened when Gunnar clambered over him). Another ogre was burned up by Lob’s firebomb. The last ogre was sent fleeing by Ezren’s fear spell, but activated the fire trap as it ran, blasting Gunnar and itself. Eventually, Lob was able to deactivate the trap.

A search of the guard’s chamber revealed it as an old torture chamber. The party licked its wounds, preparing for the next stage of the assault…

Next Week: Deeper into the Scar…

Check out my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtmf65iCIYu70YP7zaRP-6Q

For more Laidback DM, click here.

For Laidback DM products, visit Drivethrurpg.