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 started playing PF2e, we commenced with the Beginner’s Box, progressed to Troubles in Otari and then to the Abomination Vaults campaign. The players, calling themselves the “Otari 2600s” (it’s amusing if you’re old enough to remember lol), are still currently playing the campaign every Sunday night!

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).

Steve 🙂

Warning: These summaries contain spoilers for Paizo’s Abomination Vaults campaign

Session 36  – The Bell Tolls For…

After some intense planning, the party made its way back to the place Gunnar the fighter was taken by the Voidglutton. Lob the goblin alchemist sneaked through the illusionary archway to the room beyond, seeing the brief vision of Belcorra and Volluk that Gunnar had experienced before. The others moved in behind him, the tension palpable as they took up positions behind the goblin.

Lob opened the door to find another room and a fleeting vision of Belcorra reading an ancient but familiar tome – The Whispering Reeds. As he moved to the next door, Ezren the wizard and Corny the cleric cautiously followed.

The next area was a small dining room, with a ghostly vision of Belcorra consuming a human arm. As Lob reached the far door and inspected it for traps, the familiar inky blackness swelled out of the keyhole and covered all in darkness. The Voidglutton’s eerie voice sliced into their souls: “I’m so glad you’ve returned. More playthings for me…”

Corny fired a spell into the wall, narrowly missing the Voidglutton, but counteracting the darkness. The creature immediately had its revenge, slicing into the cleric and almost bringing him low. Corny fled into the room the Voidglutton had emerged from, with the creature in hot pursuit. Inside the room Corny saw a brief vision of Belcorra emerging from a portal on the far wall, which quickly faded. Ezren blasted the creature with magic missiles, while Lob raced into the next room after Corny.

Corny was trapped in the corner by the Voidglutton. As Lob slid underneath the hovering creature and entered the final room, he discovered the tortured and unconscious Gunnar strung up against the wall with ectoplasmic webbing. Unfortunately, the Voidglutton fired its webbing at Lob and he was trapped!

Ezren was the creature’s next target, as the magic missiles were taking a toll. Unfortunately, Corny was magically linked to Ezren and took half the damage imposed on the wizard. The cleric collapsed in the corner, and Ezren briefly considered fleeing the scene. Bravery (or DM hints) brought him back to his senses, and he leaped over the bed by the wall and poured a healing potion into Corny’s mouth. As Corny gasped for air, he cast a powerful cure wounds spell, the emanation not only healing himself and Ezren, but also Gunnar in the next room.

As the fighter’s wits returned, he pulled himself free of the webbing, grabbing a sword proffered by the trapped Lob and rushed past to attack the Voidglutton. Gunnar soon recovered his trusty smoking blade, which had been stashed under the bed. 

With Corny healing the party and Ezren and Gunnar striking the Voidglutton with magic missiles and sword strikes, it decided to flee. Luckily, Ezren managed to take it out with two final magic missiles. The party cheered. Gunnar sank onto the bed and retrieved his gear in silence – it was obvious the night of horrific torture had taken its toll.

Lob finally freed himself, then used his mage hand wand to extract several magic items from three trophy bodies stuck to the walls in the final chamber.

The party returned to the stone pavilion over the underground lake where they had camped before, resting and recovering from the battle. A fine victory – their lost companion recovered, magic items earned, and the guilt of their previous abandonment eased.                   

Session 37 – Exploring Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

The party decided to investigate a natural tunnel to the north. Following the twisting channel for 20 minutes brought them to a sea cave along the western edge of the Fogfen. Lob the goblin alchemist surmised perhaps this was the way Jaul Mezmin, the werewolf murderer they had apprehended a week ago, had entered the Abomination Vaults. The party noted this might be a useful escape route and upon returning to the main cavern, Ezren the wizard scratched an identifying chalk mark on the wall near the entrance.

Lob headed south to the waste chute he had discovered in the south of the cavern, and with help from Gunnar the human fighter, climbed up the slippery slide. At the top he discovered a room, and based on the elevation it was on the same level (not the next level above). Back down the chute, Lob informed the party they should check to the northwest to find a more easily accessible way to the room.

The party headed into the long corridor with sarcophagi-filled niches that led to the stairs down to the lower levels. Lob and Gunnar discovered an empty niche halfway along its length and revealed a secret door to a natural tunnel beyond. Gunnar opened it warily, then entered, only to be confronted by three angry, crab-like Scalathraxes. The creatures covered Gunnar with toxic oil, but his Smoking Sword managed to severely burn them because of the flammable oil coating their bodies. Lob joined in with some alchemist’s fire. Ezren shot a Produce Flame down the narrow tunnel, missed the creatures but ended up setting Gunnar aflame. Luckily Lob was able to put the big fighter out with the ingenious use of a tanglefoot bag. Corny the cleric managed to heal most of Gunnar’s burns.

With the Scalathraxes defeated, the Otari 2600’s moved south down a winding passage, locating another secret door and exiting into a dusty kitchen. The next chamber was a dining room with 4 skeletons, all in poses indicating they may have choked to death. As Gunnar entered, the skeletons arose, with blue light blazing from their eyes and mouths. The Corpsewisps animating the bones were no match for the party, however, who made short work of them. Lob located some magic items and treasure under the dining table.            

Opening another door led the party to the trash room with the chute, but the poltergeist within was not happy, so they closed the door and left it alone. Gunnar was keen to fight but overruled by the others, much to his chagrin.

Through the other doors were a store room, stairs leading up to the level above, a wine room (in which Lob discovered three valuable bottles of wine), a portal room (in which Ezren attempted his Awaken Portal Ritual but which Lob’s distracting dance caused him to fail, leaving the wizard stupified for 24 hours), and finally a short corridor leading to another chamber.

Gunnar opened the final door, revealing a large chamber adorned with images to the goddess Nhimbaloth. A well-dressed humanoid with a face composed of wriggling worms rose from its desk, demanding to know why Gunnar had entered… 

For more Laidback DM, click here.