Introduction

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ DnD 5e 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, the ‘Shadows over Saltmarsh’ campaign from 2021-22, and my current Pathfinder 2e campaign, ‘Vaults of Otari‘. 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 can use them for this column. Now, I post summaries to Roll20 after each session.

Here are the session summaries from my first Dragonbane campaign which I started running in 2024 after buying the Dragonbane Starter Set. It includes adventures from that set, plus homebrewed content. We recently finished the campaign, after 38 sessions!

I apologize in advance for the writing in these summaries – they’re a bit raw, and not fancy at all (I didn’t have time for fancy writing when typing them up late at night after each game lol). Some will be more detailed than others.

Steve 🙂

Session 23 – The Ghost & the Spire

Piscapo the adventurous wolfkin bard had been wandering from village to village, looking for work. As she arrived in the hamlet of Somber Vale, the townspeople appeared furtive and distracted (little did the bard know that they had recently been rescued from certain death by a party of adventurers). Piscapo could hear voices from outside the hamlet’s inn, so she headed there.

The party were deciding what to do with themselves. They recalled several rumors they had picked up on their travels. All were still sad about the loss of their comrade, Kris the bold – the earth on her grave was still fresh from the day before. Kalgrim Rockbreaker, the artisan dwarf, used the alien metal collected from the ship of the tentacle monsters to make himself a gleaming shield. Archmaster Aodhan the wizard learned a new spell overnight. Zog the Strongman Ogre loaded equipment into the little red wagon Theodine the halfling had made for the party before he died. Bastonn the wolfkin hunter was guiltily wondering whether he had taken too long to open the doors on the fabulous fallen star they had found in the caverns below – he thought the delay may have led to Kris’s untimely demise.  

Piscapo wandered up and introduced herself. She was looking for work, and the party offered her a place (it was a little more drawn out and often a bit strained, but eventually the party overcame their numerous social anxieties and got to the point).

After being thanked by the town, the party headed north to the Troll’s Spire, with Aodhan leading the way. His new telescope came in handy for sighting distant objects, and they made good headway through the Iron Forest.

Along the way, Aodhan sensed someone was watching them. Two elves sprang forth from the bushes. Aldonil and Orifin were searching for their companion Iliel. They had been taken by a mounted knight, who rode off in the direction of Fort Malus to the north. Realizing this must be the knight Tylus, who had helped the party on two occasions and was searching for Sathmog cultists, the party revealed nothing but said they would look out for the missing Iliel.

Camping for the night at the base of Troll’s Spire Mountain, and after eating a wonderful stew prepared by Zog from the bounty recovered from the forest by Bastonn, Kalgrim and Aodhan, the party rested in their tent for the night.

During Kalgrim’s watch, something odd happened. The ghost of the recently deceased Krisanna the bold appeared to him, kicking the backpack he had recovered from her body. “The map,” intoned the ethereal halfling. “The map…” Kalgrim found Kris’s old treasure map in a secret fold inside the pack, and unfolded it. Made of fine, waxed paper, it showed the location of a cave to the far north in the Dragonfang Peaks. Kalgrim awakened Zog and Aodhan to witness the ghost, but unfortunately Kris had already faded away. Aodhan realized the map was old, and the text on it was of a language he could not decipher. Kalgrim thought perhaps Kris had some unfinished business with the map. Zog realized a newfound love for pottery-making…

In the morning the party broke camp and headed up to the Troll’s Spire. The tower was covered in thorned roses. Entering via the red front door, the ground floor within was covered in rubble. A large horned toad bound towards Aodhan, knocking him down. Piscapo sang a song to inspire the others. Bastonn stabbed the creature, but it bit his leg and paralyzed him. Kalgrim smacked the venomous toad with his hammer, killing it.

Kalgrim had lost his shield at one point during the battle, and when he recovered it he found a stone trapdoor by the wall. The party heard a screeching voice from above, and Aodhan was keen to track down the ancient alchemist said to live in the tower, so they headed up the stairs.

On the next floor, Zog got smacked with a rake, set off a skeleton trap and got dumped with itching powder. Piscapo suggested perhaps he should search for traps first before grabbing stuff.

Aodhan hastily rushed to the next floor, where he met a small troll called Harga. He explained he wanted to learn from her, and she welcomed him into the fold. The rest of the party joined them. The little troll had a tendency to repeat a strange phrase after talking: “Over moon, underground, fall the stars.” Kalgrim showed her the map and Harga advised she would translate it if the party could recover an iron key for her from upstairs. She was troubled by a few harpies that nested up on the roof, and wanted them removed.

The party agreed and marched upstairs. When they arrived Zog realized the floor was broken and might not support his weight. The harpies attacked, screeching and raining poo and vomit on them. Meanwhile, the sickly smell of the roses covering the roof was causing all sorts of problems for the intrepid heroes. Aodhan blasted the harpies with fire blasts. Zog threw a rock at one, killing it, then he fell through the floor. Luckily, he could use his mentalist abilities to float down to the floor below. Finally, Aodhan’s rock blasts killed the last two harpies, but not before Bastonn fled in fear down the stairs. Aodhan found the iron key in the harpies’ nest (along with some treasure). With the entire party suffering a range of debilitating conditions, they all stumbled back downstairs.

True to her word, Harga interpreted the writing on the map: “The ghost will lead the way.” Aodhan presented her with the iron key and the little troll held it above her head. “Haha!” She cackled. “I have it! I have the key! Now nothing can stop me!” The party glanced at each other, wondering if they had made a mistake…        

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