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 🙂

Spoiler Alert: This summary contains spoilers for the adventure Draaken’s Heart, available on DrivethruRPG at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/534002/draakenslund-adventures-5-draaken-s-heart

Session 29 – Party in Peril

The party rested for the night and then travelled to the site marked on the dead Krisanna the Bold’s map. As they marched through the day, red clouds gathered and a blood rain fell, soaking them and the surrounding landscape in congealing blood. Archmaster Aodhan the Wizard was sure this was a demonic sign – bad things were definitely on the way. Mirror Lake to the south was stained red, and the Isle of Mist at its center was cloaked in scarlet fog.

The party stopped at midday and hunted and fished. Bastonn the wolfkin hunter was successful in killing a crow, but he cooked it badly. Aodhan found some roots to eat. The rest of the party fared terribly, with their attempts at fishing and foraging all for naught.

After a good night’s sleep, the party made their way to Kris’s cave. It turned out to be the opening to a vast, columned chamber. Aodhan spotted Sathmog cultists through his spyglass, about a kilometre away at the edge of the swamp, but the cultists appeared too fearful to approach.

Entering the eerie chamber, Kalgrim Rockseeker the dwarf noted numerous murals engraved on the walls: two rotund, featureless figures with rays beaming from their eyes, surrounded by worshipers. Aodhan read the ancient language under each mural: The key to the heart passes safely into the arms of Waajina. Waajina was a binary god/goddess of vigor from around two centuries ago.

Zog the animist ogre noticed two huge iron doors with a single lock in the center, dominating the west wall. The party crept forward, Stripes the Bear (recently changed from a catfolk after a magical mishap) pulling the party’s little red wagon (which carried a good portion of their equipment).

As they reached the north of the room, Kalgrim’s torch revealed the sparkle of gold. And two steely blue eyes, peering from the darkness.

A giant blue frost dragon stepped down from its perch on the back of a massive collapsed statue and approached the adventurers. It spread its wings to fill the hall and raised its head to almost touch the 6-meter-high ceiling. It did not attack, however, but instead offered the party a job. 

Not long ago, some cave sprites had stolen a valuable key. The dragon, called Venge, was unable to pursue them into the caverns behind the temple walls, and offered the party a reward if they would recover the key for him (Venge also mentioned he would kill them if they didn’t).

The party huddled and agreed to undertake the mission. Aodhan noticed the dragon had some interesting nervous tics, bloodshot eyes and was sweating profusely. Not normal.

They left the red wagon with the dragon and made their way through some very tight passages into a small cave. Zog got stuck, but Bastonn and Kalgrim managed to push him through. Once in the new cavern, they noticed the air was full of particulates. Too late, they realized these were more than dust. As the party breathed in, all of them except Bastonn froze, paralyzed by spores.

Seven stalagmite-like creatures detached from their limestone piles and slid over to the immobile adventurers, snapping at their flesh with rocky mouths. Bastonn bravely defended the others until the party could shake off the paralysis. Then they went to town, demolishing the Pharagmite creatures.

Stripes sniffed the air, determining that water lay down the west tunnel and a dusty room to the south. The west tunnel was her preference, but the tunnel was two tight for Zog, so they all headed south, emerging into a stone chamber with a door.

Kalgrim passed through into the corridor beyond, setting off a magical fire trap. He passed out from the pain from the flames. Stripes valiantly charged into the jets of fire, grabbing the fallen dwarf and dragging him to safety. Aodhan dispelled the magic and the corridor was safe, but the wizard noticed two statues further down and decided to avoid them.

Once Kalgrim awakened, the party decided to investigate a door to the north. The room inside was empty except for a skeleton clutching a shiny sword. Kalgrim smashed the skeleton from a distance, but as he and Aodhan entered, a Slime Crawler on the ceiling attacked!

As it dropped into the midst of the party, Bastonn was absorbed by the monster. Next, Stripes was sucked in while attempting to save the wolfkin. Zog rushed forward to punch it, and was stuck and knocked unconscious. Kalgrim lost his mastercrafted Warhammer in the Slime Crawler’s body. It was up to Aodhan to finish the creature off with fire blasts, but by the time the deed was done, both Bastonn and Stripes had perished. The remainder of the party mourned their friends and contemplated the next step…

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