Getting Into D&D 5e Adventures

I didn’t take the best notes during this game, but we started off this quest with the introduction of a new player joining our group.  This was a friend of mine that was interested in trying out D&D and thought trying the game out with kids would be a great introduction for him.  After we talked through his character creation, we introduced him to the rest of the party in the town of Phandalin.

If you read my last post with the DM notes, I had his character come to the region to pass along a side quest to the adventuring party’s friends/henchmen. Captain Pinchy, their giant crab friend from the Tower of Storms question, was being called upon by the good dragon from the the Dragon of Stormwreck Isle adventures we finished last December. Philbo, Sir Richard’s squire, offered to escort Captain Pinchy to the coast so he could make his way to Stormwreck Isle.

The new player character introduced themselves to the group, a dragonborn druid. Sadly, I don’t have a good mini for this player’s character and I ended up using a metal dragon mini I’ve had for a while. I figured this would be close enough for now.

The group was happy for the help on their upcoming quest. After preparing for the trip, they learned some rumors of Axeholm from the Dwarves they came across during the Dwarven Excavation quest. They shared some backstory that also tied the Axeholm adventure to the first quest the party took on, the windmill at Umberage Hill. These dwarves also asked to come along so they could continue their research into the dwarven ruins in the mountains around Phandalin.

The party set off toward axeholm and could see the windmill in the distance as they traveled through the familiar cairnes on the hilltop. They spotted the Manticore they delt with on their first quest, looking much healthier. I thought this would be a good introduction to combat for our newest player and let the rest of the party take some revenge on the Manticore before they made it to Axeholm. The Manticore was defeated after a few rounds of combat.

The party made it to Axeholm and began hearing some wailing inside the old fort. The dwarves decided to stay outside until the party knew the fort was clear of danger. The druids used their shapeshifting abilities to crawl through the lower levels arrow slits and raise the portcullis.

The party began exploring the lower level halls, coming across a few ghouls, with evidence that they were either worshipers of Abbathor or Mordiaran. They also found a highly ornate shield during their investigations (Sheild +1). They also came across what appeared to be the former leader of the fort, having betrayed the priests of Abbathor, driving his golden ax into a priests skull while they ate in the back hall. The players were able to defeat this Ghoul and collected the shards of the golden ax.

After exploring they decided to head to the second level of Axeholm. I didn’t realize when prepping, but the players would have to go to the second level before traveling back down to the first level to discover everything. I decided to set up the second floor map on one of my kitchen counters and kept the first floor map on the gaming table.

They explored the front of the forts second level first. They came across giant spiders during this exploration. They were also able to look across the mustering hall, a large area that spans the first and second floor in height. Across the hall they saw a blue glowing figure moving past the arrow slits on the opposite side.

They headed back down and after some additional exploration of the 1^st floor they headed up to the back half of the fort’s 2^nd floor. They came around the corner and came face to face with a banshee. This banshee is detailed in my DM notes, but is basically an elven ambassador that was held captive and killed before the battle between the two dwarven factions. The party and I learned that banshees are no joke in 5^th edition. Most of the players failed their saves against fear and couldn’t approach the banshee as it used it wail and other attacks. They came up with a plan to retreat around the corner and banshee passed through the walls and came around to attack them. This helped by allowing some of the players a chance to attack it in closer range. After a tense battle, the banshee was slain.

The party continued their exploration of the upper levels, discovering hidden treasures, and later a bathroom full of ghouls coming through the walls. The party finished exploring a few unexplored rooms and gathered their loot. They shared what they found with the Dwarves. The dwarven researchers decided to stay at the fort, asking to keep the broken golden ax, sharing that it was more of a scepter of status and rule over Axeholm than a weapon, and that it should remain with the fort.

The party traveled back to Phandalin, collected their reward, and decided on their next quest. The choice being between Mountain’s Toe Gold Mine, Dragon Barrow, and Woodland Manse. The knight really wanted to go to Dragon Barrow, hearing that there was a sword there, but the party voted and decided that The Woodland Manse would be there next quest.