Spelljammer Recap #1

Spelljammer Recap 1 Sunday April 6, 2024 @ 12:00-4:00 P.M.

 

<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR THE LIGHT OF XARYXIS! >>

 

CHARACTER BIOS

Player Name: Chessie

Character Name: P-40X

Race: Autognome

Class: Ranger

Alignment: Neutral Good

Subclass: Swarmkeeper

Background: Outlander, Bounty Hunter, Pirate

Personality: Observer, watches carefully before acting.

Ideals: Actions should be taken for the greater good.

Bonds: Has seen visions of a coming disaster.

Flaws: Remembers insults and holds grudges.

Character Appearance: An Autognome in a bra and a miniskirt for modesty reasons to make other races more comfortable in her presence. She opens up her abdominal cavity to release a swarm of mechanical faeries that does her bidding. She appears to have an internal factory that can manufacture replacements as needed, provided she has the raw materials necessary by placing them in her abdominal compartment.

Character History: P-40X was built for an unknown purpose. She awoke in the wilderness, seemingly abandoned by her creator. She fought beasts in the forest to survive. She saved a group of dwarves from being killed after they had wandered into the forest and used her unique skillset to keep them fed while she escorted them back to town. In the town of Wormwood, she got weird looks due to her naked metallic body. The dwarves made her a pistol with their gunsmithing tools and gave it to her in gratitude for saving them. P-40X became a bounty hunter, hunting down criminals who wandered into the forest from town, using her first payment to purchase a set of clothes from an elf seamstress.

Her life changed when Captain Elaina Sartell of The Moondancer visited her planet. Elaina learned of her skill with a gun and at procuring food and water. She offered P-40X a ship share as the Procurement Officer in charge of getting food and water in the Astral Sea for The Moondancer. P-40X learned to be a master fisher in the Astral Sea while also directing the ship to hunt down massive sea beasts for slaughter to feed the crew. P-40X was equally adept at firing the ship’s weapons making her a valuable marksman when engaging in piracy against other ships.  

 

Player Name: Nick

Character Name: WuKong

Race: Hadozee

Class: Monk

Alignment: Neutral

Subclass: Way of the Astral Self

Background: Astral Drifter. Met Zivilyn in the Astral Sea on an island that appeared as a massive tree branch. Pirate.

Personality: Swears like a sailor.

Ideals: The weak should be preyed upon. The strong should be respected.

Bonds: Loyalty to Captain Elaina Sartell.

Flaws: Can be easily goaded into a fight.

Character Appearance/History: WuKong wears light fitting clothing over his black fur that has been modified to account for his wings and tail. He appears to be very young around 18 years of age but is actually 71 from all the years adrift on the Astral Sea before becoming a member of Elaina Sartell’s crew on The Moondancer.  

Notable Equipment: A Necklace of Ki attunement with a yin and yang symbol that when touched restores 1 Ki per short rest.

Player Name: Summer

Character Name: Tamayo

Race: Tiefling

Class: Sorcerer

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Subclass: Wild Magic

Background: Urchin.

Personality: Likes to hide in small spaces such as small corridors in the sewers of Waterdeep.

Ideals: Prove that she is worthy of a better life.

Bonds: Escaped poverty by robbing the wealthy. Wanted for crimes in Waterdeep.

Flaws: Has a cowardly nature, will run if outnumbered.

Character Appearance: Tamayo wears a kimono robe that is very short, seemingly cut that way to remove portions soiled from walking in the sewers below the city.

Character History: A Tiefling orphan abandoned in Waterdeep who survived by pick pocketing merchants and nobles and then fleeing to the sewers below the city. She is wanted throughout the city for her crimes of theft and is actively looking for a way out of Waterdeep.

Character Name: Blackbird

Race: Dragonborn

Class: Artificer

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Subclass: Artillerist

Background: Soldier

Personality: Antisocial, prefers to be left alone to tinker.

Ideals: Responsibility

Bonds: Will sacrifice himself for his comrades if needed.

Flaws: Pretended to be a battle smith to get access to the forge to tinker to increase his understanding of his artillerist abilities. A logistics officer in the Waterdeep army knows about this deception after investigating shoddy weapons that cost some soldiers their lives. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Blackbird and he is looking for a way to escape Waterdeep.

Character Appearance: A copper Dragonborn with scales covered in soot and ash from working as a smith.

CHAPTER 1: SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION

Captain Elaina Sartell tasked P-40X, Procurement Officer, to go to the marketplace to procure provisions with her. She sent Security Officer, WuKong, to guard them at the market.

At the market, P-40X got the supplies and WuKong purchased a Ki amulet that gave him a Ki point back once per short rest. Blackbird bought a Wand of Magic Missiles to inscribe with runes.

Meanwhile, Tamayo stole food, water, and swiped a magical amulet with a purple gem and an inky swirling blackness in its center after a natural 20 on stealth. When she grabbed the amulet though, it ruined her stealth as she summoned a unicorn right next to her. The shopkeeper yelled out, “Thief!” and guards in green and blue uniforms moved to apprehend her. The unicorn had a rainbow horn and a rainbow colored mane. Tamayo asked “Skittles” if she could ride her to escape. “Skittles” to her surprise spoke, “Why don’t we just kill these guards? It has been a long time since my horn has drawn blood!”  Tamayo leapt on the unicorn’s back and nearly broke her ankle as the unicorn charged away from the pursuing guards. She managed to hold on and not fall off the unicorn.

At the marketplace, WuKong with a natural 20 on investigation heard some rumors about green comets hitting Toril in the last few nights. The people said, “These surely are portents of doom! No these are the gods falling from heaven to walk Toril in living flesh!”

Just then, Blackbird was pointed at by Waterdeep guards wearing special bands. “Halt! Blackbird you are wanted for the crime of forging poor quality weapons and siphoning the materials for personal gain!”

Blackbird starting running away from the guards as “Skittles” vanished from existence, with Tamayo hitting the ground running on her bruised ankle.

Just then a green meteor struck behind them and killed the guards that were chasing them. The green meteor buried itself into the earth and then a crystalline vine erupted from the ground and started stretching toward the sky.

Captain Elaina Sartell told Tamayo and Blackbird to come with her to The Moondancer and join her crew as fellow scalawags since they were obvious thieves and con-men.

As they ran towards the docks, plant-like creatures erupted from the ground limned in a white-blue light. WuKong delivered a three punch combo with a critical hit as the knockout blow, crumpling the plant and causing it to burst in sticky blue-colored sap.

P-40X took out her pistol and missed. Her faeries pushed her back 5 feet as she seemed to be pushed back by the recoil.

Tamayo cast Firebolt at one of the plant-creatures, searing it and causing sap to boil and steam out of the plant-creature.

Captain Elaina Sartell drew her rapier and dagger and slashed three times at one of the plant-creatures, dropping it with her final dagger thrust.

Blackbird drew out his light crossbow and shot WuKong in the back with the errant shot on a critical fumble.

Two of the plant-creatures attacked WuKong and one attacked Captain Elaina Sartell with their vine-like appendages.  They struck half their attacks and their touch was like ice with light radiating when they hit. It felt like the energy and heat were being sucked out of WuKong and Elaina’s bodies.

WuKong summoned his astral arms and struck the closest plant-creature twice with them. At least his astral arms wouldn’t get sticky!

P-40X cast Hunter’s Mark on the closest plant-creature. She fired her pistol and her faeries homed in on the tracer round slicing into the target.

[1d10+2 piercing for her pistol +1d6 for Hunters Mark + 1d6 for the faerie swarm.]

Tamayo cast Firebolt on the last uninjured plant-creature dealing light burning damage to it.

Captain Elaina Sartell finished off the plant-creature that P-40X had severely injured with a slash of her rapier.

Blackbird ran up and stabbed the plant-creature nearest to WuKong and told him, “Sorry!” for shooting him.  

The last two plant-creatures attacked WuKong and Tamayo. WuKong was struck once and Tamayo took both attacks. Rather than cast Shield, she used Hellish Rebuke to deal damage to the plant-creature.

WuKong’s last combo of attacks finished the last two plant-creatures.

Blackbird cast Cure Wounds once on WuKong and once on Tamayo. P-40X cast Cure Wounds twice on Tamayo.

As they ran from more of the plant-creatures that seemed to pop up behind them, tremors hit the city of Waterdeep and caused buildings to collapse like an avalanche. One of them buried Tamayo and Blackbird helped her out. Blackbird cast Cure Wounds on her to heal her up.

The group found 30 commoners trying to flee and Captain Elaina Sartell told them to come with them. Unfortunately, half of them were buried in a collapsing building.

When they got to the docks of Waterdeep, they found 45 commoners trying to get onto the ship. The Moondancer had been taken over by 10 thugs led by a crime lord named Traevus that Captain Elaina Sartell recognized and whispered that information to her allies. Captain Elaina Sartell was loath to make a move and jeopardize the civilians. This was also sensed by WuKong and P-40X. Two of the thugs were lowering something into the cargo of the ship. Four of the other thugs were holding back people on the planks trying to push their way onto the ship.

This didn’t dissuade Tamayo who leapt into action. She deceived Traevus and her crew into thinking she was the captain of The Moondancer. Traevus ordered his men to capture her. Tamayo ran up the planks and pushed past the commoners. The thugs moved to capture her as she cast darkness around her. One of the thugs managed to grab her in the darkness. Traevus said, “We have your captain now, don’t try anything!”

This didn’t stop Tamayo who cast Sword Burst, the only spell she had with no somatic components so she could cast it while grappled. The Sword Burst hurt the four thugs around her, but also killed three of the commoners trying to get onto the ship as they fell into the water after being shredded by the swords. The commoners on the plank ran backwards in terror.

WuKong saw his opportunity to move. He summoned his astral arms and the thugs who could see yelled out, “He has glowing arms; he is looking to cause trouble!” WuKong ran into the darkness and used his arms’ reach to smack the thug grappling Tamayo.

The swell of the crowd took Captain Elaina Sartell, P-40X, and Blackbird away from the docks temporarily as they were pushed backward.

Tamayo cast Sword Burst again and one of the thugs fell into the water.

Traevus told his thugs “Gag the witch!”

The thug that grabbed her squeezed her ribs trying to make it so she couldn’t breathe to speak. She managed to keep concentration on the Darkness spell. Other thugs missed her face trying to grab it in the sphere of darkness to shut her up.

WuKong missed the thug grappling Tamayo and hit Tamayo accidentally, but she held onto the Darkness spell. WuKong’s other attacks knocked out the thug that was holding on to Tamayo.

A cackle came out of the darkness and a Lightning Bolt struck down two of the thugs in a line.

Captain Elaina Sartell cried out, “Watch the ship girl!”

Traevus told his thugs to drop the gang planks.

The thugs fumbled with untying the ropes in the dark while other panicking civilians ran from the other gang plank as the thugs untied it.

WuKong ran off the gang plank through the darkness and attacked a thug on the other side of the ship.

Tamayo cast another Lightning Bolt hitting all the thugs who had lined up oh so perfectly in a row to untie the ropes, killing three of them.

Traevus ran into the darkness and with one other thug dropped the gang plank into the water.

Two of the thugs finished using pulleys to drop the crate into the cargo hold. The remaining thugs attacked WuKong with their maces and left him bloody.

WuKong struck the thugs with his astral arms and then retreated back into the darkness.

Tamayo cast Lightning Bolt again and wounded Traevus severely. This also summoned “Skittles” again. “Skittles” laughed maniacally and stabbed Traevus with her horn. “Skittles” whinnied and said, “It has been a long time since my horn has tasted blood!”

[The exact same number of the Wild Magic table twice in a row is a 1 and 10,000 chance.]

Traevus drank a healing potion, healing the damage from “Skittle’s” horn. “Skittles” attacked him at the end of his turn, but missed.

The remaining thugs ran into the darkness, attacking WuKong with their maces and managed a few more hits but WuKong used his Hadozee Resilience to mitigate the damage of one of them. “Skittles” placed a shimmering barrier around him but it was quickly swallowed up by the darkness.

WuKong attacked the thugs back in the darkness, managing to take one out with a flurry of blows.

Tamayo cast a third Lightning Bolt and it severely wounded Traevus and killed a thug.

Traevus drank a climbing potion and tried to escape but fell into the water. “Skittles” made a shimmering barrier around Tamayo that was also swallowed up by the darkness.

The last thug hit WuKong but he blocked one of the hits with his Hadozee Resilience. “Skittles” impaled the last thug on her horn and said, “My horn has tasted blood of the dying!”

Tamayo cast a Firebolt at Traevus in the water and boiled him alive.

The commoners onshore grabbed the gang planks and threw them up to Tamayo and WuKong who tied them to the ship. Captain Elaina Sartell, Blackbird, P-40X, and 57 commoners boarded the ship.

“Skittles” faded out of existence a second time.

The group went below deck to find the scared Spelljammer, Flapjack the Flumph. Flapjack thanked Tamayo for saving the ship from the thugs by taking off his pirate cap and tipping it to her. Flapjack returned to the Spelljamming Helm and plotted the course “The Abyss out of Toril!” as Captain Elaina had instructed.

During a short rest:

Security Officer, WuKong inspected the cargo below deck. He found that the crate brought by Traevus bore the markings of the Waterdeep Art Museum…

Tamayo slipped her fingers into the necklace chains of the amulet with the purple gem and swirling black vortex in the center. Will she attune with the unidentified magic item?

Procurement Officer, P-40X looked at the state of the ship’s weapons and supplies and found them lacking for so many people…

Blackbird carefully inspected his light crossbow, trying to see if there were any flaws in its construction…

Captain Elaina Sartell had five of the commoners volunteer to become sailors for the ship for a fair rate of 50 silver per month…

[End of session.]