Baldur's Gate II (5e campaign log)

[subtledoctor]

Firkraag’s dungeon is indeed particularly good dungeon design. It is only unfortunate that, like most BG2 dungeons, it is quite shallow, with only one level. Compared to stuff like the Nashkel & Cloakwood Mines and Durkag’s Tower in BG1, Watcher’s Keep in ToB, and Dragon’s Eye/Severed Hand/Dorn’s Deep in IWD, the BG2 stronghold dungeons are all oddly flat. I’ve never known why Bioware did that.

This sounds like it is working very well, on both the player and DM side. I can only imagine that the IWD/IWD2 campaigns would work even better… those are setup more like straight conversions of tabletop modules.

[Batcathat]

Firkraag’s dungeon is indeed particularly good dungeon design. It is only unfortunate that, like most BG2 dungeons, it is quite shallow, with only one level. Compared to stuff like the Nashkel & Cloakwood Mines and Durkag’s Tower in BG1, Watcher’s Keep in ToB, and Dragon’s Eye/Severed Hand/Dorn’s Deep in IWD, the BG2 stronghold dungeons are all oddly flat. I’ve never known why Bioware did that.

Huh, I've never noticed that. Though I'm not sure that's much of a drawback, something like Firkraag's dungeon is still a lot more varied than a few floors of killing kobolds in Nashkel (which might admittedly be understandable, considering the party is likely to get killed by a stiff breeze by the time they get to Nashkel).

[J-H]

I hadn't noticed how "flat" they are before. That said, some of that is perspective. There's at least one passage curving "down" in the lair. The Temple of Amuanator in the Umar Hills would be pretty easy to break into different elevations as well. If they ever go there, I may alter the map a bit to make it less linear.

Session 29: 4/14/2024
No Terry for a couple of weeks, and the new player couldn’t make it.

We ended last session with the wolfweres transforming into a couple of Greater Wolfweres. I used the werebear statblock with a slightly higher AC, two claw attacks, and a 2d4 bite. Mergand opened the battle with a Fireball hitting both of them, but they each have over 130hp and regenerate 5hp/rd.

Ludwig was bottlenecking them at the door, so he got shoved back and then bitten. The other greater wolfwere moved out and grappled Cormak. The next round or so was an exchange of shoves and hits (the wolfweres mostly trying to grapple and shove prone rather than attacking with their very damaging claws). Eventually both Cormak and Ludwig were prone and grappled, while Mergand and Nalia plinked away with Firebolt and poisoned crossbow bolts. I prompted Ludwig (low on HP) to take a look at his spell list, since prone & grappled is a bad place to attack from. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter connected, incapacitating the greater werewolf on him. Cormak was going to use Gust of Wind to blow the other wolfwere away, but they could hear and see the other (lesser) wolfweres on the way. He ended up using Stone Shape to make a hole in the bridge, sending the other greater werewolf plummeting down to the previously established “pool of water 80’ down”. We won’t see him again any time soon.

The other werewolves arrived, and the party eventually managed to kill off the other big one and the three little ones, although Ludwig and Cormak both got mauled down to low hit points. Nalia took a hit or two.

The party checks for loot, finding around 2,100 gold, some more magic arrows, and the Horn of Blasting. Here’s my spin on it, which combines elements of 5e & 2e:
Horn of Blasting
While many army engineers spent their time perfecting siege equipment, Julius
Baggar delved into magical tomes for his engineering insights. Therein he
found ancient scriptures that detailed how to make, control, and wield sound
waves. The Horn of Blasting was his first and only attempt at taking the
theoretical magical knowledge to create a practical new technology. An
apprentice blew through the Horn, aimed in the direction of Julius who
insisted on a 'useful experiment'. He did not survive.
Once per long rest, the horn can be blown as an action, dealing 5d6 thunder damage to all creatures within a 30’ cone and stunning them (save at end of turn). A DC 15 Constitution save halves the damage and negates the stun. The blower must then roll 1d6; on a 1, the horn explodes, causing the same effect to the user.

They short rest, and then explore the cavern off to the side where they had previously heard three voices arguing. Sneaking in, they find a dead wolf and a dead hobgoblin. The third person? Not to be found. It was a troll, and it left while they were short resting – their survival checks were too terrible to find footprints, and nobody could roll higher than a 9 on medicine checks, which was enough to tell that they were killed mostly by a bunch of smaller slashes and also by blood loss.

Ludwig takes a look around and finds an unusually flat area of wall. The group eventually decides to push it open, and find a second cave area behind it. A bow lies atop a moderate-sized pile of gold coins, but there’s a huge golem in the way, motionless. They roll checks, and Nalia gets a 20, letting her identify the threat level and general capabilities of an Iron Golem. They explicitly get told that they probably can’t take it.

They discuss attacking it anyway, or stealing the bow and trying to outrun it. Mergand ends up casting Invisibility on himself and rolling an 18 to sneak into the room, then rolling ok enough (vs PP 10) to climb up the pile of gold and retrieve the bow. When he leaves the pile, there’s a bell-like sound (Alarm spell), and the golem looks around, then breathes poison in an area all around it. Guess who has the amulet of protection from poison? Mergand does not take 10d8 poison damage!

The golem has no way to detect invisibility, so Mergand runs out of the room and they pull the door shut, having previously attached two ropes and grappling hooks. They now have the Heartseeker, although it has not been identified yet.
Heartseeker: This +2 longbow adds the user’s strength modifier to damage in addition to Dexterity, but requires a Strength of 14 to use. Twice per day, its enchantment can be activated as a bonus action to grant advantage on all attacks made with it until the beginning of the user’s next turn.


They head back across the bridge to the only area they haven’t been to… across a wood bridge, down a short tunnel, into a storage room (they steal a bit of food), then down a curving tunnel to a locked door. Both attempts at unlocking it fail (11 total), so two of them just kick the door in instead. Inside is a battle that was almost too tough: Tazok (ogre, AC 19, 2x attacks at +10 for 3d6+6); 2 Orogs (AC 18, 42hp, 2x attacks at +6 for 1d12+4); Chief Digdag (AC 20, Hobgoblin warlord but with only 2 attacks instead of 3); 1 shaman (Hobgoblin captain with Bless, never got to do more than cast Bless). Mergand is still invisible, but Tazok recognizes Ludwig from the fight beneath Baldur’s Gate. Tazok was a bandit captain, and was killed alongside Sarevok. Firkraag has brought him back for another shot, something about watching them perform.

Initiative is rolled, and it’s side initiative, which really makes it hard to recover if things go badly.
Mergand drops a fireball, putting the Orogs and the Shaman into single digit HPs immediately. Cormak casts Fog Cloud on the room, which will stay up most of the battle. Ludwig rushes in through the fog after firing an arrow blindly at the shaman. The orogs and Digdag go after Ludwig, hitting him once or twice. Tazok looms out of the fog and hits Mergand (now visible) twice for a total of 35 damage, putting him down to very low HP.

Ludwig runs out the back side of the cloud and hits the shaman, killing him and taking Bless off before it gets a chance to do anything. The player running Nalia looks through her inventory list and finds a scroll of Confusion (DC 15, 10’ radius). He’s able to hit ALL of the enemies with it, and all but one fail their saves.

I don’t know how many rounds this fight lasted, but at least 6 or 7 more. Digdag stayed confused almost the entire fight, and Tazok stayed confused up until the last round (I did not use my dice that seem to roll slightly better). Confusion takes away reactions, making it easier to play keep-away.
Cormak and Nalia ended up retreating and plinking away at Tazok with Fire Bolt, Spiritual Weapon, and one good hit from the Kneecapper. Cormak eventually goes down, and Nalia keeps Tazok chasing after her.

Ludwig ends up in melee with the orogs and Digdag (when Digdag is acting; confusion). Mergand stays at the back, plinking away with Hunter’s Mark + crossbow + poison crossbow bolts for 15-20 damage per round. Eventually Ludwig hits the orogs with Burning Hands and finishes one off around the time Cormak goes down and the Fog Cloud disappears. After the last Orog is dead, they work together to finish killing Digdag (97hp and AC 20 lasts quite a while). They go after Tazok, and Ludwig burns sorcery points to get a 4th level slot back, turning into a Giant Crocodile and tanking two hits before they finish killing the ogre. It’s late, so looting will be next time.

This was probably a bit too much of a fight. They probably would have benefited from using the Horn of Blasting as an AOE stun… but they didn’t. Everything had AC 18+. They pulled it off… but it was super, super close. If Tazok and Digdag hadn’t spent 50% of the time doing nothing, it could have been a TPK. But it wasn’t!

Only one fight coming up, and it’s just Conster the illusionist. If they don’t get some healing done, I’ll have to take away his Synaptic Static AOE. No chance they’re going to try to take on Firkraag at this time. I’m looking forward to the reveal and that conversation.

[J-H]

Session 30: 4/21/2024
This was a shorter session due to an event at the religious organization most of us participate in. I’d say around an hour and 45 minutes plus leveling up and shopping.

The group collects the loot (some gold, +1 greatsword, +1 full plate, +1 half plate). They can interact with Melinda through the pink forcefield, but only visually and not with much detail due to the distortion. Analyzing it, they determine that it probably requires a specific pass-phrase or wardstone.

Heading down the tunnel, it curves, descends, and then starts to expand into a larger area with staircases. There’s a black wall of magic in front of them, which functions similar to a one-way mirror for Firkraag (nobody can see him, but he can see them). They check it out a bit, and Cormak pops Spirit Guardians. Ludwig’s player comments that it reminds him of some kind of barrier from dragon fights in Dark Souls or something.
Eventually they move through it, and I get to draw out the room and plop down a dragon figure borrowed from my 7 year old. He’s big.
Firkraag also has a barrel at each edge of the shadow wall, just inside it. When Mergand goes over to one, it smells of oil or tar.

I was able to stick mostly with his lines from the game, which I had copied over for reference. “Welcome. You have come as I wanted. It has been an interesting game, but to tell the truth, I tire of it.”
Ludwig mentions they’re looking for a man named Jierdan Firkraag. The dragon just laughs, and he realizes that the dragon is Firkraag. The party briefly considers whether or not the wizard standing near the dragon is the real Firkraag controlling an illusion. Investigation checks reveal nothing. Eventually they ask what the point of the "game" was.

"For my amusement, for my curiosity, and for my memory of transgressions long since past. All of this spurred me on, but I grow bored with you.

Very well, an indepth response. Your fathers are my interest. Your lineage crosses the mortal and spiritual, and both concern me somewhat.

Gorion raised you. I know this from my spies and followers. They are subtle when I wish it. Gorion was as much your father as anyone.
He was also an adventurer in his day, and crossed my path long ago. Him and his Harper friends. I bear the scars of that meeting.
He is beyond my revenge, being dead as he is, so I settled for the next best thing. I can torment his spirit by destroying you. Wherever he is, he is seething.
I had toyed with forgetting the transgession, though it has not been that long in dragon terms. It was your other father that made me curious however.

You are a child of Bhaal. What an interesting subject to study, or so I thought. Really, you are not so different, despite your little personal struggles.

For now, you bore me. I will taunt you no more. This has been such sport that I bear you no ill will. You may go."


They mention rescuing Melinda.

"The child has proven no more interesting than its father. I had finished taunting him some years ago really. It was only your arrival that brought her into this. I think he is actually happier now that the burden of leadership has been lifted. Such resilience took all the fun out of his downfall. All that is left for me to do is kill him and take the deed to the land.

Here, rescue the child from my servant and feel fulfilled. Do not think it will be easy. I test my subjects thusly all the time, and they know that failure is death.
Conster! Go to the child! If they fail to take it from you, kill it. "

Conster, the wizard, dimension doors out. They head back up the stairs. "Now walk away, and see to your little rescue efforts. Take your time. Enjoy life. You have much to face."

I ask if they want to do anything before heading upstairs like drink healing potions or pre-buff. A couple of them do, and Ludwig drinks the party’s only potion of Haste. Initiative is rolled, and Conster, who already has Mirror Image up, gets a nat20, enabling him to go first, blasting the party with Synaptic Static. Cormak fails and drops to 0. Mergand fails as well, while Nalia and Ludwig save. Ludwig uses his hasted action to drop a potion on Cormak, then runs up and chops at Conster, damaging him. Nalia uses the Wand of Frost from her keep; Conster fails his save but uses Absorb Elements. Mergand casts Scorching Ray (from a scroll), and Cormak uses Toll the Dead. One or two mirror images get popped, but Conster takes a couple of hits.

The next round, he casts Protection from Magic Weapons (lasts 3 rounds, BA), and then Shocking Grasps Ludwig before moving away. Ludwig fires his bow, but the +2 arrows does nothing! Mergand casts Scorching Ray from a spell slot. At this point, Mirror Image has soaked TWO critical-hit Scorching Rays. I don’t recall what the others did, but it didn’t do much. Maybe a Fire Bolt? Arcana checks are rolled, but nobody gets higher than a 14, and PFMW is a 6th level spell.

The following round, Conster uses Mental Prison on Mergand, reducing him to 1 hp. Ludwig fires another arrow, which does nothing, and decides to toss a non-magical dagger. It hits for minimum damage (3), and Conster fails his save, losing Concentration on Mental Prison. Nalia upcasts Chromatic Orb… Conster is at below 30hp, but it’s just Chromatic orb. I roll, and roll low, so he decides the first level spell that may hit his last mirror image isn’t worth worrying about. Hit. 27 damage out of 4d8. Boom, he’s dead.

They retrieve the wardstone. Melinda nearly bowls Ludwig over with a hug, glad to be rescued. They exit and find Garen Windspear having just returned home a few hours ago. Everything is OK with the Paladins… one has already been raised from the dead and has verified the party’s story. They rest overnight, and discuss Firkraag’s true nature. Garen considers leaving, or finding someone to kill the dragon. They say they may be back soon, and that dragons are surprisingly petty and hold long grudges.

Long resting again on the way back to Athkalta, Cormak’s exhaustion from going down gets cleared up. They go through the gate, and one of the guards seems to take note of their name, and goes to talk to someone else. As they approach Waukeen’s Promenade, a squad of guards led by a well-dressed man in a breastplate approaches.
Nalia: “Oh no, it’s Isaea.”
There’s some back and forth, but he’s determined to put Nalia into protective custody. Her father was just killed, her keep is without a family member to rule it (aside from her Aunt), and she’s gallivanting around with a bunch of adventurers carrying dead body parts as trophies (true) and risking her life instead of doing something sane or stable. And who’s to say that these adventurers, the ones to “find her father’s body,” weren’t doing something to her anyway?
Nobody wants to start a fight with the guard in the middle of the city, and Nalia says that she’ll be okay. Mergand mentions Terry (former guard member), and one of the guardsmen motions back an “I’ll find you later.”

The party goes to the Adventurer’s Mart. Their Bag of Holding has arrived! After that and some healing potions, they sell some extra +1 gear and have around 17,000gp. Everyone levels up to 8.
Mergand bumps his Charisma to 18, letting him drop the Ring of Human Influence in favor of the Metaspell Influence Amulet (+1 1st & 2nd level slots). Ludwig will level up later. Cormak boosts his Wisdom to 18, picks up Divine Strike, and rolls on the Tainted Mind table. He rolls a 19, plus his PB… 22… high rolls are good.
He can now cast Disintegrate once per day, keying off of his intelligence.
It’s really too bad the party has completely avoided going anywhere near any place with mind flayers.

They spend some time considering, but even +2 to a strength modifier (Girdle of Hill Giant Strength) isn’t super appealing to them.
Next time, they’ll probably pursue Nalia, which will put a Harper into the tavern with Baron Ployer…. 
I also reminded them about the offer for the cheaper pursuit of Irenicus.
I think it’s about time to steer them that way…. But side quests and party choice takes precedent. If they are 12 when they hit Bodhi and 19 at Suldanesselar, that’s fine.
I'm not sure who they'll pick up as an NPC now. They have Korgan, Reynald, and Hendak as options. I think Korgan is most likely because they've worked with him before.

[J-H]

Session 31: 4/28/2024
Terry’s player is back, for now! He says he’s a bit distracted, but seemed to follow along fine. They recap things for him, and decide to go to the Copper Coronet to hire Korgan. Why? They’ve worked with him before and seem to like him. They pick the CE Murderdwarf over the fallen Paladin or the good barbarian… oh well.

They wait around and eat, and sure enough, around dinnertime, the guard Khellor shows up. He tips them off that he thinks Isaea is corrupt and has some shipping ventures that are far too successful. He drops the name of Barg in the docks, as well as suggesting that if Isaea is involved in such things, he’s likely to have documents at his house. In theory, someone with the right skills could break in and steal them, but once stolen, they’d have to act quickly to present evidence to Coreig Axehand as Isaea would probably notice the theft.

The group then heads on to the graveyard for their after-dark meeting. They head in, with me describing a few things, like Wellyn’s grave (“Oh, we were going to curse the guy who killed him later, right?” “Hey, do you guys have a list of people to come back and kill later?” “Not a written list, but yes.”). There was a bit more banter, and suddenly a female voice speaks up from just behind Ludwig agreeing with what he said. They turn, and in the moonlight see a short female elf in dark armor, with slightly frizzy dark hair, dark lips, and very pale skin.

She introduces herself is Bodhi, and that she’s glad Valen’s message did indeed reach the right people. She’s up-front: She will help them get to Irenicus for 5,000 gold pieces less than the Shadow Thieves (she nearly spits that phrase) offer, and unlike them, she’ll be up-front. It takes time, a week or so, to arrange a captain and ship to take them to Spellhold. The Shadow Thieves would take their money and then no doubt ask them to do some tasks while they wait. She will ask them to do things, but she will also get them to Spellhold without any BS.

They get interested. Conversation flows back and forth, and she admits to interest in Irenicus, sometimes helpful, sometimes harmful, and some prior experience with him. Someone says something particularly bloodthirst, and she smiles. I note that they can see her fangs.

Terry has a few misgivings, but working with the vampire gets him what he thinks he wants – a route to Irenicus so he can become normal again and go home to his family. Mergand is also in favor of this, Ludwig the Harper is apparently pragmatic about working with the vampire instead of the STs, and Cormak later mentioned playing the long game and hoping Bodhi can help them kill Firkraag. And so, in the service of saving gold and working with someone who is charming and up-front about her intentions, they agree to work with Bodhi.

HOLY COW I DID NOT EXPECT THIS!! The party has been mostly good, but unless there are some major changes, I know what alignment Mergand is going to end up with in the Bhaal trials!

This also closes off the possible paladin background for the new player when he joins.

Bodhi leads them to a specific crypt and shows them where to place a hand. It opens for her, and she escorts them down a long staircase and through a few halls to a room with a large table. A cabinet to the side opens, revealing some glowing runes on the wall and a needle. Each must prick their finger with the needle to be keyed into the wards. It just takes a drop of blood.

A couple of them express misgivings, but go ahead with it. Now they can open the door to the hold – but they cannot bring guests. She explicitly says that this keeps anyone from betraying them and showing up with a large force of paladins… anyone trying to get in would cause a lot of noise and take time.

A couple of other vampires wander in. One comes over and starts sniffing, asking if these were fresh meat, and Bodhi says they’re working for her and to leave them alone. They have the freedom to wander around and talk to people; Bodhi mentions that the servants aren’t good for much conversation outside of their assigned roles. They totally miss or overlook that this would mean non-undead servants who are enslaved… She tells them that the first thing they need to do is intercept a weapons shipment in the docks area.

They were going there anyway to look for Barg… so they head out. Along the way, Terry is pulled aside for a short conversation – I’ll handle it over Discord later. I had already picked out Tanova as the one who got him halfway to vampirism, and Tanova’s magic specialty is going to be Osteomancy (I have a whole set of bone manipulation spells). She’s going to have a brief chat with him – nothing harmful.

They head to the docks and start looking around for Barg. I ask what areas they check. Cromwell’s smithy is closed (it’s 9 o’clock at night), they don’t want to go near the Shadow Thief building, the Temple of Oghma is closed, and they don’t jump on the tavern that I specifically mention. They do swing by the Galvarey estate. The Harper on guard there isn’t super helpful, not knowing much about slavers in the city and who’s funding them. They mention the recent destruction of the slaver base in the ship (the party), and that they think the Twisted Rune is involved (“but you don’t want to mess with them.”) I do pass a message on to Ludwig’s player that they want him to return alone the next day.

I’ll handle that over Discord as well. Their recent choice will bear more fruit, and I need to come up with a list of questions. We’re getting to the point where the fake Harpers may not be entirely wrong.

Leaving the Galvarey estate area, they decide to check out their ambush area.

The dock proper is about a small, isolated dock away from the main part of the port. It’s 30’x15’, and 2’ above water level. The rest of the area is above the seawall, about 20’ higher. A steep ladder/stair leads down to the dock, and there’s also a small cargo hoist. There are a few crates sitting around upstairs, and I ask what else they’re interested in. Cormak finds a building and climbs up onto the roof and gets around a 20 with disadvantage for his stealth.

Korgan hides in a corner between some crates and gets a total of 3 on his stealth. Ludwig hides on the dock near the cargo elevator, Mergand uses ropes to sling himself under the ladder, and Terry uses his Spider Climb ability to hang out on the seawall just around the curve.

Time passes…over an hour. Two figures approach. One stops at the top of the steps and goes back, mentioning forgetting something, before returning. In actuality, this was a consequence of Korgan’s failed stealth check, and he was getting reinforcements. Mergand uses Subtle Spell to turn invisible. They both go down and wait, and soon a rowboat with padded oars arrives. They start unloading crates. Cormak (and Cormak only) sees one figure sneaking towards Korgan’s crate.

Once they’re about done, Ludwig shoots the rower on the boat and kills him with around 30 damage thanks to sneak attack. Initiative is rolled, and we end up with side initiative. Mergand goes last after the enemies.

This was a four to six round fight. In the first round, Korgan dashes towards the ladder, Ludwig engages with his sword, and Terry runs along the wall, then leaps onto the dock and attacks. Mergand fires a cantrip or something through the stairs. Cormak blinds the sneaking rogue.

Four more enemies show up, having already approached stealthily and hidden nearby. The total opposition is:
Arkanis Gath, Rogue 2/Fighter 11 (AC 19, 96hp, +10 to hit for 1d6+6 with the Rifthome Returning Handaxe +2)
4x Rogue 7s
1x Rogue 5
1x 6th level Priest of Mask

Most of them work to get closer, but the priest uses Lesser Restoration to clear the Blindness spell. The next round, the party mostly finishes off the rogues on the docks. Cormak casts Sleet Storm, enveloping most of the Shadow Thieves on the main area in sleet and icy ground… unfortunately, the Priest of Mask just Dispels it on his turn after not falling over. One rogue shoots at Cormak (no sneak attack; damage reduced by Belt of Piercing). Two move over and shoot, and Arkanis gains a vantage point on the lower dock, hurling his axe repeatedly and striking Korgan twice for 14 damage.

The next round, the fight moves upstairs. Korgan attacks Arkanis a couple of times and misses. Ludwig tries to climb the wall but fails (Athletics: 8) and I don’t recall what he does instead. Terry Spider-climbs up the wall and attacks, then action surges and attacks two more times, missing with all of them due to terrible dice. The Priest of Mask casts Hold Person; Korgan succeeds and Terry fails. Arkanis is next to a paralyzed opponent he can auto-crit, so he attacks 3 times, missing twice, then action surges to attack 3 more times. Out of a total of 4 auto-crits, he does 80 damage, which happens to be exactly Terry’s hit point total. I think this points me towards how to play the Shadow Thieves – anyone who is disabled or downed will be attacked with extreme prejudice, trying for cheap and easy kills wherever they can get them.

Mergand, out from under the ladder by this point, shoots his second volley of Scorching Rays and badly injures one of the rogues, while Ludwig engages another.
Cormak uses the Staff of Lightning to lightning bolt Arkanis, who makes his save but doesn’t have Evasion, and maximizes it with a CD. Somewhere in here he gets shot by a sneak attack thanks to steady aim. Mergand drops a 4th level Scorching Ray for quite the volley of fire.

I think the next round Cormak tries to Banish the priest of Mask, who saves. It’s OK, because Ludwig gets a critical hit with steady aim sneak attack and does 50-something damage to the priest, one-shotting him. Arkanis disengages and drinks a potion of greater healing while moving next to Ludwig to facilitate sneak attacks, but it’s not enough. By the end of the battle, one rogue has stealthed away. Ludwig tries to pursue the other, but Move-Dash-Hide (16) beats Move-Dash-“My passive Perception is only 13 so I can try to find him but can’t attack.”

They loot the bodies (Rifthome Axe +2, Potion Greater Healing, Mace +1 from the priest). The axe later goes to Terry. Then they go deal with the cargo…crates full of wooden stakes and holy water. They start taking stakes. Mergand says he’s going to put 50 flasks of holy water in the Bag of Holding. Foreseeing an issue, I decide to figure out what his character knows, and Nat20 his insight check for a 23. I point out that
“Your character knows that Bodhi may ask if you destroyed everything. What will her response be if instead of destroying it, you’ve saved the anti-vampire weapons and are carrying them into her home?”

This sparks some discussion back and forth, and the idea of bandoliers of wooden stakes is dropped. They do keep about 50 empty flasks from the holy water, and I think some full flasks and a few stakes.

I’ll need to figure out what Bodhi should do as “punishment” if she sniffs this out, as I think she is likely to do. I am open to suggestions.

I ask how they’re leaving the Docks – are they sneaking out, walking out openly after their fire-fight that included lightning bolts and multiple spells, etc. They decide to steal the rowboat, and row it around to the Bridge district, where they tie it up and go to the house they’ve appropriated.

They never did find Barg. If I don’t bring it up, will they forget?

We had a brief discussion afterwards about how surprised I was that they signed on with the vampires. Nobody really seems to regret it.

They have put themselves right back on the main plot without me having to do anything…and from the discussion with Bodhi, they only have about a week left in Athkatla. I guess they’ll be level 9 when they hit Spellhold (beating Aran) unless they suddenly take on a major sidequest. That puts them at 10 exiting Spellhold, and 11-12 in the Underdark.