Solo Session #2
Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Lost mine of Phandelver/Possibly maybe the Shattered Obelisk

“Truce or this human dies.” Said the goblin as he dangled Sildar above the drop.  The party eased off allowing the goblin to speak.  He introduced himself as Yeemik and demanded that the party do what he says or the human would indeed die.

“Don’t trust…anything he says.”  Sildar protested, through slow breaths.

He shook Sildar.  “Silence.”  Yeemik told the party that up ahead was his boss, a Bugbear named Klarg.  He didn’t like how he treated the goblins in his employ, but mostly, Yeemik didn’t like how Klarg treated him.  He told the party they have to kill Klarg, only then would he release Sildar.

The party looked at eachother somewhat confused on how to proceed.  They feared any sudden move would result in Sildar’s death.  Tulae began to speak but was cut off.

“I’m not…so frail…fall from this height-”

“Silence!” Yeemik shouted once more.  “Or else!”

Yeemik turned his gaze to Sildar, hoping to intimidate him.  In that moment, Tulae expended her final spell slot and fired off a Guiding Bolt.  It landed, but didn’t seem to do much damage, though it did cause Yeemik to drop Sildar who fell from the ledge.  Val, knowing the spell Tulae was casting, figured what was happening and ran to catch Sildar.  Unfortunately, she tripped and fell face forward, causing Sildar to land on her.  This broke Sildar’s fall, but dealt a considerable blow to Val.

Meanwhile, up top, Kethin swiftly approached Yeemik. “Wait! Wait!” Yeemik protested.  “I can still hel-”  Kethin drove his daggers through Yeemik, who slumped lifelessly to the cave floor.

Each of them–save for Kethin–had taken considerable damage, so they opted to stop for a moment to catch their breath.  Kethin stood guard by the room’s entrance.  While they rested, Sildar spoke with them all to fill them all in on what was happening.

He started by sincerely thanking them for saving him, and mentioning it was nice to see Tulae again.  For my sanity, I will use a list here to kind of breakdown what Sildar told them:

• Sildar is a retired soldier and a member of a group called the Lord’s Alliance, a well known political entity concerned with doing right by the people and hoping to create safety and prosperity.
• Yeemik was at least telling the truth about Klarg.  The goblins as well as Klarg are all under the employ of someone or something called “The Black Spider.”  Sildar has no clue who or what that is.
• Once they leave here, he will fill them in more on the details, but both he and Gundren were attacked on the Triboar Trail.  They were after a map that Gundren had to a place called Wave Echo Cave.  Sildar believes that Klarg sent the map–along with Gundren–to a place called Cragmaw Castle, though he admits he has no idea where that might be, only that he heard the goblins talking about it occasionally.
• He hopes to make haste to Phandalan to talk with his contact there.  A Wizard named Iarno Albrek.  Iarno is also a member of the Lord’s Alliance and Sildar hopes he might know a little bit more about what the hell is happening.  Though he’s worried about Iarno’s fate as he apparently lost contact with him after he left for Phandalan two months ago.  This is why he was headed to Phandalan in the first place, and traveling with Gundren was safer than making the journey alone.  Plus the two had met several times, so it made sense to travel with good company.

With all this, he urgently tells the party they should leave this cave and head straight for Phandalan.  He tells them he will give them 50 gold as payment to escort them there, though it will take him a day or so to call in some favors once they arrive so he can pay them.

Kethin chimed in.  “Fancy idea, but, assuming these goblins are the ‘bandits’ we were warned about…” he trailed off, turning to face Sildar. “Would it not be better to stop them here?  I’m sure Phandalan would thank you for restoring trade, might make paying us a little…easier.”

Sildar relented.  What Kethin said made sense, though Sildar noted that the way he said that implies he knew Phandalan was on hard times due to trade.

“I like to research where I am being sent…”  Kethin admitted.

Satisfied with that response, Sildar grabbed a scimitar from one of the fallen goblins.  “Well then, no time like the present, no?  Shall we?”  Sildar feigned strength, but it was clear to the party he was still quite winded.  Gods only know what the goblins did to him while he was here.  Tulae told him to stay back and let them take care of everything.  If it came to it, Sildar was to run.

Val spent the short rest trying to tend to the litany of cuts and scratches on Sildar.

They all finished their short rest with no issue and gathered their things before heading deeper into the cave.  They rounded a bend and came up on a sketchy wooden bridge.  The bridge led to a raised area of the cave.  Also, pretend I mentioned that there was a small stream going through the main path of the cave, because this bridge goes over that stream, and it’s about to be moderately important.

Fearing some kind of trap, Kethin and Tulae cautiously moved over the bridge.  As they reached the halfway point of the bridge, they heard a whistle, followed by the sound of rushing water.  From further up the cave, a tidal wave’s worth of water careened through the cave.  Kethin, noticed a raised side path out of the cave’s path and jumped to it.  Tulae, wasn’t as lucky, or well, she kind of was…just wait, you’ll see.

Tulae was knocked off the bridge as the water rushed over her.  Somehow, Val was able to extend an arm–in what one might assume was a very high and lucky athletics check–and caught Tulae’s arm.  Val and Sildar pulled Tulae back up to where they were as the water dwindled away.

Somehow, the bridge was still standing, and they all headed quickly across while Kethin went up via the side path he was on.  They found themselves inside of another large cave room inside which were three goblins.  Out of spell slots and annoyed by her performance thus far, Tulae sprinted at the goblin closest to her, and bashed it’s head in with her warhammer, dropping it instantly.  Kethin on the other hand was spotted as he came up the side path, and took an arrow as he approached the goblin before him.  Val stayed in the rear, keeping Sildar safe.  She was able to hit the far goblin with a Firebolt and must have struck it in a vital spot because it too dropped instantly.

Kethin was struggling with his goblin, taking yet another hit, this time with a scimitar to the chest.  Tulae noticed this and ran over, once again clobbering with her warhammer, dropping the goblin instantly.

With the fight over, they finally took a moment to really examine the room.  In the back was a large pool of water held in place by a makeshift dam of rocks the goblins had cobbled together.  In front of that one, was another dam, though this one had seemingly been opened.  This must have been how the goblins were able to create the flood they had just been the victims of.

After all that noise, they knew the rest of the cave’s denizens would surely know they were there.  That said, Kethin decided to drop an insanely high stealth roll and snuck up a small stone staircase towards the back of the room.

Up top he saw only two goblins and a wolf in a room full of barrels and stalagmites.  The goblins were clearly listening for the sounds of anything suspicious.  Kethin popped up to fire an arrow off at the closest one.  He must have been making up for his performance before, because he hit one of the goblins and dropped it instantly.  Immediately after making himself known, and before he could duck back down the stairs, a bugbear came from behind one of the stalagmites and ran towards Kethin.  It knocked the remaining goblin out of the way and into a nearby bonfire as he came down with his morningstar, landing a critical hit on Kethin, dropping him instantly.  “You dare defy Klarg!?”  Proclaimed the bugbear.  “You kill my men and ransack my home!?  I WILL BUILD A THRONE WITH YOUR BONES!”

The fight was on.  Val noticed a twinge of uncertainty and fear in Sildar’s eyes and resigned to make this NOT a last stand.  Expanding her final spell slot, she casted Guiding Bolt and landed a sizable hit on Klarg.  Tulae rushed up the stairs and hit Klarg right in his gut, landing a critical hit on him.  She quite literally knocked his bones out his back, and Klarg screamed in pain as he went down.

The goblin stood up and escaped down a side path.  “Don’t let him escape!”  Yelled Tulae.  “He could come back with reinforcements!”  Tulae was now being attacked by the wolf, so Val ran past her and Firebolted the goblin, knocking him off balance and knocking him down the rocky path he was retreating down.  He didn’t get back up.

Meanwhile Sildar was able to stabalize Kethin, helping him sit up…just in time for Tulae to critically miss the wolf in front of her, following all the way through with her warhammer and hitting Kethin right in the head, dropping him once more.  Grumbling, and maybe a little concerned, Sildar once more began first aid.  

Val and Tulae were able to finish off the wolf, and like that, the cave fell silent.  Kethin was stable once more and sat on the ground, taking a hearty swig from his waterskin.

They investigated the room.  The barrels in the back bore the emblem and signage of a place called “The Lionshield Coster.”  Sildar was quick to mention that it was a shop in Phandalan.  The party deduced this was probably some of the goods the goblins had managed to steal.  They weren’t in the position to reclaim it right now, and were in desperate need of rest and a maybe some medical attention.

They took note of it, deciding to tell the Lionshield Coster at some point after they made it to town.  From there they made their way back out the cave.  Before leaving though, after several failed animal handle checks, they threw a goblin body to the chained wolves near the entrance, and freed the animals.  They quickly left, not wanting to stick around for when the wolves finished the goblin.

They made it back to where they stowed their wagon, and once more took to the road.  Now in relative safety, Sildar decided to break into a ton of exposition, filling the party in on what exactly Wave Echo Cave was

To paraphrase:

More than five hundred years ago, several different races made an agreement known as the “Phandelver’s Pact.”  They would share a plentiful mine that also held something called the Forge of Spells, a place where magical items could be crafted.  The nearby town of Phandalan was quite prosperous during this time.  Eventually, forces of orcs, bolstered by spell casting mercenaries would assault the mine.  The resulting battles would destroy much of the mine and eventually, its location would be lost to history.

That is, until Gundren and his brothers Tharden and Nundro found it once more.  They intended on reopening the mine, but needed supplies and assistance.  Hence why Gundren reached out to the party.

“So that’s what he was searching for all that time…” Sait Tulae.  “We dug into all manor of mines in the area, but he was always a little dodgy about what he was looking for.  I must have left him just before he found it.”  She chuckled to herself a little.

“You traveled with Gundren before?” Asked Sildar.

“Sure.  I’m a researcher of old civilizations.  Older than Phandalan and all of this.”  Tulae began.  “That’s probably why I’m unfamiliar with all this, but this is right up my area.  I’m glad Gundren brought me on…”  She trailed off.  “I’m worried about him.”

“I see.”  Sildar began.  “Are you all acquaintances of Gundren then?  He didn’t really speak much of any of you before we got captured.  He only really spoke of the mine, he’s a true dwarf.”

“I’m acquainted.”  Kethin spoke up.  “I’ve helped him around the city before.  He mentioned that this might be the ‘last job I ever need to work’ so I agreed to help.”  He shot a look at Sildar.  “It’s already looking to be quite promising”

“Right…well, you’ll have your reward once I establish myself in Phandalan…how about you?” He said, gesturing to Val.

“…” Val was silent.

“She doesn’t really talk much.”

“I see.”

“He helped me.”  Val said quickly and perhaps a bit louder than she intended. Her outburst caused the rest of the party to jump a bit.  “He…found me in the cave I was raised in…” She trailed off for a moment.  “He helped me through the worst part of my life, and showed me there was something I…I owe him much…”  She fell silent again.

As did the rest of the caravan. It was Tulae, the one driving the cart to speak up first.  

“Looks like we’re coming up on town.”

They came down a path, looking down on the town of Phandalan.  “I’m thinking maybe another 10 minutes or so, and we’ll be there.”

The sun had begun to set in the sky, and fatigue was beginning to overtake them.  Phandalan couldn’t have shown up at a better time…

Level up to Lv. 2

End of Part 1

Length: 1hr(ish)

My Notes / Thoughts:
This turned into a literal novel.  Are they all gonna be like this?  Oh god, what have I started.  I thought some photos would be cool this time.  The first time I did this I basically used a pencil on grid paper, and it quickly turned into a mess.  So this time I 3D printed…a ton.  Like a ton of these little modular dungeon titles.  They’re not painted or anything, but they’re really cool.  They’re by Dungeon Fab if you’re interested.  Definitely worth looking into.

The dice seem to be truly unforgiving to this group, though it might not seem like it here.  I can’t seem to succeed on like any skill checks, and enemies always seem to land every hit, with Klarg starting the fight out with a crit.  Fortunately, in combat at least, I seem to be able to land hits where it counts.  I’ve heard of something people use in solo plays called “Plot Armor.”  I’m assuming we all know what that is, but relative to solo d&d, people seem to use it as a means to escape sticky situations.  I think it might be from one of the solo ttrpg books, but I’m not sure.

I think my counter to this is to give each of the party one Inspiration at the beginning of each session and after every long rest.  Giving out inspiration during solo play feels a little weird to me since I am the one doing it all anyway, though that might change once I actually start using the books.  For now though, this feels like a solid option.  It’s not overly broken and it’s nice to make use of inspiration.  In normal play, I feel like people are incredibly stingy with it.  As for the long rest part, it’d be nice for it to recharge in some way, and having it recharge every short rest felt too easy to me.

I’ve thought about recording these to refer back too, but right now I have a bad habit of doing a lot of the RP bits in my head, or sort of mumbling through them.  I’d like to get more into them, but right now I think I am still in the “cringe” phase of playing solo.  I know it’s not.  I know there is nothing wrong with what I am doing.  But sitting alone at a table rolling dice and talking to myself under the guise of being multiple people is still something I need to mentally accept.

That said, the Klarg fight and ride to Phandalan were genuinely entertaining and fun.  Kethin going down to a crit was genuinely frightening right at the beginning of the fight.  I really found myself thinking “Oh crap, are they gonna be able to do this?”  Each die roll had me on the edge of my seat and I think there were a few points were I sort of went turbo mode on everyone’s turns just to get to the next hit because I was so excited.

This could be addicting I think.

The next session will probably be a bit.  I’d like to sit down and read “DM Yourself.”  So I will do my best to channel the motivation I have right now and read that book.  Because I’d really like to continue this.