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[PbP] D&D 5E: The Hound of Cabell Manor (Game's done!)

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  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    "She will never darken your doors again, milady. The Cabell's are safe from her predations." King says, doffing his hat.

    He sincerely hoped it was true.

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    "Thank the gods," she sighs, looking relieved but too stressed for it to really show. Given the circumstances - her home burning down, her husband being attacked, her infant son almost kidnapped by a devil - she seems to be holding up quite well under the pressure. "I suppose I should thank the four of you most of all. I hope this is all truly over."

    Katrin turns to continue loading what few possessions they were able to collect in the brief time you were gone. "Can you follow us into town? We can withdraw your payment from the bank there. And, though I know it isn't far, we would both feel a lot better with your company on the road."

    Athon chimes in now, having soothed Henry. The baby is awake but calm, quietly watching the dancing flames of what used to be Cabell Manor over his father's shoulder. "Yes, please come with us. There may yet be dangers lurking and," he gingerly touches the bandage wrapped around his head, "I wouldn't be much use in a fight right now, I'm afraid. We can wake up the banker if we have to. We'll see that you're paid for what you've done for us."

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    As they follow the wagon into town, Mori feels it's an ideal time to provide further details as to their surprisingly peaceful encounter with Yeth.

    ...of course a demon can not be truly killed away from its home plane, only banished to it's plane of origin. We've done what we were hired to do by convincing Yeth to annul the contract before your house burnt down, thus freeing all participants from it's strictures. However, but annulling the contract, Yeth's soul remains free of Asmodeus, well, as free as she can be given her circumstances.

    You still own the land, and Yeth will not return in regards to the terms laid out in the original contract, but that does little to preclude her from attempting future bargains with you, your descendants, or others. Hopefully, the dangers of making contracts with demons is self evident at this point.
    She was understandably irate to have her contract used against her, I fear that any future contracts that she drafts will be much tougher to break...


    As the lecture continues, Mori keeps an eye on their surrounding, alert for any potential dangers or vengeful demonesses.
    Geth, roll 1d20+3 for keeping an eye out

    keeping an eye out:
    1d20+3 18 [1d20=15]

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    edited April 2020
    None of you spot any clear and present dangers on the way back to Beechburton. Some of the shadows shift in unusual ways, but perhaps that's just the lingering stress and uncertainty of the night's events getting to you.

    The Cabell's listen to Mori's report, clearly uneasy at the idea that Yeth is still out there somewhere. They assure the four of you that they have no intention of striking any deals with any devils, having had quite enough of those kinds of interactions for one lifetime.

    Eventually you arrive in Beechburton to the gawking stares of the few night guards that are patrolling the streets. The town clearly doesn't have much of a night-life as most of the citizens are already in their homes. You can see several shutters and curtain moving aside as townsfolk peek at you, no doubt already crafting the gossip they will share with each other in the morning. You find the town's lone banker enjoying a drink at the tavern, who's face grows steadily more pale as the Cabells relate to him the reasons for needing to access their accounts at this hour.

    An hour later the four of you have your coin in hand, and the Cabells have rented a room in the inn where they will stay until they're able to get back on their feet. They thank you profusely, and assure you that they will be okay. The fear is still clear in their eyes, though exhaustion is threatening to overtake everything else.
    Friends, at this point the adventure is over! I appreciate all of you indulging me in running a nice short little PbP. At this point you can post any parting words or action of your characters if you'd like. I'd also love to hear your thoughts about the adventure, the format, my running of it, 5E in general, anything. No need for spoiler tags after this. Game's done!

    Oh and if there are any spectators, post-game discussion is open to you as well.

    Thank you all!

    Denada on
  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    King will definitely be enjoying a drink or seven! All the while trying to charm his way into the skirts/pants of anyone who's interested! And some point he does hope he comes across that guard who first him the legend of the Cabell's prosperity. When he does, King will absolutely make sure he's directed at Hobs who will buy him a drink!

    ____________


    Thanks Denada! This was short, sweet and fun!

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    For anyone interested, this was an adventure I found on DM's Guild. The in-person playtime is probably only a few hours as it is quite short, but for a PbP it managed to fill up a couple weeks. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for: a brief distraction during the shelter-in-place order and an outlet for my mild game-mastering addiction.

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Mori putters around the town cemetery while King, Hobs and Laen hit the local tavern like a band of adventurers with pockets brimming with gold. Mori takes his time insuring that it is warded and sanctified as holy ground, before retiring to the inn for what passes for a long rest for a warforged.

    ~~~~~~~~

    @Denada, just curious, how did you see the contract negotiation going down initially? It was looking like a fight, instead we got a really good convincing argument and the demoness going "Hmmm, okay. Loopholes are bad."
    I'm also curious if there were other loopholes you had put into the contract that we didn't notice.

    Thanks for running this, it's been fun.

  • DenadaDenada Registered User regular
    So the way the adventure is written, Yeth is supposed to attack when she realizes you've figured out a way to get out of the contract. But King had a good Persuasion check, and it honestly seemed to fit the situation better if she took the deal. She was in a position where the house was already burning down and it was looking like a 4 against 1 fight, and devils are built up as these kind of calculating creatures that don't necessarily just fly into rages all the time.

    The time-based loophole that you found wasn't spelled out in the adventure, but it does offer the advice that if a loophole sounds reasonable, just go with it even if an actual lawyer might disagree. It also doesn't address trying to convince her to leave and avoid the trouble of dying and going back to the Nine Hells, which like I said seemed like it would be best outcome for Yeth given the circumstances.

    Personally I figured you guys were going to just go ahead and attack her, but there's no accounting for players :)

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    I was preparing for a big fight. I'm guessing that 20 ac would have been pretty hard for her to crack.
    Even saved a lvl 2 spell slot for Inflict Wounds for a real nasty surprise

    But, I guess it's hard to argue with a 19 persuade.

  • SteelhawkSteelhawk Registered User regular
    Sorry to ruin your fun. :razz:

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Steelhawk wrote: »
    Sorry to ruin your fun. :razz:

    I do like that we both made pretty much the same argument at the same time.

  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    Definitely wasn't expecting that end! Thought there was twist coming but only because I was expecting a big fight at the end there. I do wish I'd picked a character I felt more comfortable with instead of Hobs who I'm trying to get a handle on. Its a really solid adventure and I think you ran it well. Thank you that was a good diversion. Ill have to have a look at that adventure.

    Quire.jpg
  • NealnealNealneal Registered User regular
    Thank you so much @Denada ! I always love playing in your games.

    I'm glad I stuck with Champion Fighter for the PbP format. Battle Master is my favorite 5e fighter, but I worried it's just too fiddly for the format.

    Laen Brightwater will definitely be played again when I'm itching to be a regular dude with a case of hero-itis.

    @nightmarenny, I also expected some devilish twist.

  • PowerpuppiesPowerpuppies drinking coffee in the mountain cabinRegistered User regular
    I thought this was great fun. Nice to see something just work out via talking. It's all there, Yeth, black and white, you get nothing!

    I would be pretty daunted if breaching the contact meant my soul belonged to Asmodeus. In the published adventure the resolution is expected to be that you kill Yeth in a fight and she just fucks off to other schemes when she respawns?

    sig.gif
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