No rest for the weary! More complications arise after settling a demon problem, but the problems now are intraparty in nature. We had a roleplay-heavy session with a lot of drama and tension!

In these Campaign Diary posts, I talk about the campaign I play in and how our latest session turned out!

What’s SBotLL again?

SBotLL is the campaign I play in! It’s been running for
over three years now. There are two parties: one on the surface and the other in the Underdark. I play on the surface squad as the elf bard Finnith, with my two friends playing the dragonborn rogue Nala and the tiefling ranger Allora.

Recap

The party helped Mijira Mystan, the leader of the green dragonborn, fight off a demonic incursion on a druid grove. As thanks, she transports them to the far-off land of the Mystan clan to tend to their wounds.

Because Nala is the heir to the throne of the black dragonborn clan, Mijira explained to her why the druid grove of Grunfeld Vale was being targeted in this way. Each of the dragonborn clans made pacts with demon lords in the past. Now, someone is seeking to cause chaos for an unknown goal. They have stolen the Mystan’s vial of Zuggtmoy’s blood and used it to create the incomplete summoning circle that Mijira destroyed in the vale. The knowledge of the demon pacts is a huge secret among the dragonborn leaders.

During this session…

The young leader, Mijira Mystan, offers to heal Finnith’s leg. His leg was seriously injured in a fight at the beginning of the campaign, and he hasn’t really given it a chance to heal since, so it’s in a bad way. He accepts her offer, and she casts regenerate to heal it. The young druid did not explain that her magic would transform his flesh into fungus from the knee down.

This is exceedingly strange, but Mijira seems to think this is normal, so she’s somewhat surprised at Finnith and the party’s chagrin. Nevertheless, his leg is technically healed, so it’s a win?

The party have some time to talk before dinner at the Mystan manor. Finnith and Allora both caught on that Nala wasn’t telling them all the information back at Grunfeld Vale, so they ask her about it. They’re both disappointed when Nala decides not to tell them. Allora becomes upset that Nala isn’t trusting them, while Finnith is confused that she won’t share the information she has. Nala doesn’t want to tell them what she knows, since she feels she doesn’t have the whole picture anyways, and Mijira told her that this was a closely-kept secret.

This leads to a falling-out between Nala and Allora. Just in time for the party to be called to dinner.

A tense dinner scene ensues, as Finnith tries to get information out of Mijira. Allora leaves early, and Finnith goes to find her after he thanks Mijira for her healing and hospitality. Nala stays to speak with Mijira more about her leadership of her clan, the demon lord pacts, and Nala’s own situation.

As Finnith goes to catch up with Allora, he is surprised by Amuultoma, an NPC warlock who had accompanied the party for a while, and who is technically Nala’s bodyguard. Amuultoma, whose name is now Amuulqalo, didn’t really get along that well with Finnith. So when he antagonizes Finnith by casting darkness as his introduction, things don’t go well.

The two get in an argument, and Allora finds them due to the commotion. You know what else the commotion attracts? The guards!

The guards suspect Amuulqalo for involvement in a recent crime. They want to take him in for questioning, but Finnith raises an objection and escalates the situation by doing so. Allora, Nala, and Mijira are pulled into the situation. Finally, Allora says that she’ll accompany Amuulqalo as he is questioned and that she’ll vouch for his innocence. Finnith agrees and will go with Allora.

They are present while Amuulqalo is interrogated. When they search his belongings, Finnith notices a book authored by Andir Shaelen, a member of the Sidus Council* involved with psionic research, among his possessions.

Despite the guards’ suspicions, they confirm that Amuulqalo was not involved in the crime, and so he’s let go. As he leaves, he and Finnith apologize for their conduct, and he exits for the time being.

Allora, Nala, and Finnith join back up again and return to Vindus’ realm to report their success. Vindus grants them new powers, but tensions are still running high between the party members.

Running sessions in unusual circumstances

The week of this session, my husband and I were on a trip to visit the friends who are a part of SBotLL. But, the day of the session, we were on a car trip back home.

The solution?

Running D&D online in the car!

This solution, of course, is highly specific to our situation. We play over Discord, our phones are on an unlimited data plan, we got decent connection during our trip, and I was in the passenger seat to do our dice rolls. My husband is a good enough driver to be able to have an involved conversation while staying safe on the road.

Safety first, so I wouldn’t recommend this for every situation, especially if you’re driving alone or don’t drive often.

But, it helped us squeeze in one last session before one of our players left for a out-of-the-country trip for the next month. The session was mostly focused on roleplay, so that kept the DM from running complicated or extensive combat, and the nature of the session was communicated to the players beforehand. It worked out surprisingly well!

Nothing is “filler”

Even though this was going to be a weird session, our Dungeon Master didn’t hold back on adding drama to the session. Mijira healing Finnith’s leg, Amuulqalo showing up, the guards’ suspicion of Amuulqalo—all of these events required the normal amount of DM engagement and roleplaying. This session wasn’t just the party talking, it was a full-blown episode, not just “filler” or a throwaway.

What makes a session great is when everyone does their best to play and DM well. Everyone bringing what they can to the table, every time. Your energy levels may vary, your roleplay may be inconsistent, but that’s okay—what matters is that you brought what you could.

Thanks for reading!

*The Sidus Council: a council organized after the incident 652 years ago. They began the new era, the Romenstace, and banished the grey elves, grey gnomes, and grey dwarves of Angarod into the Underdark. The councilmembers are not known to the public, and they supposedly dissolved after instating the new elven government in the early Romenstace.