It's funny how player assumptions can create wonderful plot twists.

In my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign, my players are currently on a quest to kidnap a warlock. Apart from the fact that they must return him alive, the only thing their employer told them about the "villain" was that "He is a dangerous warlock who is practiced in the dark arts."

Based on that statement alone, as well as the fact that they work for an arguably good-aligned secret organization, the general assumption ...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

We last left off -- quite a while ago -- with the PCs having powered through a skill challenge that saw them climbing a giant staircase to the villain's lair while dodging obstacles thrown at them and falling stalactites from above. Having succeeded, they found themselves at the villain's main gate, greeted by guards.

The battlefiel...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

We last left off with the PCs having plowed through a confidence-boosting battle in the midst of an underground town being bombarded by falling stalactites, only to discover they didn't defeat the villain, but her decoy. With the threat of stalactite-induced doom omnipresent -- in a completely non-"rocks fall, everyone dies" kind of way ...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned a combat session that went horribly wrong. Statistically, the battle was supposed to be of average difficulty, one of those "consumes 20% of your resources" fights. Instead, the party nearly lost the battle.

This session, the opposite happened: a battle that was intended to be of average difficulty turned...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

The PCs led a militia of 300 strong on an assault on the Big Bad's town. Taking point, they plowed through the enemies' front lines, crushing the unprepared defenders and fought alongside their small army against hordes of slavers, corrupt guards, and general nogoodniks.

The players had fun, the PCs took a step toward their ultimate go...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

Combat session.

I didn't intend it to be a difficult battle. Mechanically, it was of average difficulty. This was supposed to be a quick confidence-booster before the main quest encounters.

The battle lasted four hours, and the party was nearly defeated.

What went wrong?

I'm still not sure. The encounter began when the PCs fell through ...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

The Inner Fane. That's the title of the quest my players are currently on, a quest that will conclude Act I of this campaign. After ~3 years -- both real-life and in-game -- the PCs will finally defeat the villain that has plagued them for so long. I had initially planned this quest to last 8 sessions, and although we've already fallen behind...

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Session Report-Back is a feature in which I jot down my after-action thoughts about my weekly D&D session for my Disciples of Dreth'dor campaign.

There are two types of sessions in my campaign: "Quest Sessions," in which the PCs embark on missions assigned by their employers, and "RP Sessions," in which the PCs embark on a roleplay adventure to fulfill personal goals. A mission may last 4-8 sessions, with two back-to-back RP sessions serving as an interlude between missions.

Each RP sessi...
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