u/No_Difference195

Come on, yall. At least pretend to care....

But Im still going to get my game time in. Single player Horde on a rainy day.

Well... I met her voice actor, Erica Lindbeck!

Last night was the big reveal at Sloobludop. I ran the encounter as a skills challenge.

What went well:

The party was rolling poorly and the tension was high. Our cleric had convinced Stool to stay in Ploops shack as they went to pose as bait for the ritual. As Ploop attacked Blopp and the the Kuo-toa began fighting amongst themselves, the cleric realized they had to rescue Stool before they could try to escape.

The party was rolling poorly. They had 2 of 4 successes but ultimately accumulated 3 failures as Demogorgon came ashore and laid waste to Slubloodop. The party was buried under debris as the remainder of the Kuo-toa fled or were destroyed of Demogorgon.

After the chaos, the party was dug out of the debris by Ilvara and the drow who shackled the party and made the decision to take them to Menzoberranzan.

I should have ended the session there.

Where I screwed up:

After some disoriented travel time, the drow made camp in a small cavern. Ilvara and Asha took their lizard steeds ahead to Menzoberranzan to make arrangements for the prisoners arrival leaving 4 drow guards with he prisoners.

The wizard created a distraction as the druid wild shaped into a snake to slip the shackles. Jimjar, who had vanished during Demogorgons attack, trailed the drow and used a torch stalk as a flash bang surprising 2 of the drow.

The party was able to kill 2 of the drow easily. The other was rolling well.... so I fudged a couple of rolls. Because of the fudged rolls, the party was able to defeat the remaining drow.

Now the party is on their way back to Sloobludop to assess the damage and try to find a boat to head to Neverlight, which was their original plan.

I panicked because I hadn't planned appropriately and now the party effectively suffered a minor inconvenience where there should have been dire consequences.

Moving forward:

Im trying to think of ways to make the failure more meaningful despite my poor judgement. I am considering having the party potentially get lost on the way back to Slubloodop. Or, if they get back to Slubloodop, all the boats are destroyed along with some of their equipment that got left behind when they were buried.

Im open to suggestions. If you made the same mistake I did, how would you take action to make reestablish meaningful consequences to their initial failure?

I finally got my hands on the Skeleta beer!

Spent the day yesterday kicked back on the patio with my new knee inpreperation for today. 15lb brisket. No wrap. Started at 0900 on July 3rd. Hit a 4 hour stall at 150F. Pulled it at 200F and probe tender at 0245. Let it cool to 170 then double wrapped in foil with some beef tallow and set it in a 150F oven until time to serve at 1400 today. Beer for posterity.

I usually use my Old Country offset, but I decided to see what all the hubbub was about over the "snake method." Turned out pretty solid. I had a couple of temp spikes that can probably be smoothed out with practice, but overall it was smooth and simple. I even was able to run to the bank and the grocery store while the butt was cooking.

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6lb butt, apple chunk, kingsford briquettes. No wrap, pulled when probe tender at 205F. Total cook time 8 hours.

After traversing the Silken Paths (and almost being whiped out by some giant spiders), my party is approaching Sloobludop! This is the first big stop of the campaign. They figure itll be easier to get to Neverlight by way of the Dark Lake and are hoping to acquire a vessel.

Last sessions they spotted the "Demons Ahead!" warning, and they have had some minor combat (drow and spiders), but this is going to be their first big encounter in the campaign. I am probably more excited than I should be for the big Leemoogoogoon reveal! I cant wait to see their faces when this thing hits the table.

On top of the madness roles, Im thinking Im going to have Sariths infrction flare, not like it will in Neverlight or Gracklstugh, but enough to drop him to his knees in pain while hacking up spores. Im debating on having Buppido exhibit a bit more of his gore-lust as well.

What fun and memorable additions have you made to this encounter? Not necessarily the at the rise of Demogorgon, but Slubludop in general.

Sidenote: why are Kuo Toa minis so hard to find!?

Got to love a little outdoor sorcery when the smoker is rolling. First time playing our homebrew decks. We both decided to keep it simple with the Sorcerer avatar. I was running Earth, Fire, Air spellcasters with some graveyard shenanigans. He was running Earth and Fire lethal with some control elements.

It was the first time we have played anything other than the pre-cons. Earth, Fire, Air won with a well timed lightning bolt while we were both on deaths door. I think we both have some learning to do when it comes to movement and optimal site placement. Overall, the decks were well matched and the pace was consistent. We both always had plays to make and were both able to find fun synergies in our decks.

Does anyone have any recommendations or resources to help with site placement and movement tactics/strategies?

Made a red fajitas marinade and let 5lbs of thinly sliced chuck diezmillo (they were out of skirt) soak it up for 5 hours before throwing over a hot and fast direct heat on the weber kettle. Made for some solid taco last night for Taco Tuesday/Cinco de Mayo.

Set the kettle up for 2 zone cooking. Skin side down for 30 mins then flipped it and let it ride to temp. My favorite way to cook chicken.