Tonight the Sigil 6 arrived in the Radiant Citadel and set out on a rescue operation to a frozen Winter World.

• Hetty Wright, a Citadel clerk, interviews the Sigil 6 in the Passge of Respite and despite some uncomfortable interviews (Kuru and Hajek, I’m looking at youse)
• Quarace, their Drider Agent from Sigil, welcomes the S6 to the Radiant Citadel. Jusko uses a new power to read her and sees her desire to do right by the Sigil 6 but also real fear and shame from her upbringing as a Drow assassin who failed and was turned into a Drider by Lloth. It was an interesting insight into a long-time NPC.
• Shepherd and Trundle visit the House of Convalescence and do some healing. They see refugees from several worlds and get an idea of problems in other Concordant Worlds that orbit the citadel.
• Kuru, using his magic-cutting flame dagger, and Trundle, using his firebrand shortsword, cut their way through the ice that had consumed the Winter World’s concordant gem.
• Hajek found the HQ of Hajek Mercantile, the organization his family set up. Dozens and dozens of games ago, Hajek wrote his family name on a world being born. His power-hungry family now rule that world.

I thought we were going to arrive a month ago but due to a few cancelled games and taking 3 sessions on the Rock of Bral hunting Mind Flayers we had some delays. And that is fine. Honestly, if the players had decided to set up shop on the Rock of Bral and make that their campaign, I would’ve been fine with it (and I said so).

I did some prep!

And I made an encounter table for Winter World (in which Rime of the Frostmaiden’s Ten-Towns are the last ten surviving towns in an ice-choked world and that world is a Jewel-World that orbits the Radiant Citadel).

And I will stat out the 3 incarnations of the Frostmaiden, making them less the horrendous Maiden/Lady/Ice Womb (not kidding) from the book and more into winter-things: Huntress/Death/Ice Storm.

“I’m getting Babylon 5 vibes from this thing,” Anthony said. Yeah, I see that.

We had a chat about our favorite moments after the game was over. Here are a few:

Trundle was the only person in the Citadel Intake interview who was reasonable and it was just a funny contrast. I loved Trundle’s description of how he ascertains what is balance in his service to the Lady of Pain.

The description of the Radiant Citadel was starting to make it a three-dimensional palce (yay!).

There was some excitement at the idea of using newfound Godfound powers to heal Quarace of her state as a Drider. Huh.

Some appreciation that Kuru’s aunties who had set him up as a Master Spy in the Hall of Whispers.

Enjoyed the high fantasy epicness of carving into magical ice that was encasing a gem ship.

The Sigil 6 used several Words and Powers to fly and then Shadow-walk into the Illithid’s subterranean lair under Prince Andru’s palace. The elvish mercenaries got a pair of lucky shots off and hit Shepherd.

One of the Mind Flayers was astral projecting to get reinforcements; its body was limp but its Mind Flayer comrade was nearby surrounded by wyverns with thrall-studs in their skulls to make psionic domination easier. It was a 3 round battle but the wyvern tail-venom was nasty; Trundle was dropped in the first round and Kuru followed soon after – but not before stealing the Mind Flayer’s ability to probability travel.

I need to ask Kuru to hold his action if he wants to steal an ability. I love that power but we’ve been using it like an interrupt, which is a bit powerful. Kuru’s ability theft meant the Mind Flayer couldn’t just walk away from the losing battle. And so it died. Once the Mind Flayer was dead it was an easy thing for Shepherd, still in a Mind Flayer body, to psionically order them to sleep.

Kuru grabbed the Mind Flayers’ treasure. They were running a little low on funds. Now they should have some more liquid funds.

I’ve been using the AD&D Monster Manual, Monster Manual 2 and Fiend Folio for the stats and such. For the wyvern’s poison tail venom, I went with a Hardiness Save, failure meant the damage was Straight d10 (which is BRUTAL) and success meant just a straight d6. This dropped 2 characters. If the players had tried to futz around with the wyverns instead of finding out early that Shepherd, in the Mind Flayer body, could easily mind control them once the other Mind Flayers were out of the picture it would’ve been a bad night for the Sigil 6.

I’ve been enjoying Godbound combats. They are fast, brutal and the players are using their powers in interesting ways. We got slowed down a bit by figuring out exactly how Effort works and when Effort is spent and when it is just making a power work and goes back to the character once that power is turned off. It is a process and that is fine.

They killed Shepherd, forcing him from the Mind Flayer body, after they were refusing to leave the Illithid shell and return to his angel-made flesh golem procured in Ravenloft. We rolled some dice on it but it was all in good fun and Trundle and Jusko rolled well – ending it quickly. The corpseflea made his way into his golem sleeve and apologized for how he acted. Shepherd’s new Fact reflects his time spent in the Mind Flayer sleeve and he took a new power that we are coloring as a Psionic Blast.

They used powers to look around Bral and see what was happening. They saw the Prince’s elf mercenary guards coming back to themselves and watched them kill Prince Andru, saying he had been in league with the Mind Flayers and had even given them access to Potions of Mind Control made to control elves. These elf soldiers were preparing to take over the Rock of Bral’s governance. No one was exactly comfortable with this. Trundle tried to get them to agree to turn the governance over to an elected republic but it was a failed Spirit Save. Nope.

They gave the Elf General (why didn’t I name him!?!) a letter of introduction to the Lady of Pain, hoping to set him up with Outlands Expedition Teams should they need more support. After getting some advice from their AWOL Githyanki ship captain, they overheard them talking about something called the Siege of Thorns. They found out these elves were on the losing side of a war in which their queen attempted to take control of the Radiant Citadel.

Inspiration for Elvish Empire is the Two Drakes‘ BBEG, Widow of Roses.

Kuru wanted to steal something from the Prince’s palace before they left. Part of me is tempted to roll some dice at the start of next session but I’d also like to get to the Radiant Citadel already. I’ll roll up some random treasure.

Our game is switching from 5e to Godbound. The characters were up to 12th level and Godbound is a fun system for powerful D&Dish folks.

The group voted for the Winter World to be their next adventure and so I started prepping and daydreaming about how I’d alter Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. They had killed a Mind Flayer that was living under the Rock of Bral last adventure and foolish me, I did not ask if that was the end of it.

It was not the end of it. Kuru’s run-in with an aboleth’s mind control has left its mark; he doesn’t like cthonic mind control beasts. Shit got personal. Then Shepherd, the Corpseflea, jumped into the Mind Flayer corpse. I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the treasure tables…

Nice thing about using the AD&D Monster Manual (and the Monster Manual II and the Fiend Folio) is that I get to use its treasure tables. I rolled, not knowing that there is an automated option. I decided the Mind Flayer kept bodies whose brains it had eaten in its Bag of Holding, doing some light, non-necromantic hobby-mummification for fun.

It seemed like the Sigil 6 wanted to put an epilogue on the slaying of the Mind Flayer from last week, talk to Prince Andru of Bral, maybe get a reward and then leave. I had described Andru’s honor guard as haughty elves in red and gold livery. They were turned away at the bridge to the prince’s palace, leading them to believe that this Mind Flayer wasn’t working alone. Even Jusko’s Leadership Word couldn’t penetrate, furthering the theory that some greater power was behind it all.

Shepherd is a corpseflea, a little spark of sentience that can jump into corpses (taken from the cool af 5 Torches Deep: Heritage supplement). I was straight-up eager for him to jump into the Mind Flayer body. He did. I asked for a Spirit Save and it was a fail. He wouldn’t be able to jump out at will. I got to describe the sense of communal consciousness and connection to the other Mind Flayers in his pod, especially the two others on the Rock of Bral, who he had grown up with from tadpoles. Getting to describe shit like going from primate bodies to something really alien is fun.

My vision of Mind Flayers is that they operate on science fiction logic. When Shepherd-in-the-Mind-Flayer saw their Githyanki-renegate ship captain, he could see the botched breeding cycle of a fine servant species. I described his friends as deliciously sentient. He was able to access his memories easily, not getting vague flashbacks like when he is in primate corpses.

He reached out telepathically to another Mind Flayer and learned that when the first Mind Flayer whose corpse he was riding had died, one Mind Flayer went into the astral plane, seeking reinforcements. The conversation didn’t go well and the third Mind Flayer suggested Shepherd go to the Elder Brain to regain his connection and focus rather than seeking out this primate-like individualism.

Shepherd knew that when they went astral, their body was stowed in a secret area by some Mind Flayer thralls. They secreted back onto the Rock of Bral through Trundle’s almost-constructed Well of Worlds.

Behind the scenes, I rolled an Intelligence check for the third Mind Flayer. He succeeded. The Monster Manual said these things are geniuses. His friend is acting weird and reinforcements might be far away. They are surrounded by enemies. It moved the helpless Mind Flayer whose body was left behind while it went into the Astral Plane.

The thralls were a trap; they unzipped their skin and combined to become some combination of Voltron and John Carpenter’s The Thing. I statted it as a Hulking Abomination from Godbound, which suggested it have access to a Word – I chose Undying from Endurance. The fight was going rough and then Kuru, who can steal Gifts, stole the creature’s Undying. The beast flipped out and killed Kuru the next round but he had Undying. When Jusko finished the creature, screaming Kuru’s name like a killing word, Kuru popped back up, regenerating despite haven taken a cthonic tentacle through the skull.

It was a fun fight and I have just barely gotten my feet under me. This is going to be fun.

What now? Now I’m going to roll up the treasure of the remaining Mind Flayers on treasure tables B, S, T and X. Let’s see what these Lovecraftian assholes are working with.

We’ll get to the Radiant Citadel some day…I think.

Tonight in our game with only half the group at the table, we took a detour to the Rock of Bral.

I was totally floundering. I narrated people gathering at the shipyards to watch some convicted pirates being put out into the void by the Rock of Bral’s ruler, Prince Andru in red and gold raiment made to look like some kind of Napoleonic era admiral with elf mercenary guards, also in red and gold.

Shepherd, being a Corpseflea in an angel-made Flesh Golem, climbed out to talk to one of the pirates, Half-a-Smile Harry Halton, who didn’t believe in any afterlife, since his death was surely the gods’ coin flip that allowed Prince Andru to win and Half-a-Smile to lose.

“If you can, go see the Radiant Citadel; it is the most beautiful place I have seen in all the worlds,” Half-a-Smile said to Shepherd before he climbed back to the Rock.

I have no idea what I wanted to happen with that pirate/prince execution encounter thing. I only know that when I pictured it and daydreamed about it the whole game jumped off from that moment. No idea what I was hoping for.

That is alright. We found our feet eventually.

The floundering continued through some shopping. They discussed robbing Prince Andru but decided against it. I was eager to give Godbound a whirl. Then Anthony mentioned that he wanted to look to see if any Sigil Outlands Expeditioners had left any travelling symbols carved into anything. I asked for a roll and I shoudln’t have done that. The answer to that question should always be, “YES, here’s an interesting detail about this place that you wouldn’t have otherwise known.”

It was clear that a Sigil-born Expeditioner had been press ganged onto a Spelljamming ship, made his way to Bral, uncovered the Mind Flayer on the underside of the asteroid city who was mind controlling the prince and died fighting the creature.

I grabbed the Mind Flayer from the AD&D Monster Manual and off we went. I upped its Hit Dice a touch and frantically looked up what Probability Travel and Body Equilibrium were as the crew planned. I’ll plan monsters a little more carefully but page 171 of Godbound has pretty clear guidelines for making monsters.

When the first round of combat made it clear that the Mind Flayer was outmatched, it phased out of reality into another plane of existence with Probability Travel. Kuru has a power where he can steal powers from other creatures but we had to work out if he had the Effort to do so. He did. Dex save to see if he can grab the power before the Mind Flyer phases out and he made it.

“Do you take on some characteristic of the creature whose power you steal? If so…what?”

“Oooh, I hadn’t thought of that. I like that. Yes…”

The Mind Flayer had 2 of 4 tentacles on Kuru’s head. The Halfling had taken on the Mind Flayer’s ocean creature-but-more-chemical smell from stealing its psionic power.

It was getting late and Trundle rolled a 1 to hit the Mind Flayer with his sword. I told him I’d let him roll damage but he’d have to swing through Kuru, doing whatever damage he did to the Mind Flayer to his comrade too. The math worked out and the Mind Flayer was defeated and Kuru was clinging to life.

Being able to grab monsters right out of the AD&D Monster Manuals and Fiend Folio is going to be just lovely. Looking forward to building monsters out a bit from Godbound’s guidelines.

Worth noting that Trundle grabbed a stone so that he could jump to the Rock of Bral from his soon-to-be-constructed Well of Worlds.

Tonight in our game the Sigil 6 see a comet that was their sign to meet up in Sigil, jump on a ship on the Astral Sea and head to the Radiant Citadel…

Kuru

Origin Halfling Ninja Village

Past Career Rogue Arcane Trickster

Relationship: Sigil 6, Council of 3, Cult of Songrim

Words: Deception, Fire and Theft

Shepherd

Origin Corpseflea – Bodychanger

Past Career Failed Soldier

Relationship Attuned to the Raven Queen

Words: Death, Health and Knowledge

Trundle

Origin Dwarven AWOL

Past Career Dwarven Ranger

Relationship Traveller

Words: Journeying, Artifice and looking like Health

Jusko

Origin Exiled from a Noble House

Past Career A knight, a thief, a prisoner

Relationship Welded to the Sigil Six

Words: Sword, Sky and Command

Helewynne

?

(Sorry, Aaron)

Bugwump

?

Normally, I jump in with both feet but for whatever reason, I wanted to re-read the Radiant Citadel info just one more time before the Sigil 6 arrive. In the past month I have started a new job and I’m still figuring out my week-night energy levels. I’m confident I can still run this game and want to continue but tonight I cut things short rather than press on. This new normal is causing me to be cautious.

Everyone was scattered. Each player told me where they were as we began.

Kuru was in front of three hobbit ninja grandmothers who run the village where he was born.

Shepherd was on the shore of the Astral Sea, watching a Corpseflea coming out of the sea for the first time.

Jusko was furiously packing in his beach apartment in Chult with new Chultan tattoos.

Trundle was figuring out the boundaries of his new Well of Worlds, wanting to learn what began the war between the dwarven citadel where he was born and the demons who have been laying siege to it for as long as anyone can remember.

Such amazing starting places.

Kuru was chided by the hobbit-ninja-grandma’s to take a spouse, build a home and settle down. When he refused, they gave him a letter of introduction to the Court of Whispers.

Shepherd, true to his name, guided the newborn Corpseflea to Sigil where this strange species has a small neighborhood. We got a cool guide to how they inhabit bodies and how Shepherd taught this newborn how to control it and find their place in their corpse. The newborn had a vague memory of emerging from some kind of cocoon.

Jusko wished Dacaad well and the Chultan leader gave him an ancient Omuan scroll about the Radiant Citadel. The ancient elders had hoped to move Chult to the citadel somehow.

Trundle’s quest took the most time. He found an ancient glyph carved in stone of dwarves building a prison and then the prison being turned into a temple and there was a Balrog, a Baatezu, a Pit Fiend – it was levitating a few feet from the ground, sword and whip on hooks nearby. It tried to convince Trundle to be a diplomat, talking about how it had taken control of the citadel as akind of demi-god and its Devil comrades did not approve. The Pit Fiend believed the Demons were spillover from the Blood War, sent to punish him for not returning to its duties in Hell. Trundle left, saying he would return to discuss this matter further – wanting the war to end.

We wrote up our new bingo board and just got some role-playing in as the group enjoyed being together again.

If you want to know more about our XP houserule, here’s more about that.

Next week: The Radiant Citadel, Angels, anarchists, rebels, Shadow of the Sun…

Tonight in our game…1 player had technical issues, 2 were pulled into late nights at work and so the 3 remaining worked on moving their characters over to Godbound. We are deliberating over how we are going to deal with hit points – starting hit points like a first level Godbound character or use their level as hit dice from the D&D game? We’ll talk it over next week when we have more of us at the table.

The last leg of your journey to the Radiant Citadel is uneventful on board the Hammerhead ship, The Long Rest. Captain Qairste, is an old salty Githyanki Marine, long-since gone AWOL from the Lich-Queen’s Imperial Navy. She loves talking to each of you about your adventures in Sigil, the city she plans to retire to some day.

What do you remember most about that long trip through the stars into the Astral Sea?

What part of your life/adventures do your dreams return you to?

Posted on the Thursday Night Delver’s FB group

I think Godbound will solve the 5e Hit Point bloat issues we’ve been having while giving the group lots of fun powers to play with. I’m excited to stat out some Demon Lords, Arch-Liches and Dukes of Hell to see how they shake out in combat. We’ve got some things to sussing out to do but I’m looking forward to both the process and getting to some play next week.

Dear Sigil 6,

I hope this letter finds you well. It is my hope that these words will help you have your feet under you when you arrive.

The Radiant Citadel is a city built around a massive Auroral Diamond, orbiting around this central city are Concord Jewels that lead to other worlds – and all of this is floating in the murky Astral Sea. It is a bright and shining place, with conflict and politics as one might expect. Most often, I am left with the feeling that these are good people, doing their very best with complicated situations.

Some of the Concordant Worlds

Yongjing – capital of the Great Xing, an impressive nation with a dynasty that has brought peace and prosperity after centuries of plague and uncertainty. Rumors abound that the White Jade Emperor’s reign will soon end, plunging Xing into chaos. This might be your first mission, depending on the timing of your arrival.

San Citlan – this world revolves around a city built at the confluence of ley lines with severe economic disparity and people with a strong bond with their honored dead. Shepherd should love it.

Zinda – a shining city full of guildhalls and universities in the midst of a dense jungle on the shore of a deep and dark ocean. There is a revolution brewing, rebels who call themselves the Bloodletters trying to seize power and opportunity from the Kings of Coin and their enforcers, the Silent Verse.

The Sensa Empire – a trio of city-states that runs on gold mines, held together by Empress Inaya. The arid landscape makes farming difficult but luckily, the empire’s gold allows them to import food. The balance between each city-state’s monarchies and the way they bow before the Empress is a complicated set of traditions and marriages.

Tletepec is a group of cities built among the forests that are surrounded by volcanoes, said to be the area’s heroes. The area’s history is a cycle of death and rebirth brought on by volcanic eruptions.

Atagua is a series of grasslands and wetlands with narrow tropical forests along the Holroro River. The people here are from a diverse range of cultures and work hard to communicate and keep the region from plunging into war.

I am missing some. Yallna is a world at war, with the Raven Queen and Orcus opening warring amidst a series of valleys where the long-departed Wizard-Kings left their towers and citadels.

And there is a young place, only a few years old, ruled by the ambitious Hajek family, whose name is said to be written on the foundation of the world.

I am missing some and haven’t even introduced you to the Court of Whispers, nor the Shieldbearers and the Speakers. We’ll talk when you arrive.

I hope your journey is restorative.

Quarace

In-game letter, also posted to the Thursday Night Delver’s FB group