D&D Log: Session 17

Oh snap, it’s a D&D recap! Shit is going down people! I repeat, shit is going down! Now I know I always say this recap will be short and they always wind up being long, but this time it –should- be short because I missed much of the session when a friend of college stopped by. By the time I entered the campaign our big demon encounter was over. Actually when I first got home I asked Jason if anything important had happened and he responded “no, not really”. Then I immediately here Spoony say “you look over to see Juliet burned husk slumped in the corner”. Commence freaking out.

No, it seems that since I was absent for the encounter I was instead the victim of a Sneak Attack from Darstine who has become completely controlled by Morgana which is one of the few times Darstine has remembered to use Sneak Attack. So yeah, I basically got instant KO’d for this encounter, and then afterwards I was used as a hostage so that Morgana could get away in Darstine’s body (even if Lord Vane did use the Ring of Ram to send her flying). Kind of a shame that Juliet was pretty much used as a damsel in distress this encounter, but it does work as fuel for a rather large change in her character, but I’ll get into that later.

Anyway, following Morgana’s escape we made chase only to find that Morgana has pretty much left a field of destruction in her wake. She cut Amendread in half and nearly killed Alice, but it was clear that she had already gone back to the future to take out the Witch Queen, so it was up to Dethklok to chase after her. We returned to our time, and already we could see the effects of Morgana in our world. Tamier’s army was devastated, and those that did not choose to worship Morgana were killed. Grae managed to find a half dead Tamier, and asked, quite bluntly: “Hey Tammy. Why so dead?” I do love Grae.

The session pretty much ended there as next time our party debated on whether we should chase after Morgana, or let Morgana and the Witch Queen duke it out and try take out the winner by gathering an army from Sarmanath. Considering the holidays and MAGFest coming up it’s actually very likely we won’t be able to get a session of the campaign together for a little bit, I figure we can use this time to plan. So what do you guys think we should do?

In addition I should explain here that Juliet is going to be undergoing a character change. She’s still going to be a Druid, but she’s switching to the Essentials Druid, the Sentinel. That means a lot of changes—the most major being that I will now become a Leader as opposed to a Controller, though from what I’ve seen I won’t be really healing beyond the two Healing Words I have. More so I’ll be buffing defenses, and mixing it up in melee. Yes, while Juliet is still a spell caster (and thus prone to gagging should we get captured again which just feels inevitable at this point), she’s actually going to become a front line combatant now. I am trying to justify this change as Juliet realizing that she needs to take a more active role in improving herself. When she found herself completely helpless and used as a hostage she realized her limitations, and after that attack she could no longer hear Pidgeotto’s spirit. Thus she’s going to become a warrior for nature in the truest sense.

As for the bear that will now follow her around and can telepathically communicate with her… um… yep. He’ll just be there. Yeah, the Essential Druid gets an animal companion right off the bat which is one of the big reasons I wanted to change, but I can’t really justify him in any way. Same with why I won’t be able to Wildshape. I could say that I no longer need the ability to turn into an animal now that I’m embracing the animal within, but most of the time I just turned into a salmon and slapped people, so whatever. Yeah, I’m excited for this change, but I do have one hang up: a name for my bear companion.

As a Druid of Summer, I get a Bear Companion who stays with me forever (unlike Pidgeotto it can be killed, but like Pidgeotto it’s really just more of an annoyance), so I need a name. I’ve got quite a lot of names, so I want to see which one you guys like the best. Here are the suggestions:

- Pokemon: Considering my past animal bud was Pidgeotto, there is the possibility of keeping the streak going. As a bear I could call him Ursaring, but that’s about the only bear pokemon I can really think of.
- LOST: I have a LOST theme going with most my characters, so I could keep it up with this summon. Maybe call him Hurley? Or just call him the Polar Bear from LOST?
- New York Giants: I do like naming characters after cool last names, so I could always name my companion after a Giants player. Maybe Osi? Snee? How about Ahmad? My leading favorite? Name him after New York Giants Bear Pascoe. He’s already got Bear in his name!
- Punny Name: I could make his name a pun, and I have heard some good ones. My leading favorites are Bear Arthur (Bea Arthur) and Captain Bearbossa (Captain Barbossa).

It’s a tough choice I know, but let me know your input. We probably won’t be able to play for a while, so take your time. Also, do people like the character change in Juliet? I am trying to slowly let her character come out more and more, though I haven’t had the change to have her talk about her backstory. Was planning to mention it in the tower, but we never rested it until we reached Amendread. I kinda feel like revealing her backstory now, but I should probably keep that hidden until I can reveal it in-character. What do you guys think?

Until next time, Namaste!