-- Session 5 --
To recap, Diadel and Lae'zel are full health by this point. Diadell has 3 Potions of Speed and 2 Healing Potions. Lae'zel used a Healing Potion at one point and now only has 1 left. They are both heading on their way into the helm, the final battle of the prologue. The Intellect Devourer Baby (We are here) is tagging along, following them wherever they go.
Me: You enter another chamber. This one is much smaller. There is another health regeneration chamber and some brains in jars. That's pretty much all there is of interest. Another door is off to your right. Lae'zel stops you a second. "We are nearing the helm. Once inside, do exactly as I say."
Diadell: Um. Yeah. I already said I'm doing whatever you say now. Lead the way, Boss.
Me: You both run through the door, and suddenly you find yourself in a larger control room. The massive viewport at the far end shows you Avernus in all its hellish glory. Demons, imps and dragons fly about, still tearing each other to pieces as guns from the ship fire upon them. In the helm chamber, you see two mind flayers. One is battling toe-to-toe with a demon wielding a flaming sword. The other sneaks up on a second demon and wraps his tentacles around it. As you watch in horror, the mind flayer's jaws open wide between its tentacles, and it bites down on the cranium of the demon. There is a sickening crunching sound. The demon can't even scream. Its face communicates its agony as its brains get sucked out into the mind flayer's mouth. When it is dead, the mind flayer throws it to the ground. Before it can move on to help the other mind flayer, however, imps swarm past it. They hack it and slash it, killing it dead. Some of these imps continue on into the front section of the helm, opposite you. They battle thralls in an effort to seize the helm's transponder, which is a series of tentacles connecting to some sort of control mechanism. Then, the surviving mind flayer ducks away and blasts the demon he's fighting with a mental attack, knocking it backwards. It turns to you and points towards the transponder. "Thrall. Make your way to the ship's transponder. Now!" it commands. Then it turns back to the demon it just knocked down. "Do as he says," Lae'zel commands. "We will deal with our Ghaik captors after we seize control of the ship."
Diadell: After you.
Me: Suddenly, three imps spot you. The Mind Flayer's movements have alerted them to your presence. They break away from the others, coming for you as the Mind Flayer and demon resume their mortal combat. Initiative.
Diadell: Stupid Mind Flayer idiot. We were heading for the helm anyway. Why'd he have to point us out?
Me: Because what fun would it be if you stealthed it to the transponder?
Diadell: Lots. Fine. Rolling initiative. (She rolls a 4+3=7).
Me: Imp 1 is first, then your brain creature pet, then Imp 3, Lae'zel, then you, and then Imp 2. Imp 1 comes flying 20 feet towards you, its speed, and fires a crossbow. 9+5=14. Hit. 1d8+3 damage. (I roll a 2+3=5). You have 3 HP left.
Diadell: Dang! Already trying to kill me.
Me: Your brain creature pet goes. It scurries 40 feet right up to the one that shot you and takes a swipe with its claws. I'll let you roll for it. (She rolls a 12+4=16) Hit. Roll 2d4+2 damage. (She rolls 6+2=8). Damage resistance means half damage, so only 4 HP off. This imp is tougher. It has 12 total HP. So now it only has 8.
Diadell: Seriously?
Me: Now it is Imp 3's turn. It attacks the brain creature by flying up to it and attacking with an axe. It rolls a 15+5=20. Brain creature only has 12 AC. It's a hit. (I roll a 6+3=9 damage. Maximum damage for a hand axe.) Brain creature has 9 HP total, so it falls.
Diadell: Brainy! You suck!
Me: It's still alive. It's just unconscious and dying.
Diadell: We're so dead.
Me: Lae'zel's turn. She uses the magic pockets to steal a Potion of Speed from you. She then drinks it. She has 1 full minute of haste. That's a total of 10 rounds. During this time, her speed is doubled, she gains a +2 bonus to AC, she has advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws, and she gains an additional action on each of your turns. That action can be used only to take the Attack (one weapon Attack only), Dash, Disengage, Hide, or Use an Object action.
Diadell: Why are you controlling Lae'zel, anyway? You have all the enemies. Lae'zel is a part of my party. Shouldn't I control her?
Me: I'm controlling her to help use her as a guide for combat and such. For example, you have found 3 Potions of Speed, and you aren't using them. This is the perfect time to do so. Lae'zel is about to show you why. She rushes forward, and with doubled speed she easily reaches Imp 1. It only has 8 HP. She attacks. (She rolls an 18 total.) Hit. She is using two hands on her long sword, so she gets 1d10 damage off. (I roll a 9 total.) 4 HP off. Imp 1 only has 4 HP left. It's your turn.
Diadell: I'm taking cover. Is there anywhere nearby that I can take cover?
Me: It's an open area. No cover nearby.
Diadell: None? Anywhere?
Me: Nope.
Diadell: Can I reach one of the imps if I just move 30 feet?
Me: Nope. You can get close, but you can't reach them.
Diadell: Fine. I guess I'm just going to drink a Speed Potion too.
Me: The potion’s yellow fluid is streaked with black and swirls on its own. As you gulp it down, you find it disgusting, but you can feel its affects taking hold.
Diadell: Great! Now I drink a health potion. (She rolls 2d4+2. She rolls a 5+2=7. Full health). Since I'm double speed and I can't get to cover, I rush the stupid imp that hurt my baby. My short swords are out. Hey! Can I use my off hand to attack? I have a bonus action left, right? I used 1 Action to drink the Potion of Speed. Then I got a second Action because I did that, and I used that Action to drink a Health Potion. So I still have a bonus action. Right?
Me: Nope. "When you take the Attack Action and Attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can use a Bonus Action to Attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand." That's the rule. Therefore, since you didn't use the Attack Action, you can't use your off hand to attack using a Bonus.
Diadell: So I'm done then?
Me: Yes. Imp 2's turn. It flies right at Lae'zel and attacks. (I roll a 12+5=17). Miss.
Diadell: What? Really? You rolled a 17 total, right?
Me: Lae'zel's AC is increased by +2. She had 17 AC already, so now she has a total of 19 AC for 1 minute.
Diadell: Oh thank God!
Me: It's now Imp 1's turn. It also attacks Lae'zel. (4+5=9) Miss. Brainy's turn. It is dying. I roll a Constitution Savings Throw to see if Brainy lives. (I roll a 9+1=10). 1 Successful Save. 2 more and Brainy stabilizes on his/her own.
Diadell: Hang in there, Brainy! I'll help as soon as I can.
Me: Imp 3 is now attacking you. (I roll an 10+5=15). Miss.
Diadell: But my AC is 14. Oh! The potion increased my AC to 16. Never mind.
Me: Lae'zel's turn. She attacks Imp 1. (I roll a 15. Then I roll a total of 8 damage.) 4 HP off. Imp 1 is dead. She now gets a second attack because of the potion. She runs over to Imp 3 and attacks. (I roll a total of 13 and then a total of 7 for damage.) Lae'zel does 3 HP off Imp 3. It had 12 HP also to start, so now it has 9 HP. Your turn.
Diadell: Can I do 2 Attacks each with both weapons?
Me: You can attack twice with your main hand and once with your off hand. So you can do three attacks total.
Diadell: OK. That's what I'm doing to Imp 3. (She rolls a total of 14, a total of 12, and a total of 18 with her three attacks. So she hits once with her main and once with her off hand.) I'm going to use Sneak Attack with my main hand. I can use it because Lae'zel is also within 5 feet. Right?
Me: Right. (She rolls 2d6+3 for her main hand short sword and 1d6 for her off hand. She gets a 10, which does 5 HP, and she gets a 3, which does 1 HP. That's a total of 6 HP off the Imp.) 6 HP off. It has only 3 HP left. Imp 2 attacks Lae'zel. (I roll a 19 total. Then I roll an 8 total for damage.) Lae'zel has lost 8 HP. She only has 10 HP total. She has 2 HP left. Imp 1 is dead. Brainy rolls a failed Savings Throw. If he fails 2 more times, he's dead. Imp 3 now gets to go. It is attacking you. (It rolls a 17 total.) Hit. (I roll a 4+3=7). You have 1 HP left. Lae'zel's turn. She drinks a Health Potion. (I roll an 8 total.) Lae'zel has full health. She uses her other action to attack with her long sword, attacking Imp 3. (I roll a 10 total.) Miss. Your turn.
Diadell: I'm also drinking a Health Potion.
Me: That's your last.
Diadell: Yeah. I know. But I don't have much choice. (She rolls 2d4+2 and gets a 6 total.) OK. 7 HP left. Now I'm attacking Imp 3 with both weapons. (She rolls a 14 and a Natural 20). Yes! Sneak Attack on Main Hand. (She rolls a 7 total with her main hand and a 3 for her off hand.)
Me: You deal 3 HP off with your main hand and 1 HP for your off hand. Imp 3 had 3 HP left. Imp 3 is dead using your main hand. I'll let you use your off hand to attack the last Imp and do 1 HP off of it.
Diadell: "Can I do that?"
Me: Yes. I'd let you do that. It is attacking Lae'zel, so Imp 2 is within range. After killing Imp 3 you move a bit and attack Imp 2 and deal 1 HP of damage. It only had 9 to begin with. It now has 8 HP left. Imp 2 is next and attacks you. (It rolls a 19 total.) Hit. (I roll a 9 total for damage.) You're down.
Diadell: Dang it! Can Lae'zel even heal?
Me: Brainy's turn. (Brainy fails the Savings Throw.) Brainy has failed twice now. Lae'zel's turn. She attacks Imp 2. (I roll a 16 and 9 total for both rolls.) Hit and miss. (I roll a 9 damage.) Damage resistance causes damage to be 4 HP off. Imp 2 only has 4 HP. Roll to see if you succeed in your Savings Throw. (Diadell rolls a 14 total. She succeeds.) 2 more to stabilize. Imp 2 attacks Lae'zel. (I roll a 14 total.) Miss. Next round. (Brainy rolls another failure.) Brainy is dead. Sorry.
Diadell: Brainy! Dang it!
Me: Lae'zel's turn. She attacks the Imp. (I roll a 12 and a 13 total.) Miss and hit. (I roll a 10 for damage.) 5 HP off. Imp 2 is dead. Roll to see if you succeed in your Savings Throw. (She rolls and fails.) You only have 2 more fails to go. Next round, Lae'zel searches the fallen corpses nearby. She finds a Healing Potion on 1 of the fallen and uses it on you. (I roll 2d4+2 and get a total of 8.) Full health.
Diadell: That was too freaking close. What would you have done if Lae'zel had been taken down?
Me: I'd have had the Mind Flayer use a Healing Spell to completely restore your health. Lol. It's the Prologue. I don't want you to die here.
Diadell: Can we get to the transponder now?
Me: The demon and Mind Flayer are still going at it. You rush to the next section of the helm. 3 more imps block your path. All the thralls that were fighting them are dead. Lae'zel cries, "Just get to the transponder. I'll try to distract them." Then she rushes ahead of you. The 3 imps notice Lae'zel and turn to attack. New initiative.
Diadell: Is my Potion of Speed still in affect?
Me: Yes. You didn't die. You were just knocked down for a few rounds. You were then healed and returned to consciousness. Potions of Speed do not require concentration, so it is still in affect.
Diadell: Thank God! We have no more healing potions. I wish we had searched more bodies for them. Too late now. I'm booking it to the transponder.
Me: Initiative first. Then we'll see if you can get there in time.
-- End of Session 5 --
