This is just for fun but maybe also to give some individuals who don't know D&D an idea of what Tabletop D&D 5e is supposed to be like.
The main character of this session is Diadell Tiromen. She is a Wood Elf Rogue, Level 1. Background = Secret Identity, something not offered in BG3 yet anyway. Chaotic Good alignment. Diadell is from Silverymoon in the north. She has been travelling south to meet some of her former companions who she met in those lands. They were separated because Drogyn, her Half-Orc Barbarian friend, and Lynari, her Drow friend, had some sort of pressing business they needed to take care of in Baldur's Gate. Diadell had to wrap up a few things herself before meeting them there. (She is kind of like a Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, and a rich noble has sent bounty hunters after her.)
Session 1 begins.
Me: You were journeying along on a ship, skimming the Sword Coast. It is a peaceful night. The moon is high in the sky. You are on the top deck, enjoying the breeze in your hair when all at once there is a tearing, ripping sound. You spin and look up to follow the commotion. There, sweeping out of the sky is a... Is that a Nautiloid? Instantly, you feel panic seize you. There is nowhere to go. There is nowhere to run.
Diadell: Um. Heck yeah there is! I jump ship. I spin right back around, plant my hands on the railing and vault off the side. I can swim. You said I'm skimming the shore. I jump right in.
Me: Lol. Ok. Trying to make my life difficult already, I see. Fine. You plant your hands on the railing and vault off the side. A moment later, you crash into the waves and begin swimming with everything you have to escape the ship full of screaming crew as the Nautiloid descends. Make an Athletics roll. DC 10.
Diadell: (Rolls) I rolled an 8.
Me: Your skill is +2. (No proficiency). You made it. You remain afloat.
Diadell: Nope. I'm diving. Screw that.
Me: You know that Nautiloid's going to get you one way or another, right?
Diadell: Yeah. Figured. But I'm not going to make it easy on you.
Me: You dive below the waves, swimming as hard as you can. The Nautiloid draws closer. Massive tentacles whip out, and each person they touch vanishes in a puff of black smoke. Then, one of them curls down, stabs the water, and grabs you. There is a strange sensation that overtakes you. For a moment, you feel weightless and disoriented. The next thing you know, you are bound inside a Mind Flayer pod. You can see out the pod's glass. You are inside the ship. It is a circular chamber with other pods and some sort of strange pedestal-like thing in the center. It is about five feet in diameter and looks almost like a dark flower that has yet to bloom. The chamber has a second level that is more like a ring around the center. You can't really tell how you might get to that level. There is only one door out of the room, and it is like a membrane. It is exactly opposite where you are.
Diadell: Can I do anything?
Me: Nope. You are completely stuck.
Diadell: Do I have my equipment at least?
Me: Yes. As you struggle to try to get free, the ship around you vibrates. You can feel it moving about. You get the distinct impression that it may have even just jumped from one plane of existence to another.
Diadell: Crap!
Me: For some time, you fight your panic. Then, all of a sudden, the door opens. To your horror, an Illithid, Mind Flayer, floats into the room. He glides across to the strange pedestal, waves his hand, and it opens to reveal a weird, glowing pool full of swimming, little, tadpoles.
Diadell: (She knows nothing about Mind Flayers) What the heck? What are those things? What are you doing to me?
Me: The mind flayer scoops one of the tadpoles up between two fingers and glides over to one of the nearby pods. With a wave of his hand, he opens the pod to reveal a Githyanki female with brown hair, yellow skin, markings on her face, and reptilian eyes. She is wearing silver armor, and you think you see a longsword strapped to her back. She struggles hard to escape as well, but to no avail. The mind flayer approaches her, lifts the tadpole with his right hand and points his left towards the Gith woman. Her head locks up, as if his left hand is gripping it. He brings the tadpole up to her face. As you watch in horror, the tadpole crawls onto the Gith's cheek and up under her eyelid. She cries out and falls silent as if unconscious.
Diadell: That thing better not do that to me. I don't mind trying to help that Gith chick escape and get that thing out of her, but that better not happen to me.
Me: The Mind Flayer then turns towards you. You freeze. It grabs another tadpole.
Diadell: I'm serious. You better not put that thing in me.
Me: He glides towards you.
Diadell: Then a Beholder busts into the room and shoots him with an eyebeam and freezes him solid in stone.
Me: He forces your eyelids open and your head to not move.
Diadell: I hate you right now.
Me: The tadpole slides around his hand, then onto your cheek. Then it bares its nasty, needle-like teeth and tentacles and shoots up under your eyelid.
Diadell: What are you doing to my new favorite character? When I get free, I'm pulling out my daggers and killing the DM.
Me: Suddenly, the ship rocks. There are explosions from somewhere outside. The Mind Flayer is alarmed. He spins around and tries to close the tadpole pool up, but the whole ship lurches out of control. Another explosion! He is tossed into another pod. It opens to reveal some other person. You can't quite see. Your vision has gone blurry. The Mind Flayer grabs another tadpole and hastens to implant it into this person's eye. He does this to several others in the pods all around the chamber. And then, all at once...
Diadell: A Beholder bursts into the room and...
Me: A dragon bursts into the room, tearing a giant hole in the wall near you. It is a red dragon and it does not hesitate to breathe fire into the chamber, right at the pool full of tadpoles.
Diadell: I've always loved dragons! BURN THEM ALL!!! Can he get the one out of my head too?
Me: Your pod is damaged from the fiery blast, as are the pods of others nearby. The ship lurches again. You see the flaming body of the Mind Flayer fly through the room and smash into another pod across from you. He hits the floor, obviously dead.
Diadell: Yay Dragon!
Me: There is another strange feeling, like the ship just bounced around again. You feel disoriented once more and darkness creeps into your vision. You can feel the tadpole lodging itself somewhere up in your cranium. Something smashes into your pod. It cracks open like a shell. You feel yourself falling into darkness. When you come to, you find yourself at the foot of your pod. The chamber is on fire. You look up to see the pod with the Githyanki is empty. She is nowhere to be seen. Some of the other pods are blackened, sparking with energy from damage they received, or completely empty as well. Carefully, you get to your feet and look around. What would you like to do? You are finally free.
Diadell: I observe the room. (She makes a Perception check before I even say another word.) I rolled an 11 and I am proficient at Perception so I get a +4. 15 total. I have to see some good stuff.
Me: You observe the chamber. Most of it is on fire. You see a chest on the upper level and a ramp up to it behind you. There is no one else alive in the chamber. The mind flayer is now a charred heap not far away. The tadpole pool is on fire. Another ramp near the dead mind flayer leads up to another part of the upper level that is on fire. If you jump over the flames you might be able to reach a body you see up there as well. The person is not moving. They do not appear to be a mind flayer. You can't tell, but they might beholding something.
Diadell: I want all the things, but I better check on the guy on the upper level to see if he's still alive and if he's good. Sounds like the fire could get him first.
Me: As you skirt around the tadpole pool, suddenly, it explodes. Whatever magical energy was sustaining it has just died. Make a Dexterity Savings Throw to avoid damage.
Diadell: +5. (She rolls an 8). 13. Is that enough.
Me: You made it. You only needed a 10. You dive and roll just at the last second, coming to your feet near the Mind Flayer. You rush past its dead body up the ramp to the flames between you and the unconscious man. To get to the man, you need to make an Athletics roll. (Diadell rolls a 4. She gets only a +2.) Ouch. You don't make it. You try to leap over the flames, but you wind up landing in the fire. Um. Let's see. I'm only going to have you take 1d4 fire damage right now.
Diadell: Thanks for not killing me. (She rolls a 2. She has 8 HP to start, so now she only has 6.) Do I catch on fire?
Me: I'll let you make an Acrobatics roll. (She rolls 7 and gets a +5.) Success. No catching on fire this time.
Diadell: Thanks. So I rush up to the guy. Is he okay? Is he dead?
Me: You can tell almost immediately that he's dead. He's a thrall; a man under the control of the mind flayers. His mind is their slave. In a jar he is holding, there is a brain.
Diadell: Nasty! I pick it up and hurl it down to the second floor.
Me: It smashes and the brain slides across the floor into one of the pods. Now what?
Diadell: I take all the things as quickly as I can. I search the guy, the mind flayer and anything else I can see in the chamber that can be searched. Quick search, though.
Me: Roll Perception.
Diadell: (Rolls 14 +4 for Perception) 18. What do I get?
Me: You find 8 gold on the guy, a Potion of Speed on the Mind Flayer and another 13 gold, and the chest has 30 gold, a health potion and a short sword.
Diadell: Short sword any good?
Me: Nope. Just a standard. Nothing special. You also find nearby some strange bulbous items you don't recognize. They are sitting on some sort of table and...
Diadell: Nope. Never mind that. I'm not touching anything that belongs to these things.
Me: Out the door you go and into the next chamber. As you enter, you spot the bodies of imps laying about. There are three of them.
Diadell: Imps? What the heck?
Me: You see a gaping hole in the far side of this chamber. You can see out into a desolate landscape. The heat pouring in through that hole is tremendous. It almost knocks you off your feet. You are definitely not in Faerun anymore.
Diadell: Where am I? Where did you take me? Am I in the Hells? Tell me I'm not in the Hells.
Me: Would you like to explore the room or make your way to the hole.
Diadell: I'm exploring the room. If I can find a way to teleport me back to Faerun in this room, I'm going to do that.
Me: Suddenly, you hear a voice. "We are here. Help us! We are trapped. Help us! Please!" It is coming from your left. There is an upper level to this chamber as well. Some sort of lift is nearby that looks like it can take you up there.
Diadell: Is the voice a male or female?
Me: Sounds almost like a female child, but it's hard to tell.
Diadell: I go up. Can I figure the lift out?
Me: It's easy enough. You don't need to roll. You rush up to this weird pedestal thing that looks like a creepy plant with an eyeball sticking out of the center of the flower. Pressing the eyeball, you hear a sickly click and the lift takes you to the upper level. Once you are on the second level, you see a man with no shirt on laying back in a chair with his head tilted at an odd angle.
Diadell: A man? I thought you said a child and possible a girl.
Me: As you step around to the man's head to get a better look, you are appalled to discover that his skull has been cut open. A pulsating brain is quivering inside.
Diadell: Oh my gosh! That's disgusting.
Me: The voice talks to you again, much louder. "You've come to free us from this place. From this place, you'll free us." Make a Nature roll.
Diadell: +1. Not nice. (She rolls a 4.)
Me: You have no idea what you are experiencing. What is this thing? What do you do now?
Diadell: I guess I ask it, "What are you? Where are you? Am I talking to a man or a woman?"
Me: It says, "I'm a newborn. Born new from this husk. Please. Free us from this body. Hurry. Before they return. They return."
Diadell: Am I talking to the brain? I'm talking to a brain, aren't I?
Me: You are given an impulse, an inspiration. The creature seems to be telling you to free the brain from the man's body.
Diadell: But how?
Me: Make a Medicine check. DC15.
Diadell: Do I want to free it?
Me: That's up to you. You could just leave it or...
Diadell: I feel bad about killing it, but this thing isn't natural. Right? It's a brain! It sounds like a female child in a man's body. I don't know. Fine. I'll save it. (She rolls a Medicine roll. She gets a +2. She rolls a 10.) Well, I didn't make it anyway.
Me: You could just try to break the skull with a Strength check.
Diadell: Fine. I do that. Man! This is sick. (She rolls a 12. Her Strength is 10, so no bonus).
Me: You succeed. The skull cracks open and you stick your hands in and carefully pull the brain free. It makes a slurping, squishy sound and wiggles in your hands. Instinctively, you drop it. It flops on the ground wiggling more until four legs pop out of it, some spikes and tendrils. It shakes itself like a dog, brain goo splattering everywhere around it. (Diadell is just making a face at me. She is thoroughly disgusted.) "Come!" the creature cries. "To the helm! We must go to the helm." Then it begins to scurry over to the lift as if trying to urge you to go.
Diadell: I'm searching the area first for anything I might be able to use. I can't believe I've just helped this brain thing escape from... Wait! The guy! Is the guy alive?
Me: He is quite dead. His body convulses as he moans painfully and dies.
Diadell: Great! So I killed the guy.
Me: He would have died anyway. His head was cut open. So you're searching the area? Make a Perception roll. (She rolls a 7. With her +4, the total is 11.) You find a couple of chests nearby, some more brain jars...
Diadell: I smash them all.
Me: Brain matter is spilled everywhere after you smash the first jar, and the little brain screeches angrily. "Stop that! Don't do that again. Again, you should not do that." Do you still smash more?
Diadell: Fine. No. What else is there?
Me: You pop open the chests and acquire another Potion of Speed, 30 gold. The imps had a crossbow and a short sword, all normal. Then you find some strange tomes. Do you try to pick them up?
Diadell: No. I'm not touching their stuff.
Me: You leave them, then, and make your way towards the exit. There is nothing left for you to do here. The little brain creature follows you around like a puppy. Oh! There is one other thing. As you approach a strange chamber-like object in the room, you see it pulsates with blue light. You can feel its healing properties tingling on your skin. You get the distinct impression that if you just step into it, the chamber will heal you. Do you step in?
Diadell: (She gets a devious grin) I kick the brain thing into it. Not hard. Just more like a scoop with my foot and toss it.
Me: Lol. Make an Unarmed Strike. You get +2 only. (She rolls and gets a 17+2=19.)
Diadell: That had to do it.
Me: You kick it into the machine. It squeals as it goes. Lands on the soft floor. The blue glow engulfs it, and it rushes back out. It is not only completely unharmed but looks healthier and stronger now. "Healed us, you did. You healed us. Thanks."
Diadell: I lost a couple hit points. I guess I'll try it.
Me: You feel the blue glow around you. Then you feel much better. You are full health.
Diadell: Fine. Let's get the frick out of there. I head out the hole in the wall.
Me: Good, because the fire was spreading and it might have sealed you inside if you didn't hurry any faster.
Diadell: You should have told me that before. I wouldn't have played around with the dumb brain thing.
Me: Eh. I wouldn't have let you get trapped in there. Anyway. So, you dart out into the blazing heat. The sulfuric winds blast you. You are on the outside of the ship, along the port side (left side). Suddenly, a red dragon swoops over the top of the ship and dives around, dangerously close to you. Imps are attacking it and chasing it as it continues on its way towards the front. It vanishes from view. Below, you see devils and demons battling. You are definitely in Avernus. You are in the Nine Hells.
Diadell: I really don't like you right now.
-- End of Session 1 --
I'll maybe post more later.