3. The Spore Forest

Summary

In-Game Timeline: The session began at approximately 10:00 AM. Roughly seven in-game hours passed during the party's travel and harvesting activities. The session concluded at approximately 5:00 PM.

Party Members

Bam Bam
Emilio
Growth
Maeve
Monroe

Rules/Mechanics

Harvesting

Time Limit: Harvesting must be commenced within one minute of the creature's death to prevent magic from fading.
Duration: Harvesting a medium-sized creature requires 15 minutes.
Assistance: Spells used to assist (e.g., Enhance Ability) must last the full duration of the harvest; Guidance does not last long enough.
Supplies: A generic "harvesting kit" value of 50gp was established for vials and tools. Supplies are consumed based on the DC of the components harvested.
Checks: Two checks are required: Assessment and Carving. A single creature can make both but usually at disadvantage. Growth possesses a feature allowing them to make both without disadvantage and adds proficiency (counting as expertise).
Loot Determination: The total of the two rolls determines which items from the creature's loot table are successfully acquired.

Weapon Mastery - Nick

Make an extra attack with her dagger without expending a bonus action.

Psychic Rot

Imposed psychic damage, a dazed state limiting action economy, and a temporary reduction of their Intelligence score by 4.

Rage

You can use a Bonus Action to sustain rage during combat

Last Session

Previous Session Notes

2. Arrival in Oakhaven

Party Goals

Quests

Cure the Captain - The party must locate "Pale Heart Leaf" to treat the Captain, who is dying from a mysterious black-vein poison.
Find the Pale Heart Leaf - Growth identified that the plant likely grows near water and rocks, inland from the coast.
Investigate the Lighthouse - determine why it went dark and prove the group's worth to Skorva.
Retrieve the anchor - Thala the Shipwright requested the party retrieve the iron anchor from their shipwreck. Completing this may earn them a rowing boat or credit toward building a larger vessel in the future.
Collect Salvage - Rurik Vale requested the party scavenge practical materials (ballast plates, iron, rope, wood) from the wreck.
Open the Chest - Maeve possesses a chest entrusted to her by the Captain just before the crash. She attempted to open it during the long rest but failed; the contents remain unknown.
Access the Forge - Emilio seeks to use the forge to craft weapons from monster parts.

Short term goals

Short rest in the igloo
Travel to the lighthouse crash site to investigate the area and search for salvage.
Return to Oakhaven within the remaining time limit to deliver the Pale Heart leaves

At a Glance

Locations

Oakhaven Hospital: The starting location where the party prepared for their journey.
The Tundra: A frozen landscape featuring hexagonal ice, whistling rocks, and a dangerous cliffside path.
The Spore Forest: An unnaturally warm and swampy woodland filled with vines, fungi, and predatory plant life.
The Igloo: A magically warded, domed structure in the snow containing unexpected luxury furnishings.

People

Edda Brinemont - The Oakhaven healer who requested the Pale Heart leaf.
Captain Valerius "Salt Eye" Thorne - The party's commanding officer, currently dying of a mysterious poison in Oakhaven.

Monsters / Creatures

Rot Toads: Frog-like creatures that attack with their tongues and explode into noxious spore clouds upon death.
Spore Zombies: Undead creatures animated by plant life that emit withering breath.
Spore Skeleton: A plant-controlled undead creature armed with a shortsword and a bow.
Spore Maw: A predatory flower that charms prey and emits psychic rot spores.
Giant Snowy Owl: A large bird of prey observed hunting in the tundra.

Loots / Important Items

3 doses of Pale Heart leaf.
2 pouches of mushroom hyphae.
Plant spores, plant sap, and plant leaves.
Undead bone and undead marrow.

Story

Summary of Events

The party gathered in the Oakhaven hospital and prepared to leave the settlement to find Pale Heart leaf for their dying Captain.
Growth led the party north-west into the snow, navigating a landscape featuring hexagonal ice formations and rock structures that emitted a droning, flute-like whistle.
Faced with a fork in the path, the party chose to travel along a five-foot-wide icy cliffside path with a hundred-foot drop.
Bam Bam leaned over the cliff edge, causing the ice to crumble, but successfully maintained his balance.
The party observed a jagged scar of green and purple light glowing on the distant horizon.
The group entered an evergreen forest. Monroe noted a sudden change in humidity and a smell resembling over-ripened fruit and wet earth. The vegetation transitioned to choking vines and fungus.
Maeve wandered away from the group and fell ten feet into a snow crevasse, taking bludgeoning damage.
Bam Bam jumped into the crevasse to assist Maeve, taking bludgeoning damage upon landing.
Monroe cast Violent Updraft to launch Maeve twenty feet into the air. Bam Bam jumped and volleyed Maeve sideways to push her onto stable ground. Maeve took additional bludgeoning damage from the landing.
Emilio assisted Bam Bam in climbing out of the crevasse.
Emilio harvested a pouch of hyphae from a nearby mushroom.
The party approached a swampy river. Growth located Pale Heart leaves on a central island but failed a Wisdom saving throw and was charmed by an alluring plant.
The party was ambushed by Rot Toads, Spore Zombies, and a Skeleton.
Maeve attacked and killed a Rot Toad. The creature exploded into a noxious spore cloud, dealing necrotic damage to Maeve.
Monroe cast Crackle, dealing lightning damage to multiple enemies.
A Rock Toad slammed Bam Bam, dealing bludgeoning damage.
The Skeleton shot Emilio with a bow, dealing piercing damage.
Emilio killed a Spore Zombie by severing it from neck to hip with a greatsword.
The alluring plant emitted a cloud of spores. Growth failed a Constitution saving throw, taking psychic damage and suffering from a dazed state and reduced intelligence.
Growth cast Faerie Fire and Vicious Vapours, poisoning a zombie and killing a Rock Toad.
Bam Bam entered a rage and destroyed a Spore Zombie with his maul.
Emilio destroyed the Skeleton.
Maeve dealt piercing damage to the alluring plant.
Monroe killed the alluring plant with an illusionary dart, ending the combat.
Following the battle, Growth harvested spores, sap, and leaves from the alluring plant. Maeve and Emilio harvested bone and marrow from the Skeleton. Monroe and Bam Bam harvested additional hyphae.
Growth cast healing spells on themselves and Emilio.
Growth successfully harvested three doses of Pale Heart leaf from the river island.
The party decided to detour to the lighthouse crash site before returning to Oakhaven.
Growth guided the party out of the forest as a storm began to gather. A giant snowy owl was observed swooping down to snatch a fox.
Seeking shelter from the approaching storm, the party located a fifteen-foot-wide domed igloo with a heavy door.
Bam Bam headbutted the door, triggering protective magical runes that threw him backwards.
Amelia read the runes, identifying them as a ward that welcomes friends but repels foes.
Growth opened the door using the handle. The party entered the igloo, discovering a cozy interior with rich furnishings, beds, and furs, and decided to take a short rest.

Character Moments

Bam Bam: Jumped into a snow crevasse to rescue Maeve and successfully volleyed her mid-air to safety.
Emilio: Destroyed a Spore Zombie with a single, devastating greatsword strike that severed the creature from neck to hip.
Maeve: Swiftly dispatched a Rock Toad using a combination of scimitar and dagger attacks.
Growth: Successfully navigated the wilderness and harvested the required Pale Heart leaves despite suffering from a magically reduced intelligence score.
Monroe: Utilised the Violent Updraft spell to launch Maeve out of a crevasse and delivered the killing blow to the alluring plant.